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Lao Tzu is the key historical figure. Living sometimetime between the 6th and 2nd centuries B.C.E, he wrote the Tao Te Ching. A pretty cool book that stresses harmony and a paradoxical sense of control by letting go and being humble. It has some memorable lines like "yield you need not break" and a line that can be paraphrased as "be like water, close to the earth, always flowing, even when running into rocks by flowing around them." Taoism is sort of a counterpoint to Confucianism, which is a bit more focused on hierarchy and social obligation. The two, rather than collide, sort of complement each other. Kind of like there is a time for everything under the sun, a time to be an engaged Confucian, a time to be a more contemplative Taoist.

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17y ago

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