-Taoist ideas about world environmental protection
Jiyuzhang
I. Introduction
Taoism is an inherent religion in China, which is developed on the basis of inheriting China's pre-Qin hundred schools of thought theory, mainly Taoism. It has a long history. It has been nearly 2,000 years since the mission was formally established in Shun Di in the Eastern Han Dynasty (A.D. 126- 144). Taoist ideology and culture has been one of the main pillars of China traditional culture in the long historical development process. It is integrated with the traditional culture of China, but it has its own personality and characteristics. Yang and the sea. China's traditional culture is a vast ocean, while Taoism is a vast ocean. Taoism has a far-reaching and extensive influence on China culture. After thousands of years of continuous elaboration, many of its ideas and concepts have been deeply imprinted on the way of thinking, life style and behavior of China people. It is no exaggeration to say that every China person's consciousness or subconscious contains Taoist cultural factors to varying degrees.
It is the profound cultural foundation and far-reaching social influence of Taoism that makes it spread continuously after two thousand years. Taoism is still one of the five major religions in China, and it has been maintained and passed down in overseas Chinese society. Its religious principles have long gone beyond the boundaries of Chinese and have had a wide impact on the world. According to our preliminary research in recent years, there are more than 1000 Taoist temples officially opened to the outside world in China (excluding Taiwan Province Province, Hongkong and Macau), and there are more than 10000 faculty members who often practice in the temples. The national Taoist organization, the Chinese Taoist Association, has been established. In addition, more than 100 Taoist organizations at all levels in provinces (cities) and counties have been established, and several religious colleges in China have been opened to train young Taoist teachers, and many books and books devoted to Taoism have been issued. The vast number of educators are actively engaged in the solemn cause of carrying forward the spirit of Taoism, contacting believers from all sides, carrying forward the fine traditions of Taoism, purifying people's hearts and benefiting the people.
Taoism, like other major religions in the world, has its systematic and complete world outlook, outlook on life, morality and ultimate pursuit in its religious ideology. However, due to the influence of different cultural backgrounds, it has its distinctive characteristics. In short, it can be summarized as the following two aspects:
1. Respecting Taoism and Morality: The Tao Te Ching, the basic classic of Taoism, says: "Taoism is born, livestock is virtuous, and things are virtuous. It's possible. It is based on all things respecting Tao. " Taoism is the highest belief of Taoism. Taoist believes in Taoism, serves Taoism, practices Taoism and practices Taoism all his life. Virtue, like Taoism, is the embodiment of Taoism, so respecting virtue means respecting Taoism. Respecting Taoism and morality is the core of Taoist spirit. Taoism takes "Tao" as its highest belief. It is precisely because of the greatness and perfection of Tao that people who serve Tao are required to do things with Tao. Tao, which breeds the infinite universe and creates a harmonious world, is the biochemical vitality of all things. Tao cannot be said to exist, nor can it be said to exist, but it is everywhere, all the time. It is eternal. Tao Lixing is the grandfather of his ancestors, and his grandfather's grandfather came to earth. Educate the world. He told people: "Be long and don't do it, be persistent and don't do it." A true Taoist should have the nature of Tao: let everything grow naturally and realize it completely according to its nature without any selfish evil thoughts. The fundamental truth of Taoist education is the principle of natural inaction of Tao. In this basic law. Tao also has the spirit of quietness, simplicity, lightness and openness. Her mind is as broad as rivers and seas, she embraces everything, she is humble and beneficial to all kinds of education, and she is kind and thrifty, not the best in the world. This noble virtue of perfection and beauty is the ideal spiritual realm that Taoism respects, respects and pursues unremittingly.
