When Buddhist missionaries arrived in China around the sixth century c.e. they came face to face with the highly organized religion of Taoism. Mollier (medieval Taoism, French National Center for Scientific Research [CNRS]) explores the confrontation between these two great religions. She traces the efforts on both sides to appeal to followers which resulted in an interpenetration of Buddhist and Taoist legend, practice and liturgy. Using original texts, some only recently discovered, Mollier covers the metamorphosis in science and medicine, as well as religion, which occurred when Buddhism and Taoism collided. Annotation (C)2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)