Understanding Chinese Culture in Relation to Tao

By Khoo Boo Eng

Understanding Chinese Culture in Relation to Tao, will provide the reader, in a simple easy to understand language an insight of how Taoism is incorporated into the Chinese culture over thousands of years.
The concept of feng-shui, geography, astrology, Yin-Yang, rituals and the way to pray in Taoism, will be illustrated in the Chinese culture through the life process of birth, marriage and death of an individual. Every aspect of the life process, no matter how simple it may be, will involve Tao concepts.
An individual who is not familiar with Taoism will be able to understand the processes and procedures of each ritual using the building blocks of Taoism. This book will provide an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the rich culture and traditions of Taoism.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: Nov 23, 2019
• ISBN: 9781543755145

Khoo Boo Eng

The author has already written two books on Taoism. They are 1) A Simple Approach to Taoism – of Gods and Deities 2) A Simple Approach to Taoism – Festivals, Worship and Rituals. The books are now internationally recognized. They were exhibited in the International Book Exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany and in London, United Kingdom.

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ISBN

978-1-5437-5513-8 (sc)

978-1-5437-5515-2 (hc)

978-1-5437-5514-5 (e)

11/22/2019

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Contents

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

The Chinese Zodiac

The Chinese Zodiac Signs and Time

The Great Race

The Order of the Animals in the Zodiac

Some of the Important Animals Strongly Associated with the Chinese Culture

The Tiger

The Snake

The Dragon

Vermilion Bird (Phoenix)

The Tortoise

Chinese Birth Rituals

Full Month Celebration

Elder’s Birthday

Deities of Childbirth

Traditional Chinese Wedding

The Tea Ceremony

Tao Procedure

Ghost Wedding

Death

The Funeral Process

Burial

Deities Associated with Death

Conclusion

Bibliography

Acknowledgements

About the Author

FOREWORD

I congratulate Mr Khoo Boo Eng for his effort in being able to come out with his third book on Taoism. There are not many books on Taoism written in the English language especially in this part of the world.

The commendable point of this book is that he has taken the trouble to present in a reader-friendly language the details of the rites, rituals, and procedures of the events in the life process of birth, marriage, and death of an individual. He has illustrated the concepts and traditional rites of Taoism which have been incorporated into the Chinese culture. To do this, he has travelled to the Far East—China, Taiwan, and South-East Asia—on many occasions for his research work. Mr Khoo is an English-educated Chinese intellectual residing in Penang, Malaysia.

His two other books on Taoism, A Simple Approach to Taoism – Of Gods and Deities and A Simple Approach to Taoism – Festivals, Worship, and Rituals, are now internationally recognised.

What initially sparked Mr Khoo’s desire to write books on Taoism was that most of the Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese remain in a state of ignorance as they practise without understanding the true Taoist faith and its traditions. He hopes the book will serve to inform and propagate Taoism.

The pace of propagation of Taoism to the rest of the world is sadly slow even though Taoism is one of the five major religions in the world. Taoist scriptures that have been translated into other languages are but few, unlike Buddhism and Christianity. One of the reasons is the knowledge of Taoism has a spectrum of diverse and not easily comprehensible subjects such as astrology, nature medicine, fortune telling, and feng shui. In fact, Taoism is a few thousand years old with its practices entrenched since the beginning of civilisation.

Mr Khoo Boo Eng’s writing is clear, articulate, and precise, which is readable and interesting. Through his quest for Tao knowledge and a strong sense of mission, he has been ordained as a Taoist in one of the temples in Taiwan. He is also a student of a few Taoist masters in China and Taiwan.

I am indeed very honoured to write the foreword for this book and hope more and more people will be able to learn, practice, and preserve the intricate culture of Taoism through this book.

Ooi Kok Chuan

Chairman, Jing Ming Taoism Association of Malaysia

PREFACE

Until today, Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese do not really differentiate whether they are Buddhist or Taoist, i.e., if they are non-Christian or belonging to other religions. More often than not, the majority of these Chinese population (non-Christians) will practice some form of Tao worship and rituals in their ceremonies for childbirth, marriage, and death (funeral). This is very obvious especially during funeral services. One may find Buddhist priests rendering Buddhist prayers and also Tao rituals being performed.

One of the reasons is that in their identification documents such as birth certificate or identity card under the item Religion, ‘Taoist’ does not appear. Every non-Christian Chinese would be assumed as Buddhist.

With this book, it is hoped a better understanding of the ways of Taoism will be made available to the English-speaking community of the population of East Asia, in particular, South-East Asia.

The book will elaborate on the various Tao rituals and worship during ceremonies of birth, marriage, and death of an individual and the deities related to the various ceremonies.

I hope this will help an individual, especially Chinese, to understand better his cultural roots. At the same time, it is hoped that the book will create efforts of fostering better interreligious understanding among the various races of the region.

Khoo Boo Eng

Penang, Malaysia

INTRODUCTION

Taoism is one of the pillars of traditional Chinese culture apart from Confucianism and Buddhism. To understand Chinese culture, customs, values, and the way of life, one has to accept these ‘Three Teachings’ as they are commonly called. Among the three, Taoism is the only indigenous religious tradition which emerged from ancient China. Confucianism is not an organised religion. It addresses matters of government and social behaviour. Buddhism came in later. Buddhism provides an elaborate cosmology, a theory of life and death, and a structured priesthood.

From the earliest native religious beliefs, Taoism has embodied a synthesis of traditional Chinese culture. It has been in the very soul of the Chinese, taking control of the way of life and thought of the common people. This may no longer be applied today in China and South-East Asia. But given the fact that Taoism had such powerful influence in the culture in the past, its continuous influence as perpetuated by the force of culture, should not be underestimated. Hence, we still see some of these cultural practices being performed in childbirth, marriage, birthdays, or funerals in East and South-East Asia.

Taoism is complex. Over the years, it has assimilated tremendous external elements. However, it was also able to internalise and transform them into its own and distinctively Chinese. It became an organised religion towards the end of the Han Dynasty (206 BC–AD 220), integrating native religious traditions, ancient mythology beliefs, traditional medical arts,