Daoism

Daoism is a philosophy, a religion, and a way of life that arose in the 6th century BCE in what is now the eastern Chinese province of Henan. It has strongly influenced the culture and religious life of China and other East Asian countries ever since.

The term dao predates the rise of Daoism and is used in all schools of Chinese philosophy, including Confucianism. Its literal meanings include “way,” “path,” “road,” “course,” “speech,” and “method,” among others.

The concept of dao is broad and plays various roles in Daoist philosophy. The Cosmic Dao, or the Way of the Cosmos, is an indeterminate force or principle that latently contains all things and spontaneously generates the universe through its constant rhythmic fluctuations. Humanity will flourish only if its dao, or “way,” is attuned with this natural order. The wise ruler or self-cultivated sage is so attuned to the Dao that his actions leave no traces of themselves and so pass completely unnoticed.

The founding figure is Laozi, who flourished in the 6th century BCE but about whom little else is known. The Daodejing (“Classic of the Way to Power”), the earliest work of Daoist philosophy, is traditionally attributed to him but was probably composed after his death by many authors. Zhuangzi (“Master Zhuan”), who lived from 369 to 286 BCE, was a major interpreter of Daoism. His work, the Zhuangzi, partly composed by his disciples, is considered more comprehensive than the Daodejing.

Daoism and Confucianism present contrasting, though not incompatible, understandings of human flourishing or well-being. Whereas Daoism seeks harmony between the individual (or human) way and the natural order and tends to dismiss human society as artificial and constrained, Confucianism emphasizes the achievement of a kind of moral excellence (ren, or “humaneness”) that is cultivated and manifested by conscientious behaviour within social institutions such as the family, the school, the community, and the state.