Why have aspects of Daoism become popular in the West recently? According to Miller, the Daoist emphasis on developing a balance between opposing viewpoints and the rejection of the assumption that one side must achieve victory over another has become attractive to people today:
- “It is easy to see why this sort of philosophy might have a wide New Age appeal in the post-modern West where traditional values and authorities have been called into question. The philosophy of the Dao seems to resonate with a counter-cultural distrust of absolutes. However, although this desire for balance and harmony has been a constant factor within the history of Daoism, it has been manifest in thoroughly structured and often rigid ways that might surprise the contemporary Westerner. One must never forget that Daoism evolved as a religious institution with its own hierarchies, precepts, rituals, and structures.”
Perhaps this is why only bits and pieces of Daoism have made their way into the Western consciousness — the whole thing, aside from being a part of the fabric of a foreign culture, also isn’t quite what people are actually looking for. By picking out only those portions which serve their needs, however, they get what they want without being bothered by uncomfortable realities.
Chinese culture is not and has never been anti-authoritarian — on the contrary, Chinese ideals about achieving harmony and balance have often meant sacrificing oneself for the greater good of society, or at least what authority figures claim the greater good really is. Because Daoism is China’s only native religion, it has a long history of being part of hierarchical, authoritarian systems.
This doesn’t mean that Daoism is bad because every religion that has managed to survive has had to associate itself closely with political power and governmental institutions. Regardless of what a religion might have taught originally, those that want to continue to exist have had to sacrifice something in order to get the protection and support of the secular authority figures. Daoism is no better or worse on this point.
Daoism: A Short Introduction
Miller’s book provides insight into the good and the bad, the old and the new of Daoism. Because Daoism isn’t frozen into any single place or time, it has acquired baggage over the course of centuries of Chinese culture, continually adding and building to a substratum that has survived through it all. Daoism and Daoist thought has grown in importance over the years, so a solid understanding of it and its ideas would be very beneficial to the average person.
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