Chronology of ancient Taoism
4000 I Ching – 4000 bce
650 Tao Te Ching – 650 – traditional date claimed
580-500 Lao-tzu (?) – 580-500 bc – traditional date claimed
551-479 K’ung Fu-tzu – 551-479 – likely actual dates
480-390 Lao-tzu – 480-390 bc – likely actual dates
409 Confucian canon established – 409
371-289 Meng-tzu – 371-289 – likely actual dates for the book of ethics by Mencius
369-286 Chuang-tzu – 369-286
350 Tao-Te Ching – 350, historical – likely actual dates for the book traditionally attributed to Lao-tzu
340 Chuang-tzu – 340 – traditional date claimed
250 1st extant copy of Tao Te Ching – 250 bce
213 Ch'in book burning 213 bce – 1st dynasty, by LiSsu to reconcile diverse language & literary traditions
180 Ma Wang Tui tomb yi pen ms. Tao Te Ching – 180 ce
195 Ma Wang Tui tomb chia pen ms. Tao Te Ching – 195 ce
200 Tao Te Ching canon established – 200 ce
250 Wang Pi commentary on Tao Te Ching – ca 250
279 Tun Huang ms. Tao Te Ching – 279
742 Chuang-tzu canon established – 742
iii c fl. Neo-Taoism – iii c fl.
Taoism grew up side-by-side with but in reaction vs. Confucianism (Chinese hold two views in dynamic tension). ChuangTzu xiv, xxix vs. Analects xx, xxi – have Confucius coming around to Taoism; Advising the Powerful: xxix vs. xxx
Taoism puts emphasis on the Universal (Tao), vs being human-centered, but its purpose is learning how to live – i.e., the cultivation of virtue (Te) for ordinary people & the sage (sheng jen), who is just more developed.
Confucianism proto-scientific, humanistic approach – urging Virtue
Taoism more mystical – urging non- interference with Nature
Neo-Taoist (N-T) commentaries: Non-Being () is pure being (pen-wu), the Undifferentiated One, rather than Being’s opposite ()
N-T Wang Pi (226-249) added to Lao-tze by insisting on similarity between I Ching & Tao Te Ching.
N-T Kuo Hsiang (d 312) added to Chuang-tze by insisting that the basic concept is Nature (tzu-jan) rather than Tao;
Unlike Wang Pi, Kuo Hsiang emphasizes Being over Non-Being & the Many (‘10k things’) over the One.
Neo-Taoism contributed greatly to development of Ch’an/Zen (vii-viii c).
Neo-Taoism probably also contributed greatly to development of Neo-Confucianism (xi c), as in Chou Tun-I (1017-1073) (but could have got his Diagram equating Non-Ultimate & Great Ultimate – generating yin & yang – directly from I Ching. His equating Sincerity with Desirelessness also seems to be from Lao-tze. Shao Yung’s (1011-1077) universal (Tao) also appears Taoistic. Though later N-C’s criticized Taoism, the Tao remained the back-bone of N-C philosophy.
Taoist philosophy (Tao-chia) is distinct from (its degeneration, i.e. into) Taoist religion (Tao-chiao).
Tao-chiao originated in rebel Chang Ling’s (fl 156 ad) ‘5 bushels of rice’ movement
Tao-chiao continued under grandson Chang Lu (188-220), emphasizing eternal life – & eventually yoga & health.
Taoism’s most sophisticated manifestation is Tao Te Ching, but it embraced Animism, magical Mysticism, Yoga, &c., in its popular manifestations.
Reading: LaoTzu [t40] & ChuangTzu [c8f]: “HuiShih said, … ‘The king of Wei… ‘Why worry about it?’”
(I’ll stress the TaoTeChing [280-240?] – 1-37, 38-81 – and the illustrative commentary named for ChuangTzu.)
1. LaoTzu (fl.vii? vi? iv?) traditionally LiTan, historian of archives for Chou; older contemporary of Confucius.
2. ChuangTzu (fl iv-iii, 399-295) (ChuangTzu probably contemporary of HsunTzu, MengTzu & Plato)
Taoism’s core beliefs:
“Bridling horses, piercing buffalos’ noses is man (not nature)” [198], feed bird own food [c214, 228f]
Relativity/Immensity – frog in the well & sea turtle [c202f]
Flow: swimmer [c224f], carpenter carving wood [c226],
Death: when ChuangChou’s wife died [c210], conversation with a skull [c212], “My death is made good by the same thing that makes my birth good.” [c72ff], corpse with crows vs. worms [c416]
Turtle revered [c204], pig fattened for sacrifice [c222]
Reject “virtue,” “kindness,” “respectability,” “knowledge,” &c.
a) Anti-intellect: “reading merely the lees of the Ancients?” [c158f, t47], “God too subtle for words.” [c264f], words like fish traps [c340f, t56]; yet [c248] “…nothing sadder than death of mind.”
b) Anti-virtue [t3, 5, 9, 20, 38, c106-108], Shun era “left no traces” [t68, 69, c142, 154, 184f]
Simplicity: ChuangTzu was poor, but…[c240], LiehYu-k’ou traveled on wind [c4f] “Highest man is selfless, without accomplishments and unknown.” [c250] “Being human in the highest form is achieving the most beautiful and living in the highest joy.” Archer Lieh [c256]. Like a baby [c282f, t55].
Great man Unselfish, modest [c194, 234] “reconciled to both misfortune, fortune” [c198] (cf #5 tree)
Useless: old oak tree [c8f,46f & 232 – cf Emerson], hole [t11], ugly cripples [c v, 52-62, c72, c218f], Do-do bird [236f], “wise” White Turtle [c336f]
Stripping away leads to the highest performance – getting rid of humanistic virtues, other distractions. archer & prize [c220], Butcher Ting [c30], YenHui “improved” [c78f], fighting cock [c224]
Govern best like frying small fish [t60, 17, 57-61, c xi “Preserve & Accept”: 122] – unknown by his people, advice to Marquis Wu [c296f, t54] – vs. Force [t30, 31, 72-75], Non-doing [t48, 49]
ChuangTzu’s dream of being a butterfly [c28]
HuiShih to ChuangChou: “You’re not a fish; how do you know?….from this dam over the Hao.” [c206]
Favorite Taoist Stories
White-water Swimming along Nature’s own Stream called ‘the Way’
ChuangTzu’s myth of Butcher Ting [c30] & his Swimmer of rapids who rode the 180’ waterfall [c224].
Shepherding the sheep in the rear with a whip. [c220]
Learning patience from Water. [t8, 78, 22, 32, 34, 36, t43]
ChuangChou re God: [xxii - c268ff] [c290] [c330] [c366f]; LaoTzu re Way: [t1, t14, ]