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
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