DAOISM
(Taoism)
Yuyang Wang | Thuy Le |
Tyler Cerny | Mason Schulefand
RL 101 | Dr. Joseph Kelly
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 Daodejing
and Autumn period
by Li Er
(770 – 476 BCE)
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
Confucius
met
Lao Zi
“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
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)
Daoism was still considered a
philosophical school
Zhang Daoling created the
official group for Daoism
to compete with Buddism
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 “Way
The “Path”
The source of life
The ultimate goal
=
The energy of the universe To live in harmony
with the Tao
The dao (or tao)
Is not a God, a Creator
or a Being
The Jade Emperor
The Three Pure Ones
The dE (or tE)
Virtue, inner power,
integrity
The power of Tao
Live true to one’s
essence and
The manifestation of Tao influence your
through human experience kindness on others
The dE (or tE) Three Treasures
love others like loving
Compassion or Kindness
oneself
live in simplicity, stay
Simplicity or Frugality away from material or
physical desires
Humility or Modesty not expressing assertive
authority
TAIJI/ YIN-YANG
Night
Yang Dark
Structure
Cold
Day
Moon
Light
Fluid
Function
Death
Hot
Calm
Sun
Female
Dryness
Birth
Expressive Yin
Male
TAIJI/ YIN-YANG
The nature
Duality of change
forming as balances to
a whole halves
WU-WEI
ACTION WITHOUT ACTION
NON-DOING
Let the nature runs its course
WU-WEI
Tiger going to eat deer
× ×
Kill the tiger Let the deer die
Do nothing
Kill the cubs Feeling guilty
Do not interfere with nature
WU-WEI
Tiger going to eat deer
× ×
Kill the tiger Let the deer die
Do nothing
Kill the cubs Feeling guilty
Do not interfere with nature
IN SUMMARY
The root
The source Dao (The Way) of all beings,
of existence seen & unseen
Meditation Acting
and reflection
is achieved through thoughtfully, not
in solitude impulsively
Living in peace, Acting in harmony
simplicity and Wu-Wei (non-action) with nature
tranquility
traditions
Traditional clothing
Confucianism Taoism
MUSIC & INSTRUMENTS
The Wudang is an essential instrument in Daoist music
Worshiping rituals
“Sacrifice of Writings”
Alter surrounded by Gods 36 Gods
Great Master and chief cantor perform rituals
WORSHIPPING RITUALS
Family Ancestors
Deceased ancestors Home and temples
Honor their deeds and memories
The DAO DE JING
Book of Teachings
Cannot fathom the “dao”
Mutually exclusive
“Flow by whatever happens and
The zhuangzi let yourself be free. Stay
centered by accepting whatever
you are doing. This is the
ultimate.”
Set of practices - Zhuangzi
Collects of stories and “Life is bounded. Knowledge is
bounded. Using the bounded to
imaginary conversations
follow the unbounded is
dangerous. And if you take that
knowledge, that is really
dangerous.”
- Zhuangzi
influences
POPULARITY/SPREAD
Quanzhen Dao
Practiced throughout
Northern China.
Focused on monastic
practices
Tianshi Dao
Practiced throughout
Northern China.
Focused on monastic practices
Impact on Chinese culture
Architecture in natural
environments
Architecture in natural
environments
Impact on Chinese culture
Basic premise of = to preserve health and ultimately
prolong the physical life.
Possessed both faith healers and
hygienists.
Medicine
Consider their patients as a “whole”
rather than just their illness. Theories & Practices
See the lack of harmony with nature
because it is a major contributor to
illness, disorders, and other ailments.
Architecture in natural
environments
Impact on Chinese culture
Martial Arts
Practices have given birth to
martial arts such as Tai Chi
and Qigong
Texts have established Chinese views
on mortality and behavior regardless Ethics
Architecture in natural
of religious affiliations.
environments
Thank you!
