| dc.description.abstract | Since global warming and the greenhouse effect have become topics of widespread worry lately, “Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction” officially becomes an environmental protection slogan for countries all over the world.Desertification threatening has covered 25 percent of the earth’s land and everyday there are 20,000 people dead because of hunger. Tropical rainforests may disappear in one hundred years; the ignorant behaviors and activities which human beings had made to the environment in the past due to the pursuit of economic development, resulting in serious injuries to the life-sustaining eco-system of the Earth, which may ultimately lead to human extinction.
The instances of Mother Nature’s fight-back are currently happening one after another in countries all around the world. The mankind has been aware of the severity of terrible natural disasters, that is, when facing the devastating disasters, it is not possible that “Man Can Conquer Nature”. Natural calamities coupled with the destructive power of man-made disasters sometimes make the situation even worse. For instance, the “Japan 311 Earthquake” came along with the “Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster”, which truly shows that if human beings do not treat the earth right, man-made destructive power will be more terrible than natural disasters. Eventually, the main cause for mankind extinction may be mankind itself.
The environmental movement, such as “Anti-KuoKuang Petrochemical Plant Project”, has made the people of Taiwan be aware of the severity of environmental pollution. It also makes the government to consider the mankind sustainable coexistence issue when facing the choices between economic development and environmental protection. Take Bhutan for example, it’s the happiest poor country of the world. Although its national income is only one twentieth of Taiwan’s, 97% of the people in Bhutan think that they are happy. The leader of Bhutan abandons military development and makes the best use of the limited resources in people’s livelihood, healthcare and education. The farmers in Bhutan adopt traditional farming methods without using the chemical fertilizers and the concept of “cherish natural assets and resources” is deeply rooted in their mind. This kind of concept perfectly matches with the ideas like “Tao”, “Being natural” and “Being inactive” of the Chinese philosopher “LaoTzu”. This proves that the happiness we pursuit is not totally relied on economic development; on the contrary, the highest quality of life relies on the rich spiritual life.
The ＂Tao Te Ching＂ of Lao Tzu has over five thousand words and it is the world’s best-selling Chinese book. The New York Times even listed “Lao Tzu” as the best of the ancient and modern world’s top ten writers. His thinking affects the future generations of the world far and wide. This essay will adopt the philosophy of Lao Tzu and use the modern interpretation of the three basic virtues like “compassion”, “frugality” and “humility” of “Tao Te Ching” to solve the blind spot of the environmental pollution caused by the global pursuit of economic development. Then, use the soul purification methods like “putting away extravagance”, “putting away excessive effort” and “putting away easy indulgence” of “Taoism” to provide solutions to the environmental pollution and future prospect of returning to innocence for human beings. | en_US |