Taoism and Confucianism

Chapter Objectives: After learning this material you will be able to:
Discuss the major features of early Chinese religion and Taoism, including basic
terms and common concepts such as ancestrism, yin yang, Tao, wu wei, chi and
ren.
Present the central message of the Tao Te Ching.
Be able to distinguish the religious and philosophical aspects of Taoism.
Discuss the importance of Taoism in the contemporary world and the modern
understanding of aspects of social life such as the importance of the family.
Understand the impact of Chinese Taoist ideology on attitudes toward and
practices with respect to women.
Discuss Taoisms impact on the American religious landscape.
Explain why most Chinese combine Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism
together in their daily lives.
Discuss the major features of Confucianism as a religion and a philosophy,
including basic terms and common concepts such as ancestrism, yin, yang, Tao,
wu wei, chi and ren.
Present the central message of the Confucian Classics.
Be able to distinguish the religious and philosophical aspects of Confucianism.
Discuss the importance of Confucianism in the contemporary world and the
modern understanding of aspects of social life such as the importance of social
structures.
Understand the impact of Confucian ideology on attitudes toward and practices
with respect to women.
Explain why most Chinese combine Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism
together in their daily lives.
Introduction
It is traditional to study Taoism and Confucianism separately because they have
different founders and are in many ways very different. On the other hand it can
be a problem to separate them in an academic way because most Chinese
people practice them together. That is, a person growing up in China would have
been Confucian in their family and social responsibilities and Taoist in their more
personal religious practices. And even that division rings false. Very simply they
would have been both Taoist and Confucian and we need to remember this if we
are to truly understand these religions of China. In addition, China has a long
history of Buddhism. Because we recently studied Buddhism I am not going to
write about it in this lecture, but it is good to keep in mind that many Chinese
people had a third strand to their religious view, that of Buddhism.
Religion in China
Many, if not most, of the religions we will study in this class are religions of
people who have moved or at least been influenced by the migration of ideas.

We saw How Hinduism was impacted and partially created by the IndoEuropeans. Buddhism has traveled throughout the world adapting and changing
the peoples and cultures that it has met. We all know how big a role immigration
has played in the American story. But with China we encounter something
different. One of the most distinctive features of the Chinese mentality is its
feeling that the Chinese people and the soil on which they live are inseparable
and have been together as far back as tradition goes (Robert S. Ellwood and
Barbara A. McGraw, Many Peoples, Many Faiths: Women and Men in the World
Religions, Seventh Edition, [Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall,
2002], p. 181. Hereafter referred to in the lectures as MPMF.) There are no
stories of the ancient people of China invading China and taking it over from
another people. They seem to have always been there. Consequently, a sense
of place, of the cycles of nature, and of lineage were fundamental to the religious
outlook of the earliest known Chinese, as they have been ever since (MPMF, p.
181.) The land impacts all indigenous religions. Chinas relationship to its land
will be no different.
The earliest religions of China were the nature religions we find all over the world
in the prehistorical period. This is a time when people are closely connected to
nature and magical rites to control the earth and the weather, and things of that
kind. The cultural line that led to Chinese civilization began around 4000 B.C.E.
in tiny villages in the Yellow River basin where millet, vegetables, and pigs were
raised. One of the oldest motifs of Chinese religion is the Earth-god. The central
sacred feature was often a stone or mound, like a concentration of the forces of
the soil into a central focus. These mounds are the ancestors of the city-god
temples of today, as well as the great Altar of Heaven in Beijing, built like an
artificial mountain where the emperor offered worship at the Winter Solstice.
Worship was also offered very early to the spirits of rivers and of rain, the latter
immemorially represented as the dragon, for the rivers and rain bless the fertile
earth with moisture (MPMF, p. 181.) And as with all nature religions, there was
an openness to and relationship with the feminine that is never entirely lost in
Taoism.
One of the areas we can still see the connection with early religion is in the
Chinese respect for their ancestors. Many of the earliest religions seem to have
felt that the people we love who die can influence our lives for better or worse
and therefore it is important to respect them and do the necessary rituals to keep
the peace. In burial and ancestrism, continuity of the three identity-giving factors
of family, ancestors, and place was emphasized. Burial, the return of the tiller of
the earth to its bosom, has always been very important in China (MPMF, p. 181.)
Perhaps people felt that just as a seed must be buried to sprout into a new plant,
so people must be buried correctly to be reborn in the afterlife. All we know for
sure is that the first signs of religious attitudes in human beings are usually found
at burial sites.

Many of us might be familiar with the great pyramids in Egypt. Well you find
similar customs in China where great care was taken to assure the dead,
especially the mighty, of a good afterlife. No expense seemed too great or costly.
The concern with burial goes as far back as Chinese culture. Neolithic farmers
buried children in urns under the house and adults in reserved fields. In the first
period of real civilization, the Shang era, great pits were dug in the earth for the
burial of a king. In what must have been a scene of incredible barbaric horror and
splendor, the deceased monarch was interred brilliantly ornamented with jade,
together with the richly caparisoned horses who had borne his hearse, hundreds
of sacrificed human retainers and prisoners, and a fortune in precious objects
(MPMF, p. 182.) Scholars have learned a great deal about these past times from
these archeological digs in China where they have uncovered this enormous
wealth that was preserved for so long.
Some of the most profound ideas in Chinese philosophy and religion have their
roots in these earliest cultures. The Shang Dynasty and its successor, the Zhou
Dynasty, lasted from about 1750 to 221 B.C.E. The basic motifs of religion in
these eras represent in developing form the fundamental ideas of Chinese
religion and philosophy (MPMF, p. 182.) The Chinese did not have a personal
monotheist God, but they did have a sense of a great and mysterious force,
perhaps something like the Hindu Brahman.
Looking to Nature
Probably one of the first things people noticed in this world was that underneath
the constant changes in life there seem to exist a pervading order and law. The
seasons followed one another and the same stars could be watched at night.
The thinkers of those days talked of a supreme ruler or moderator of the
universe, Di or Tian, usually translated as Heaven, who gave rain, victory,
fortune or misfortune, and regulated the moral order. All things ultimately derived
from Tian, but it was more a personification of natural law than a real personality
and was not directly worshipped; Heaven was like the high god of many archaic
peoples - understood as being remote (MPMF, p. 182.) Most tribal people had
this sense of a high god or ultimate ruler, but in terms of everyday relationships
people found gods closer to home. This makes more sense than we might at first
think if you grew up in a monotheistic Western culture. For example, many of us
might know that our boss has a boss who has a boss all the way up to the chair
of the board of our company. But for most of our regular interactions and for
things such as job evaluations we deal with the next person up from us. We may
have never even met some of the people higher up in the company that are the
people we ultimately work for. I imagine it was something like this for simple
peasant people. Who had the most influence and impact on your life? Your
immediate ancestors first, and then the local gods and goddesses, and only
eventually did you think or concern yourself with the ultimate authority.

Once you had honored your ancestors who did you turn to next? Most of the
local gods seem to be representatives of nature. Other gods, lesser but more
accessible to worship, were those of sun, moon, stars, rivers, mountains, the four
directions, and localities. These were given offerings, some seasonally, some
morning and evening. Above all were the ancestral spirits, treated to meals and
remembrance and expected to intercede on behalf of the living with Tian (MPMF,
p. 182.) So what becomes clear is that there was a perceived hierarchy of being
from the human and natural world to the ancestors and then the forces of nature
until eventually you reached the top of the pyramid where you found Tian.
Closely associated with these early magical rites were the attempts of people to
control their futures or at least be informed about what to expect. The Shang era
is most famous for divination with the oracle bones. The procedure was that
kings would ask their ancestors questions, and the answers would be determined
by cracks made in a tortoiseshell when it was heated over a fire. Thousands of
these shells, with the questions and sometimes the answers inscribed on them in
an archaic form of writing, have been preserved (MPMF, p. 182.) In the tribal
religions one of the tasks of the shamans was to foretell the future and help
people avoid disasters and seek out good fortune. And this interest even
continues today in the modern interest in astrology and psychic phenomena as
well as sprouting out in secular concerns like trying to foresee what the stock
market is going to do or look ahead to see what the weather will be like in a few
days.
So while scholars do not know as much as they would like to know about early
Chinese religion, they know enough to help us discover certain principles in
modern Chinese thought that go all the way back to the dawn of history.
Divination, the seasonal cycle, and ceremonialism all suggest one basic
principle that has run through Chinese thought from the beginning - that the
universe is a unity in which all things fit together. If humanity aligns itself with it,
all will fit together for us as it does for nature. On this assumption, traditional
Chinese lived with the turning of the seasons, and in their ceremonies strove to
make life into an image of their harmony. Divination is based on the same
worldview, for it presumes that if the world is a unity, each fragment of it - like a
tortoiseshell - must contain clues to what is happening or will happen in other
parts (MPMF, pp. 182-183.) This perceived unity would be fundamental to
Chinese thought in both Confucianism and in Taoism. The ultimate goal will
always to find a way to bring ones own life into harmony with this greater unity.
That is the place of contentment and serenity.
The Tao - Foundational to Confucianism and Taoism
Before the formation of what has become known as Confucianism or Taoism the
Chinese had the concept of the Tao. The unity in which all things fit together
harmoniously is called the Tao (MPMF, p. 183.) Both of these traditions refer to
it, the differences between them consist in how they perceive we can best work

