Dont forget the Jesuits who arrived first in China and skewered ancient texts to fit in with their Christian theology.
it may be surprising to many after centuries of misrepresentation but the words dao jia 道j家 and dao jiao 道教 mean exactly what they say. jia 家 is family, and by extension community, and as you mentioned jiao教 is teaching. the community and their teachings go together.
your readers might be interested in my historical unpacking of the term.
Remember that Legge and most of the missionaries working in China at the time were also Nonconformists, meaning Fundamentalist Christians. They were not mainline Protestants. Hudson Taylor was an English Baptist (a Fundamentalist Christian). They were even more against icon / idol worship than the Anglicans and Lutherans were.
Meanwhile in England itself and France itself - at exactly the same time - the Oxford Movement worked to bring back ancient Christian "Idolatry" beliefs to the point that Rev. Arthur Tooth was arrested for burning incense. Rev. Gueranger was bringing back the medieval calendar - the western 农历 of a sort - at his monastery, Solesmes in France.
The Evangelicals turned outward toward Asia, and inward toward themselves, at the same time.
That's why Christianity in China is the way it is. In Latin America, many people think nothing of combining ancestor worship (Mexican Day of the Dead) and even their ancient gods, like Pachamama, with Christianity.
Many Chinese Evangelicals have this blank slate idea, this Day One idea the same way modernist Wahhabi Islam is accepted in parts of the world as well. Like I've met Bangladeshis who would rather celebrate Islamic holidays than the Bengali New Year.
This 'Nonconformist' background may explain the stark contrast between the late Ming and late Qing dynasties. In the Ming era, Jesuits allowed ancestor worship, so we saw top officials like Xu Guangqi converting. But in the Qing era, this 'blank slate' fundamentalism made it impossible for high-ranking officials to convert without committing political suicide. It pushed the religion out of the elite class.
However the nonconformist religion has no external leadership as each church is independent of the other unlike Catholics and the pope, or Anglicans and the bishop of Canterbury, so it enabled the religion to survive among farmers later on and to form its own loose independent organizations.
Nonconformists today are known as Evangelical and Pentecostal. When one says Christian today, even in the US and Latin America, just not in Europe, most people think of Evangelical and Pentecostal because Evangelicals view Catholics as impure because of the worship of statues of saints, which they believe is a polytheistic behavior.
So evangelicals see themselves as the true Christians similar to how many Theravada Buddhists view Mahayana Buddhists as impure.
Excellent article. I learned a lot. From reading, I came across the Western version of the Tao, but as a child, I had been inclined to Neidan without knowing it.
The comments are as insightful as the article, so first, thank you all. 🙏
For me, and I accept this is just me doing as I wish, I suppose I’m quite materialistic. Perhaps I’m reading particular interpretations, but what drew me to the Daodejing and has kept me there was the lack of the business of religion and the absence of leaps of faith. There’s a refreshing sense of stopping short of what isn’t known or proven(yet). That’s rare. Perhaps I should think of it this way - is there an edit of The Bible or The Quran that doesn’t make unsupported claims or create unprovable afterlifes? I’m sure there could be.
Have you heard about Yuk Hui concept of cosmothecnics, the unifying of cosmological order and moral order through technical activities? He was educated as informatic enginiering and have a PhD in Philosophy, he is gaining audience in Europe and have reconstructed Ancient China techological though, focusing on the "relation" between Dao and Qi, in his book The Question of Technology Concerning China (he also argues that every civilization has his own cosmothecnics). He also have edited a book, which i have not read, on architecture and cosmothecnics
Thank you for this recommendation! I actually haven't read Yuk Hui yet, but his concept of 'cosmotechnics' sounds exactly like the kind of framework I would love to dive into. Interestingly, I recently learned that his work was just publicly introduced in China last year.
Well stated, thank you. Your point about the somatic nature of the practice is on point. The progression from Qigong to Neigong to Neidan, together with meditation, and supported by study of the Daodejing can be seen as movement from the external, mental and superficial towards the internalization, embodiment and refinement of the core concepts of Daoism. Having a competent teacher is elusive, but essential.
At the risk of showing my own misunderstanding, how might an external observer distinguish authentic Daoism from charlatans? A charlatan could simply say that my failure to understand his position is because I am trying to explain something that cannot be explained, understand what cannot be understood, unravel what cannot be unravelled. How do I tell whether Falun Gong is authentic or fraudulent?
It is a crucial question, but really hard to answer. Historically, Taoism was a non-formal "national religion" (e.g., the Hongwu and Jiajing emperos, during the Ming). It also partly served as the ideology binding people during revolutions (like the White Lotus/白莲教). Its worship system even simulates an actual bureaucratic system, which suggests it was designed to participate in the secular world.
