1.1
Introduction
The classical texts of Chinese Daoism - Taoism are
the Yi Jing易經 and the Dao
De Jing 道德經. Thus, the idea of Dao
could be calculated to be more than 5000 years old. The Dao De Jing is a connecting link between the preceding and the
following. It inherits the thoughts of the Yi
Jing (dated around 3000 BC), and settles down the foundation of the
development of Daoism - Taoism. The
author of Dao De Jing is Lao Zi 老子， the
Old Master. He was a contemporary of
Confucius, older than him by twenty years. Like Emperor Fuxi 伏曦，the
author of the Yi Jing, Lao Zi is also
a mysterious figure. It was said he was official historian of the Zhou Dynasty,
in charge of all the classical books of ancient sage-kings. His life must have
been passed between the dates of 570- 490 B.C., the dates of Confucius being
552- 475 B.C. [1] Though Confucius was
named as “The Teacher of all Ages”, he himself honored Lao Zi as his great
master, and visited him several times in order to understand the meaning of
“Dao - Tao”. Confucius once said: “If I can understand ‘Dao’ in the morning, I
would like to die in the evening!” It was obvious that Confucius was a humble
Dao- seeker. During his last visit, Lao Zi answered him with these words:” Now
I see that you have been closed to the soul of the Creator, this means you have
known what the Dao is.”
1.2 The
Profound Meanings of the Dao
Lao Zi didn’t
invent Daoism. Yet, his works, the Dao De
Jing, together with the Yi Jing,
became the foundation of Daoism. Dao 道means “way, principle, truth”; De 德means
“virtue”. Thus, the meaning of the Dao De
Jing is “the Book of Way and Virtue.” The text contains 5000 words, and
consists of eighty-one short chapters in poetic form. The Chinese scholar,
Joseph Needham, has described it as “without exception the most profound and
beautiful work in the Chinese language.” Similar to the Yi Jing, it offers the secrets of divine
creation.
It is
impossible to master Daoism without an understanding of the profound meanings
of the Dao. Lao Zi enunciates the identity of the Dao in Chapter 1 of the Dao De Jing as “without name before the
production of things, hence, she gets her name ‘Mother of all things’.” In Chapter 4, he points out
the Dao as “the origin of all things.” In Chapter 25, he defines
the Dao as “The being with the incomprehensible virtue of both sexes yin and yang,” and he goes further:” this first being is standing alone
without motion, before any (other) creature, she revolves the Universe without
erring from the way of truth; therefore, she is really the Mother of the
Universe.”
In Chapter 62, he reveals the Dao as “the abyss of all things”. In Chapter 6, he states the
Dao as the creative spirit. It reads: “the creative spirit dies not, aye the
same; the female mystery thus do we name.” In Chapter 42, he discloses
the procession of the Dao on creation:” The divine movement (Dao) generates the
One. The One generates the Second. The Two of them generate the Third. Three
generate all (created) things.” In Chapter 10, he praises
the great virtue of the Dao as the Creator: “(the Dao) produces all things and
nourishes them; she produces them and does not claim them as her own; she does
all, and yet does not possess them; she sustains all, and yet does not control
them. This is what is called ‘the mysterious virtue’ of the Dao.” Thus, we see that in the
Dao De Jing, this Supreme Being Dao is characterized as the Mother and ultimate
Way and Truth creating and directing the Universe.
We should
point out that this Dao is the origin of the Yi Jing. Similarly, the definition of the Dao in the Yi Jing is “Dao exists of the union of yin and yang.” In the Yi Jing,
Dao is also called shen (spirit), as
it says:” the abyss of the union of yin
and yang is shen 神, ‘spirit’.” And “Shen is the Being who creates all things and gives life to them.” Dao is Tiandao 天道，”the way
(law) of Heaven.” Both Dao and Tian天 (Heaven) mean the source of all
things, the almighty spirit and the virtue of heaven and earth as father - mother
of all beings, as yin and yang with the opposite virtues of all
beings in One.
Dao is “One 一” ，‘unity’, the principle or reason of all things. A commentary to the Yi Jing states that Fuxi 伏曦when writing
down the trigrams of the Yi Jing,
wanted to describe with the first line or unity
the first author of the creation, the real moderator of weather and time who
has been venerated since oldest times by the names of Di 帝 or Shangdi 上帝. Di, or Shangdi is called spirit because he (or she) 祂 moves everything
and gives life to all things. But unity is also the principle of all following
strokes of the trigrams, of even and uneven numbers, which mean the double
virtue of yin and yang, constituting the fullness of the
fecundity of the divine spirit shen 神, shown in
the first line.
