Sima Tan and the Invention of Daoism, “Legalism,”et cetera

Here's a short version: The “-ism” we invoke when we posit things like “Daoism” was glimpsed for the first time by Sima Tan . (d. 110 b.c.e. ), lord grand astrologer ( taishigong ) to the Han court. His essay “Yaozhi” (Essential points), included in the final chapter of his son Sima Qian's Taishigong , analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of six approaches to governance: Yinyang , Ru (known to us as Confucians), Mo (the Mohists), Fajia (called Legalists), Mingjia (called Sophists), and Daojia (or Daode , the supposed Daoists).