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NOT A FRONTPAGE - You dropped food on the floor…should you eat it?. Homework : None . That which cannot be named…. Daoism. Background to Taoism. Develops in China during the Zhou dynasty Founder is believed to be Lao Tse (604 – 531BC); lived at the same time as Confucius
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NOT A FRONTPAGE - You dropped food on the floor…should you eat it? Homework: None
That which cannot be named… Daoism
Background to Taoism • Develops in China during the Zhou dynasty • Founder is believed to be Lao Tse (604 – 531BC); lived at the same time as Confucius • Followers studied nature and made discoveries in science and technology • Perhaps the magnetic compass and gunpowder • Currently there are about 20 million followers of Daoism, most in Taiwan
Beliefs/Teachings • Teachings of Lao Tse written down in the book, Tao te-Ching – • “a humble effort to talk about that which cannot be talked about or even named.” • Name roughly translated to “the way” or “the path”; it is basically indefinable and must be experienced • Way to live in happiness and peace is to gain experience of the Dao by living in harmony with nature • No worship or prayer, as no gods exist according to Daoists; • Answer to life’s problems comes from inner meditation and outer observation. • Provides an alternative to the many rules and rituals of Confucianism, which Daoists believed disturbed the natural order.
Yin and Yang • The nature of change, balanced as two halves of a whole. • Yin and Yang is perhaps the most known and documented concept used within Taoism. • Yin and Yang illustrated from the Tao Te Ching [2] • When people see things as beautiful,ugliness is created.When people see things as good,evil is created. • Being and non-being produce each other.Difficult and easy complement each other.Long and short define each other.High and low oppose each other.Fore and aft follow each other.