An Alternative Way to view Life, Society, and the World

7/30/2019 An Alternative Way to view Life, Society, and the World

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Taoist Philosophyfor the 21st Century

An Alternative Way to View Life, Society, andthe World

You-Sheng Li


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Culture background is different

A way to see different cultures is to

look their visual arts.

Visual arts represent what they

see and what they want to see intheir world.

The artists represent their culture

and their people.


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Ri h d E Ni b tt f th U i it f


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Richard E. Nisbett, from the University ofMichigan, and his colleagues in cooperationwith Chinese did some comparative studies toshow the difference between Chinese andWestern people. They found:

Chinese and English native speakers use different parts ofbrain when they are doing simple arithmetic. The Chineseuse a brain region involved in the processing of visualinformation while the English speaker, languageprocessing area of the brain.

When watching a photograph, American students

pay more attention to object in the foreground of the scenewhile Chinese spend more time studying the backgroundand taking in the whole scene.

Conclusion: Chinese see the world as something to live in,and enjoy, and Western, something to work on, and so they

need a focus.


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Comparisons of India,

West, and ChinaIndia West ChinaGod World IUniverse God Sky+ancestor

Neither souls souls+bodiesReligion Science philosophy

Caste Secondary Two levels

Invasion expansion uprising

Backward forward stay there

Caste club clan

Frame of

thinking

society

Other authors

Th i t lt i Chi


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The main stream culture in Chinesehistory is ComplementaryConfucianism/Taoism, and Taoism

is the basis and is the key Confucianism developed on the

basis of Taoism, Lao Tzu was

Confucius teacher. In Chinese history, intellectuals were

Confucian in the government office

but Taoist at home.

To understand Chinese culture from

the Western view, Taoism is the key,

which marks the difference between

the East and the West.


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What is Taoist philosophy

Taoism is a philosophy, a religion, and a way oflife. It emphasizes the natural way, harmony, andeffortlessness. Taoism aims at the oppositedirection in comparison with the Western

civilization. It was founded by LaoTzu, Chuang Tzu and other

philosophers from the sixth century to the thirdcentury BC based on ancient Chinese traditions

In the second and third centuries AD, it developedinto a major religion. From then, there were threemajor religions, namely Confucianism, Buddhism,

and Taoism in China

T i i i ith M i


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Taoism in omparison with Marxism---Different ways to view life and society

Taoism: Spare time, relaxing, the wholehuman nature. Only two things to aim at:

Aesthetic pursuit (pure enjoyment), and a

long healthy life.From the view of individuals, emphasis onpsychological experience.

Marxism: Working time, economic pursuit,

the part of human nature which helps us tocompete and survive.

From the view of society, emphasis onmaterialism, economic growth .


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The striking features of Taoism as areligion (Ancient & Modern) The fundamental belief of Taoist religion is that

you do not have to die physically, which isessentially what behind the modern medicineand science. (long healthy life)

Taoist religion is based on the ancient Taoistphilosophy, which is famous for their atheisticview against Mohism and Confucianism

The birth of Taoist religion in the second andthird centuries was associated with a massiveuprising of peasants.

One of the major parts of religious practice of

Taoism is sex.


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My education background allows me tolook at and interpret Chinese Taoist

philosophy from biology, not frombiological view but from the biologicalworld, in which man is only a member. I worked in the field of human genetics for many years

I graduated from far the best medical school in China.

Chinese traditional medicine is also a way of life, aphilosophy. The philosophy of the Chinese traditionalmedicine is Taoism.

All my talk today is nothing new to the real essence ofTaoism but only an interpretation in modern terms, whichhas been ignored by most scholars. You do not need to payattention to every word I say, but get the main idea.

T i i b d i i


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Taoism is based on primary society,and Taoism advocates the separationof primary and secondary societies

Primary society is genetically coded society,and was the only society before civilization .

Any secondary society, like modern society,is created by man with a designed ideology,laws and social power to control humanbehaviour. In the same way, we form variousclubs. Secondary society has nothing to dowith our genetics, and is a pure creation ofman.

Primary society suits human nature well,and secondary society does not. In theprimary society, pursuit: aesthetics+health.

