Daoist Feminism

People from different cultures and religions have different definitions for Feminism. To the Muslims, feminism may mean the rights for women to wear headscarf and burqa. Some people see it as oppression against women, but some Muslim women want it that way and don’t see it as oppression.

Sweet dreams are made of this

Who am I to disagree

I travel the world and the seven seas

Everybody’s looking for something

Some of them want to use you

Some of them want to get used by you

Some of them want to abuse you

Some of them want to be abused

Daoism is a kind of feminism philosophy. Daoism philosophy in Dao De Jing of Lao Zi gives a lot of praises to the qualities of female: being soft and flexible like water, calm, tolerant, choose to stay quiet, not competing with others, giving birth benevolently like Mother Nature gave birth to the world, caring, giving much more than taking. Lao Zi basically tells us to learn from the mother much more than the father. Lao Zi basically tells one to prefer being a woman if there is a choice. I would consider it a biblical guide of feminism.

天下皆知美之为美 恶已 皆知善之为善 斯不善矣

“When the world adopts a common standard for beauty, that is ugly. When the world adopts a common standard of virtue, it is undesirable.” Most people prefer to be strong and masculine, as if it is the standard for “beauty” or much desired. However, Lao Zi thinks this is a misguided view. It is due to their inability to see values in everything; the inability to see the real “beauty” hidden by the hindrances within oneself which hinder him/her from seeing reality as it is. Both Ying and Yang have their values; the overlooked feminine attributes of Ying are much more powerful than the masculine attributes of Yang, and bring many benefits to one who knows its power and how to use it. For example, “Love is the most powerful force in the universe and we have the extraordinary ability to give and receive it.”

浴神不死 是谓玄牝 玄牝之门 是谓天地之根 绵绵呵 其若存 用之不堇

The energy source which created the universe will not die off. It is the mysterious womb which created everything in the universe. The door to this mysterious womb is the root of the sky and earth; so soft and enormous. It seems to exist but not visible. It can be used forever and will never be exhausted.

天长 地久天地之所以能长且久者 以其不自生也 故能长生

The sky and earth have existed for so long. Why they are so long lasting is because they don’t selfishly live their own life but share with everything in the natural world. The symbiosis gave them longevity.

上善若水 水善利万物而不争 居众人之所恶 故几于道矣

The best quality has the characteristic of the water. Water provides benefits to all things but never competes with them for anything, and it absorbs everything that others discard. This characteristic is close to Dao.

生之 畜之 生而弗有 长而弗宰 是谓玄德

Dao created all things and nurtures them, but it doesn’t own or possess them. It raises them but not controls them. This kindness is called the Great Benevolence.

知其雄 守其雌 为天下溪 为天下溪 恒德不离 恒德不离 复归于婴儿

Knowing you have the strength of the male (masculine, hard-line, tough, energetic), but choose to behave like the female (feminine, soft, tolerance, calm), and act like the water stream of the world (provide benefit to all things, never compete with anything, and absorb all unwanted things). Acting like the water stream of the world, therefore the people are blessed with benevolence and return to the state of nonviolence like the baby.

柔弱胜刚强

Soft and defensive people can defeat hard and offensive aggressors.

天下有始 以为天下母

The world has a common beginning. It is the mother which produces everything in this world.

大邦者 下流也 天下之牝 天下之交也 牝恒以静胜牡 为其静也

Big country shall behave like the downstream of a river (receptive of all small rivers from the upstream). It shall act as the womb of the world (nurturing all things, helping everybody wherever possible), and the center for people of the world to meet and build diplomatic relations. Feminine behavior (soft, tolerance, and calm) is quiet but it is always better than masculine behavior (hard-line, tough, and energetic). Peace and quietness are much preferred by most people. (Being quiet and not meddling around will gain the trust of everybody as opposed to fear. Being quiet will conserve energy as opposed to restless moves that will exhaust one’s energy.)

我恒有三宝 持而保之 一曰慈 二曰俭 三曰不敢为天下先

I have three precious principles that I uphold diligently; the first is unconditional love for others (no expectation of any return); the second is thrifty, emotionally and financially (exercise moderation; resources are limited, so are affective energy; save the resources so that one can then share widely with more people); the third is dare not take the lead in the world. (Live a simple life. Lie low and not to portray oneself as the best person in the world who knows everything about everything and desire to be the supreme leader of everybody. Don’t be narcissistic.)

