An Analysis Of Taoism In The Joy Luck Club

Taoism, which has influenced and governed the thoughts and behaviours of Chinese people and the emigrated Chinese, finds its way into Amy Tan’s maiden success The Joy Luck Club. The present thesis hopes to undertake the thematic study of philosophical Taoism permeated in The Joy Luck Club in terms of Cycle and Return, Wu Wei, Harmony of Yin and Yang. The first part is the summary of its literature review from the theoretic perspective of Taoism, especially the thought of Lao Tzu. The main body consists of three chapters aside from an introduction and a conclusion.Chapter One probes into three ways in which Amy Tan skillfully employs the notion of Cycle and Return in The Joy Luck Club. First, she introduces one speciality of Chinese culture, cyclical Mahjong. Second, she embodies her understanding of Cycle and Return by taking her trip back to her root China with her mother, thus achieving better apprehension of her mother, mother of China and its cultural essence. Third, she structurally designs the novel in a circular way.Chapter Two analyzes Taoist notion of Wu Wei in the novel. Firstly, the primitive charm of the nature, reflecting the harmony between man and nature, is the holy place in Su-yuan Woo’s dreams. It also reflects Amy Tan’s disgust at human wars and the present human over-expanding civilization. Secondly, the woman characterization is of non-competition, selflessness and non-desire, which echoes the human relationship of Taoism. Thirdly, the mothers in the story always and cherish their peaceful minds when dealing with predicaments in life, especially when they come to the foreign land America where, in order to survive, they have to take things as they are, as Taoism advocates.Chapter Three explores the harmony of such opposites as Yin and Yang. Symbols of opposites, Yin and Yang can be harmonized because Taoism asserts instead the wholeness and harmony. After many ups and downs, Amy Tan turns to Taoism and unifies the thematic opposite pairs of the novel, such as Luck and Misfortune, Eastern and Western Cultures, Being and Non-being, Love and Hatred, in the same way as Tao reconciles Yin and Yang.The thesis highlights in its conclusion that the novel is permeated with Taoism which requires harmony between man and man, man and heaven or nature, and man and himself so that man can find contentment and happiness in the uncontrollable life. In the novel, only those who maintain such harmony between the relations can excel themselves.