​IB Exam Material

Taixi/t'ai-hsi: a meditation and contemplation technique; allows Taoists to hold their breath for long periods; called embryonic breathing because it imitates an infant breathing through the umbilical cord in its mother's womb

 

Tao: literally translated means "the way"; the eternal, unfaltering principle that underpins the universe; the unchanging source of order in the cosmos; the path that Taoists try to follow

 

Tao Te Ching: key text of Taoism complied around the 3rd century; pioneering texts that add to the ideas of qi and that the cosmos were populated by myriad deities; an essential guide to living a full spiritual and ethical life

 

Te: "the inner and outer power bestowed on each being by Tao, or all the qualities for action inherent in the nature of each being, which gives each being a way to maintain itself, to grow and flourish" (Julian Page); characteristics or features of the Tao

 

Ten Thousand Things: means "everything that exists"; various ways that the five elements can combine to produce the things on earth (humans, animals, trees); number is representative of infinity (infinite reality)

 

Three Jewels/Treasures: jing, qi, and shen, or essence, vitality, and spirit respectively; alternatively, the three things (compassion, moderation and humility) that Lao Tzu says are the key ethical guidelines of Taoist life

 

Wu-wei: cultivation of state of perfect, effortless alignment with the cycles of the natural world; practice of this is considered highest form of virtue; can be practiced within society and without

 

Yang: literally translated means "sunny side"; symbolically known as sunny side of mountain, or white side of traditional yin/yang symbol; positive, active, masculine part of nature

 

Yin: literally translated means "shady side"; symbolically known as shady side of mountain, or black side of traditional yin/yang symbol; negative, passive, feminine part of nature