勇于敢者则杀 勇于不敢者则活 此两者 或利或害 天之所恶 孰知其故

Those who have the courage to dare take risks will get killed. Those who have the courage to dare-not take risks will live. These two types of courage, one will bring benefit while the other will bring detriment. The things that Nature hates, nobody knows what are the reasons.

人之生也柔弱 其死也亘坚强 万物草木之生也柔脆 其死也枯槁

故曰 坚强者 死之徒也 柔弱微细者 生之徒也

是以兵强则不胜 木强则折 强大居下 柔弱细微居上

Living humans are soft and weak. When we die, our bodies finally become stiff. All living plants are soft and crispy. When they die, they become rigid and degrading. Hence, it is said that the stiff belong to the group of death; (Those who are not flexible are not far from death.) The soft and fine belong to the group of lively. Therefore, using military might to threaten others will not win a war. (Military strength can win a hundred battles but not a war; retaliation or infighting for domination will follow. The regime will fall either way.) Wood which grows strong will break. (Hard tree will be felled by strong wind or a chopper.) Strong and domineering is undesirable. Soft and fine is highly venerated.

水之胜刚也 弱之胜强也 天下莫弗知也 而莫之能行也

Soft like water can be more superior to rigidity. Weak can be better than strong. (Being strong and arrogant to even dare to fight against the force of Nature will surely end up with dilapidation. Darwin’s Theory of Evolution or Natural Selection is not synonymous to “survival of the fittest” as suggested by Herbert Spencer. Survival is best guaranteed by running away from danger in the struggle for life. In this sense, the “fittest” is not the one which presumes itself to be strong enough to defeat everything, or in the best physical shape, but the one that is ready to adapt and live in harmony with the environment. Big trees are felled by hurricane but not the grass.) Nobody in the world doesn’t know this fact; but few can endeavor to practice the ideology.

正言若反

The truth and correct way sometimes looks opposite to common knowledge or mainstream teaching. This is because the real truth is extraordinary.

https://www.quora.com/Is-China-feminine-or-masculine

What is the purpose of this feminism? First of all, feminism is not only for the women but can be very useful and powerful for men. Masculine is the characteristic of Yang, while Feminine is the characteristic of Ying. Both Ying and Yang must exist in balance. The problem with the world is people put too much emphasis on the Yang but neglect the Ying. This has created an imbalance. Some so-called Feminist organizations advocate women to behave like men, do what men do, even to the extent of seeing men as inferiors or enemies. By making themselves like men, they become masculine (Yang) rather than feminine (Ying). It creates even more imbalance. Some other Feminist organizations advocate women to be brave and no shame in exposing their bodies and skins in the public. They make justifications to turn women into sexual objects, surrogate mothers, and legalization of prostitution. It basically downgrades women into lower beings than men; but they claim this is empowering the women to take ownership of their bodies and freedom. I wouldn’t want my daughter to be like this.

We must recognize there are inherent differences between men and women. However, we must refrain from making simplistic judgement that men are more superior than women, or the other way around. Instead, we must see reality as it is rather than what we want reality to be. Men are neither superior nor inferior to women. Men with Yang energy can cultivate their Ying energy to become better men or True Men (真人). Women with Ying energy can cultivate their Yang energy to become better women or True Women. True Men and True Women will still have differences and not become sexless. However, the differences need not be amplified. Men can become homemakers, and women can become career politicians or engineers. Men with virtue, equanimity and wisdom can become companions of women with similar virtue, equanimity and wisdom. Men or women who don’t cultivate themselves (or in the path of self-cultivation) are not worthy to be accepted as companions and they deserve to stay alone.

With the world having too much Yang energy than Ying energy, the society is always unstable. The purpose of promoting Daoist Feminism is to correct the imbalance for the benefits of everybody, men and women. Men are not saved until and unless women are saved. Masculinity makes people restless, egoistic, and like to create conflicts. The fires in the heart will cause a lot of suffering and people (men and women) will find no peace nor happiness. Imbalances make people unsatisfied and therefore have a lot of greed, hatred and delusions. If everybody behaves more like a mother than like a father, the world will become a new Heaven which is peaceful with no conflicts and wars.

By the way, Daoist feminism doesn’t mean creating a world with more Ying than Yang; which will cause another kind of imbalance. It simply tells us not to overlook the power of Ying energy. Water may seem soft and weak. You can’t possibly use a cup of water to extinguish a forest fire. However, water has a cohesive characteristic. When water in the form of tsunami (like people united on a common cause) hits, nothing can survive in its way.