Daoism Explained — And Why It Is Unapplicable for Most People

Daoist philosophers like Laozi and Zhuangzi advocated being like an uncarved block of wood (pu) and avoiding entanglements in society and mundane affairs. Living like an uncarved block of wood (pu) is a rejection of living in a Confucian society, which claims that while people are born like uncarved wood, they need to be carved during development in order to be a contributing member of society.

It is commonly misunderstood that Daoism advocates for an anarcho-primitivist ideology, while instead they are radically anti-ideology. There are too many exaggerations and inconsistencies in Daoist texts to make up a coherent ideology.

Deeply ambiguous and ironic stories, and the exaggerations and inconsistencies present in various Daoist texts, makes assessing what living like an uncarved block of wood (pu) impossible without analyzing it through a historical lens. By comparing Daoist texts such as the Zhuangzi and Daodejing with the Confucian Mengzi, this essay will argue that Daoism is a reactionary philosophy against Confucianism.

Firstly, I will argue that living like an uncarved block of wood (pu) rejects the Confucian civilizing process. Then, I will explain how non-action (wuwei) is a form of protest by abstaining from participating in Confucian role-identification. Lastly, I will propose why despite taking the more nuanced and less radical interpretation of Daoism — that being a rejection of Confucian role-identification instead of an anarcho-primitivist ideology — it is still impossible to practice for a large majority of the human population.

A main element of Daoism is living like an uncarved block of wood (pu) or abstaining from being educated in a Confucian manner.

The story of Hundun is a prime example of the Daoist critique against Confucian social relations. As written in Zhuangzi:

Daoism rejects the act of giving Hundun a face, which is analogous to a humanizing civilization process. Hundun dies because he is not able to resist the imposition to integrate into human role-based society.

In this story, what is seen is the Emperors of the North and South trying to integrate Hundun into a role-relationship system, also common in traditional Chinese social relations, based on establishing dependency through gift-giving and hosting.

In Confucian society, no gift is ever only a gift, as it is expected that the receiver returns something to the giver in the future. The face in this story corresponds to the emotional identification with this role-relationship system, when the person starts to feel bad for not identifying with their role as a receiver, being expected to give back in the future according to their role.

“Non-action” (wuwei) is a form of protest by abstaining from participating in Confucian society.

As written in the Zhuangzi:

The Zhuangzi advocates for a radical non-acting (wuwei), specifically the refusal to take on a political role, after society has already been (dis-) “ordered” in a Confucian manner. Deliberate non-action means abstaining from participating in what Confucian society expects from them, such as working a high-prestige job that does not give the person joy apart from status elevation and material benefits.

Despite being a noble critique of Confucian society, Daoism can only be practiced by those already privileged.

Regardless of how committed Daoists are to rejecting societal norms, these attempts are possible only from a position of privilege. As John Powers wrote in his essays about Daoism:

In fact, he did not have to work as hard as women or racial minority groups to be a socially respectable member of society.

As written in a Confucian text, the Mengzi:

While Daoists argue against this distinction, their solution is to personally abstain from over-identifying with one’s role, but they do not do anything to the “savages” who are assigned the lowest role in society.

While Zhuangzi was given important positions all while avoiding attempts to make himself useful to society, those who devote their lives to doing society’s essential work — women with domestic work and childrearing, “savages” to do hard labor — would never be given any social recognition no matter how hard they work.

The Daodejing says:

By that definition, women and people of color who lack capital due to discriminatory property laws and does invisible domestic work and manual labor must be the ultimate sages. Yet, they are unhappy because their sagehood is not accompanied by respect that is normally given by default to men of the racial majority.

For instance, while Zhuangzi himself abstained from participating in prestigious positions in society, he was still venerated as a Daoist sage.

His wife, on the other hand, whose death was turned into a story about apathetically humming to the cycle of life and death, was never credited by him at all for doing the essential work that is pertinent for allowing him to have time to devote his life into philosophy instead of menial work.

Zhuangzi was able to follow the Dao instead of the role assigned to him by society because his wife took the latter instead.

Daoists propose that people should not over-identify with their societal roles. Yet, it is impossible for people in the lowest ranks of society to stop coming to exhausting work the next morning and expect to live without food for a week.

Daoists believe that the authentic person — stupid and unassuming — would live the best life because others would not bother this person for help. Yet, what happens in reality is that people take advantage of uneducated people and relegate them to doing forced labor.

Conclusion

This essay explored how living like an uncarved block of wood (pu) is an antithesis to subscribing to Confucian role-identification. It was also discussed how non-action (wuwei) involves rejecting participation in Confucian society despite wealth and prestige.

Nonetheless, even taking the best case interpretation of Daoist texts, I concluded that their principles are still difficult to apply for most people. More research needs to be conducted in accurate translations of Daoist texts and in interpreting Daoism through a historical lens, in order to avoid misunderstandings that weaken their philosophical arguments.