L h i ll i h f l T l d


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Let the state remain small with a few people. Tools andother artefacts are numbered in tens and hundreds yet

people wont use them. Life is valued high, and

nobody ventures far to risk it. There are boats andchariots yet people have no desire to ride on them;there are arms and weapons yet people have noreason to marshal them. Let us revert to the knot-

string method for recording. Enjoy the tastiness ofyour food, admire the beauty of your clothing, delightyourself with your home and its environment, and behappy with your culture. The neighbour states are so

near that people can see each other and hear eachothers chickens and dogs yet people reach old age

and death without interaction. (Lao Tzu, Chapter80) (Secondary in nature by men)

Ch T I h l h d f l tti t


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Chuang Tzu: I have only heard of letting naturetake its course but I have never heard the worldcan be governed by men. Self-containment and

self-enjoyment prevent our nature from becominginterruptive. Accepting and liking ourselvesprevents the loss of our natural virtue. If people donot change their nature and do not lose their

virtue, why do we need any humanadministration? When the ancient sage Yao ruled,everyone enjoyed themselves but lost theirserenity. When the tyrant Chieh ruled, everyone

saddened their heart but lost their enjoyment. Ifthere is no serenity and enjoyment, the Tao cannotpresent its virtue. If there is no virtue any rule ororder cannot last. (Chapter 11)


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For this talk, which is limited by time,I will talk two things to illustrate mypoint, the Taoist point of view.

1. Culture and its definition

2. The primary and secondarysociety


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A Few Words About the Definitionof Culture

You can find a lot of definitions of culture in

textbooks and dictionaries, which are all from the

Western view.

As I have said before, I study the issue of culturefrom a Taoist view, in which God, the world, and I

roll into One. Therefore, I see the biological world

including plants and animal as a whole when I

define culture. The following is one definition.

Our behaviour is determined by genetics and

culture environment, and so culture is the learned

part of our behaviour.

Culture is how to spend ones spare


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Culture is how to spend ones sparetime, the time left when the basic

biological desire is fulfilled. What we spend our spare time on is considered as

culture, or highly cultural things such as theatre, TV

shows, reading and so on. Culture has an aesthetic

nature, which is good to our health. To pursue a long

healthy life is also entering our culture.

Culture, or any other innovation including secondary

society, is created only using spare time when ones

basic desire is fulfilled. The definition has an open end, which reflects that

there is no fixed rule what culture is to going to be,

both individually and nationally. The possibility is

indefinite. We can do whatever want, and no limit.


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Conclusion: A nation or a people can


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Conclusion: A nation or a people canform an ideology, namely a philosophyof life, a set of law, and a pyramid ofsocial power to set up doing a particularthing using their spare time for hundredyears even a thousand years, and

achieving the most spectaculargrandeur.That is the nature of secondary

society, and it is why Taoism promotesthe separation of primary and secondarysociety. Taoism does not opposecivilization if it does not ruin the primary

society and make people suffer.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/34/Mongol_Empireaccuratefinal.png


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1/6/2013 30In front of those pyramids we are all laboring ourselves like ants.


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Wealth does not spell Happiness


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Wealth does not spell Happiness To determine how happy a people or a nation is:

Parameters which are supposedly leading to

happiness, such as wealth, education, health.

Adrian White (Leicester, UK) studied and ranked 178

countries, and concludes: Denmark is the happiest,

and Canada, the 10th. New Economic Foundation (London, UK) used the

happy Planet Index including ecological footprint to

rank 233 countries with Vanuatu the first, Canada the

111st.

In 2003, an European institute studied 69 countries

concluding that African countries, the happiest; the

East Europe, the unhappiest, and the West Europe


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What Makes us Happy?

Freedom, democracy, tolerance, wealth, orderlysociety

Faith, relaxing, outdoor activity, always havingsomething to do, smiling and laughing, treating

surrounding people well, active life, selfcontrol, readiness to look life in an alternativeway

Being grateful, helping others, enjoying what

you have, thankful to your teacher, forgivingothers, love your family and friends, taking careof your body, control yourself in a adversesituation

The Taoist View


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The Taoist View The main part or a major part of Taoist religion is

life cultivation. Their life cultivation is religion, isalso a way of life including ideology and practice

Both Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu mentionedbreathing meditation (Chi Kong) in their classic

books To insure a real happy life, Taoism emphasizes the

effortlessness in keeping both your body and yourmind intact, not contaminated by civilization.

The real people: People who lived in primitiveprimary society are called the real people. We, inmodern society, have to study and practice

Taoism to reach the goal as real people.

Concluision: Happiness is not the same


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Concluision: Happiness is not the sameas Natural Joy, which is advocated byTaoism

Happiness cannot be measured by social

parameters such as wealth, education, and

so on, since happiness is very much a

subjective matter. Happiness cannot be measured by

subjective feeling either. How happy we feel

depends how our culture has taught us.

From a physicians perspective: realhappiness makes our body healthy but the

pseudo-happiness with a burning effect

harms our health.

