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The Golden Age Of A Civil War Across China Essay

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Daoism appeared as a reaction to a civil war across China, known as the warring states period, which caused a wide feeling of civil unrest. The war went on for nearly two hundred and fifty years and spread across the Zhou Dynasty, which was divided into eight separate states. Daoist believed that war was a result of excessive desire, and only through modest desire will people and the state experience peace and unity. Daoist argued that desire and all actions must be natural, and we must return to nature to establish our balance. We must return to nature and to a time like the Golden Age, that came before the Zhou Empire and the warring states. The Golden Age refers to a more simple time in life, in which people had relied on agriculture in small villages with a trusted government that also followed the way, causing a balance and unity. To manifest this simplicity and selflessness naturally is the Dao, which is the way of all things. Though in today’s world we have strayed far from nature, for reason and excessive desires have corrupted people and their values. Daoist would believe that our society is unbalanced ,and we must return to the path of the Dao to restore our unity. We must behave naturally and act modestly in order to find the way, but like the opposing states in the Zhou Dynasty, we have excessive desires causing unnatural behaviors. These unnatural behaviors keep many people from finding the way, but the Daodejing supplies many passages of the effects of

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