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The term Tao means "way", "path" or "principle", and can also be found in Chinese philosophies and religions other than Taoism. In Taoism, however, Tao denotes something that is both the source and the driving force behind everything that exists. It is ultimately ineffable: "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao." [1] Also called Daoism.
Taoist, in Western sinology, is traditionally used to translate daoshi/taoshih (道士; 'master of the Tao'), thus strictly defining the priests of Taoism, ordained clergymen of a Taoist institution who "represent Taoist culture on a professional basis", are experts of Taoist liturgy, and therefore can employ this knowledge and ritual skill for ...
Bagua diagram from Zhao Huiqian's (趙撝謙) Liushu benyi (六書本義, c. 1370s).. The Daodejing (also known as the Laozi after its purported author, terminus ante quem 3rd-century BCE) has traditionally been seen as the central and founding Taoist text, though historically, it is only one of the many different influences on Taoist thought, and at times, a marginal one at that. [12]
The Ten Precepts of Taoism were outlined in a short text that appears in Dunhuang manuscripts (DH31, 32), the Scripture of the Ten Precepts (Shíjiè jīng 十戒經). The precepts are the classical rules of medieval Taoism as applied to practitioners attaining the rank of Disciple of Pure Faith (qīngxīn dìzǐ 清心弟子).
During the Tang dynasty, Han Yu further formalized and defined Confucian beliefs as an apologetic response to Buddhism. He emphasized the ethics of the Way. He explicitly paired "Tao" and "De", focusing on humane nature and righteousness. He also framed and elaborated on a "tradition of the Tao" in order to reject the traditions of Buddhism. [29]
In religious Taoism, the theory of how Tao produces One, Two, and Three is also explained. In Tao produces One—Wuji produces Taiji, which represents the Great Tao, embodied by Hundun ( Chinese : 混沌無極元始天王 ; pinyin : Hùndùn Wújí Yuánshǐ Tiānwáng , "Heavenly King of the Never-ending Primordial Beginning") at a time of pre ...
Professionalised Taoism (i.e. priestly orders) usually presents Laozi and the Three Pure Ones at the top of the pantheon. [29] Worship of nature deities and ancestors is common in popular Taoism, while professional Taoists put an emphasis on internal alchemy. The Tao is never an object of worship, being treated more like the Indian concept of ...
"Popular Western Taoism" is a term coined by Jonathan R. Herman in his 1998 review of Ursula K. Le Guin's Daodejing "rendition", referring to the abundance of new literature on Taoism by nonspecialists, including "translations" of Taoist texts by authors who (sometimes boastfully) lack linguistic competence.