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Tao

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道
Composition :
道 (dào) is
首 (shǒu) 'head' and
辶 (辵 chuò) 'go'
(Source: Wenlin)
Pinyin: Dào
Wade-Giles: Tao
Japanese On: Dou, Tou
Sino-Korean: To
Vietnamese: Đạo
For other uses, see TAO or Dao.

Tao or Dao refers to a Chinese character that was of pivotal meaning in ancient Chinese philosophy and religion. Tao is central to Taoism, but Confucianism also refers to it. Most debates between proponents of one of the Hundred Schools of Thought could be summarized in the simple question: who is closer to the Tao, or, in other words, whose "Tao" is the most powerful? As used in modern spoken and written Chinese, Tao has a wide scope of usage and meaning. Tao may be rendered as religion, morality, duty, knowledge, rationality, ultimate truth, path, or taste. Its semantics vary widely depending on the context. Tao is generally translated into English as "The Way".

The philosophic and religious use of the character can be analyzed in two main segments: one meaning is "doctrine" or "discourse"; every school owns and defends a specific Tao or discourse about doctrine. In the other meaning, there is the 'Great Tao', that is the source of and guiding principle behind all the processes of the universe. Beyond being and non-being, prior to space and time, Tao is the intelligent ordering principle behind the unceasing flow of change in the natural world. In this sense Tao gains great cosmological and metaphysical significance comparable to the Judaeo-Christian concept of God (albeit stripped of anthropomorphic characteristics); the Greek concept of the logos; or the Dharma in Indian religions.

The nature and meaning of the Tao received its first full exposition in the Tao Te Ching of Laozi, a work which along with those of Confucius and Mencius would have a far-reaching effect on the intellectual, moral and religious life of the Chinese people. Although a book of practical wisdom in many ways, its profoundly metaphysical character was unique among the prevailing forms of thought in China at that time. The religion and philosophy based on the teaching of Laozi and his successor Zhuangzi is known in English as "Taoism." Even if often said to be undefinable and unexplainable with words (even Chinese ones), the present article focuses on the Tao of Taoism.

Some characteristics of Tao

The Tao is the main theme discussed in the Tao Te Ching, an ancient Chinese scripture attributed to Laozi. This book does not specifically define what the Tao is; it affirms that in the first sentence, "The Tao that can be told of is not an Unvarying Tao" (tr. Waley, modified). Instead, it points to some characteristics of what could be understood as being the Tao. Below are some excerpts from the book.

  • Tao as the origin of things: "Tao begets one; One begets two; Two begets three; Three begets the myriad creatures." (TTC 42, tr. Lau, modified)
  • Tao as an inexhaustible nothingness: "The Way is like an empty vessel / That yet may be drawn from / Without ever needing to be filled." (TTC 4, tr. Waley)
  • Tao is omnipotent: "What Tao plants cannot be plucked, what Tao clasps, cannot slip." (TTC 54, tr. Waley)

In the Yi Jing, a sentence closely relates Tao to Yin-Yang, asserting that "one (phase of) Yin, one (phase of) Yang, is what is called the Tao". Being thus placed at the conjunction of Yin and Yang alternance, Tao can be understood as the continuity principle that underlies the constant evolution of the world.

A perhaps closest approximation in relatively common usage to the Tao may be Logos in the Christian religious sense: "In the beginning was the Word (literally from the Greek, "Logos"), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). Moreover, in the words of Pope Ratzinger, "Christianity is the religion of Logos"...providing a fundamental point of commonality with Taoism when the Tao is considered to be 'like' -- if not, in fact, identical to -- the Logos or Word.

Tao in the Tao Te Ching

Tao is refered to in many ways in the Tao Te Ching. There are different shades of meanings in the various translations of this great work, which, with over 100 translations, is perhaps the most translated Chinese text in the English language. Here is one translation of the first stanza, describing Tao:

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao;
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.
The named is the mother of ten thousand things.
Ever desireless, one can see the mystery.
Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations.
These two spring from the same source but differ in name;
this appears as darkness.
Darkness within darkness.
The gate to all mystery.
—(Gia-Fu Feng & Jane English, 1972).

Examples of Tao as path

In the Japanese tradition, it is thought that any human activity, when engaged without reservations and in harmony with the Tao, can become a path to awakening. Some examples of such otherwise ordinary activities raised to the intensity of a spiritual path are:

  • Aikido - the Way of harmony and spiritual energy (especially as expressed through martial arts)
  • Bushido - the Way of warriorship
  • Chado - the Way of tea (best know through the Tea ceremony)
  • Judo - the Way of supleness
  • Kendo - the Way of the sword
  • Kodo - the Way of incense
  • Kyudo - the Way of the bow (also known in the West as Zen archery)
  • Shudo - the Way of men (the Japanese pederastic tradition)
  • Tae Kwan Do - the Way of hands and feet (of Korean origin)

References

Gia-Fu Feng & Jane English (translators). 1972. Lao Tsu/Tao Te Ching. New York: Vintage Books.

See also

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