Class Requirement 7

In Taoism, the Tao is anywhere and everywhere. It is in anything and everything. The Tao is in great in everything. It is in the emptiness and fullness and it is neither. It is not biased in anything. It does not abide to the superficial world unlike the Confucian way. Taoism critiques Confucianism due to its emphasis on the physical world and its affairs. On the other hand, both are concerned in achieving harmony. The difference is that while the Confucians sees the solution in giving proper names to all things, the Taoists sees this as the problem itself. The Tao sees naming as a distinction between all things. The disharmony is rooted to this distinction.

Aside from the naming, Taoism focuses on non-action. It is the action that acts accordingly and not excessively. The Taoist teaching of non-action is doing things just right and not to overdo. It is the action that is mastered therefore there is no need to show it off because it is already natural to the master. This is the way of nature. Let us see how these ideas are related to Chuang Tzu’s parable of the lost pearl:

The emperor sent Science, Analysis, and Logic to find his lost pearl but they failed. However, the one who found the pearl was Nothingness. How is this possible? The first three that was sent to search were limited to what they can do. They were limited to what they are and therefore, they do not accommodate other areas aside from their own. Science cannot accommodate unsubstantiated information, Analysis does not go beyond analysis and Logic does not accept non-logical notions. On the other hand, Nothingness is not limited to these. It has a wider scope in things. In fact, it has the scope of everything. Nothingness is the Tao. It is the cause of being and non-being. It is in existence and non-existence. It is what is and what is not. But with all what is and its opposite, it is also neither. This is the greatness of the Tao.

The Tao is expressed through Te. Te is the virtue that follows the Tao. It is the virtue embodies the whole of Tao. It is an all-embracing quality (Tao Te Ching 21) that one: does not discriminate anything and accepts all things. Second, it does thing according to nature. And the way of nature is the non-action. It is the action that only does what is required and not in excess for nature stops when it needs to stop.

In conclusion, the Taoist approach to a solution is the way of nature. There is eradication of distinction and non-action. The expression through Te as it follows nature and its all embracing quality as well as its efficiency to do things without overdoing is the path to harmony.