Thus, we see
many meanings and names for the Dao. There is one truth and spirit of all these
terms. That is, “the Dao”, “the way”, “the truth”, “Mother of all things”,
“Mother of the Universe”, “the origin of all things”, “the abyss of all
things”, “spirit”, “Heaven”, “unity”, “Di or Shangdi”, all are the attributes
of divinity, and the inscrutable ways to name for the One Creator.
We also see
that, though the Dao exists of both virtue of yin and yang, Lao Zi
focuses on the yin element of the Dao
by defining her as “Mother of all things”, or “Mother of the Universe”. The metaphor
of mother is to emphasize the almighty procreative power and the tender
affinity of the Dao as the Creator to the creatures. Regarding this yin virtue, the figurist Joachim Bouvet
identified it with the wisdom or Sophia
of the books of wisdom in the Old Testament, as well as in the Cabala. Wisdom
is the “mother of beautiful love” (Jesus Sirach 24:18), “came forth from the
mouth of the Most High” (24:3) and, when God created everything, was presented
as co-creator (Proverbs 8, 22-36). In China, Wisdom was called Wanwu zhi mu 萬物之母, “Mother of
all things”, and God was often called Dafumu 大父母, “Great-Father-Mother.”
Only the double virtue of yin and yang, or the male and female elements
together, are able to produce creation.
1.3 Dao as the Way of Life
Lao Zi
enlightens the philosophy of life by tracing the origin of the Universe. The
Dao as the “Mother of all things,” tenderly invites people to return to and
follow her as the way of life. In
Chapter 52 of the Dao De Jing , Lao
Zi points out such wisdom as this:” The Dao which originated all under the sky
is to be considered as the mother of them all. When the mother is found, we
know what her children should be. When one knows that he is his mother’s child,
and proceeds to guard (the qualities of) the mother that belong to him, to the
end of his life he will be free from all peril.” Hence, the wise person
should totally surrender as an infant to the love and tender invitation of the
Dao, the Mother of all. Laozi says in Chapter 20:” I alone am different from
other men, but I value the nursing-mother (the Dao).” Here he gave his prophetic
voice, enlightening people to return to their original innocence as a newborn
baby, nourished by the spiritual milk of the Mother Dao. Furthermore, in
Chapter 55 he concludes “He who has in himself abundantly the virtues (of the
Dao) is like an infant.” For an infant shows the harmony with the Universe:” To
him by whom this harmony is known, the secret of the unchanging Dao is shown,
and in the knowledge wisdom finds its throne. All life-increasing arts to evil
turn; Where the mind makes the vital breath to burn, (False) is the strength,
(and o’er it we should mourn.)”
Taught by Lao
Zi, Daoists - Taoists celebrate the Dao, and are grateful to the abundant grace
of the Dao as the Mother to create all. Nature is the basic manifestation of
the Dao, thus Daoists’ attitude to nature is to receptively approach it, love it,
respect it, and be in harmony with it. The cosmic energy as yin and yang flows in nature, as well as within man and woman. Hence, by
following the way of nature, they stress the unity and harmony as the basic
virtue for both secular and spiritual life. Because of honoring nature, they
also develop the consciousness of environmental protection. Furthermore, the “mysterious
virtue of the Dao” is, though she creates and sustains all, she does not possess
and control them. Thus, Daoists understand
and promote the individual life’s dignity and freedom. Indeed the Daoists are
the sons of nature.
