{"id":66,"date":"2021-12-10T07:43:14","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T14:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/301eportfolio\/?p=66"},"modified":"2021-12-20T08:41:54","modified_gmt":"2021-12-20T15:41:54","slug":"301-revised-definition-assignment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/301eportfolio\/2021\/12\/10\/301-revised-definition-assignment\/","title":{"rendered":"301 Revised Definition Assignment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Definition of \u201cDao\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Introduction<\/b><\/p>\n

The objective of this week\u2019s assignment is to understand the importance and role of definitions to non-technical readers, it is an assignment that asks us to think about jargon from a lay reader\u2019s perspective. The term chosen for this assignment is \u2018Dao\u2019, a well-known term in Chinese philosophy. Below are the parenthetical definition, sentence definition as well as expanded definition for this term.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The situation\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

A Chinese major student is explaining the concept of Dao to a non-technical audience. Although the non-technical audience has heard this term before, the meaning of the term is still obscure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Parenthetical definition\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cDao<\/i>\u201d\u00a0(originated from Chinese philosophy Daoism) is a noun that describes how Taoists (people who believe in this philosophy call themselves Taoist) view the meaning of someone\u2019s life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sentence Definition\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cDao<\/i>\u201d can be interpreted as the \u201cmeaning of someone\u2019s life\u201d, or it could be interpreted as \u201ckindness in someone\u2019s heart\u201d, or it could be interpreted as moralism. In Merriam Webster\u2019s dictionary, \u201cDao\u201d <\/i>is defined as \u201c the unconditional and unknowable source and guiding principle of all reality as connived by Taoist\u201d or \u201cthe process of nature by which all things change and which is to be followed for a life of harmony\u201d (Merriam-Webster)<\/p>\n

Expanded Definition\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014How did it develop?<\/p>\n

The concept of \u201cDao\u201d <\/i>was developed by Taoists. Taoist is a Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu (c.500 BCE), who introduced Taoism. Its literal meaning is \u2018The Way, but its connotation is very complicated and hard to define.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014How reality is reflected in \u201cDao<\/i>\u201d?<\/p>\n

\u201cDao<\/i>\u201d describes three levels of reality: self to self, self to others and self to nature. Taoism believes that the \u2018self\u2019 is dependent on \u2018the other\u2019 and \u2018nature. One of the main ideas of Taoism is the belief in balancing forces. When you find your \u2018Dao\u2019 or \u2018the way, you will feel that your life is balanced.<\/p>\n

\u2014Subtle difference between the Western view of Dao and the Chinese view of Dao<\/p>\n

According to Emily Mark: \u201cTaoism emphasizes doing what is natural and going with the follow in accordance with the Tao, a cosmic force which follows through all things and binds and releases them\u201d (Mark, 2016). However, this statement by Mark is only one of the beliefs people have for Taoism. When I read Lao Tzu\u2019s book and combined his follower’s writings, I think Taoism is not about not doing anything and letting things be. Rather, it is about accepting all the things (good and bad) along the way. As long as the person is still chasing his or her \u201cDao\u201d, then his or her behavior should be directed by the \u201cDao\u201d, rather than the good things or the bad things that come in the way.<\/p>\n

\u2014An Example<\/p>\n

An abstract term such as \u201cDao\u201d <\/i>can be understood with examples. No one will know their \u201cDao\u201d <\/i>in the beginning, people will know them after they go through dramatic changes in their lives. For example, when one pursues money and finds that money becomes useless when the people that he\/she loves passed away, then he\/she realizes what\u2019s more important. As figure 1 indicate, nothing should be overly pursued, when one breaks the balance, either this person will become mad or this person will understand what to give up and what to pursue.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Figure 1. Noah’s Ark. https:\/\/www.nouahsark.com\/img\/religions\/what_is_taoism_01.php<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0References:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark, E. (2016). Taoism. https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/Taoism\/<\/p>\n

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Tao. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved\u00a0Sept30, 2021, from https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/Tao<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Definition of \u201cDao\u201d\u00a0 Introduction The objective of this week\u2019s assignment is to understand the importance and role of definitions to non-technical readers, it is an assignment that asks us to think about jargon from a lay reader\u2019s perspective. The term chosen for this assignment is \u2018Dao\u2019, a well-known term in Chinese philosophy. Below are the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74037,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/301eportfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/301eportfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/301eportfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/301eportfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74037"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/301eportfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/301eportfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/301eportfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions\/69"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/301eportfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/301eportfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/301eportfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}