La tradizione taoista nel pensiero di René Guénon

Th e Taoist tradition in René Guénon’s thought . In the works of René Guénon (1886-1951), Daoism is a manifestation of sophia perennis. Guénon stresses the notions of “immutable centre” ( jingyong) and yin-yang symbolism. Yet, the hub of guénonian matter about Daoism can be found in the concepts of “emperor” (wang) and “non-action” (wu-wei). How can a man achieve his own perfection? Th e answer is not easy: according to Guénon, man needs an “innate tendency” if he wants to become a “sage”. But the word “sage” seems to have a semantic ambivalence in Guénon, because he writes in La Grande Triade that the “sage” can be “true” or “immortal” (tchenn jen) or “transcendent” (cheun jen). Whereas the first is satisfied with the “lesser mysteries”, the second wants to attain the “greater mysteries”, and these are both the goals of every initiation. In this article, the author seeks to explain the dichotomy “immortality-transcendence” in order to understand Guénon’s interpretation of Daoism.