1 Introduction

In Chinese culture, the phrase “yangsheng” (health preservation, 養生) first appeared in Sunzi’s The Art of War (《孫子兵法》), and later in ancient Chinese philosophic classics such as Guanzi (《管子》), Zhuangzi (《莊子》), Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Medicine (《黃帝內經》), The Annals of Lv Buwei (《呂氏春秋》), Huainanzi (《淮南子》), among others. It basically means prolonging humans’ life span and improving the quality of life (Zhang, 2010), that is, making our spirit happy and healthy. According to the definition by the World Health Organization in 1946, “health” is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, rather than the absence of disease or infirmity. It refers not only to physical health, but also to mental health and harmonious relationships with social environment. True health is a state of complete integration, where physical, mental, and social well-being are in holistic alignment.

In Western culture, there is no exact equivalent for “yangsheng”. However, Westerners have had their own methods of maintaining health since ancient times. The earliest records can be traced back to two thousand years ago when Cleopatra paid special attention to health, trying to look young forever. It can be seen that physical fitness and living in the best state are the common goals pursued by people in both the oriental and the occidental world. In such a context, Laozi in the East and Thoreau in the West think alike in pursuing health philosophically and practically.

2 Similar Views on Health Preservation in Laozi’s Daodejing and Thoreau’s Walden

2.1 Laozi’s Dao and Thoreau’s Nature

Both Laozi and Thoreau believed that we live in Nature. To maintain our lives, we must obey the law of Nature and adapt to the natural course. Otherwise, our health will be affected and ruined.

“There are four things that are great. Of them man is one. Man takes Earth as his model; Earth takes Heaven as its model; Heaven takes Dao as its model; Dao takes what is natural as its model.” (in Chapter 25 of Daodejing, (and all the English texts quoted in this article are from Gu Zhengkun’s translation, 2008). That “Dao takes what is natural” is to follow the law of Nature (translated by the authors based on Chen Guying, 2012, p.52). “To understand the law is known as enlightening. He who is ignorant of law, if acting rashly, will be in great trouble. But he who knows the law is tolerant. And tolerance leads to impartiality; impartiality to thoroughness; thoroughness to nature; Nature to the Dao; Dao to eternity, thus he will not be endangered all his life” in Chapter 16). Here “chang” means “the law” and “tian” means “Nature” (translation mine, from Ma Jiangwei, 2015, p.32). Humans must observe and respect the laws of nature, and keep in harmony with Nature so that our life will be prolonged and will not be in danger.

The seasonal cycle and change are the manifestation of natural laws. They are unchangeable and any existence in Nature must conform to this cycle. Therefore, “following the change of the four seasons is the fundamental law for people to prevent and cure diseases” (translated by the authors based on Zhang, 2010, p.3). Only by following the natural course can we survive in the world. The idea is confirmed in Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Medicine, the earliest and most comprehensive medical classic in China. Adapting to the change of seasons, we can better protect our bodies and maintain good health. 

Thoreau, across time and space, applied the Daoist law of conforming to Nature to his life. Firstly, Walden basically describes the author’s life and thought in the change of the four seasons at Walden Pond. In late March 1843, Thoreau began to build a wooden house by himself on the shore of Walden Pond. On July 4, 1845, the American Independence Day, he moved into the wood and earned his living by the labor of his hands, planting beans and weeding in spring and summer, harvesting and collecting in autumn and winter. Thoreau experiencing his life at Walden Pond in the cycle of the four seasons indicates his way to move through life in general.

Secondly, observing the laws of Nature as Daodejing suggests, Thoreau lived a regular life and never overworked. Going to bed and getting up early, he didn’t work extremely hard all day long. “I found, that by working about six weeks in a year, I could meet all expenses of living” (Thoreau, 1971, p.69). Instead, he roamed in the forest, breathing the fresh air, observing the beauty of nature, and listening to the songs of animals, “those wilder and thrilling songsters of the forest which never or rarely serenade a villager” (p.85). “There are none happy in the world but beings who enjoy freely a vast horizon” (p.87). The continuously unfolding richness of Nature offers him joy and happiness and “serves as a crucial source of human well-being” (Dull, 2012, p.224). As mentioned at the beginning of Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Medicine (Xie, 2000, p.2), since ancient times, people have known how to preserve health by observing the laws of Nature and living a regular life without overworking, so as to reach harmony physically and spiritually.

