Author(s)

Qingyang Liu

Corresponding Author

Qingyang Liu

Abstract

The Taoism of “Tao follows nature” and “stillness and non-action” has great influences not only in Chinese culture, literature and art, but also on its neighbor Japan, especially the Japanese Edo period. The Edo period is the key period in Japanese cultural development, and it is also the mature period in the development of Japanese fusion on Taoism. Taoism has profound influences on Japanese Edo period culture, and literature, as an important part of culture, has great value. Matsuo Basho is an important writer in Japanese Edo period. This paper makes deep textual analysis on his works and compares it with the Taoism to investigate the propagation and fusion of Taoism in Japanese Edo period literature.

Keywords

Taoism, Natural inaction, Japanese edo period, Matsuo basho