1 Three Streams of “Taoism” in Early China Jeffrey L. Richey, Ph.D. REL 232 Religions of China and Japan Berea College Fall 2004

2 WHAT IS DAOJIA 道家 (“TAOISM”)?  Daojia (“School of Dao”) does not appear in Chinese texts until Han 漢, c.100s BCE  Han librarians use Daojia to unite many traditions: 1. Huang-di 黃帝 (“Yellow Emperor”) medicine 2. Zhuangzi 莊子 (“Master Zhuang”) skepticism 3. Laozi 老子 (“Old Master”) mysticism, political theory  After fall of Han (220 CE), Xuanxue 玄學 (“Mysterious Learning”) mysticism inherits mantle of Daojia

3 WHAT MAKES A TEXT, IDEA, OR PRACTICE “TAOIST”?  Use of term Dao? – NO (Ru 儒 use it)  Mystical themes? – NO (some Ru mystics)  Philosophical? -- NO (Ru do philosophy)  Religious? -- NO (Ru are religious)  Non-Ru? – NO (Ru are one of many sects)  Consistency? -- NO (most Warring States texts are heterogenuous compilations)

4 DEFINING “TAOISM” 1. “Philosophical” (pre- Qin 秦 ) vs. “religious” (post-Qin) Daoisms 2. “Contemplative” (mystical), “purposive” (political), and xian 仙 (immortality-seeking) Daoisms 3. Daoism = only post-Qin (only “religious”) 4. “Laoist” (school of Laozi) vs. “Zhuangist” (school of Zhuangzi) vs. …  Any definition of “Taoism” must account for: 1. Incredible diversity of items associated with term 2. Whether/why such items ought to be unified under term

5 THE SCHOOL OF ZHUANGZI, c. 300s-100s BCE  Zhuangzi = obscure, highly original thinker from south China (c. 300s BCE)  Attracted little interest until arrival of Buddhism in China  Zhuangzi combines ideas of historical figure with other non-Ru themes in early Chinese thought: 1. “Zhuangism” (1-7, 16-27) -- skepticism, spontaneity, ineffable nature of Dao 2. “Primitivism” (8-10, 11) -- rejection of society, embrace of “natural” values 3. “Yangism” (28-29, 31) – ideas of individualist Yang Zhu 楊朱

6 ZHUANGIST THEMES  Conscious knowledge = product of dualism (separation of subject & object)  Dao = mysterious, amoral, beyond conventional wisdom  Unity with Dao = naturalness (ziran 自然 ), freedom, insight  Spiritual models = skilled artisans, enduring natural objects

7 THE SCHOOL OF LAOZI, c. 300s-100s BCE  Laozi = legendary, probably nonhistorical figure credited with text; deified by 100s CE  Text (c. 250 BCE) also known as Daodejing 道德經 (“Classic of Way and Power”)  Much more popular than Zhuangzi prior to Buddhism  Diverse concerns suggest multiple layers of authorship: 1. Meditation techniques 2. Military strategy 3. Politics and rulership 4. Social revolution 5. Utopian escapism

8 LAOIST THEMES  Conscious knowledge = product of decline from era of sage-king rule  Dao = mysterious, amoral, beyond conventional wisdom  Unity with Dao = anonymity, freedom, natural social order  Spiritual model = wuwei 無爲 (“actionless action”) – characteristic quality of natural world

9 XUANXUE TRADITIONS, c. 200s-300s CE  Associated with post-Han thinkers: 1.Wang Bi 王弼 ( CE) 2.He Yan 何宴 (?-249 CE) 3.Guo Xiang 郭象 (?-312 CE)  Syncretic interpretations of pre-Han texts (e.g., Zhuangzi 莊子 )  Concerns included cosmology, self-cultivation, and government  Like Zhuangist and Laoist traditions, never associated with any known social institutions or communities of practice

10