“If Humans Are Free of Disease, Then Tian Is Free of Disease”: Ecological Civilization and the Daoist Concept of Gongsheng

Abstract

This chapter explores the relationship between the idea of gongsheng 共生 (symbiosis, joint transformation, or co-creation) in the Scripture on Great Peace (Taiping Jing 太平经) and the construction of an ecological civilization. The emergence of the Taiping Jing was a result of frequent disasters and hardship in ancient China. This prompted tian to deliver the scripture to relieve mankind of the disasters. The Taiping Jing provides a plethora of ideas, as well as concrete actions, including the notion of gongsheng which is mentioned frequently. This rich concept includes gongsheng within the individual, between humans and the myriad things, within society, and between humans and tian. Understanding gongsheng allows us to apply it to modern society, thus enabling more dialogue between these concepts and current global issues, as well as with contemporary trends of thought, for the benefit of establishing environmental ethics.

Ecology as a field of study was founded in 1886 by German biologist E. Haeckel. Initially, the study of ecology focused on the relationship between animals and their organic and inorganic environments. Modern ecology, however, has recognized that human activity is another variable that impacts the environment and, as a result, environmental and developmental concerns have been introduced from the natural world into human society. Geologists even advocate for setting the year 1945, when the first atomic bomb exploded, as the beginning of the “Anthropocene,” as this marks the start of human activity’s influence on the evolutionary direction of the earth.¹ The study of ecology is also increasingly concerned with religion as an important phenomenon in human society. The act of damaging the environment is related to, and even supported by, certain beliefs. Which actions people take toward the environment depends on their beliefs about the relationship between human beings and their environments. When it comes to nature, society, and the supernatural, cultural inertia—as culture is inherited from generation to generation—has led to certain predetermined ideas about the world and about humanity. These ideas are predominantly the result of religion and faith. If people want to change their behavior, they must first change their beliefs. Thus, we need to further our understanding not only of the earth but also of the systems of human knowledge. Unearthing an environmental outlook within religion requires a re-examination and re-interpretation of religious perspectives on the world, humanity, and nature. It also requires us to give free rein to the ability of religion to influence society, in order to guide human behavior toward a more symbiotic relationship with the environment. In the current trend toward “greening” religion, Daoism’s position on the relationship between humans and nature has also received significant attention. I will try to explain that there are ideas worth exploring in traditional cultures, including Daoism, for the benefit of constructing ecological civilization and establishing environmental ethics.

The Taiping Jing is a classical Daoist text from the Han Dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE). It consists of ten parts, with each part totaling 70 chapters and titled with one of the Heavenly Stems: Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, and Gui. According to the Xiangkai Zhuan 襄楷传 (“Commentaries of Xiangkai”), there were a total of 170 chapters.² The content of the Taiping Jing was numerous and disorderly, but it had a self-contained structure. Later Daoist teachings, no matter what sect, have all been influenced by this book. Thus, it is dubbed as “the first Daoist classic.” A significant amount of the original Taiping Jing has been lost over the years; all that remains now are 57 volumes preserved in the Zhengtong Daozang 正统道藏 (Daoist Canon) as well as excerpts in the abridged Taiping Jing Chao 太平经钞 (Excerpts from the Scripture of Great Peace) compiled in the Tang Dynasty. Wang Ming 王明 (1911–1992) tried to restore the text to its original form through cross-checking the remaining volumes of the Taiping Jing against the Taiping Jing Chao and 27 other sources, as well as reconstructing and supplementing the text, among other methodologies. His efforts were published in 1960 by the Zhonghua Book Company under the title Taiping Jing Hejiao 太平经合校 (“Collated Teachings of the Scripture of Great Peace”). Wang's dating of and research into the Taiping Jing is the most critical achievement in the study of the history of Daoism, and it provides an important historical basis for research into the history of Daoism and Daoist thought. His pioneering masterpiece is a hallmark achievement in the creation of modern Daoist studies. It also earned Wang the title of “pioneer in the field of Daoist cultural research” by compiling the Taiping Jing. This article explores the relationship between the traditional Daoist concept of gongsheng 共生 (symbiosis, joint transformation, or creation) and modern ecological civilization through the Taiping Jing. The quotes in this article are taken from Wang’s collated Taiping Jing Hejiao.

