CHAPTER TWO
GOD AND THE MYSTERIOUS PLACE OF THE WORLD: JUDEO-CHRISTIAN NARRATIVE IN ENGAGEMENT WITH MYSTERY OF DAO
It is not an easy task for a Christian to interpret Christian narratives on God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit when he/she has encountered the Dao of Daoist philosophy (Daojia) and the Jewish spirituality of Kabbalah. Such encounters already date back many centuries, as the wisdom of Daodejing was available in a Western Latin translation in the sixteenth century. In this translation, we read that “the Mysteries of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Incarnate God were anciently known to the Chinese nation.”1 From this statement we are aware that a Chinese self-understand- ing of the Great Ultimate is appreciated in light of and compared to a Christian understanding of God. In the current interfaith exchange of thought and wisdom, Jürgen Moltmann, an important ecumenical theo- logian in Germany, initiated the dialogue, “Tao: the Chinese Mystery of the World,” as it is seen through Western theological eyes.2 Moltmann attempts to bring the wisdom of Daodejing into discourse with Jewish- Christian tradition concerning the triune God and creation. An understanding of Dao, in Moltmann’s view, is mindful of “the religious art of mystical silence before the divine mystery.”3 Th ere is a parallel between the mystery of Dao and the Western theological tra- dition of apophatic theology or negative theology. Dao is only known through Tao, so God is only known through God. Th e Chinese book of wisdom, Daodejing demonstrates an affi nity to the Jewish and Christian discourse on God. Perceiving diff erences, we better understand the commonality engaged in the mysterious nature of God and Dao.
1 Th is was accomplished by Jesuit missionaries in China and presented to the British Royal Society in 1788. See James Legge, Th e Texts of Daoism, vol. 1 (New York: Dover, 1962), xiii. 2 Moltmann, Science and Wisdom, trans. Margaret Kohl (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), 172–193. 3 Ibid., 173. 50 chapter two
In cross-culturally and hermeneutically developing a theological read- ing of Tao through Jewish-Christian discourse of God in a Trinitarian manifestation, I shall primarily be concerned with demonstrating some of the basic ideas of Dao by reading the Daodejing and Zhuangzi. Th en I shall extend the mystery of Dao to the Christian concept of God and the world in engagement with Jewish-Kabbalistic perspectives. In so doing, an attempt will be undertaken to interpret a Christian discourse on God’s creation, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit in a cross-cultural and postfoundational perspective. Here, God will be appreciated as the mysterious place of the world.
Basic Concepts of Dao and De
Classical Taoist philosophy is built on the two texts of Laozi (also called Daodejing) and Zhuangzi, of whose lives little is historically known. From the tradition we can assume that the Taoist philosophy arose in a period of turmoil and suff ering—fi rst during the Spring-Autumn Period and then during the Warring States Period. Th e person most revered in Daoism is known simply as Lao Dan or the epithet Laozi, which can be translated as “Old Master.” According to the cultural legend, Laozi was regarded as an elder contemporary of Confucius (551–479 BCE). Th e earliest biography of the Old Master is contained in the Shiji (Historical Annals or Records of the Historian dated 90 BCE) by the great Han dynasty historian Sima Qian (145–86 BCE). According to this record, which admits uncertainty regarding the historicity of Laozi or Lao Dan (c. 581–500 BCE), he was said to have been born in Li District, of Hu County (now in Henan Province), in the state of, a large state in South China where he later became an archivist at the royal Zhou court under the name Lao Dan. Aft er he had lived in Zhou for a long time he realized that the Zhou dynasty was in decline. When he was about fi ft y years, war broke out within the Empire and he left for the State of Qin. When he arrived at the Hangu Pass he was asked by Yin Xi, the guardian of the pass, to compose a text outlining his philosophy of Dao. Th e result was the text known as Daodejing (Th e Classic of Th e Way and Its Power), the content of which is presented in two sections that deal with the Tao