The History of Daoism

Daoism

Daoism, also called Taoism[1] refers one of the two greatest autochthonic philosophies of China. The word Daoism refers to Daojia[2], or the philosophical text of Laozi[3], Zhuanzi[4]and the word Daojiao[5]. Daoism thus is also called Lao-Zhuang philosophy. The word Daojia was coined by Sima Tan, a historian, in his records The Shiji written in the 2^nd century[6]. He was not able to complete his work but his son, Sima Qian[7], completed much of the records. According to Shiji, the Daoist is one of the Six Schools, which included Yin-Yang, Mohist, School of Names, Confucian, Legasist and Daoist.[8]

It is believed that the school of Daoism was founded by Laozi. The teachings of Daoism are written on his major work, the Daodejing or the Laozi and on the Zhuangzi text.

The Daodejing Text

The Daodejing is divided into 81 chapters, with over 5,000 Chinese characters. It is divided into the dao jing, chapters 1 to 37, and de jing, chapters 38 to 81. The Daodejing text is a collection of short aphorism, which according to old beliefs, have been given by Laozi to Yin Xi, who used to guard the mountain pass from China to the west. However, the most commonly accepted belief is that it passed over from one generation to the next through the word of mouth.

The Daodejing text was used by commentators in China for almost two thousand years and has been named after Wang Bi, a commentator from 226 to 249 CE. Though not a Daoist, his commentary has become the standard guide that has been used up to date. However, many recent archeological findings, such as Goudian in 1993 and Mawangdui in 1970, have proven that there are many versions of the Daodejing texts[9].

Based on the Daodejing text, the term dao refers to a road or “the Way”. It is the process or the path through which reality and nature come together, while still transforming.[10] Thus, according to Daoism, change is the most basic character of all things. It teaches that man cannot fathom the Dao but may become one with it or “obtain the dao”, thru wuwei. Wuwei means “acting naturally” or “effortless action” or “non action”[11].

[1] Way, path; as Western interest in China intensified during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, various systems of Romanization (transliteration into the Roman alphabet used in most Western languages) were proposed and utilized. Of these, the most frequently used today are the pinyin system and the Wade-Giles system (Richey).

[2] Dao family or school of the Dao

[3] Laozi is the name of a legendary Daoist philosopher and the moniker of a deity in the pantheon of organized “religious Daoism” that arose during the later Han dynasty (25-220 CE) (Littlejohn).

[4] Zhuangzi, or "Master Zhuang" (also known in the Wade-Giles Romanization as Chuang-tzu) was, after Laozi, one of the earliest thinkers to contribute to the philosophy that has come to be known as Daojia, or school of the Way (Coutinho).

[5] Teaching of the Dao; describing the various religious movements of the late Han Dynasty onward.

[6] From 109 BC to 91 BC

[7] Known as the father of Chinese histiography

[8] James, 1989

[9]Loewe M, 1993

[10] James M, 2004.

[11]Lionel M, 1997