As you read, focus on the following terms and concepts:

Chapter 5 on Taoism plus material from lecture/powerpoint:

Lao Tzu

Story about his westward journey

Tao Te Ching (The Way and Its Power)

Tao: path or way; way of the universe; way of human life

Philosophical Taoism

Religious or Popular Taoism

wu wei - actioness action; inaction; pure effectiveness; also "creative quietude"

Ch'i - spirit, breath, vital energy

Idea of magic, vicarious power (in religious Taoism)

metaphor or ideal of water

humility

Taoism's profound naturalism

yin/tang symbol

relativism - story of "The Farmer Whose Horse Ran Away"

aversion to violence

spontaneity; gaiety of Taoism

From powerpoint:

the way of yin (passivity)

idea of the uncarved block