Do the Dao (the way) in Confucianism and the Dao (the way) in Tao Te Ching/Dao De Jing (The Classic of the Way and Its Power) refer to the same thing? Why or why not? Give at least two direct quotes from the reading materials to support your argument

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Daosim (Taoism)

Daosim (Taosim)

• The perception of Confucianism during the late Zhou Dynasty: rigid; idealistic;

• Daoism, came to be highly influential as a type of counterbalance to Confucianism.

• The mainstream intellectual tradition of China’s educated elite may sometimes be pictured as a confluence of Confucian and Daoist tributaries

The Origins of Daoism • Scholars traditionally have traced the first “Daoist spirit” back to hermits who occasionally confronted Confucius and his disciples.

• Their ideas include • An appreciation for the rhythms of the natural world apart from

human society • An celebration of the isolated individual whose lonely stance

signaled a unique power of enlightenment

Laozi (the “Old Master”) According to Shiji ( chapter 63) “Records of the Grand Historian” (a work of early history of China finished around 94 B.C. by the Han dynasty official Sima Qian)

• Laozi was a native of Chu, a southern state in the Zhou dynasty • Surname is Li; Given name is Er • Laozi served as a keeper of archival records at the court of Zhou • Confucius had consulted him on certain ritual matters

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Major Daoist (Taoist) Works

• Dao De Jing “The Classic of the Way and Its Power” Ascribed to Laozi (the “Old Master”)

• Zhuangzi • Named after Zhangzi (Master Zhuang) who developed the

mature Daoist philosophical theory • “Inner Chapters” (1–7), written by Master Zhuang • “Outer Chapters” (8–22) • “Miscellaneous Chapters” (23–33)

Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching) “The Classic of the Way and Its Power” • One of the world’s most frequently translated books • consists of eighty-one brief chapters • Each chapter is a poem-like statement

Ink on silk manuscript of the Dao De Jing Found in the Tomb of King Ma in Han Dynasty

Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching) “The Classic of the Way and Its Power”

• Dao / Tao (“the way”)

• De/Te (“virtue” or “the power of the way”)

Characteristics of the DAO (The Way) • Is “the Dao (the way)” in Daoism similar to or different from

“the Dao (the way)” in Confucianism? • What are the characteristics of “the Dao (the way)” in

Daoism? • Namable? • In what forms does it exist? • What does Dao regulate？ • Who practice(s) it?

…….

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Characteristics of the DAO (The Way)

Unnamable and incapable of being spoke about

• “A Dao that may be spoken is not the enduring Dao. A name that may be named is not an enduring name”

(Dao De Jing, 1)

• “The Dao is ever nameless” (Dao De Jing, 32)

Characteristics of the DAO (The Way) • Something without form or sound or substance • The mother force of everything • Everlasting and unchanging

“There was something undefined and complete, coming into existence before Heaven and Earth. How still it was and formless, standing alone, and undergoing no change, reaching everywhere and in no danger (of being exhausted)! It may be regarded as the Mother of all things.”

(Dao De Jing, 25)

“Dao is empty (like a bowl). It may be used but its capacity is never exhausted…..Deep and still, it appears to exist forever.”

(Dao De Jing, 4)

“The Great Dao flows everywhere, at our every right and left. Relying upon it, the things of the world are born, yet it remains wordless; its work done it takes no name as the doer.”

(Dao De Jing, 34)

Characteristics of the DAO (The Way)

• Functions as the natural process of nature • Does nothing, yet accomplishes everything

“Man takes his law from the Earth; the Earth takes its law from Heaven; Heaven takes its law from the Dao. The law of the Dao is its being what it is.”

(Dao De Jing, 25)

“The Dao gives birth to one; one gives birth to two; two gives birth to three; three gives birth to the ten thousand things.”

(Dao De Jing, 42)

Characteristics of the DAO (The Way) • Who practice(s) the Dao?

• “When the best gentlemen hear the Dao they practice it earnestly. When middling gentlemen hear the Dao, sometimes they seem to have it, sometimes they seem to have lost it. When the least of gentlemen hear the Dao they laugh out loud. If they did not laugh out loud, it would not be the Dao.”

(Dao De Jing, 41)

• “If a king or lord could preserve it, the things of the world would come to him of themselves.”

(Dao De Jing, 32)

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Is “the Dao (the way)” in Daoism similar to or different from “the Dao (the way)” in Confucianism?

• In Confucianism, the “Dao” (or the “Way”) refers to the teachings and institutions of the sages from the past

• In Daoism, the “Dao” refers to the fundamental order of the universe

• governs all experience • The key to wisdom and human accompliments • Its essence cannot be captured in words

Key Terms in Dao De Jing (The Classic of the Way and Its Power”) De (Te) • The virtue (or power) that one has obtained from the Dao “(the way)”

• The virtue (or power) that enables a person to conform to the way in which Dao operates.

• Dao is the transcendent principle and De is its varied manifestation in concrete situations

Basic ideas of the Dao De Jing (The Classic of the Way and Its Power”)

The distortion of mind and language

• Mind -> Language

• Categories that Language creates -> Thoughts and Perceptions of the world

(e.g., value judgments)

• Our use of language has created false wisdom, and our commitment to this false wisdom has come to blind us to the world as it really is

Basic ideas of the Dao De Jing (The Classic of the Way and Its Power) Value relativity • We normally view the world through a lens of value judgments

• The universe itself possesses none of these characteristics of value.

