Skip to main content

Life, Death and End-of-Life Care: Taoist Perspective

  • Chapter
Bioethics: Asian Perspectives

Part of the book series: Philosophy and Medicine ((ASBP,volume 80))

Abstract

In Chinese traditional philosophy, Taoists advocate “following nature” (fa zi ran) and claim that “coming into life and going out of death” (chu sheng ru si) are nothing more than a natural change. The view of considering life and death as day and night, waking and dreaming, provides an intellectual foundation for end-of-life care. In this paper we argue that the acceptance of the Taoist perspective on life and death will help dying people reach the end of life’s journey and come up to the expectation of, and pursuit for, a good end with peace and dignity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

Chinese Classics

  • Analects of Confucius. See Selected Readings on Chinese Philosophy,Book Pre-Qin Dynasty. Beijing: Chinese Bookstore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laozi. See Selected Readings on Chinese Philosophy,Book Pre-Qin Dynasty. Beijing: Chinese Bookstore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhuangzi. See Selected Readings on Chinese Philosophy,Book Pre-Qin Dynasty. Beijing: Chinese Bookstore.

    Google Scholar 

Modem Publications

  • Chan, W.-T. (1973). A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cui, Y.-T. (1992). ‘Chinese attitude towards death and dying,’ Proceedings of the First International East-West Symposium on End-of-Life Care, Tianjin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ge, R.-J. (1991). Taoist Culture and Modern Civilization. Beijing: Chinese People’s University Press. Jiao, D.-Y., & Cui, Y.-T. (1992). ‘Psychological stages of dying patients and their treatment,’ Proceedings of the First International East-West Symposium on End-of- Life Care, Tianjin. Kübler-Ross, E. (1969). On Death and Dying. London: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, T. (1996). Notes of a Biologist Observer, S.-M. Liu (Trans.). Changsha, Hunan: Human Press of Science & Technology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, M.-X. (1992). ‘On care for patients in end-of-life care,’ Proceedings of the First International East-West Symposium on End-of-Life Care, Tianjin.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2003 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Dong, P., Wang, XY. (2003). Life, Death and End-of-Life Care: Taoist Perspective. In: Qiu, RZ. (eds) Bioethics: Asian Perspectives. Philosophy and Medicine, vol 80. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0419-9_14

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0419-9_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-6509-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-0419-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics