What is the Tao in Taoism? 什么是道

The supreme category of Daoism and Taoist religion. In Daoist philosophy, the Dao has both essence and function. In terms of its essence, it is the origin of the universe. As the "beginning of heaven and earth", the Dao is Wu (non-being), embodying simplicity, absoluteness and emptiness; as the "mother of all things", it is You (being), possessing potentiality, infinity and vitality. In terms of its function, it is the universal law and order. Such law and order are the "Eternal Dao", embodying objective principles such as eternal operation, unity of opposites, harmony between heaven and humanity, nature as the foundation, and non-action that accomplishes all things.

What is the Tao in Taoism?

The Dao De Jing states: "There was a chaotic primal substance, born before heaven and earth. Silent and void, it stands alone and unchanging, cycling eternally without cease; it may be regarded as the mother of all under heaven. I know not its name, so I style it the Dao." It also says: "The Dao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Dao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name. Wu is the name for the beginning of all under heaven; You is the name for the mother of all things." "The Dao as a thing is vague and indistinct. Indistinct and vague, yet within it there are forms; vague and indistinct, yet within it there are entities; deep and obscure, yet within it there is essence. This essence is supremely real, and within it there is faithfulness."

Zhuangzi in The Great Master also wrote: "The Dao has reality and faithfulness, yet it is without action and form; it can be transmitted but not received, can be apprehended but not seen. It is its own root and its own source; it existed before heaven and earth, enduring from ancient times. It gives spirit to ghosts and sovereignty to emperors, generating heaven and earth. It stands above Taiji yet is not high, lies below the six extremes yet is not deep, was born before heaven and earth yet is not old, and is older than the remote antiquity yet does not age."

The above passages illustrate that the Dao is an objective reality with forms, entities, essence, reality and faithfulness. It is not only the origin of cosmic creation, but also the vitality and driving force behind the development and transformation of all things. It is the order and law of the universe, manifesting as matter, energy and information, and also the ineffable, formless natural rhythm of the primal universe.

Taoist religion inherited the category of the Dao from Daoist philosophy and developed it into its most fundamental theological tenet. Zhuangzi’s conception of the true person’s realm—"Heaven and earth and I are born together, and all things and I are one" (On Equality of All Things), "Communing alone with the spirit of heaven and earth", and "Rising up to wander with the Creator, and descending to make friends with those who transcend life and death, beginning and end" (The World)—was developed by Taoist immortology into the celestial realm of attaining the Dao and becoming a true immortal.

Since Yan Zun compiled An Explanation of the Meanings of Laozi, he had transformed Laozi’s The Dao into a psychological experience of bodily cultivation, marking the inception of Taoist religious philosophy. Later, from the Huang-Lao Dao to early Taoist religion, classic texts such as He Shang Gong’s Commentary on the Laozi, The Scripture of Great Peace and Xiang’er’s Commentary on the Laozi regarded the Dao as a fundamental tenet and evolved it into a religious belief.

The Dao in Taoist religion is the esoteric and religious transformation of the Dao in Daoist philosophy, connecting it with Qi, the One, the True, the Divine and other concepts. It takes the harmony between heaven and humanity as its cultivation ideology and the attainment of immortality through embodying the Dao as the goal of Taoist practice. The cultivation methods developed from this, such as Taoist Internal Alchemy and external alchemy, are in fact in the same philosophical lineage as the Dao. External alchemy essentially simulates the cosmic philosophy of the Dao De Jing in the alchemy furnace, making the elixir of immortality a solidified form of the Dao. Internal alchemy involves the personal experience of the Dao through the cultivation of essence, Qi and spirit in the human body, also guided by the philosophy of the Dao.

Thus, the Dao in Daoist philosophy, the Dao in Taoist theological tenets, and the Dao in Taoist religious belief are both distinct and consistent. Only through a thorough study of Taoist theological tenets can one recognize the essential connection between Daoism and Taoist religion. Though Taoist religion incorporates various shamanistic taboos, folk beliefs, feudal ethics and ritual traditions, it takes the Dao as the name of its teaching, and after all, it has absorbed the essence of Daoist philosophy and taken it as its theoretical pillar.