page_title: Taoism
section_title: Tao and Te
hierarchical_section_title: Taoism / Doctrines / Ethics / Tao and Te
caption_attribution_description: English: Xian'guting taoist temple in Weihai, Shandong province, ChinaFrançais&#160;: Temple taoiste de Xian'gu ting, à Weihai, province du Shandong, Chine.中文: 仙姑顶的道教观，在威海市山东省，中国。
context_page_description: Taoism, or Daoism, is a philosophical tradition of Chinese origin which emphasises living in harmony with the Tao. The Tao is a fundamental idea in most Chinese philosophical schools; in Taoism, however, it denotes the principle that is the source, pattern and substance of everything that exists. Taoism differs from Confucianism by not emphasising rigid rituals and social order, but is similar in the sense that it is a teaching about the various disciplines for achieving "perfection" by becoming one with the unplanned rhythms of the universe called "the way" or "tao". Taoist ethics vary depending on the particular school, but in general tend to emphasise wu wei, "naturalness", simplicity, spontaneity, and the Three Treasures: 慈 "compassion", 儉 "frugality", and 不敢為天下先 "humility".
  The roots of Taoism go back at least to the 4th century BCE. Early Taoism drew its cosmological notions from the School of Yinyang, and was deeply influenced by one of the oldest texts of Chinese culture, the I Ching, which expounds a philosophical system about how to keep human behaviour in accordance with the alternating cycles of nature.
context_section_description: Tao (道; dào) literally means "way", but can also be interpreted as road, channel, path, doctrine, or line. In Taoism, it is "the One, which is natural, spontaneous, eternal, nameless, and indescribable. It is at once the beginning of all things and the way in which all things pursue their course." It has variously been denoted as the "flow of the universe", a "conceptually necessary ontological ground", or a demonstration of nature. The Tao also is something that individuals can find immanent in themselves.
  The active expression of Tao is called Te (also spelled—and pronounced—De, or even Teh; often translated with Virtue or Power; 德; dé), in a sense that Te results from an individual living and cultivating the Tao.
caption: Xianguting Temple, a Taoguan in Weihai, Shandong, China
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