Taoism and War
Tao Te Ching was written around 600BCE and is the first written document about Taoism that exists. Tao Te Ching was written by Lao Tzu, who was a contemporary of Confucius. They lived in the period known in China as the Spring and Autumn period. A period full of conflict and war, where China was struggling to hold all states together due to a weak central government. In this period many philosophers emerged coming up with ideas on how to keep China strong and undivided. According to the legend, Lao Tzu wrote Tao Te Ching to give his followers something to remember him by before he departed, giving up on the Chinese people mostly because their inability to learn. Tao Te Ching was written in a politically tough situation for China and much of the text is about the political and war culture. Tao Te Ching is not only about the philosophy of life but also about the philosophy and the art of war. Taoism is about the whole process of Dao, taking the different sides equally important; it is not about one side or the other, seeing human beings as bit of both of the yin-yang particles. Dao is neither this nor that, it is always in between. The concept of yin and the yang is very much present in Tao Te Ching, not in terms of favoring one over another but keeping the harmony and balance of life. Taoism is about both the external and the internal attention in a process and harmony between the individual and the society. Not trying to take control over nature but rather going with the flow that has no strict boundaries. The idea is to be able to follow the ever-changing equilibrium and balance between the yin and yang forces. Sun Tzu was a great Chinese general and is believed to have written the Art of War between 400 and 320 BCE. The Art of War is much more than just a military guide; it touches the essential structure of human conflict and nature. Even though it is essentially a war book, it does not encourage fighting. Sun Tzu realizes how bad fighting is and recognizes how much one can lose in defeat as well as in victory. He does not support excessive force, stating that “to capture an enemy’s army is better than to destroy it” He praises the general who can win without having to fight his opponents.”Those skilled in war subdue the enemy’s …show more content…
Even though he prefers not using arms or weapons, he still offers a strategy for the employments armed forces into both military and political operations. The Dao of warfare could also be generalized in the principle of the yin and yang and the balance between two opposites. Lao Tzu states that an army should be operated in an unusual way and that the state should be operated in a normal way. “To govern a kingdom, use righteousness, To conduct a war, use strategy” . The kingdom should be governed by a self-controlled man who knows the way of the Dao. In the warfare the yin and yang principle can be seen as qi the “unusual way” and zheng the “normal way” and are opposites widely used in military and political domains. Operation though both qi and zhen are necessary in order for the military to function both offensively and
Tao Te Ching was written around 600BCE and is the first written document about Taoism that exists. Tao Te Ching was written by Lao Tzu, who was a contemporary of Confucius. They lived in the period known in China as the Spring and Autumn period. A period full of conflict and war, where China was struggling to hold all states together due to a weak central government. In this period many philosophers emerged coming up with ideas on how to keep China strong and undivided. According to the legend, Lao Tzu wrote Tao Te Ching to give his followers something to remember him by before he departed, giving up on the Chinese people mostly because their inability to learn. Tao Te Ching was written in a politically tough situation for China and much of the text is about the political and war culture. Tao Te Ching is not only about the philosophy of life but also about the philosophy and the art of war. Taoism is about the whole process of Dao, taking the different sides equally important; it is not about one side or the other, seeing human beings as bit of both of the yin-yang particles. Dao is neither this nor that, it is always in between. The concept of yin and the yang is very much present in Tao Te Ching, not in terms of favoring one over another but keeping the harmony and balance of life. Taoism is about both the external and the internal attention in a process and harmony between the individual and the society. Not trying to take control over nature but rather going with the flow that has no strict boundaries. The idea is to be able to follow the ever-changing equilibrium and balance between the yin and yang forces. Sun Tzu was a great Chinese general and is believed to have written the Art of War between 400 and 320 BCE. The Art of War is much more than just a military guide; it touches the essential structure of human conflict and nature. Even though it is essentially a war book, it does not encourage fighting. Sun Tzu realizes how bad fighting is and recognizes how much one can lose in defeat as well as in victory. He does not support excessive force, stating that “to capture an enemy’s army is better than to destroy it” He praises the general who can win without having to fight his opponents.”Those skilled in war subdue the enemy’s …show more content…
Even though he prefers not using arms or weapons, he still offers a strategy for the employments armed forces into both military and political operations. The Dao of warfare could also be generalized in the principle of the yin and yang and the balance between two opposites. Lao Tzu states that an army should be operated in an unusual way and that the state should be operated in a normal way. “To govern a kingdom, use righteousness, To conduct a war, use strategy” . The kingdom should be governed by a self-controlled man who knows the way of the Dao. In the warfare the yin and yang principle can be seen as qi the “unusual way” and zheng the “normal way” and are opposites widely used in military and political domains. Operation though both qi and zhen are necessary in order for the military to function both offensively and