Philosophers Series · Part 4 of 12
Taoism: One Who Dies Without Perishing
The quest for immortality was not invented in Silicon Valley. In ancient China it was a matter of state. And the Taoist thinkers gave two very different answers to it. Part 4 of our Philosophers Series.
The emperors’ elixir
China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, had people search for an elixir of eternal life in the 3rd century BC and sent expeditions as far as the sea. It was never found. In later centuries, several emperors probably died from elixirs meant to make them immortal, which contained mercury among other things.
Religious Taoism also knew the idea of the “immortals”, people said to have overcome death through practices, alchemy and a disciplined life. The wish to preserve the body is very old.
Zhuangzi sings
The philosopher Zhuangzi sounds entirely different. When his wife died, a friend found him drumming on a bowl and singing. The friend was outraged. Zhuangzi explained that at first he had grieved like anyone else. Then he understood that his wife had simply returned to the great transformation, just as summer follows spring. She was now resting in the great house of the world.
One who dies without perishing
In the “Daodejing”, the founding text of Taoism, chapter 33 contains a short, enigmatic line: one who dies without perishing has a long life.
Interpretations differ. One common reading: it is not about the body, but about what continues to have an effect. Like water, which is soft and yet shapes stone, a person lives on through what they set in motion.
The logical conclusion
Taoism shows two paths. One tries to force permanence, with elixirs and control. The other lets things flow: it trusts that what was alive will continue to have an effect.
For what remains of us, that means: don’t cling – pass things on. Write down what moved you, and let it flow on to others. Not as a monument, but like water that keeps running.
Three questions to think further
- What have you set in motion that keeps going without you?
- What are you clinging to even though letting go would be easier?
- What part of you should flow rather than stand still?