with the Tao, not whether the Tao exists or not. Perhaps it is simply a more
philosophical understanding of the early belief in Tian. Tian and the Tao seem
closely related anyway.
While the Tao is not personal like the God of the Bible, it does become the great
focus. Tao - how to know it, live it, and construct a society that exemplifies it - is
the great theme of Chinese thought and the religious expressions closely related
to it (MPMF, p. 183.) What is interesting is that Confucianism and Taoism come
up with such different approaches. But that is when it is important to remember
that the Chinese people never fully bought into only one approach. Most of the
people seemed to realize that it was only using both approaches together that
one could best live out this sought for harmony.
While you could not have a personal relationship with the Tao the same way you
could have a personal relationship with the gods in something like devotional
Hinduism, it was believed that you could come to know the Tao by studying it in
the three places it was most readily observed. In asking how to get back on the
track of Tao, the Chinese believed there were three realms where Tao could be
experienced: nature, human society, and ones own inner being. The question
was: How are these to be lined up, with what priorities, and with what techniques
for ascertaining the message of the Tao? (MPMF, p. 183.) In many ways these
are still the questions of any earnest seeker after the truth.
Just as there have been many seekers, so there have been many answers. But
for various reasons these answers, which became schools of thoughts and
philosophies of life, eventually sorted themselves out into the two basic
approaches we are studying, Taoism and Confucianism. What are these
differences? The basic difference was that Confucianists thought the Tao, or
Tian (the will of Heaven), as they often called it, was best found by humans within
human tradition and society and so was explored through human relationships
and rituals and by the use of human reason. The Taoists thought that reason and
society perverted the Tao, that it was best found alone in the rapture of merging
with infinite nature and the mystical and marvelous (MPMF, p. 183.)
Even today we can often divide people about by their temperaments into
introverts and extroverts. Perhaps the earliest division was based on something
like this, because it seems certain people find meaning in interaction with others
and some people need more time alone in quiet and solitude to find what they
are looking for. Those seeking solitude would find themselves leaning in the
direction of Taoism and those needing to interact and serve others would look for
community life in Confucianism.
More specifically, even in those leaning in one direction or another will often use
certain religious teachings for parts of their life and other teachings for other parts
of their life. This is another reason why people in China tended not to be just one
way or another, because even those who love solitude must sometimes interact

with others and those who love people will find themselves alone at times. In the
lives of most people, features from all sides would have a place. Confucian
attitudes would undergird family and work ethics; Buddhism would help to answer
questions about what happens after death; a dash of Taoist color would meet
esthetic and spiritual needs in family and personal life. (It has been said that
Chinese officials were Confucian at work and Taoist in retirement) (MPMF, p.
184.)
This is really not so strange. Many of us work in one field and as a result of this
emphasis we seek out hobbies and pastimes that are very different. We have
one way of interacting with our fellow employees and another way of interacting
with our families. This is not necessarily a situation of inconsistency as it is a
different emphasis of what is important and valuable in different situations. This
will become clearer as we proceed with our study. So far we have been thinking
about early Chinese tradition and some of the common ground, such as the Tao,
shared by all Chinese thought. Now it is time to look at these two different
traditions in detail and we will start with Taoism.
Fundamentals of Taoism
Confucianism puts a great deal of stress on living a virtuous life. But sometimes
this can seem like too much of a burden. Where is the joy? Where is the
mysticism? Where is the transcendence? Taoism comes along like a breath of
fresh air and lets people know that there is away of nature that is just as
important, if not more important, than the way of social relations. Taoism speaks
to another side of the Chinese character and sensibility. It is the side that feels
for communion with nature and aspirations of the mystic rapture, imaginative
works of art and letters, rebellion against social conformity, inward fear of evil,
and love for gods. This side affirms the needs of personal life against the
demands of structured society, and it affirms the place of the feeling, symbolmaking, nonrational side against the cool, word-oriented rational side. In China,
all this side has danced about under the broad umbrella of the Taoist tradition
(MPMF, p. 196.) Because of these qualities, Taoism has more appeal to many
modern people than Confucianism. But as we will see, either tradition on its own
tends to lack the very balance that both are seeking, but together they work very
well.
Because Taoism is so open to different ideas about reality and it embraces so
much it can be quite confusing to a novice. Taoism itself has divided up into a
more popular religious form and into a more philosophical form. As one would
expect from this, Taoism has been many things to many different people and has
taken an immense variety of forms over the centuries. It has included hermit
poets, temples with lavishly robed priests burning clouds of incense before
resplendent gods, and underground secret political societies. It has ranged from
nature mysticism to occult quests for immortality to the rites of spiritualists who
call up the dead (MPMF, p. 197.) Taoism includes everything that might fall

under traditional spirituality, but it will also include many things that many of us
would call superstitious and magical.
This is because Taoism is the way of philosophers as well as the way of the
common people and their folk religion. Some commentators have talked about a
pure philosophical Taoism and a degenerate, superstitious religious Taoism.
But such presuppositions get in the way of real understanding. It is more
instructive to comprehend how all of Taoism forms a unity of experience around a
single pole, focusing on the feeling-oriented, nonrational side of life. Here it is
simple to move rapidly from mysticism to occultism to revolution and back, and
from nature to the most elaborate religious robes and rites, so long as they
express something imaginative and personal. Taoism in China is really a tapestry
of countless strands of folk religion, ancient arcane going back to prehistoric
shamanism and private vision (MPMF, p. 197.) In some ways it makes a great
deal of sense that if the Tao is the great and ultimate mystery that contains all of
life and more, then it will also embrace as many different ways of relating to it as
there are people.
Lao Tzu and the Tao Te Ching
Where does Taoism come from? We know that the idea of the Tao goes back into
pre-historical times and is foundational to both Taoism and Confucianism.
Taoisms supposed founder is the sage Lao-tzu. Appropriately for such a
romantic tradition, he is more legend than fact, and his very name suggests
anonymity, for Lao-tzu just means The Old Man. Stories say that the bearer of
this epithet was an older contemporary of Confucius (MPMF, p. 198.) There are
even stories of Confucius and Lao-tzu meeting and that while Confucius found
Lao-tzu fascinating he was not sure how one could actually live out the values
being propagated by Lao-tzu. And we will see why in a moment!
While we cannot be sure of the historicalness of Lao-tzu, we have not only a
name but also a story. Lao-tzu was, according to tradition, a dropout. It is said
he was an archive keeper at the Zhou Dynasty court and a popular fellow who
kept a good table. But he became disgusted with the grasping and hypocrisy of
the world, and at the age of 80 left his job, mounted a water buffalo, and
wandered off to the West. At the Western portals of the empire, the gatekeeper is
reported to have detained him as his guest, refusing to let him pass until he had
recorded his wisdom. So the Old Man wrote down the book called the Tao Te
Ching and then departed in the direction of Tibet, becoming mysteriously lost to
the world (MPMF, pp. 198-199.) And this is a perfect ending to this story
because if Taoism is about anything it is about being intuitive and spontaneous
and not simply doing what people expect. To just drop everything and leave
society, especially a corrupt society, for a closer relationship with nature is an
excellent example of Taoism in practice.

The Tao Te Ching is an amazing book. But it is hard to pinpoint exactly what it is
about. Scholars continue to study and debate whether it was meant only for
individuals or for society as a whole. Was it meant only for hermits leaving the
world behind them or is there a practical use of it for all people? There are parts
of it addressed to leadership. That would make it obvious that it was to be put to
use in society. And yet how could one really lead a society putting these
principles into practice? In sum, the origin of the Tao Te Ching is as mysterious
as its meaning; each reader must get from it what he or she can (MPMF, p. 199.)
And people have learned very different things from it. It is a beautiful and
mystical book and I hope that if you have not already read it that you will do so
soon.
What is the Tao Te Ching about? It is a book about the Tao, that universal way or
track down which all the 10,000 things roll and which is their substratum and the
only lasting thing there is; the name Tao Te Ching means something like The
Book of the Tao and How to Apply Its Strength (MPMF, p. 199.) And even though
it is about the Tao, the book starts off by saying that you cant talk about the Tao!
In other words, it is a book that embraces paradox.
The Tao is beyond the power of words
To define:
Terms may be used
But are none of them absolute.
In the beginning of heaven and earth there were no words.
Words came out of the womb of matter (MPMF, p. 199.)
In many ways it is a good way to begin a book. Add to the limitations of our
experience the fact that language by definition cannot really apply a meaningful
label to the whole because the purpose of words is to categorize the particular.
We use words to distinguish one thing from another. To call something rice
implies there are other things that are not rice from which it needs to be
distinguished (MPMF, p. 200.) We would probably all be better off if we could
remember that words have limitations because they are finite, and spiritual terms
like the Tao represent the infinite.
The Problem of Language
We live in such a word-oriented society it is sometimes very easy to forget that
words are only pointers. The word tree is not a real tree. In fact, the letters of
the word tree dont even look like a tree. The word is just a symbol, but in fact
people kill each other over the words we use to describe the sacred.
So we need to use words gently. That is, we use words while at the same time
not taking them too seriously, especially when describing spiritual realities. Even
to use a word ostensibly for the whole, such as Tao or existence, does not avoid
this limitation. All these words can do is point in a certain direction of

comprehension, but they cannot make clear that there is really nothing
comparable to Tao or existence from which it could be distinguished (MPMF, p.
200.) This is probably why some of the greatest teachers such as the Buddha,
Socrates, and Jesus never wrote anything down. They probably understood all
too well that once words are put in writing they become fixed in stone and people
become inflexible about them.
But once you accept the limitations of words you can use them while at the same
time letting them lead you to the place beyond words. The truth has a way of
silencing us if we let it. And the Taoists want us to practice this deep openness to
the mysteries revealed by silence. Once you realize that the Tao, which flows in
and through everyone and everything, cannot be labeled and put in a box, you
can respond to it in a different way, with simple wonder, turning to it as an infant
turns to its mother. The first chapter ends, From wonder into wonder the Tao
opens (MPMF, p. 200.)
We see in reading the Tao Te Ching that Taoism takes a very different view of
human society. Nature is the place where we see the Tao flow effortlessly. It only
gets blocked when we bring people together and all of their artificial rules and
regulations and uptightness block the free flowing of this energy that is described
as the Tao. As a result the Taoist does not fit into society as well as the
Confucian. He or she sees how false it can be and turns away. And again, the
writer, seeing himself as a misfit in artificial society, although marvelously near
the Tao that others miss, says, All these people are making their mark in the
world, while I, pigheaded, awkward, different from the rest, am only a glorious
infant nursing at the breast. In contrast to the Confucian cornerstone - the fatherson relationship - the Tao Te Ching, which emphasizes the natural, biological,
and spontaneous as being better than the social manifestation of the Tao, makes
becoming feminine, or becoming a child in a mothers arms, a basic image for the
relationship of the individual with the great Tao (MPMF, p. 200.) In this embrace
of a more feminine perspective we see how the Chinese tried to find a way to
balance the overly rigid and masculine perspective of Confucianism that we will
study next week. And thus we see again why it would have been so difficult to be
only Taoist or only Confucian.
We also see the beginning of a teaching that becomes important in the martial
arts. In some forms of the Chinese fighting schools you learn to use the other
persons strength rather than your own. You start to work with a different kind of
energy that sees water as its example. There is even a book by Alan Watts that
describes Taoism as the watercourse way. In the seemingly weak stance of the
female or the child is tremendous strength - the strength of water that wears
down the hardest rock, or wind and rain that can come and go as they wish. In
yielding, bending with the wind like a supple tree and then springing back
renewed, is a vital strength that will weave its way subtly through all the
permutations of the Tao. But that which is stiff like a man standing on tiptoe will
break and fall. We are told that the best ruler is he who guides his people

