Tao of Heaven Liberalism Discussion Series
Heaven Tea Talk Six: The Tao as the Goddess/Why isn’t There a God of Freedom?
Liu Jun Ning
Translated By: Selene Cong
Confucius: I have reread the sixth chapter of your book in preparation for our talk. Two things stood out especially: One is our conflicting opinions on the treatment of the different sexes; two is my confusion over why you gave the Goddess or even worse, women, such a high position in your philosophy. I seek the Tao of Heaven, not the Goddess. Can’t we separate the Tao of Heaven from the Goddess?
Lao Tzu: The way we see the role of women and men is as different as the heaven and earth. We’ll put aside the major disputes for later. I have a question of my own. Why do you elevate the status of the male to such an extreme while subjugate women into a position of absolute submission?
Confucius: I believe that women are inferior to men. All the wise kings, from the three emperors and five kings of the distant past to Kings Wen and Wu of our age, have been men. In the realm of philosophy, you’ll find men like you and me. Furthermore, was there even one woman out of my three thousand disciples?
Lao Tzu: I am not denying that there are many great men. At the same time, there are many great women. However, what puzzles me is that on one hand you think of the great men as omnipotent while on the other hand they are troubled and powerless when it comes to dealing with women. If you, a man of greatness, find it difficult to deal with women, how can we see the manifestation of the greatness of men?
Confucius: You just hit the nail right on the head! I have no idea how to deal women. I did say that it is most impossible to be with women and petty men. You can’t keep them too close but you can’t keep them away, either because life depends on them. It’s a great headache of mine! What do you think we should do? Should I worship women as goddesses?
Lao Tzu: Poor you with your bitterness! For the sake of our discussion, let’s call your paradox of not being able to live with or without women as the Confucian Dilemma! A great number of people share your view on women and are troubled by the Confucian Dilemma. The way to solve the Confucian Dilemma is to readjust your fundamental beliefs. Meanwhile, I am not saying that all women are Goddesses. Every woman perhaps has the essence of the Goddess. The difference is in the level of divinity they have. Perhaps all the women you have met are those with less divine essence or perhaps it is your always wanting to overcome softness with hardness that led to adverse effects. If you were like me and let go of the desire to overcome softness, perhaps your situation wouldn’t be so bad.
Confucius: I never thought of this. Please tell me more.
Lao Tzu: Because your way of handling the relationship between men and women is based on the belief that men are absolutely wiser than women, you believe women should submit to men completely. If the foundation of your philosophy were correct, there wouldn’t be a Confucian Dilemma. Conversely, if that foundation were erroneous, you would be tormented by the Confucian Dilemma. Not only do you believe that men are better than women, but you also believe that aggressiveness overcomes passivity, hardness overcomes softness, yang overcomes yin, male overcomes female, and heaven overcomes earth. Besides, even if you could prove that you are better than women, they may still not obey you and act as they wish. What if the women ignore your reasons?
Confucius: I do believe so. Those who are of less ability should obey those who are more able in human society. Women should submit to men, sons should submit to fathers, and citizens should submit to kings.
Lao Tzu: But I often see things opposite to your perceptions. At the very least, you underestimate the great invisible power hidden in what you perceive to the weak side. Therefore, when it comes to women, or when you encounter soft nails or soft forces, you become powerless yet still reluctant to admit so.
Confucius: I stand firmly with the former powers in the sets you mentioned above. You always say that the root of the Confucian Dilemma lies in my perception of the universe. I never thought of it this deeply.
Lao Tzu: If Freud were to analyze our argument, he would begin with the psychoanalysis associated with sex. There is truth to that approach. On a certain level, all human understandings of problems, especially political philosophy, are based on their own understanding of the problem between men and women. Your political philosophy and self-cultivation is based on the belief that men must be better than women. Therefore, you design a political system for the patriarchal sage fathers. But the problem of that system is that it can’t deal with the petty men and ultimately it will the highest ruler into a petty man. Your philosophy about self cultivation doesn’t know whether to keep women close or afar, and often leads to dangers in the harem. My beliefs are very different: In the relation sets of Yin and Yang, passivity and aggressiveness, and women and men, I tend to favor the former while you the latter. Because of the latter’s association with power, your philosophy has gained prominence and become the orthodox teaching while my school of teaching has been exiled to the wilderness.
Confucius: That’s a novel explanation. I’ll have to think about it. Let’s return to the problem we faced in the very beginning. What’s the relationship between the Goddess, sex, and the Tao of Heaven?
