What does Taoism say about peace?

Taoism teaches peace through harmony with the Dao: not contending or forcing, but flowing like water, taking the low place, and returning to stillness. The sage is tranquil and unanxious, at one with the natural way of things.

Christianity & Taoism

Harmony and the Peace of Christ

Taoism seeks harmony, a life aligned with the Dao, unforced, tranquil, at peace with the flow of nature. Christianity offers peace too, but as a gift from a person: ‘my peace I give unto you’, a peace that guards the heart even in trouble. Both prize a deep peace over restless striving; the Taoist finds it in harmony with the Way, the Christian in reconciliation with God through Christ.

What Taoism teaches

Peace, in Taoism, comes by not contending, flowing like water and returning to stillness:

“The highest excellence is like (that of) water. The excellence of water appears in its benefiting all things, and in its occupying, without striving (to the contrary), the low place which all men dislike.”

Tao Te Ching 8 (Legge, 1891)

The sage is tranquil and unanxious, at harmony with the Dao, neither grasping nor contending, and so is at peace.

What Christians teach

Christian peace is a gift from a personal God, given by Christ, guarding the heart even in trouble.

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

John 14:27 (KJV)

“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:7 (KJV)

Where they meet

Both hold that peace is not found in grasping and contending but in a kind of surrender, and both prize a tranquil, unanxious heart over restless striving.

Where they differ

Taoist peace is harmony with the impersonal Dao; Christian peace is a gift from, and reconciliation with, a personal God, given by Christ, who is himself called ‘our peace’. Peace as attunement to the Way, or peace as friendship with God, the two run close and part at the source.

Tao Te Ching quotations: James Legge (1891, public domain, Sacred Books of the East); translations vary, compare others. Taoism spans philosophical (daojia) and religious (daojiao) traditions; we note where that matters. Bible: King James Version. Every reference on this page was checked against its source.

Frequently asked questions

What does Taoism say about peace?: Taoism teaches peace through harmony with the Dao: not contending or forcing, but flowing like water, taking the low place, and returning to stillness. The sage is tranquil and unanxious, at one with the natural way of things.
How is the peace of Christ different?: Both prize deep peace over restless striving. Taoist peace is harmony with the impersonal Dao; Christian peace is a gift from a personal God, given by Christ who is called 'our peace' (John 14:27). Attunement to the Way, or friendship with God, is the difference.

Come and see

The Tao Te Ching honours the way of humility, water, and yielding strength; the Gospel tells of a God whose power was made perfect in the weakness of a cross. The most direct way to know Jesus is to read his words for yourself. There is no pressure here.

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