Popular Construction of Daoism

In popular American cultural constructions, “Daoism” (“Taoism”) is a “philosophical” and/or “spiritual” (read: non-religious) belief-system that emphasizes loving the Tao and going with the flow. Here “Daoism” becomes reduced to a convoluted worldview supposedly based on the “Daode jing,” at least as expressed in inaccurate “translations” (e.g., by Ursula LeGuin, Stephen Mitchell, etc.) or self-help adaptations (e.g., by Wayne Dyer), and in modern usages of the Yijing 易經 (Book of Changes), an ancient Chinese divination text that predates the formation of Daoism and that was only read and applied in certain, later Daoist communities. That worldview is characterized by anti-intellectualist tendencies that justify a “spontaneous” lifestyle (read: behavior patterns based in personal desire).

Popular constructions are most likely to conflate Daoism with other Chinese cultural traditions, including Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Fengshui, Chinese martial arts (e.g., Taiji quan), and Qigong, which have only tenuous connections with the religious tradition which is Daoism. Dominant misconceptions are rooted in colonist, missionary and Orientalist legacies and find their clearest (most confused) expressions in Popular Western Taoism, Tao Groups and the modern category of so-called “philosophical Daoism.” Here “Daoism” is appropriated, commodified and marketed in such a way that it satisfies dominant Western desires. It becomes easily consumed by the whole gamut of “new age capitalism,” “alternative spirituality,” and health and fitness movements.

Popular misconceptions and inaccurate interpretations of the religious tradition which is Daoism are so commonplace on the internet and in popular publications that it is almost impossible to find a informed perspective outside of publications by scholars of Daoism. Typical examples of popular appropriation, distortion and commodification may be found by doing a search (not recommended) on “daoism” or “taoism” in almost any search engine. Key words that often indicate unreliable accounts include the following: ancient, energy, grand-master, health and healing, inner, Lao-tzu, lifestyle, martial arts, master, medium, original, orthodox, philosophy, psychology, pure, secret, sex, shamanism, spirituality, Tao, tao-chia, tao-chiao, Tao-ist, Tao-te-ching, traditional, true, Way, and so forth. In addition, the reader should be skeptical of sources that speak of Chinese medicine, Fengshui, Qigong, Taiji quan, the Yijing, or other non-Daoist practices (Kung Fu, Reiki, Yoga, etc.) as Daoist. Other characteristics indicative of dubious sources include personal websites, blogs and self-serving statements in chatrooms, as well as dismissive or disparaging remarks about the religious tradition which is Daoism. The latter include claims that Daoism is not a religious tradition, which serve the function of marginalizing Daoists from discourse concerning their tradition.

In contrast to the actual Daoist religious tradition, the following groups are closer to popular Western constructions of “Daoism”: Beliefless Buddhism, Healing Tao, Krishnamurti Foundation, Osho International Society, Perennial Philosophy, Theosophical Society, Unitarian Universalist Church, Vedanta Society, and so forth.

Further Reading: Daoism: A Short Introduction/James Miller; Daoism and Chinese Culture/Livia Kohn; Daoism Handbook/Livia Kohn (ed.); Daoist Identity/Livia Kohn and Harold Roth (eds.); Daoism in China/Wang Yi’e; New Age and Neopagan Religions in America/Sarah Pike; New Age Capitalism/Kimberly Lau; New Age Religion and Western Culture/Wouter Hanegraaff; Selling Spirituality/J. Carrette and Richard King; Spiritual Marketplace/Wade Clark Roof; Taoism: The Enduring Tradition/Russell Kirkland; “The Dao of America”/Elijah Siegler; “The Taoism of the Western Imagination and the Taoism of China”/Russell Kirkland; “Tracing the Contours of Daoism in North America”/Louis Komjathy.

See also American Daoism, Americanization, Dao, Daoism (Historical), Daoism (Normative), New Age, Orientalism, Perennial Philosophy, Philosophical Daoism, Popular Western Taoism, Tao Groups, Taoism, and the entries on Daoist.