unobtrusively, so that they say, We did this ourselves (MPMF, p. 200.) It is

interesting to think that true leadership might be so subtle that people do not
know they are being led! This is a whole other model of what it means to be
active in the world.
When you think about how some of the most uptight and unlikable people are
those who are often working hard on themselves and trying very hard to be
spiritual you get a glimpse of what the Taoists are saying. It seems sometimes
we can try so hard that we miss the point entirely. Needless to say, this
approach was quite at odds with the Confucianists earnest talk of cultivating
virtue and their moral norms such as filial obedience. Lao-tzu instead refers back
to a primordial paradise where people lived simply in harmony with the Tao
spontaneously. Only when deterioration sets in, he thought, did rules and norms
appear, and they were both cause and effect of the deterioration (MPMF, p.
201.) And yet this is not always true. If you just let little children play with no adult
supervision you will see things quickly get out of hand. Kids can be very good,
but they can also be mean and cruel. There is something to being touch with
what is pure and natural and spontaneous, but the Confucians also have a point
that we need good models and we need some training. It seems to me that
neither Chinese way has a monopoly on the truth. In the real world of our lives
we probably need discipline, but we also need flexibility and humor so that we
dont take ourselves too seriously!
But because the Taoist rejects many of the conventions and rules of ordinary
society it also becomes easy to say yes to just about anything simply because it
is out of the ordinary. Here we can see clearly the Taoist reaction against
ordinary conventions of thought and behavior. It is but a step from this
generalized sense of wonder and of the limitations of ordinary words and
attitudes to the affirmation of the most extraordinary seeming ideas: the
possibility of deathlessness, the reality of fabulous secrets, powers, and worlds.
In fact, even the Tao Te Ching appears to affirm that one who is in inseparable
harmony with the Tao is as immortal as the Tao is, and that through the way of
yielding one can find mysterious powers so great as to seem miraculous. But it
remained to subsequent Taoist writers to make this potential of Lao-Tzus vision
more explicit (MPMF, p. 202.) In this sense I am reminded of a teacher I once
had who told me it was important to have an open mind but not so open that your
brains fall out!
The Development of Philosophical Taoism
Lao-Tzu may be more legend than reality. But one way or another the Chinese
came into possession of the Tao Te Ching. And later Taoists used that as their
basic text. The first and greatest of the Taoist writers to expand on Lao-Tzus
vision more explicitly is Chuang-Tzu (died c. 300 B.C.E.) Little is known of
Chuang-Tzu apart from his book, The Chuang-Tzu, but it is enough. Written in a
vivid, fanciful, and humorous style, it immediately brings the reader into a world

10

of expanding horizons (MPMF, p. 202.) Part of the value of the book is to shock
people, to wake them up, to get them to think outside of the box.
Chuang-Tzu recognized that we take ourselves too seriously and as a result we
get lost in our own ideas and opinions. We seem to think that if we think
something is right then it must actually be right. We forget the warnings in the
Tao Te Ching that the real truth can never be pinpointed down and limited by our
words. Chuang-Tzu wanted a person to be free - above all, free from oneself,
ones own prejudices, partial views, categories, and from judging everything in
terms of oneself. To this Taoist, man is not the measure of all things. The way the
universe happens to appear to a biped six feet tall is no more the way it is than
the way it appears to a fish, a mote, an eagle, or a star. Only the Tao itself is the
measure (MPMF, p. 202.) And the Tao that can be spoken is not the true Tao! If
we could only remember our limitations we would save ourselves much trouble.
We put so much trust in our ordinary consciousness. We think that the way we
see things is the way they really are. But now we have even science telling us
that our perceptions are faulty and selective. Even the strong sense of solidity we
have towards objects is false. A table seems hard, but we know from our
microscopes that there is actually nothing solid there. It is composed of spinning
atoms, which are themselves mostly space.
Chuang-Tzu was aware of this long before the discoveries of modern science
and so he taught us to be aware of how easily we can be deceived by the
appearances of things and our subsequent conclusions. In the same way,
ordinary rational waking consciousness is no more the measure of all things than
the world of dreams and fancy and of the improbable. Chuang-Tzu tells us he
once dreamed he was a butterfly, and when he awoke he did not know whether
he was Chuang-Tzu who had dreamed he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming
he was Chuang-Tzu. The dream world, in other words, is just as real as any
other (MPMF, p. 202.) You can see why this teaching would shake people up. It
makes us question ourselves about what is real and why do we believe the
things we do? Taoism is much more interested in questions than in answers.
The world of children is close to the world of the Tao. Perhaps Jesus was making
a similar point when he taught that unless his disciples become like children they
couldnt enter the Kingdom of God. There is a childlike openness that is needed,
other wise we cant see. The world of the unconscious and the imagination, he is
saying, is just as much a manifestation of the Tao as the rational - and may
indeed better lead us to comprehending the Tao. At least it opens us to that
sense of wonder and infinity beyond all limits that is necessary to comprehend
the Tao - for the Tao is precisely the unbounded (MPMF, p. 202.) It would make
sense to remember that if ultimate reality is infinite then we must expand our
ideas of what is real and what is possible. At the same time, this openness can
be taken to such an extreme that people will believe almost anything. So always
we need to seek balance. But living in the modern world, where rationality is

11

often put on such a high pedestal we need to remember that rationality has its
purposes, but it also has its limits.
Confucianism puts the emphasis on rationality and sobriety. Taoism puts the
emphasis on openness and intuition. The consequent distinction between
Confucian and Taoist styles of thinking is very clear in a fictional debate that Ge
Hong [a later Taoist thinker] composed between a Confucianist and a Taoist on
the possibility of immortality. The Confucianist argues that every living thing that
anyone has ever heard of dies and that belief in immortality is therefore
untenable nonsense. Baopuzi, the Taoist, responds that there are exceptions to
every rule, and that just because things of which we know die, we cannot say
that everything in this universe, of which we really know so little, must die
(MPMF, p. 203.)
In effect, the Confucianist says, You cant prove immortality, and the Taoist
says, You cant prove there isnt immortality. Perhaps little is proved in this
particular argument except that, for Confucianists, the instinctive response to a
query is the safe, rational, common-sense answer, and for Taoists, the romantic,
speculative approach open to nonrational, mind-blowing possibilities. The
cleavage is temperamental and comparable to the gulf between Enlightenment
rationalism and the Romanticism that followed it in the West (MPMF, p. 203.) An
integral approach will encourage us to see that we will do our best and most
creative thinking when we are open to both ways of thinking. Some people need
a little more rationality while others need a little more intuition and creativity.
We have stories of Taoists really trying to put this lifestyle of freedom into
practice. It must have been a shock to their Confucian friends! To them, living
with the Tao meant a feng liu (wind and stream) life, acting according to the
movement of what was happening day by day. Many were artists and poets, or at
least aesthetes; the unplanned life, which savored the beauty of each event and
the richness of each impulse, well suited the temperament of their callings.
Philosophical works that went with this Taoist stance made much of Tao as being
wu-wei, nonbeing or not doing, in the rather technical sense that the Tao is not a
thing or a cause and does not produced by plan or through work. Instead, all
things just flow out of it freely or spontaneously in an endless stream of flux and
change; the person who is attuned to Tao lives life in this way (MPMF, pp. 203204.) When you hear people talking about going with the flow this is the
philosophy they are picking up on.
So much of our lives can be taken up with trying to control people, places, and
things that we can drive ourselves crazy. It sometimes helps to get in touch with
this Taoist perspective and remember that we really have very little control of the
outside world and so our energy might be better spent doing something else.
Religious Taoism

12

So far we have been mostly talking about the ideas inherent in Taoism. In other
words, we have studied Taoism as a philosophy. But Taoism would also pick up
all the dressings of ordinary religions. It was religious Taoism with its popular
gods and quest for immortality that took lasting institutional form. Its roots are
complex, reach far back into the murky past, and are far from adequately traced
(MPMF, p. 204.) This is the Taoism of the ordinary people rather than the sages
and the hermits.
One of these manifestations was the picking up and worshipping of many gods.
Perhaps more gods were found in religious Taoism than even in Hinduism. The
supreme deity in religious Taoism was the Jade Emperor, a personal high-god for
the masses that were ineligible to worship Heaven directly; he was enthroned in
the Pole Star. Around him was his court: the Three Pure Ones - Lao-tzu, the
Yellow Emperor (mythical first sovereign of China), and Bangu (the primal man);
the Eight Immortals, very popular in art and folk tales; and gods of literature,
medicine, war, weather, and so forth. The gods and immortals lived in numerous
heavenly grottos, in Islands of the Blessed to the East, and the Shangri-La of the
Mother Goddess to the West, deep in the mountains (MPMF, p. 205.)
All of these different images (with their specific rites) appealed to the peoples
need to find a way to relate to the divine world. The sages would see all of these
different gods as just different manifestations of the Tao, much as Hindu sages
saw the different gods as manifestations of the one and mysterious Brahman.
But simple folk accepted the gods as real and offered their devotions with love
and adoration and sometimes fear.
As the Roman Catholic Church has many different religious orders for people
with different types of callings, so different Taoist orders were formed that had a
different focus for those who adhered to their teachings. The priests of this faith
were a varied lot, affiliated with several different sectarian strands with differing
specialties. Some were celibate and monastic; others, married. Some were
contemplative, concerned above all else with perfecting in themselves the seeds
of immortality. Some were custodians of lavish temples with huge and ornate
images of the Jade Emperor and other worthies; to these temples believers
would come to receive divination, have memorial services performed on behalf of
their departed, and worship at important festivals, which were also occasions for
carnival and feasting; Other Taoist clergy were mediums, male and female, who
would deliver messages from the Other Side; some were sellers of charms,
perhaps issued by the Taoist Pope; some were exorcists who performed
dramatic rites of driving demons out of possessed persons and places (MPMF,
p. 205.) As you can see, Taoism had a rather large umbrella! This was one of the
reasons it was so successful; it was able to meet a variety of needs that the
people had from their need for community and comfort to their need for spiritual
practices that would lift consciousness.

