Taoism, The Principle of Wu-Wei - Research Paper Example

?Client’s 12 November It is open secret that China is very rich culturally, the economy of the country has also been doing very well but if there history is to be considered it will be found that the country has given the world a lot of admirable things. The T’angculture is the gift of China to the world, it has been heavily influenced by Buddhism when it comes to art and it is incredibly popular across the globe. Taoism is also a gift from China, the name may sound very complicated but in reality it is not as complicated as it sounds. This paper will shed more light upon Taoism and the principles of Wu-Wei. Confucianism is a term which is very closely related to Taoism, a lot of can be learned about the Chinese people just by knowing more about Taoism and Confucianism. These are terms which reflect the spirit of the Chinese people and what they are made up of. The ancient Chinese society must be given credit for coining the term Taoism, the ideology and the beliefs of the Han nationality is often portrayed when people talk of Taoism. Ancient people in China used to worship spirits and gods and this was how this term originated. “Daoism encompasses thought and practice that sometimes are viewed as philosophical, as religious, or as a combination of both.  While modern scholars, especially those in the West, have been preoccupied with classifying Daoist material as either “philosophical” or religious, historically Daoists themselves have been uninterested in such categories and dichotomies. “(IEP.UTM) Taoism has raised a debate for the scholars across Europe; they have been completely discombobulated as to whether Taoism falls under religion or whether it falls under philosophy. Some scholars in Europe say that it should be classified under religion while some others say that it should be classified under philosophy so there is no general consensus when it comes to the classification of Taoism and much debate is going on amongst top scholars in Europe. It is very important to know more about the Han dynasty in order to know more about Taoism, no traces of Taoism were found when the Han dynasty ruled China but the beginning of Taoism can be found in important texts like Daodejing and the Zhuangzi. The Chinese people unanimously believe that a teacher by the name Laozi was mainly responsible for writing Daodejing, he was a very dedicated teacher who also opened a school for the Chinese children and single-handedly wrote Daodejing, it was a great achievement but not too many people know of this incredible achievement. People who followed Taoism were called Taoists and they had some similar beliefs, they understood the connection between nature and their bodies and this again was a great achievement. They also knew that God had not made them immortal and they trotted on the difficult path to become immortal. Taoists also believed in experimenting with their bodies, they found new exercises to keep themselves fit; they were also responsible for discovering interesting and new sexual positions. Chemistry was one subject which fascinated the Taoists and quite a few of them tried new experiments to discover something new which would help them but these experiments did not go down too well and many of them lost their lives trying to do too much. There were emperors who were also fascinated with Chemistry and they met with the same fate when they tried doing the same experiments, this clearly goes to show that there were hungry for success and wanted to find new things which would help their fellow human beings. Self-cultivation was a major objective of Taoism, every Taoist wanted to inculcate this quality in him and pass it on to their family members. “The teachings that were later called Daoism were first known under the name of Huanglao Dao in the 3rd and 2nd cent. BCE. The thought world transmitted in this stream is what Sima Tan meant by Daojia. The Huanglao School was a center of Taoist practitioners in the state of Qi (modern Shandong). Huangdi was the name for the Yellow Emperor, from whom the rulers of Qi said they were descended. When Emperor Wu, the sixth sovereign of the Han dynasty (r. 140-87 BCE) elevated Confucianism to the status of the official state ideology and training in it became mandatory for all bureaucratic officials, the tension with Daoism became more evident. And yet, at court people still sought longevity. Wu continued to engage in many Taoist practices, including the use of alchemy, climbing sacred Taishan (Mt. Tai), and presenting petitions to heaven.” ( IEP.UTM). Ancient Chinese Philosophy It is very important to follow a methodical approach to under the ancient Chinese philosophy and its various important elements. The term Tao is very important and it becomes necessary to understand what it means. Tao is a Chinese word which is incredibly difficult to translate in English; translation often does not give the real meaning of a word and has its limitations. It means “the way” when it is translated into English and this is perhaps the closest meaning of the word. It means the right path, it also sheds light upon the nature of the world and it is very important when Taoism is being talked about. The universe is well balanced only because of Tao this is what the Chinese people believe and this is why it is very important as far as they are concerned. It is very difficult to understand Taoism without understanding the real meaning and the etymology of the word Tao. Readers often misunderstand the term Tao, they start believing that the Chinese used to believe the word had magical powers but in reality it was nothing like that, the word merely