Taoism

:For other uses of the words "tao" and "dao", see Dao (disambiguation).

Early Taoism

Origins

Rooted in the ancient Chinese systems of beliefs, influenced by primitive shamanism and observation of natural cycles, Taoism recognizes Laozi as its founder and Zhuangzi as one of its most brilliant representatives. Early Taoism developed as an original answer to the bitter debates during the philosophically fertile time of the Hundred Schools of Thought, corresponding to the Warring States Period. Action through inaction (wei wu wei), the power of emptiness, detachment, receptiveness, spontaneity, the strength of softness, the relativism of human values, and the search for a long life are some of its preferred themes. Elements of primitive Taoist thought include the cyclic progression of seasons, growth and death of sentient beings and their endless generation, and questions about the origins of life. Observation of natural processes led to divine practices where the operator tried to detect opportunities in natural phenomena (like crackles made in bones).

Related Topics:
Shamanism - Laozi - Zhuangzi - Hundred Schools of Thought - Warring States Period - Wei wu wei

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The oldest Chinese scripture is said to be the I Ching, a compilation of readings based on sixty-four hexagrams. The hexagrams are combinations of eight trigrams or gua (collectively called bagua), resulting in sixty-four possible combinations. Laozi was intimately familiar with the I Ching, and his work, the Tao Te Ching, shows that he was profoundly inspired by it.

Related Topics:
I Ching - Bagua - Tao Te Ching

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Readings of the I Ching are based on the hexagrams, i.e., six lines that are either Yin or Yang. Each hexagram has two trigrams that provide the imagery that the reading is based on. The trigrams are "changing transitional states," generated on the simple basis of the alternation of Yin-Yang polarity. This is recognized in the saying "A (stage of) Yin, a (stage of) Yang, is what is called Tao" (???????). Tao is the underlying principle on which the I Ching is built. The cycle of Yin and Yang depicts the complements of opposite forces or qualities: creative-receptive, sunny-shady, male-female, heaven-earth, the sum total of life: the universe.

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During the Han dynasty, the Taoist school of thought gained disciples and defenders. It enlarged its audience and founded many religious sects with hierarchies of divinities and ritual practices. Taoist ideas and sects have been spiritually challenged by Buddhism and socially denigrated by Confucianism. However, a typically Chinese form of syncretism has generally allowed differing belief systems to coexist within society, even within the same person. Beyond the debates and confrontations, Taoism has remained a highly influential stream of thought in East Asia, with philosophy, art, poetry, medicine, and divination as its main domains.

Related Topics:
Han dynasty - Sects - Ritual practices - Syncretism - Philosophy - Art - Poetry - Medicine - Divination

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The Tao of Taoism

In Chinese thought, the word Tao often has the meaning of way—a space-time sequence. An individual walks a particular way, as does a village and even a country. Several schools of ancient Chinese philosophy used the term "Tao" to indicate their views on the proper conduct of individuals, the nature of human society, and the relationship of humans with the universe as a whole.

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In Taoism, the Tao (or "Great Tao") is the grand cosmic harmony. It is thus obvious, as Shen Dao argued, that everyone and everything follows the Great Tao. One may also speak of the Natural (sometimes "Heavenly") Tao. This would roughly resemble any course of history that conforms to the laws of nature—with the same consequence, and the idea that one need not try to follow it—one cannot fail. Both "nature's way" and the "great way" may inspire the typical Taoist detachment from moral or normative doctrines. Since Tao is thought of as the course by which everything comes into being, it seems hard to imagine that one must select from various accounts of its normative content. It may thus be seen as an efficient principle of "emptiness" that reliably underlies the operation of the universe.

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Other ways one might term "possible ways" or ways that actually serve as a guide (tao used as a verb). These, however, according to the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) are not invariable. That is, one may choose different guiding Taos, interpret them differently and disagree about their meaning. One may attempt to follow them and fail. These are prescriptive ways, such as the moral way of Confucius or those of Laozi or of Jesus. Nevertheless, the Tao Te Ching says that the nature of all things is beholden to the Tao, suggesting that even these paths will serve this ultimate principle.