The Happy Self Burner


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The Happy Self-Burneris a Possible Reality

There is no impassable gap betweenimagination and reality:

1. Imagination and reality are the same at thenervous cell level. Neurons only have twostatus: activated or inactivated, or theirmembrane is depolarized or re-polarized.

2. Imagination and reality are the same at thebrain level if you are lost in your imaginationwithout a strong awareness that you areimaging.

3. Imagination and reality are the same at thebody level only to certain degree. In acompetitive society, you may feel happy butour bod is still burnin awa .

The five major diseases namely


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The five major diseases, namelycancer, heart attack, stroke,psychosis, and suicide are all relatedto unhappiness. The incidence ofthose five diseases cannot be used tomeasure a persons happiness but

can be used as an indicator whether apopulation is happy or not.

Although many factors affect theincidence of those diseases whichmakes the issue a complex one butthe suicide rate was doubled in USA

and Canada in the twenty century. How can we be happy


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How can we be happy

Opportunities are far less than ambitions, which isdesigned by our society .

Ambitions is much more than opportunities, whichproduces disappointment or unhappiness.

Competitive system asks us to fight with other

people who as able and clever as we are. Suchfight will accelerate itself until we all burn out.

Are we born to work? Are we born to competevigorously? The answer is no. The civilized mind

forced us to work and compete, and thecivilization teaches us how to feel happy.

What is the burning effect of our competitivesociety on the people?


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According to the AmericanPsychological Association

43 percent of adults suffer adverse health effectsfrom stress

75-90 percent of all physician office visits are for

stress-related ailments and complaints Stress is linked to the six leading causes of death:

heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents,cirrhosis of the liver and suicide

In terms of lost hours due to absenteeism,reduced productivity and worker compensationbenefits, stress costs American industry morethan 300 billion annually.


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Comparisons of India,

West, and ChinaIndia West ChinaGod World IUniverse God Sky+ancestor

Neither souls souls+bodiesReligion Science philosophy

Caste Secondary Two levels

Invasion expansion uprising

Backward forward stay there

Caste club clan

In Heaven On earth In mind

Caste Secondary Primary

Frame of

thinking

society

Other authors

Where to find

happiness

Th P i S i t


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People had knowledge and art but only for enjoyment.

They were not for economic reason or self-ambition. Itis only aesthetic pursuit (pure enjoyment).

Culture had no power to modify human nature. There

was no enough pressure for people to change or for

the society to select certain qualities of humans in a

fixed direction.

About 150 people in face-to-face relationship, and

equality and reciprocity are the rule. There is noforceful authority.

We are born with primary society, but living in a

secondary society. We can still see the trace of

primary society in modern world: The Primary Group.

The Primary Society

Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929) first saw the self


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Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929) first saw the self

as a social product that is formed in the process of

interaction within the primary group. Cooley

identified the primary group as those characterized byintimate face-to-face association and cooperation.

They are primary in several senses but chiefly in that

they are fundamental in forming the social nature andideals of individuals. The result of intimate

association, psychologically, is a certain fusion of

individualities in a common whole, so that ones veryself, for many purposes at least, is the common life

and purpose of the group. Perhaps the simplest way of

describing this wholeness is by saying that it is a

we.


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Aesthetic pursuit is natural and healthy


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In the ancient time, yin and yang were

in harmony. Gods and spirits werequiet and did not interfere with people.The four seasons followed their own

course. Animals and plants were notharmed. Humans lived to their full lifespan. People had knowledge but there

was no use of it. This is called the bigOne.Chuang Tzu Chapter 16

Why Taoism appeared in China but


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Why Taoism appeared in China butnot in the West

When civilization was to start, there were manypossibilities and directions. The West civilizationchose a fast moving direction motivated by

competition while the Chinese chose to stay wherethey were and emphasizes harmony.

The West broke the primary society and let theindividuals form a secondary society; The Chinese

kept the primary society relatively intact. In my opinion, the modern world with a powerless

united nations and without any fighting superpowersare like the political situation in Chinese history which

gave birth to Taoism.

The Hsia Dynasty ( ?2100-


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The Hsia Dynasty ( ?21001766 BC )

The Hsia dynasty was the first dynasty in Chinesehistory. It was founded by Yu the Great in cooperation

with all the tribes in the Yellow river valley to fight

flood. In stead of building banks and dams, Yu tried to

find a better course for the water to go to the sea.The population was about 2.4 million, but the territory

was big. No conflict due to overpopulation. No other

nation in their world competed with the super nation,

the dynasty.

The political lesson from the success of the

establishment of the Hsia dynasty: Follow the natural

way,--- a Taoist Way.