From the
following examples, we will see how free and wise these sons of nature could
be. The first figure is Lao Zi. Traditionally, one of his images is like this:
riding on a crane, he travels all over the Universe. Crane has the nature of transcendence,
and thus is regarded by Chinese people as the vehicle of gods. Here we see how
free Lao Zi’s soul and spirit is by unifying with the Dao; for him life has
transformed into eternity, and there is no limitation of space and time
anymore. The second figure is Zhuang Zi (369- 286 B.C.), the main successor of
Lao Zi’s school. Zhuang is his surname, Zi means “Master”, thus Zhuang Zi means
“Zhuang Master.” His given name is Zhou 周. Zhuang Zhou
庄周 is a
fertilized writer. His book is entitled “Zhuang
Zi” 《 庄子》. “Qi Wu Lun 齐物论” is one chapter
in this book. There is a very interesting story about Zhuang Zi himself in the
text, as it reads:“ Once Zhuang Zhou 庄周dreamed that he himself
transformed into a butterfly, indeed a happily flying butterfly. He freely and
easefully flight to everywhere, and did not know himself in fact as Zhou 周. Suddenly he
woke up, he clearly realized himself as Zhou. Who knows, it was Zhou dreamt
himself transforming into the butterfly, or rather the butterfly dreamt itself
changing itself into Zhou? There must be the difference between Zhou and the
butterfly. This is called ‘transformation of things’ (within the Dao).” This story reflects his
understanding of the Dao. Zhuangzhou regards all the creatures as oneness
within the Dao. Hence, he advocates the
ambit of “Heaven and human are one harmonious unity”, and “all the creatures
and me are one”. For him the loftiness of life is not fame or interest but the spiritual
freedom. If people could realize that radically there is no boundary between
life and death, things and self, they would be truly free and happy. Actually, in this story,
the butterfly symbolizes Zhuang Zhou’s spirit, who could change into all the
beings within the one Dao, and thus has been totally set free.
Compared to
the Confucians who were more worldly-minded and concerned with reforming
society, the Daoists were principally interested in nature and identified with
it. However, though the Daoists
are free souls, without any ritual bondage as the Confucian literates, they do
contemplate the Dao, follow her voice, and cultivate their morality, so that
they could benefit the society. In the Dao De Jing, Lao Zi describes a sage as the embodiment of the Dao
that a wise person should follow as the best example. In Chapter 22, he says: “Therefore
the sage holds in his embrace the Dao, and manifests it to the entire world.” In Chapter 49, he describes
the image of the sage as this: “The sage has no prejudice; he makes the heart
of the people his heart. To those who are good (to me), I am good; and to those
who are not good (to me), I am also good; and thus (all) get to be good. To
those who are sincere (with me), I am sincere; and to those who are not sincere
(with me), I am also sincere; and thus (all) get to be sincere. The sage has no
prejudice; he is in harmony with the people, and enlightens their hearts to
return to the original simplicity and purity. The people all keep their eyes
and ears directed to him, and he deals with them all as his children.” Hence, by following the way
of this sage, the Daoists could become a person with great virtues. Once they
engage in the causes of the society, they could do a lot for the people.
However, once they have won the great achievement, they would withdraw from the
society and celebrate their life in nature. For they follow the teaching of Lao
Zi in Chapter 9 as: “When the work is done, and one’s name is becoming
distinguished, to withdraw into obscurity is the way of Heaven.” Such is the flexibility and
freedom of the Daoists.
On the other
hand, by contemplating the Dao, the Daoists surrender themselves to her
almighty as the origin and the end of the Universe, thus they seek the eternity
and immortality of life. They are believed to have founded and developed the
Chinese alchemy. As the western alchemists, they believe, by refining and
purifying the human soul, they could eventually transform themselves into
immortals. Here again the conception of the balance of yin and yang acts as the
guidance of the alchemical experiments. Limited by space,
regarding how complicated this Chinese alchemy is, it will not be discussed
here. However, we should honor the
Daoists’ bravery and patience, for alchemy itself indeed is “consciousness of
time,” as life itself a long way to eventually return to and unify with the
Dao, the origin of all beings.
1.4 Daoism as the State Policy
The
Confucians and the Daoists both believed that human beings have an innate
predisposition to goodness, which is revealed in the instinctive reaction of
anyone who sees a child falling into a well. Both claimed to defend the Dao or
the way of the ancient sages and sought to establish voluntary order. Yet the
Daoists’ approach to ethic and politics was quite different from that of the
Confucians. First,
as Lao Zi thought, it was because when the Great Dao ceased to be observed,
benevolence and righteousness came into vogue (Chapter 18) . Hence, it was not necessary
to actively advocate benevolent politics like Confucius did, but better to return
to the Dao, the origin and the truth of human life, that virtue would come out
and flow naturally. Overemphasizing the ritual education would become an
unnatural bondage for the people. But, by following the Dao, it would lead to a
spontaneous and harmonious order, in which the beautiful human virtues are
cultivated and manifested naturally.