13

Do we have an idea of how Taoism appeared to the common people of China?

Well, we can be sure it rarely ever appeared in its purity as a single vision of
reality. Taoism is usually presented as but one of the spiritual traditions of China,
and not the most prestigious in the eyes of traditional scholars. But the attitudes
of religious Taoism came closest to the spiritual world of the vast majority of
ordinary people. Even Buddhism and Confucianism became Taoicized in cultus
though not in doctrine and morals; whatever their origin, most plain people
thought of the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and even Confucius himself as
immortalized humans now become spirits and able to send down blessings from
above. Taoist and Buddhist priests served interchangeably in many localities, but
their major functions, such as funerals and exorcisms and village festivals, were
Taoist (that is to say, popular Chinese) in style. To be sure, popular Taoism
borrowed the use of images and its quasi-monastic clerical organization from
Buddhism and the bureaucratic model of its pantheon from Confucianism - but
those are historical matters, not at all readily apparent to the person on the
street (MPMF, p. 206.)
We can break up these different movements in a class like this, but the actual
experience of the Chinese people was less Taoist or Confucian as much as it
was simply Chinese religion, something that combined different movements into
one grand picture of the world and the human place in it. In popular religion, the
major traditions unite to form a single spiritual world (MPMF, p. 210.)
Women in Taoism
Taoism was much more open to the feminine and the virtues that were believed
to be associated with women and Yin energy. Taoism has taken an immense
variety of forms over the centuries, which include philosophical and religious
forms, the latter incorporating mysticism, shamanism, sexual practices, and
magic in a syncretistic blend that is virtually indistinguishable in many cases from
Chinese popular religion. We can find Chinese women in most all of Taoisms
manifestations, perhaps because of Taoisms emphasis on nature and the
feminine, which opened the pathway for womens participation (MPMF, pp. 218219.) It is not surprising then that women would turn to Taoism to meet their
spiritual needs. It offered them a deeper validity then the masculine emphasis
found in Confucianism
Where order and control are the imagery associated with Confucianism, nurturing
and natural growth are associated with the imagery of Taoism. As we already
have seen, the Tao Te Ching makes ready use of feminine symbolism to describe
the Tao. The Tao is the creative source, which is potential itself and out of which
flows existence - an existence sustained by the Tao stream, just as a mother
gives birth out of her womb to a child, who is then nourished at her breast. As
said in the Tao Te Ching:
The breath of life moves through a deathless valley

14

Of mysterious motherhood
Which conceives and bears the universal seed,
The seeming of a world never to end,
Breath for men to draw from as they will:
And the more they take of it, the more remains (MPMF, p. 219.)
This imagery of the Tao is like a mother who gives birth and then food to her
child. She gives and gives, with no thought of return. We are told that this is a
good way to view the Tao. Always giving, but never running out. It is infinite in its
capacity to serve and bring forth new life. Because the feminine symbolism is so
pervasive in Taoism, some scholars, such as Ellen Marie Chen, have concluded
that Taoism has ties to an ancient Mother Goddess and the Tao itself is the Great
Mother (MPMF, p. 219.) Female imagery represents some of the earliest
religious symbols we have going back into prehistoric times and the tribal
religions. Considering the fact that the concept of the Tao goes back further than
either Taoism or Confucianism this theory of the Tao being a symbol of the divine
feminine makes a lot of sense to me. I have read a book where Taoism is
described as the way of the Mother.
With all of this emphasis on the feminine you have to wonder why China was so
caught up in the patriarchal world. But in an ironical way it played into patriarchy
by stressing the Yin aspect against the Yang aspect of Confucianism. And Yins
role is not to fight Yang, but to move with it as in a dance one person leads and
the other follows.
It goes against the nature of Yin to be too belligerent. Taoism seeks a balance of
the Yin and Yang just as does Confucianism, but for Taoism that balance is
struck by grounding it in the Yin. Thus, the way of the Tao is wu-wei - going with
the flow, which is associated with the natural passivity and flexibility of women.
Thus, women were deemed to be naturally good Taoists. But Taoism does not
appear to have moved women beyond patriarchal norms. Instead, perhaps
because Taoism was a reaction to the rigidity of Confucianism, and perceived
Confucianism as too Yang in its striving to construct a structured society, Taoism
used the patriarchal stereotype of Yin as an antidote. Significantly, whatever
influence Taoism had, it never had much of an impact on the social order
prescribed by Confucian norms, and thus generally did not move women out of
their subordinated roles. Still, Taoisms emphasis on the inner self, feelings, and
imagination must have provided a spiritual outlet for women - the inside
members of the family (MPMF, p. 219.) So Taoism may have actually
encouraged a political and social situation of suppression while at the same time
helping women find some serenity and peace with their situation and some
means of expressing their own desires and aspirations.
In a limited way women were able to take part in Taoist spiritual practices and
even leadership that was completely impossible in Confucianism. Religious
Taoism drew from shamanism (which had been central to Chinese popular

15

religion) the belief that women especially are receptive to Divine inspiration. This,
together with the perceived need for a complementary balance of Yin and Yang
in all aspects of life, paved the way for an openness toward the participation of
women in nearly all levels of religious Taoism, despite the patriarchal norms of
mainstream Chinese society (MPMF, p. 219.) Women were the healers and
channels of messages and insights from the other side of life. This was of such
primary interest for people that if a woman showed talent in this area she could
experience a great deal of freedom that might have otherwise passed her by.
But the highest positions in Taoism were never in the hands of women, even
those who were highly recognized. The fortunes of women also varied with the
times. Some epochs were more open to women than others. Early on Taoism
developed a patriarchal leadership with the Celestial Masters, who were the
highest administrators, and who were and are men. However, even then women
held prominent leadership positions equally with men as libationers (who
provided the ritual and moral leadership of Taoism) and as officials over the
districts. Women were ordained equally with men in all ranks, except the highest
rank - that of Divine Lord. Women also founded Taoist sects and were revered
adepts, masters, alchemists, and scholars. And convents were founded so that
women could be free of ordinary social ties in order to pursue spiritual lives
(MPMF, pp. 219-220.) During recent times under Communism people of religion,
whether men or women, experienced a great deal of repression. We will study
this more next week.
Taoism provided some balance in China to the patriarchal customs that were a
part of the times and enforced by Confucian views on the nature of social
harmony. Taoism provided an alternative view that venerated women and thus
opposed the subjugating tendencies of the primarily patriarchal society.
Moreover, it offered significant leadership opportunities for women and provided
an option for women outside the strictures of mainstream, patriarchal Confucian
society as Taoist priestesses, nuns, and shamanesses. But in all this we must
take note that Taoism as religious institution was marginal at best in Chinese
society, relegated to the lowest levels. Consequently, the participation of women,
even at the highest levels, did little to raise the social status of the women
involved (MPMF, p. 220.) But real freedom for women did not come in China
until the Communist take over, and even that freedom has only slowly and
sometimes haltingly progressed.
The Negative Side of Taoism
The negative side of Taoism is apparent in the history of China. Despite this great
and important teaching China has had a hard time putting these principles into
practice. China has had times of peace, but it has also had horrible times of war
and pillage and destruction. And because Chinas history is so long, it has much
to answer for. I dont think this is unfair. If we ask Christians to answer to
historical injustices like the witch hunts and the Crusades, and more recent

16

problems such as the general silence of Christians during the holocaust, then it is
fair to ask China why this great teaching has failed to bring about its promise of a
good and decent society and spiritual fulfillment for the majority of the people.
Once again we are thrown back upon the human condition. We have to ask
ourselves why the great ideas of the world seem to not touch our core where
they can work their magic? What prevents us from putting these great teachings
into practice?
One thing seems for sure and that is that no one religion has a monopoly on this
failure to realize its potential. We find this problem wherever we find people. In
the end I think the religions sometimes get blamed for what is ultimately not a
religious problem, but a human problem. This is a human problem because we
find the same situation outside of the religions as well as in them. Just think of
secular ideals of countries such as the United States, which has had such a
difficult time living up to its own Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights.
Because Taoism was so unstructured, loose, and open it tended to allow and
even promote the worse beliefs and practices of a nave and gullible people. How
many people wasted their hopes and resources paying for fortunes that were lies
and amulets that did not work? How many people spent their life savings on
miracle cures or hope for immortality that was promoted by the unscrupulous?
Taoism promoted a profound philosophical view of reality, but often the Taoism
practiced by the unlettered peasants was simply a retreat into superstition and
magic, rather than a march forward into greater spiritual consciousness and
compassion.
Taoism played its role in keeping Chinese women oppressed as we have already
seen. This is a continual problem with all of the patriarchal religions. But we also
have to look at the role Chinese religion played in keeping all of the people so
oppressed that when Communism came in the people welcomed yet a new
oppression thinking it would lead them where they wanted to go. The heart of all
religions seems to have an ideal of liberation, however that is expressed. We
must ask religion to be accountable for all of its oppression and failure to bring
about its promised liberation.
The Influence of Taoism in America
Taoism as a religion has played a limited role in America. Taoism in the New
World has had two kinds of vehicles: the practice of religious Taoism by ChineseAmericans, and the general cultural influence of Taoist themes (MPMF, p. 225.)
Taoism as a philosophy has played a much larger, although subtle, role.
Religious Taoism can sometimes be found in Chinese communities, especially in
their public celebrations such as New Years with its wonderful foods and exotic
parades. The other side is martial arts studies, surfers wearing emblems with
the Yin-Yang symbol of the Tao, macrobiotic diets, exercises like tai chi chuan,

