Taoism/Daosim

• Daoism was established by Lao Tzu in China during the warring states period of the Zhou dynasty. He was said to be the author of the Dao De Jing (The classic of the way and its power)
• The warring state period was an era in ancient China history characterized by warfare and changes in government and military
• He spoke about the natural environment and natural order of society
• One of the main goals of the followers of Daoism is to find the “Dao” or the “way” in terms of thinking and actions. Through this that one will gain wisdom to perform ones role in society
• Believes that Complicated worldly pleasures and an overly attentive government is wrong
• Duty and education makes lives complicated
• Be simple and spontaneous
• have simple desires
• agrees w/ Confucians that humans are good by nature
• Appealing to escapists in China
• Taoism also created the Yin yang symbol
• Daoists made many important contributions to the sciences of alchemy, astronomy, and medicine.
• he Daoists taught that people followed the way of nature by living simple lives of quiet meditation
• people should avoid feeling self-important or striving for possessions or honors.
• Daoism encouraged rulers to rule less harshly