Daoism (Taoism)

Lecture Notes By Clinton Bennett, PhD

Lao Tzu (circa 600 BCE; although some date much later - 200 BCE) often called "founder".

Legendary figure/born from a star/old and wise from birth! Name means 'Old Boy'.

Credited as author of Daode Jing (Tao Te Ching; The Way and its Power).

He appears to have differed with Confucius on a number of issues (stories of their meeting! If so, may have thought Confucius an upstart/innovator, which he denies).

Like Confucius, Lau Tzu "built on" aspects of (pre-existing) Chinese thought e.g.

See the Book of Changes (I Ching; as early as 1,094 BCE), which teaches that 'conflict is, in the end, inner conflict' (1992 p 15)

Lau Tzu taught: the Dao is ultimately beyond comprehension but it is possible to live in harmony with its flow; it is "non-being" that produces "being"/"reality".

Opposites are necessary/no beauty without ugliness/good without bad (universe "is"/it is beyond good and evil; good/evil as relative - too much or too litle/in balance, both are eliminated!): 'The Tao does not take sides: it gives birth to both good and evil' (Tao Te Ching, 5).

While Confucius wanted ACTION and good government, Lau Tzu advocates quietism (the famous wuwei); go with the flow of the Dao, do not assert yourself against it. However, Confucius also believed that the best way to rule was to act and to be virtuous, then people will do what is right.

Nature is not to be conquered/controlled but "ridden". 'When man interfers with the Tao, the sky becomes filthy … yielding is the way of the Tao" (40).

Organisation (social, political) invites chaos/little or no government is best (thus Daoism has been called anarchic/individualistic/it supported de-centralization of power): 'If you want to be a great leader, you must learn to follow the Tao. Stop trying to control. Let go of fixed plans and concepts and the world will govern itself. The more prohibitions you have, the less virtuous people will be' (57).

Education corrupts human nature!

Morality or te is innate/to impose rules endangers te (people act correctly because of the rules not because of genuine goodness!.

Harmony/contentment lies in discerning the "flow"/simple life (no excess)/no aggression.

Search for immortality; "if we can realize that our true selves are nothing but nature itself, we will identify ourselves with nature and obtain immortality ... chi pervades the whole cosmos, all living and non-living things. In its original state, chi is void, quiet and simple, but in humans this chi is active and dynamic and disturbed by desires. What we have to do is to lead active chi to a quiet state of the cosmos by reducing desires ..." Xinzhong Yao, "Chinese Religions", 1994 (Attitude to Nature, ed J Holm, Pinter).

Philosophical/secular Daoism focuses on interpreting The Way and Its Power.

No "ritual"/the Dao cannot be influenced. The Tao can not be defined, although it pervades everything; 'The great Tao flows everwhere' (34).

'All things end in the Dao' (32).

'The tao gives birth to One, One gives birth to three [Yin and Yang], the Three gives birth to all things' (42)

'The Taon that can be spoken of is not the eternal Tao … Free from desire, you realize the mystery' (1) (note Buddhist-like non-attachment).

'Empty your mind of all thoughts. Let your heart be at peace' (16) might easily have been written by a Zen master.

techniques to discern the true relationship between "self" and the Dao

t'ai-hsi (breathing exercise) - to acquire inward vision (of divinity of human organs/the Dao within).

shou-i (meditation) - union with the One/with nature/with the Cosmos.

adds heaven and hell and "divinities" - Lau Tzu, Ling Bao (head spirit), and the Jade Emperor (mythic ruler) - rules heaven and earth (thus, the Emperor mediates between the two realms)

this gave people divinities to worship/Temples, and validated Imperial system (built on ancestor-veneration).

adds: esoteric/secret rituals (known only to initiated priests) to exorcise demons/spirits/heal the sick/feng - shui (discern patterns in nature) ensure harmony with Dao/harmony of inner-self (Yin/Yang)/organs (5 organs link with the Five elements (spirits link with objects/priests enjoy relationship with spirits/ a hierarchy reflects this.

harmony with nature = prosperity = long life = good afterlife.

off-shoots

Chinese medicine -techniques for diagnosing/curing illness

Wood = Liver = love

Fire = heart = propriety (right order/balance)

Earth = spleen = trustfulness

Metal = lungs = righteousness

Water= kidneys = wisdom

Positive view of nature/reverence for environment.

Tao Te Ching, translated by Stephen Mitchell (1988), New York, Harper Perennial.

The I-Ching or Book of Changes, translated by Brian Browne Walker (1992). NY, St Martin's Griffin.

© 2000 Clinton Bennett