DAOISM

(Taoism)

RL 101 | Dr. Joseph Kelly

Yuyang Wang | Thuy Le |

Tyler Cerny | Mason Schulefand

MARCH 17, 2015

Contents

History

Concepts

Traditions

Influences

history

The Beginning

Gods from the

Chinese folk tales

The God who divided the

sky and the earth

The Beginning

The Goddess who created

humankind.

The Beginning

The God who saved people from illness by testing

hundreds of medicine.

The Beginning

The God who united nations and brought peace

The fundamental era

The end of Spring

and Autumn period

(770 – 476 BCE)

Daodejing

by Li Er

The fundamental era

The story of

Li Er (571-471 BCE)

“I quit, not because I did not want to teach nor the student did not want to learn. It was because that I only know so much and there were so much more he wanted to learn.”

- Li Er’s Master

The fundamental era

The story of

Li Er (571-471 BCE)

Gained the name Lao Zi – wise

master - for himself after

spending three years studying

in the capital.

The fundamental era

“I know birds can fly, fishes can swim, beasts can walk. But I do not know what dragon can do. Lao Zi is like a dragon, knowing so much that he can be anyone he wants. He is a true master.”

- Confucius on Lao Zi

Confucius

met

Lao Zi

The fundamental era

The story of

Li Er (571-471 BCE)

Later in life, Lao Zi wrote

Dao De Jing which later

becomes a fundamental

text of Daoism.

Lao Zi died at the age

of 101

From philosophy

to religion

Among hundreds schools

of thoughts, Lao Huang’s

school was most

significant

From philosophy

to religion

Han Dynasty

(206 BCE – 220 AD)

Zhang Daoling created the

official group for Daoism

to compete with Buddism

Daoism was still considered a

philosophical school

From philosophy

to religion

Temples were built, Gods were introduced

and worshippers now could gather

Laozi, Zhuangzi and Taoism

concepts

The dao (or tao)

The source of life

The “Way

The “Path”

The energy of the universe

The ultimate goal

=

To live in harmony

with the Tao

The dao (or tao)

Is not a God, a Creator

or a Being

The Three Pure OnesThe Jade Emperor

The dE (or tE)

The power of Tao

Virtue, inner power,

integrity

The manifestation of Tao

through human experience

Live true to one’s

essence and

influence your

kindness on others

The dE (or tE)

Compassion or Kindness

Three Treasures

Simplicity or Frugality

Humility or Modesty

love others like loving

oneself

live in simplicity, stay

away from material or

physical desires

not expressing assertive

authority

TAIJI/ YIN-YANG

Yang

Yin

Day

Light

Function

Hot

Sun

Dryness

Birth

Expressive

Male

Night

Dark

Structure

Cold

Moon

Fluid

Death

Calm

Female

TAIJI/ YIN-YANG

Duality

forming as

a whole

The nature

of change

balances to

halves

WU-WEI

NON-DOING

ACTION WITHOUT ACTION

Let the nature runs its course

WU-WEI

Tiger going to eat deer

Kill the tiger

Kill the cubs

Let the deer die

Feeling guiltyDo nothing

Do not interfere with nature

××

WU-WEI

Tiger going to eat deer

Kill the tiger

Kill the cubs

Let the deer die

Feeling guiltyDo nothing

Do not interfere with nature

××

IN SUMMARY

is achieved through

Wu-Wei (non-action)

The source

of existence

The root

of all beings,

seen & unseen

Dao (The Way)

Meditation

and reflection

in solitude

Living in peace,

simplicity and

tranquility

Acting

thoughtfully, not

impulsively

Acting in harmony

with nature

traditions

Traditional clothing

Confucianism Taoism

MUSIC & INSTRUMENTS

The Wudang is an essential instrument in Daoist music

Worshiping rituals

Alter surrounded by Gods 36 Gods

Great Master and chief cantor perform rituals

“Sacrifice of Writings”

WORSHIPPING RITUALS

Deceased ancestors Home and temples

Honor their deeds and memories

Family Ancestors

The DAO DE JING

Book of Teachings

Cannot fathom the “dao”

Mutually exclusive

The zhuangzi

Set of practices

Collects of stories and

imaginary conversations

“Life is bounded. Knowledge is bounded. Using the bounded to follow the unbounded is dangerous. And if you take that knowledge, that is really dangerous.”

- Zhuangzi

“Flow by whatever happens and let yourself be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.”

- Zhuangzi

influences

POPULARITY/SPREAD

Quanzhen Dao

Tianshi Dao

Practiced throughout

Northern China.

Focused on monastic

practices

Practiced throughout

Northern China.

Focused on monastic practices

Impact on Chinese culture

Architecture in natural

environments

Architecture in natural

environments

Impact on Chinese culture

Architecture in natural

environments

Medicine

Theories & Practices

Possessed both faith healers and

hygienists.

Consider their patients as a “whole”

rather than just their illness.

See the lack of harmony with nature

because it is a major contributor to

illness, disorders, and other ailments.

Basic premise of = to preserve health and ultimately

prolong the physical life.

Impact on Chinese culture

Architecture in natural

environments

Ethics

Practices have given birth to

martial arts such as Tai Chi

and Qigong

Martial Arts

Texts have established Chinese views

on mortality and behavior regardless

of religious affiliations.

Thank you!