“Eliminating Disasters,” “Chengfu” 承负 (Inheritance or Reception and Transmission), and “Gongsheng” in the Taiping Jing

The emergence of the Taiping Jing was a result of frequent disasters and hardship during the time of its compilation. The text describes the situation as follows:

Disasters and pestilence are spreading everywhere...there is war, epidemic, floods, and drought, alternately competing with each other to bring catastrophe...the seven planets have deviated from their normal orbit, and tian, earth, and man are acting strangely, bizarre and unfounded rumors are circulating all around. Celestial beings and ghosts are attacking each other, while man, beast, and plant are destitute and dying. Calamities come one after the other. If the common people don’t realize what is happening, then they don’t repent or mend their ways, and innumerable poisonous thoughts freely circulate, simply too many to count...There are four great evils: disasters of war, disease, flood, and drought...In the time of Yao, there was a great flood. From then until the time of Shang Tang, there was another serious drought, and after that there were local floods and droughts everywhere. This was still solely a result of the common people’s serious crimes...Disease, like a poisonous gas, spread out before them [evil doers], and war and drought writhed under their feet, flood waters spread unchecked, flowing in all directions, and evil doers sunk one by one into its depths.³

These myriad disasters were not unexpected but were rather the result of an accumulation of various errors and misdeeds by generations of people. As described in Chapter 48, “An Explanation of the Reception and Transmission [of Evil] in Five Situations” of the Taiping Jing, “natural calamities and disasters occur by the ten thousand, impossible to record. Their causes have been added one to the other over a long time, again and again.”⁴ In the Taiping Jing, this phenomenon of accumulation is called chengfu 承负 (reception and transmission). Chengfu is a unique concept in Daoist teachings. In the Yi Jing 易经 (Book of Changes), there is a notion that “the family that regularly performs good deeds will be rewarded, while calamity will befall a family that regularly performs evil deeds.” The Taiping Jing developed this idea into the Daoist concept of chengfu, it states:

Cheng (reception or inheritance) refers to what comes before, and transmission refers to what comes afterwards. Cheng explains that the older generation originally inherited tian’s purpose and followed it in all they did, but they gradually deviated from tian’s original intentions without knowing it themselves. As time went on, the people went through a lot together. Now, later generations are innocently suffering from previous generations’ errors and misdeeds. And they continue this cycle, having endured calamities brought upon them. Therefore, what happens before is the inheritance, and what happens afterwards is the transmission. Transmission refers to the disasters that have befallen the people but are not caused by one person’s despotic rule. It is connected to unrest, which is passed back and forth between the generations, which is why it is called transmission. Transmission refers to the punishments and disasters left to later generations by their ancestors.⁵

The concept of chengfu describes how the errors and misdeeds of previous generations, when built up significantly over time, cause the suffering of later generations and how, conversely, later generations are protected by the good deeds of their ancestors. This is the meaning of cheng. Meanwhile, fu refers to the positive or negative impact that the accumulated good or bad deeds of one generation have on the next. The Taiping Jing talks about a ten-generation cycle of chengfu, meaning that an individual will inherit from the previous five generations and transmit to the next five generations, “because we repeat the past and pass it on to the next generation, that is inherited for five generations. One small cycle is ten generations, and then it becomes recursive.”⁶ That is to say, the behavior of one person, whether it be good or evil, not only affects the individual but is also passed on to future generations. One person’s behavior can, in fact, influence around ten generations. However, if a person’s behavior is exemplary, they will not be affected by the mistakes of their ancestors, and if a person has committed heinous crimes, these crimes cannot be offset by their ancestors’ merits and will be passed down to the next generations. In this case, the person cannot escape punishment by luck, “for example, if a mother and father completely lose their sense of morality and commit crimes in the neighborhood, any children or grandchildren that are then born will be targeted by the neighborhood. This explains how punishments are inherited and transmitted.”⁷ The standards of personal behavior put forward by the concept of inheritance and transmission are quite strict. Individuals must be highly responsible for their own behavior or risk impacting many generations to come.

The emergence of the Taiping Jing was a result of the brutal consequences of inheritance and transmission that humanity had to endure. This prompted tian to deliver the Taiping Jing to relieve mankind of the disasters brought about through inheritance and transmission. “Nowadays [tian] makes use of these writings in order to abolish natural calamities and other harmful events.”⁸ The purpose of the Taiping Jing is:

For tian to release the inheritance and transmission of hatred, to remove the misfortunes of august earth, to relieve the suffering of emperors and kings, to forgive the wrongdoings of common people, and to liberate the mistakes of twelve thousand things.⁹

Only when humanity can cast aside chengfu can great peace be realized upon the earth. The word taiping 太平 (great peace) from the title of the Taiping Jing has a particular meaning. The text explains it as follows:

Great peace means nothing is suffering, that is the qi of great peace that we speak of. Nothing in the myriad things is suffering harm or loss, everything has reached its own natural state of being, therefore there is peace. If a plant or animal is suffering, then that is not peace.¹⁰

Laozi once advocated, “Treat well those who are good, also treat well those who are not good,”¹¹ and,

Verse

Verse …that the sages in being really good at turning others to account; Have no need to reject anyone, And in dealing with [things], Have no need to reject anything.”Footnote

Ames & Hall, “Chapter 27,” in Dao De Jing (New York: Ballantine Books, 2003), 119.

