A quick look at Taoism
— Miscellaneous, Food-for-thought
In this post
Between religion and philosophy, taoism belongs to those Asian movements of thought that can seem cryptic to most westerners. Having lived my fair share of years abroad, especially in China, I would like to share with you today part of my knowledge on Chinese philosophy, which I was lucky enough to study at Tsinghua University.
A brief history of Taoism
Early apparitions
Even though Lao Tzu is sometimes considered the father of Taoism (see part 3), its origins are still blurry with a lack of founder or initiator. Nobody really knows where Taoism comes from, but it is likely it took its directive lines from different religions, philosophical ideas, ancient Chinese traditions or even shamanism. The School of Naturalists is a good example of that, as it might have been a leading inspiration for Taoism: both movements of thought share similar values and ways of learning. In addition, the Five Phases and the concept of Yin and Yang are core to both schools. Despite the lack of text from the early days of Taoism (which would have let historian reconstruct a timeline), the start of the movement presumably come from the Shang Dynasty (up to 1600-1056 BC).
The myth
Centuries after the first signs of Taoism, the historian Sima Qian, tells us the story of Lao Tzu: simple curator at the Royal Library in the state of Chu, and natural philosopher. Believing in the harmony of all things, Lao Tzu thought that people could effortlessly live together in a world where considering each other’s feelings was the norm, provided that everybody’s self-interest would be understood and known to not always be the interest of other people (...let that sink in for a moment).
Sima Qian's story describes a fed up Lao Tzu, frustrated by his inability to change the world and the way people live, disgusted by governmental corruption, pain, misery and his powerlessness, who would as a last resort, choose to exile himself. His decision came from a desire to reflect on his beliefs, and at last, find peace of mind away from society’s problems. After a long journey through China's mainland, Lao Tzu arrived at the western pass, whose gate was guarded by Yin Hsi. Yin Hsi demanded from Lao Tzu to write a book prior to leaving civilization forever and never coming back; Lao Tzu agreed. There was born the Tao Te Ching (The Book of the Way), a short text of arround 5,000 characters and 81 chapters. Once he felt his duty was accomplished, he put down his pen, handed the book to Yin Hsi, and walked through the western pass to vanish into the mist beyond. Despite Sima Qian stopping his story here, it is believed that following these events, (if the story is true) Yin Hsi would have then had the Tao Te Ching copied and distributed.
Understanding Taoism
The meaning
Before diving in into what is Taoism and how it is seen, I believe it is important to understand what it means. The word “Taoism” or “Daoism” is a character extension: Dao in Chinese (道) means The way, The path, and can also be interpreted as road, channel, doctrine, or line. This is a really important thing to note, as it gives a good introduction and impression of what is Taoism, before diving in deeper than the mere etymology of the word.
Even though “Taoists” is defined to be all people adhering to the doctrines or the practices of Taoism, I will call “Taoists” Chinese Taoism philosophers in the article, in order to avoid misunderstandings.
Ethics
Taoism focuses on many themes of the Tao Te Ching, such as naturalness, spontaneity, simplicity, not accepting one’s own desires, and on top of all this: Wu wei. This definition comes without surprise after learning where Taoism take its roots, however, it is important to remember that this trivial list of values, can not, and will never define Taoism as a whole, but merely as a glimpse of the way.
Wu wei
The term Wu wei (which can be quite ambiguous) constitutes the leading ethical concept in Taoism. Wei refers to an intention or any deliberated action (which can be quickly linked to the will), while Wu means “nothing of”, “lacking of” or “without”. In a practical manner, Wikipedia describes it as "a state of unconflicting personal harmony, free-flowing spontaneity and savoir-faire, it generally also more properly denotes a state of spirit or mind". In short: action thanks to inaction.
"Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend." - Bruce Lee
Taoist philosophy, suggests that the universe should work in ways that none can understand, and even if some could, it would lack sense trying. Transgressing or opposing oneself against the cycle of change (defined especially by life, death, nature, energy, inherent change, ...), is disrupting the balance in place: doing this may more likely trigger accidental reactions in full contradiction to the expected outcome. Taoists texts (such as the Tao Te Ching), often compare Wu wei to water and its capacities: water destroys, brings life, adapts, stays still, runs through... all this only by being its own nature. The interesting part of Taoism is that it does not judge someone's resolution as the problem, accepting the flow of life, nature, and unavoidable consequences is already moving towards a better outcome. Being like water is acting without acting, making progress effortlessly and getting closer to Tao, all that without taking any action.
Cosmology
Lot of spiritual traditions have a more or less defined cosmology: a story about how the universe came to life, how it is perceived and how everything came to existence. Taoism is no exception, but is particular in the sense that there are no deities or gods, Taoism is focused on the world’s energy or elemental principles. It may feel quite unusual or disturbing for someone coming from a different religion/philosophy, but this cosmologic distinction can be found in many Chinese philosophies.
First, there was nothing but the void, sometimes known as Wu Chi (remember the meaning of Wu: the lack of something, life energy in this case). However this void is also known as Tao, the universal energy from which all things emanate, and from this vast universe (Tao), one day, the One emerged. As the One appeared and took place into the world, it divided into two: the yin and the yang, the inaction and its complementary action. This precise moment signs the apparition of duality and / or polarity in Taoism: the Unity is not perfect anymore, but the search of completeness will seek the lost perfection. This “dance” between yin and yang, action and inaction, good or bad, virtue or sin, is nothing but the fuel of life in Taoist cosmology. The continual transformations and movements define the chi (also known as Qi), split between its condensed material state and its diluted energetic state.
From this point on (the apparition of duality), five new and very well-known elements took place:
- Earth, central phase
- Water, greater yin
- Metal, lesser yin
- Fire, greater yang
- Wood, lesser yang
Less important pillars of Taoism are the eight trigrams (Bagua) which form the sixty-four hexagrams of the I Ching (also known as Yijing). From the One's and the Ying Yang's division, came to life materials needed to the making of the phenomenal world. Then came the ten-thousand things. These things represent all that is: all things that exist or that will be of existence, all the objects, inhabitants, and every little or big things that we, humans, experience. People are part of the ten-thousand things, by being human we are not above nor we are below, we are not different nor dissociated from the natural way of things described by Taoist cosmology. This part is key because it completely diverges from other common beliefs (most religions think of humans as the center of the universe or as beings far beyond the concept of animals). For Taoists, humans have no purpose and are not the ultimate making of a God, in fact, each one should learn to balance the five elements within himself. The combinations and the importance given to each of them will define the person, who should embrace spiritual growth and change.
It is completely senseful to understand this story as the steps describing the transformation from spirit to body (us). Stories describe people being able to ascend back to their original energetic state through meditation or alchemy, opening for themselves a path to Tao. In my opinion, without even questioning the veracity of these texts, trying to access Tao contradicts dreadfully with what the doctrine is trying to teach people, where humility and accepting the flow of life are basics.
Three treasures
The three treasures or the three jewels are a way of mixing together three decisive values of Taoism. First we have cì (慈), the compassion or the understanding of one another, then there is jiǎn (俭), the moderation or not wanting / getting more than what is needed. Last but not least bùgǎn wéi tiānxià xiān (不敢为天下先), humility or not thinking of oneself as bigger or more important that humans are: the sentence translates to “Not daring to act against the heavens”. The three treasures are sometimes referred to with other names or other values, but the main meaning stays the same: one shall not forget what he is or where he comes from; even though we are important to others and must show compassion, we are nothing compared to the immensity of the universe and the way of things.
