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CHAPTER 5

Neo-Taoists: Feelings and Thoughts Evolve

But when one wishes to enjoy himself in the fullest and freest way, he must first

have before him a view like that of the wide sea or the expanse of the air, in

order that his mind may be free from restraint, and that it may respond in

the fitting way to everything coming before it:—it is only what is

Great that can enter into this enjoyment.

—Lin Hsi-kung, in Legge 1962, 273

The Neo-Taoists were a group of intellectuals living from A.D. 220 to 420, during a period when philosophy was dominated by Confucianism. The Neo-Taoists turned back to the classic Taoists, Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu along with the I Ching, reinterpreting the original Taoist themes and blending them with Confucianism. Neo-Taoism was also affected by Buddhism, which was spreading rapidly throughout China. Zen Buddhism, not to be founded for another hundred years, would also be influenced by Neo-Taoist principles.

Bamboo Grove, Sun To-tsz, Chinese, 1912 – 1975

The Neo-Taoists tended to be idealistic youths, many of them scholars. They engaged in what they called “Pure Conversation,” or ch’ing t’an. They tried to express themselves as fully authentic and sensitive individuals. They considered each conversation a sublime meeting of souls. Some historians have compared their ideals to the Beats of the 1950s, with a similar commitment to being themselves and freely expressing their inner nature. These young seekers searched for ultimate reality, true understanding in happy dialogues, standing apart from what they considered the corrupting influence of striving for personal gain.

SEVEN WORTHIES OF THE BAMBOO GROVE

One famous group of Neo-Taoists was known as the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove. They met in a grove of bamboo to discuss metaphysics, read poetry, often drinking heavily, and behaving whimsically. Their way was aptly termed feng lin, “wandering from convention.” Yang-chu’s writings can be seen as an inspiration for these free-spirited philosophers. One of the members, Liu Ling (221–300) was a heavy drinker and a nudist within his house. One day a visitor came to his door and was shocked to find Liu Ling without clothing. Liu Ling responded to the visitor’s surprise and said, “I take the whole universe as my house and my own room as my clothing. Get out of my trousers!” The embarrassed visitor fled (Fung Yu Lan 1966, 235).

The Neo-Taoists were spontaneous and uninhibited. Wang Hui-chih (d. 388) woke up in the middle of the night after a heavy snowfall and suddenly thought of his friend Tai. He immediately left his house and took an all-night boat ride to the house of this friend. Just as he reached Tai’s doorstep, he turned around and went home. Later, someone asked him why he had done this. Wang Hui-chih answered with self-assurance, “I came on the impulse of my pleasure, and now it is ended, so I go back. Why should I see Tai?” (Fung Yu Lan 1966, 236). Freely expressing his impulses paradoxically released Wang Hui-chih from the chains of determined action. The Neo-Taoists brought Taoism from thought into action.

Wang Pi (226–249) was a prominent Neo-Taoist who wrote commentaries on Lao-tzu and the I Ching that reinterpreted these classic texts. He lived a short but intense life, dying at the young age of twenty-four. Wang Pi and the other Neo-Taoists introduced this new movement.

WU -WEI IS FEELING AND DOING WHAT IS NATURAL

The Neo-Taoists justified their sometimes unconventional behavior in part because of their innovative interpretation of nonaction. They considered wu-wei, nonactivity, as natural, and added a new complementary concept, yu-wei, as a counterbalance. Yu-wei was activity that they believed to be unnatural. When people follow their natural tendencies they are wu-wei, but if they try to force themselves to do things, they are yu-wei. Chuang-tzu idealized the return to the primitive noble savage. The Neo-Taoists reinterpreted this concept of “primitive” to mean authentic or sincere. Being who you are and permitting your life force to be expressed fully with genuineness was of utmost importance:“If by primitive we mean the undistorted, the man whose character is not distorted is the most primitive, though he may be capable of doing many things” (Fung Yu Lan 1966, 25).

The Neo-Taoists took a different position on emotions. The classical Taoists counseled stillness and quietism to enhance Taoist wisdom. The Neo-Taoist believed that feeling and expressing emotions would make them wiser. They explained that sages quieted their minds, seeking to be one with Tao. But as a human being, a sage would, at times, feel emotions of anger or joy like other people. The difference between a wise Taoist and an unenlightened person is that sages could have their feeling without becoming trapped or hindered by their emotional responses. Many modern forms of experiential psychotherapy embrace a similar insight. When you become one with your feelings, by experiencing and accepting them as part of your natural responses, your emotions transform. You are free to choose your actions in response. As Wang Pi expressed it, “The sage has emotions but no ensnarement” (Fung Yu Lan 1966, 238).

In order to feel their emotions, the Neo-Taoists developed perceptual sensitivity. They were sensitive not only to personal circumstances but also to the world around them. Their feelings about the beauty of nature intensified. They noticed things that other people ignored. They sought refined aesthetic experiences, seeking to be connoisseurs of life. Those who achieved this were said to have refined their personality. The Neo-Taoists respected and appreciated a natural, genuine, well-developed personality.

The Neo-Taoists were not against learning. They believed that great writers and thinkers like Plato and Chuang-tzu were being authentic by writing philosophical books. This was their true nature, to be thoughtful writers. Thus, any kind of learning or emotion that is natural to the person can be positive.

REINTERPRETATION OF CONFUCIUS

The Neo-Taoists broadened the scope of the practical-minded Confucian doctrines that had been influencing thought for several centuries by including metaphysical questions about being and nonbeing. Chuang-tzu and Lao-tzu had emphasized the Way of Nature, but the Neo-Taoists talked about the Principle of Nature. They did not reject Confucianism; they examined it in terms of Taoism.

The Neo-Taoists believed that Confucius was even greater than Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu, viewing him as the master of emptiness. They justified Confucius’s concern with everyday life, rituals, ceremonies, and external circumstances by arguing that he realized that it is impossible to instruct directly about wu, nonbeing, emptiness. Therefore, he wisely focused all his attention on yu, being. This explanation reflects the idea expressed by Lao-tzu:“He who knows does not speak; he who speaks, does not know” (Tao Te Ching, Chapter 56, trans. by Wilhelm 1990, 52). By not even speaking of Tao in his sayings, Confucius was the ultimate Taoist.

The Neo-Taoists believed what the I Ching stated: Everything is continually changing, never still. They encouraged people to accept change. The old is different from the new, and even though tradition may have its place, people and institutions should change with the times. Unlike the early Taoists, these philosophers did not oppose all institutions or moral values, only those that were unwilling to evolve. This view permitted the Neo-Taoists to embrace useful principles in other philosophies. Taoism was modified considerably, opening the possibility for later philosophers to incorporate Taoist principles within Neo-Confucianism.