Great peace can only be attained when no man or beast is suffering. The broad social concern inherent in the Taiping Jing has contemporary significance. In modern society, no man is an island but rather is part of a wider community. If one person is suffering, the wider community suffers.

Only when chengfu is cast aside can humanity truly care for the natural world. On this front, the Taiping Jing provides a plethora of ideas, as well as concrete actions, including the notion of gongsheng. As an important concept in the Taiping Jing, the word gongsheng is mentioned more than 50 times, making it a so-called “high frequency word.” For example:

Now the body and the strength of this spirit-like man who bends qi are the same as that of primordial qi. In unison with the four seasons and five phases, he brings forth life (gongsheng).¹³

[When gongsheng leads to harmony] three beings in agreement stay with each other forever, combining their efforts and being of the same mind, they fulfill one joint task, achieving one common objective. It would be disastrous if one [of the three] were amiss.¹⁴

When the original qi and nature were joyful, they merged into one being and together co-create tian and earth. When tian and earth are full of joy, then yin and yang are harmonious and in accord with each other, and there is good weather for crops. When there is good weather for crops, then the twelve thousand plants and beings can be brought forth.¹⁵

The gongsheng mentioned in the Taiping Jing is not only used as a noun, for example in “when the process of gongsheng is in harmony, three beings often cooperate with each other,” but also as a verb, for example in “co-create tian and earth” and “co-create twelve thousand plants and beings.” The concept of gongsheng can provide an intellectual foundation for today’s initiative of constructing an ecological civilization. The rest of this paper analyses this proposal on four different levels.

“To Love Others, You Must First Love Yourself”—Gongsheng Within Oneself

The concept of holism in ecology proposes that each level in a hierarchical system has certain emergent properties that are not present in the lower levels. These emergent properties are not a simple summation of the properties of the parts at the lower levels but appear when the parts of the lower levels are combined in a specific way. An ecosystem is a functional entity organized according to a defined structure composed of interconnected and interacting parts. Holism requires that when researching aspects at different levels, the objects of research must be treated as an ecological entity in themselves. The significance and value of an individual entity are evident, when it appears as part of a complete ecological community; an individual entity can only be said to exist in and of itself when it is acting as an integral part of the whole system. The crucial point here is that the emphasis is placed on the significance of the whole system. However, when it comes to environmental protection, if we only emphasize the whole and reduce the value and significance of the individual, the role of the individual is greatly reduced. Both the Daoist school of thoughts and the Daoist religion believe that there is a powerful and ubiquitous group consciousness that obstructs an individual’s natural instincts. Excessive emphasis on this group consciousness, at the expense of the individual, will disconnect us from our natural instincts. This is one of the interpretations of the Daoist idea of fanpu guizhen 返璞归真 (returning to nature), that we need to keep trying to establish an independent, individual consciousness. The Taiping Jing states that:

A man can only nourish others when he can thoroughly nourish his own person. A man can only cherish others when he can truly cherish himself. If someone having a body were to neglect it, how should he, unable to nourish his own person, be capable of nourishing someone else well? If he were not able to keep his own body intact by truly cherishing it in order to carefully safeguard the ancestral line, how could he take care of others and keep them intact?¹⁶

One’s own body and mind being in a state of gongsheng is the foundation for achieving this state in relation to others and to the natural world. When comparing fame, wealth, and the body, Laozi puts the body first. By pointing out, “Your fame or your person [body] – which is dearer to you? Your person [body] or your property – which is worth more?”,¹⁷ Laozi emphasizes that the body is more important than “reputation” or “goods.” He states: “Cultivate it in your person [body], and the character you develop will be genuine.”¹⁸ “When a man puts more emphasis on caring for his body than on caring for all under Heaven [tian], then all under [tian] can be entrusted to him. When a man is sparing of his body in caring for all under [tian], then all under [tian] can be delivered to him.”¹⁹ According to Laozi, the most genuine and valuable way to live is to start from the body. Zhuangzi said that “your two arms are of more value to you than the whole kingdom.”²⁰ This is because the arm or the body is primordial, primary, natural. The body is based in reality and its authenticity is tangible. It needs no further proof; it is self-evident. Rights relating to the body are more important than other derived rights; they cannot be arbitrarily revoked. “Human existence means a life lived in the current moment, which is concrete and individual, and which it is impossible to conceptualize, rationalize, standardize, or objectify in a scientific way.”²¹

