Lao Zi and Taoism
Confucianism was, as we have mentioned, the mainstream of
Chinese thought for about 2,000 years, from the second century BC
down to the beginning of the 20th century. The second greatest in-
fluence on Chinese thought was no doubt Taoism, which opposed but
also complemented and enlivened Confucianism.
We know very little about Lao Zi, the founder of Taoism. Ac-
cording to the Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian, he was
born in the State of Chu, in present-day Henan Province, a little ear'
lier than Confucius. He worked for some time in the Zhou govern-
ment. When he saw the decline of the dynasty, he left his work to .
live in seclusion. On his way he reached a gate which he had to go
through. The gate keeper by the name of Yin Xi begged him to write
a book. Lao Zi agreed and wrote about 5,000 words on tiao and de,
or the Way and its functions. After that he left and no one knew
where he was or when he died.
There have been scholars who hold that Lao Zi may have lived in
the sixth century BC, but the book named a{ter him contains ideas
and terms that belonged to a much later period. Like many other
Chinese classics, the book went through a process of editing and com-
pilation, and may have taken the present shape in the fourth century
BC, in the middle of the Warring States Period.
The book is written in verse, in very terse language, with many
lines capable of different interpretations. Countless notes to and corn~
mentaries on the book have been written by scholars of the past and
present. It has been translated into many foreign languages and mod-
em Chinese. Indeed, few books have attracted as much attention and
aroused as much interest in China and abroad as this small book.
As it discusses dao and de, the book is called the Dao De Jing,
but more commonly known as the Lao Zi. The philosophy explained
in it is called Taoism, for Tao, not Dao, was how the Chinese word
was represented in English in the past.
Dao, according to Lao Zi, gave birth to the universe and make
all the things in the universe what they are. In other words, it is the
origin of all things, and also the law that governs their workings and
change. It is invisible, intangible, and indescribable. In fact, it is
nameless, and Dao is only an inadequate name forced upon it.
About the laws that governs the development and change of all
the things in the universe, Lao Zi put forward a series of profound
views. He holds that things and concepts are relative:being and non-
being produce each other, the difficult and the easy complement each
other, the long and the short shape each other, the high and the low
contain each other, and what is before and what is after follow each
other. He says when the world recognizes the beautiful as beautiful,
there is the ugly; when the world recognizes the good as good, there
is the bad(or the evil). Of every pair of opposite concepts, each pro-
duces the other, or the existence of each depends on the existence of
the other.
This theory is not difficult to understand. Perhaps we do not
know it as a philosophy, but we apply it in our everyday life. When
we say someone is tall, for instance, we mean that he is taller than
many other people, or we know that many other people are shorter
than he is. We understand that tallness and shortness are relative.
From this relativity Lao Zi goes on to draw a very .important
conclusion: "Reversion is the movement of Dao, "or turning back is
how the Way moves. This means that a state or quality has its process
of development, and when it reaches the extreme, it will eventually
turn back to its opposite state or quality. In nature and in human so-
ciety countless examples can be found to prove this theory. Plants,
animals, and human beings grow and grow, but one day they will die
and disappear. In China and in other countries, there were in the
past big, powerful states led by great leaders or conquerors, but all of
them collapsed or fell after a period of time.
Lao Zi says that an army that is strong will be defeated, just as a
tree that is strong will be broken. This is perhaps because a strong
army is often proud and looks down upon other armies, and sooner or
later it will be defeated by the joint forces of the armies it has at-
tacked. A tree that is strong is fragile and can easily be broken in a
strong wind, while a weak tree is supple; it bends with the wind but
will not be broken. The conclusion drawn from this by Lao Zi is that
the soft and weak will overcome the hard and strong, and that"weak-
ness is the function of Dao."
Lao Zi also discusses the right way to live, behave and handle
things. He advises people to be peaceful, quiet, submissive, toler-
ant, modest, contented, humble, live a simple life, not to strive for
wealth, fame or power, which will only give one worries and trou-
ble. Even when one has won a great success, one had better with-
draw from the scene without claiming credit for it. He says, "He does
not show himself, and so is conspicuous; he does not consider himself
right, and so is famous; he does not brag, and so is given credit; he
is not conceited, and so can endure for long. It is just because he does
not contend that no one in the world can contend with him." He also
says, "To yield is to be preserved; to bend is to become straight; to
be low is to be full; to be worn out is to be renewed; to have little is
to gain; to have plenty is to be perplexed."