means a guiding path which must be followed to attain immorality. It should also be noted that the ancient people in China did not believe in resisting changes at all, these days human nature has become such that we immediately start resisting change but ancient Chinese people were very different from others and did not resist change, they also knew that change is the only thing that is permanent in this mundane world. Wu Wei is the next important term in understanding Taoism better, Wu Wei is arguably as important as the term Tao. Most Chinese people also believe that Wu Wei is the core of Taoism and must be understood completely in order to understand Taoism better. Wu Wei and Tao are interrelated and the former means accomplishing a task without any efforts. “Wu wei should be the way of life, because the dao always benefits, it does not harm (ch. 81) The way of heaven (dao of tian) is always on the side of good (ch. 79) and virtue (de) comes forth from the dao alone (ch. 21). What causes this natural embedding of good and benefit in the dao is vague and elusive (ch. 35), not even the sages understand it (ch. 76). But the world is a reality that is filled with spiritual force, just as a sacred image used in religious ritual might be (ch. 29).” (IEP.UTM). The next important term may sound funny but it is anything but that, Pu is the next term. Pu signifies simplicity and the hunger to learn. It means a person who is beginning to learn a new concept must make a conscious effort to not get prejudiced about a certain thing because development and progress gets severely hampered when a person gets prejudiced about a certain thing. It is very difficult for the modern people to keep prejudice out of the equation when they are trying to learn a new concept but they can learn new concepts easily should they succeed in controlling prejudice. The term Pu signifies different meanings, it also means that a person must thank God for what he has been blessed with, being content is extremely important. The crime rate has gone up significantly in the recent past and this is because people want more than what they currently have and this is very bad for our society but the ancient Chinese people were very happy with what they had and this self-contentment also facilitated their progress by giving them a very stable mind. De is the fourth and the final term; this term is all about personal integrity. The ancient Chinese people always believed in expressing their personal integrity and this is why this fourth and the final term is as important as the other three terms that have already been discussed in this paper. These four terms were coined so that one can develop four very important qualities in himself. Oneness is the very first quality, ancient Chinese people believed in parity; they believed everyone in this universe is equal and should be treated equally. These days we get to see several instances of nepotism but no such cases ever existed back then and the people lived a very happy life. Harmony is the next quality which the Taoists wanted everyone to develop, they were very peace loving people who wanted the world to be free from hatred and jealously, they wanted everyone to live a happy life but exactly the opposite is happening these days. Each day we read about murders and terror attacks, countless people lose their life each day and there is no harmony these days. Dynamic balance and cyclic growth are the other two qualities that Taoists wanted everyone to inculcate. Dynamic balance refers to an even platform for every individual to grow in their life and cyclic growth as the name suggests meant the growth and prosperity of every single individual. This is why these four terms are very important and understanding Taoism becomes a whole lot easier should these terms be understood first. Taoists also wrote poetry and Ci-poetry was the name given to the poems written by them. Every Ci-poem followed an arduous rhyme scheme and line stanzas. All the poems had a great message in them, the Taoists were also famous for composing Ballads, a ballad is a poem which is meant to be sung. . “The Book of Laozi's Conversion of the Barbarians also collects 18 pieces of Ci of the Venerable Sovereign's 16 Transformations. They belong to Taoist tales about deities' transformation. Tales about deities' transformation are a means of relating the transformation of deities. "Taoist tales about deities' transformation" refer to the style of relating the transformation of Taoist deities. In order to be adapted to the need of reciting and singing, this genre always adopts the form of "yunwen" (i.e. literary composition in rhyme). For example, Ci of the Venerable Sovereign's 16 Transformations is a piece of yunwen.” ( Eng. Taoism). Most of the poems written by Taoists aimed at achieving immortality, as discussed earlier the Taoists knew that human beings were not immortal but they also knew that human beings could become immortal should they do good deeds and this is why they wrote about immortality in their poems. The poems written by them inspired people greatly and they started following whatever was written in their poems by them. It is a very controversial call to classify Taoism under religion or philosophy but one thing is for sure that a drastic change would occur in this world should every human being start following the four important principles of Taoism. There would be no war, no jealousy and ultimately no crime should every human being start following the principles of Taoism. References Daoist Philosphy. In Iep.Utm. Web. Retrieved from: A General Introduction. In Taoist.Org. Web. 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