The Classical Taoist Contemplative Tradition

There are multiple ways to understand the origin and relevance of various strands of Taoist thought. In modern scholarship, it has been commonplace to make a distinction between early “philosophical Taoism” – literarily represented by the Tao Te Ching and the Zhuangzi (writings of Zhuang Zhou) – and later “religious Taoism” – represented by a diverse range of other Tao-oriented movements. This vocabulary is sometimes challenged due to the fact that there are both religious and philosophical elements inherent in all Tao-oriented movements.  The portrayal of philosophical Taoism as “pure” in contrast to later developments as “degenerate” is also of concern to some modern scholars.  Nevertheless, the distinction between early Taoism and later developments is still often maintained, with the Tao Te Ching and writings of Zhuang Zhou typically seen as representative of early or Classical Taoism.

Classical Taoism

The writings associated with Classical Taoism have their origins in pre-modern China, likely beginning to form around roughly the 6th Century BCE.  Among these early writings, the Tao Te Ching would gain a place of central importance in the tradition, becoming the object of numerous commentaries as various strands of Taoism developed.

The Tao Te Ching – translated variously as “The Book of the Immanence of the Tao,” “The Book of the Tao and Its Power,” or simply as the “Book of the Tao” – describes the mysterious Tao: that which gives birth to and eternally underlies the manifold world.  

The Tao is described variously as Source (TTC 1, 16), a Well (4), Eternal Void (4, 28), Darkness (1), Mother (6, 20, 25), Hidden But Always Present (4), Infinite (7), Eternal (7), Beyond Conception (14), Ungraspable (21), Preceding Time and Space (21), Empty (25), Serene (25), Solitary (25), and Unchanging (25). All things emerge from, and eventually flow back to, Tao (32, 52).  Because the Tao flows through all things, It is always present and available, ready to nourish, like water (8), if we can simply learn to access it.  In the Tao Te Ching, the Tao is both the Ground of one’s own being and the Ground of Being shared by all things (1, 14, 16, 21, 25, 26, 51, etc.).

Although one cannot fully know the Tao intellectually, an aspirant is encouraged to open themselves to, center themselves in, and be at one with, Tao (23, 32, 35, 37, 53).  By centering oneself in Tao, one may embody the Tao in daily living (23), or even be “lived by Tao” (22).  Because this centering in Tao leads to a certain way of being in the world, the term “Tao” is also sometimes translated as “Way.”  As in other contemplative traditions, this Way is characterized by selflessness and/or freedom from personal desires (1, 7, 13).  In Taoism, there is a specific emphasis on the inherent naturalness of one’s action when they embody the Way (23, 45, 50, etc.).  This “actionless action” or Way of simply being lived by Tao is sometimes referred to in the tradition as wu-wei – “not-doing.”  

Related to the concept of wu-wei, the Tao Te Ching also puts a high degree of emphasis on the creative interplay between polarities.  “Being and non-being create each other.  Difficult and easy support each other.  Long and short define each other.  High and low depend on each other.  Before and after follow each other” (2).  Centered in Tao, one learns to navigate these polarities with ease of mind (2, 12, 13, 16, etc).  Because of this conceptual emphasis, Taoism is sometimes associated with the traditional Chinese symbol of Yin-Yang.   

Traditionally, the author of the Tao Te Ching is thought to be Lao Tzu (“Old Boy”).  Modern scholarship tends to view Lao Tzu as a pseudo-historical figure, who may or may not have existed as a contemporary of Confucius (6th-5th Century BCE).  It is possible that the Tao Te Ching was the result of one hand – that of Lao Tzu; it is also possible that the final form of the Tao Te Ching was the result of multiple anonymous hands across time.  The authorship and compositional history of the Tao Te Ching is a matter of ongoing debate.  

Second in importance to the Tao Te Ching for Classical Taoism is the Zhuangzi – writings of Zhuang Zhou (alt. Chuang Tzu).  One way of viewing Zhuang Zhou’s writings are as poetic, whimsical accounts from the perspective of one who has “gotten there,” or achieved the spontaneous way of living which comes from being in harmony with Tao.  Zhuang Zhou’s writings are not systematic, but rather are most often short, fictional, and pregnant stories about the world from this perspective.  The Zhuangzi is read widely in Chinese culture and engages with traditional Chinese concepts like chi – one’s inner essence – and “the One and the Ten Thousand Things” or “Myriad Things.”  The Zhuangzi also gives hints at the social reality of Classical Taoism, which seems to have consisted of various “inner cultivation lineages” – small groups of master/disciple communities attempting to achieve harmony/union with Tao. Zhuang Zhou likely lived and wrote around the 4th Century BCE.  

Another work which is commonly read alongside the Tao Te Ching and Zhuangzi is the Book of Lieh-tzu.  Other texts are still emerging which may be associated with the period of Classical Taoism.

Other “Taoisms” 

A wide variety of diverse, later Chinese-native movements are also typically classified as “Taoist,” including the Taiping (Way of Great Peace), Tianshi (Way of the Celestial Masters), Taiqing (Way of Great Clarity), Shangqing (Way of Highest Clarity), Lingbao (Way of Numinous Treasure), and Quanzhen (Way of Complete Perfection) movements among others.  These movements differ in their aims, methods, and philosophical/theological understandings of Tao.  The Way of Great Peace aimed to create an era of earthly political peace through violent revolution.  Leaders from the Way of the Celestial Masters claimed to have received revelations from the deified form of Lao Tzu, viewed as the spiritual embodiment of Tao.  The group aimed to create “seed people” who would ritually and morally purify the earth, also envisioning an earthly Taoist Theocracy.  Other groups like the Way of Great Clarity and Way of Complete Perfection aimed at achieving personal longevity or even immortality through external alchemy (the mixing of various substances into “elixirs”) and/or internal alchemy (inner psychosomatic refinement).  

One way of unifying these Taoist movements conceptually is to see them all as traditions which hold Tao as the object of sacred or ultimate concern, even if their aims and understandings of Tao differ. 

Some scholars see these later Taoist developments as a degeneration from the Taoism of the Tao Te Ching, while others seek to honor the diversity within Tao-oriented movements without placing judgment on their relative values.  In contrast to these diverse Taoist developments, Chan/Zen Buddhism is sometimes seen as the true heir and continuation of Classical Taoist thought in China.  The diversity of Tao-oriented movements is documented in various Taoist Canons referred to as “Daozang,” the first of which was compiled around the 5th Century CE.

For more on Classical Taoist meditation, click here.