TAOISM

DAOISM
DO YOU KNOW THEM?
DO YOU KNOW THEM?
WHAT IS DAOISM?
• Taoism / Daoism is a religion and
philosophy from ancient china that
has influenced folk and national
belief
• Daoism can also be called “the
other way”.
• Daoism was philosophize by
“Laozi (Lao-tzu)”
 CONCEPTUAL MAP

DAOIS
M

SCRED BELIEF
WORSHIPS and SUBDIVI
and
SCRIPTURES OBSERVANCE SIONS
DOCTRINES
 SYMBOLS
• The Yin and Yang is the most well-
known Daoist religious symbol. It is an
image composed of a circle divided
into swirling parts.
• Its signify the Yin-qi and Yang-qi,
known as primordial and masculine
energies.
• Daoists believe that the interplay of
Yin and Yang created the manifest
world.
 531 BC)
• Father of Daoism/Taoism
• Attribute with the writing of “ Tao-
Ching”
- “tao” – the way or the path
- “te” - vitue
- “ching” – laws
• He believed “simplicity” to be the
 LAO TZU (604 BC- 531 BC)

• In this way, Taoist philosophy

reached out to council rulers and
advise them of how to govern
their domains. Thus Taoism, in a
peculiar and roundabout way ,
became a political philosophy.
 LAO TZU (604 BC- 531 BC)

The formulation follows these

lines
“The Taoist sage has no
ambitions, therefore he can never
fail the one who never fails
always succeeds. And he who
always succeeds is all powerful”
SCRED
SCRED SCRIPTURES

SCRIPTURES
D A O D E J I N G O R TA O T E C H I N G

• The Tao Te Ching or Dao De

Jing is the foundational text
of Daoism’s, which means
“The Book of the Way and
its Power”
D A O D E J I N G O R TA O T E C H I N G

• “Dao De Jing” has often been

attributed to “Laozi”, but some
believe that it was product of
the collective efforts among
various group in china.
“Dao”- away or a path
“De”- the power or virtue
 BOOK OF CHUANG TZU/ZUANGZI

• Another important scripture is the

Zhuangzi, dating to be third century B.C.E.
and attributed to a man named Zhuangzi
“Zhuangzi”- the second founder of
Daoism.
• It was divided into three sections;
“inner chapters”
“outer chapters”
“miscellaneous chapter”
 BOOK OF CHUANG
TZU/ZUANGZI

• According to some experts, certain

chapters were written by scholars
during the early part of Han dynasty.
But some saying that some chapters
are quoted by “Han Feizi” and
“Lushi Chunqiu” .
CONCEPTS/
CONCEPTS OR BELIEFS

BELIEFS
 THE “DAO”
• It is the essential concept and creative
principle in Daoism according to Laozi.
• It is undetectable, indistinct, shapeless,
and indefinable.
• It is the foundation of all being. And
the way in which nature and the
universe exist.
• Dao is sometimes called “mother”
 TDIETY/GOD (DAO AS THE
ORIGIN OF ALL BEING)
• Daoism does not have a GOD
• Daoists believe that the universe originated
from the “Dao”
• However “Dao” itself is not GOD and is not
worshipped by the daoists. instead they
worship deities,
• Daoists also believe that dao can only be
found in silence since it is heavenly and
beyond change.
 THE “DE”
• “De” means virtue
• It encourages inaction in nature
and advocates the quit and passive
nature of a person so that the Dao,
or the creative principle in the
universe.
 THE “DE”
• “Non-competition in emptiness” is
said to be the other side of the
principle of “inaction in nature”
• For daonists, in action means a person
outward action, and emptinessis the
corresponding inner state.
 WU-WEI
• Wu-wei means “no behavior” or “doing
nothing” and also means “to do without
doing” (wei-wu wei) or “actionless
activity”
• It refer to certain stages such as
nonbehavior or doing nothing
• This concept is key to the noblest kind
of action
• Is at the heart of what it means to
 YIN-YANG
• Yin – highest form is freezing
• Yang – highest form is boiling
• The interaction of these two
establishes “he” (harmony) so it
gives birth to things.
 YIN-YANG
• the theory that opposite sides
always transform into each other
serves as the philosophical
foundation of Laozi’s
methodology.
YIN-YANG

