First steps: Taoism

It's interesting how both the English and the Chinese words for path carry the same dual meaning. It can refer to the way to travel to a particular destination, or it can refer to a way of life. Perhaps this analogy between finding a path out of the forest and finding your way in life is something that comes naturally to humans everywhere.


Taoism gets its name from the Chinese word meaning way (above). This is the first word of a Chinese text that was supposed to have been written by the Chinese sage Lao-Tzu. See the Wikipedia article on the Tao Te Ching for more details, and also the one on Taoism.

The Tao Te Ching is a short book of 81 chapters, and each chapter is a self-contained verse of ten to twenty lines. So it's a quick read, although it is a bit strange to try and read it straight through. The topics change frequently, and there is a lot of juxtapositions of opposites in the verses. It might be better just to flip around and read chapters at random.

The quotes in this article are from the Jonathan Star translation.

The Tao seems to be some underlying principle of the universe, present in all things, eternal and unchanging. "I do not know its name, so I call it Tao" (chapter 25). When you live in harmony with Tao, then you are natural, simple, selfless, truthful, and content.

Taoism is skeptical about learning and the rituals that the Confucians promoted. "True words are not born of the mind" (chapter 81) and "If you need rules to be kind and just, ... this is a sure sign that virtue is absent" (chapter 18).

The Tao Te Ching gives out advice to rulers, warriors, and ordinary people. This advice is often the opposite of what you might expect, so that warriors, for example, are advised to not regard their opponent as an enemy and to fight without anger. Rulers are urged to place themselves below the people, and to lead as if behind them. People are told to be happy by having less (and also desiring less). Regard the easy as difficult, and the difficult will become easy.

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This constant contrariness wears on you after a while, but it provides some interesting things to think about. The point I would like to consider is the contrast between acting naturally and acting according to ritual (as in Confucianism). Last week I was playing a chess game, and I made a mistake in the opening. After a long struggle, I lost the game.

I was a bit upset, mostly at myself for blundering, but I congratulated my opponent on a well played game, and shook his hand. After all, he had played well, and it wasn't his fault that I screwed up. This is behaving according to ritual, so I suppose that this makes me a Confucian, at least in this instance.

But if I were to act naturally, I might have banged my fist on the table, swore, and stomped off. Is this what a Taoist would advocate? Somehow, I don't think so. But what is the right thing to do in a case like this? Perhaps the root of the problem is my desire to win, which leaves me angry when I lose. The Taoist answer, then, is to lessen my desire, so that I don't feel this way. Then I can admire the game as if I were a bystander.

This answer strikes me as a bit impractical, although it is perhaps a goal to strive towards. As a practical matter, I'd prefer to live in a society were there was at least some respect for ritual. It's these social niceties that allow us all to get along, at least until we reach that state of perfection where our passions no longer rule us.

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The most famous Taoist quote is probably this one: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" (chapter 64).

First steps: Confucianism

First steps: Confucianism

"Lead the people with administrative injunctions and put them in their place with penal law, and they will avoid punishments but will be without a sense of shame. Lead them with excellence and put them in their place through roles and ritual practices, and in addition to developing a sense of shame, they will order themselves harmoniously. " (Analects II, 3)

See Confucianism, where I got that quote above, for a more detailed discussion of Confucianism.

Confucianism seems obsessed with maintaining order, which makes it a difficult philosophy to love. Is it really our highest goal to lead an orderly (harmonious) existence? But you have to like the way they go about it. Instead of having a bunch of laws, if you could instill in people an understanding of their role in society, and a sense of shame, then they would take care of themselves.

It's interesting how this relates to the idea of reason in Stoicism (see my earlier post on Stoicism). In the modern world, it seems that the idea of the individual rising above his environment is more prevalent, but both of these ancient philosophies promote the idea of living harmoniously with your environment.

Perhaps it has to do with the idea of progress. Progress is something we take for granted today, but in ancient societies life was much more chaotic. Any fledgling attempts to improve the conditions of life generally could be wiped out in a moment by an invading army.


But let's return to that part about roles and ritual practices (that's the Chinese character for rite, above). Ritual practices in Confucianism has a different meaning than it does in the west. It's not talking about large ceremonial gatherings like weddings or baptisms, but rather about day to day activities.

Examples of this kind of ritual practice are how a child should behave when talking to an elder, or how a guest should greet his host. Behaving properly according to these rules helps make it clear to everyone what a person's role in society is. But to be truly effective, it has to be more than lip service, you have to be sincere. When you sincerely engage in these ritual acts, you naturally come to feel the respect that the ritual calls for.

There seems to be a good understanding of human psychology in this aspect of Confucianism. It's been shown that when you act humble, or excited, or happy, then you start to feel the corresponding emotion. So by performing these ritual acts, you are improving your character by making it more consistent with your place in society.

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Now, you might not be so happy with this philosophy if you don't like the basic hierarchical model of society that it implies. It does seem to be a danger with this philosophy that it could be used to reinforce an existing model of society and work against change, even when change is needed. But there are a few characteristics of Confucianism that work against despotic tendencies.

One of these is the idea that a ruler needs to cultivate personal virtue. A ruler's virtue will be reflected in his or her domain. But if a ruler lacks humanity, then the subjects will fail to act humanely as well, and then the ruler runs the risk of losing authority and position. This idea seems to parallel Plato's ideal of the philosopher king.

The idea of meritocracy and the nobility of virtue in Confucianism also opposes to some degree the idea of a rigid hereditary ruling class. A person is noble by reason of virtue, and not by birth. Rulers should be those who are best qualified to rule.

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OK, we can't leave Confucianism without at least mentioning the Confucian version of the golden rule: "Do not do unto others what you would not want others to do unto you".