Lao Tzu: Since we both agree that heaven and men are connected, even that heaven and men are one, then I believe that the affairs between men and women are the same between heaven and earth. Let us observe the creation of all things from the point of the procreation of men, and understand Mother Earth from the point of the mother. On a certain level, we are observing the birth of the entire universe from the understanding of the reproductive power of the female, and this has lead to the idea of Tao. The relationship between Tao and all things is that of the “mother” and the “child.” The body of the female is the bridge between men and nature. The body of the mother transforms the lifeless into life. The Tao, water, and women are very similar. Cao Xue Qing (a prominent Chinese author) said, “women are made of water.” Men may understand that quote in terms of sexuality but I prefer to understand it on a higher level. They are all hollow, seemingly empty and without substance, but have the power to absorb and create. The Tao is empty, yin, gentle. Water is not empty but there is nothing you can’t place into water. This is why I prefer water, and to worship the Goddess and respect the Tao of Heaven. The respect for the Goddess and women can help us to understand the wonder and power of nature and its creations, and the power of yin and yang in the universe. I see the Goddess and women from the perspective of the birth of the universe, Tao of Heaven, and al things. When I see clearly, not only do I not dare to scorn them, but I also admire them. All lives are born of the mother. All things are created by the Tao of Heaven. All races and sexes are the offspring of the Goddess. All people of world worship the Goddess, taking Her as our ancestor, honoring Her as the Mother of all creation. You can find sculptures, statues, or paintings of the Goddess in every civilization. The depiction of the Goddess of each civilization is always voluptuous and full-bodied, symbolizing abundance and freedom. The Goddess is understood to be the messenger of the Tao of Heaven, carrying freedom and justice. I admire the Goddess because She is just like the Tao of Heaven.
Confucius: There are many goddesses in our civilization but invariably they all faded. Based on your explanation, I am partly to blame. I expressed my atheistic beliefs in the Analects, but it was only my personal belief. I didn’t think that the posterity would use the Analects to rule the world or even claim that one could rule the world with only half of the Analects.
Lao Tzu: In my opinion, there should be another sentence after that claim: Half of the Analects can ruin the world. After the Han Dynasty, every ruler has ruled based on the teachings of the Analects but both prosperity and poverty resulted. Therefore, the Analects can be credited with both. Of course, you can’t be responsible for everything. We can only be responsible for our own writings, not the effects of these thoughts.
Confucius: Thanks for your understanding. Even if we could find the similarity between Heaven and men from this angle, and reestablish the connection between men and Mother Earth, how could we see the inner power of the yin?
Lao Tzu: You know that the mysterious male and mysterious female are opposite. The mysterious male is exposed, fully shown, demonstrating its power of yang; it is extraverted and its erection and ostentation indicate its goal and direction of its action. Without a goal or action, it has no purpose. If its erection is supported by a goal and accompanied by action, then it cannot be peaceful. If it were peaceful, then the erection is useless, purposelessly shooting blanks, satisfying some self-delusions. When there is a goal, there is a purpose, and actions; with actions, there will be conflicts. The mysterious female is the opposite. It is concealed and hidden. Its powers are not seen, soft without bones but it may absorb the rigidity of the yang in its passivity. The result is wu-wei but can accomplish all (wu bu wei, literally not no acting). It defeats the soldiers without fighting. You worship the mysterious male because your value its power of expansion and shape, believing that hardness can overcome softness. Your philosophy of yang is still the foundation of mainstream political philosophy, believing one’s manhood can do everything, always using hardness, using force to convince others, and believe that one is born a ruler without asking the consent of the ruled, ignoring the power of softness. All the authoritarian rulers in history have used force, believing themselves to be omnipotent. Look at the result of that. The philosophy of yang is a political philosophy supporting authoritarian governments.
Confucius: So, we shouldn’t ignore the soft power of the mysterious female, and should instead worship it? Should we great men do that, too?
Lao Tzu: There are two complementary powers in the universe, nourishing each other. There is no winning and losing between the two. You see only one power in the universe. Even if you see the other, you refuse to acknowledge its power and instead believe that one side must surpass the other. The result is an imbalance between yin and yang, bringing an authoritarian patriarchal system of governing. My philosophy is attempting to restore the balance between yin and yang, reestablishing the peaceful and tolerant order of men and women supporting each other under the Tao of Heaven. My worship of the Goddess comes from my amazement of the soft power. I believe that not only should the women worship the Goddess, men should also worship Her. What would a country be without believing the Goddess? It’s a despotic nation! What would an age be without believing the Goddess? It’s an age of absolute control. I can’t image any dictator would hold the Goddess of Liberty in his heart. There’s a famous painting about the Goddess Liberty leading the people. It seems that both men and women are willing to accept the leadership of the Goddess of Liberty. If it were a God of Liberty, many men would be unwilling to accept Him. Therefore, I have never heard of a God of Liberty or God of Justice. Rulers must honor the Goddess especially. The free men must follow the Goddess of Liberty!
Confucius: Are you arguing that China needs a Goddess of the Valley, who may create freedom and justice, transforming the Tao of Heaven into a government of justice, liberty, and harmony?
Lao Tzu: You may understand it this way. The respect of the Goddess carries deep meaning in political philosophy. If we are all offspring of the Goddess, it means that we are all born equal, free, independent, and enjoying the inalienable rights to life, property, and the pursuit of happiness. If we worship the Goddess and honoring the Tao of Heaven, then we should oppose the use of rigidity, hardness, force, and violence to solve problems. If you respect the Goddess, you’ll have a new understanding of your life, your world, your confidence, and your future.
Confucius: (Murmuring to himself) Why isn’t there a God of Freedom or a God of Justice?
Tao of Heaven Chapter Six:
The valley spirit dies not, aye the same;
The female mystery thus do we name.
Its gate, from which at first they issued forth,
Is called the root from which grew heaven and earth.
Long and unbroken does its power remain,
Used gently, and without the touch of pain. (J. Legge Translation)
The Tao that has created all things in the world and the Goddess who has created humanity are eternal. The Tao of Heaven is like a mysterious mother. Her creative power is endless and can never be exhausted.
