Daoism

I

Introduction

Daoism, tradition of Chinese philosophy and Chinese religion, first arising in about the 4th century bc. Among native Chinese schools of thought, the influence of Daoism has been second only to that of Confucianism.

Daoism as now understood consists of two separate streams, a school of philosophical thought originating in the classical age of Zhou dynasty China, and a system of religious belief arising some 500 years later in the Han dynasty. These two are normally termed philosophical and religious Daoism, and the Daoist basis of the latter lies in the revelation from the sage Laozi which a Daoist called Zhang Daoling claimed to have received in ad 142 in the Sichuan mountains. Philosophical Daoism has therefore been preserved beneath a mass of religious accretions derived from native Chinese paganism, shamanism, divination, and superstition; while religious Daoism is now a thriving creed interwoven with Chinese popular culture.

II

Origins and Basic Tenets

Philosophical Daoism arose out of the intellectual ferment of the Zhou dynasty, in which various philosophical schools competed to advise rulers and others on the correct way to live and govern in a world racked by political and social change. Its likely origins are in the so-called Yangist school, despised by Mencius, who caricatured its doctrines by declaring that Yangists would not pluck a hair from their own heads to benefit the whole world. In fact it apparently preached self-cultivation and withdrawal to private life, drawing on a native Chinese tradition of mysticism and contemplative exercises resembling yoga. This tradition was developed in the late 4th century bc by the philosopher Zhuangzi (Chuang-tzu), who began as a Yangist. Soon after, an anonymous thinker, perhaps a minor official, produced a book of related reflections under the name of the semi-mythical figure Laozi (Lao-tzu), who had allegedly instructed Confucius. Evidence suggests that while Zhuangzi saw his beliefs as purely for private use, Laozi presented his as an explicit manual of government.

The essential Daoist philosophical and mystical beliefs can be found in the Daodejing (Classic of the Way and Its Power), a book dating from about the 3rd century bc and attributed to Laozi, and in the Zhuangzi, a composite text of parables and allegories also dating from the 3rd century bc but attributed to Zhuangzi. Whereas Confucianism urged the individual to conform to the traditional standards of “the Way of the Ancient Kings”, Daoism maintained that the individual should ignore the dictates of society and seek only to conform with the underlying pattern of the universe, the Dao (“way”), which can neither be described in words nor conceived in thought. To be in accord with Dao, one has to “do nothing” (wuwei)—that is, nothing strained, artificial, or unnatural. Through spontaneous compliance with the impulses of one's own essential nature and by emptying oneself of all doctrines and knowledge, one achieves unity with the Dao and derives from it a mystical power (De). This power enables one to transcend all mundane distinctions, even the distinction of life and death. Later Daoists often took this as some kind of magical force, but it appears that Laozi and Zhuangzi simply used the term for the general strength and competence of the perfectly spontaneous individual. Zhuangzi in particular attacked the claims of the Confucians and the school of Mo Zi that human reason could uncover the Dao; he regarded the artificial distinctions of conceptual thought to be the essence of human departure from the Dao.

At the socio-political level, the Daoists called for a return to primitive agrarian life. In Zhuangzi's case this was simply distrust of anything which could interfere with the direct participation in life's natural cycles, but for Laozi it had an authoritarian cast. In the Daodejing, “do nothing” applies as much to the ruler, who need not act to make his subjects naturally benefit themselves and him, as to the private citizen. As wary of artificial concepts as Zhuangzi, Laozi counselled that the ruler should fill his people's bellies but empty their minds, so that they know and desire nothing. He notoriously compared the common people to the straw dogs used in sacrificial ceremonies, treated with reverence before the rites but thrown away once their usefulness had passed. Laozi's ideal state was clearly a dictatorship by a philosopher-king over an obedient and passive populace. His influence is apparent in the very different totalitarian philosophy of Legalism developed by Han Fei.

III

History

Daoism survived the persecution of philosophies under the Legalist Qin dynasty, which had unified China, and Laozi's thought was taken up by courtiers of the Han dynasty, who combined it with legends of the primordial Yellow Emperor, Huang Di, and the yin/yang cosmology of the Tai Ji to enhance their philosophy of imperial government. The Later Han dynasty also saw the fusion of aspects of Daoism with Chinese religion, and followers of these new cults such as the Yellow Turbans in Shandong helped bring down the dynasty. After the Han collapse in ad 220, philosophical Daoism grew into the quintessential Chinese creed of private life and irresponsible individualism, in contrast to formal, public-spirited Confucianism. The common people tended to follow religious Daoism, while the educated mandarin class embraced philosophical Daoism and associated cosmological and scientific speculations.

Daoism has influenced Chinese literature, Chinese art, and Chinese science. A primitive chemistry developed in the course of a search for immortality through magic and the use of various elixirs; for later Daoists took literally the metaphorical references to self-perfection and immortal xian which littered Zhuangzi's work. The ideal elixir of immortality was supposedly a red cinnabar pill, and such mercury-based substances poisoned many emperors and others who believed the Daoist myths; but Daoist researches apparently spurred important discoveries in early Chinese science identified by Joseph Needham. Experimentation in alchemy gave way to the development, between the 3rd and 6th centuries, of various cults that sought to prolong life. These developed into a general health system, still practised today, that stresses regular breathing and concentration to prevent disease and promote longevity. The poetry of Tao Yuanming (T'ao Ch'ien) and Li Bai (Li Po) was heavily influenced by Daoism, while Chinese landscape painting drew considerably on its evocation of natural forces and cult of pastoral retirement.

Daoism and Chinese Buddhism had considerable influence on each other after the proliferation of Buddhism in the 4th century ad. Early translators of Buddhist sutras used Daoist terms to translate difficult Sanskrit concepts. Following Buddhism's example, Daoism developed a pseudo-monastic organization. Some Daoist scholars even claimed that the legendary Laozi had actually left China and become the Buddha, until the Mongol Yuan dynasty emperor Kublai Khan proscribed the myth in 1281. Daoism was implicated in the greatest Chinese persecution of Buddhism in 842-845, by a Daoist emperor of the late Tang dynasty, but Daoist speculations also fused with Buddhist ideas to create the fusion of Zen Buddhism, which has been described as 90 per cent Daoist.

Modern scholarly techniques have revealed the philosophical profundity of much early Daoism, and led to the (perhaps unfair) criticism of religious Daoism for obscuring its underlying philosophy. Martin Heidegger attempted a translation of the Daodejing, and ideas reminiscent of Daoism frequently occur in Heideggerian philosophy and its descendants. Philosophical Daoism is now recognized as especially relevant to philosophy of language, anti-rationalism, structuralism, deconstruction, and many other currents of modern thought.