Taoism and Buddhism helped smooth the ideological breach between the Han and Manchu people and offered a refuge in their highly expressive works of poetry and fiction. This study will single out Li Ju-chen as the representative author of the Ch'ing,and will examine his only novel,"Ching-hua Yuan" ("romance of the mirrored flowers",ca. 1820) in the light of the two Taoist canons, "Lao-tzu" and "Chuang-tzu". As a means of illuminating the philosophical similarities and aesthetic parallels between these three works, the discussion will focus on six points. (edited)