As a result, it was suppressed during the Qing Dynasty. To survive, it adapted into a system that appeared contemplative and reclusive. From the reclusive Tao, it 'split' into "philosophical" and "religious" paths that we know today.
Perhaps the answer to distinguishing authentic Taoism lies in a "Martin Luther moment", teaching people to read the classics themselves rather than wholly relying on the "church" or authority figures to interpret them.
It is interesting, because in the West some religions are more based on rituals (Islam, Judaism) and others more on abstract philosophy (Protestantism and also catholicism) to a certain extent. There are of course other dimensions in comparative religion such as those made by Weber.
I do love that text from Weber. He was a real "master of generalization." I often wonder what he would have written about Chinese religion if he had access to more material, for example, if he were writing in the 1970s rather than the early 1900s.
Informative and well written! As I read this, both yoga and Zen came to mind. They, too, have been stripped off of ceremonial and ritualistic core elements for secular adaptations to the West.
Yeah, that is an interesting insight! I’m actually curious now to learn the full story of how Yoga and Zen went through that process. It makes me feel like Taoism and Tai Chi have that same potential, if they continue on the path of "adaptation," they could easily become the next major exercise trend for the middle class.
Thank you thank you! It is such an important reminder especially for the ones who practice any kind of Chinese martial art (especially Qi Gong). It is not gymnastics and reading the Tao te Ching is not an ethereal exercise. Both require that we be anchored, "practical" (for lack of a better word) and aware of the nature of the universe. Thank you.
Yep, exactly. For traditional Taoist priests, this is known as the "dual cultivation of spirit and life" (性命双修). It is crucial since lacking either one turns out badly. There is actually a vast amount of theory dedicated to how to properly cultivate both spirit and life together.
Every structure of consciousness has its own interpretation of the universal truths. You expose how the mental/rational structure viewed the Tao in modern times and how much was lost as a result. Was there anything gained?
I feel the main gain was a "clear and simple" Tao. While we may have lost the ritualistic depth, we gained a version that isn't wrapped in mystery or gatekept by complex ceremonies.
Dont forget the Jesuits who arrived first in China and skewered ancient texts to fit in with their Christian theology.
it may be surprising to many after centuries of misrepresentation but the words dao jia 道j家 and dao jiao 道教 mean exactly what they say. jia 家 is family, and by extension community, and as you mentioned jiao教 is teaching. the community and their teachings go together.
your readers might be interested in my historical unpacking of the term.
https://debraliu.substack.com/p/home-family-a-school-of-thought
Thanks for writing this basic intro.
Remember that Legge and most of the missionaries working in China at the time were also Nonconformists, meaning Fundamentalist Christians. They were not mainline Protestants. Hudson Taylor was an English Baptist (a Fundamentalist Christian). They were even more against icon / idol worship than the Anglicans and Lutherans were.
Meanwhile in England itself and France itself - at exactly the same time - the Oxford Movement worked to bring back ancient Christian "Idolatry" beliefs to the point that Rev. Arthur Tooth was arrested for burning incense. Rev. Gueranger was bringing back the medieval calendar - the western 农历 of a sort - at his monastery, Solesmes in France.
The Evangelicals turned outward toward Asia, and inward toward themselves, at the same time.
That's why Christianity in China is the way it is. In Latin America, many people think nothing of combining ancestor worship (Mexican Day of the Dead) and even their ancient gods, like Pachamama, with Christianity.
Many Chinese Evangelicals have this blank slate idea, this Day One idea the same way modernist Wahhabi Islam is accepted in parts of the world as well. Like I've met Bangladeshis who would rather celebrate Islamic holidays than the Bengali New Year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonconformist_(Protestantism)
Your comment made me think of a trending topic on the Chinese internet right now: the similarities between the US and Saudi.
Lolol that’s funny.
Thanks for the insight and context.
This 'Nonconformist' background may explain the stark contrast between the late Ming and late Qing dynasties. In the Ming era, Jesuits allowed ancestor worship, so we saw top officials like Xu Guangqi converting. But in the Qing era, this 'blank slate' fundamentalism made it impossible for high-ranking officials to convert without committing political suicide. It pushed the religion out of the elite class.
However the nonconformist religion has no external leadership as each church is independent of the other unlike Catholics and the pope, or Anglicans and the bishop of Canterbury, so it enabled the religion to survive among farmers later on and to form its own loose independent organizations.
Nonconformists today are known as Evangelical and Pentecostal. When one says Christian today, even in the US and Latin America, just not in Europe, most people think of Evangelical and Pentecostal because Evangelicals view Catholics as impure because of the worship of statues of saints, which they believe is a polytheistic behavior.
