After reading the article "Reconstructing Taoism's Transformation in China", we can definitely see how Taoist texts can help deepen our understanding of early Chinese history. Taoism translates to "daojiao" which is the religion of Taoism and "daojiao" which refers to philosophical works that are associated with Laozi and Zhuangzi. The religion of Taoism has many codes of conduct that it's followers must observe. Taoism began in the year 142 in Western China. For over 2,000 years, China had an emperor who was in charge. This is all they ever knew. The early history of Taoism was based on celestial masters. The celestial political structure, "Great Peace" in which everyone would be treated equally. This was important because it was an alternative to what the Chinese were used to; Confucianism. Since Taoism did not use physical objects for worship, there were none left behind to help trace back. They used texts to piece together history. The texts were found in a huge collection called the Taoist canon. This canon shows us other aspects of the Chinese society.
No comments:
Post a Comment