The physical training involved in the Daoist concept “returning to the source” is actually about moving to a higher plane of existence, and the essence of this pursuit is a type of transformation of one’s own personality. Psychoanalyst Karl Jung also pointed out that: “The secret of alchemy is to achieve the transformation of personality through the harmony and fusion of noble and base elements…through the fusion of consciousness and unconsciousness.”²² Throughout his life, Jung was constantly reminding humans—the only beings with consciousness—to remember their responsibility and moral obligation to self-transformation. No matter if you are talking about relations between individuals, within societies, or even globally, self-obsession is at the root of all conflict and war. Acts of kindness, compassion, and generosity toward others can lead to real and lasting happiness and fulfillment. The concept of chengfu in the Taiping Jing tells us how the accumulated mistakes of each individual can have a huge impact on the whole of society, as well as the era in which they live. When people encounter setbacks, they don't fully consider their own shortcomings; instead, they blame tian for the injustice and others for their immorality. Conversely, this leads to further mistakes and increases the burden of chengfu on the whole of society:

It is not just the mistake of tian, earth, or the sovereign if the conduct of affairs is not well coordinated. Blame lies also with the common people, every person has committed errors, which are increasing as they are inherited and passed on. It all comes from not sticking to what is essential.²³

Environmental problems, such as ecological imbalance, climate change, soil erosion, air pollution, soil pollution, water pollution, and rapid species decline, are not the fault of tian, but the fault of every individual. Humans are currently over-consuming natural resources, and the world is being overwhelmed by non-degradable waste products. This is not just the case for the environment but is also the case for our minds and our internal worlds, which determine how happy we are. Correct action comes from correct thinking. The Taiping Jing states that if you cannot create a state of gongsheng within yourself, if you do not start with self-healing and self-transformation, then you cannot achieve a state of gongsheng with the world. You cannot rehabilitate or change the world.

“We Speak of ‘Rich’ When There Is Sufficient Supply”—Gongsheng Between Humans and the Myriad Things

It is human nature to pursue wealth. Daoism is closely aligned with the hearts and minds of the people, and it respects this aspect of human nature. Within Daoist theogony, there are many gods of wealth blessing those in their pursuit of riches, this includes Zhao Gongming 赵公明, Bi Gan 比干, the Wencai Shen (Civil God of Wealth), Guan Yu 关羽, the Wucai Shen (Military God of Wealth), and the Wulu caishen 五路财神 (“Five Road” Gods of Wealth), to name but a few. There are also Daoist fulu 符箓 (talisman) used to “usher in wealth and prosperity,” as well as rites or rituals focused on “receiving the Gods of Wealth.” The Daoist Gods of Wealth are known for their fairness, justice, and integrity. Daoism encourages individuals to pursue and create wealth in a fair, lawful, and reasonable way.

Another Daoist perspective on wealth that is also worth mentioning here is the notion of tian-earth wealth. That is to say, Daoism uses species population as a differentiator between rich and poor, which is very significant for the field of ecology. The Taiping Jing says:

The ‘rich’ that can be spoken of is when there is sufficient supply. Tian provides enough wealth by making everything grow; therefore, when supreme majestic qi arises and all twelve thousand plants and beings are brought to life, this is called ‘enough wealth.’ Medium majestic qi cannot provide for all twelve thousand plants and beings and they become slightly deficient, which is small poverty. When under the influence of lower majestic qi, plants and beings are again fewer than under the influence of medium majestic qi, and this causes great poverty. When there are no auspicious portents [signifying the approach of majestic qi] at all, the crops won’t grow, which is extreme poverty…If one single item is lacking, [supplies] are incomplete.²⁴

According to Daoism, true wealth comes from a diversity and abundance of living and non-living things. It requires all of the myriad things to be complete. In Daoism, the loss or extinction of living things, especially the mass extinction of species, is regarded as poverty of tian and earth. The Taiping Jing states:

