The Ten Precepts of Taoism were outlined in a short text that appears in
Dunhuang manuscripts
The Dunhuang manuscripts are a wide variety of religious and secular documents (mostly manuscripts, including Hemp paper, hemp, silk, paper and Woodblock printing, woodblock-printed texts) in Old Tibetan, Tibetan, Chinese, and other languages tha ...
(DH31, 32), the ''Scripture of the Ten Precepts'' (''Shíjiè jīng'' 十戒經). The precepts are the classical rules of medieval
Taoism
Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ' ...
as applied to practitioners attaining the rank of Disciple of Pure Faith (''qīngxīn dìzǐ'' 清心弟子). They first appeared in the ''Scripture on Setting the Will on Wisdom'' (''Zhìhuì dìngxīn jīng'' 智慧定心經) (DZ325).
[ Livia Kohn, ''Cosmos & Community: The Ethical Dimension of Daoism'' (Three Pines Press, 2004), pp 185-6.]
There is one rule that is divided into Ten Precepts. That rule is the ''
Tao
The Tao or Dao is the natural way of the universe, primarily as conceived in East Asian philosophy and religion. This seeing of life cannot be grasped as a concept. Rather, it is seen through actual living experience of one's everyday being. T ...
'' (or ''Dao'').
The Precepts
#Do not kill but always be mindful of the host of living beings.
#Do not be lascivious or think depraved thoughts.
#Do not steal or receive unrighteous wealth.
#Do not cheat or misrepresent good and evil.
#Do not get intoxicated but always think of pure conduct.
#I will maintain harmony with my ancestors and family and never disregard my kin.
#When I see someone do a good deed, I will support him with joy and delight.
#When I see someone unfortunate, I will support him with dignity to recover good fortune.
#When someone comes to do me harm, I will not harbor thoughts of revenge.
#As long as all beings have not attained the Dao, I will not expect to do so myself.
See also
*The Taoist
Five Precepts
*The Buddhist
Five Precepts
*The Buddhist
Eight Precepts
In Buddhism, the Eight Precepts (, ) is a list of moral precepts that are observed by Nuns, or Upāsakas and Upasikās (Upasaka, lay Buddhists) on Uposatha (Uposatha, observance days) and special occasions. They are considered to support Buddhist ...
References
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Taoist philosophy
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