Taoism and Herbal Medicine: The Crooked Road

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ESSENTIALS OF TAOISM

and the Taoist Influence on Herbal Medicine Literature

by Subhuti Dharmananda, Ph.D., Director, Institute for Traditional Medicine, Portland, Oregon

Note on transliteration: In most ITM documents, Chinese words are transliterated via the pinyin system that was widely adopted during the 1980s. Taoism was extensively discussed in English-language literature prior to the 1980s, so that there is considerable transliteration already well-established based on the earlier Wade-Giles system. In this situation, the transliteration adopted for the current article is based on simplified Wade-Giles, leaving out the apostrophes that were used to develop more precision. The term "Tao" is transliterated in pinyin as Dao, but Taoism, a term long used in the West, is not a Chinese word and shifting to Daoism is a questionable approach to dealing with transliteration. The book of Taoism commonly known as the Tao Te Ching would be written in pinyin Dao De Jing, and this would be appropriate, except that few people will find one of its many English translations with the title spelled that way.

Taoism was a highly influential philosophy that evolved about 2,500 years ago in China. Its principle proponent was Lao Tsu (Lao Tzu) who was a contemporary of Confucius, the originator of another highly influential and differently-oriented philosophy. The essence of Taoism was preserved in the writings attributed to Lao Tsu called the Tao Te Ching, written in 81 short chapters, with a total of about 5,000 characters. From this base, Taoism developed rich and varied manifestations in Chinese culture. A subgroup of the Taoists pursued alchemy and medicine, and their work had a substantial impact on the development of herbal medicine. Taoism remains of interest to many people around the world today, even though its influence in China has waned considerably from its former level. It has been said that there are more translations of the Tao Te Ching than any other book besides the Christian bible.

The Tao Te Ching has many sayings that are inspirational, and many sayings that are mysterious (difficult to understand). In this essay, I present what I perceive as the core teaching of Taoism by extracting certain lines from the Tao Te Ching as illustrations of the fundamentals. For that purpose, I will quote from the translation by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English (Lao Tsu Tao Te Ching, 1972 Random House, New York). Another valuable translation is by Thomas Miles (Tao Te Ching, 1992 Avery Publishing, New York). I also propose to describe, in less prosaic terms than in the original text, the basic concept of Taoism.

Perhaps the most frequently portrayed aspect of Taoism is the image of the unobstructed flow of life. In the Tao Te Ching (chapter 48) it is said: "The world is ruled by letting things take their course, it cannot be ruled by interfering." An image of water flowing through a stream bed is sometimes used to convey the concept. That the flow of water has great potential, as one can see by the deep gorges in solid rock carved by a stream, is also mentioned (chapter 78): "Nothing is more soft and yielding than water, yet for attacking the solid and the strong, nothing is better." Letting things take their course is often described as "being in harmony with nature." Nature is one with the Tao, and to not go against nature is to be in harmony with nature. Harmony with nature requires yielding, but it results in great things. The Tao, often translated as the Way (capitalized because it is beyond ordinary description), might be called the "yielding way;" Te is usually translated as power; the book title Tao Te Ching means, roughly, the classic about the power of the yielding way.

Despite the common reference to this aspect of Taoism, I think that this view of the teaching, when taken out of the larger context of the Tao Te Ching, is usually too difficult to put into practice because it is so abstract. What does it mean to lead a life that flows like water and harmonizes with nature? In this article, I want to call attention to another aspect of the Taoist teaching that may prove more practical, because it answers the question in relation to how humans live: not just with nature, but with each other and with the powers and vagaries of one's own mind.

The underlying principle presented in the Tao Te Ching is that one should take care of things that are in need of doing, and then move on to the next thing that needs to be done, without any attachment to the accomplishment. By avoiding any "attachment to the accomplishment" it is meant that one should not dwell in such things as taking credit for it, accumulating rewards (including material things and power), or spending time with retelling it in order to get recognition.

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Taoism and Herbal Medicine: The Crooked Road