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The Two Level System of ChineseAncient Society from 2100BC to

475BC1.King and his clan (quasi-primary society +

intellectuals)

2. Vassals and their clans (quasi-primarysociety + intellectuals)

-------------------------------------

3. Tribal village and their clans (primary society)

(The relatively powerless king only provided a platform

for vassals to work out their difference. It is like the

primary society, also like the United Nations )

An Important Assumption


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An Important Assumption

A primary society or quasi-primary society will

form automatically if :

1. The population is less than a few hundred;

2. The society is based on face-to-face

interactions;

3. No contact with and no ideological

influence from secondary society;

4. No outside force threatening their survival.

The six criteria and quasi-primary


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The six criteria and quasi primarysocieties in the two level system The clans of the king, the vassals, and the tribal

villages were all quasi-primary societies;

The king and vassals may live a richer life but 10percent tax rate did not change the idle style of the

rural life; The king and vassals formed a face-to-face quasi-

primary society;

The vassal and the chiefs of the tribal village all

formed face-to-face primary society; Equality and reciprocity are the principles guiding the

interactions at all levels;

The administration and military conflicts were minimal.

The Two Level System of Chinese


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The Two Level System of ChineseAncient Society from 221BC to 1911AD

1.Emperor and his clan (quasi-primary

society + intellectuals)

2. Bureaucrats and their back-upintellectuals (secondary society)

-------------------------------------

3. Tribal village and their clans (quasi-primary society)

Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Was


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Ming Dynasty (1368 1644) WasEstablished by Uprising Peasants

Without special permission, any governmentofficials could not go into the countryside otherwisethey would be executed.

Under the rule of the first emperor, a poor peasant,

some 100,000 officials were executed. He askedthe Ministry of Internal Affairs report to him all thefamilies that owned more than100 acres of land, atotal 14,341 households. He moved thousands of

rich families to the capital areas under hissurveillance.

According to Huang Renyu, the tax rate was aboutone percent. (what is the force to penetrate into the rural life ofChina and transform it? Capitalism.)


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The End

When I asked them, Do you feel happy?

They say, How much more can you get from life?

Its better than before.

The question for us to ponder is:

How much more do we get from life

in comparison with that old Chinese couple?

If not, we certainly can.


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China VS Europe

Population and

area

Various ethnic

groups withdifferent

languages

Long history and

relativelyindependently

developed

Similar in history and in present

Three languages in the South of China,The south and the north of China are

different

+Mongolian, and other northern minority

ethnic groups

Europe, since ancient Greece

Axial China vs Modern Europe


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Axial China vs Modern EuropeBoth started with a feudal system, and endedwith local administrative system.

Royal army defeated in485,and conquered in34

French revolution and social

reform

Industrial revolution

The split of philosophical

thinking

Large scale of war to united

China

Pope was challengedby Copernicus in402,

and Nietzche(-101&-

45) says God is dead

Social reform

Agricultural revolution

The split of

philosophical thinking

Two world wars


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New Concepts: Spare time

Definition: time left over after our basic

biological needs fulfilled: food, water,

shelter, immediate safety.

No law dictating how we spend our sparetime

Life is something between the two

extremities: basic needs and spare time

Primitive people idle more than civilizedpeople


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Spare time and basic needs

1. Social world with enemy being other people, which

is quite different from our remote ancestors and

animals who are subjected to natural rule. We are now

subjected to human rule. Our government is only a

symbol or a tip of iceberg of such human rule 2. Basic needs are the control button sought out by

both our authorities and our enemies or competitors.

Our biological nature remains with our basic needs.

3. Spare time hard to control, but our mental human

nature is remains with our spare time.

Life is something between the two: basic needs and

spare time;


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Basic needs vs Spare time

This definition includes


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Next Steps

Summarize any actions required of

your audience

Summarize any follow up actionitems required of you

This definition includesthe whole world ofbiological beings, not onlyfor humans. In spare time, plants stay there,

and animals relax and enjoy

themselves Early humans also relaxed and

enjoyed their spare time.

The Rural Life of China is Close to


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The Rural Life of China is Close toTaoist Ideal

With 475-221BC as the transition period, from2100BC to 475BC Chinese society was close

to the above six criteria, and since 221BC

Chinese society has been transforming rapidly

to a typical secondary society.

Due to the influence of Taoist philosophy, the

village life was not much disturbed in

comparison with the West except for time ofpolitical instability.

Even now, Chinese authority tends to leave

minor offences to villages and clans to handle

An Alternative Way to view Life, Society, and the World

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