Foreword

Taoism, in many forms, has long had an important role in the development of Chinese civilization, particularly in the fields of natural science, medical arts, and psychology. An extremely complex phenomenon, Taoism has used many media of expression and influenced many realms of thought and action through its long history. Among its modes of projection and spheres of influence may be counted philosophy, politics, religion, folklore and mythology, satire and other forms of humor, visual art and design, poetry, music and song, drama and fiction, herbal and psychosomatic medicine, physical education, martial arts, military strategy, and alchemy, both material and spiritual.

In view of this remarkable profusion of forms, any attempt to establish historical links joining every one of the forms of activity that have been labeled Taoist meets with formidable problems. Perhaps the single most widely accepted Taoist text is the famous Tao Te Ching, but since the meanings of this often cryptic work cannot be definitely established by ordinary literary methods, and interpretations vary enormously at certain points, the notion of affiliation through association with the teachings of the Tao Te Ching is of dubious value. Moreover, Taoist literature has noted for over two thousand years the existence of degenerations and aberrations under the rubric of the Tao; thus an assumed link between different forms of Taoism may well be one that has in fact lapsed, or one that was from the beginning fabricated by false analogy.

Nevertheless, if one were to hypothesize an inner link among quite different forms of Taoism (without presuming to encompass everything called Taoistic in this hypothesis), a key to the rationale behind the enormous variety of frameworks through which Taoist teachings and practices have been presented might be found in the opening lines of the Tao Te Ching itself: "A path that can be verbalized is not a permanent path; terminology that can be designated is not a constant terminology." The first part of this opening statement might also be read, "A path which can be taken as a path is not a permanent path," and understood to refer to the distinction between means and end. From this point of view, it might be said that like Buddhism, a parallel teaching which emphasizes ongoing reformation of doctrine and praxis to meet contemporary needs, Taoism has appeared in many guises throughout the ages, corresponding to changing conditions in its host society.

While it is beyond the scope of the present study to enter very far into the maze of Taoist history, it is of some interest to glance at a few outstanding manifestations of Taoism while pursuing this theme of adaptation to the times. For example, one of the oldest texts of Taoism, presented in the form of a divination manual, was composed in a time when divination was formally considered a branch of government. Later, in an era when all serious thinkers wrote in the subject of political and social science, another classic appears in a form that can be read as a treatise on political and social theory. During a period marked by the accelerated rise of hegemonism and tyranny, yet another text appears libertarian, even libertine and anarchic. Under similar conditions, with the rise of militarism, a classic manual of military strategy advocates a policy of minimal expenditures of lives, energy, and material. Satire and fantastic poetry appear during a time of social upheaval and decay of an old order along with its world view; grass roots political organization emerges under the same conditions. Religious texts come to the fore during the growth of Chinese Buddhist churches, and collections of sayings of Taoist adepts parallel similar developments in Ch'an Buddhist literature. Martial arts are refined in an era marked by the overthrow of an alien dynasty as well as by repeated popular uprisings. Colloquial drama and fiction transmitting Taoist ideas appear during a time of growth of vernacular literature. Most recently, secularized Taoistic teachings are published as therapeutic arts after an anti-religious communist revolution.

This is, of course, a very simplistic picture of Taoism, somewhat in the spirit of Taoist imagery itself, designed to evoke a certain point of view and not to define historical fact. The historical origins of Taoism, like nearly everything else about it, are extremely obscure, veiled in allegory and myth; it may be that much of the material relating to the question of origins consists of, or is interlarded with, initiatory lore, the understanding and application of which would vary according to circumstances. Sometimes Taoism is called the Huang-Lao teaching, after two important figureheads of the teaching alleged to have lived thousands of years ago; but even these people are presented in tradition as transmitters rather than originators of Taoistic teachings. Certain cultural prototypes often associated with Taoism are said to have gained their knowledge through systematic observation, contemplation, and experiment; other teachings are attributed to spiritual revelations. A Taoist encyclopedia says that "Taoism" antedating all formulations is found in a recondite realm of mind where the customary divisions of thought do not exist.

In short, it may well be that the origins or derivations of Taoism cannot be positively ascertained by conventional methods; this situation is due not only to the variety and nature of the data in Taoistic literature, but also to the paucity of associated data which would pin the origins of Taoism to specific times, people, or places. What seems to be a common theme is the idea that Taoism transcends history—vertically, so to speak, in the sense that it claims contact with another dimension of experience beyond the terrestrial, and horizontally in that it claims to reach back before history. Taoist tradition generally associates its early articulation on the terrestrial plane with the very beginnings of proto-Chinese civilization, but also claims ongoing or periodically renewed contact with a higher source. It is not, of course, at all necessary to give literal credence to any of the fantastic tales of Taoist history in order to appreciate them as representations of the common contention that the structure of the universe as perceived by the conventionally socialized mind, within its framework of time and space, is not absolute, and that there exists within humanity the potential for extradimensional perception.

In a sense, it might be possible to interpret the presence of so many marvels and wonders in Taoist lore as an indication of interest in human possibilities. It has often been observed, moreover, that much the same descriptions of extraordinary powers alleged to be available through esoteric knowledge are to be found all over the world. What is perhaps more significant than such possibilities is their effect on the world, and some esoteric traditions stress the issue of the use and function of supernormal knowledge and power more than the mere fact of their possibility. Within Taoism, the question of the actual individual and collective benefit or harm deriving from the exercise of knowledge and power led some practitioners to subordinate everything in their path to the quest for permanent stabilization of consciousness.

Among these practitioners were the Taoists of the schools which came to be known by the name of Complete Reality. Complete Reality Taoism, which arose as a distinct movement between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, was concerned with the totality of experience and with furthering human progress in the realms of both conventional and ultimate truth. This concern manifested itself accordingly in both social and mystical practices, as the followers of Complete Reality strove to encompass what they considered to be the essence of Buddhism and Confucianism as well as Taoism.

The impact of Complete Reality Taoism was very powerful, and in some areas it superseded the aged and failing schools of Ch'an Buddhism, which had for centuries exerted enormous influence on Chinese civilization. To be sure, Complete Reality Taoism had much in common with Ch'an Buddhism, notably including concentrated meditation exercises and the practice of introducing fresh views of traditional teachings. Among the literary formats used in the projection of Complete Reality Taoism was the vocabulary and imagery of alchemy, one of the most ancient and widespread realms of interest in China, now adopted by these new Taoists as an allegory for a process of inner transformation and sublimation. The present text, Understanding Reality, is one of the classics of this spiritual alchemy, and is still considered a basic document of Taoist mental science.