Lao Tzu Page |
- Tao
What is Tao?
The word Tao
has various meanings in the Ancient China. To Confucius and Confucianists it points out the art of rule of the ancient sovereigns, as King Wen and his son the Duke of Chou. This skill was appreciated by Confucius and evoked in order to become an inspiration source for his contemporary fellows.
The graphs of Tao: to the left - the old form - to the right, the new form. |
Tao
means the idea of skill, talent for a certain thing, of ability, not only related to the ancient sovereigns. Even ordinary people could demonstrate something out of common, as is shown by a fragment from the book Chuang-tzu
of the homonymous author.
The followers of the robber Kih asked him, saying, 'Has the robber also any method or principle [i.e. Tao] (in his proceedings)?' He replied, 'What
profession is there which has not its principles? That the robber in his recklessness comes to the conclusion that there are valuable deposits in an apartment shows his sageness; that he is the first to enter it shows his
bravery; that he is the last to quit it shows his righteousness; that he knows whether (the robbery) may be attempted or not shows his wisdom; and that he makes an equal
division of the plunder shows his benevolence. Without all these five qualities no one in the world has ever attained to become a
great robber.' Looking at the subject in this way, we see that good men do not arise without having the principles of the sages, and that Kih could not have pursued his course without the same principles. (Chuang-tzu, Chap.
10, "Cutting open Satchels", translated by James Legge)
The Chinese people admired gifted archers, gifted calligraphers, the philosopher having
the gift of speech and, generally speaking, all the people who distinguished themselves by a certain aptitude. This were invited at sovereign's court, put to the test and rewarded properly when they proved their skill!
Another significance of the word Tao that has been already suggested, is that of "method", "way", meaning "discipline" or learning "technique" by which something is applied, etc.
In the first part of the Tao-te ching, ascribed to Lao-tzu, we find out that: "a Tao that could be traced out cannot be the eternal Tao" (this means: there is no absolute method
for acting in any circumstances, a behavior code absolutely valid.).
In a larger prospect, Tao is the "Way of Heaven", meaning its mode of manifestation or, as we would say nowadays, the "phenomenology" of Heaven. We know from I-ching (Book of Changes) -
one of the fundamental works of the Chinese classical culture - that the Tao of Heaven is a movement of comings and goings, in which Yang and Yin
tendencies alternate. Adaptation to this "movement" means to become one with Tao (of Heaven) and even this thing, the fact of adaptation to Heaven's movement, could be considered a Tao by itself.
Finally, let's add that in the Book of Changes we also find a definition of Tao which says approximately like this: an Yang and an Yin, that's Tao. This is what we've already said too in the excerpt from above.
Learn more about tao, Movement of Heaven and yin-yang by taking our online Taoism courses [learn
Copyright 2007, Way of Perfect Emptiness. All rights reserved.
 |