Confucianism/Taoism-Aronne McCoy

Confucianism and Taoism are inextricably linked, both having had a profound influence on China, in a way reminiscent of Taoism's yin yang symbol. In Novak's book he writes, "Chinese philosophy has also been shaped by an interplay: between Confucianism, with it's emphases on will and rationality, and Taoism, with it's preference for intelligent instinctiveness, intuition, and creative letting-be." While Taoism and Confucianism share inherent qualities with the other, there are also glaring differences.

The human condition in Taoism is an imbalance of the yin/yang. In Confucianism the human dis-ease is social dysfunction or disorder. The cause of the Taoist imbalance is that people fight against the flow of the Tao, while in Confucianism the cause is an imbalance in one's relationships. Clearly, imbalance is a big problem in both philosophies. Confucianism chooses to battle imbalance with a precise delicately balanced hierarchy. Part of Li, one of the five ideals that, according to Smith, "structured Confucius' thought," the goal is to have perfectly balanced hierarchy within all human relationships. This hierarchy falls into the following categories: Husband to Wife, Parent to Child, Older Sibling to Younger Sibling, Older Friend to Younger Friend, and Master to Servant. While these categories are clearly hierarchical in nature (as one side in each category is the dominant or more powerful of the two) the relationships are two-sided. A husband has duties to his wife just as the wife has duties to her husband. It is not equal, but it is reciprocal. According to Confucianism, the happiness and efficiency of the individual, family and nation-state are wholly reliant on the balance of these relationships. In order to keep the proper balance in these relationships, Confucianism promotes a focus on Wen or the Arts of Peace, which include music, poetry, painting, and all aesthetic and spiritual endeavors.

In Taoism there are two sects. One focuses on the philosophical, much like the Jnana yoga in Hinduism, and the other on magical pursuits. Smith notes that what divides the two schools is their "respective stances toward the Tao's power on which life feeds... philosophical Taoists try to conserve their te by expending it efficiently, whereas the second group try to increase it's available supply." Taoists, particularly the philosophical ones, promote the study of the Tao Te Ching as well as physical pursuits like Tai Chi and Chi Gong in order to reach a yin yang balance.

For me, Confucianism, much like communism, looks good on paper but fails to work realistically. I find this to be the main problem with patriarchal systems. Each individual has to agree with the relationship dynamics laid out by Confucius at least to the point of following the system. This is highly unlikely. One need only look at any society on Earth to see that there is always at least one person (and generally, many more than one) who rebels against the societal beliefs. It is unrealistic to expect every member of a given society to submit to strict rules of behavior. Having said that, there is some benefit in recognizing that in a relationship such as boss to worker (or as Confucius labeled it, Master to Servant) there are some behaviors that are simply unacceptable. One has to submit to a certain degree to the will of one's boss, just as a child must submit to the will of his or her parent.

Taoism on the other hand, I find to be beautiful and full of many useful habits and knowledge to improve one's spiritual and physical health. Meditation has been one of the most beneficial practices I've discovered from studying Taoism. While it is not the only religion to advocate meditation as a spiritual practice, it was the first I discovered after reading (and being baffled by) The Tao of Pooh. In addition I love the tangled, labyrinthine in meaning but few in words wisdom of the Tao Te Ching. I have on occasion used a kind of bibliomancy with the Tao Te Ching to great effect. (Which I realize is more of a promotion of what I like to call The Random Perfection of the Universe than it is of Taoism itself but I feel that if the Tao could speak it would approve.) I suppose my love for Taoism comes down to the fact that there is some connection, some unspoken deep feeling of rightness of the ideas inherent in the structure of the philosophy that I don't fully understand. I've always loved the poison arrow parable of Buddhism because it is so easy to drive one's self mad with the circular questioning and pursuit of answers one will never have. Taoism has the same kind of sloughing off of that cycle of questions and non-answers. (The 'It-doesn't-matter-so-why-bother' attitude.) On the other hand, when I spoke to my older brother about this blog entry and how I could explain why I have this profound love for the Tao specifically and Eastern religion in general, he reminded me, "Maybe it's cause you watched so many kung fu movies and episodes of that David Carradine show when you were a kid." I'm pretty sure that's Buddhism but hey, maybe he's right.