Turning further East: C.H.A. Bjerregaard and the esoteric enthusiasm for Daoism

The late nineteenth and early twentieth century saw a widespread interest in Asian religion within European and American esotericism. Whereas most of that interest was directed toward India, a number of representatives of the early twentieth-century esoteric environment turned toward East Asia in order to find what they hoped to be a spiritual solution to the problems of their time. One of these individuals was the Danish-American Theosophist Carl Henrik Andreas Bjerregaard (1845–1922) who wrote and lectured extensively about Daoism. Bjerregaard saw Daoism as an expression of the ancient wisdom which esoteric movements of his day sought behind what they believed to be the exoteric surface of the religions of the world. But if ancient wisdom was the same everywhere, why look for it in the religions of China about which little information was available to non-Chinese seekers and scholars in Bjerregaard’s day? And what did Daoism look like in the imagination of an early twentieth century Danish-American librarian? The chapter explores Bjerregaard’s writings on Daoism, placing them in the context of the early twentieth century esoteric fascination with China. It explores Bjerregaard’s understanding of Daoism while highlighting some of the cultural shifts in the interpretation of Chinese religion to which Bjerregaard himself participated in.