TAOISM

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TAOISM
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GLOBAL VIEW OF CHINA
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CONTINENT VIEW OF CHINA
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COUNTRY VIEW OF CHINA
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OK So then what is Taoism?

• Taoism is both a philosophy and a religion. The
  beginnings of Taoism are generally accredited to
  
• Lao-tzu, a sixth century philosopher,
• believed to be from the Henan
• Province.

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Oh So then what do Taoists believe?

• Here are three of the major Taoist concepts
• TE means power. The power of a thing is its
  virtue, its identity, its integrity. So the te of
  a person is their authentic self, or genuineness.
  Te is expressed through humility and meekness.
• WU-WEI is a concept involving relaxing the
  conscious mind. It seeks the denial of anything
  personal and the dissolution of the conscious,
  individual self. Wu-wei is best illustrated by
  water it is supple yet strong, it flows over and
  fills what it encounters. It means to simply
  follow the way of nature.
• PU is a term which literally means unpainted
  wood. PU stresses the importance of simplicity
  and the need to leave things in their natural
  state.

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Say What??

• In plain English
• Taoists advocate a simple honest life and
  noninterference with the course of natural events
• Taoists dont like politics, administration, or
  elaborate rituals.
• So then how would you have government?
• Do not emphasize status, intelligence, or
  possessions.
• Govern with least visibility and with a serving
  attitude.
• Reduce laws and govern lightly.
• Take few actions that involve the people.
• Treat other countries non-aggressively.
• Taoists believe that the purpose of life is to
  live according to the Tao.
• That requires calmness, passiveness, and
  humility.

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DEITIES

• When Taoism was first developing, there were no
  deities, only the Tao. As time went by, however,
  many gods became present in the religion. Two
  types of deities developed.

• The first type consists of the natural gods, the
  highest gods who are believed to have emerged
  from primordial energy at the beginning of the
  world. These gods developed as part of Taoism
  between the second and sixth centuries C.E. We
  will be giving examples of this type of god.

• The second type of Taoist deity consist of human
  beings who, through learning, self-discipline,
  alchemy, or some other means, have purified
  themselves of mortal imperfections and become
  gods.

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THE THREE PURITIES(THE THREE CLARITIES)

• The Three Purities are the highest deities in
  Taoism, they rule over the three greatest
  heavenly realms. The Three Purities are still
  worshiped in China today the most important hall
  in the White Cloud Monastery is devoted to them.

White Cloud Monastery, Beijing
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Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning

• This is the central deity of the Three Purities,
  he is believed to have spontaneously formed from
  pure energy at the beginning of the world, which
  is why he is called the Celestial Worthy of
  Primordial Beginning.
• He created the first writing system by writing
  patterns in gold onto jade tablets therefore he
  is the god of all learning.

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Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure

• This deity is considered to be the attendant of
  the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning who
  gave him the task of delivering lessons to lesser
  gods and humans. Therefore he is the god of
  Taoist teaching.
• (Numinous means supernatural, spiritually
  elevated, or sublime.)

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Celestial Worthy of the Way and Its Power

• Here we see Lao-tzu deified. His title was
  derived from the name of the text attributed to
  him the Classic of the Way and Its Power or Tao
  Te Ching. Lao-tzu differs from the others in that
  he played an active role in the development of
  Chinese civilization, often appearing to reveal
  divine teachings to humanity.

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THE THREE OFFICIALS

• The Three Officials are a triad of deities who
  are in charge of heaven, earth and water.
• They travel their domains recording the good and
  bad deeds of people to determine their lifespan
  and destiny. They punish the evil and so are
  considered stern and imposing deities.

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Official of Heaven

• This painting shows the Official of Heaven in his
  office surrounded by officers and female
  attendants called jade maidens

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Official of Earth

• In this painting the Official of Earth is on a
  tour inspecting his domain. He is also
  accompanied by armed people, as well as demons to
  punish the wicked.

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Official of Water

• The Official of Water rides on a dragon, a
  traditional symbol of rain, while two attendants
  ride on sea turtles, symbols of longevity. He is
  further accompanied by several people with armor
  and weapons to emphasize his ability to enforce
  his authority.

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CREATION

• Taoists believe that there is no one creator,
  that at the beginning, there was only chaos, or a
  void, called Wuji.