Related Topics:
Tao Te Ching - Confucius - Jesus

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Sources of Taoism

As with most Chinese spiritual traditions, Taoism tried to find its justification in the earliest past and rooted itself in both legendary figures and ancient scriptures. It refers, mainly, to three sources:

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• The oldest is that of the mythical "Yellow Emperor", said to be the ancestor of all Han Chinese and to have invented the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine. In the legend, his wife Luo Zu taught the Chinese how to weave silk from silkworms, and his historian Cang Jie created the first Chinese characters.
• The most famous source is the book of mystical aphorisms, the Tao Te Ching, allegedly written by Laozi, whom legend depicts as an older contemporary of Confucius.
• The third source, the works of the philosopher Zhuangzi, is collected in the eponymous book.

Other books have developed Taoism, such as the True Classic of Perfect Emptiness, by Lie Zi; and the Huainanzi compilation. Additionally, many regard the ancient I Ching (The Classic of Changes) and related cosmogonical views of prehistoric China as an original source of Taoism. Finally, there are the myriad other books of the Taoist Canon, many of which purport to be from Laozi, the Yellow Emperor, or other originators of Taoism.

Related Topics:
Lie Zi - Huainanzi - I Ching - Taoist Canon

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Tao Te Ching

The Tao Te Ching (or Daodejing—The Book of the Way and its Power) emerged as a written text in a time of seemingly endless feudal warfare and constant conflict. According to tradition (largely rejected by modern scholars), the book's author, Laozi, served an emperor of the Zhou Dynasty (approximately 1122–256 BCE) as a minor court official. He became disgusted with the petty intrigues of court life and set off alone to travel the vast western wastelands. As he reached the point of passing through the gate at the last western outpost, a guard, having heard of his wisdom, asked Laozi to write down his philosophy, and the Tao Te Ching resulted. It should be noted that this is an allegory and that the western gate may refer to death.

Related Topics:
Laozi - Zhou Dynasty - Allegory

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Laozi reflected on a way for humanity to follow which would put an end to conflicts and strife. This became the original book of Taoism. The scholarly evidence (supported by a cluster of recent archeological finds of versions of the text) suggests that the book took shape over a long period of time in pre-Han China (before the 3rd century BCE) and circulated in many versions and edited collections until it was standardized shortly after the Han Dynasty.

Related Topics:
Conflict - Han

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Zhuangzi

Zhuangzi is often considered as one of the most brilliant and eccentric writers of classical Chinese literature. His work may be seen as a highly remarkable exception in the wide landscape of Chinese poetic essays: it may be the only one which does not focus on politics. With colorful language and imaginative illustrations, Zhuangzi used irony as a tool to undermine the rigidity of the Confucian system of values being built at his time.

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Influences

Taoist thought partly inspired Legalist philosophers, whose theories where used by Qin Shi Huang, founder of the Chinese Empire. The junction point can be found in the work of Hanfei Zi, a prominent Legalist thinker who commented the Daode Jing. Hanfei Zi used some chapters of the book to justify a structured society based on law and punishment and on the undiscussed power of the Emperor.

Related Topics:
Legalist - Qin Shi Huang - Hanfei Zi - Daode Jing

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Primitive Taoism is also partly responsible for the important resonance theory, elaborated during Han dynasty, that underlies many of the cultural productions of traditional China. If a common Tao is at the source of everything, then there must be a homothety between macrocosm and microcosm, a structural commonality between the world, the country, the family, and the individual. The commonality underscores the Five Elements theory: the five directions (including center) correspond to five seasons (including a buffer one) and to five tastes, or the five elements themselves. Because of this resonance between separate domains, an Emperor's familial disorder will result in natural disaster and political troubles. Though this theory has been questioned by Wang Hong, it displays the Chinese traditional reticence to exclusive categories.

Related Topics:
Han dynasty - Wang Hong

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Taoism and Confucianism

Taoism as a tradition has, along with its traditional counterpart Confucianism, shaped Chinese culture for more than 2,000 years. Taoism places emphasis upon spontaneity and teaches that natural kinds follow ways appropriate to themselves. As humans are a natural kind, Taoism emphasizes natural societies with no artificial institutions. Often considered skeptical and sarcastic about human values such as morality, benevolence, and proper behavior, many Taoist writers do not share the Confucian belief in civilization as a way to build a better world. Rather, they share the will to live alone in the mountains or as simple peasants in small autarchic villages.

Related Topics:
Confucianism - Natural kind - Autarchic

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