> I just don't get what westerners get out of reading the Tao Te Ching. I really don't understand how ethnicity or provenance has anything to do with this. Thi

> I just don't get what westerners get out of reading the Tao Te Ching. I really don't understand how ethnicity or provenance has anything to do with this. This is a philosophy book from more than 2000 years ago, the person(s) that wrote it is as different to today's Chinese as to westerners or anyone else. It just talks about the human condition and as such anyone can relate to it. And about the appeal of Daoism versus, for example, Buddhism I would refer to this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinegar_tasters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinegar_tasters. Laozi just smiles, Daoist writings have a kind of humor and lightheartedness to them that make them much more appealing to me. I don't concern myself with enlightenment, I just want to smile.