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Then from the void (Wuji) the cosmos came into
being.
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With the cosmos came the energies of yin and yang
which combined to create what is called the Taiji
Du
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Qi emerged from the blending of yin and yang
The concept of the joining of yin and yang is
often compared to the big bang theory.
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The concept of Qi may be more easily understood
through Filmmaker George Lucas idea of the
force in his film Star Wars. Qi is the very
stuff of life. It fills the universe permeating
everything, rocks, trees, water, clouds, animals,
and people. Qi is often compared to quantum
physics. It is like the atom, the building block
of life.
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Wuxing, or the 5 qualities (elements) developed
from Qi.These 5 qualities make up all known
substances. They areFire, earth, metal, water
and wood.
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Diagram
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TRICKSTER STORY

• Ghosts, spirits, and superstitions are very
• prominent in both ancient and modern
• Chinese stories. Foxes were often imagined
• to be problematic shape shifters and
• tricksters. They often appeared in the guise
• of beautiful young women, trying to lure
• men into falling under their power. Taoist
• priests often served as intermediaries
• between the ordinary human world and the
• world of the supernatural. They could be called
  to
• rid a person of these spirits, or to exorcise it.

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A scholor named Li Yi was reading under the
lamplight one evening, when a beautiful woman
appeared before him. She teased him mercilessly
and soon grew quite brazen, and eventually Li
found himself subjected to all sorts of lewd
advances.With firm resolve Li remained impassive
throughout the ordeal.Later that evening, after
Li had finished dinner, he heard a voice coming
from his stomach, I attached myself to some
eggplants you ate for dinner he heard the voice
say. Now that Im actually housed in your
stomach you wont be able to ignore me!The
woman Li had encountered was in fact a fox fairy.
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A Taoist grand master named Zhang was called in
to exorcize the fox fairy. Zhang built an alter
at the local Pavilion and commenced the
purification of scholar Li. For three days they
ate sacred vegetarian meals and chanted
incantations. Grand Master Zhang's magicians then
lifted a scroll on which was written 'We will
exorcize the demon on the fifteenth of March.'
When the day arrived, spectators had gathered
from far and wide to view the exorcism. The grand
master took a position at the center with the
magicians seated along the sides. Li was asked to
kneel before the grand master and open his mouth.
Zhang then put two fingers down Lis throat and
pulled out a fox the size of a small cat.
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HENGSHAN MONASTERY

• Hengshan Monastery is located on the cliffs of
  Mt. Hengshan, which is one of the five sacred
  mountains of Taoism. In the Shanxi province of
  China, near the city of Datong.

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The gravity defying Hanging Monastery was built
on extremely sheer cliffs above Jinlong Canyon
1400 years ago.
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Bridges and corridors connect those pavilions and
caves in which dozens of bronze, iron, stone and
clay statues are enshrined.
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In the Three Religions Hall, Buddha, Confucius
and Lao-tzu are all enshrined together. This is
because in present day the three faiths co-exist
in the temple.
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The mythical creatures on the eaves serve to
protect the monastery from evil spirits.
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Why would someone build a monastery on a cliff?

• The monastery was built at this location because
  it was convenient for passing pilgrims. It was an
  important passage leading to a shrine to the
  South and Datong City to the North. The problem
  is that the river which flowed past the foot of
  the cliff would flood whenever there was a storm.
  In those days it was believed that a golden
  dragon was the cause of the flooding, therefore
  they built the temple high up on the cliffs to
  keep away from the flooding, and ward off the
  influence of the dragon.

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Hengshan Mountain
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QINGYANG PALACE
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The Qingyang Palace, also called The Grey Goat
Palace, is located in the suburbs of Chengdu. In
the Sichuan province of China.
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Qingyang is one of the oldest and most extensive
Taoist temples in Chengdu area. Legend says that
Lao Tzu asked a friend to meet him there. When
the friend arrived he saw only a boy leading two
goats on a leash. He soon realized the boy was
Lao Tzu. That is the reason that in the compound,
stand two eye-catching bronze goats. Although
called a goat, one of them is actually a strange
creature with mouse ears, an ox nose, tiger paws,
rabbit back, snake tail, dragon horns, horse
mouth, goat beard, monkey neck, chicken eyes, dog
belly and pig thighs. It is said that this goat
has some supernatural powers and anyone who
touches it could survive from illness and
mischance.
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These are the stairs to the palace.