DAOISM

DAOISM
Daoism functioned as a philosop

hy of abandonment and withdrawa
l from the rampant warfare and
social unrest which characteriz
ed the reign of the Zhou dynast
y--- a period of constant strug
gle for power, wealth, and pres
tige.
The ultimate goal of Daoists wa
s to conform to the great patte
rn of nature, which is called
SYMBOLS
Yin and Yang
•It is an image composed of a ci
rcle divided into two swirling pa
rts: one black and the other whit
e.
•It signifies the perfect harmon
ic balance in the universe.
•The big circle signifies the Ta
o (Dao), the source of existence.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Laozi (Lao-tzu), meaning "Old Master"
•Authored the Dao De Jing (Tao Te Chi
ng or The Book of the Way and its Powe
r)
•Laozi was concieved by a shooting st
ar and was born of a virgin mother, wh
o kept him in her womb for 82 years.
•According to Sima Qian, Laozi's fami
ly name was Li, his given name was Erh
, he was also known as Tan.
• Dao (Way) and De (individual powe
r), which came to be named Dao De Jing
or Laozi.
Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu)
•His last name was Chuang , his g
iven name was Chou, and Tzu means
"Master", thus Chuang Tzu (Zhuang
zi) means "Master Chuang".
• He was born in the town of Meng
in a small state of Sung.
•He served as an officer-in-charg
e of a royal garden during the mid
dle the Warring States period.
•He is considered a great philoso
pher and a great writer.
SACRED SCRIPTURES
Dao De Jing
•Means "The book of the Way a
nd its Power"
•Opening "The name that can b
e named is not the eternal nam
e", implies the difficulty of
putting the truth into words.
•It was a collection of sayin
gs and proverbs, lines from po
pular songs, and clever maxims
Book Of Chuang Tzu/Zuangzi
•It consists of delightful parabl
es, metaphors, and poetic passages
, and is praised for its high lite
racy value.
•Devided into three sections: the
Inner Chapters, the Outer Chapters
, and Miscellaneous Chapters.
•This gives equal importance to l
ife and death, and does not advica
te longevity as opposed to Confuci
anism.
CONCEPTS/BELIEFS
The Dao
•The essential concepts and cr
eative principle in Daoism.
•It is the foundation of all b
eing amd the way in which natur
e and the universe exist.
•Dao is called "Mother"
•The origin of heaven and eart
h and it is also the way in whi
ch heaven and earth now live.
Diety/God
•Daoism does not have a God,
for Daoists believe that the u
niverse originated from Dao.
•The Dao itself is not God an
d is not worshipped by the Dao
ists. Instead they worship die
ties, who are gods of a partic
ular role , and they tradition
ally worship Laozi.
The De
•Which means virtue or the proper ad
herence to Dao, is another basic conc
ept in Daoism.
•Non-competition in Emptiness is sai
d to be the other side of the princip
le of "inaction to nature.
•Inaction means a person's outward a
ctions
•Emptiness is the corresponding inne
r state, which also means "absence of
dersire"
Wu-Wei
•Means "no behavior" or "doing nothing"
•It also means "to do without doing" (w
ei-wu wei) or "actionless activity"
•It refers to the cancellation.or restr
iction of human behavior, especially hum
an activities.
•It advocates a "go with the flow" atti
tude by cultivating a state of being whe
rein our actions are in harmony with the
natural cycles of the universe.
•Considered as the highest form of virt
ue-emphasizes passitivity.
Yin Yang
•Yin in its highest form is fre
ezing while yang in its highest
form is boiling.
•He (Harmony)
•This is the law of everything'
yet there is no form being seen.
•The yin and yang symbolize the
integration of the polarities me
ntioned by Laozi.
Qi/Chi
•Refers to the natural energy of li
fe force that sustains living beings
.
•Qi literally means "air or vapor".
•It refers to matter, which is cont

inuos, energetic and dynamic.
•Sometimes translated as "material
force or vital force".
•Considered as the foundation of bo
dy and life.
WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES
Meditative Practices
•Humility and non-competition ar
e among the most important virtue
s in Daoism.
•The physical appearance of the
Daoist sage exemplifies the virtu
e of humility, for an the outside
the sage my dress shabbily but hi
s mind is full of wisdom and his
heart, full of comapassion.
Moral Practices
•Physical and spiritual tech
niques are just as important
as ethical or moral technique
s or practices.
Goal Practices
To obtain longetivity •Use of potions
and immortality •practice meditation
•breathing technuque
To dispell illness or •Jiao Festival
suffering •Refrain from eating
grain
•Confession and
purging of one's sins
SELECTED IS
SUES
Fatalism
Daoism has often been criticiz
ed for propagating laziness or
espousing a fatalistic attitud
e inife by letting nature take
it course and reminding Daoist
s to just go with the flow.
Superstition
•There is an misconception tha
t Daoism involves sorcery, whic
h includes drawing of signs, ch
ants, and other practices which
led to the nontion that Daoism
promotes superstitions practice
s.
Urban Development
•Daoist believe in the dictu
m "leave nature alone and nat
ure will thrive"
•Belief in the importance of
living in harmony with nature
.
Thank you for listeni
ng!

DAOISM

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Daoism functioned as a philosop

•It refers to matter, which is cont

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