17

Chinese medicine practices like acupuncture and the taking of traditional

Chinese herbs, the practices of feng shui, and even important aspects of the
thinking that has gone into the ecological movement. Not all of this is Taoist in the
strictest sense of the word, but all are based on cultural imports from China or
the Chinese cultural sphere and stem from broadly Taoist concepts: the
importance of balancing energies; of humans living in harmony with nature,
working with nature rather than against; and of isolating and releasing the inner
biological/spiritual energy called chi (MPMF, p. 226.)
Many of us are becoming interested in alternative medical cures and treatments
and preventive health issues. So much of this new understanding of medicine in
the West is actually old medicine in the East. I place a lot of hope in what is
called Integral Medicine. This will be medicine practiced by those who want to
combine Western and Eastern understanding of health so that the best of both is
made available while the worse of each is eliminated.
It is not as easy to find a Taoist teacher, as it might be to find a Buddhist teacher.
Most major cities and many smaller ones have any number of Buddhist temples
and teachers of various schools available. But we dont see this same availability
with Taoism. A few centers and movements teaching philosophical and spiritual
Taoism, sometimes including Taoist yoga and meditation, have appeared in
America. Much more widespread have been martial arts studios. While certainly
not exactly religious, the martial arts centers often help students prepare for
training through meditation and centering of consciousness, and above all
emphasize the importance of releasing the chi and the intuitive direct insight that
goes with it - all fundamentally Taoist, whatever the nationality or formal affiliation
of the center. Somewhat the same can be said of clinics practicing Chinese
medicine. Its premises are that health is recovered through opening clogged
channels through which the chi should pass, using such techniques as
acupuncture, and through restoring a proper harmony of Yin and Yang and the
five elements in the body (MPMF, pp. 226-227.) And it is good to keep in mind
that one of the most popular forms of Buddhism in America, Zen Buddhism, is
really a marriage of Buddhism and Taoism. They have much in common and it is
another way that Taoism is influencing us without our sometimes even being
aware of it.
For these reasons, it may be that Taoism has really had more cultural influence
in America than other Eastern religions whose temples and centers are far more
visible (MPMF, p. 227.) But then if Taoism has such a powerful, but subtle,
influence this would play into Taoisms philosophy perfectly. For Taoism is the
watercourse way. It is the way of leading without people being aware that they
are being led!
Now lets turn to Chinas twin tradition, Confucianism
Confucianism: Confucius and the Confucian Classics

18

Confucianism spends most of its time teaching about the importance of human
relations. If we can base our relationships on the natural laws of the universe,
where everything plays its unique role, then we will experience the same
harmony found in the heavens, that is, in the Tao. The Confucian tradition is
named after the philosopher Confucius (551-479 B.C.E.). We must distinguish
Confucius as the man of his time from the almost-deified, impossibly wise, and
remote figure of the Confucian educational tradition and state cult. But at the
same time, we must remember why this particular man was selected as the
symbolic embodiment of that tradition (MPMF, p. 184.) Confucius became so
glorified that it is easy for us to forget that he was a real person who was simply
seeking a way to bring his life into harmony with the Tao.
Thankfully we are not dependent on only the state cult figure that has come down
to us. We know some things about the actual historical person. He was
considered winsome, wise, persuasive, and utterly sincere. Born in the feudal
state of Lu (modern Shantung Province) as the son of a minor official or military
officer, Confucius received an education and sought employment by a prince. He
was a member of a class called ru, who were specialists in the six arts ceremonial, music, archery, charioteering, history, numbers - and so custodians
of what passed in those days for a classical and cultivated tradition (MPMF, p.
184.) Each of these subjects will become parts of the classical Confucian
educational program.
Despite his training and qualifications, Confucius found it difficult to find a
position working for one of the princes who hired educated advisors like
Confucius. Supposedly this was because he was critical of the injustice and lack
of proper conduct in the courts to which he was introduced. Luckily for us he
became a teacher, otherwise we might never have heard about him. As the
young men he taught eventually moved into positions of power they brought with
them their respect and the ideals of a Confucian education.
Confucius was not revered just for himself but because he was associated with
the classical literature and that was the real bedrock of the traditional culture.
Five books, which existed in early form by the time of Confucius and which were
the basic texts of the ru, are now often called the Confucian Classics. These are
the Book of History, the Book of Poems, the Book of Change (the famous I
Ching), the historical Spring and Autumn Annals, and the Book of Rites. Tradition
said, with greater or less exaggeration, that Confucius had written parts of them
and edited them all; in any case, he became the symbol of their authority
(MPMF, pp. 184-185.) Confucius taught (as many ancient people did) that things
were better in the world in the distant past. The way to bring harmony to the
current problems of society was to restore the past glories and the best way to do
this was to adjust relationships to reflect the way relationships were conceived in
the past. And to do that Confucius promoted the learning of this classic material.

19

This is not so far off from the current idea that we study the humanities because
they make us more human.
Eventually Confucian adherents added the teachings of Confucius himself to this
required classical education along with a number of other works. Four other
books from shortly after the time of Confucius are also canonical and bear the
putative seal of the masters authority: the Analects (containing the remembered
words of Confucius himself), the Great Learning, the Mean, and the Book of
Mencius. (Mencius was the next best known philosopher in the Confucian
tradition.) You were not allowed to graduate until you fully understood and
mastered these works. Because only a relative few did so, they became a class
of scholars unto themselves and were highly sought after for their advice and
skills.
Unlike many of the founders of traditions we study in this course, Confucius is not
respected because he came up with a new text or a new teaching. Rather he
was able to absorb the classics himself and then teach their importance in the
formation of character and in the proper set up of important relationships. These
books are important because they reflect basic Chinese values and ways of
thinking. Their tradition went back before Confucius and continued after him.
Confucius is not a peerless sage because he created this tradition. On the
contrary, he is unequalled because the tradition created him, and he reflected it
faithfully (MPMF, p. 185.) People saw in Confucius the goodness they wanted
for themselves and their children and their greater society. He is so esteemed
because he was someone who walked the talk and was able to model the
qualities that Confucians would forever after teach the importance of.
Fundamentals of the Confucian Tradition
If you remember back to when we studied Hinduism a few weeks ago you will
remember the caste system. The caste system degenerated into a rigid and
dogmatic system that caused great harm to many people. But it was based on an
insight that was found to be of importance to Confucius as well. The basic
structures of society, he felt, were adequate. The needful thing was to convince
people they must act in accordance with the roles society has given them
(MPMF, p. 185.) People needed to play their part and not someone elses part in
order for society to function as well as possible. Just as two people cannot dance
well together unless they each move in harmony with the other, so society would
be chaotic if people did not find their right and proper position and then do their
best to fulfill their responsibilities.
In other words, instead of becoming something different or better Confucius
asked people to become what they are. Being true to yourself was not becoming
someone else, but being the best at what you already were. If you were a wife,
then be a good wife. If you were a father, then be a good father. If you were a
daughter, then be a good daughter. You did not have to leave and join a

20

monastery or something like that. You just had to do the best you could with the
position you found yourself in. This change to becoming what one is (called
rectification of names) must first of all be within. One must be motivated by
virtue, or ren, a typically vague but eloquent term suggestive of humanity, love,
high principle, and living together in harmony. It is the way of the jun-zi, the
superior man, who, as the Confucian ideal suggests, is a man at once a scholar,
a selfless servant of society, and a gentleman steeped in courtesy and tradition;
as an official and family head, he continually puts philosophy into practice
(MPMF, p. 185.) To be motivated by ren was to bring your life into harmony with
the Tao.
It might be interesting to know that this quality of ren was not enforced from on
high. There was not a belief in a divine being who would punish you if you did not
move toward a greater participation in virtue. There was even a realization that
virtue might bring problems into your life rather than blessings. After all, doing the
right thing can be difficult. But Confucius believed and taught (and apparently
modeled that virtue was its own reward and that a virtuous person was so
attractive that other people naturally wanted to be like them. There follows a
fundamental satisfaction from acting in accordance with the real nature of things
that the virtueless devotee of passion and gain can never know and that finally
makes such a persons life hollow. For Confucianism has generally believed that
the basic nature of mankind is good. It is only perverted by bad external example
or bad social environment, and people will turn naturally to the good when good
examples and social conditions are present. To make them present is the weighty
responsibility of the ruler, advised by Confucian sages (MPMF, p. 185.) This is a
very positive view of the human and not at all shared by all of the religions we will
study.
Socrates, the Greek philosopher, also taught that we naturally seek what is good
and what will make us happy. If we choose wrongly it is because we are ignorant
of what will bring true happiness, but not because we naturally lean toward evil
and what is selfish. If you believe in this more positive form of understanding the
human condition then you will see why education is so important. We may be
naturally good, but we are also ignorant. We need others to help us find our way.
Just like beautiful dancers must learn their steps and then practice, often for a
long time, so we must learn and practice the virtues. External influences, then,
can aid in the inner development of ren. This leads to another very important
Confucian term - li. It indicates rites, proper conduct, ceremonies, courtesy, doing
things the right way (MPMF, p. 188.) It is a little like learning good manners, but
much more powerful and subtle. But just as good manners can help us
understand how to behave in certain social situations, so li teaches us how to be
human.
If this does not make a whole lot of sense too you then another way to think
about li is to think of someone who has a great deal of grace. A graceful person

