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General
Excavated from the Mausoleum of Qinshihuang, near Xiíam, in 1976
Qin dynasty, 221 — 206 BCE
Terra-cotta
height 192 cm

The authoritative figure, which once held a sword, represents a commander in the army of Qin Shi Huangdi. He wears a chest guard, possibly made of lacquered leather, which descends from his shoulders to cover his upper arms, and his lower body is protected by fish-scale armor connected with laces to allow for freedom of movement. His intricate bird-shaped headdress, which ties under his chin, identifies him as a general.

Museum of the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses of Qinshihuang,
Shaanxi Province

T A O I S M

the Way

Taoism, or the Way
Article written by Judith A. Berling for the Asia Society's Focus on Asian Studies,
Vol. II, No. 1, Asian Religions, pp. 9-11, Fall 1982. Copyright AskAsia, 1996. (end)

The initiated Taoist priest saw the many gods as manifestations of the one Dao. He had been ritually trained to know the names, ranks, and powers of important spirits, and to ritually direct them through meditation and visualization. In his meditations, he harmonized and reunited them into their unity with the one Dao. However, only the educated believers knew anything of the complex theological system of the priest. Thus communal rituals had two levels: (a) a priestly level, which was guided by the priest's meditation and observed by major patrons, who were educated laymen; and (b) a public and dramatic ritual, usually performed by lower ranked Taoist assistants, which was theatrical in form. It conveyed the meaning through visible actions such as climbing sword ladders, or lighting and floating lanterns. The same ritual had a subtle metaphysical-mystical structure for the theologians, and a visible dramatic structure for the lay audience.⁶

Taoism was also an important motif in fiction, theater, and folk tales. Local eccentrics who did not care for wealth and position were often seen as "Taoist" because they spurned Confucian values and rewards. In fiction Taoists were often eccentrics; they also had magical or prophetic powers, which symbolized their spiritual attainment. They healed, restored youth and vitality, predicted the future, or read men's souls. They were also depicted as the stewards of a system of moral retribution; the Taoist gods in heaven and hell exacted strict punishments for wrongdoing, and would let no sinner off the hook. On the one hand, then, they were non-conformists who embodied different values and life styles; on the other, their strict moral retribution reinforced the values of the society. Taoism was “the other way,” but it did not threaten the moral consensus. It was, perhaps, a kind of safety valve to escape the pressures of society, or at least a complementary channel for alternative views and values.

Chinese communists see Taoism as fatalistic and passive, a detriment to socialist reconstruction. The People's Republic has kept alive some practical arts, such as the use of traditional herbal medicines, which have longstanding links with Taoism. In a larger sense, since Taoism functioned in imperial China as a retreat and withdrawal from the struggles of the political arena, one might say that in a very general way the current relaxation of political pressure in reaction against the excesses of the Gang of Four represents a Taoistic phase of Chinese Maoism.

Note: This article and the one on Confucianism were written during the Indiana Religion Studies Project Institute for Teaching about Religion in the Secondary Social Studies Curriculum. The drafts were critiqued by the social studies teachers who attended with an eye to supplementing and correcting the information in textbooks and other materials used by teachers.

*Ed. Note: It is a matter of scholarly debate whether to change the term Taoism (or Taoist) into Daoism/Daoist to conform with pinyin's rules. Since Taoism is an coined, anglicized word, our choice is not to put it in the pinyin, in spite of the fact that we have changed "the Tao", the way, to "the Dao". The current literature on China includes both spellings. It remains for the future to determine which will predominate.

Notes

Excerpted and adapted from Wm. DeBary, ed., Sources of Chinese Tradition, New York,: Columbia University Press, 1960, I: 56.
Arthur P. Wolf, "Gods, Ghosts, and Ancestors," in his (ed.) Religion and Ritual in Chinese Society, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1974, p. 131.
Cyril Birch, Anthology of Chinese Literature, Vol. 1, New York: Grove Press, 1965, pp. 167-168. This anthology contains excellent and readable translations of poems, biographies, essays, and stories that are very successful in conveying religious attitudes.
See Joseph Needham, Science and Civilization in China, Vol. 2, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1956, pp. 33-164.
Arthur P. Wolf, "Gods, Ghosts, and Ancestors," pp. 131-182.
Michael Saso, Taoism and the Rite of Cosmic Renewal, Pullman: Washington State University Press, 1972.

Note: This article and the one on Confucianism were written during the Indiana Religion Studies Project Institute for Teaching about Religion in the Secondary Social Studies Curriculum. The drafts were critiqued by the social studies teachers who attended with an eye to supplementing and correcting the information in textbooks and other materials used by teachers.

*Ed. Note: It is a matter of scholarly debate whether to change the term Taoism (or Taoist) into Daoism/Daoist (see Focus, vol. 1, no. 3 pp. 39) to conform with pinyin's rules. Since Taoism is an coined, anglicized word, our choice is not to put it in the pinyin, in spite of the fact that we have changed "the Tao", the way, to "the Dao". The current literature on China includes both spellings. It remains for the future to determine which will predominate.

For Further Reference
Feng, Gia-fu and Jane English. Lao Tsu, Tao te ching, New York: Knopf, 1972;
Chuang Tzu: Inner Chapters, New York: Random House, 1974.
Large picture volumes, replete with Chinese calligraphy. Very readable and popular with students; available at many bookstores. The translations are sometimes loose and adapted to modem ideas, but they are not seriously wrong.

Mote, Frederick. Intellectual Foundations of China. New York: Knopf, 1971. Short, and excellent on social and historical context of Zhou period.

Welch, Holmes. Taoism: The Parting of the Way, Boston: Beacon Press, 1957. Readable and brief, but very condescending to religious Taoism. Reflects certain attitudes and biases; not "objective reporting."

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