If one living thing is not born, then that is like the extinction of a whole species. If the population is large then many will become extinct, if their population is small then less will become extinct. One knows whether the system of tian has been harmed by the number of living things.²⁵

If one thing is not provided with enough supply, then the Dao of tian will be incomplete.²⁶

In other words, the extinction of a species is the extinction of a system, and the extinction of any species will damage the “system of tian” (tiantong 天统) meaning that the “Dao of tian” (tiandao 天道) will no longer be perfect. The Daoist explanation for this is that if we intentionally harm living things, bringing them to the point of extinction, the whole of the myriad things will harbor a gross injustice. This pent-up resentment will block the flow of qi or “energy” in the universe, impacting all living things, including individuals, societies, and nations. From this we can see that Daoism, through the lens of theology, already brought an awareness of and attention to biodiversity and warned against the negative effects of species decline from early on. It is astonishing and commendable that Daoism reached such a level of understanding of the relationship between humanity and nature in ancient times.

“Sharing One’s Wealth,” “Providing Emergency Relief to the Poor,” “The Dao of Tian Is to Help the Weak”—Gongsheng Within Society

Sustainable development emphasizes fairness across generations as well as between people of the same generation. As a United Nation report printed out: “There would be something distinctly [absurd] if we were deeply concerned for the well-being of future—as yet unborn—generations while ignoring the plight of the poor today.”²⁷

Among the various development strategies that humanity has explored, the current strategy of sustainable development is the only one that appropriately takes into account both the relationship between development and environment and the relationship between development and social equity. In 1968, Aurelio Peccei founded the Club of Rome, which conducts pioneering research on global issues. The first research report published by the Club of Rome, called “The Limits to Growth,” pointed out that the earth's generosity and tolerance have its limits and that the natural world already has numerous limits in place, which were designed to curb man’s ever-growing, heavy-handed exploitation. As a solution to the ecological damage caused by violent conflict between man and nature, the report put forward the concept of “zero growth.” However, the concept of “zero growth” proposes an end to development, which is unacceptable to most people, particularly people in developing countries, where continuous economic growth is the main means by which people achieve prosperity. Sustainable development was then proposed as a way to not only realize economic growth, but also maintain ecological balance. It pays more attention to the fair distribution of the benefits of economic growth, as well as equal opportunity for the poor.

Addressing issues of social equity is an important component of social ecology. Poverty is the most significant issue facing environmental protection. In fact, poverty is the worst polluter of all. Klaus Topfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, once said, “the most toxic element in the world is poverty…Poverty has a disastrous impact on the environment, an impact which is continuously growing. On a global scale, the majority of people, whose deaths are caused by environmental pollution, are poor. They are by far the greatest victims of the degradation of the natural world.”²⁸ In poor countries and poor regions, people have no choice but to overconsume natural resources in order to survive, exerting even greater pressure on the environment. This causes further degradation of natural resources and the environment, which in turn pushes people deeper into poverty. As the global ecosystem is an interconnected, organic body, any degradation of resources or the environment in one location will impact other parts of the ecosystem, endangering development and the survival of the people living there.

Meeting the needs of the human race, especially the basic needs of the poor, is the fundamental purpose of sustainable development. The principles of fairness and commonality in the theory of sustainable development are also implied in Daoism's concepts of “providing emergency relief to the poor,” and “sharing one’s wealth.” The Taiping Jing states that “the Dao of tian is to help the weak” because:

We apply Dao when it comes to things that are weak and things that are small in number are part of the outline of Dao…Therefore, noble people seek out weakness and not strength, they seek out the few in number and not the many.²⁹

All wealth (and raw materials) originates from the synergy and process of tian, earth and human beings, to provide, supply and benefit people…Those who are not willing to provide emergency relief to the poor, result in innumerable households living in poverty. If a person has nothing to plant in Spring and nothing to harvest in Autumn, then resentment will surely accumulate and grow strong until they raise their head and call to tian. Tian will react to this call, and the earth will be moved by the resentment. The noble person who doesn’t provide relief to the poor is truly the least kind-hearted person between tian and earth.³⁰

The relationship between man and nature is a reflection of the relationship among human beings. Indeed, the cause of the conflict between man and nature can be found in the conflict among humans. The concepts of fairness in the Taiping Jing, including “sharing wealth,” “providing relief to those in need,” and “the Dao of tian helps the weak,” advocate gongsheng or “joint transformation and co-creation” with others, improving interpersonal relationships, realizing universal equaty of development, and eradicating poverty.

