TRAD101Languages & Culturesof East AsiaDaoism/Taoism I: Laozi & Dao De JingLife of LaoziBorn about 571BCAbout 20 years older than Confucius Family Name = Li; Given name = ErAdult alias = Dan head of the imperial library of the Eastern Zhou DynastyLife of Laozi The chapter Bibliographies of Laozi, Zhuangzi, Shenzi, & Hanfeizi in The Records of the Historian (Shiji by SimaQian) records that: "Laozi was a native of Qurenli of the town of Lixiang, in Ku County, in the State of Chu (i.e., to the east of Luyi, present-day Henan province).Where Laoziwas from…Historical BackgroundThe spring & Autumn Period (770-476BC) Zhou Dynasty about to collapseWars between competing feudal statesThe same historical period as ConfuciusChina During the Waring States Period & Life of LaoziLaozi & ConfuciusConfucius consulted LaoziPainting Tablet in Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD)Confucius consulted LaoziPainting in Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644 AD)Laozi & Confucius When Confucius went to Zhou & consulted Laozi about rites, Laozi said, "As for the person you mentioned, when his body & bones have dissipated, only his words continue to exist. A gentleman travels in a carriage when he is successful and walks downheartedly when he is not. I've heard that a good merchant hides everything and seems as if he has nothing, and a virtuous gentleman appears slow-witted. Get rid of your overbearing airs and excessive desires, of your posturing attitude and greed. They will do no good to you, and I tell you that just as it is."Laozi & Confucius Confucius left & said to his disciples, "As for birds, I know they are able to fly; as for fish, I know they are able to swim; as for beasts, I know they are able to run. What runs can be stopped with nets, what swims can be stopped with fishing lines, & what flies can be stopped with arrows. As for dragons, I have no idea of their ascending to heaven by wind and clouds. Today I met Laozi, who's just like a dragon!"Dao De Jing(‘Classics of the Way & Its Power’)(‘The Book of the Way & its Virtue ’) Having inhabited Zhou for long & seeing its decline, Laozi set off westward & arrived at the Pass (Hanyuguan). Yin Xi, the official in charge of the pass, said, "Since you are going to live in seclusion, please write a book for me." So Laoziwrote a book of two parts, explaining Dao & its virtue in 5,000 words. Then he left, and it is unknown where he went.ZhuangziThe Book of NanhuaZhuangzi wrote The Book of Nanhua to elaborate on Dao and its virtue. Zhuangzi’s significance to Daoistphilosophy -- Mencius in ConfucianismZhuangzi | I Dreamt I was a ButterflyOne day about sunset, Zhuangzi dozed off and dreamed that he turned into a butterfly.He flapped his wings and sure enough he was a butterfly...What a joyfull feeling as he fluttered about, he completely forgot that he was Zhuangzi.Soon though, he realized that that proud butterfly was really Zhuangzi who dreamed he was a butterfly, or was it a butterfly who dreamed he was Zhuangzi!Maybe Zhuangzi was the butterfly, and maybe the butterfly was Zhungzi? This is what is menat by the "transformation of things.“ http://www.chinapage.com/story/butterfly.htmlZhuangzi | These Fish Are HappyOne day Zhuangzi and Huizi are strolling on Bridge Hao.Zhuangzi : "Look how happy the fish are just swimming around in the river."Huizi : "How do you know they are happy? You are not a fish."Zhuangzi: "And you are not me. How do you know I don't know the fish are happy?"Huizi: "Of course I'm not you, and I don't know what you think; But I do know that you're not a fish, and so you couldn't possibly know the fish are happy." Zhuangzi: "Look, when you asked me how I knew the fish were happy, you already knew that I knew the fish were happy.I knew it from my feelings standing on this bridge.http://www.chinapage.com/story/fish.htmlBasic Concepts1. Dao/Tao (the way) 道2. De (the power) 德3. Yin Yang 阴阳4. Harmony & Balance 和谐 & 平衡5. Works without working 无为6. Refusal to be foremost of all things under heaven / stay backward 不为天下先/ 处后Basic Concepts7. Clean & Peaceful Quietness 清静8. Stay in the low – humbleness 居下9. Softness 柔弱Two related clipsEckhart Tolle | not reacting to contenthttp://youtube.com/watch?v=UPg9DnMP2D4Adyashanti | Wisdom of Do Nothing http://youtube.com/watch?v=ELTiD7L_nU81. Dao/Tao ‘path’ 道道道道mentioned 74 times in 37 chapters‘The Tao that can be told of is not an Unvarying Tao; The names that can be named are not unvarying names.’-- Chapter One1. Dao/Tao ‘path’ 道道道道For the Tao is a thing impalpable, incommensurable. Incommensurable, impalpable yet latent in it are forms; incommensurable yet within it are entities. Shadowy it is & dim; yet within it there is a force, a force that though rarefied is none the less efficacious.---- Chapter 211. Dao/Tao ‘path’ 道道道道There is a whole formed & born earlier than Heaven & Earth. Silent & empty, it relies on nothing, moving around forever. We may regard it as the mother of all things. I do not know its name, so I name it as Dao, & further name it as the Great. The Great is moving forward without stopping, extending to the remotest distance, & then returning to where it was. That is why I say Dao is Great, Heaven is Great, Earth is Great, & Man is Great. There are four things that are Great, of them Man is one. Man takes Earth as his model, Earth takes heaven as its model, Heaven takes Dao as its model, & Dao takes Spontaneity as its model. -- Chapter 251. Dao/Tao ‘path’ 道道道道Can be felt & experienced by heart & soulBeyond any concrete physical descriptionsThe essence of all thingsAn abstract absoluteness The origin of all beings A metaphysical noumenon causing the physical worldFor though all creatures under heaven are the products of Being, Being itself is the product of Not-being. -- Chapter 402. De (the power)Mentioned 41 times in 16 chaptersIt is Tao’s power through which people have the possibility to achieve the TaoTao gave them birth; the ‘power’ of Tao reared them, shaped them according to their kinds, perfected them, giving to each its strength. ---Chapter 512. De (the power)The highest power vs. the inferior powerThe man of highest “power” does not reveal himself as a possessor of “power”; therefore he keeps his “power”. The man of inferior “power”cannot rid it of