DAOISM Chloe Motlagh Zain Abdin Jarrell Joseph

The Religions Gods The religions founder was named Lao-zi. Daoism does not believe in gods as such rather historians and texts that support their beliefs. Lao-zi and Zhuangzi were the main “thinkers” in the religion.

What they basically believe Many scholars try and classify Daoism texts as either religious or philosophical and have a hard time distinguishing between the two. Daoists have no desire for these terms, rather “understanding the nature of reality, increasing their longevity, ordering life morally, practicing ruler ship, and regulating consciousness and diet.” They strongly believe in “the flow of reality” and the way in which humans should act or behave in the world. Daoism is ultimately about living in harmony with the world.

How they Practice the Religion o They practice the religion by promoting health and vitality. o Each follower must “nurture” the breath that was given to he/she. o They must plan actions in advance. o Finally, they must be kind to those around them in hopes of getting kindness back.

The “big rituals” The Anterior Heaven ritual A common ritual in daoist culture is one called “The Great Pristine ones” ritual. This ritual consists of feeding, saving and refining ghosts. In the ritual they either sit or say poems for the dead. The Flower-Scattering ritual This Ritual is mainly for communicating with the dead, it is a big part of Daoism. This Rituals contents include five lanterns, these five lanterns help communicate with the dead and help them to except the “fruits”(flowers). *** In all rituals daoists are encouraged to wear colored robes.

Role of Women Little is known about women in Daoism Scholars believe that women acted as shamans and entered trances to communicate with the supernatural forces, making request on behalf of their communities, and receiving predictions of the future. Women took care of the house. The men were in charge of everyone in the house. Men were limited to one wife but was permitted additional sexual partners.

Major Texts in Daoism Daodejing – The Daodejing is the classic text of Daoism. It is one of the most translated works in the world. The Daodejing is written in poem form. It says that distinctions such as good vs. bad, beautiful vs. ugly, useful vs. useless are all meaningless, because all things are relative. Zhuangzi The Zhuangzi explains the Dao or “The way” in simple conversational language.

Missionary Works The Daoist used words to convert people instead of using violence. They influenced people and set an example for the Chinese. People saw that they were a peaceful religion with good reasoning so why not join.

Diffusion Started in China in the 6 th century B.C.E, Daoism spread throughout all of China as one of the three great religions (Confucianism and Buddhism). It spread to Central Asia and Japan between 6 th and 7 th century C.E. Today, there are more than 20 million Daoists worldwide, most live in China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

Major Contacts with Other Religions Buddhists and Daoists had the same opinions of Nirvana, just in different words. Buddhists believed, in order to achieve Nirvana, one must cease to achieve it. Daoists believed, in order to receive enlightenment, one must eliminate the desire for Nirvana. By doing this, one will realize the inner reality of enlightenment and the answer to the being/non-being of Nirvana. Confucianism and Daoism are not that much distanced from each other. Confucianism focuses more about the social and moral side of life and Daoism focuses on the individual, spiritual life.

Two Quotations "We believe in the formless and eternal Tao, and we recognize all personified deities as being mere human constructs. We reject hatred, intolerance, and unnecessary violence, and embrace harmony, love and learning, as we are taught by Nature. We place our trust and our lives in the Tao, that we may live in peace and balance with the Universe, both in this mortal life and beyond." Creed of the Reform Taoist Congregation 1 "The way that can be spoken of is not the constant Way; The name that can be named is not the constant Name. The nameless was at the beginning of heaven and earth; the named was the mother of myriad creatures." --Tao Te Ching

DAOISM TIMELINE Lao-Zi (the founder was born) 605 BCE In 550 BCE Daoism a.k.a taoism was founded. 570 BC E, Daoism emerged and shaped Chinese cuisine by emphasizing the properties of food. Daoism is beginning to get more developed in 350 BCE. In 220 BCE the Tao-ti-Ching (religious text) was burn along with other docs. In 150 BCE the Taiping Jing is put together (one of the religious texts) The "way of five bushels of rice" becomes known in 142 CE "five bushels of rice" became Daoism of heavenly masters in 155 CE First female Taoist leader 251 CE Taoist concepts become introduced into the confusion learning system, 226 CE

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