«...A good traveler has no fixed plan, and is not intent on arriving. »

LAO TZU

Dao is the process of reality itself, the way things come together, while still transforming. All this reflects the deep seated Chinese belief that change is the most basic character of things. The contrast is not between what things are or that something is or is not, but between chaos (hundun) and the way reality is ordering (de). There is the dao but not "the World" or "the cosmos" in a Western sense.

In China, cults associated with mountains, rivers, and even lakes and seas can be traced back to the most ancient times. Sacred mountains abound and figure prominently in worship, where they are associated with a variety of cults, from ancient spirit and nature worship, to state rituals of Confucian nature, to Buddhism and Daoism (Little 2000). Originally, some mountains, such as Mount Tai (Taishan) in Shandong, were probably centers of worship for local cults, which originated in the prehistoric period.In Daoism, mountains were seen as the abode of immortals or the seat of something akin to a paradise.

Credits

Drawings: Jacqueline García
Text: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy IEP
Special thanks to Roli Bricchi