Thirdly, aligning with the Dao or the laws of Nature calls for a life of simplicity. As noted by Fox (2008, p.365), embracing natural simplicity enhances one’s vital energy and supports physical and spiritual well-being. Similarly, Thoreau viewed materialism and luxury as unhealthy deviations from nature. He argued that true necessities are only food, shelter, clothing, and warmth — comparing a balanced life to a plant thriving in moderate light and heat. For him, simple, self-sufficient living — such as growing vegetables, eating plain foods, and dwelling humbly in nature — was both healthy and liberating, offering an antidote to society’s relentless pursuit of wealth and status. Thoreau’s commitment extended to vegetarianism, which he believed preserved health and youthfulness — inspired by classical and Eastern traditions, including Daodejing. As Chapter 12 warns, excessive sensory indulgence blinds and deafens, while the sage “feeds the belly, not the eyes.” This echoes the core idea: simplicity fosters vitality, aligning human life with the natural order.

Fourthly, both Laozi and Thoreau embraced sickness and death as natural phenomena which also informs their attitude toward Dao or the laws of Nature. In Daodejing (Chapter 50), it says that a third of people die prematurely because they are too eager to live longer — their striving themselves violates the natural way. For Laozi, life and death follow a law of the Dao, akin to the cycle of the seasons, integrating seamlessly into the universe’s flow. In this view, death is “just one more change in the eternal cosmic process” (Roth, 1999, p.5), rendering excessive fear or sorrow unnecessary. Daodejing further notes that “Heaven and earth are not merciful; they treat all things as straw dogs” (Chapter 5), meaning nature does not interfere — it allows all beings to arise and perish spontaneously. Thus, the best way to preserve life is not to cling to it anxiously. Instead, one should emulate water, which “chooses a low place to dwell” (Chapter 8), as excessive focus on the physical self is ultimately harmful.

Thoreau shared a similar naturalist acceptance. Despite lifelong illness, including tuberculosis, he regarded health and sickness as equally meaningful: “it was just as good to be sick as to be well.” (Harding, 1982, p.457) He warned against spreading the “disease” of despair, focusing instead on the spiritual ailment of his age—a life consumed by material accumulation and devoid of purpose. Thoreau is concerned not only with physical diseases, but also with mental diseases (Buell, 1995, p.160), or diseases of the time: we are busy all day, accumulating material wealth infinitely, yet numb in thought and monotonous in life. In Walden, he sought not to lament but to “brag as lustily as a chanticleer…to wake my neighbors up.”（p.84）Repeatedly in his journals, he compared human life to leaves that grow, fall, and decay, enriching the soil for future growth — a cycle where death is not mourned but celebrated as part of nature’s renewal.

2.2 Laozi’s Kindness and Thoreau’s Fraternity

Laozi’s kindness to all the creatures is similar to Thoreau’s fraternity with all human beings. They give priority to the interests of others and actualize their most ideal potential which can bring positive effects on individuals’ health. Daodejing says in Chapter 7, “The sage similarly puts himself behind others. Yet it turns out that he comes before others. He completely disregards his own existence. And yet it turns out that his existence is preserved”. Laozi insisted that people should be selfless, thinking of others first and realizing their own goal later. This kind of lifestyle and state of mind is essential to our health.

