Daoism-one of the major religions in the world

This PPT talks about Daoism.

1. A”

al
Taoism

—_ LA

2. Lao Tzu (604 BC - 531 BC)

"father of Taoism
«attribute with the writing of Tao-

te Ching
-"tao" - the way or the path

"te" - virtue

-"ching" - laws
«He believed "simplicity" to be the
key to truth and freedom

“The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth.”
- LAO TZU

3. « 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.
The formulation follows these lines:

the Mao ist sage has no ambitions, the re fo re he can never
Jail Bier who never fails always succeeds. #hd he who
always succecds is alt po werful

4. + When he was eighty years old he set out
for the western border of China, toward
what is now Tibet, saddened and
disillusioned that men were unwilling to
follow the path to natural goodness

5. Tao-te Ching

* a series of poems that can be considered to be a
work of philosophy, a treatise on how to run a
government, a how-to book for achieving a
balanced life, or a sage's reflection of humanity
and the universe

6. Chuang Tzu: The Next Voice

His style of writing with its
parables and conversations both
accessible while at the same time
pointing to deeper issues

Chuang Tzu took the Taoist position
of Lao Tzu and developed it further

he brought into Chinese philosophy

is that of self-transformation as a

central precept in the Taoist
ocess

7. "Mace À Uhuang zu, dreamed Ñwas a
bu tte rfly and was happy asa bu the Ay. À
was conscious tha was quite p leased with
m self but Adid nothknow that Awas zu.
Raddenly Na wo he, and there was 2 visibly
Mza. Ado nothnow whe ther it was Neu
dreaming that he was a butterfly or the
butterfly dreaming thathe was Neu.

seen Mzu and the bu tte Ay there must be
some distinction. [Biatone may be the
er. ] Whis is called the transforma tion of

8. “DD

Development of Y
Taoism

Yang Hsiung
> Wang Ch'ung
> Huai-Nan Tzu

Lieh Tzu & Yang Chu ©

9. Yang Hsiung (53 B.c.t018A.D) .
AN OW,
* was an exponent of what he called Taig N
Hsuan (Great Mystery) =

> This philosophy combined classical Taoism
with elements of Confucian ethics

+ He is well known for his doctrine that _
human nature is a mixture of good and evil.

i

10. "To make clear the achievement of nature and throw
light on all things is called yang. To be hidden,
without form, deep and unfathomable, is called yin.
Yang knows yang but does not know yin. Yin knows
yin but does not know yang. The Profound Principle
alone knows both yin and yang, both going and
stopping, and both darkness and light."

--Tai Hsuan Ching

11. Wang Ch’ ungez to 100 AD)

Like Yang Hsiung he was a Taoist in
terms of his metaphysics which he
combined with certain Confucian ideas.
He was less interested in ethics and
more concerned with human
institutions, however.

12. *He declared that Heaven takes no direct action:

that natural events occur spontaneously; that there
is no such thing as teleology: that fortune and

misfortune come by chance; and that man does not

become a ghost at death. In all these beliefs is stood

a get a prevailing current of superstition and
IvinaTion.

13. Huai-Nan Tzu Phe

(died 122 B.C.) [born Liu An] if

A

* was a prince of Huai-Nan and a
fervent Taoist.

+ He was not original in his writings but
gave Taoism further prominence. He
came to a tragic end as he plotted a
rebellion, failed and committed
suicide

cr

=

14. Lieh Tzu & Yang Chu

+ Taoism is the hedonism

+ Taoism is the pessimism

wr

15. Yang Chu (440 to 360 B.C. )

* hedonism - school of thought that

argues that pleasure is the only
intrinsic good

+ intrinsic good

=

16. Lieh Tzu (5th century B.C.)

* pessimism - it is a philosophy or
worldview that directly challenges
the notion of progress and what may
be considered the faith-based claims
of optimism

» extensial value

i

17. A

Religious Taoism

> Taoist Practices and Beliefs
> Taoist Sects

> History of Religious Taoism SO

18. Taoist Practices and Beliefs

- This ‘religious’ Taoism had its own
temples, priests, rites and symbolic
images. Lao Tsu was venerated as a ‘saint’
and imperial sacrifices were made to him.
It drew strongly upon the ideas of yin-
yang and of the Five Agents’ (metal,
wood, water, fire & earth)

i

19. > During this time there began to develo
a pantheon of TAOIST DEITIES whic
were often venerated as gods.

.

Among the important features of
Taoist religion were the belief in
physical immortality, alchemy, breath
control and hygiene (internal alchemy).
It supported a pantheon of deities,
including Lao Tzu as one of the three
‘Supreme Ones'

wr

20. + There is considerable evidence that this
religious Taoism came to take on many
‘Tantric’ elements, in which the worship
of yin-yang takes on a distinctly sexual
and erotic form. The interplay of yin
and yang elements is represented, and
celebrated, as a sexual union.

< EE

22. Headquarter: + White Cloud Temple,
Beijing, China

Taoi smhas no centralised

authority and different
sects have different
headquarters. Ibmuever.

23. Taoism did not exist as an organized
religion until the Way of the Celestial
Masters sect was founded in 142 CE. by

Zhang Daoling

ctr

24. Taoist Sects

Among the principal Taoist sects to emerge
were:

* The Heavenly (or Celestial) Masters sect,
founded in West China in the second century A.D.
It was founded by Chang Tao-ling (AD 34?-156?)
who reputedly possessed remarkable healing
powers. It advocated faith healing through the
confession of sin and at one time recruited
members as soldiers and engaged in war against
the government.

25. In the 11th century, the sect obtained a large
tract in Jiangxi province that remained an
important Taoist center until 1927, The sect still
flourishes in Taiwan and continues to pay homage
to Zhang Daoling, who is regarded as immortal.

26. + The Supreme Peace sect, also founded in the
second century A.D., adopted practices much
like those of the Heavenly Master sect and
launched a great rebellion that went on for
several years before ending in 205 A.D.

+ The Mao-shan (Mount Mao) sect, founded in
the 4th century, introduced rituals involving
both external and internal alchemies,
mediumistic practice, and visionary
communication with divinities.

27. + The Ling-pao (Marvelous Treasure) sect, also
founded in the 4th century, introduced the
worship of divinities called T'ien-tsun

(Heavenly Lords).

* The Ch'uan-chen (Completely Real) sect was
founded in the 12th century as a Taoist
monastic movement.

- Eventually the Heavenly Master sect
absorbed most of the beliefs and practices of
the other sects and, in the 20th century,
became the most popular Taoist group.

28. \

History of Religious Taoism

ctr

29. Lao Tzu - Quotes

Seek not happiness too greedily, and be not fearful of happiness,
- Lao-tzu

+ A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
- Lao-tzu

+ He who knows does not speak.
He who speaks does not know.
- Lao-tzu

+ He who knows others is wise;
He who know himself is enlightened.
- Lao-tzu
+ He who loves the world as his body may be entrusted with the
empire.
- Lao-tzu

30. >

N
doing nothing’ one could accomplish everything.

—_ 6