From a young age, I often felt anxious about taking up space. I felt guilty for not being assertive enough and feared speaking up. Instead, I found comfort in observing, in stillness. As I grew older, I realized that to exist in this world, I was expected to adapt: to become more assertive and active, traits that were regarded as more valuable. Receptiveness, by contrast, has long been branded negatively as passivity, submissiveness, and weakness, especially when embodied by a woman. I came to understand that my experience wasn't merely an individual symptom, but a systematic occurrence. Yet is receptiveness truly weakness? When we listen rather than speak, observe rather than act, ponder rather than conquer, why are these qualities seen as weakness?
The devaluation of receptive and reflective qualities reveal a deeper imbalance in the way our societies function. Traits so often dismissed in women are those increasingly absent in the systems that shape our world: a world where we amorally exploit nature, each other, and ourselves. The climate crisis, wars, exploitation of the marginalized, rising depression, and existential fatigue are just a few examples to name for this world's normality. In a globalized system, our social and economic relations are so deeply intertwined, yet our ecosystem feels wholly out of balance.
This imbalance can be traced back to a structural asymmetry: a deep disequilibrium between feminine and masculine energies. The question is, then, how can we restore that balance?
To answer that, we can look at how earlier civilizations confronted their crises. Some of them built their resilience on principles modern culture has neglected: recognition of feminine forces as central and not subordinate. Traditions such as Daoist female worship illustrate how equilibrium was embedded into their worldview.
Daoist female worship emerged in response to crises. During the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 CE), natural disasters worsened, social conflicts intensified, the economy declined, and people suffered greatly. Continuous warfare devastated agriculture, displaced millions, caused famine, and increased banditry and migration. Aristocratic families and warlords dominated while ordinary people struggled to survive. Despite or perhaps because of the dire circumstances, Daoism grew, offering spiritual solace amid chaos. Historically, Daoism has been known to help in troubled times because it emphasizes the persuasion of benevolence as a key religious function. Similarly, Taoist female worship focuses on the cultivation of virtue and moral persuasion as core spiritual interests.
The principles of Daoism are set out in the Dao De Jing (道德經), a compilation of aphoristic teachings, traditionally attributed to Laozi (老子), a semi-legendary figure variously placed around the 6th century BCE. Daoism explains existence through the cosmology of Yin and Yang: Yang represents the active and masculine, while Yin embodies the receptive and feminine. These terms refer to symbolic energies, not to biological sex or socially constructed gender.
Given this, how can Daoist ideas about the feminine teach us about restoring balance?
Qiwu: The Oneness of All Things
Daoist female worship (道教女性崇拜) establishes a worldview that spans three dimensions of relationship: between human-nature, human-humans, and human-self. These are reflected in three central principles: Qiwu (⿑物), Zhuyin (主陰), and Xujing (虛靜).
When it comes to humanity's relationship with nature, Daoist female worship centers on the Qiwu principle. Qiwu literally means "the oneness of all things" (萬物齊一) and is a central teaching of the Dao De Jing. Laozi describes the Dao as the origin of all things:
"Dao has no clear, fixed entity. It is in a trance, but there is an image in it. It is in a trance, but there is the oneness of things in it… The Dao is eternal and everlasting because it resembles a great mother who gives birth to and nurtures all things ceaselessly. The birth gate of profound motherly fertility is the root of all things in heaven and earth. It exists forever, with infinite functions".
According to Daoism, the very origin and function of the universe is a feminine principle: The Dao, mother of the universe, creates and nurtures all life naturally and spontaneously, without being intentional. It gives birth to all things without possession, favoritism, or interference, treating all beings equally. This original, uncontrived state is referred to as Ziran (自然, "naturalness"). And to preserve this naturalness, Daoist sages advocate Wuwei (無為, "non-action"), the practice of refraining from interference so that beings may return to their natural state. In this framework, Ziran functions as a core moral value, while Wuwei serves as the method to sustain it. These two ideas express the dynamic relationship between You (有, "being" or "oneness") and Wu (無, "non-being" or "nothingness"), both symbolically tied to the archetype of the mother.
This archetype does not imply passivity; rather, it embodies resilience and generativity. By embracing "motherly virtues", such as humility, frugality, and fairness, humanity can counteract the exploitative tendencies driving environmental collapse. Ziran reminds us that ecosystems thrive when left in their spontaneous order, while Wuwei urges restraint, calling us to step back from aggressive intervention and allow the planet's regenerative capacities to function. By abandoning postures of superiority and conquest, individuals can transcend the perceived boundary between human and nature, arriving at a state of harmonious coexistence. It is further essential to emphasize that both men and women are equally called to embody these motherly virtues.