21

creates quite an impression. We can see how attractive they are and why li might
be a good thing to know about! Li is what makes us human. But li needs to be
understood as Confucius understood it, not as cold or mere formalism but as a
supremely humanizing act. Animals act out of the lust or violent emotion of the
moment, but mankind can rise above this in the societies it creates, and li
exemplifies this potential. Li expresses a society that becomes a great dance and
thus incarnates harmony (MPMF, p. 188.)
In ritual, everyone acts out proper relationships and has a structured place.
Ritual generates order in place of chaos and nurtures rectification of names. It
can be hoped that if a person acts out, if only ritually, the proper conduct of his or
her station in life often enough, in time he or she will interiorize the action, and
the inner and outer will become one: the ritual father a true father, the ritual
prince a true prince. Li, then, is meant to stimulate ren, even as melodious music
induces calmness and heroic poetry valor (MPMF, p. 188.) Have you ever
noticed how music influences you, especially your emotions? Have you ever
noticed how you feel when in beautiful surroundings and how you feel when you
are in ugly surroundings? I am sure you must have. These are real things we can
experience for ourselves. Confucius simply draws out the implications in a formal
way.
Nature or Society?
But rather than finding his model in nature, as do the Taoists, Confucius believed
that it was in society that we could best practice virtue (ren) and learn li. We
become more human by learning the necessary skills of living in harmony with
others. Society for Confucius was founded on the five relationships: (1) ruler
and subject, (2) father and son, (3) husband and wife, (4) elder and younger
brother, (5) friend and friend. In all of these, proper behavior, li, was required to
give what is simply biological or spontaneous the structure that makes it into
human society - calm and enduring for the benefit of all (MPMF, p. 188.) We are
all involved in more relationships than just these five, but Confucius taught that if
we could get these five relationships right then all of the other ones would fall into
place.
Confucius taught that the most difficult relationship was that between father and
son. This was the hinge on which all of our other relationships would turn. The
cornerstone relationship is the second - father and son. A son was expected to
negate his own feelings and individuality in deference to the wishes and pleasure
of his father in filial piety. Father-son becomes the primal model of an
interpersonal relationship and in Confucianism it is in interpersonal relationships
that man is humanized and Tao is manifested. If this relationship can be
rectified, then all other relationships will also fall into place (MPMF, p. 188.) We
now can confirm from modern psychological studies some of the wisdom of this
Confucian position. We know that our unresolved issues with our parents often

22

have a way of rearing their heads in our other relationships. To fix a newer
relationship we often have to go back to the originating issue and heal it there.
But one might wonder why this issue would be between fathers and sons rather
than mothers and daughters or mothers and sons. Well a great deal of this has to
do with the patriarchal age that Confucius lived in. There is simply no way around
that and modern psychology has proven this as well. But there was also a keen
insight in Confucian thought that is important not to miss.
Just because Confucius might not have gotten it all right according to modern
perspectives does not mean that he was completely wrong in what he did teach.
It could be correct even though it is limited. The insight seems to be that the
mother child relationship is a more natural relationship. There is a bonding that
takes place that is different with a mother than it is with a father, who, for
example, does not carry the child within him for nine months! That is why men
have to work at bonding with their children more than women (in general, there
are always exceptions). And that is why this relationship is so important to get
right.
But we have acknowledged and must continue to do so in the light of modern
insight that this focus on men is limiting to both men and women. Confucianism,
like many another traditional religions and social orders, has presumed and
established an essentially male-centered worldview and society. Women, while
given a place in the pattern of relationship, have found that place to be distinctly
subordinate (MPMF, p. 189.) So while we might have to broaden our view today,
we can still take away the importance of having healthy relationships in the family
if we want to have healthy relationships with the larger world.
Because of this focus on relationships, especially family relationships, there was
not the focus on monasticism that we find in so many other traditions. You did not
need to go somewhere else to find holiness or harmony with the Tao. The
secular was the sacred (MPMF, p. 189.) The home was the church; the family
was the sacred community. You found what you were looking for in the family, not
outside of it.
However, this simple beginning would eventually evolve into a more elaborate
system. We have seen this happen already in Hinduism and Buddhism and we
will see it happen with every tradition we study. As Confucianism became a
quasi-state religion in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.) and after, it found it
needed a quasi-theology, a quasi-divinity, and a quasi-priesthood with its own
rites. Quasi-divinity it found in Confucius himself, and quasi-priesthood in the
powerful class of Confucian scholar/bureaucrat elites - the ru or mandarins - who
staffed the bureaucracy of the empire. Confucius, as the peerless infallible sage,
was seen as a sort of mystic king, with a true right to rule the inward kingdom of
ideas and values upon which the outer realm, administered and educated by the
mandarins, was based (MPMF, pp. 189-190.) And of course with this system

23

came a more dogmatic and orthodox understanding of what it meant to be a

Confucian.
The Han Synthesis and Yin-Yang
At the same time that Confucianism became more formal, it also started to blend
with Taoism and other native traditions of China into a more holistic pattern of
daily life that integrated different insights into the life of the people. The Han
Synthesis generously incorporated Taoist and other traditional motifs into
Confucianism...This was the work of Dong Zhongshu (c. 179 - 104 B.C.E.)
(MPMF, p. 190.) This man wanted to expand the ideas of the five relationships
into understanding how everything was related.
Dong sensed that there was a connection between not only human relationships
and our happiness, but that our harmony with the Tao was connected to the
harmony of the whole universe. This takes us back to some of the key
shamanistic ideas that we are all related and how we live influences everything
else just as everything is influencing us. Dong presented a doctrine of
correspondences, in which humanity and nature are parts of an interwoven web.
A portent in heaven may be related to a forthcoming event on earth, and the
moral decisions of a ruler may affect the prevalence of rain in his nations fields
(MPMF, p. 190.) In the monotheistic this insight tends to be put into the language
of blessing and curse. If people obey God and follow his will they are blessed
and if they disobey they are punished. But because Confucianism lacks this
sense of the divine will being so personal, it is interesting that it comes to the
same practical conclusion.
Chinese people never left behind the thought of the earliest religions that
everything is connected. Interestingly enough, we are finding similar insights
emerging from modern science. Unlike many moderns, traditional Chinese did
not see people and nature as separate, going by different laws. Instead they
assumed that humanity, human history, and government cooperate with nature
and are controlled by the same laws. It is as though we were to say that
perpetual motion is as impossible in the history of a nation as it is in mechanics, if
it is a true law. To further the comparison, it would be as though we then said that
the nation must have a public ritual once a year to counteract its slowing down
and to wind the energy up again (MPMF, p. 190.) Rituals are sacred because
they help with the realignment process that is necessary to keep everything
balanced and in harmony.
Now that we have brought up the idea of balance it is time to introduce the
important Chinese concept of Yin-Yang, a symbol you are all probably well aware
of because it has become so popular in our culture. In this view, the Tao - that is,
all the 10,000 things - is divisible into two great classifications: Yang things and
forces, and Yin things and forces. Fundamentally, Yang is associated with the
masculine and Yin with the feminine. But their respective meanings go far

24

beyond gender. Yang is what is male, but also day, sky, spring, and all that is
bright, clear, hard, assertive, growing, moving out. Its symbol is the dragon. Yin is
female, and also night, earth, moisture, autumn and harvest, spirits of the dead,
and all that is dark, underneath, recessive, pulling in, connected with the moon,
mysterious. Its symbol is the tiger, which may be thought of as Blakes Tyger,
tyger burning bright/In the forests of the night - emblematic of the arcane,
inward, unfathomable, yet unescapable in human life (MPMF, p. 190.) This is a
fascinating concept because it deals with a perennial philosophical problem in a
very creative way. This philosophical problem is phrased in the West as the
problem between the dualists and the monists. The monists see reality as made
up of one substance and the dualists tend to see reality as divided up into two
basic substances, matter and spirit.
The Chinese also recognized this problem but they found that neither answer
was fully satisfying. To say that everything is one makes understanding changes
and relationships difficult, but to say everything is two is to put a fundamental
divide into the middle of the cosmos. So the Chinese talk about two, but the two
are not opposed as in duality, but complementary as in polarity. Night and day
are not opposed to each other, but different aspects of one twenty-four hour
period. And there are even times in this twenty-four hours when they blend into
each other such as at dawn and it seems to be neither day nor night. In the same
way, good and evil are not two opposed forces, but simply different aspects of
one whole. What we experience as evil is not something that is real in itself, but
simply a result of the lack of balance between yin and yang forces. This has an
interesting impact on how evil is dealt with. Instead of trying to eliminate evil
once and for all you would, using the Chinese model, try to find the imbalance
and fix it so as to bring about the needed harmony.
Yin and yang are not moral issues. It is not better to be one then to be another. It
must be emphasized that philosophically Yang and Yin are by no means either
good or bad. Neither is better than the other. They are both neutral, like
gravitation. To keep going, the universe needs both, and they need to interact in
a balanced way. Too much of either brings disaster, just as rain and sun are both
necessary in their places, but too much of either brings flood or drought (MPMF,
p. 190.) The goal is always to find harmony together rather than one or the other
quality alone. This is not so different form Aristotles idea about what he called
the golden mean. Moderation is the goal. The Buddha seems to have also had a
similar insight with his teaching of the Middle Way.
This task is not so easy, but it is well worth the effort because we are influenced
by this balance (or lack thereof) in everything from our health to our living
environment. In fact there is a whole new modern decorating movement based
on these ideas of balancing yin and yang energies. The task of humanity is to
keep these two eternal antagonists and partners, the dragon and the tiger, in
proper balance, for our place is between them, and we are finally to interiorize
them both. An elaborate art called feng-shui arose to determine, according to

25

Yang-Yin bearings, the most auspicious locations for houses, businesses,

tombs, and temples, between, say, a rock considered Yang and a tree
determined as Yin. (Much more was involved in the full system of feng-shui and
of correspondences, too; the values of the five elements or modes of natural
activity - fire, water, earth, metal, and wood - each of which corresponded with
seasons, colors, tones, and so forth.) Finally, particularly in esoteric Taoism, one
sought through alchemical potions and yogic practices to bring to equilibrium the
two forces within oneself and thus achieve immortality. It is Yang-Yin imbalance
that results in decay and death. One who has them in as perfect harmony as the
Great Tao itself will be as deathless as the great Tao. Confucianism has always
emphasized finding a balance and keeping away from too much or too little of
anything (MPMF, pp. 190-191.) While Confucianism is not a modern religious
movement in any significant way in the United States, these Confucian ideas
about balance are starting to infiltrate and have an impact on American society. I
think this is probably because they make a lot of sense to people. You dont have
to believe them so much as check them out and see if they work.
As Confucianism grew in importance, so did the class of Confucian scholars.
The importance of the mandarin scholar class in Chinese tradition can hardly be
overemphasized. Three things set them apart: (1) They were bearers of the
ongoing tradition as dynasties rose and fell; (2) they were unique as a class in
ability to read and write well; and (3) in theory they were not a hereditary
aristocracy, but an elite of brains who attained their positions in academic
competition (MPMF, p. 192.) In fact, our modern civil service exams are based
on an idea that was practiced in China. You were able to rise up in the society to
the extant that you could pass a test and you could not work for the government
unless you could meet minimum standards.
Neo-Confucianism
Confucianism underwent many changes, especially as it interacted with the
teachings of Taoism and eventually Buddhism. And just as Hinduism changed
and adapted to the critique of Buddhism, so Confucianism changed and these
changes began to be grouped together under the heading of Neo-Confucianism.
Neo-Confucianism began as a movement in the eleventh and twelfth centuries
during the Song Dynasty (960-1280 C.E.) and became the authoritative
interpretation of the Confucian intellectual tradition. Partly in response to the
issues raised by Taoist and particularly Buddhist thought, Neo-Confucian
philosophers greatly enhanced their traditions metaphysical foundation. It
became a comprehensive worldview concerned with the nature of mind and the
ultimate origin of things, and with simple methods of meditation, as well as a
social philosophy, although it never lost the ideal that the philosopher finds joy in
the midst of family and social life, not in permanent withdrawal from them
(MPMF, pp. 195-196.)