So did Thoreau in his life. He was altruistic and cared about all the human beings’ interests in general, thus “ensuring the maximum enjoyment or sense of fulfillment in life” (Fox, 2008). Firstly, through his personal experience he, as a firm abolitionist and an outspoken hero protesting social injustice, strove to promote freedom, democracy, and fraternity in the United States, regardless of his personal security. He refused to pay his accumulated town poll taxes on the ground that the national government condoned and protected slavery. As a result, he had to spend one night in jail, which laid the basis for his famous political article “Resistance to Civil Government” (later renamed “Civil Disobedience”) in response to public confusion about his reaction. The article shows not only his political stance but also his empathy with the common people. He never refused to pay road taxes and he supported schools, committed to local education. He was eager to be a good citizen. However, when he found that the government was tyrannical and unbearable, he insisted that people should have the right to resist it. The individual struggle of “non-violent resistance” he advocated had a profound impact on political activists like Gandhi, King and Mandela (Curtis, 2010, p.6), contributing to the progress of world democracy and peace.

His non-conformity with social conventions and sympathy with all in his ken are consistent with Laozi’s kindness. Born into a declining merchant family, he graduated from Harvard College as a brilliant student. As a writer, philosopher, thinker, Emerson’s disciple, and practitioner of transcendentalism during the American Romantic period, he authorized over 20 collections of top-tier essays in his life, hence known as the founder of natural essays. Concerned about the country and the people, he also published political essays, devoting himself to the study of natural sciences. He has almost become “the American counterculture icon” (Mooney, 2015, p.xiii). Outstanding as he was, he lived humbly, like water which “prefers to dwel1 where no one would like to stay, approaching all things instead of contending with them” (in Chapter 8). Though not rich, he could still afford the poll tax that everyone could, yet few people were willing to risk imprisonment as he did to defy the government’s injustice. The “nonviolent resistance” is a way to fight for the weak against the strong, to avoid direct conflicts with power for the sake of self-protection and self-preservation.

Secondly, as one of the first writers to care about natural environment and health issues in modern times, he worked like a doctor to awaken his sleeping neighbors, lest the United States become “a nation of invalids” (Branch and Pierce, 1996, p.130). He lived a solitary and serene life near Walden Pond. Here, he spent two years musing and recording his thoughts and feelings. At the same time, based on his social criticism and philosophical thinking, he clearly proposed and practised a new way of life conforming to natural development, to awaken people addicted to pursuing infinite fame and fortune while suffering from anxiety and loss. As is described in Daodejing, “When a hall is full of gold and jade, nobody can keep them long. When a man of wealth and rank is arrogant, he is looking for a calamity upon himself” (in Chapter 9). “Keep being simple in Nature and mind; discard selfishness and weaken desires.”(in Chapter 19) Whether honored or disgraced, one should keep calm and maintain health physically and spiritually with no regret to our previous life. Such is practiced in Thoreau’s life.

Some suspect that it might be impulsive for Thoreau to stay at Walden for two years. Hawthorne once emulated Thoreau to stay in the forest, but he could not bear the monotonous life with everything done by himself, and promptly gave up. As a brilliant student graduating from Harvard College, Thoreau did not choose to live a flashy life, but stayed at peaceful Walden with a free heart. Imagine how much courage and perseverance it should take! He set up a single-room cabin at Walden, cleared a patch of wild land, grew crops, studied quietly, and concentrated on writing. He lived an extremely simple life, but his heart became noble, elegant and rich.  

Walden teaches all human beings a lesson on Nature, life, philosophy, aesthetics and art, telling people how to keep their inner heart in peace. Comparatively, a similar sick world and a sober mind are described in Daodejing: “The multitude are jubilant as if enjoying a magnificent feast or ascending a terrace to command a view of spring scene. While I, alone and inactive, remain aloof and indifferent, like a baby that has not yet learned to smile. I am tired, like a homeless wanderer.”(in Chapter 20) Laozi believed that maintaining peace in our inner heart, indifferent to fame and fortune without competition or contention with others, is the key to health (translation mine from Zhang Chengbo, 2010, p.82). Fame and fortune are hidden like viruses in human’s life. Whenever humans over-pursue them, they will break out, breaking peace at heart and bringing damage to health. Therefore, both Laozi and Thoreau gave priority to humans’ interests and advocate a simple life, which is beneficial to individuals and the world as well.

