The challenge of academic writing for Chinese students within ...

Daoism‘s doctrine of non-action (wu-wei) has been criticized as negative attitudes of human
indifference and apathy. Lin (2000, p.54) comments Daoism embodies all the characteristics
of a roguish 2 philosophy of life – a life of ‗roguish nonchalance, a confounded and
devastating scepticism, a mocking laughter at the futility of all human interference …, and a
certain disbelief in idealism …‘ and enables the development of passivism. But non-action
does not actually means doing nothing; as Fung (1976) interprets it, it means ‗doing less‘, or
‗not over-doing‘; it also means ‗acting without artificiality and arbitrariness.‘ Others stress
the paradoxicality of the doctrine of wu-wei. Angus Graham (1989, p.232) interprets wu-wei
as the ‗paradox that the way to attain a goal is to cease to aim at it deliberately.‘ So doing
nothing is a way to avoid over-doing.
Daoism has had a profound influence on Chinese literature, art, and culture. Daoism is a
‗living philosophy‘ (Yi, 1985) - Daoist language prevails in Chinese society; Daoist
cosmology is applied in Chinese medicine; the Daoist way of life is one of the aesthetic
themes of Chinese painting, poetry, architecture, gardening and ordinary life. Daoist
influence on learning and knowledge is not to be underestimated. Like Confucian tradition,
Daoism stresses personal learning but sees it more individualistic and mysterious; more
precisely, it is Zhuangzi who sees learning as an ‗individual‘s personal enterprise‘; Zhuangzi
emphasizes learning with ease and learning effortlessly as the way to the acquisition of
genuine knowledge; He deems knowledge as an integral part of one‘s personal life (Lee
2000, p.5). Paradoxically, negative attitudes towards learning are manifested in Daodejing. In
the Daodejing (ch.48), the pursuit of learning is rejected, and to learn is to distance oneself
from the pursuit of Dao. It can be seen that Daoist understanding of learning revolves around
its central teaching of Dao.
The Daodejing regards the pretence of knowing as a ‗disease‘, and advocates the practice that
if one does not know, then one should admit as much – ‗To know that you do not know is the
best‘ (ch. 71, trans. Chan, 1973). The Daoist teaching on the approach to acquisition of
knowledge bears similarities with the Confucian teaching – ‗To say that you know when you
do know and say that you do not know when you do not know‘ (The Analects, 2:17, trans.
Chan 1973).
2 Lin (2000, p.52) defines an old rogue as a man who has seen a lot of life, and who is materialistic, nonchalant,
and sceptical of progress.
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