There is much about Asian philosophy and religion that can confuse the Western observer who likes to see everything in nice neat categories. When looking at the history of belief systems in China, this approach is virtually impossible.
For example, Tao cannot be understood without reference to
both Confucianism and Buddhism, with the word “Tao” having come to be used as a
blanket term to cover everything in Chinese religion that cannot be assigned to
either Confucianism or Buddhism.
However, Tao as a philosophy and Tao as a religion have little in common apart from the name, and there is much in philosophical Tao that the religious Taoist would not recognise.
The origins of Tao
Tao is supposed to have originated with a thinker called Lao-Tzu who lived in the 4th century BCE. He is believed to have been acquainted with Confucius and to have written his philosophy in a book called the “Tao Te Ching”, which was later divided into two books, known as the “Tao Ching” and the “Te Ching”. Whether such a person existed has never been proved, with the first recorded mention of his name only being made 300 years after he was supposed to have lived. It may well be that the Tao Te Ching was the work of many people and not just one.
One difficulty in understanding the roots of Tao is that the Tao Te Ching was written in a form of early Chinese that is open to many interpretations. It was written without punctuation and with many abbreviated characters. There have been many attempts at translation into English, but with some of them it is hard to imagine that the same text is behind them. For example, whereas a 1963 translator could translate the opening lines as:
“The way that can be spoken of is not the constant way, the name that can be named is not the constant name”,
A 1979 translator offered:
“Lodehead lodehead-brooking, no forewonted lodehead. Namecall namecall-brooking, no forewonted namecall”.
Personally, I find that the first version at least makes some sort of sense!
The other “founding father” of Taoism is Chuang Chou who is even more mysterious, in terms of personal details, than Lao-Tzu. His philosophy, expressed in the work that is usually known simply as “Chuang-tzu”, is basically the same as that of Lao-Tzu but it is less mystical in tone and contains elements of humour in places.
Philosophical Taoism
Another problem is that the word “Tao” can mean several different things, and even the supposed works of Lao-Tzu are unclear as to their meaning, which seems to be different in different contexts. At its heart is the concept of “way” or “road”, and it is found in Confucianism to mean an ethical code. However, it is also used to signify power, and was something that could be achieved by leading an orderly life.
Lao-Tzu makes reference to a nameable and an unnameable Tao, and in various passages it is sometimes the named Tao that has created the universe and sometimes the unnamed Tao. Another interpretation is that the named Tao is Being and its opposite is Non-being, with Being having been created by Non-being.
The basic notion is that the Tao is something to be attained via meditation and trance, which sounds very much like the Buddhist search for enlightenment, but there is no religious element to the Taoism of Lao-Tzu. There is no room for prayer, ecstasy, a priesthood, or the involvement of anyone other than the sage on his own solitary quest. There is also a great difference between the Taoist and the Buddhist in that the former is not seeking to reach an absolute truth but to hit a moving target.
The wise man, according to Lao-Tzu, must live according to the natural rhythms of the world, observing them and harmonizing with them. The Tao, as well as being the origin of the world, also works dynamically, guiding all things in harmonious development and interaction. The wise ruler will attain and retain power by staying in the background and letting the people get on with their lives with minimal interference. By “going with the flow”, the sage will have a long life because he has not worn himself out through over-exertion.
Chuang Chou illustrates this latter point with the story of the man who tries to escape from his shadow and his footprints by running faster and faster until he drops down dead. Had he stayed still, in the shade, he would have had no shadow and made no footprints.
However, although it is important to achieve harmony with the Tao, this cannot be striven for, because nature acts with complete spontaneity, and in order to conform to nature the sage must also be spontaneous and natural. Although the Tao is a “way” it is not a way that can be followed or taught. This notion is what separates Taoist philosophy from Confucianism. The person who lives in accord with the way of all things sees the way in all things, so that the nameable world is also an unnameable reality.
Religious Taoism
The ideas of Lao-Tzu and Chuang Chou form part, but only a part, of the religious Taoism that survives to the present day. Taoism as a religion dates from 142 CE when Chang Tao-Lin claimed to have been given the title of “Heavenly Master” by Lao-Tzu in a vision.
Taoism now became a highly organised religious sect, with Lao-Tzu being regarded as the incarnate manifestation of the Supreme One.
Taoists seek immortality, but there are several different kinds that can be attained. One can continue in the body of another person here on earth, or be transported bodily to higher realms. Or one can be dismembered and re-assembled into a body that meets transcendental standards.
Other characteristics of religious Taoism included an alchemical search for the substance that would ensure long life, rather than just relying on harmonious living. Meditation became more fixed in its objectives, the idea being to achieve visions of heavenly beings. The contemplative practices of the early Taoists became highly complex and akin to tantric Buddhism.
Indeed, Taoist monasteries were founded that became state-sponsored and were run alongside their Buddhist counterparts. Taoism could also accommodate Confucian practices, so the three religions were able to co-exist in China for many centuries in a spirit of mutual support and toleration.
There is therefore a considerable difference between Taoism as a philosophy and as a religion, and the characteristics of the two forms are correspondingly diverse.
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