taoism

Question 0

religious taoism

Answer 0

has many different sects

• concerned with immortality
• starts at about 2nd century bc

Question 1

philisophical taoism

Answer 1

based on taoist texts such as the tao te ching and the chuang-tzu

Question 2

lao-tzu

Answer 2

believes in winning by yielding

• says know the male but stick to the roles of the female
• he was the father of taoism

Question 3

tao te ching

Answer 3

• was written in the 4th-3rd century
• no one knew who wrote it
• was a 5000 character classic
• there are 2 halves, the tao half and the te half
• a key concept in this is the tao
• talks about the government

Question 4

what does tao mean?

Answer 4

right way to live, or the metaphysical principal

- tao is unity, which is yin and yang

Question 5

who follows the tao?

Answer 5

animals follow the tao naturally

• people follow the tao, but they go astray
• ppl have the ability to harmonize witht the tao
• ppl think that by harmonizing with the tao they will gain things such as immortality

Question 6

yin and yang

Answer 6

or something like binary opposition

• many pairs of opposites
• lao tzu said that you needed to understand the relationship between the pairs
• it is a cycle with yin at the top and yang at the bottom.
  
  • if you are at the top you can only go down and vice versa
• says that the soft and weak conquer the strong

Question 7

wu-wei

Answer 7

means: non-action
- it is winning by yielding
- through wu wei nothing is left undone
- does not mean that you do nothing, but rather that you are letting things follow their course and just nudging them to a path that is in your favour

Question 8

chuang-tzu

Answer 8

written by chuang tzu

• has 33 essays
• the chapters 1-7 are just light-minded stuff

Question 9

what are the similarities between the tao te ching and the chuang tzu?

Answer 9

they both have taoist cosmology

-they both have tao metaphysical technique

Question 10

what is unique to the chuang tzu?

Answer 10

it is very skeptical, it is something relativism

• there is no notion of right and wrong, because what might be right for one person, might not be right for another person
• says that the ideal person harmonizes with the tao and lives spontaneously
• says not to depend on rational behavior
• presents a clear view of primitivism

Question 11

fang shih

Answer 11

people that specialize in alchemy, divination, astrology and exorcisms

Question 12

ko hung

Answer 12

what we know about immortals comes from this guy

• says that change is an observable phenomenon
• says that since there is stuff to preserve dead stuff, ther must be stuff to preserve living stuff.
• all alchemists loved him
• thought that plant medicine was a joke,cause it decays

Question 13

3 types of immrtals

Answer 13

1. heavenly immortals
2. earthly immortals
   - your basic immortal
   - you take a pill or potion to get here
   - you will be immortal for as long as your natural lifespan would be
   - when you “die” you become a heavenly immortal (it is said that there is also the option to stay on earth)
3. freeing from the corpse
   - kind of sketchy
   - your pills or potions are not pure or whatever
   - you get really sick
   - you are alone for a bit, and then you will be gone and a token in your place (like a shoe or something), or there wont be a token and just your body instead.
   - apperently sometimes your body will be incorruptable

Question 14

cinnabar

Answer 14

a potion that ppl took cause they thought that they would reach immortality if they took it.
-they died cause the main ingredient was mercury