TAOISM

TAOISM 

Taoism, another important philosophy of ancient China, was also founded in the sixth century B.C. The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu was a slightly older contemporary of Confucius. His main work was the Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing). Zhwangtze was another important Taoist philosopher who wrote Chuang-tzu.

During the Early Tsin Period, Liang Chichao observed that the fundamental difference between Taoistic and Confucian philosophies is that Confucian thinking centers around men, and Taoists thinking around nature .Taoism and Confucianism have to be seen as two distinct responses to the social, political and philosophical conditions of life in that era. Whereas Confucianism is greatly concerned with social relations, conduct and human society, Taoism has a much more individualistic and mystical character.Confucians believed that humans can realize their own ends, through their own ability, power and effort, while Taoists believed that the laws of nature are all-powerful. “Tao” existed before man and is eternal and un-changeable. For Taoism, people should keep the balances between human beings and Nature, between individuals and society, between oneself and others. Everybody has an identity and independence, an own individuality, dignity and freedom. People should not change the natural order, called Tao, but should follow it. Taoism asked people to take care of the natural world, to become a part of nature. Their bodies and their hearts should belong to nature.

Taoism holds that life is limited and temporary and that it is impossible for people to understand the truth of the world and that of human beings themselves. Knowledge always limits the view of people, alienates from the truth of the world and violates the Tao. So the best way to have a good life is to follow the “Tao”, the "Law" of nature. This will make people happy. Tao is everywhere. So Laotze said, “There is a being that is all-inclusive, existing before heaven and earth. Calm indeed, and incorporeal, it is alone and changeless. Everywhere it functions unhindered and may be considered the mother of all creation. I do not know its name, but I characterized it as ‘Tao’.” (Laotze, Tao The Ching)

In comparison to nature and Tao, man is weak and insignificant. In Chwangtze’s words, “A man in the universe is like a pebble or a twig in the mountains. As such he can only obey nature. He may be useful in a small way, but it is beyond him to originate anything.”(Chwangtze, Autumn Water)  Life is useless for every other thing but itself; man is useless to others and himself. Taoism asks people not to be concerned about matters of birth and death. It is better to forget the truth of the real conditions of life, and the truth of the human condition. No knowledge, no worries, nothing to wait for, nothing to be worried about. This is the natural condition of happiness. It is not necessary to be perfect or complete, “Great perfection seems incomplete, but does not decay. Great abundance seems empty, but does not fail. Great truth seems contradictory, great cleverness seems stupid, great eloquence seems awkward.”(Laotze, Tao The Ching). But no social condition could limit our efforts to be happy, we can lose anything in society, but still be happy.

In a nutshell: Taoism is a negative philosophy of social life, but a positive philosophy of natural life. Confucianism states that happiness is possible if you embrace life, learn and put in a lot of effort. Taoism is more pessimistic: happiness is possible, but only if you wise enough to realize that you can do little about it. The good life can be reached if you cease to try to make things better for yourself.