2.3 Laozi’s Unity of Body and Spirit and Thoreau’s Combination of Exercise and Quiescence

The heart-mind plays a central role in maintaining health in Chinese culture. To make our heart function smoothly and in good health, Laozi stressed the importance of the unity of body and spirit philosophically while Thoreau put it into practice by combining exercise and quiescence. Daodejing in Chapter 10 points out: “Body and soul are one, but can they avoid separation? Though concentrating on breathing exercises (Qigong) to be supple, can you finally become as supple as a baby? Though getting rid of your distracting thoughts for a deeper meditation, can you be devoid of blemish?” It means that when spirit and body are united, they can never be separated. We can keep calm when the changing world outside touches our senses. Here exercises like Qigong and meditation are very conducive to our health. As part of martial arts, “its (Qigong’s) core meaning is the art of life in general, including efforts, methods, and cultivated and embodied methods of living well” (Foust, 2016, p.6). In Chapter 16: “I try my best to be in an extreme emptiness of mind; I try to keep myself in a state of stillness.” Here, a set of rules is proposed to keep healthy. We should care about the state of our spirit and body as well and keep them in harmony. Moreover, body and spirit complement each other and will lead to a balanced and unified state of mind, which is greatly beneficial to health. This is a commendable contribution to traditional health science in China and is further illustrated in the Chinese philosophy Tai Chi or Gongfu, including “the training of one's body and emotions, not merely the ability to think well” (Foust, 2016, p.6).

For over two years, Thoreau practiced the ideology of alternation of movement and quiescence, caring about both body and soul as well. He was fond of exercise in his life. To begin with, he enjoyed himself in doing manual labor. As a good carpenter and mason, he himself built a small cabin with a chimney. Although the building was a bit rough and the work hard, he felt “cheerful” and “comfortable” (p.156). After solving the problem of accommodation, he was seen by others as “a diligent farmer” (p.157), and began to cultivate the land and grow crops. Instead of using farm tools, he worked manually, embracing what he termed “the labor of the hands” (p.157). However, he was joyful. He loved those growing beans, helping to put fresh soil about their stems, removing weeds, and caring for these beans from morning to night. He was extra gracious to the land. In return, the soil seemed to “express its summer thought” in bean leaves and blossoms (p.157). Red-browed birds also liked to sing songs along with the farmers in the field, songs for manual labor in an idyllic scene.

In addition to the fun field work, Thoreau liked walking. He liked to stroll in the village every day or two, listening to the endless gossips of his neighbors, “as the rustle of leaves and the peeping of frogs” (p.167), feeling relaxed and happy. He also enjoyed rambling in the woods, “hearing the creaking note of some unknown bird close at hand”, serenaded by owls and foxes” (pp.174-175), admiring the beautiful scenery of Walden in four seasons, watching the pond’s shores hundreds of times, tasting the delicious and colorful berries. He witnessed the creatures in the woods which either sang and danced harmoniously or fought and quarrelled noisily. “One who has not long frequented it or lived by its shores” (p.175) might not be able to discover its beauty.

Besides walking, Thoreau also liked swimming, often bathing in the crystal clear waters, in which “the body of the bather appears of an alabaster whiteness” (p.177). Sometimes, he would go boating on the lake and chase the laughter of the diving loons, but only to find that they are extremely fast and “unweariable” (p.235) and play hide-and-seek with the author. Diving birds, wild ducks, and the author all liked this pond and the nearby hills which were full of life and interest.

