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Daoism

  • Living in harmony with Dao

    • Dao = the way

      • Dao, as described by daoism itself, = the way of Nature; ultimate source/principle of order in the universe

        • An unseen force; less like a God, more like an energy

        • The origin of the universe

  • Story of Lao Tzu, “founder” of daoism

    • Born in 604 BCE after being conceived by a shooting star

    • Born 82 years old → very wise

      • Age is a mark of wisdom in China

      • Sought out during his time for his wisdom

    • Worked as a government archivist

      • Eventually got frustrated with corruption → left

        • Came across Han-Ku Pass, told to write down his teachings:

  • Tao Te Ching = foundation of daoism text, supposedly written by Lao Tzu

    • Brief to read, hard to dissect

      • Filled with many paradoxes

    • Name = “book of the way”

      • Helps with te → virtue acquired by being harmonious with dao

  • Chuang Tzu, “second founder” of daoism, 369-286 BCE

    • Wrote the text Chuang Tzu → filled with stories and lessons

      • Mainly about relativity of different things

  • Balance of yin and yang = daoism

    • Yin = negative, feminine, dark, weak, passive

    • Yang = positive, masculine, light, strong, active

    • Need both for balance

      • Advocates more of a need for yin since yang is found more often in sages (since they were all male)

      • One cannot exist without the other

  • Depicts death as one’s return back to dao

  • Sage = master of daoism; sees the basic foundation/unity of nature, not distracted by the complications of it

    • Wuwei = the act of harmony by not doing anything

      • Teaches to embrace the passive side of yin, suppress the active side of yang

    • Requires humility and noncompetition

    • Naturalness = being the way nature intended, not being pressured by social or personal standards

    • Naturalism = resisting the urge to meddle with nature

    • Nonagression

Daoism

  • Living in harmony with Dao

    • Dao = the way

      • Dao, as described by daoism itself, = the way of Nature; ultimate source/principle of order in the universe

        • An unseen force; less like a God, more like an energy

        • The origin of the universe

  • Story of Lao Tzu, “founder” of daoism

    • Born in 604 BCE after being conceived by a shooting star

    • Born 82 years old → very wise

      • Age is a mark of wisdom in China

      • Sought out during his time for his wisdom

    • Worked as a government archivist

      • Eventually got frustrated with corruption → left

        • Came across Han-Ku Pass, told to write down his teachings:

  • Tao Te Ching = foundation of daoism text, supposedly written by Lao Tzu

    • Brief to read, hard to dissect

      • Filled with many paradoxes

    • Name = “book of the way”

      • Helps with te → virtue acquired by being harmonious with dao

  • Chuang Tzu, “second founder” of daoism, 369-286 BCE

    • Wrote the text Chuang Tzu → filled with stories and lessons

      • Mainly about relativity of different things

  • Balance of yin and yang = daoism

    • Yin = negative, feminine, dark, weak, passive

    • Yang = positive, masculine, light, strong, active

    • Need both for balance

      • Advocates more of a need for yin since yang is found more often in sages (since they were all male)

      • One cannot exist without the other

  • Depicts death as one’s return back to dao

  • Sage = master of daoism; sees the basic foundation/unity of nature, not distracted by the complications of it

    • Wuwei = the act of harmony by not doing anything

      • Teaches to embrace the passive side of yin, suppress the active side of yang

    • Requires humility and noncompetition

    • Naturalness = being the way nature intended, not being pressured by social or personal standards

    • Naturalism = resisting the urge to meddle with nature

    • Nonagression