The Dao of the Environment
Bin Zhou
Geography
It is a common perception that rapid economic developments in China in the past few
decades have come at the expense of the environment: polluted water bodies, filthy air,
down graded land, etc. Ironically, China is also the origin place of Daoism. As a
philosophical and religious tradition, Daoism views humans as part of nature and thus
asserts that human actions should follow the regularity observed in nature. This notion
contains the perspective of an harmonious man - nature relationship as a legitimate and
sustainable process. This paper investigates major tenets of Daoism related to the
harmony between nature and man. The paper will also explore possible inspirations we
can draw from these tenets that may guide our efforts to maintain harmony with nature
while seeking growth and development.