Daoism

Daoism

Sometime in the sixth century B.C., a Chinese thinker named Laozi lived and he had strong feeling of how natural order was most important. Laozi wrote a book called Dao De Jing which expressed his beliefs. He claimed that a universal force called the Dao, meaning "the Way" guides all things. According to him, humans were the only ones who failed to follow it. The philosophy of Laozi came to be known as Daoism.

The definition of Daoism is basically that the natural order is more important than the social order. He believed that humans should lead simple and nature appreciative lives. Laozi was the first philosopher of Daoism, although, no one really is sure if he really existed. Some adherents of his said that he was apparently a contemporary of Confucius. There also was a legend that Laozi was in his mother's womb for almost 62 years and was born with white hair and wrinkles. He very strongly thought that the government should not be involved with the people and to leave them alone. There was a feeling that people couldn't do a lot to control the result of events. Daoism was a substitute to political and government turmoil.