Most Famous Taoism Philosophers

Taoism is one of the three classical schools of Chinese philosophy, traditionally founded by Lao Tzu and elaborated by Zhuangzi in the centuries before the common era. It centers on the Tao, or the Way, an underlying principle and pattern of reality that the wise person seeks to follow rather than oppose. Key concepts include wu wei, often translated as effortless action or non-coercive engagement, and the cultivation of simplicity, humility, and spontaneity. Taoism developed alongside and in sometimes-creative tension with Confucianism, and has profoundly shaped Chinese art, medicine, political thought, and religious practice. Its influence extends to modern Western philosophy, ecology, and contemplative traditions.

Philosophers in this tradition

Lao Tzu c. 571 BC – c. 471 BC · Chinese
Lao Tzu, traditionally regarded as the founder of philosophical Taoism, is the legendary author of the Tao Te Ching, one of the most translated works of world literature. Modern...
Liezi c. 450 BC – c. 375 BC · Chinese
Liezi, also known as Lie Yukou, was a Chinese Taoist philosopher of the fifth century BC, traditionally regarded as one of the three foundational thinkers of philosophical Taois...
Zhuangzi c. 370 BC – c. 287 BC · Chinese
Zhuangzi was a Chinese Taoist philosopher of the fourth century BC, regarded with Lao Tzu as one of the two foundational figures of philosophical Taoism. The book that bears his...
Wang Bi 226 – 249 · Chinese
Wang Bi was a Chinese philosopher of the Three Kingdoms period and the most important early commentator on the Daode jing and the Yijing. Although he died at twenty-three, his s...
Guo Xiang 252 – 312 · Chinese
Guo Xiang was a Chinese philosopher of the Western Jin dynasty and the most important commentator on the Zhuangzi, whose recension of the text became the standard one transmitte...
Yang Zhu c. 440 BC – c. 360 BC · Chinese
Yang Zhu was a Chinese philosopher of the Warring States period, founder of the school traditionally known as the Yangist, who became famous in early Confucian polemic for the d...
A. C. Graham 1919 – 1991 · British
Angus Charles Graham was a British sinologist and philosopher, professor of classical Chinese at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, and the most influential E...