Exercise helps to keep people healthy, so does quiescence. After working and exercising, Thoreau would be reading widely and avidly. His cabin was suitable for serious reading. Homer's Iliad was always placed on the table or the bed. The noble idea in the classic works was a miracle that would never decay, giving him eternal enlightenment and inspiration. As the poet Mir Camar Uddin Mast said, “being seated to run through the region of the spiritual world, I have had this advantage in books, to be intoxicated by a single glass of wine I have experienced this pleasure when I have drunk this liquor of the esoteric doctrines” (p.99). Thoreau experienced the calm and sublime realm from the reading of classics, when he was detached and spiritually rich and happy. In addition to reading, Thoreau liked meditating in the forest. “I love the broad margin to my life. Sometimes, in a summer morning, having taken my accustomed bath, I sat in my sunny doorway from sunrise till noon, rapt in a reverie, amidst the pines and hickories and sumachs, in an undisturbed solitude and stillness” (p.111). As an important writer and thinker in the period of American Romanticism, Thoreau spent time thinking about the ultimate meaning of life, and “they (the seasons) were not the time subtracted from my life, but so much over and above my usual allowance” (p.112), as Foust pointed out, “it is through our engagement with these elements of nature that we find ourselves most alive” (Dull, 2012, p.231).

2.4 Laozi’s Worship of Dao and Thoreau’s Love of Nature

Laozi worshiped and respected Dao or Nature. Daodejing says in Chapter 51, “Dao begets all creatures; De (virtue) rears them; Substance gives them shape; Forces in opposition accomplish them. Therefore all creatures worship Dao and honor.” This means that Dao generates all creatures and virtue nurtures all creatures. In other words, Dao is the origin of all things and the universe and Nature includes all the plants, animals and things that exist in the universe (Gu, 2008, p.25). Therefore, all creatures worship Dao and cherish virtue.

Thoreau put Laozi’s ideology of worshiping and respecting Nature into practice.“Thoreau’s silent sage, the sage of Nature, observing or being filled by the quiet yet strong presence of nature has undoubted thematic overlaps with Daoism” (Scott, 2007, p.26). In the two years at Walden, Thoreau lived in harmony with Nature, in love with all forms of life. He observed Nature with joy and described Nature with admiration. He shared the beans he grew with woodchucks in the field. “The true husbandman will cease from anxiety as the squirrels manifest no concerns whether the woods will bear chestnuts this year or not, and finish his daily labor relinquishing all claims to his produce of his fields, and sacrificing in his mind not only his first but his last fruits also” (p.166). During the snowy seasons, Thoreau’s cabin was a gathering place for winter animals. The owl’s hooting sounded sonorously and the first three syllables somewhat like “how are you?” The sound of the wild goose, the bark of the fox, the scramble of the squirrel, the red squirrel, the black tit to grab the cob, etc., and the loving hare living under the floor in the hut, to Thoreau those were dialects and slang from different animals. “If you have a discriminating ear, there were in it elements of a concord such as these plains never saw or heard” (p.272). And he asked, “What do you mean by alarming the citadel at this time consecrated to me? Do you think I am ever caught napping at such an hour and that I have not got lungs and a larynx as well as yourself?” (p.272) The birds set up a nest by his hut as their asylum, and the young birds looked at him curiously with their innocent and intelligent eyes. Their eyes were as clear as gems, and those who were not close to Nature could not meet such a “limpid well” (p.227). As a vegetarian practitioner and advocate, Thoreau believed that only stupid and cruel hunters would shoot them and turn them into delicious food. As a result, the ecological and thoughtful image of Thoreau who loved Nature and respected all living things suddenly appears in the book, demonstrating the win-win relationship of equality and mutual benefit of man and nature. Humans are faithful guardians and devout protectors of everything in nature, rather than opponents and conquerors. As Daodejing suggests, “What is good, I treat with goodness; what is not good, I also treat with goodness.” (in Chapter 49) This fully embodies Thoreau’s modesty and tolerance, which helps to achieve peace of mind and make the neuroendocrine regulating system function at the best state, thus enhancing the body’s immunity.

