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Inside Daoism: Chinese Philosophy
Daoism is one of the earliest Chinese philosophy's and dates back many years. Daoism is described by the on-line website and text book as “...the most eloquent expression of the natural order as it relates to humankind”. This short essay will discuss; its history and origin,basic principals pertaining to Daoism, and how the style of poetry relates to the ideals and basic fundamentals of Daoism.
Daoism, also know as Taoism, is usually referred to as an Asian philosophy/religion. Translated literally, it means “the teaching of the Way”. Some people say that it is neither a philosophy or a religion but rather Chinese wisdom. The beginnings date back to more than 2,000 years, about the time that Christ walked the earth. The concept of Taoism is quite hard to understand but P.J. Lin described it best:
Taoism places emphasis upon spontaneity or freedom from social-cultural manipulation through institutions, language and cultural practices. Because the Confucian concept of government consists of getting everyone to follow the same moral tao, it manifests as anarchism--essentially championing the idea that we need no such centralized guidance. Natural kinds follow ways appropriate to themselves and humans are a natural kind. We all go through processes of acquiring different norms and guidance from society and yet we can live in peace if we don't seek to unify all these natural ways of being(Lin).


Basically, the history of Taoism is divided into 4 periods; Proto-Taoism, Classical Taoism, Modern Taoism, and Contemporary Taoism. Although there are 4 different periods to the philosophy know as Taoism, the evolution of the Chinese Wisdom has no greater period than the last. The religion has not been improved upon and made “better”, but instead just molds into new forms. Even though the teachings from the early beginning in the Proto-Taoism period, are different from contemporary
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