NOT A FRONTPAGE - You dropped food on the floor…should you eat it?

Homework: None

DAOISMThat which cannot be named…

Background to Taoism Develops in China during the

Zhou dynasty Founder is believed to be Lao

Tse (604 – 531BC); lived at the same time as Confucius

Followers studied nature and made discoveries in science and technology Perhaps the magnetic compass

and gunpowder Currently there are about 20

million followers of Daoism, most in Taiwan

Beliefs/Teachings Teachings of Lao Tse written down in the book, Tao te-

Ching – “a humble effort to talk about that which cannot be talked

about or even named.” Name roughly translated to “the way” or “the path”; it

is basically indefinable and must be experienced Way to live in happiness and peace is to gain experience of

the Dao by living in harmony with nature No worship or prayer, as no gods exist according to

Daoists; Answer to life’s problems comes from inner meditation and

outer observation. Provides an alternative to the many rules and rituals of

Confucianism, which Daoists believed disturbed the natural order.

Yin and Yang

The nature of change, balanced as two halves of a whole.

Yin and Yang is perhaps the most known and documented concept used within Taoism.

Yin and Yang illustrated from the Tao Te Ching [2] When people see things as beautiful,

ugliness is created.When people see things as good,evil is created.

Being and non-being produce each other.Difficult and easy complement each other.Long and short define each other.High and low oppose each other.Fore and aft follow each other.