This teaching unit, designed for advanced high school students and average junior college students in a humanities oriented literature course, has one primary objective: to correlate similar thinking in two different time periods and locales. The philosophy of Taoism in ancient China and the philosophy of transcendentalism in nineteenth century America are examined and compared. The unit is divided into fifteen parts, each part representing one day of the unit; for each, that day's objectives as well as several teaching suggestions are given. The objectives include developing an awareness and appreciation of Chinese philosophy, translation problems in literature, and the writings of Walt Whitman, Lao Tse, Ralph Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau. Epigrams from these four authors are included in the handouts at the end of the document. (TS)