Dao works in its own way and is always on the move. What exists in the world such as life and death is recycled and natural. “It (Dao) relies on nothing, moving around forever. We may regard it as the mother of all things” in Chapter 25. “Dao takes what is natural as its model” (in the same chapter). Therefore, Laozi believes it is great. To Thoreau, life is rich in various forms, so its gains and losses, wear and age, sickness and death, should all be respected. Anxiety about those problems will be incurable diseases. Instead, Thoreau respected and appreciated all forms of life. “Every morning was cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity and I may say innocence with Nature herself. I have been as sincere as a worshipper of Aurora as the Greeks” (p.88). The sun was new every day, “renew yourself every day; do it again and again; and forever again.” (p.88). Accompanied by the sounds of Nature and the refreshing fragrance in the air, he believed that every day had an earlier and more sacred dawn. He was alone by the lake, but he never felt lonely, nor did he bear the pressure and burden of loneliness. “I found it wholesome to be alone the greater part of my time. I love to be alone. I never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude” (p.135). In solitude, his whole body “imbibes delight through every pore” (p.129). He strolled in nature, integrated and harmonized with it. He said, “all health and success does me good” (p.78), and he even thanked and held awe for illness, so that he realized the beauty of birth, wear, disease and death. Health is beauty, and death is beauty as well. Thoreau is able to perceive life with the same mentality and mind like Laozi, complying with the law of Nature and grateful to everything around. His spirit inspires generations to pursue a healthy and positive life.

3 The Connection of Laozi’s Daodejing and Thoreau’s Walden

Although Laozi in the East and Thoreau in the West two thousand years later did not directly mention the concept of health in their works, the two great minds thought alike on health and life. Hence the sources of their views on health are worth exploring.

3.1 The Source of Laozi's View on Health in His Daodejing and its Impact on the World

The essence of Chinese philosophy is the spirit of life (translation mine from Li Xia, 2004, p.1), that is, the fundamental implication of traditional Chinese philosophy is to care for life and to pay attention to the existence of life itself and the issues related to it. Chinese philosophy focuses on caring for people’s life instead of valuing logical thinking (translation mine from Zeng Peiqi, 2013, p.16). In the surviving medical literature on physical and macrobiotic hygiene, the ancient Chinese practices for maintaining health and prolonging life like dietetics, exercise, cultivation etc, were introduced in the Mawangdui medical manuscripts (Harper, 2009, p.6-7). As early as in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of the pre-Qin Dynasty, Laozi in his Daodejing worked to solve the social chaos at that time and to cure the ills of the Zhou Dynasty. The concept of “Dao”, proposed to encourage people to reach the realm of “Dao” such as self-cultivation, correct treatment of birth, wear, sickness and death, conforming to nature, etc, is related to the existence of human life and the science of life. The dominant source of this spirit of life is The Book of Changes, and its implicit source exists in the will of life in ancient myths and the worship of life in primitive religions (translation mine from Li Xia, 2004, p.1). Care of life in ancient classics has a great influence on Laozi as a historian. The Book of Changes, in which the entire universe is regarded as a life system, constitutes one of the theoretical sources of Laozi and Daoist views of life. The will of life in ancient Chinese myths has a profound impact on Laozi. Myths such as “Pangu Created the World”, “Kuafu Chased the Sun” and “The Bird Jingwei Filled up the Sea” all reflect the pursuit of life with the strong will which is well expressed through Laozi’s mythical thinking and retro complexity (translation mine from Li Xia, 2004, p.5). The worship of Mother, Father and reproduction in primitive religions has become important sources of traditional culture, especially of Confucianism and Daoism in later Chinese generations.