Second, Lao
Zi described “Wu wei 无为” politics. “Wu wei” can be
translated as “non-action”. This means the less the rulers do, the more have
done for the people. Lao Zi says in Chapter 2:” the sage manages affairs with
non-action, and conveys his instructions with non-speech.” This idea is also based on
“the mysterious virtue of the Dao”, i.e. “the Dao gives birth and sustenance to
all, yet doesn’t possess and control them”. Thus, the best ruler should
leave his people alone to follow their peaceful and productive activities.
Hence, as Lao Zi pointes out in Chapter 17:” The best ruler is like this: the
people only know his existence….His work is done and his undertaking was
successful, while the people all said, ‘We are as we are, of ourselves.” By the ruler’ non-action,
the freedom and autonomy of the people are promoted, and thus a peaceful and
harmonious order occurs. This is so-called “(the sage says):’I will take
non-action, and the people will be transformed of themselves,” as Lao Zi
enunciates in Chapter 57. Hence, we see that the
wisdom lies in non-action, and then all the actions are done. Furthermore, Lao
Zi adds: “Governing a great state is like cooking small fish” (Chapter 60). It is not necessary to, and should not
strongly cook a small fish, as it should not govern a great state by
dictatorship. The more control, the more
chaos. The reason is simple, that it is against the natural way, the Dao. In
the Dao there is almighty power like water, though it seems weak and soft, yet
it penetrates all. Thus, the best policy of the ruler is like that of water, as
Lao Zi emphasizes: “The highest excellence is like (that of) water. The
excellence of water appears in its benefiting all things, and in its occupying,
without striving (to the contrary), the low place which all men dislike. Hence
(its way) is near to (that of) the Dao. The excellence of a residence is in
(the suitability of) the place; that of the mind is in abysmal stillness; that
of associations is in their being with the virtuous; that of government is in
its securing good order; that of (the conduct of) affairs is in its ability,
and that of (the initiation of) any movement is in its timeliness. And when
(one with the highest excellence) does not wrangle (about his low position), no
one finds fault with him.” Here we see the essence of
non-action: no possession and no control but humility, and thus benefiting all.
Such is Wu wei, the central concept of the ancient kingly way that the Dao De
Jing advocates.
Zhuang Zi
succeeded the school of Lao Zi, supporting the idea of non-action. Looking at the Chinese
history, we see that the reason why a dynasty could reach its height of power
and splendor during the time of founding a state was because of that non-action
as the state policy was applied. Regarding this application, dated from Han 漢 (206 B.C. –220 A.D.) and Tang 唐 (618 –907 A.D.), all the following dynasties
Song 宋, Yuan 元, Ming 明 and Qing 清 are the
same. Let’s take the examples of Han and
Tang, the two most splendid feudal dynasties in the Chinese history. First,
there was so-called “Wen Jing zhi zhi 文景之治”, i.e. “The good order promoted
by Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing”. It happened during the early era of the
Dynasty of Han. Both these two Emperors used non-action as their policy. The
details included: rehabilitation of agriculture, less taxation (one thirtieth),
austerity of treasury, and reduction of penalty. Because of these soft policies, the good
order of Wen and Jing developed and stabilized. Second, Daoism acted as the
official philosophy during the Dynasty of Tang. The books of Lao Zi and Zhuang
Zi were highly honored, and became the educational curriculum of state
examination for selecting officers. The policy of non-action brought prosperity
of the Empire. Hence, the so-called “Zheng guan zhi zhi 贞观之治” , i.e. the
great order of Zheng guan period (627 –649 A.D.),
and “Kai yuan sheng shi 开元盛世”, i.e. the prosperity of Kai yuan
period (713 –741 A.
D.), occurred. Especially,
“Kai yuan sheng shi” could be called “the millennium”, when the Chinese Empire
reached its height of matchless splendor. We have so much to learn from this
era.
1.5 Conclusion
Non-action was the best policy
that would bring harmony and prosperity. Though the Chinese Emperors did not apply
it all the time, it did, hand in hand with the Confucian benevolent policy,
penetrate the Chinese history. So is Lao Zi, the Master of Dao as the Way and
Truth of Universe, and Confucius, the
student of Dao and the prophet of morality, both enlighten the Chinese
civilization by their philosophy. So is
Daoism, together with Confucianism, that shapes the soul and the spirit of the
Chinese nation. Such is the meaning of balance and measure in the Chinese reason.
