Preface
Origins of Daoism
The origins of Daoist teachings are not known. Some scholars trace the first evidence to about 5,000 years ago, when shamans were thought to guide society. Shamans reputedly had the power to shape-shift between human and animal forms, take celestial journeys, and descend to an underworld. They could read omens, had revelations, and acted as healers, diviners, and interpreters of dreams. There were several mythical shamanic figures associated with ancient Chinese history, and it seems that some elements of shamanism were found in early Daoist ceremonies.
At a certain point in ancient times, there seem to have been people who had direct experience of the superconscious state that we call God – in Chinese language referred to as the Dao (Tao). These superconscious beings developed a spiritual practice or method to quiet the mind and attain inner stillness, and eventually taught that sublime experience to their disciples. There is evidence of these practices in the fourth-century BCE text Nei-yeh (“Inward Training”), although the human experience of this divine presence probably goes back much farther than that. The many remote, austere mountain ranges of China would have provided countless caves and solitary spots where hermits could practice.
The Daoist teachings, as they developed and were recorded, impart certain principles of spiritual life and how to live in the world – essentially the need to find harmony and balance within, often referred to as holding on to the center, the Dao. Literally Dao means “the Way”; the term refers to the superconscious, formless origin of the creation, the dynamic principle immanent in all the creation. It also refers to the inner path of the soul rediscovering its spiritual identity and origin, the inner Way. The path of Dao teaches the principles of living in harmony with nature and not trying to dominate it: “leading from behind” rather than pushing oneself forward, and wu-wei (selfless action, or acting without selfish motive) – going with the flow of life.
The Dao implies an understanding that true inner balance and harmony occur at the center point between the opposites of yang (outward, masculine) and yin (inward, feminine) – cogently explained through the text of the Yijing (I Ching, the “Book of Changes”), an ancient divination manual which dates from as early as the tenth century BCE. Scholars believe that this is the most ancient text that presents the teachings eventually associated with Daoism.
Eventually distillations of Daoist beliefs and practices appeared in collections of sayings and parables like the Daodéjing (Tao te Ching: the “Classic of Dao and Dé”), attributed to an archivist named Laozi (Lao-tzu), who probably lived sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE, and Zhuangzi, from the fourth and third century BCE, attributed to a man named Zhuangzi (Chuang-tzu). It is not known if Laozi actually existed – his name means “the old man” – but there is some evidence that Zhuangzi was an actual person. He names both Confucius and Laozi in his writings.
The teachings of Confucius (Kong Qiu) probably started influencing Chinese society at the same time as early Daoist teachings, and he seems to have been a contemporary of Laozi. Confucianism began as guidance in right living for someone seeking to live in harmony with Dao and included benevolence, righteousness, good manners, and knowledge. It spells out a foundation for morality and ethics that provide society with common values. Later on, Confucianism elucidated external practices and rituals.
In the second century CE, Indian monks arrived in China, probably along the Silk Road, and began to teach Buddhism. They translated Buddhist texts from Indian languages into Chinese. Buddhist practices and beliefs began to influence Chinese life, and Daoism adopted the concepts of karma and reincarnation, as well as monastic community organization. By the fifth century, Buddhism was established in south China.
Over time, the Chinese Buddhist canon became the largest and most comprehensive collection of Buddhist texts ever compiled, preserving the expansive teachings and history of Indian Buddhism. By the thirteenth century, Buddhism had largely died out in India, and with few exceptions, the manuscripts, often written on materials such as palm leaves and birch bark, disintegrated. Meanwhile, Buddhism continued to flourish in China. The use of wood-block printing on paper, as well as imperial patronage, ensured that the Chinese Buddhist canon was carefully preserved. At the same time, Daoist principles and literature continued to be taught in China. Many similarities between the two traditions were also noted; some even believed that Laozi, after leaving China for the West, had become known as the Buddha.
In this book, the focus is on the Chinese Daoist beliefs and practice, although in some instances the two traditions merge into one another.
Spelling and Transliteration of Chinese Words
There are two principal methods of transliterating Chinese words into the Roman (English) alphabet. These are the Wade-Giles system and the Pinyin system. Wade-Giles developed from a system produced by Thomas Francis Wade, during the mid-19th century, and was given completed form with Herbert A. Giles’s Chinese-English Dictionary of 1892. Pinyin was created under the auspices of the People’s Republic of China after World War II and more closely approximates the sounds of the Chinese language. All Chinese terms used in this book follow the Pinyin system. Where certain words and names have become common in English in the Wade-Giles system, they are included in parentheses where they first appear. A few relevant examples are: Laozi (Lao-tzu), Daodéjing (Tao te Ching), and Zhuangzi (Chuang-tzu).