Second, the fairy road is expensive. Du Fu, a Taoist classic, said: "The life of a fairy is precious, and the life of a human being is infinite.". Taoism believes in the theory of immortals and yearns for immortal life, which is immortal, free and carefree, and finally integrates life and spirit with the road it worships. Therefore, in real life, Taoism cherishes life very much, regards life as the most precious, and pursues longevity and long knowledge. Zhang Daoling Shi Tian, Pope of Taoism, once said: Life is another embodiment of Taoism, which is self-cultivation. Is to cultivate a lifestyle. Therefore, I am immortal and noble, taking this as the fundamental doctrine. Under the guidance of this theory, Taoism has made unremitting explorations and experiments on the way of health preservation in several dynasties. The results of their unremitting pursuit fully prove that my life is not decided by heaven, but by myself. People can achieve the goal of physical and mental health through self-cultivation and achieve immortality. This cultivation includes two aspects: spiritual and moral cultivation and physical life cultivation. Self-cultivation of mind means to have the same sentiment and spirit as Tao, temper one's will through practice, abandon all utilitarian selfish desires, and do good deeds and accumulate virtue extensively; Keep improving your moral cultivation and be a person with noble moral sentiments. Taoism believes that Xiu De is the first place to be cultivated, and Xiu De is the basic project of cultivation. Health preservation is based on moral cultivation, under the guidance of philosophy of life and methodology theory, to carry out systematic health cultivation, so that the three treasures of vitality in the body will last forever, from acquired to innate, that is, to infants. Numerous facts have proved that Taoist health preservation can not only prolong life. It can also make youth last forever. Of course, this pursuit of longevity also needs a beautiful and harmonious natural environment as an important external condition.
Second, keep the world process natural.
Laozi, the founder of Taoism, said in Tao Te Ching: "People should learn from the land, the land should learn from the sky, the sky should learn from the Tao, and the Tao should be natural." He also said: "Knowing peace is common, and knowing common is clear"; "What you know is not dangerous, and what you know is not humiliating."
With the aggravation of global ecological crisis, more and more people are aware of this. Environmental protection is not an isolated problem brought about by industrial and technological development. It also has a deep relationship with some world views, values and knowledge systems. With the development of modern industry and technology, these value systems and knowledge systems have spread all over the world and become a common way of thinking. These modes of thinking separate the harmonious relationship between man and nature, exaggerate the role of man's subjective will, and regard nature as a slave that can be obtained for free. This philosophy has brought highly developed productive forces to mankind. It has also brought infinite self-awareness to mankind, which is an important source of such a serious ecological crisis in the world. Today, when the whole earth may face the test of destruction at any time, we have to seriously review this world view.
From our standpoint, the teachings of ancient Taoism are entirely used to remedy the lack of values in today's world. Taoism believes that everything in the universe, such as heaven and earth, animals and birds, plants, insects, etc., was transformed from Tao Qi, but because of their different Tao Qi endowments, they all have their own shapes, forming a pluralistic world. Man is the product of the neutralization of Tao, the most intelligent thing in all things, and one of the four fundamentals of the universe (namely Tao, heaven, earth and man). As one of the four human beings in the universe, how to deal with the relationship between heaven and earth? In Tao Te Ching, the ancestor Lao Zi put forward the basic principle of "Tao is natural", that is, human beings should take the land as the law and attach importance to the land where they live; The earth should take heaven as the law and respect the changes of the universe; Heaven takes Tao as the law and follows objective laws. The law of Tao is to maintain the natural nature of the process of world growth and change, and never destroy the original appearance of this process by artificial coercion. What people have to do in front of nature is to "help the nature of all things and dare not do it." The Yin Fu Huangdi Neijing (written before the 6th century) wrote: "The sage knows that Heaven cannot be violated, so he makes it." People's subjective initiative can only play a positive role if it conforms to the laws of nature. We believe that we must cultivate and practice Tao's belief in natural inaction in the hearts of all mankind, so as to fundamentally solve the world ecological crisis and bring eternal happiness to mankind.