26

Two leading Neo-Confucianists were Zhu Xi (also written as Chu Hsi, 11301200) and Wang Yangming (or Wang Shouren, 1472-1529). Zhu Xi taught that
one great ultimate is manifested in the principles of the myriad separate things,
as the light of the moon is broken onto many rivers and lakes. Through reflection
on particulars, especially human morality, one can know the ultimate. The more
idealistic Wang Yangming taught that the principles are actually within the mind
itself, and so the supreme requisite is sincerity of mind. Through reflections such
as these, the spiritual and intellectual side of Confucianism was given a
transcendence that made the practice of Confucian rites and virtues more deeply
religious, even developing a sort of mysticism in the midst of a life of service
(MPMF, p. 196.)
As I have studied the worlds religions it has become apparent to me that there
seem to be some basic human needs that require attention and if a very simple
religion like Confucianism does not offer it people will find it somewhere else or
the religion will adapt and start to meet those needs. We saw a similar movement
in Buddhism arise with the Mahayana school reaching out to meet the needs of
people who could not relate to the Theravada teachings.
It is hard to imagine what China would be like without Confucius. So much of
what we might take for granted, as basic Chinese characteristics, such as the
importance of family and hard work, are Confucian through and through. But the
Chinese are not simply Confucians as I have been at pains to reiterate
throughout this and last weeks lecture. They are also Buddhist and Taoist. Now it
is time to take a brief look at Chinese religion in modern China.
Religion in the Peoples Republic of China
The story I have been telling in this lecture (and last week too) is a historical one.
Things in China have undergone great changes in the last hundred years and
these changes are ongoing as China continues to adjust itself and fit itself into
our global world. During the long, wrenching, and often dreadful hundred years
from the middle of the nineteenth to the middle of the twentieth century, China
underwent tremendous shock and change, not the least to its traditional
ideological and religious systems. The fundamental factor that made the shocks
of this era even more climactic and catastrophic than those that accompanied
earlier changes of dynasty was the incursion of the Western powers - demanding
trade, missionary rights, and often inordinate influence on Chinese affairs
(MPMF, p. 213.) How was China to cope and how were the Chinese people to
manage to understand their own worldview when so many new things were
coming at them? The disturbance was deep and troubling.
The arrival of the foreigners was not always welcomed because Europeans and
Americans tended to come with a bias that their society was superior to that of
the Chinese, even though the Chinese could boast of a civilization thousands of
years older! The impact of these humiliations and of the countless subsequent

27

little humiliations inflicted upon a proud people by the presence of privileged and
often insensitive and exploitative foreigners went far beyond the immediate terms
of the treaties forced on China by these foreign powers. It resulted in the
discrediting of Chinese authority itself; in the eyes of many thoughtful persons,
the whole system upon which it was based, down to its ideological and religious
roots, seemed anachronistic and discredited as well. A host of alternatives,
ranging from reactionary to radical, arose to try to fill the void (MPMF, p. 213.)
Many people had to wonder if Confucianism was of any use anymore. How could
the Taoists deal with these new forces? Where would the Buddhists draw the
line? People were confused and shaken up. We have seen the same thing
happen in India. When ancient, or Vedic, Hinduism did not meet the needs of the
people you had other movements like Buddhism and Jainism arise. The
European Enlightenment brought a similar disturbance to the mind of people
even if they only experienced it as an unconscious tension. The world was
changing and the old ideas were not keeping up. This is the same situation that
the Chinese found themselves in.
Religious and philosophical thought varied under the Communist rule, the form of
government and life that eventually emerged form this chaotic period of turmoil
and change. Sometimes religions were allowed some freedom as long as they
did not pose a threat to the new government, but there were times of cruel
suppression. The Great Cultural Revolution of 1966 to 1969, with the young Red
Guards in its vanguard, swept through China, leaving virtually no locale or
institution untouched. They were fired by a drive to suppress all that was old and
a desire, perhaps contrived by the aging Mao Zedong (Chinese Communisms
charismatic leader), to renew revolutionary fervor at the expense of social
stability. As a consequence, they disrupted education, harried enemies, defaced
monuments of the past, and left nearly all religious places ransacked and closed.
Such religious life as survived went deep underground (MPMF, p. 214.) In some
ways Communism itself took on many religious forms and called on the peoples
devotion. Some scholars even wrote about the religion of Maoism. It seems that
people will find some way to give vent to their religious yearnings and while it is
tough during times of suppression, it will nevertheless not die out as
demonstrated in both modern China and Russia.
Many things have opened up in the last few years. China has become a major
player in the world economy and this is expected to only grow more as time goes
on. Government policy has become more pragmatic and open to the world, and
indications are that religion has been generally allowed to flourish openly, though
under tight control. However, visitors report that the situation in Tibet remains
tense, and new religious movements outside of official control, such as the neoTaoist Falun Gong, which received much publicity in 2000, have been regarded
as subversive and have been harshly repressed (MPMF, p. 214.) It seems that
as long as religious people stay out of politics that they are o.k. But this is a hard

28

thing to do because religion touches peoples core values and these values
demand expression.
We live in interesting times, when things are moving at a very fast speed. What
will things be like in China in another fifty years? They could be very different.
Only time will tell whether the traditions have been broken irrevocably or only
submerged underground, waiting for a more welcoming time. [They] still survive
in Taiwan, Hawaii, Singapore, and other Chinese outposts outside the Peoples
Republic of China; but on the mainland, for that vast majority of Chinese who
represent a quarter of the earths population, the situation is unclear but certainly
very different (MPMF, p. 215.) Perhaps there will be some new forms of the
traditional religions emerging or perhaps Chinese people will move into a more
secular stance, as Europe seems to be doing. It is hard to predict these things
because the world is changing so fast. But I suspect spirituality, if not
conventional religion, will find a way to spring forth; it always has and I see no
evidence that people who are less religious necessarily become less spiritual.
Women in Classical Confucianism
Confucian thought tends to be more masculine than Taoist thought. But both
forms of religion were cultivated during the historical time we call the patriarchy.
As a result, women experienced the same repression in China as they did
elsewhere in the world. Confucianism, as we have seen, provided an entire
social vision grounded in relationships. In the Confucian worldview, each person
is to perform his or her role in accordance with the Confucian idealization of that
role. The result of this is believed to be a well-organized, well-functioning society
- as if everyone in society were performing a great dance. While Confucius
himself did not emphasize the cosmic implications of this, Confucianism
nevertheless related its social vision to the cosmic order. As we shall see, this
resulted in the religio-cultural institution of the subordination of women to men,
greatly limiting womens participation in and influence on the dance, while at the
same time acknowledging the role of women in Confucian society as a respected
and necessary one (MPMF, p. 215.)
A womans life was centered on the family, the private sphere of life. It was the
mans role to deal with the outside world, the public sphere. This was so strongly
enforced that sometimes the women were kept in inner apartments of homes and
not allowed into the more public rooms where the men conversed and did
business. And because this was understood to be in the nature of the dance
itself there was no room left to argue about the justice of this situation.
This situation was so extreme at times that women were not even given status as
real people in a certain sense until after they married. A young girl was not
considered to be a part of her natal family, and, therefore, was not a part of any
ancestral line. It was not until marriage that she attained a recognized place in a
family and her name was included on the ancestral tablets on the family altar. It is

29

not surprising then that the marriage ceremony was the most significant and lifetransforming event in a Chinese womans life. She then had a recognized and
respected role in the Confucian social order as wife (MPMF, p. 216.) When we
recognize the importance ones ancestors were held in Chinese thought we will
understand why it was important for a woman to be married before she died. This
is the way she could be remembered and honored. Otherwise it would be almost
like she had never existed.
With this sort of perspective a daughter was not always very welcomed and this
of course led to problems. Sometimes she was even killed. But if she was
accepted then her training would all be geared towards being a wife and mother.
The marriage relationship itself, in accordance with the Confucian ideal, involved
very defined roles and much formality between the couple. The couple generally
was segregated in the household except for sleeping. A wife was to exemplify
Yin (passive, plaint) in order to provide the harmonious complement to the
husbands Yang (active, firm). Thus, instead of a harmonious complement of
power and status between husband and wife, the goal of harmony was to be
achieved by the wifes submission to her husband. Again, we can return to the
analogy of the dance. It is the husband who leads and the wife who follows with
movements that complement, that is, harmonize with his. This was perceived to
reflect the cosmic order, where Heaven (identified with the husband), which is
creative, is superior to Earth (identified with the wife), which is receptive (MPMF,
p. 216.) Again, it was the effort to align oneself with the Tao found in the cosmos
that led this situation some dignity, but it was also what made it so horribly
difficult to change. If you wanted more freedom and self-expression you were not
simply rocking the family boat, you were causing communal problems, and so
you had all of society coming down on you, which often included the women as
well as the men.
A woman was expected to do whatever she could to bring happiness to her
husband and cause him to love her. Included in this task was helping her
husband honor his parents. As a result, wives were often virtual slaves of their
mothers-in-law. There was almost nothing they could do except obey them. The
Confucian ideal for women was set out in several very influential texts, for
example, Instructions for Women by Pan Chao (? - 116 C.E.), the Classic of Filial
Piety for Women, and the Analects for Women by Sung Jo-chao (ca. 800 C.E.).
Another important text regarding women is the Biographies of Exemplary
Women, collected by Lui Hsian (77-6 B.C.E.), which chronicles the lives of
exemplary women and their contributions to their husbands. Most involve
extreme self-sacrifice for virtue, chastity, and honor. Some recount the womans
choice to commit suicide rather than violate the dictates of filial piety. And the
work of Margery Wolf indicates that suicide was indeed the choice made by
many young wives who found themselves in family situations that they could not
endure in accordance with the ideal (MPMF, p. 217.) The best thing a wife could
do was to give birth to sons, as this would bring glory to the family and honor to
herself. Despite all of these negative points from a modern point of view, it must