So evangelicals see themselves as the true Christians similar to how many Theravada Buddhists view Mahayana Buddhists as impure.
Excellent article. I learned a lot. From reading, I came across the Western version of the Tao, but as a child, I had been inclined to Neidan without knowing it.
The comments are as insightful as the article, so first, thank you all. 🙏
For me, and I accept this is just me doing as I wish, I suppose I’m quite materialistic. Perhaps I’m reading particular interpretations, but what drew me to the Daodejing and has kept me there was the lack of the business of religion and the absence of leaps of faith. There’s a refreshing sense of stopping short of what isn’t known or proven(yet). That’s rare. Perhaps I should think of it this way - is there an edit of The Bible or The Quran that doesn’t make unsupported claims or create unprovable afterlifes? I’m sure there could be.
Have you heard about Yuk Hui concept of cosmothecnics, the unifying of cosmological order and moral order through technical activities? He was educated as informatic enginiering and have a PhD in Philosophy, he is gaining audience in Europe and have reconstructed Ancient China techological though, focusing on the "relation" between Dao and Qi, in his book The Question of Technology Concerning China (he also argues that every civilization has his own cosmothecnics). He also have edited a book, which i have not read, on architecture and cosmothecnics
Thank you for this recommendation! I actually haven't read Yuk Hui yet, but his concept of 'cosmotechnics' sounds exactly like the kind of framework I would love to dive into. Interestingly, I recently learned that his work was just publicly introduced in China last year.
Well stated, thank you. Your point about the somatic nature of the practice is on point. The progression from Qigong to Neigong to Neidan, together with meditation, and supported by study of the Daodejing can be seen as movement from the external, mental and superficial towards the internalization, embodiment and refinement of the core concepts of Daoism. Having a competent teacher is elusive, but essential.
At the risk of showing my own misunderstanding, how might an external observer distinguish authentic Daoism from charlatans? A charlatan could simply say that my failure to understand his position is because I am trying to explain something that cannot be explained, understand what cannot be understood, unravel what cannot be unravelled. How do I tell whether Falun Gong is authentic or fraudulent?
It is a crucial question, but really hard to answer. Historically, Taoism was a non-formal "national religion" (e.g., the Hongwu and Jiajing emperos, during the Ming). It also partly served as the ideology binding people during revolutions (like the White Lotus/白莲教). Its worship system even simulates an actual bureaucratic system, which suggests it was designed to participate in the secular world.
As a result, it was suppressed during the Qing Dynasty. To survive, it adapted into a system that appeared contemplative and reclusive. From the reclusive Tao, it 'split' into "philosophical" and "religious" paths that we know today.
Perhaps the answer to distinguishing authentic Taoism lies in a "Martin Luther moment", teaching people to read the classics themselves rather than wholly relying on the "church" or authority figures to interpret them.
<<How do I tell whether Falun Gong is authentic or fraudulent?>>
By following the money trail.
It is interesting, because in the West some religions are more based on rituals (Islam, Judaism) and others more on abstract philosophy (Protestantism and also catholicism) to a certain extent. There are of course other dimensions in comparative religion such as those made by Weber.
I do love that text from Weber. He was a real "master of generalization." I often wonder what he would have written about Chinese religion if he had access to more material, for example, if he were writing in the 1970s rather than the early 1900s.
Informative and well written! As I read this, both yoga and Zen came to mind. They, too, have been stripped off of ceremonial and ritualistic core elements for secular adaptations to the West.
Yeah, that is an interesting insight! I’m actually curious now to learn the full story of how Yoga and Zen went through that process. It makes me feel like Taoism and Tai Chi have that same potential, if they continue on the path of "adaptation," they could easily become the next major exercise trend for the middle class.
Thank you thank you! It is such an important reminder especially for the ones who practice any kind of Chinese martial art (especially Qi Gong). It is not gymnastics and reading the Tao te Ching is not an ethereal exercise. Both require that we be anchored, "practical" (for lack of a better word) and aware of the nature of the universe. Thank you.
Yep, exactly. For traditional Taoist priests, this is known as the "dual cultivation of spirit and life" (性命双修). It is crucial since lacking either one turns out badly. There is actually a vast amount of theory dedicated to how to properly cultivate both spirit and life together.
Fascinating read. I am getting hooked.
Every structure of consciousness has its own interpretation of the universal truths. You expose how the mental/rational structure viewed the Tao in modern times and how much was lost as a result. Was there anything gained?
I feel the main gain was a "clear and simple" Tao. While we may have lost the ritualistic depth, we gained a version that isn't wrapped in mystery or gatekept by complex ceremonies.
Yep!👍🏼