BIBLIOGRAPHY OF TAOISM
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(A), object of worship by the Taoist priesthood. The common people consider Yü-huang Ta-ti, or the Jade Emperor as the supreme head of the divine hierarchy, whereas the Taoist priests worship as their highest creative powers the Three Pure Ones, the Celestial Worthy of the Original Beginning, the Celestial Worthy Ling-Pao and the Celestial Worthy Tao-Te.
As a religious organization, Taoism is divided into several sects, each of which has its own emphasis or specialty, roughly corresponding with five major areas of Taoist concern: good conduct, study of classic literature, alchemy (in modern times rather "inner" alchemy, or the search for longevity by "nourishing one's vital energy"), magical and religious rites, and finally divinatory practices.
The philosophical ideas of Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu slowly permeated Chinese society. "In office a Confucian, in retirement a Taoist" became the tag of the scholar-official and even his Confucianism, after the thirteenth century, was to a large extent philosophical Taoism in disguise (H. Welch, The Parting of the Way. Boston, Beacon Press, 1957, p. 158). The Neo-Confucians borrowed the Taoist concept of an underlying unity, which "does" nothing (i.e., does not make any purposive effort) but accomplishes everything. They took the old Confucian concept of the Rites, li, and extended it to include the laws of nature as well as of man. They also adopted the Taoist goals of minimizing desires, returning to the purity of one's original nature, and identification of the individual with the universe.
Through the centuries, the Taoist influence on Chan Buddhism, which appealed particularly to intellectuals, flourished in China from the T'ang through the Sung dynasties and in Japan from the time of the Sung until today. The Japanese call it Zen, which "rejects verbal teaching, disregards logic, discards morality, and regards Heaven and Earth as unkind. It sees no value in good deeds. The only way to be saved is to do nothing about it. Zen believes that salvation, in fact, is a return to our original nature, that no one else can do it for us, and that doing it makes us into the most ordinary and wonderful people" (H. Welch, The Parting of the Way, p. 159).
Because the Chinese and Japanese cultures were considered in Japan to be essentially the same, due to the pan-Asian concept dobun doshu (same script, same race), Taoism spread from China...
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF TAOISM
185
(A), object of worship by the Taoist priesthood. The common people consider Yü-huang Ta-tı, or the Jade Emperor as the supreme head of the divine hierarchy, whereas the Taoist priests worship as their highest creative powers the Three Pure Ones. the Celestial Worthy of the Original Beginning, the Celestial Worthy Ling-Pao and the Celestial Worthy Tao-Te.
As a religious organization, Taoism is divided into several sects, each of which has its own emphasis or specialty, roughly correspond- ing with five major areas of Taoist concern good conduct, study of classic literature, alchemy (in modern times rather "inner" alchemy, or the search for longevity by "nourishing one's vital energy"), magical and religious rites, and finally divinatory practices.
The philosophical ideas of Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu slowly per- meated Chinese society. “In office a Confucian, in retirement a Taoist became the tag of the scholar-official and even his Confucianism, after the thirteenth century, was to a large extent philosophical Taoism in disguise" (H. Welch. The parting of the Way. Boston, Beacon Press, 1957, p. 158). The Neo-Confucians borrowed the Taoist concept of an underlying unity, which "does" nothing, (1.e. does not make any purposive effort) but accomplishes everything. They took the old Confucian concept of the Rites, li, and extended it to include the laws of nature as well as of man. They also adopted the Taoist goals of minimizing desires, returning to the purity of one's original nature, and identification of the individual with the universe.
Through the centuries, the Taoist influence on Chan Buddhism which appealed particularly to intellectuals, flourished in China from the T'ang through the Sung dynasties and in Japan from the time of the Sung until today. The Japanese call it Zen, which "rejects verbal teaching, disregards logic, discards morality, and regards Heaven and Earth as unkind. It sees no value in good deeds. The only way to be saved is to do nothing about it. Zen believes that salvation, in fact, is a return to our original nature, that no one else can do it for us, and that domg it makes us into the most ordinary and wonderful people". (H. Welch. The parting of the Way. p. 159).
Because the Chinese and Japanese cultures were considered in Japan to be essentially the same, due to the pan-Asian concept dobun doshu (same script, same race), Taoism spread from China
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