“If Man Is Free of Disease, Then Tian Is Free from Disease”—Gongsheng Between Humans and Tian

The environmental crisis is closely related to the way we produce and consume. Many producers are only interested in profits and pursuing economic targets. As long as there is demand, supply will quickly follow, regardless of what is produced and whether the products are harmful to human health or the environment. Products are pushed to market as quickly as possible and media outlets treat ordinary people as objects to be influenced. Their primary purpose is to encourage and guide consumption, driving fashionable trends, all in order to fan the flames of consumption. This pathological production and consumption cycle destroys the natural world and is turning it into a rubbish tip, which is ultimately harmful to humans themselves. People’s values are driving this production and consumption cycle. Right thoughts lead to right action. We cannot change and heal the world without first starting with self-transformation and self-healing. This is just as the Taiping Jing says:

Tian and earth took on imperfections, which meant the common people could contract disease. If man is free of disease, it means tian has no imperfections. If half the common people contract diseases, this means that half of the things in tian have imperfections. If all the common people, no matter how big or small, old or young, contract disease, that means tian is full of imperfections. Because tian allows the common people to contract disease, tian hopes that the people will undergo an awakening. If the people do not undergo an awakening, then countless people will die.³¹

People can only achieve a state of good health when they are free of disease and living naturally. If a person wants to achieve a natural state of good health, then they must first pursue good health among humans. Humans are directly responsible for the world’s poverty and disease. Daoism warns us that:

So all ten thousand things, numerous as they may be, have a fate that is linked to [tian], and a root that lies in earth. It is up to human beings to handle them safely...and man as their king. We must examine in detail that human beings are to act as king and superior.³²

Those organisms that can crawl and wriggle, all of them are born from tian. If tian did not give birth to them, then they fundamentally wouldn’t exist. Therefore, each thing has a divine master to command it, and their respective lives belong to their divine master. We can make a comparison with livestock and other domestic animals. Their lives belong to their human owner. Whether they live or die is wholly reliant on how humans take care of them. To domesticated animals, humans are the Master of Fate.³³

Tian and earth formed their own laws, but the flourishing or decline of all plants and beings actually depends on humanity.³⁴

Violent tectonic movements or major natural disasters, changes within the natural world itself, lead to potentially huge environmental change. However, what we are focusing on is the impact of human behavior on the environment. For example, humanity has now developed and produced nuclear weapons, which can destroy the earth several times over, a result which far surpasses any impact the natural world can exert upon itself. The growth and decline of all living things, as well as the health of the earth, are in the hands of man. Compared to other species, humans have more agency within the biosphere, and therefore, their impact on the natural world is correspondingly greater. Man can destroy all living things, extinguishing life in the universe. However, man is also the most autonomous and purposeful of all living things and can transform natural life into advanced, conscious lifeforms. Man’s unique ability to reason and reflect, to form cultures, and have moral restraint is unmatched by other species. To create, protect, and increase human wealth people turn to the Gods of Wealth, but people themselves are the Gods of Wealth and protectors of all things. Humanity has created wealth on the basis of myriad things, when in fact the prosperity of myriad things relies on protection afforded by human beings. When it comes to the role of man, the Taiping Jing states “man is the teacher of all things,” “the king of all things,” and “Master of Fate,” elevating man to the status of “god” in charge of the fate of all things. This points to the sacred mission of the Taiping Jing, which is to urge human beings to act as the protector of other species and to use man’s powers of reason and morality to broaden man’s scope for care. The text asks humans to restrain those behaviors that violate the laws of nature and maintain ecological balance in the natural world, ultimately achieving a state of gongsheng in harmony with tian, earth, and all living things.

Conclusion

Protecting the ecosystem requires cultivating the habits and norms needed to exhibit this behavior. Daoism spans nearly two thousand years of history in China. Over its long course of development, the accessibility of Dao as a concept has meant it has been the source of new ideas and provided a way for people to adapt to new circumstances. Through creative interpretation, it will serve the same purpose today. The idea of gongsheng (symbiosis, joint transformation, or co-creation) in the Taiping Jing can be reinterpreted from the perspectives of contemporary ecology, philosophy, and religious studies. This shows the value of gongsheng to modern society and will enable more dialogue between these concepts and current global issues, as well as contemporary trends of thought. Promoting the modern transformation of traditional culture gives national culture universal significance. Promoting gongsheng between man and the self, within society, and between humanity and the whole of myriad things would make a positive contribution to the construction of an ecological civilization.

This article is translated by Megan Copeland and Jin Young Lim.