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| “Radicals” Wei Rong 1997 Oil on canvas 56" x 60" Wei Rong was born in Beijing in 1963 and
from 1979 to 1983 she studied
at the Preparatory School of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. In 1987
she graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts and she taught at
the Preparatory School from 1987 to 1998. She has participated in
several group shows including the Sixth National Fine Arts Show,
Beijing, 1984; the Seventh National Fine Arts Show, Beijing, 1989 and
the West Meets East, Discovery Museum, Connecticut, U.S.A. in 1994. She
had a solo show in 1998 at the Ming Jing Di Gallery in
Beijing. image
used with permission
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| Stanford Studies on Daoism Definition of "Daoism" The Origins of Daoism • Attitudinal Daoism I: Anarchism • Attitudinal Daoism II: Authoritarian Intuitionism • Pre-Laozi Daoist Theory Much of the thrust of Daoism, as we have seen, naturally motivates a reaction against the moralistic and elitist inclinations of Confucianism. Confucianism stood for a rigid, detailed, traditional pattern of hierarchical social behavior. Duties were assigned to all of one's roles -- and a person typically had many such roles, e.g., husband, father, minister, younger brother, teacher, student, etc. One could escape this heavy scheme of obligations mainly in retirement or, paradoxically, the traditional duty to spend three years "in mourning" for the death of one's father. The withdrawal from society the antipathy toward ritual roles, traditional "morality," and any social structures or traditional culture suggests a kind of Daoist "ethos" as an antithesis to Confucianism in China. We can trace the origin of Daoism, accordingly, in two ways. One is attitudinal, the other theoretical. The theoretical mark of Daoism is an interest in the meaning or nature of dao which may inform or encourage Daoist attitudes. In view of the religious strain, however, we have to recognize two attitudes as marks of proto-Daoism in China. The first is the vague reaction against the demanding scheme of traditional Confucian rules. The second is interest in techniques for cultivating the adept to achieve an elevated epistemic status resulting in with some special or transcendent access to a dao that is impenetrable to those who have not had this "cultivation." Attitudinal Daoism I: Anarchism Traditionally scholars have traced the first "Daoist spirit" back to "proto-Daoist" hermits who sporadically crop up in the Analects, confronting Confucius and his disciples as they traveled to or fled from various rulers. Their approximate message was an early version of Yangist purification by withdrawal from society. Robert Eno argues that Confucius himself had a heavy dose of this "Daoist" attitude and his "political" theory was actually a justification of his staying remote from government -- at least until a sage is in power! This attitude tends to be expressed as anti-moral or amoral mainly because it targets a Confucian conception that systematically elides morality and conventional mores. It also seems to include some of the attitudes that let to the agriculturalists with their opposition to the division of labor the differential social status and ranks to which it gives rise. These are early manifestations of egalitarianism and the value of impartiality. Mencius attacks another candidate for this "proto-Daoist" status. According to Mencius, Yang Zhu advocated a kind of ethical egoism and derived from it an opposition to society and politics. Graham has influentially (and controversially) reconstructed Yang Zhu's ideas, but they significantly do not include any meta-theorizing about the nature or meaning of dao. Like Mozi's attack on Confucianism, the Yangist thrust is mainly the proposal of a (shocking!) rival first order normative dao -- egoism. Yangist attitudes are evident in the Laozi and huge chunks of the "outer chapters" of the Zhuangzi. At its core is a worry that social conventions and structures (including mores) damage our natural spontaneity and interfere with efficient functioning of our natural powers. |
