The profoundly fascinating Taoist philsophy.

My encounter with Taoism and Physics

         My first official encounter with Taoism can be traced back to 2018, when I just graduated from high school. Before then, I had little knowledge of Taoism - Tai-Chi was the most notable form of practice, but I had heard of mixed comments. During that summer before college, with the “try-it-myself” experimentalist mindset, I went out all the way to the Wudang Mountains (武当山) - where Taoism prospered for thousands of years - to figure it out for myself. There, I learned and practiced Tai-chi (三十六式 & 八段锦), standing post (Zhàn zhuāng 站桩), and meditation (打坐).

         Then my college life began at Harvey Mudd in Claremont, CA. With the college’s liberal arts atmosphere, I was exposed to various humanities and social science subjects. Meanwhile, in such environment, I was introduced to the fascinating world of physics even though I was already super passionate about biotechnology and life science. In the end, I decided to even pursue a major in physics as I found myself indulged in learning physics - I am completely fascianted by the beauty of the subject by seeing complicated systems to be “dictated” by simple neat formulas. Throughout these learning experience in physics and some religious courses that I have taken, I have observed some striking similarities between physics and Taoist ideas that originiated over 2000 years ago.

My current explorations

        I am currently reading Tao Te Ching (道德经). It has guided me through some difficult times in the past couple of years with its ancient wisdom. My favorite book on Tao Te Ching is edited by Prof. Guying Chen (陳鼓應), in which he compiled all major interpretations throughout the Chinese history and added some of his own comments. I am sure I will read this book many times throughout my life - I learned something new every time I revisited the book.

        Aside from Tao Te Ching, as a beginner, I have several Taoist writings on my reading list:

1. Hangdi Sijing 《黄帝四经》
2. Zhuangzi 《庄子》
3. I Ching 《易经》 - may not be regarded by all as a Taoist piece, but certainly interests me a lot

Some of my favourite quotes

        There are already a lot of comparisons between the eastern mysticism and modern sciences. Among them, the most famous is probably Fritjof Capra’s The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism. My personal experience has limited my interpretation of Tao Te Ching and other Taoist writings. Below are just some of my favourite quotes from Tao Te Ching. Some has fascinating connections with physics - for instance, with the parity violation measurement, which won the Nobel Prize in physics by Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang in 1957. I continue to be astonished by these ancient wisdom every time I read these lines.

1. 道可道，非常道；名可名，非常名。
2. 虚而不屈，动而逾出。Empty, yet it gives a supply that never fails; the more it worked, the more it brings forth. - Translated by 林语堂 Lin Yutang in 1948. Does this remind you of parity violation?
3. 知其雄，守其雌，为天下蹊。
4. 知人者智，自知者明。胜人者有力，自胜者强。知足者富，强行者有志，不失其所者久，死而不亡者寿。
5. 反者道之动，弱者道之用。天下万物生于有，有生于无。
6. 道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物。万物负阴而抱阳，冲气以为和。
7. 善为士者，不武；善战者，不怒；善胜敌者，不与；善用人者，为之下。是谓不争之德，是谓用人之力，是谓配天古之极。

License

Copyright 2022-present Dennis Wang.

Released under the MIT license.