Page 89 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

OVERVIEW 49

on the other hand, a beginning assumes that something already exists and
that it has already begun to begin, as shown in *Zhuangzi 2. A third issue
concerns the shift from unity to multiplicity: the notion of the Origin has the
paradoxical feature of a limit or a threshold, as it is the moment in which the
indeterminate Dao takes form.
The following outline is only concerned with the notions of formation of
the cosmos in Taoism, and does not consider the related but different themes
of the succession of plural worlds, or the ordering of the world by mythical
emperors and other cultural heroes.
Metaphorical time. The first brief hints of cosmogony in Taoism appear in
some passages of Daode jing 21, 25, and 42, and are frequently quoted in later
texts. The theme was further expanded in descriptive, narrative, mythical, or
theogonic fashions, which are often blended with each other.
Time, measured in cosmic eras (kalpas, *jie) or in myriad pneumas (*qi),
occurs as a metaphor. The Origin-beginning of the cosmos is set in the remote
past, to indicate that it is unlike anything occurring in the phenomenal world.
Various cosmogonic stages, however, are described as sequences of generations
or transformations to emphasize the continuity between unity and multiplic-
ity Since in the Origin-beginning there is nothing, the texts rely on images
evoking void, silence, desert, obscurity, immobility, or an immense open space.
Nevertheless, several terms that connote original Chaos contain the semantic
indicator "water" (shui ;J<.) or "vegetation" (cao ~~), in accordance with the
claim that paradoxically there is something in this void-the first signs or
sprouts of the world (e.g., Daode jing 21).
The Origin-beginning is one: the Dao, the One (*yi) , Original Pneuma
(*yuanqi), or Chaos (*hundun). This unity harbors the seed of multiplicity and
the patterns of the world. It contains three principles merged in one: pneuma
(qi), form (*xing), and matter (zhi jIi), or Yin, Yang, and the Central Harmony
(zhonghe rpffi). The number 3 represents in Taoism the notion of a complex
and organized unity (see *NUMEROLOGY). Numbers, which measure the time
of precosmic eras, symbolically express the maturation the three components
must attain before they separate from each other.

Threefold and fivefold patterns. Taoism employs two main cosmogonic patterns,
one threefold and the other fivefold, which are related to the vertical and
horizontal axes of the world. From these patterns arise all other celestial and
terrestrial configurations.
The threefold pattern is first seen in the *Shengshen jing (Scripture of the
Life-Giving Spirits; CT 3IB, la-b). This *Lingbao text associates three precosmic
eras with the Three Treasures (sanbao = l!f), the teaching of Three Caverns
(*SANDONG), and the Three Pneumas (sanqi = *\; see *sanyuan) named