30

be said that women were not hated and despised. They were simply seen in a
subordinate role and they were expected to play their role as well as possible.
But even though subordinate, it was also a recognized and crucial role as they
were the teachers and models in the family, and if the family was to be the model
for society, then the women needed to be the primary teachers. This gave
women a certain amount of status and respect.
Women in the Peoples Republic of China
Communism took a heavy toll on the fortunes of religion, but at the same time it
opened doors to women that had always been closed. Women achieved legal
equality and moved toward greater social freedom and participation. In their
efforts to purge Chinese society of religion, however, the Communist reformers
opened new doors to women as well. They sought to eradicate the oppressions
they saw as pervading Confucianism, and this included the oppression of
women. Mao Zedong saw in women a great resource for his cause as
revolutionaries and as workers in the new Communist economic system.
Accordingly, he was a great supporter of the reform of womens role in Chinese
society, declaring that women hold up half the sky. Although the trend had
begun in the Republican period, under Communism women were encouraged to
find roles outside in the economy and in politics, as well as inside as
participants in family life (MPMF, p. 224.) This was one of the attractions of the
new government and what was perceived as truly a revolution. Things were
turned upside down and people found the old being thrown out and the new
welcomed.
But as we know from other similar situations, change below the surface takes
much longer. You can change the laws, but it is more difficult to change peoples
hearts and attitudes. And simply because women were liberated to work outside
of the home did not necessarily mean they were liberated to leadership
participation. To be made a part of a regimented and overworked labor force
along with men is not necessarily liberation. And few women attained top
leadership roles. The hidden history of Communist China includes terrible but
long-concealed famines, the result of misguided government policies, in which
women and children suffered most of all. Nonetheless, the Party sought to end
dowry and expensive wedding ceremonies, made divorce more readily available,
and promoted education for women. These social changes have radically altered
womens lives. Women now work outside of the home in factories, sales, and
other business roles, politics, educational institutions - in all aspects of Chinese
society, albeit still not to the same degree or level as men (MPMF, p. 224.)
Sometimes we can be frustrated by the slow pace of change, especially in any
one womans lifetime, but when we take a larger perspective we will notice that
changes have come remarkably fast and thousands of years of traditions are
being overturned relatively quickly. Young women have all sorts of opportunities
that were unthinkable to their grandmothers. Major societal changes like this are

31

always difficult and sometimes people take two steps back for every three steps
forward. But it would be difficult to believe that there could be a return to the
previous oppression any more than there could be a return to slavery.
So even though many unfortunate things have happened under Communism, it
does seem to have been a good thing for women generally. In many respects
womens lives often are better today than in traditional Chinese society. Women
are now full citizens, having gained to a large degree equal status with men
under the law, if not in practice. Although women have not achieved full equality,
they play a much greater role, participating in the political structure at least in
some measure and by working outside the home. Infanticide has been curbed, if
not eliminated; footbinding has been abolished; and the sale of women is no
longer permitted. And in recent years, the Partys hard line toward religion has
softened, providing renewed opportunities for women in the religions of China.
Yet, there continue to be reports of the repression of women, especially those
involved in religiously motivated dissident activity, including Tibetan Buddhists,
Roman Catholics, Protestants, and those in banned religious groups (MPMF, p.
225.) While we can rejoice in any progress accomplished by and for women, we
know that China and the rest of the world still have a long way to go. But at least
we seem to be moving in the right direction.
The Negative Side of Confucianism
Confucianism offers a way of life that can bring about harmony by helping people
find their proper role and then encouraging them to do so. But the problems with
Confucianism become immediately apparent. The system can quickly become
too rigid as the caste system in India did. The roles people are allowed to fulfill
become so restricted that there is not a lot of room for growth or individuality. And
great injustices can be perpetuated by the system not allowing protest. For
example, in a family where the father ruled as king no one could challenge him.
So if he were a tyrant or cruel there was nothing anyone could do. There is
evidence that people sometimes felt that suicide was their only option for getting
out of such a horrible situation.
The religions of China played their role in keeping the women oppressed as we
have already seen. This is a continual problem with all of the patriarchal religions.
But we also have to look at the role Chinese religion played in keeping all of the
people so oppressed that when Communism came in the people welcomed yet a
new oppression thinking it would lead them where they wanted to go. The heart
of all religions seems to have an ideal of liberation, however that is expressed.
We must ask religion to be accountable for all of its oppression and failure to
bring about its promised liberation. Confucianism has had little influence on
modern America although it still plays a role in some Chinese-American families.
Summary

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Taoism, with its stress on mystical unity with all of nature and with such
nonrational aspects of human life as love of beauty, fantasy, and personal
immortality, has provided compensation for the rational the ethical character of
Confucianism. Taoism sought to align human life with the Tao, the universal Way,
or with the will of Heaven; for Taoists, this Way is in nature, beauty, fantasy, and
mystical experience outside the corrupting influence of society (MPMF, pp. 243244.) Will Taoism and Confucian reemerge in new forms? How will people
express their religious aspirations in the new global village? And how will the
liberation of women that has come so far in China influence the Chinese
understanding or religion? This will be fascinating to watch as it is bound to bring
deep and lasting changes.
Confucianism gave us a look at another side of Chinese culture and philosophy.
Confucianism, deriving from the teaching of Confucius and other philosophers,
as well as from ancient Chinese attitudes, is perhaps the most pervasive spiritual
force of all in East Asia. It has emphasized the importance of inward virtue, the
obligations of the individual to family and society, and rites and forms through
which these are expressed. Taoism, with its stress on mystical unity with all of
nature and with such nonrational aspects of human life as love of beauty, fantasy,
and personal immortality, has provided compensation for the rational the ethical
character of Confucianism. Both sought to align human life with the Tao, the
universal Way, or with the will of Heaven; for Confucianism it was supremely
found in a good society; for Taoists, it is in nature, beauty, fantasy, and mystical
experience outside the corrupting influence of society (MPMF, pp. 243-244.)
Both of these ways on their own have weaknesses that are largely repaired by
the other tradition, which is probably why they go together so well even though
they can come across as opposed. In the popular religion of traditional China,
Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism combined with ancestrism, seasonal
festivals, and local deities to make up a colorful complex (MPMF, p. 244.) All of
these different traditions have made the Chinese culture as rich as it is.
We also looked at Chinese thought since the Communist revolution. It still seems
too early to decide how it will all turn out. Finally we looked at the influence of
Chinese religious and philosophical thought in America and found it to be more
pervasive then you might at first think. I think we will continue to see a growth in
influence as it becomes clearer that the answer to many problems such as
medical and ecological issues will only be found as we combine the wisdom of
the East with the Wisdom of the West into a new, integral wisdom.
In the next lecture we will change gears as we move to the Middle East and
study Judaism.
Summary Based on Joachim Wachs Three Forms of Religious Expression:
MPMF, p. 205

33

Fundamental features of Taoism

THEORETICAL
Basic Worldview

The universe is one, yet always moving and changing.

God or Ultimate Reality

moves.

The Tao, the great Way down which the universe

Origin of the World/ An expression of the Tao, without

Destiny of the Worlda known beginning or end.
Origin of Humans/ An expression of the Tao, to share
Destiny of Humans in its never-ending evolution. One
may become immortal by mastering
the Tao and its power.
Revelation or Mediation
The teachings of Lao-Tzu and other
Between the Ultimate
sages. Benign immortals or gods
and The Human
can be honored and serve as helpers.
PRACTICAL
What Is Expected of
Humans: Worship,
Practices, Behavior

To live spontaneously and close to

nature; in more formal systems, to
mediate and perform rites that draw
one close to gods and immortals.

SOCIOLOGICAL
Major Social Institutions

Temples, monasteries, the Taoist priesthood.

Summary Based on Joachim Wachs Three Forms of Religious Expression:

MPMF, p. 194
Fundamental features of Confucianism
THEORETICAL
Basic Worldview
The universe is a unity under heaven,
of which humans are an integral part.
For humans, family and society are the most important links to the
universe.
God or Ultimate Reality
order.

Heaven or Tian, regulating the world and moral

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Origin of the World/ Vague, but world originates from

Destiny of the Worldheaven and proceeds through interaction of Yin and Yang
and the five principle or elements.
Origin of Humans

Vague; ultimately from heaven and earth

Destiny of Humans No stress on afterlife except in terms of ancestrism. Ideal is

to live a good life in this world through family and society.
Revelation or Mediation
The teachings of Confucius and the
Between the Ultimate
classics; mediated by the educational
and The Human
system.
PRACTICAL
What Is Expected of
Humans: Worship,
Practices, Behavior

SOCIOLOGICAL
Major Social Institutions
to state under empire

To observe official and ancestral

rites; to honor parents and meet
other ethical obligations. One works
for a good society by exercising
benevolence and practicing mutuality
with others, especially through the
five relationships.
Great importance of family and of elite class; aligned

Bibliography:
Robert S. Ellwood and Barbara A. McGraw, Many Peoples, Many Faiths: Women
and Men in the World Religions, Seventh Edition, [Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002]
Mary Pat Fisher, Living Religions: A Brief Introduction, [Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002]
Lewis M. Hopfe and Mark R. Woodward, Religions of the World, Eighth Edition,
[Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2001]
Huston Smith, The Illustrated Worlds Religion: A Guide to our Wisdom
Traditions, [New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1994]

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