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Lao
Tzu, China’s “Ancient Master”
By
Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin Although
the founding ideas of Chinese philosophy are generally associated
with the great sage Confucius, an equally important figure
is Li Tan, better known as Lao Tzu, the “Ancient Master” and
founder of Taoism. Whereas Confucius was a philosopher whose
ideas laid the political, legal, and moral foundations of Chinese
civilization, Lao Tzu was a mystical sage, whose teachings
form the core of Chinese spirituality and religion. It is
sometimes said that traditional Chinese society was Confucian
in public, but Taoist in private.
There
are many questions regarding the “historical” Lao Tzu. According
to his traditional biography (first recorded almost 400 years
after his death), Lao Tzu lived in the sixth century B.C. and
was an older contemporary of Confucius. According to Taoists,
Lao Tzu taught–and occasionally confounded–the great philosopher
on several occasions. He was a political advisor, teacher,
archivist, and master of complex Chinese rituals. Later Taoists
saw Lao Tzu as the perfect embodiment of the Tao (“Way” of
Heaven), and therefore divine. Indeed, the cosmic Lao Tzu
is said to have existed before the creation of the world, and
transformed himself into a mortal in order to teach and save
mankind (an idea with parallels in both Buddhism and Christianity.) As
such, he did not die, but rather ascended to the Western Paradise
of Heaven where he obtained immortality with the gods and was
eventually worshiped as a god by his followers on earth. But
before his celestial ascent, he graciously dictated his teachings
in the five thousand word masterpiece, the Classic of the
Way and Its Power (Tao Te Ching), which remains
the foundational scripture for Taoists.
The Classic of the Way is a terse, ambiguous, and cryptic work, filled with
poetry, proverbs, and parables. The language is often intentionally
obscure and ambiguous. “Way” (tao) is a word used both
for the power (te) which is the essence of God and the
universe, and for the path or “way” of Heaven which people
should follow to be at one with the cosmos. This Way is considered
ineffable: beyond description. As Lao Tzu put it: “That Way
that can be described is not the eternal Way.” You must feel
it, or perhaps be it, or you cannot understand it. Its
nature cannot be explained by human reason or speech: “Those
who know [the Tao] don’t speak [of it]; those who speak [of
the Tao] don’t know [it].”
For
Taoists, the ambiguity of The Classic of the Way is
a sign of its profound mystical importance; for others it is
simply obscure and incoherent. Historically, however, the
ambiguities of the text have allowed numerous simultaneous
and overlapping interpretations, making it one of the most
discussed and perhaps least understood religious books in history;
as H. Welch has noted, “no translation [of The Classic of
the Way] can be satisfactory, because no translation can
be as ambiguous as the Chinese original.” The core of Lao
Tzu’s teachings is that there is a great universal benevolent
power, known as the Way, which is the essence of all things. Humans
must live in accordance with the Way and “do nothing” (wu
wei) that is not in harmony with it.
The
influence of Taoism on Chinese civilization cannot be overemphasized. Although
Confucianism remained the political philosophy of the elites,
Taoism–along with and often mixed with Buddhism–remained the
religion of the masses. Taoist priests, the Celestial Masters,
claimed to have special esoteric knowledge and power derived
from Lao Tzu, allowing them to serve as master magicians and
counselors to most Chinese emperors. Despite half a century
of Communist Chinese suppression of religion, Taoism still
flourishes in China in its many different forms. Traditional
Taoist temples and priests are still in operation, while new
religious movements in China continue to draw on Taoism for
inspiration. Likewise, in the past few decades in the West,
various aspects of Taoist thought have permeated forms of syncretistic
popular religion known as New Age movements.
Further
Reading: D. C. Lau, Tao Te Ching (Hong Kong, 1982);
W. Chan, The Way of Lao Tzu (1963)
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