Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Tao of Pooh, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Taoism, Nature, and Happiness
Knowledge vs. Wisdom
Self-Acceptance and Personal Growth
Western Culture and Eastern Wisdom
Summary
Analysis
Hoff tells Pooh that many people aren’t familiar with Taoism, so he’ll explain the basics in this chapter. The best place to start is China. Hoff and Pooh imagine themselves visiting a calligraphy shop in a Chinese city, where the shopkeeper gives them a painted scroll of The Vinegar Tasters. The scroll shows the reactions of three men, Confucius, Buddha, and Lao-tse, after they taste vinegar. Confucius’s expression looks sour—he thought that the world is corrupt and people should live in harmony with the past, their ancestors, and the universe by following rituals. Next, Buddha has a bitter look on his face—he believed that life is full of pain and suffering, and people should transcend that suffering by detaching themselves from the world.
The Vinegar Tasters represents the main differences between the three most important schools of ancient Chinese philosophy. This gives Hoff’s readers the context they need to understand Taoism, since they likely know at least a little about Confucianism and Buddhism. Hoff emphasizes how both Confucianism and Buddhism view the world as inherently evil, so they encourage people to reject and distance themselves from the world. This is what distinguishes them from Taoism, which views the world as inherently good and teaches people to embrace it. In fact, Confucius and Buddha’s expressions suggest that their philosophies don’t make them—or their followers—truly happy.
Themes
Finally, on the Vinegar Tasters scroll, Lao-tse is smiling. He thought that earth is in harmony with heaven, because it operates based on the natural laws of the universe. He argued that people make life sour by interfering with these natural laws. Instead, they should learn to follow Tao, or “the Way of the Universe.” Lao-tse thought that, while humans can understand Tao, they can’t describe it in words. Philosophers, monks, and folk worshippers all interpreted his teachings in different ways. But this book is about Taoism’s basic message of “appreciating, learning from, and working with whatever happens in everyday life.” Taoists learn to live with serenity and happiness, and they often have a sense of humor about life.
Lao-tse’s reaction to the vinegar represents Taoism’s fundamental beliefs and moral orientation toward the world. While he recognizes the same corruption and suffering that Confucius and Buddha see, his response to them is the opposite. Confucius and Buddha want people to conquer or overcome nature through their spiritual practices. In contrast, Lao-tse thinks that people should live in harmony with nature, which he views as inherently good. Specifically, this inherent goodness lies in Tao, the natural order of the universe, and people can harmonize with nature when they recognize, understand, and follow Tao. It can be difficult to conceptualize Tao, but one good starting point is to think about the rhythms and patterns that underlie nature—for instance, how trees shed and regrow their leaves, or how animals in an ecosystem depend on one another. While these examples don’t capture Tao in its entirety—and Taoists argue that language never can—they’re still part of it, because they’re evidence of the world’s underlying order.
Themes
Pooh asks Hoff what all of this has to do with vinegar. Hoff explains that, in the Vinegar Tasters painting, vinegar represents life. Lao-tse is smiling because he has learned to live in harmony with it and view it as positive instead of negative. Taoists blame sourness and bitterness on the human mind, not life itself, which is sweet. Pooh asks if it’s sweet like honey and goes to the kitchen cupboard “for a little something.”
To Taoists, life is like vinegar because, while it appears to be sour at first, it’s possible to see its beauty. Appreciating vinegar—or life—takes lots of time and effort, but that’s what Taoist teachings and practices are for. By showing Pooh’s appreciation for honey, Hoff clearly compares him to Lao-tse and suggests that he’s learned to appreciate the sweetness and beauty in life. In other words, he’s a Taoist sage.
Themes
