Daoism Socratic Seminar

Directions: Contained in the IB command prompts below are eight ideas related to Daoism from the periodof the Warring States to today. Six of these eight command prompts will appear for discussion in our Socratic Seminar. However, since the class will be split into two groups, each of you will only be speaking about three of these, though you must prepare for all eight [insert a Doran-esque maniacal, gloating laugh here #schadenfreude] . While you can root you information in anything we have discussed, you must make direct and specific reference to the texts assigned for the Socratic Seminar to receive a high mark on this 50-point culminating assessment. The texts, with page number from The Norton Anthology of World Religion vol. 1, are:

fromThe Book of Master Zhuang(pp. 1538-1545);

from“The Old Man by the River Commentary” (pp. 1580-1581);

fromThe Wondrous Scripture of the Upper Chapters of Limitless Salvation—according to the school of the

Celestial Masters(pp. 1733-1739);

fromRegulations for the Acceptance and Cultivation of Daoism… (pp. 1810-1813);

“A Taste of Immortality”—according to the school of Complete Perfection (pp. 2027-2032);

excerpt from The Dao of Physics (pp. 2142-2149)

“Daoism today” by L. Kohn found on my website

Prepare for the following command prompts on this assessment:

•Define, in detail and your own words, the Dao. Compare and contrast, and examine the variety of definitions put out by your peers, Daoist scripture and accompanying commentary. Evaluate the variety of answers.

  • Explain Zhuangzi’s commentary on humans and human nature. Analyze what the introduction and reaction to Confucius brings to the understanding of Daoism. To what extent does Zhuangzi understand the limitations of Classical Daoism?
  • Evaluate the commentary of the “Old Man by the river.” To what extent is his commentary and understanding of Daoism not representative of the many ideas of the religion?
  • Examine & Evaluate this quote from The Wondrous Scripture of the Upper Chapters of Limitless Salvation:

“As the multitude of Perfected attended his throne, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Commencement sat suspended in the air floating about the pentachromatic lion. When he spoke the scripture through for the first time, all the assembled great Sages voiced their approval. At once all those in the kingdom afflicted with deafness, both male and female, were able to hear again. When he expounded the scripture a second time, the eyes of the blind were open to the light. When he expounded the scripture a third time, the mute were able to speak.… When he expounded the scripture for the eighth time, wives became pregnant… not only were those already born made whole, but the unborn as well came whole into life…. At once the whole kingdom, both male and female, inclined their heart to the Dao. All received protection and salvation. All achieved long life.”

  • Comment on the nature and importance of death and the afterlife within both Classical and Folk Daoism. Compare and contrast Daoist ideas about death with those in other religions. Deduce how an understanding of the afterlife reflects Daoist ideas about the human condition and the key concept of the Dao.
  • Investigate the use of internal and external elixirs within both the school of Celestial Masters/Orthodox Unity and the school of Complete Perfection. To what extend do these and other differences between the schools make Daoism into a complete religion?
  • To what extent can we combine the idea of external alchemy and Elixirs along with other Eastern ideas about the human body and medicine with our understanding of multiple types of modern sciences? Justify the importance of this idea to an understanding of both religion and science.
  • Examine the role of fate and destiny within context of Daoism and your understanding of the Dao.