As a major classic in Chinese philosophy, Daodejing has a profound influence on Chinese philosophy, politics, economy and life. Professor Hu Shi said that Laozi is the pioneer of Chinese philosophy and the first true philosopher in the history of Chinese philosophy. The writer and thinker Lu Xun also said that if one does not read Daodejing, he does not know Chinese culture, nor does he know the true meaning of life. The significance of Daodejing in the world is becoming increasingly prominent, and more and more Western scholars are sparing no efforts to explore its mysteries. As early as the 16^th century, Daodejing began its western journey. At present, it has been ranked first among Chinese works translated into other languages (Xin, 2008, p.9). The European translations of Daodejing in the 17^th and 18^th centuries were mainly made by missionaries, mostly in Latin. After Daodejing began its journey to the west, an upsurge of studying Laozi’s doctrine occurred in the western countries and the English versions have surpassed those in European languages. Victor H Mair, a famous American scholar of Chinese classics, pointed out in the preface of his translation of Daodejing: “Dao Te Ching is the most translated book in the world. Well over a hundred different renditions of the Daoist classic have been made into English alone, not to mention the dozens in German, French, Italian, Dutch, Latin and other European languages” (Mair,1990, p.xi). The influence of Daodejing in the Western world has been at all levels, and the earliest might be on religion. Some theologians have recognized the relationship between the Dao which generates everything and the Creator, so they have used the Chinese classics to explain Christianity. In addition, the claims of “freedom” and “non-intervention” in Daodejing affect Western politics and economics. For example, that “the best government is a government that makes people unaware of its existence” has become the origin of modern democracy. Adam Smith’s theory of “free economy” also echoes “Dao”.

The greatest influence of Daodejing in the West is on Western modern philosophy. In the theories of major philosophers such as Bunitz, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and others, we can see the shadow of Laozi’s thought. Some thinkers, aware of the crisis of western culture, attempt to use oriental philosophy represented by Daoism to make up for their own deficiency. From this, it is evident how profound  the influence Laozi and his Daodejing has on the Western world (translation mine from Zeng Peiqi, 2013, p.24).

3.2 The Origin of Creating Thoreau’s Walden and His Daoist Thought

A dramatic change took place in the United States within one hundred years from the War of Independence to the beginning of the Civil War. With the rapid development of capitalism, deforestation, and railway construction and continuously expanding commercial space westward, the industrialization destroyed natural resources and local cultures. Most people were desperately working for fame and fortune, without paying attention to spiritual comfort. They, spiritually empty and utterly fraudulent, resorted to unscrupulous means to pursue wealth. Thoreau, described as “a defender of the threatened natural landscape” and “a keystone species in the ecology of environmental history” (Curtis, 2010, p.38), was particularly distressed by the indulgence of human beings in the pursuit of material wealth, which was a disease of the times. He wanted to awaken the world like a doctor and treat “the illness”, which reflects the Daoist principles of ideology: averting wealth accumulation, and pursuing the joy of spiritual sublimation. He also cared about social justice. His “Civil Disobedience” shows his fraternity, and also reflects the ideal society advocated by Daodejing: conforming to Nature and doing things by non-doing, so that human beings can reach the realm of truth, goodness and beauty. As the scholar Wang Guanglin pointed out, Walden is the author’s pursuit of purity and of the ideal world that has been lost. Purity means returning to the life of spring, to youth and to vibrant feelings (translation mine from Thoreau, 2013, p.5). Isn’t this a state of physical and mental health?

Researchers both at home and abroad think that Thoreau is closer to Daoism in his temperament, and he is the American writer most influenced by Chinese classical thought. Lin Yutang, in his “The Feast of Life”, points out that Thoreau is “the most Chinese of all American authors in his entire view of life” and that he “could translate passages of Thoreau into my (his) own language and pass them off as original writing by a Chinese poet without raising any suspicion” (Lin, 1998, p.128). Chen Changfang, an expert on Thoreau in Taiwan, after studying the materials that influenced Thoreau’s philosophy, concludes that it is certain that Thoreau has read and studied the Daoist classics (Chen, 1991, p.90).