Tao's natural inaction is the motto left by Grandpa Laojun, the ancestor of Taoism, and "knowing and speaking often" is another important principle of Taoism in dealing with the relationship between man and nature. Tao Te Ching pointed out: "Knowing peace is the norm. Know what it is, know why it is "; "I often don't know that I am a murderer." "Knowing without changing" requires people to understand the unity of all things in the world that are interrelated and interdependent, and to maintain its harmonious beauty, so that human beings can survive for a long time. Taoism believes that everything in the world contains yin and yang, and it is the intersection of yin and yang that breeds life, that is, only harmony can bring vitality and create a sustainable world civilization. People who are aware of this common sense are also considered wise people. On the contrary, it is against the will of the Tao not to understand and follow this common sense, to artificially run amok and destroy this natural law, that is, to artificially destroy a species or artificially promote the excessive growth of a substance. Another important Taoist classic, Bao Puzi (written in the 4th century AD), also distinguishes two fundamentally different attitudes towards nature: one is to serve all things, and the other is to imitate nature. Scripture says that man is the most dexterous in cultivating nature and creating everything. Therefore, people who have a shallow understanding of the relationship between nature and human beings will serve everything and make nature completely their own; People who know the secret between nature and human beings can not only be kind to nature, but also learn from it. If they know that turtles and cranes live a long life, they can imitate their exercise methods to keep fit. Obviously, the way of abusing nature will only bring disaster or even destruction to mankind in the long run. In this regard, "Bao Puzi" wrote: "Ejecting a bird, aborting an embryo, breaking an egg, hunting in spring and summer, ... everything is a crime, which is lighter or heavier. The company's life (scheduled natural life) was taken away, and it died when it was dry. " And if people do too much, once they are done. Only a dead end. On the contrary, "be kind to things, forgive yourself and others, be kind to catching (expanding) insects, ... your hands won't hurt your life, ... so you are virtuous, God bless you, you will succeed, and you can hope for eternal life." Extending love to all things in nature will inevitably bring endless longevity.
"Knowing without danger, knowing without humiliation" is another important proposition of Taoism in ecological ethics. Knowing that there is no danger requires human beings to fully consider the bearing capacity of the natural ecological environment in the process of pursuing development and refrain from doing things that destroy the ecological balance, even if they have great vital interests. In this way, we can avoid the revenge of nature, avoid losing big because of small things, and gain now and lose clearly. Contentment means asking people to establish a correct sense of accomplishment and not to pursue material interests insatiably. Only in this way can we avoid over-exploitation of natural resources. Taiping Jing, an important Taoist classic (written in the first century A.D.), puts forward the value concept of protecting the abundance of species. The scripture says: saints "teach people on earth, help creatures in heaven, and help the earth repair its shape." Under the whole world, everything in the world grows together, which is prosperity. Therefore, the true qi of the emperor (period) is produced, and 12 thousand species survive and multiply. This is wealth. During the reign of Emperor Zhong (period), the number of Taoist gods decreased slightly, and the number of metaplastic species was less than 12 thousand dry species, which was called petty poverty. The spirit of the lower emperor (period) was even less than that of the middle emperor, and fewer species came from metaplasia, which was called great poverty. When the imperial power is interrupted, auspicious things will not fall, good things will not be born, and it will be extremely poor. Everything comes from god because the earth can't be hurt, the emperor can be good, and there is less life because the earth can be hurt. For a monarch, what can make everything perfect is the real rich country; If half of everything in nature is hurt, it is a sign of the country's decline in luck. Taoism's rich protection of the world's species cannot but be said to be a unique contribution to the world's ecological ethics.
In a word, the basic principle of Taoist natural inaction and many other truths are still of great positive significance to today's world. We hope that all religions' teachings and ideas beneficial to human beings can be valued and carried forward by all religious or non-religious people, so as to establish a harmonious relationship between man and nature, man and society, and man and man, and safeguard the permanent peace and development of the world.
