Hike Part 4

 

 

 

 

Rachel is standing just outside the pagoda in front of the stairs we still had to climb to reach the top.

The second photo is halfway up, looking down at the pagoda.

Third photos is WE'RE THERE! 1,281 steps, plus a ramp incline that didn't have steps, plus a small bridge with steps! Yes, I counted them . . . wrote them down as we went along.

So where were we? I still don't really know. It wasn't a temple, but more of a "Poet's Corner." It had busts of famous teachers and poets in Chinese history.

The very first bust was of Lao Tzu (last photo), the supposed founder of Tao. I must admit that I don't know much about Taoism It is my understanding that it can be loosely defined as a religion, but is more commonly known as a philosophy. Lao Tzu wrote the famous "Book of Changes."

Here's a brief quote on Taoism:

"The founder of Taoism is believed by many religious historians to be Lao-Tse (604-531 BCE), whose life overlapped that of Confucius (551-479 BCE). (Alternative spellings: Lao Tze, Lao Tsu, Lao Tzu, Laozi, Laotze, etc.). However other historians suggest that he is a synthesis of a number of historical figures. Others suggest that he was a mythical figure. Still others suggest that he lived in the 4th century BCE.

"He was searching for a way that would avoid the constant feudal warfare and other conflicts that disrupted society during his lifetime. The result was his book: Tao-te-Ching (a.k.a. Daodejing). Others believe that he is a mythical character.

"Taoism started as a combination of psychology and philosophy but evolved into a religious faith in 440 CE when it was adopted as a state religion. At that time Lao-Tse became popularly venerated as a deity. Taoism, along with Buddhism and Confucianism, became one of the three great religions of China. With the end of the Ch'ing Dynasty in 1911, state support for Taoism ended. Much of the Taoist heritage was destroyed during the next period of warlordism. After the Communist victory in 1949, religious freedom was severely restricted. "The new government put monks to manual labor, confiscated temples, and plundered treasures. Several million monks were reduced to fewer than 50,000" by 1960. 3 During the cultural revolution in China from 1966 to 1976, much of the remaining Taoist heritage was destroyed. Some religious tolerance has been restored under Deng Xiao-ping from 1982 to the present time."

From http://www.religioustolerance.org/taoism.htm