Some statements and research from the critics outside China also suggest that Thoreau may have received some influence from Taoist literature in one way or another. The reasons offered by David T.Y. Ch’en are representative of these arguments. His research in “Thoreau and Taosim” (1972) shows Walden is Confucian in form and Taoist in spirit, for the book is full of quotations from the Confucian books, while its ideas are essentially Taoist. As Lyman V. Cady points out that there are profound similarities between Walden and Daodejing, David insists that the affinities between Thoreau and Taoism are too striking to be mere coincidences. His research shows that there were sources of Daoist literature available to Thoreau by detailed text reading and analyzing. Research abroad below is quoted from Cheng Changfang’s work.

First of all, in his classic book The Orient in American Transcendentalism, the American scholar Arthur Christy describes some of the pioneers on orientalism known by Concord scholars, including a French sinologist JPA Remusat who translated Extrait D’un Memoire Sur Lao Tseu (Extract About Memoire of Laozi), a very important work, in which the similarities and differences between Daoism, Plato, and Pythagoras are discussed. As a member of Concord scholars, Thoreau may have read this translation. Secondly, Thoreau might have read the Taoist literature translated into French by G. Pauthier. Arthur Christy found that in Walden, Thoreau quoted from The Chinese Classic Work, Commonly Called The Four Books in French translated by the sinologist G. Pauthier who also compared Confucianism and Daoism in footnotes in his book Les Livres de l’Orien (The Oriental Hole Book), which may become another way for Thoreau to understand Daoist ideas. G. Pauthier’s interest in Daoism was no less than that in Confucianism, and he published Memoire Sur l’Origin et la Propagation de la Doctrine du Dao (On the Origin and Propagation of Daodejing) as early as in 1831 before Confucius et Mencius (Confucius and Mencius) translated in 1841. Since Thoreau owned a Confucius et Mencius, he might also have had that earlier translation of Pauthier’s. In 1837, Pauthier translated and published Daodejing in French and Latin with some further personal interpretation, some in conventional rhyme and some in average words, which seemed really messy and sophisticated. Thoreau mentioned in his diary: “in that confused heap, and what perhaps seemed a festoon of dried apple or pumpkin will prove a string of Brazilian diamonds, or pearls from Coromandel” (on Jan. 29, 1841). It may be true that no other work but Pauthier’s translated Daodejing is more relevant to Thoreau’s comments. Thirdly, David finds some indirect evidence in support of his supposition that Thoreau may have read Daodejing by examining Thoreau’s diary. For example, Thoreau wrote seven paradoxes irrelevant to each other on June 26, 1840 which bear close resemblance to those in Daodejing. “The highest condition of art is artlessness”( in Chapter 45). “Truth is always paradoxical” (in Chapter 78). “He will get the goal first who stands still”(in Chapter 7). “There is one let better than any help, and that is, let alone” (in Chapter 3). “By sufferance you may escape suffering” (in Chapter 22), etc. They are not all coincidental. Fourthly, it is also affirmed that Thoreau has probably read Daodejing from the fact of the rhyme and rhythm noticed by Pauthier in translating Daodejing and those in Chinese classics mentioned in Thoreau’s diary. Finally, David identifies parallelisms between Thoreau and Zhuangzi whose basic teachings are almost the same as Laozi’s.

David remains hopeful that subsequent scholarship will develop his thesis and identify several other points to argue for a specific influence of Daoism on Thoreau. And this paper of mine may meet David’s hope offering another piece of evidence to support the argument that Daoism may be one of Thoreau’s sources.

4 Conclusion

Ultimately, the goal of this paper has been to demonstrate how maintaining health is an important element in the classic works of both thinkers.For both Laozi and Thoreau, maintaining health figures prominently as one ideal in their philosophy and action. At the same time, it is worth acknowledging at least one apparent difference between the two. For Laozi, maintaining health is defined in words philosophically while for Thoreau, it is put into action. This difference may indicate the influence of Daoism on Thoreau although no specific lines of influence are being traced. Furthermore, both Laozi and Thoreau seek harmony and tranquility between the outside and the inner heart which is decisive to keep healthy according to traditional Chinese medical theory.

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