Three. Work and plan
Taoist teachings and practice rules stipulate that Taoists must protect the natural ecological environment, which urges every Taoist and individual to work and work hard to protect the ecological environment. Over the years, Taoists in China, with their limited strength, have actively devoted themselves to environmental protection work such as protecting fruit, planting trees and protecting temple cultural relics, making contributions and laying a solid foundation. Taoist temple is in close contact with believers, telling them the relationship between protecting trees, birds and animals and the purpose of belief, so that they can understand the consistency between "Tao" and human survival, establish the belief in protecting the ecological environment in their hearts, and achieve good benefits. Taoist teachers living in temples also practice and contribute to the protection of the ecological environment. For example, a Taoist priest in Raytheon Mountain, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, China, has been taking good care of more than 800 mu of trees for decades and has been well received by the society. Taoists of Wudang Taoist Temple in Ledu County, Qinghai Province have been actively planting trees and grass on the barren hills for more than ten years, which has made the original loess barren hills shady and greatly improved the surrounding environment. There is also an old man in Yunnan Province who has cultivated and protected the rare plant "Taiwania flousiana" praised as a "living fossil" by the international botany community with more than 60 years of painstaking efforts, and was commended by the Yunnan Provincial Forestry Department. Examples of this kind are too numerous to mention. Protecting the natural environment is one of the traditional contents of Taoist practice. In order to carry forward this tradition, the Chinese Taoist Association held a national Taoist congress on 1993 to encourage Taoist people all over the country to make greater contributions to social welfare undertakings such as planting trees and beautifying the environment.
In the future work, we should actively carry forward the Taoist theory of natural inaction, give full play to the role of Taoism, promote the cause of maintaining human ecological environment, and shoulder the sacred mission of maintaining natural harmony with the people of the world. And will start to carry out the following work:
First, vigorously publicize the Taoist teachings that are conducive to optimizing the ecological environment, guide the broad masses of religious believers to abide by the Taoist teachings of natural inaction and the precept of not killing and entertaining themselves, maintain the harmony of nature, create a fairyland on earth, and realize our pursuit of faith. In the future missionary work, we should enlighten the world with the Taoist thought of maintaining natural harmony, widely publicize the close relationship between your life and the ecological environment, raise the awareness of the importance of maintaining the ecological environment from all walks of life, curb the damage caused by people's over-exploitation of nature, and protect the earth on which we live, making it more suitable for human survival. At the same time, we should also give play to the Taoist thought of not attacking or fighting, take a clear-cut stand against war, safeguard world peace, and avoid the damage of war to mankind and the environment. It is necessary to make use of the existing propaganda positions to do a good job in propaganda work, actively prepare funds to open a special issue to publicize ecological environmental protection, unite people of insight at home and abroad, inside and outside the church, and publicize and carry out the work of maintaining the ecological environment.
Second, continue to carry forward the Taoist tradition of planting trees and maintaining the ecological environment, take temples as organizations, actively carry out the work of planting trees and beautifying the environment, and build temples into real fairyland.
Third, carry out systematic projects to maintain the ecological environment of some famous Taoist mountains in a planned way, and strive to achieve greater results at the beginning of the next century. This plan will be implemented by the Chinese Taoist Association in cooperation with the World Religious and Environmental Protection Federation and the International Religious Education and Cultural Advisory Council. In the near future, it is planned to conduct a detailed investigation on the five famous Taoist mountains, namely Taishan Mountain in Shandong, Songshan Mountain in Henan, Hengshan Mountain in Shanxi, Huashan Mountain in Shaanxi and Hengshan Mountain in Hunan, as well as Qingcheng Mountain in Sichuan and Wudang Mountain in Hubei, to understand their environmental status, religious culture and its dynamic relationship with tourism development and natural resources utilization, and to put forward suggestions on cultural heritage and environment to relevant government departments. At the same time, books and periodicals are published around the world, and news films are produced and distributed to attract international attention. Because some of these seven famous mountains have been listed as "world cultural heritage projects" by UNESCO, this investigation, publicity and education plan will also be coordinated by the United Nations.
In a word, we should take this meeting as an opportunity to further improve our work, strengthen ties with international eco-environmental organizations, assist our government to do a good job in eco-environmental protection, and make contributions to maintaining the harmony of nature and the beautiful survival of mankind.
May our world be more harmonious and beautiful!
(originally published "China Taoism" 1995 No.3)