Daoism

Daoism (originally spelled “Taoism” in English) is one of the four major native religions of China the other three being ancestor worship, Confucianism, and Buddhism after it merged with native Chinese rituals. It is also intimately connected with the development of Chinese herbal medicine as well as rituals associated with traditional weddings and funerals.

    Daoism rose out of the writings of Laozi (also spelled “Lao-tsu”), who was believed to have lived in the sixth century BCE, making him a contemporary of Confucius. Unlike Confucius, who traveled from state to state to campaign for political reform, Laozi lived apart from mainstream society, seeking longevity through experimentation with Chinese herbal remedies. His writings were originally collected into two books, but they were combined under orders of the Emperor Jing (156–141 BCE) during the Han dynasty into one book known as the Dao De Jing (often translated into English as The Way of the Dao, which is redundant, as Dao means “way” or “path”). In one passage, Laozi explains the Dao in the following fashion:


         Man conforms to Earth;
         Earth conforms to Heaven;
        Heaven conforms to Dao;
       and Dao conforms to the way of nature.



      Laozi’s work, written in the terse language of classical Chinese, contains only five thousand characters, making it open to varied interpretations over the centuries. Thanks to the influence of another Daoist philosopher, Zhuangzi (369–286 BCE), the Dao De Jing became enshrined as one of the pillars of classical Chinese literature. Zhuangzi elaborated on the concept of Dao, describing it as the life force within all things:

        Dao has reality and evidence but no action and form. It may be transmitted, yet not possessed. It existed before Heaven and Earth and lasts forever. It caused spirits and gods to be divine and Heaven and Earth to be produced. It is above zenith, yet not high; it is below the nadir, yet not low. It is prior to Heaven and Earth, yet has no duration.


      Daoism teaches that liberation of the human spirit or soul is achieved when a person lives in harmony with the empty, spontaneous, and natural essence of the Dao that is, the “way” or “path” of the universe. (Is it any wonder Daoism became extremely popular with the counterculture movement in America in the late 1960s and ’70s?) Longevity can be achieved by following the path of “nonaction” (in Chinese, wu wei) in other words, trying to live in harmony with nature.

     Today, Daoist priests often perform complex rites involving the healing of the sick, salvation of the souls of the dead, and exorcisms, and they have even been known to advocate certain sexual practices to promote immortality. Although Laozi had no intention of forming a religion, Daoist rituals have become intertwined with traditional and ancient folk religions in the countryside, and thus Daoist temples have existed in China for nearly two thousand years and have even developed a strict regimen of required studies for its priests.

    Daoist art, including surreal one could say trippy images of Daoist sages riding through the heavens atop fish and other assorted creatures, can be found in museums and temples throughout China.