• All values are only human conventions that we project onto the world.

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Basic ideas of the Dao De Jing (The Classic of the Way and Its Power”) Value relativity

“The five colors blind men’s eyes, The five tones deafen men’s ears, The five flavors numb men’s mouths.”

(Dao De Jing, 12)

Basic ideas of the Dao De Jing (The Classic of the Way and Its Power) Value relativity

“When everyone in the world sees beauty in the beautiful, ugliness is already there; When everyone sees good in the good, bad is already there. Thus existence and nonexistence give birth to each other, The hard and the easy complement each other, The long and sort stand in comparison to each other…..”

(Dao De Jing, 2)

Basic ideas of the Dao De Jing (The Classic of the Way and Its Power”) Nature as the Model • Human Experience: value judgements and planned action • Nature: spontaneity and freedom from value judgements • Images from nature (the aspects of the world not modified

by human activity) is associated with the Dao and can be used in some cases as models for people to emulate.

Basic ideas of the Dao De Jing (The Classic of the Way and Its Power”) Nature as the Model

“Highest good is like water: water benefits the things of the world and does not contend. Dwell in places that the masses of men despise. Hence (its way) is near to (that of) the Dao.”

(Dao De Jing, 8)

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Basic ideas of the Dao De Jing

“Non-striving” / “Effortless Action” (Wuwei)

• Human life is a small part of a larger process of nature • The only human actions which ultimately make sense are those

which are in accord with the Dao (the way) of Nature

• No one should have excessive desires because such desires are bound to cause injury both to oneself and to others

• ”Wuwei” did not mean doing absolutely nothing but doing nothing unnatural, nothing that was out of keeping with the Dao.

Basic ideas of the Dao De Jing “Non-striving” / “Effortless action” (Wuwei)

“The softest thing in the world dashes against and overcomes the hardest; that which has no (substantial) existence enters where there is no space. Hence I know the advantage of effortless-action (wuwei). The wordless teaching and the advantage of effortless-action – few in the world attain to these.”

(Dao De Jing, 43)

An association CEO found herself with a seemingly unsolvable dilemma. Her new president asked her to do something unethical: use association funds to pay for travel of his four top Latin American customers to the association’s trade show. Her supporters on the board secretly advised her to comply because they felt their businesses would be at risk;

Burton, S. 2000. ‘‘The Tao of leadership: beyond action and non-action,’’ www.gwsae.org/ExecutiveUpdate/2000/August/Tao.htm

Basic ideas of the Dao De Jing “Non-striving” / “Effortless action” (Wuwei)

“The Dao is ever non-striving (wuwei), yet nothing is undone. If a lord or king can preserve this, the things of the world will of themselves be transformed. Transformed, should desire arise, I will press it down with simplicity, which has no name. The namelessness simplicity-- surely then they shall be without desire. Without desire and thus still, so will the world be settled of itself.”

(Dao De Jing, 37)

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Basic ideas of the Dao De Jing The Daoist sage

• The greatest barriers to discard language and value judgments are our urges for things we believe are desirable

• Once we are part of the spontaneous order of Nature, nature presents no threat to us and we gain tremendous leverage over it.

• The person who embraces the spontaneity of “effortless action (wuwei)” and leaves self-interest behind obtains the “De (the virtue or power” of the Dao, and the person who possesses the “De” is a sage.

Implications of the Dao De Jing

The art of ruling Leading by seemly following “The best (rulers) are those whose existence is not known by the people. The next best are those who are loved and praised. The next are those who are feared. And the next are those who are despised.”

(Dao De Jing, 17)

“A skillful conqueror does not compete with people. One is skillful in using men puts himself below them. This is called the virtue of not-competing. This is called the strength to use men.”

(Dao De Jing, 68)

Implication of the Dao De Jing

The art of ruling

“Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish" (Dao De Jing, 60)

(Cited by Former US president Ronald Reagan )

Social harmony proceeds in accordance with its own internal rhythms without too much external action

Implication of the Dao De Jing

The art of ruling

“The way of heaven is to benefit others and not to harm. The way of sage is to act but not to compete."

(Dao De Jing, 60)

(Cited by Former Secretary-General of the United Nations: Ban Ki-moon )

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Later Interpretation of the Dao The HeShang Gong (the "Riverside Master") Commentary on Laozi's Dao De Jing • Dao represents the source of the original, essential qi-energy,

which in turn produces the yin and yang cosmic forces. • The “lighter,” more rarefied yang energy rises to form heaven, • The “heavier” yin solidifies to become earth. • A further “blending” of the two generates a “harmonious” qi-

energy that informs human beings.

Religious Daoism

The Divinization of Laozi (The Old Master) • The Laozi bianhua jing (the book of the Transformations of

Laozi), dating from the late 2nd century is the first of several works that mention one of the main features of Laozi as a deity: • Being a model of the Daoist sage • Periodically descending to earth in order to bestow

teachings to humanity and especially to rulers

Religious Daoism

• The Religious Daoists seek immortality through superstitious practices including divination, ritualistic ceremonies, and alchemy.

Daoist Temples

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The Two Main Daoist Ceremonies

The Offering (Jiao 醮) Ritual

• Performed by the Daoist priest to renovate the bond between the community and its Gods.

The offering ritual conducted in the Court of the Qing Dynasty

The Two Main Daoist Ceremonies

The Merit (功德Gongde) Ritual • A funerary ceremony performed to ensure that the deceased is not

kept in the netherworld but may ascend to Heaven.