Translations of Classics like Daodéjing and Zhuangzi
Several published translations of Daodéjing have been used, selected according to their resonance with the spiritual nature of the teachings as well as their literary quality. Some revisions to these translations have been made by a team of researchers associated with the multi-volume A Treasury of Mystic Terms, published by Science of the Soul Research Centre. The published translations include those by Ellen M. Chen, Wing-tsit Chan, Gia-fu Feng with Jane English, Lin Yutang, Red Pine, and others.
For the writings of Zhuangzi, I have mainly used the translations by Burton Watson in his Complete Works of Zhuangzi (2013) and Zhuangzi: Basic Writings (2003). These are both published by Columbia University Press. I have also used translations by Thomas Merton, in The Way of Chuang Tzu (with terms converted to Pinyin) for some passages where Merton was clearer, more passionate, and more poetic.
Translations of other texts, like the Huainanzi and Nei-yeh, are indicated in the endnotes.
Defining and Translating Spiritual Terms from Chinese to English
Words are vessels which carry the impressions of experiences (spiritual or otherwise) that can’t be explained with words. They function as symbols or reminders and mean something different to everyone who uses them.
We are used to thinking of mystical truths as ideas or concepts which can be expressed in words and texts. However, this is a mistake. That was made clear in correspondence with Chinese Daoist scholars like Professor Russell Kirkland. I was trying to understand a specific Daoist concept and define it in English and wrote to Dr Kirkland about it. He replied:
I think that your problem is that you seem to be seeking precision and singular meanings of terms for which Daoists do not offer (or generally even seek) precision or singular meanings. Christian theology offers precision and singular meanings of terms, because of its peculiar history of political pressure to achieve orthodoxy, so that everyone believes and says the same thing. Daoists do not generally try to “find” an exact “meaning” of terms – even of “Dao” itself. Daoists are usually content to work with a general or vague “meaning” of any term, even “Dao.” Remember that Daoists regarded the vague Daodéjing and Zhuangzi as epitomizing their truth. Do either of them offer precise, singular definitions of their terms?
I’d advise against seeking terminological precision in understanding Daoist spirituality: that effort would seem always to lead to personal confusion, rather than personal enlightenment. Once you “have gotten the sense” of a term in a way that speaks to you, that is its “meaning” for a Daoist.
Another scholar wrote in an email:
Daoism has never attempted to assert that its teachings give the complete and whole truth of the Dao. Laozi says in Daodéjing that the Dao is so vast and boundless that it is beyond the limitation of words. Any attempt to describe the Dao with words will not do it justice. For this reason, descriptions of the Dao in Daoism appear obscure, difficult to understand, and sometimes even conflicting. However, the vagueness of the subject matter, the Dao, owing to its profound and indescribable nature, should not lead to the conclusion that the philosophical system of Daoism which attempts to address the understanding of the Dao is also vague.
The approach of Daoism to address the lack of clarity is the practice – to personally experience the Dao through meditation, to attain clarity in understanding of the Dao. The guidance of a living teacher is necessary.
The unknown author of the Scripture on the Three Pure Subtle Natures in the eighteenth century (who attributed his collection of sayings to the eighth-century Master Lu Dongbin) advises those who want to pursue the “great Dao” not to try to follow this path alone. He says that guidance should rather be sought from “real people,” meaning enlightened living teachers who have mastered the Dao themselves:
It is necessary to seek far and wide for the guidance of truly elevated people. If you do not meet real people (zhenren) who can point out the profound subtleties, you will not understand the great Dao. Even if you understand something, it will only be scratching the surface. In the end, you will fail to attain the profound Mystery. If you do not attain the Mystery, how can you understand the great Dao? So to know the great Dao, you must seek authentic teachings.
Authentic teachings are received individually from a master (shi). His guidance in the dark reveals flashes of enlightenment, so that you can have perfect understanding of the mystery of mysteries, by which you can know the great Path. To have this knowledge is to have attainment. With such attainment you realize the ultimate mystery; then non-doing (wu-wei) is finally achieved.1
Many thanks to Professor Roger T. Ames for his generosity in permitting use of the quotations cited herein from his book Yuan Dao.
Please note: For clarity and consistency, the spelling, capitalization, and italicization of certain Chinese and English words appearing in excerpts from cited sources have been edited to conform to this book’s overall editorial style.