SACRED STORIES AND WRITINGS
There are many sacred stories/writings within Taoism. These stories are used to express the religion and their beliefs. For example, there is a story about a thief and his son. The father and son are in a mansion when the father tricks his child and locks him in a cupboard. The residents of the mansion find the son, but he runs away. The residents are following the son when the son spots a well, and throws a rock down the well to trick the residents into thinking he jumped down the well. The son returns home and tells his father what he had done, his father then replies, “You’re ready to be a thief now”. At first this story seems odd, but it is used to describe that the Tao is a concept that needs to be learned and experienced differently with each person. When the son was locked away, this was symbolic of obstacles people face in their lives and insight is required to unlock it, through this the son was able to find his own way back to his father. There are many stories like this in Taoism which help the reader with their personal beliefs and thoughts about the Tao.
Not only are stories important, but there are sacred texts important in Taoism. The Tao Te Ching is an important text and has been acknowledged by other religions including Christianity. A man named Laozi (a record keeper during the Zhou Dynasty) is recognized as the author in around the 6th century, but some of the texts are dated from the 4th century. The book ranges from political advice for rulers to wisdom for everyday people.
“The Way that can be told of is not an unvarying way;
The names that can be named are not unvarying names.
It was from the Nameless that Heaven and Earth sprang;
The named is but the mother that rears the ten thousand creatures, each after its kind. (chap. 1, tr. Waley)”
These are the first lines in the Tao Te Ching which state how the “Tao” (referred to as the “way”) is inexpressible and nameless. The Tao Te Ching is filled with short stories and paragraphs such as this which enlighten and express the way of the Tao and Taoists themselves. The book, along with other writings sacred in the religion, help Taosits and those of other religions to comprehend deeper meanings within life and express how a greater omnipresent power guides the destinies of not only everything that exists presently, but everything that has and will exist.
Not only are stories important, but there are sacred texts important in Taoism. The Tao Te Ching is an important text and has been acknowledged by other religions including Christianity. A man named Laozi (a record keeper during the Zhou Dynasty) is recognized as the author in around the 6th century, but some of the texts are dated from the 4th century. The book ranges from political advice for rulers to wisdom for everyday people.
“The Way that can be told of is not an unvarying way;
The names that can be named are not unvarying names.
It was from the Nameless that Heaven and Earth sprang;
The named is but the mother that rears the ten thousand creatures, each after its kind. (chap. 1, tr. Waley)”
These are the first lines in the Tao Te Ching which state how the “Tao” (referred to as the “way”) is inexpressible and nameless. The Tao Te Ching is filled with short stories and paragraphs such as this which enlighten and express the way of the Tao and Taoists themselves. The book, along with other writings sacred in the religion, help Taosits and those of other religions to comprehend deeper meanings within life and express how a greater omnipresent power guides the destinies of not only everything that exists presently, but everything that has and will exist.