DAOISM
DAOISM
Huge stone statue of the ancestor of Taosim in Fujian
-Laozi is the pinyin romanization for the Chinese characters which mean "Old Master."
​
-Laozi is also known as Lao Dan ("Old Dan") in early Chinese sources (see Romanization systems for Chinese terms). The Zhuangzi (late 4th century B.C.E.) is the first text to use Laozi as a personal name and to identify Laozi and Lao Dan.
​
-The earliest materials to mention Laozi are in the Zhuangzi’s Inner Chapters (Chs. 1-7) in the narration of Lao Dan’s funeral in Ch. 3.
LAOZI
Dao, commonly translated as "The Way"
The principle of Yin and Yang is a fundamental concept in Chinese philosophy and culture. This principle is that all things exist as inseparable and contradictory opposites, for example female-male, dark-light and old-young. The two opposites attract and complement each other and, as their symbol illustrates, each side has at its core an element of the other (represented by the small dots). Neither pole is superior to the other and, as an increase in one brings a corresponding decrease in the other, a correct balance between the two poles must be reached in order to achieve harmony.
Yin and Yang
In Daoism, it is a common lifestyle to live one's life in accordance with Dao. They value the values of Dao, wu wei, longevity, and chi.
In the I Ching, the ever-changing relationship between the two poles is responsible for the constant flux of the universe and life in general. When there is too great an imbalance between yin and yang, catastrophes can occur such as floods, droughts and plagues.
Taoism, also known as Daoism, is an indigenous Chinese religion often associated with the Daode jing (Tao Te Ching), a philosophical and political text purportedly written by Laozi (Lao Tzu) sometime in the 3rd or 4th centuries B.C.E. The Daode jing focuses on dao as a "way" or "path" — that is, the appropriate way to behave and to lead others — but the Daode jing also refers to Tao as something that existed "before Heaven and Earth," a primal and chaotic matrix from which all forms emerged.