Taoism, although an ancient Chinese religion, is still an active and popular religion and philosophy that has survived due to its history and its doctrine, thus proving that a nascent philosophy from ancient times can still be viable and relevant for humanity’s daily life.
Although there is no specific date of the creation of Daoism, many legends shed light onto the history of the origins of this way of life. Lao-Tze, meaning the “old philosopher”, is known as the “founder of Taoism” even though it is “not clear whether [or not] he [is] a real person” (Hays). Lao-Tze supposedly lived during the Zhou dynasty in China where he served as a librarian and astrologer for the Zhou emperor (Hays). There are many legends surrounding this mythical creator. From his being “conceived by a shooting star” and born as a wise old man “after being carried in his mother’s womb for 81 years” (Hays). Another infamous legend of Lao-Tze describes him “[climbing] on a water buffalo and [setting] off in the direction of…Tibet” where he “write[s] down Tao Te Ching (The Way and its Power), a short…synopsis of his beliefs” in a single night (Hays). This absurd birth as well as his interactions with Confucius cause Lao Tze to be considered a mythical philosopher. It is during the Han dynasty that Daoism was firmly established as a religion and philosophy (Hays). However the organization quickly fell apart as sects began straying from Lao Tze original beliefs and cult’s developed with esoteric beliefs and improper rituals in hopes of achieving immortality. Through the centuries it has varied from organized religions, crude rituals, and ethical philosophy.
The religious aspect of Taoism, called “Tao Chiao”, combines varying Taoist beliefs with myriads of dei...
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...ilosophy, a Religion, and a Way of Life." Taoism 21 Century. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2014. < http://taoism21cen.com/Englishchat/essay19.html>
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After watching the documentary The Long Search: Taoism: A Question of Balance—China, I am totally surprised by the details in the video, which explain every single aspect of people’s daily life in Taiwan as religious, especially Taoist. Since China does not consider itself as a nation of religious beliefs and practices, I do not actually think of what Chinese people do everyday as religious. However, after studying Religions in China for a semester, I finally realize that all the Chinese traditions and beliefs have evolved as a mixture of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. As a result, it all makes sense to see in the video that Taoism is a dominant religion that has deeply influenced individuals’ life in Taiwan.
...oundation of all living things that exist in this world. The mission of Taoism is not to force its beliefs on people, but to help them realize their inner-self and guide into a happy life in harmony with nature. To best summarize Taoism a quote from Lao-Tse can be used: "We believe in the formless and eternal Tao, and we recognize all personified deities as being mere human constructs. We reject hatred, intolerance, and unnecessary violence, and embrace harmony, love and learning, as we are taught by Nature. We place our trust and our lives in the Tao, that we may live in peace and balance with the Universe, both in this mortal life and beyond." There are thousands of religions that offer endless solutions to end suffering, to restore peace and unity in the world. For decades philosophers tried to come up with ways to find happiness, but in the end there was only one answer. The answer came from a some would call silly, others wise bear by the name of Winnie-the-Pooh, who discovered the secret for happiness in and old religion, founded by a great master Lao-Tse. This religion became the answer for the endless search for happiness and the answer was Taoism.
"Main Concepts of Taoism: Yin and Yang." Taoism and the Taoist Arts. April 2002. http://www.taoistarts.net/main.html#yin LeGuin, Ursula K. The Lathe of Heaven. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers Inc., 2000.
24 Amore, Roy C. and Julia Ching. The Buddhist Tradition. In Willard G. Oxtoby, Ed. World Religions: Eastern Traditions. P. 221
...ccording to it. It is the level of understanding and respect a Taoist has with nature, everyone around them, and everything. This mystery is the last feature that is important to defining a religion.
Taoism follows a much different idea of the "chain of being," than that of the other major religions (i.e. Hinduism, Judeo-Christian, Islam), which is very important in consideration of the ecological sensibility which stems from it. As opposed to a God-over-man-over-nature view of the world, Taoism states:
Lao Tzu believed that Tao is a natural thing. He believes that you come by it or you realize its presents and experience it. The best way for me to explain how Lao Tzu perceives the Tao is to take it directly from our reading in Molloy, “The Doa cannot be named because it has no form. But the Dao can be experienced and followed by every individual thing that has a name (213).” Lao Tzu used Tao as a way of being and living in harmony with nature. Lao Tzu believed that Tao came to you by using his teaching of Wu Wei, Simplicity, Gentleness and Relativity (217-218).
Confucianism and Daoism are two influential schools of thoughts that have existed in ancient China around the 6th century BCE. The former, led by the politician and philosopher Confucius, proposed that humans live in society according to a set of predefined rules and that they transform society through political action. Whereas the latter, led by the philosopher Lao-Tzu, promoted the idea of inaction; people should go with the flow instead of taking action to control their lives and dominate their surroundings. Although, at first glance Daoism and Confucianism seem to be two opposing philosophies, a more in depth analysis of two of their key ideas –filial piety and education—reveals that they do share some similarities.
"Holy Mencius (Chinese): Book 3 - Part 3." Holy Mencius (Chinese): Book 3 - Part 3. Ishwar, n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. .
“The whole character of Chinese popular religion flows in the direction of plethora of rituals and obligations without much discernable doctrinal underpinning” (Corduan, 2012, p.410). The Chinese popular religion has gravitated away the gods of Buddha and Daoism and captured the philosophy of luck and materialism (Corduan, 2012), while it “is less concerned with philosophical issues and
Kaltenmark, Max. Lao Tzu and Taoism. Translated by Roger Greaves. Stanford: Stanford University Press. 1969.
As one of the greatest founding novels of Taoism, Book of Chuang Tzu serves to strengthen Lao Tzu 's arguments in Tao Te Ching and lays the foundation for Taoism 's place in Chinese philosophy. Because Confucianism and Taoism are two competing philosophy schools that share more outstanding differences than similarities, the followers of both schools often refute and evaluate the ideals of the opposite school. However, the constant appearance of Confucius as the main character in more than twenty chapters in Book of Chuang Tzu not only surprises the readers, but also calls for deep analysis of the roles played Confucius in order to understand the true meaning of this ancient literature. While Chuang Tzu criticizes many of the Confucian ideas
Philip J. Ivanhoe. Confucian moral self cultivation. New York : P. Lang, vol. 3, 1993.
Even though Taoism and many other folk religions have shaped the Chinese mind, Confucianism remains, by any historical measure, its chief mentor” (Novak 113). Therefore, since the two religions grew up together, there are similarities, such as their views on humans, attempting to find harmony in life and in nature, and serve as guides for their followers through self-cultivation and improvement techniques. Confucianism believes that their congregation should have human conduct over the idea of God in their lives, whereas Taoism is formed on the belief that its congregation should create a relationship with nature. This is pointed out by Smith in Experiencing the World’s Religions, “Confucius represents the classical, Lao Tzu the romantic; Confucius stresses social responsibility, Lao Tzu praises spontaneity and naturalness; Confucius focus is on the human, Lao Tzu’s on what transcends the human” (Smith 218).
Lao-Tze founded Taoism around 550 BC. The goal in Taoism is achieve Inner harmony, pea...