Taoism a Chinese philosophy identified with the Tao-chia (School of the Way), represented by Chuang Tzu and Lao Tzu. The term may also refer to the Huang–Lao School; Neo-Taoists, such as Wang Pi and Kuo Hsiang; and Tao-chiao, a diverse religious movement. Only the Tao-chia is discussed here.
The school derives its name from the word tao (Way), a term used by Chinese thinkers of almost every persuasion. Taoists were the first to use the term to describe the comprehensive structure and dynamic of the cosmos. Taoists believe that (1) there is a way the world should be, a way that, in some deep sense, it is; (2) human beings can understand this and need to have and follow such knowledge if they and the world are to exist in harmony; and (3) the world was once in such a state. Most early Chinese thinkers shared similar beliefs, but Taoists are distinct in claiming that the Way is not codifiable, indeed is ineffable. Taoists thus are metaphysical and ethical realists, but epistemological skeptics of an unusual sort, being language skeptics. Taoists further deny that one can strive successfully to attain the Way; Taoist self-cultivation is a process not of accumulation but of paring away. One must unweave the social fabric, forsake one’s cultural conditioning, and abandon rational thought, to be led instead by one’s tzu jan (spontaneous) inclinations. With a hsü (tenuous) mind, one then will perceive the li (pattern) of the cosmos and live by wu wei (non-action). Though sharing a strong family resemblance, the Taoisms of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu are distinct. Lao Tzu advocates a primitive utopianism in which people enjoy the simple life of small agrarian communities, indifferent to what is happening in the neighboring village. Having abandoned cultural achievements such as writing, they keep accounts by knotting cords. Lao Tzu blames human ‘cleverness,’ which imposes the ‘human’ on the ‘Heavenly,’ for most of what is bad in the world. For him, a notion like beauty gives rise to its opposite and only serves to increase anxiety and dissatisfaction; extolling a virtue, such as benevolence, only encourages people to affect it hypocritically. Lao Tzu advocates ‘turning back’ to the time when intellect was young and still obedient to intuition and instinct. To accomplish this, the Taoist sage must rule and enforce this view upon the clever, if they should ‘dare to act.’ Chuang Tzu emphasizes changing oneself more than changing society. He too is a kind of anti-rationalist and sees wisdom as a ‘knowing how’ rather than a ‘knowing that.’ He invokes a repertoire of skillful individuals as exemplars of the Way. Such individuals engage the world through a knack that eludes definitive description and display all the Taoist virtues. Their minds are hsü (empty) of preconceptions, and so they perceive the li (pattern) in each situation. They respond spontaneously and so are tzu jan; they don’t force things and so practice wu wei. In accord with the tao, they lead a frictionless existence; they ‘walk without touching the ground.’ See also NEO-TAOISM, TAO. P.J.I.