Czy Tadeusz Miciński znał taoizm? O "Romansie Siedmiu Braci Śpiących w Chinach"

Abstract

The aim of this article is to examine how elements of Taoist philosophy are incorporated into Tadeusz Miciński’s one-act drama "The Ballad of the Seven Sleeping Brothers in China". Despite culturally syncretic references to Eastern philosophical systems, the author rarely referred to Chinese traditions of thought in his works. Published posthumously from manuscript, the ballad is therefore original in the context of Miciński’s oeuvre, both in terms of these references and its dramatic construction. It is interesting to note that the drama was written around 1910, the year when Polish translation of the Daodejing book was published under the title "Tao czyli Droga niebios czyli Doktryna najwyższego rozumu: (Lao-Tse i jego nauka)" ["Tao or the Path of Heaven or the Doctrine of the Supreme Reason: (Lao Tzu and His Teachings)"]. Taoism is one of the many aspects of the work that constitutes a reflection on the condition of the artist and evidence of Tadeusz Miciński’s exploration of Chinese religious-philosophical systems.