• There are about 70 concepts

of things in pair which are
listed in Laozi, and some of
them are:
 YIN-YANG
• Good and evil, long and short,
bright and dark, full and empty,
lead and follow, strong and weak,
beauty and ugliness, difficult and
easy, favor and disgrace , superior
and inferior, glory and humility,
masculine and feminine , increase
and decrease, offensive and
defensive etc.
QI OR CHI
 QI/CHI
• The qi refers to the natural energy or life
force that sustains living beings. Qi
literally means “air” or “vapor” it is
fundamental substance of nature and
living beings, as well as life force . It
refers to matter, which is continuous,
energetic, and dynamic.
• It is sometimes translated as “material
force” or “vital force”
 QI/CHI
• It is considered as the foundation of
body and life. Daoists believe that
everything is made up of qi and will
eventually return to qi. Because of
this, people should not be afraid of
death, for life and death are but
phases of the circulation of qi.
WORSHIP AND
W O R S H I P A N D O B S E R VA N C E S

OBSERVANCES
 WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES
• Humility and non-competition are among
the most important virtues in Daoism.
These virtues, together with naturalness
and naturalism, as well as non-aggression
and passive rule, manifest the
fundamental virtue of wu wie. The
physical appearance of the Daoist sage
exemplifies the virtue of humility, for on
the outside the sage exemplifies the virtue
 WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES

• For on the outside the sage may dress

shabbily but his mind is full of wisdom
and his heart, full of compassion.
MORAL
MORAL PRACTICES

PRACTICES
 MORAL PRACTICES
• Physical and spiritual techniques are just as
important as ethical or moral techniques or
practices. Daoists put emphasis on ethical
behavior by incur-porating it into their
practices. They value the need for a moral life ,
of good works as well as of ritual atonement for
misbehavior.
 GOAL PRACTICES
TO OBTAIN • Use of potions( led to the practice of alchemecalexperiments which
LONGEVITY made lasting contributions on various fields such as chemistry,
AND medicine, and pharmacology)
• Practice meditation (includes experiments with one’s self,
IMMORTALI especially the body through the use of methods of inner alchemy,
TY associated with yoga and other forms of meditation)
• Breathing technique (to be in contact with qi, for longevity and to
counter aging)
TO DISPEL
ILLNESS OR • Jiao festival (or the rite of cosmic renewal , celebrated to rededicate
SUFFERING the local temple and to renew the whole community by cleansing it
from suffering and hardships)
• Refrain from eating grain (based on Daoist belief that illness is
caused by three corpse worms which reside in the body, and eating
grain will encourage these worms to stay.
• Confession and purging of ones sins (based on the belief that illness
may be caused by wrongdoing)
SELECTED
SELECTED ISSUES

ISSUES
 FITALISM
• Daoism has often criticized for
propagating laziness or
espousing a fatalistic attitude
in life by letting nature take its
course and reminding Daoist
to just go with the flow
 FITALISM
• It means performing all ones
actions by not doing forced
aggressive actions
• It means performing all ones
actions with natural and
unforced attitude
 SUPERSTITION
• Another issue encountered by
Daoism is the belief in
superstitions practices. for
instance, there is a misconception
that Daoism involves sorcery,
which includes drawing signs,
chants, and other practices which
led to the notion that Daoism
promotes superstitions practice.
 SUPERSTITION
• They believe that all things have
spirits and that deities of the heavens
and earth are all around us
• According to Daoist scriptures, the
offering of three sticks of incense is
important if one wishes to convey a
message to the deities, who in turn
will shower them with blessings.
 DEVELOPMENT
• Daoists believe in the dictum “leave
nature alone and nature will thrive,”
• Daoism has advocated a utopian
vison of society characterized by
order and harmony , and an
emphasis on self-cultivation as a
means of achieving social harmony
 DEVELOPMENT
• Daoism advocates the idea that
we should follow the lead of
nature instead of controlling it,
for human are natural creatures
who should live in harmony
with nature
ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY
TRUE OR FALSE
TRUE OR FALSE
ARE YOU READY?