Role of Emperor Taoism

The Role of Taoism

Taoism is the second great stream of Chinese thought. Taoism came to be seen as the other half of a necessary balance in life. The pilgrim path up the sacred mountain Taishan is a symbol for that search for the Tao. It was the course of all harmony and balance. The focus of Taoism is the individual in nature rather than the individual in society. It holds that the goal of life for each individual is to find one’s own personal adjustment to the rhythm of the natural world.

There were very few Taoist emperors. The role of Taoist emperors was small because they did not believe in the government interfering with their people's lives. So when a Taoist emperor ruled, they basically asked for there to be no government whatsoever.

Yin Yang Symbol

"But for the Taoists it was the source of all harmony and balance. They thought it was our duty as human beings, through art, religion and science to understand that harmony, not to abuse it or needlessly to change it, but to go with the force of nature, the yin and the yang, as they would say."

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Sources

Manual for Cultural Foundations of Ancient Civilizations (CF Manual)

Chapter 9 China Mandate of Heaven

http://taoism21cen.com/Englishchat/essay5.html

(pages 118-119)

Sydney Moye