What is Preserving Goodness in Taoism 什么是全善

What is Preserving Goodness in Taoism什么是全善

"Quan Shan" (全善, "Preserving Goodness"), also called "the realm of complete goodness" or "the realm of supreme goodness," is a concept from the Longmen (Dragon Gate) lineage of Taoism. In discussions of realizing the Dao, the Longmen lineage affirms the practice of virtue and explicitly advocates becoming a junzi (exemplary person) and then a sage, promoting the suppression of evil and the cultivation of goodness, with "complete goodness" and "supreme goodness" as the goals to strive for.

The Beiyou Lu states: "When someone praises a person's goodness, yearn for it yourself; when someone speaks of a person's lack of goodness, be repelled by it yourself. When the intention to yearn for goodness and be repelled by evil is already established in the mind, one will naturally be moved from within to choose and act; if one acts with vigor, one will reach the realm of complete goodness." People are urged to hold in their minds a moral will to abandon evil and cultivate goodness, and to persist unfailingly so as to reach the realm of supreme goodness. The Longmen lineage further combines the moral practice of seeking goodness with the refinement of the mind, requiring that good intentions and good deeds be equally emphasized. It also employs the concepts of Yin and Yang to discuss the question of good and evil — defining goodness through yang and attributing evil to yin — holding that renouncing evil and embracing goodness is the refining away of yin to achieve pure yang, and that the realm of complete goodness is none other than the body of pure yang. This process, which links moral practice with Dao cultivation, displays a clear tendency toward the confluence of Confucianism and Taoism.

What is Preserving Goodness in Taoism