The Taoist Cosmology
As Lao-Tzu said, the concept at the core of Taoism
is fundamentally indefinable. “Tao” means “the way.”
The Tao is the Way of the Universe: the natural order of
things and the totality of existence, beyond time, space
and division into separate entities.
The Tao Te Ching describes the genesis of the Universe
in this way: “The Tao gave birth to the One; the One
gave birth to the Two; the Two gave birth to the Three;
the Three gave birth to the Ten Thousand Things.”
However, this is not a historical progression analogous
to the Judeo-Christian seven days of Creation. Instead,
Lao-Tzu describes the progressive development of concepts,
from the indescribable Tao to the real, concrete
objects of everyday experience.
The One
Because the Tao is totally beyond all description or
division, one cannot even say that it exists: That would
ascribe a definite quality to the Tao and a division between
existence and nonexistence.
All of reality — the manifest Tao — is the One. The
manifest Tao is called T’ai Chi, “the Great Principle,” or
Hun Tun, “Primordial Chaos.” Reality is not yet divided
into entities, qualities or levels of being such as matter or
spirit. At this level of comprehension, everything consists
of one essence: Ch’i or Qi, “Breath,” a force both natural
and supernatural. Like the Western scientific concept
of energy, qi appears in many forms, from literal breath
to the power of souls. Solid matter is just a particularly
dense configuration of qi. Taoist religion represents
this ultimate force as the god Yüan-shih T’ien-tsun, or
“Primordial Heavenly Worthy.”
The Two
The quality of existence necessarily implies the quality
of non-existence. Unity begets duality. The primordial qi
operates in two fundamental modes: Yang, the principle
of active force, expansion, light, motion, life and Heaven;
and Yin, the principle of passive receptivity, restriction,
darkness, stillness, death and Earth. Just about everyone
has seen the monad symbol of the circle divided by a
recurving line into two comma-shapes, black and white,
that represents the division between yin and yang.
As the monad symbol suggest, yin and yang are not
static qualities locked in eternal opposition and negation.
Their interplay is dynamic: Something can be yin in one
context, yang in another. Each half of the monad also
contains a spot of the opposite hue. Taoist philosophy
says that nothing is pure. Everything contains a bit of
its opposite. Indeed, any extreme tends to give rise to its
own opposite. For instance, long periods of peace and
social stability generate the seeds of revolt; periods of
social chaos lay the groundwork for a new order. One
Taoist initiatory rite increases a student’s mystical force
by poisoning him and leaving him in a lightless cave
for a week. The concentrated force of yin must attract a
complementary upsurge of yang, increasing the student’s
spiritual force overall.
Taoist religion represents this conceptual stage of duality
as the god Ling-pao T’ien-tsun, the “Spirit Jewel Heavenly
Worthy,” emblematic of the connection between matter
and spirit, Heaven and Earth.
The Three
Some Taoists interpret “the Two” as Yang and “the
Three” as Yin, but other interpretations are possible.
The I Ching, an ancient fortune-telling guide, ascribes
special importance to eight “trigrams” that represent the
permutations of yin and yang in groups of three. Each
trigram consists of three line segments, whole for yang
and broken for yin. They range from three yang lines
to three yin lines. The eight trigrams are often drawn
around the yin-yang monad; this octagonal arrangement
also provides a map of space for Taoist rituals.
“The Three” can also refer to a third Taoist deity, Taote
T’ien-tzun, the Heavenly Worthy of the Tao. Taoists
regard this deity as the divine archetype of the sage Lao-
Tzu and a symbol of qi as life force.
Taoism also places great emphasis on the triad of
Heaven, Earth and Man. These three realms of being
reflect each other. Entities in one realm correlate to
entities in the others. For instance, the Purple Court is
simultaneously the highest palace in Heaven, a palace on
the mythical mountain K’un-lun, and part of the human
brain. A Taoist draws power from these affinities.
The Ten Thousand Things
The interplay of qi creates an infinitude of different
entities. Some are material; some are spiritual. As the
appearance of the three Heavenly Worthies suggests,
Taoism combines an abstract, philosophical conception
of qi with belief in gods and spirits. The Heavenly Worthies
exist in Prior Heaven, the realm of transcendent
archetypes. Most gods, however, exist in Posterior Heaven,
which is merely a place in the sky for spirits. Taoists often
personify the forces and concepts of their creed as gods
whom they can call upon for power.