Theology
As said previously, Taoism can be defined as pantheistic, meaning that for Taoists, the universe is identical to divinity, there are no named gods because the only thing needed to observe and respect, is the nature of things. This contrasts dramatically with most of other religions, which use anthropomorphic concepts of God. In this sense, Taoism is more a way of life than a religion in itself, it does not want you to pray to anything, make demands or sacrifices, but only encourages you to find the way. The only exception to this rule, may be the existence of the Three pure ones at the top of the pantheon of deities; Lao Tzu is considered to be the incarnation of one of the Three purities and worshipped as the true ancestor to this philosophical doctrine. Event though nearly all of theme have linked notions of cosmology, different branches and views of Taoism have differing pantheon of deities. Once again, being a Taoist or making one with the Tao does not indicate (most of the time) a union with an eternal spirit or a will to get closer to divinities, it is only about understanding what the best course of action for oneself and others should be.
Two well-known Taoists
Lao Tzu ~(6th - 4th BC)
Lao Tzu or Laozi (in Chinese: “old master” or “master Lao”) is the first alleged philosopher of Taoism and the author of the book Tao Te Ching. It is today believed that this book could not have been written by only one person, but the influence of Lao Tzu was confirmed, as he is to this day, venerated as a philosopher, even in Confucianism. Despite his historical importance, we do not know a lot about Lao Tzu, Sima Qian wrote his biography in his book Shiji, but as said before: myth, legend and reality usually mix to create history, Sima Qian had in fact, not much solid information concerning the philosopher in question. Talking about legend, a supposed interview has occurred between Lao Tzu and Confucius, it is said that the future Taoist blamed Confucius for his pride, his ambition and his ego. Impressed, Confucius described Lao Tzu as a rising dragon, soaring through the sky, riding on the winds and the clouds. Skipping his early part of life, not less legendary is the voyage of Lao Tzu to the west. Realizing that the actual dynasty was in decline (Zhou dynasty at the time), he departed and arrived at the Xiangu pass, where the story of the guardian and the book happened. As disappointing as it may be, Lao Tzu completely disappeared after getting passed the guardian, however, he remained in the hearts and head of people and he never ceased to be mainly respected in all circles of China. To the Confucians he was a venerated philosopher; to the people he was a saint or a god; and to the Taoists he was an emanation of the Tao and one of their greatest divinities.
Sun Tzu (544 - 496 BC)
The Art of War is a well-known book concerning global strategy and warfare intelligence. Its writer (Sun Tzu) was a Chinese general living in ancient China, philosopher in his spare time, his influence spread from Eastern Asia to the whole world, with military thinking and stratagems used in all eras of time; the book's usage grew with its arrival in Western cultures, where it is known to have been used during WW1, WW2 and the cold war. How would military be linked to Taoism should you ask? Well, Sun Tzu's way of thinking actually goes hand in hand with the doctrine, where compassion and acceptance are major. In fact, his book does not list ways to win battles or to bring ennemies to their knees, only approaches to combat aiming to circumvent the latter (combat without combat sounds a lot like action without action doesn't it?). Wikipedia tells us with precision: "His works focus much more on alternatives to battle, such as stratagem, delay, the use of spies and alternatives to war itself, the making and keeping of alliances, the uses of deceit, and a willingness to submit, at least temporarily, to more powerful foes."; his will to avoid unneeded wars as much as possible is nothing but the smartest way to stay victorious. Similarly, there is no need to jail yourself into the choices your emotions (anger, greed, vengeance...) offer you, when other advantageous outcomes exist through simpler and more balanced actions.
Conclusion
This philosophical, ethical and religious tradition of Chinese origin, emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao. Some would say that Taoism is neither a religion, nor a philosophy, but just like its etymology, it is nothing else that a way of doing: trying to explain what the Tao is makes no difference to its followers; the essence of Taoism is going through a simple life in balance with nature. When thinking back about the duality of things, Taoism is about knowing how to balance what is given to you: neither too much nor not enough. Between 15 to 20 million people still follow this doctrine (mainly in South-East Asia), but through Buddhism and other Chinese traditional religions, more than 100 million people use or have used principles of Taoism in their daily life.
Sources
- wikipedia
- learnreligions.com
- nationalgeographic.com
- theschooloflife.com
- Medium - The principle of Wu wei
- My Chinese philosophy courses and documents