Portal:Taoist Studies

Welcome to the Wikiversity Department of Taoist Studies.

Introduction

The Wikiversity Department of Taoist Studies is a content development project for learning resources related to the Way, for those who wish to follow as well as the curious.

Learning Projects and Learning Materials

Introduction to Taoism

• Daoism
• Introduction to Taoism - An introduction to the major tenets, figures, writings, and schools of historical Taoism.
• A Brief History of the Way - A more in-depth study of the history of the Taoist faith.

Text Studies

• Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching) - The 5,000 character classic considered by most academics to be the founding document of Taoism.
• Chuang Tzu - A longer and more complex enumeration of Taoist philosophy and cosmology, just as essential to comprehending Taoism as the Tao Te Ching.
• Lieh-tzu - The third Taoist classic, more down-to-earth and practical than either the Tao Te Ching or the Chuang Tzu.
• I Ching oracle - A guide to use and interpret the Oracle.

Seminary School

• Dao - "The Way that can be followed is not the true Way, the Name that can be named is not the true Name." Doing the impossible, and describing the Dao.
• De - The virtue of the Way, and how to cultivate it.
• Wu Wei - Actionless action, explored in detail, including an essay from William S. Burroughs.
• Po - The "uncarved block" of Lao Tzu.
• Qi - The breath of life.
• Eight Trigrams - The binary basis of the universe.
• Five Elements - The life-cycles in classical Taoist cosmology.
• Taoist Ethics: Walking the Way - A short course on the ethics and morality of Taoism.

Electives

Applied Taoism

• Taoist Sexual Practices - Immortality through sex.
• Feng Shui - A layman's course to Taoist geomancy.
• Tai Chi and Other Taoist Martial Arts - A brief introduction to Taoist philosophy in the martial arts, focusing especially but not exclusively on the "Taoist" arts of Tai Chi, Bagua Zheng, and Xing-yi (Hsing I).
• Introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine - What they're doing when they prick you with those needles.
  • Qi - The breath of life.
  • Shen - The holy spirit.
  • Jing - The material essence.
• The Flavor That Can Be Tasted... - Taoist dietary practices, focused on modern application.

Social Studies

• The Peach Wine Cauldron - Where the complex interrelationships between Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism will be examined.
• Modern Taoism: Asia - Exploring the role of Taoism and the Way in modern Chinese and other Asian societies.
• Modern Taoism: The West - A discussion of Taoism's rise and future in Western countries.
• Rough Notes on Classical Chinese - Classical Chinese, n., a verb with optional tense, mood, aspect, or nouns.
• Taoism and Science: Towards a Rational Taoism - Reconciling traditional Chinese beliefs with an Enlightened scientific viewpoint.
• Missing The Point: The Philosophical/Religious Schism - Discussing the perceived divide between "philosophical" Taoism and "religious" Taoism, and why it doesn't matter after a few cups of peach wine.

See also

• wikipedia:Taoism
• commons:Taoism
• wikisource:Tao Te Ching
• http://www.religiousworlds.com/taoism/cz-text2.html - The Chuang Tzu
• http://www.sacred-texts.com/tao/tt/index.htm - Selections from the Lieh Tzu
• http://cultivation.daoiststudies.org/ - American Daoist Cultivation