These sayings also show the truth that a state or quality will
turn to its opposite when it reaches the extreme. Another similar say-
ing, which is widely known, is that"good fortune may exist beside
misfortune, and misfortune may hide in good fortune." The well-
known story about the old man on the frontier losing his horse may
be considered a good illustration of this statement. When one of his
horses runs away, he says that may be a blessing. Soon the horse
comes back, bringing with it another horse. But the old man fears a
misfortune may happen. His son, who likes riding a horse, falls from
the new horse and breaks his leg. This tums out to be a blessing
when a war breaks out, for the son, now crippled, is not called up to
fight in the war.
About government and social order, Lao Zi is for nonaetion. It
does not mean inactivity, but taking no action that is not natural,
that is against the original nature and wishes of the people. It means
letting people and society take their own course without being taught
or directed. Lao Zi believes that a state is poorly governed when the
ruler does too much. He says, "The more prohibitions there are in
the world, the poorer the people will be; the more sharp weapons the
people have, the more troubled the state will be; the more skills man
possesses, the more strange things will appear; the more laws and or-
ders are made, the more thieves and robbers there will be. "On the
other hand, "if the ruler takes no action, the people will be trans-
formed of themselves; if he loves tranquillity, the people will become
correct of themselves; if he engages in no activity, the people will be-
come prosperous of themselves; if he has no desire, the people will
become simple of themselves."
Lao Zi lived in the turbulent years of the Spring and Autumn Pe-
riod, when wars, usurpations and intrigues were common. What he
wrote about nonaction may have expressed his hatred of the rulers of
his day, but at the same time he put forward a very important politi-
cal view. Many centuries later there was in the West a similar theo-
ry:the best government is the one that governs least.
"Dao invariably takes no action, and yet there is nothing left
undone, "Lao Zi says.
The above four aspects, the origin of the universe, the workings
of all the things in the universe, the right way to live and behave,
and.the right way to govern a state, are among the most important
questions discussed in the book, the Lao Zi.
It is clear that Taoism and Confucianism are different in many
ways. Confucius holds that moral principles and moral qualities are
most important, and all social ills result from the low moral standard
of the ruler and people. A ruler should first of all have a good moral
character himself and then try to educate the people and make them
virtuous. Only in this way can a state be well governed. But Lao Zi
hates to talk about virtues and is against education. In his view,
knowledge and wisdom, humaneness and rightness, should all be
thrown away, so as to keep people's thinking simple and primitive.
In his view, knowledge and wisdom produce evil ideas and make peo-
ple think of and do bad things. It is therefore the duty of a good ruler
to make his people have no knowledge or desire.
Confucius took the Western Zhou as a time with the ideal social
and political systems, which he wished to restore. Lao Zi's ideal time
is a primitive one: in it people do not use written language, do not
use ships, carts, or weapons, and live in very small states; the sound
of dogs barking and cocks crowing in one state can be heard in anoth-
er, but the people of one state will grow old and die without having
had any contact with those of another.
Confucius hopes that society will be peaceful and orderly as a re-
sult of the conscious effort of the ruler and the people, both of whom
value moral pinciples and knowledge. Lao Zi also dreams of a peaceful
and orderly society, but that is possible only when the people return
to a primitive simplicity, while the ruler does nothing to meddle in
their natural way of life. Perhaps Confucius is realistic, while Lao Zi
is romantic.
Over the ages Lao Zi's influence was clear on many scholars, po-
ets, artists, even government officials. Tao Qian, for instance,
would rather return to his village to lead the life of a farmer than
serve as an official. One of his poems says:"I was in a cage for a long
time, but now I have returned to nature."
The famous poet Li Bai wrote many poems in praise of nature
and freedom. One of them says: "When I am asked why I want to
stay in this mountain, I smile and give no answer. My heart is at
peace at seeing peach flowers flowing away with the water, for this is
a land different from the world of men."
Taoist influence on traditional Chinese painting can easily be
seen. Most landscapes represent beautiful and quiet scenery with
mountains and lakes, rocks and trees. There may be no men in
them; if there are, they are very small and inconspicuous. They seem
to be part of nature or merge with it.
Taoist principles are often followed in garden designing. In a
typical Chinese garden there is no straight road or a big central hall.
Instead, there are winding paths between bamboos and trees, small
houses hidden behind hills or rocks, and ponds with wooden bridges
across them. The purpose is to mirror nature and make one feel that
he is living in the midst of nature, far from the busy world.
Today, when we talk about Taoist influence on Chinese
thought, we should of course try to distinguish between what is posi-
tive and useful and what is negative and harmful in this philosophy.