The Origin of Taoism and The Lessons It Teaches

Taoism was a religion born and developed in China. It is a compilation of the tradition of Chinese ancient cultures. Taoism philosophy and practices emphasize living in harmony with the Tao (the way). Taoism was not found by someone, but Lao Tzu is the most popular as the Tao Te Ching writer. The Tao Te Ching is a book of poetry presenting the simple way of following the Tao and living life at peace. A typical verse of Tao Te Ching says, 'Yield and overcome/Empty and become full/Bend and become straight' meaning that instead of fighting against destiny, one can learn to be grateful for what he has and let the things which are not important go. Instead of insisting one is always right, one can leave this kind of pride and be open to learning from others. Instead of clinging to old beliefs and hanging onto the past, one can bend to new ways of living. Taoism also strongly associated with the Yin Yang symbol, which symbolizes the Taoist belief in matched opposites. However, the true meaning of Yin Yang is extremely deeper than just half black and white symbol, that even though the world is made up of matched opposites, it is not a simple matter of “this vs. that.” Moreover, there is no ethical dimension, light is not “better” than dark just as summer is not “better” than winter; they are just different.

In the early days, Taoism was a high-level culture and widely pursued upper-class society. It under the encouragement of Taoist experts, emperors, and kings to obtain immortality. But since the 12th century, Taoism began to decline due to attitude change of the government as well as the inception of some new religion and belief. Because of this, Taoism began to spread to the lower-class society. Taoism on folk society had become stronger and more influential. This influence spread from the lower class as people had vulgar faith in their religions due to illiteracy. The doctrine of Taoism was then modified to cater for the large quantity of adherent. During this gain, Taoists were low in quality and very limited to the new doctrine. They would only carry out some normal traits and traditions of Taoism. The original norm of Taoism began to decline and began to develop into something different. Superstitious activities such as fortune-telling and lots of drawing develop in Chinese folk society. Many similarities of characteristics of Taoism have been adapted into the culture of Chinese society today which still really believes in the forecasting. It is proof that the practices of Taoism were not only influential in early Chinese but also the modern Chinese folk society.

Taoism teaches me to let whatever happens to happen and avoid complaining. Arguing with reality is useless and it something that we will never win. In Verse 76 of The Tao Te Ching says: “Stiffness is a companion of death/flexibility a companion of life. An army that cannot yield will be defeated. A tree that cannot bend will crack in the wind.” Life is a succession of experience — the nature of life. Both good and bad, pleasurable and painful, happy and sad. By understanding the Tao Te Ching, I realize that nothing could change the nature of life, all I can do is change the way I respond to it. By accepting that this is simply the nature of reality, I learn to flow with life. By letting the wind blow when it wants to, by letting our branches bend and thus ‘yield to overcome’. Every experience is only temporary. Even nature with all its might cannot create a storm that will last forever. Rock may seem harder and more enduring, but it is water that shapes our very landscape and providing essential life-giving properties for all beings. Be like water, flow with ease, knowing that we are always on a return journey to our source. Obstacles may come our way, but when they do, we simply maneuver around them, just as water flows around rocks. Why I become a ‘rock person’ when I can be a ‘water person’? The flexible one will always outlive the rigid.