Natural harmony in Taoism— a cornerstone of Chinese society

There was something formless yet complete,

That existed even before heaven and earth;

Without sound, without substance,

Dependent on nothing, unchanging,

All-pervading, unfailing.

-Laozi, Tao Te Jing (6h Century BC)

Laozi and Confucius of the ancient era still hold positions of eminence among the traditional Chinese philosophers. The essence of their philosophy was arranging the social lives of people and living together in harmony, as human beings had only one home under the heavens. These philosophers considered human life as a component of nature, and living in harmony with it was deemed to be the best way for survival. The traditional Chinese culture also put emphasis on harmonious human relationships, as an individual could not live bereft of community and society. Therefore, humans should strive for building a harmonious world based on friendship between people, mutual help between families and respect between communities and nations. Another major feature of traditional Chinese philosophy and culture has been emphasis on self-reflection, where improvement of one's internal state of mind is emphasised in addition to living in harmony with the external world.

Laozi wrote the book Tao Te Jing around 2,500 years ago during the Spring and Autumn Era (770-476 BC) of Chinese history. It laid the foundation of Taoism, a spiritual cornerstone of Chinese society even today. Laozi was a recluse who worked as in-charge of archival records during the rule of Zhou dynasty, but even Confucius is said to have travelled many miles just to consult with him because of his great learning.

The book Tao Te Jing or 'Classic of the Way' contains just over 5000 Chinese characters. It is divided into 81 chapters and two parts, viz., Tao (the way) and Te (virtue). It played an outstanding role in the flourishing of Chinese culture as Taoism ran parallel to Confucianism in ancient Chinese society. In fact, it gave rise to the most influential indigenous school of religion in China and wields tremendous influence on the Chinese people and society till today. 

Tao is considered to be an eternal, unending, unchangeable path, force or entity that permeates the whole universe, but it can never be completely described, understood or felt. All the streams of Chinese philosophy have explored the correct path of leading an ethical life, but Taoism has brought it to an abstract or formless level. It speaks about the forces of inactivity, softness, spontaneity and relativity. In fact, many Chinese scholars have prescribed practising Confucianism in external contexts and Taoism in the internal lives of humans. Taoism has focused on the dual values of life and the profound reality that many well-intentioned initiatives for the well-being of humans often bring disasters. It recommends acceptance and adaptation with the changes, evolution cycles and transformations of nature instead of harmful interventions in its workings. Taoism also places maximum emphasis on the authority of the divine or the heavens.

Tao is considered to be a mysterious, all-pervading entity above or beyond the senses. It is used to understand the characteristics of universe, natural world and human beings. It can be explained by the two opposing forces of 'Yin' (female attribute) and 'Yang' (male attribute). These two forces bring harmony in different processes through complementary and inter-dependent interactions. The eternal cycles of production, reproduction and transformations in nature can be best explained by the contrasts, actions and reactions of these two forces. Taoism basically explains these universal experiences. Its main objective is to bring good health, social balance and harmony, and a deeper understanding of the self.

The philosophy of Laozi was hugely popular in China up to the 2nd Century AD. The practices of Taoism and its ideologies in fact contributed a lot to the development of ancient Chinese society. Later, Buddhism in China was also moulded to some extent after coming into contact with Taoism. Its applications are also found in the indigenous religion of Shintoism in Japan. It remains in vogue in different shapes, forms, processes and practices even today in 21st Century China.

MAIN ATTRIBUTES OF TAOISM: Naturalness and Non-action are important concepts of Taoism. Naturalness emphasises that everything in the world has its own way of being: the birds fly in the sky, fishes swim in the water, clouds float and flowers bloom. All these phenomena occur naturally without obeying any human will, and people should not try to change anything natural. Humans should therefore give up the desire to control the world and follow the ways of nature for resolving human conflicts. Non-action, on the other hand, refers to the guarantee of naturalness. Here, Laozi implied that human enterprises should be built on the basis of naturalness, and not based on any attempt to interrupt the rhythm of nature. Human creativity should also be in conformity with the ways of nature, Laozi stressed.

Based on the concepts of naturalness and non-action, Laozi floated the idea of overcoming the strong by the weak. He held the view that wars sprang from the bloated desires of human beings. Conflicts arose out of people's cravings to satisfy their desires, and these conflicts escalated into wars. Laozi, therefore, proposed non-contention, as according to him, competitive strife of humans was the root cause of conflicts and wars. He emphasised that desiring nothing was the natural way of life, which is also advocated by many other global religions.   

According to Laozi, the greatest virtue was like water. He elaborated, "Water nourishes everything but contends for nothing." Humans strive to seek higher positions while water flows to lower places. While despising what they view to be inferior, humans like whatever they perceive to be superior. In contrast, water always flows downward and nourishes all living beings on earth as the source of life. It contributes to the well-being of the world without any regard for gain or loss while embracing and reflecting everything under heaven. However, water also accumulates great strength in its weakness and silence. As Laozi points out, "Nothing in the world is weaker than water. Yet nothing is stronger than water when it comes to breaking something strong." It is a typical example of the weak triumphing over the strong, as it desires nothing and contends for nothing. One should, therefore, accumulate strength by giving up the desire to flaunt superiority and by keeping low, just as water does, without oppressing the weak. It was not only the path to progress, but also the path of preserving life. 

Laozi chose to live a simple and quiet life in the backdrop of a madding world of vanity and temptations. He opined that the highest level of a person's cultivation was to return to the state of a newborn, free of desire, impurity or falsehood. After arriving in the world, humans gradually acquire external knowledge and accept social norms as they grow older. But their originally pure mind gradually becomes tainted with chaotic colours. They become increasingly hypocritical as they grow older and this acculturation process leads to losing one's true self. In Laozi's view, civilisation was to a certain degree a departure from the true self.

He viewed the growth of human culture as a decoration process, where clothing becomes the decoration of the body, houses become the decoration of lifestyle, language becomes decoration of communication and human organisation is decorated by state politics. But these decorations often become bloated desires, and these desires lead to fights, deceptions and wars among humans.

Laozi also made succinct comparisons between natural and human laws. Nature takes from the surplus to make up for the deficit, such as the wind levelling sand dunes and water washing away soil and stones. In contrast, the human world is quite the opposite, where the poor is robbed and the weak is oppressed. These wise words are still relevant for our strife-torn contemporary world - plagued by chronic hunger, diseases, deprivations, oppressions, inequalities, incessant wars and natural cum human disasters.   

Dr. Helal Uddin Ahmed is a former Editor of Bangladesh Quarterly.

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