What is Taoism? – Bobba
Transcript, References & Disclaimer below: Transcript: Taoism is a philosophy from ancient China. It’s not known for sure how old Taoism is, but it could be as much as 4700 years (1). Ancient China developed an advanced civilization well ahead of Europe and went through a “Golden Age of Philosophy” (2) while much of Europe was still tribal. Compared to all the other philosophies of the world, Taoism is very simple, practical and easy to comprehend. Taoism is the only philosophy of antiquity with a sense of humour. As a rule, the ancient Chinese did not approve of complex philosophies and always kept their sacred texts very relevant. Being based on diagrams, Chinese text is very concrete, making all the Chinese philosophies very direct with very little room for speculation or assumptions. The ancient Taoists based their philosophy on their observations of the most reliable thing known to them, Nature. The ancient Taoists saw that Nature had a circular flow that kept everything in balance. They noticed that everything had a necessary and corresponding opposite. From this observation came the concept of the yin-yang. The yin-yang motif symbolizes the natural balance of opposites, such as life and death; male and female; night and day; good and evil. The Taoists understood the importance of the natural balance of opposites. They understood that life would be far more peaceful and more rewarding if they didn’t resist Nature’s circular flow. They saw that when one resisted and …
Taoism Video
For a world religions class Summer 2006