The Daodejing changed and developed over time, possibly from a tradition of oral sayings, and is a loose collection of aphorisms on various topics which seek to give the reader wise advice on how to live and govern, and also includes some metaphysical speculations. 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. Early versions of independent texts like the Neiye, the Lüshi Chunqiu, the Zhuangzi, and the Daodejing.īagua diagram from Zhao Huiqian's ( 趙撝謙) Liushu benyi ( 六書本義, c.Ideas associated with official practitioners of divination and the I Ching.The School of Naturalists who produced the ideas of yīn and yáng and the “ Five Phases” ( wǔxíng).Several Legalist theorists, such as Shen Buhai, who spoke of Dào and wúwéi, and Han Fei, whose work explicates some parts of the Daodejing.Several divergent Confucian schools and their ideas of personal cultivation and Dào.Mohism, which might have influenced the Taoist idea of "great peace" ( tàipíng) seen in later works like the Taipingjing.According to Russell Kirkland, these independent influences include: ![]() 500 BCE) were influenced by streams of thought, practices and frameworks inherited from the period of the hundred schools of thought (6th century to 221 BCE). Thus, while there was never a coherent "school" of "classical Taoism" during the pre-Han eras, later self-identified Taoists (c. Likewise the labels Taoism and Confucianism were developed during the Han dynasty by scholars to group together various thinkers, and texts of the past and categorize them as "Taoist", even though they are quite diverse and their authors may never have known of each other. The legend of the "person" Laozi was developed during the Han dynasty and has no historical validity. Only after a later expansion of the canon did these texts become included. Their collection of Taoist texts did not initially include classics typically considered to be "Taoist" like the Tao Te Ching and the Zhuangzi. The first group consciously identifying itself as "Taoist" ( Dàojiào) appeared and began to collect texts during the fifth century BCE. These texts had some things in common, especially ideas about personal cultivation and integration with what they saw as the deep realities of life. According to Russell Kirkland, "Taoists did not generally regard themselves as followers of a single religious community that shared a single set of teachings, or practices." Instead of drawing on a single book or the works of one founding teacher, Taoism developed out a widely diverse set of Chinese beliefs and texts, that over time were gathered together into various synthetic traditions. The birthplaces of notable Chinese philosophers from the Hundred Schools of Thought during the Zhou dynasty.Ĭompared to other philosophical traditions, Taoist philosophy is quite heterogeneous. Additionally, around 1,400 distinct texts have been collected together as part of the Taoist canon ( Dàozàng). The I Ching was also later linked to this tradition by scholars such as Wang Bi. The principal texts of this philosophical tradition are traditionally seen as the Daodejing, and the Zhuangzi, though it was only during the Han dynasty that they were grouped together under the label "Taoist" ( Daojia). Taoist texts and the literati and Taoist priests that wrote and commented on them never made the distinction between "religious" and "philosophical" ideas, particularly those related to metaphysics and ethics. ![]() ![]() While scholars have sometimes attempted to separate "Taoist philosophy" from "Taoist religion", there was never really such a separation. ![]() 'bright and dark'), biànhuà ("transformation") and fǎn ("reversal"), and personal cultivation through meditation and other spiritual practices. Throughout its history, Taoist philosophy has emphasised concepts like wúwéi ("effortless action"), zìrán ( lit. Taoism differs from Confucianism in putting more emphasis on physical and spiritual cultivation and less emphasis on political organization. Since the initial stages of Taoist thought, there have been varying schools of Taoist philosophy and they have drawn from and interacted with other philosophical traditions such as Confucianism and Buddhism. The Dào is a mysterious and deep principle that is the source, pattern and substance of the entire universe. 'study of the Tao') also known as Taology refers to the various philosophical currents of Taoism, a tradition of Chinese origin which emphasizes living in harmony with the Dào ( Chinese: 道 lit. Taoist philosophy ( Chinese: 道學 pinyin: Dàoxué lit.
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