Rather, the Tao Te Ching is a gathering of earlier sayings from many authors. This book was given an origin with the philosopher Lao Tzu for cultural and political reasons. Lao Tzu is sometimes understood as the image of the Tao, or a god, and given legendary status. The Tao (or Dao) is hard to define but is sometimes understood as the way of the universe. Taoism teaches that all living creatures ought to live in a state of harmony with the universe, and the energy found in it. Ch’i, or qi, is the energy present in and guiding everything in the universe. The Tao Te Ching and other Taoist books provide guides for behavior and spiritual ways of living in harmony with this energy. However, Taoists do not believe in this energy as a god. Rather, there are gods as part of the Taoist beliefs, often introduced from the various cultures found in the region known now as China. These gods are part of the Tao, like all living things. Taoism has temples, monasteries, and priests who make offerings, meditate, and perform other rituals for their communities. One of the main ideas of Taoism is the belief in balancing forces, or yin and yang. These ideas represent matching pairs, such as light and dark, hot and cold, action and inaction, which work together toward a universal whole. Yin and yang show that everything in the universe is connected and that nothing makes sense by itself. Taoism became well-known in the eighth century C.E. In the following centuries, it existed alongside Buddhism and Confucianism (another philosophical religion). However, during the Communist takeover in 1959, Taoism, Confucianism, and other religions were banned. This caused a decline in the practice of Taoism in China. Licensing Public domain Public domain false false Many modern Taoists live in Taiwan, although recent reforms in China have increased the number of Chinese Taoists.This vector image was created with Inkscape by Klem, and then manually edited by Mnmazur. This work is ineligible for copyright and therefore in the public domain because it consists entirely of information that is common property and contains no original authorship.Įven if anonymous Public domain Public domain false false I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.įor countries with laws of copyright eligibility Public domain Public domain false false In some countries this may not be legally possible if so: I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain.
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