Taoism is major religion in China which started in the 6th century BC. It is against living a regular ordinary life. It played a role in the development of Chemistry thousands
of years ago. It was established by Lao-tse who is also called Tao. He was born in 507 BC and wrote his book “The Road to Power”. He was one of the teachers of Confucius who agreed
with him on certain issues and differed in others.
Taoism affected and influenced Chinese
thought and also influenced the historic development of China. Later on some of Lao-tse's followers claimed that he was guided by the heavens, i.e. god. Some also claimed that they have been inspired by god.
Lao-tse is reported to have said that did not plan to write "The Road to Power" but he was asked by his
students to record his thoughts and so he did so. It is a literary book that included general rules and
some instructions to the ruler. It is a very difficult to understand
book. Another Taoist book by Chuang Chu who explains
the philosophical theory of Lao-tse. He contrasts between the heavens and
human and between society and nature. It contains some stories about people that can fly and others who are not affected by natural
conditions. The third Taoist book by Huang Chi Ching from
the 3rd century BC. It includes some experiments on metals, plants and animal derivatives, reflective of
their interest in keeping healthy and prolonging life. The fourth Taoist book is by Bao Guchu which was
authored in 317 AD. It discusses some aspects of chemistry such as how to change certain
metals into gold and how to prolong life using some medicines.
They view of god is that god has
no voice or image. He is eternal and that all creatures have the spirit of god. They believe that Tao
(Lao-tse) is the absolute existence, that he is the aim of existence of everything. According to them, he is the source of this universe and the universe came out of him. They believe in
the unity of the universe in that there is no separation between the creator and the created.
They believe that god is not Al Awwal, in that there was something from which god
originated. Although they love god, there love for the origin of god is
greater.
They have some religious
celebrations one of which is Chieu which is the renewal of the commitment between
the community and god. This festival is still practiced in Taiwan. They have other festivals to appoint
the monks and for the births of gods.
They have some mystical tendencies. They believe that to live a clean life they must detach from all desires by creating a vacuum
within them. That space for them is the real fulfillment. This leads to knowing
and realizing the facts of the matter. The highest level of purification to them is when
there is complete unity between the person and the Supreme Being At this stage the person reaches a condition where there is no death and
there is no life.
Taoism adopts a negative
perspective of the world and calls for abandonment of work and limiting oneself
to reflections and contemplation of life. This leads them to live on mountains
and on deserted islands. They do not accept laws, knowledge and religions having the belief that these elements have corrupted the nature of the humans. They
respect long life and consider ageing as an indication of purity, holiness and
reverence. One of the most important objectives for them to prolong one’s
life. They believe that if the person prolongs his life for several hundred years,
the person becomes eternal. This led them to self discipline and do certain exercises that causes pain to the body. They do not believe in the
resurrection or accountability. They believe that the righteous will be rewarded
in this life by health and long life, while the wrongdoer will be penalized in this
life by disease and short life.
Taoism today is present in China, Taiwan,
some areas of Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. The most authoritative institute of Taoism is in Japan. Taiwan is the most important refuge for Taoism.
Taoism is close to Confucianism and Buddhism from which it has adopted temples, monks and celibacy. In 1958, it was announced that 30,000
Taoist monks were active in China. Taoism has influenced the culture of the society
in China. They believe that good comes from detachment from life, isolation, forgiveness, not
meeting bad deed with bad.