Zhuyin: Honoring Softness
Daist female worship further promotes the principle of Zhuyin, which can be translated as "honoring softness and appreciating femininity" (貴柔守雌). This principle challenges anthropocentrism and egocentrism by emphasizing a worldview that values the subtle, receptive, and feminine forces within the cosmic order. Starting from the Daoist idea that "softness is the use of the Dao", Laozi taught that "the softest makes the strongest in the world" and that "femininity often overcomes masculinity through stillness." Here, softness and femininity (Yin) are not signs of weakness but of power.
In the Daoist cosmic model, Yin and Yang are equal and complementary manifestations of universal energy. Yin embodies qualities of receptivity, softness, and mystery, while Yang represents activity and firmness. The Daoist classics state: "Those who follow the Dao use Yin; those who do not use Yang. Yang can be measured, but Yin is inexhaustible". Daoist cosmology reflects this harmony through binary yet interdependent forces: heaven and earth, sun and moon, day and night, masculine and feminine. These dualities, rather than signifying division, form the very structure of the cosmos.
Daoism also regards androgyny, the union of Yin and Yang within a single being, as an ideal state of existence. Many Daoist deities, such as Nüwa and Fuxi, embody both male and female elements, while goddesses like Bixia Yuanjun and Xiwangmu manifest androgynous traits in their temperament and divine roles. This transcendence of binary categories reflects a metaphysical, rather than physical, vision of gender and therefore challenges hierarchical dualisms. This also means that gender is not a fixed binary but a fluid continuum of feminine and masculine energies, thereby encouraging recognition of both energies within the self instead of domination of only one.
Xujing: Humility and Tranquility
"Xu" refers to both Qianxu, meaning humility, modesty, or open-mindedness; and Xuwu, meaning emptiness, nothingness, or simplicity.
While "Jing" refers to Qingjing, meaning tranquility, quietness, and serenity; and Ningjing – peacefulness, stillness, or calmness.
These virtues are venerated in Daoism as archetypally feminine qualities. The Xujing principle (虛靜), encapsulated in the maxim "keep the mind in a state of complete humility and tranquility, unaffected" (致 虛極, 守靜篤), constitutes the foundation of Daoist self-cultivation. From a feminist perspective, Xujing reframes traits such as receptivity or calmness, often dismissed as passive, as sources of strength. Laozi greatly advocates the feminine Dao of being humble and virtuous like water: "Water is beneficial for all things without competition. It is located in humble places rejected by others. It is for this humble virtue and low-keyed position; water is exactly the example of feminine Dao."
One can practice the Xujing principle by "sitting in oblivion to forget one's body, abandon one's cleverness, keep free from the bonds of form and intelligence, and merge with the great Dao as one." Through concentration of the mind without distraction, we can free the senses from the complexity of the world.
Here, again, Xujing is not a gendered principle but a normative ideal for both men and women. According to Daoism, it reflects the virtuous traits of nature, from which human beings should learn. In a contemporary context, where over-consumption, constant digital comparison, and the pursuit of "more" drive much of our behavior, the cultivation of Xujing offers a counterbalance. By practicing emptiness and stillness, individuals can rediscover inner peace untethered from external cravings, learning to be content with what lies within rather than endlessly seeking outside validation or accumulation.
So, what do these principles mean for us?
Ancient Chinese classics suggest that feminine strength is the Earth within us. We humans are like trees: while we grow towards the light, we must also nurture the Earth within us. We seek progress, both spiritually and civilizationally, yet, paradoxically, we value only upward growth, neglecting the grounding soil within. To thrive, we must cultivate both Yang, the energy of ascent, and Yin, the energy of descent; both masculinity and femininity. A rootedness that allows us to grow without collapse. When Yang energy dominates without the balancing force of Yin, destruction inevitably follows.
The Daoist Qiwu principle teaches us that we must stop seeing ourselves as masters of nature and instead recognize that we are part of it. Politics, economics, architecture, urban planning, arts, education, etc., must embrace these motherly virtues, fostering harmony instead of domination, coexistence instead of exploitation.
The climate crisis, wars, exploitation of the marginalized, extreme competitiveness, depression, and existential fatigue are all symptoms of an excess of unchecked masculine energy. Zhuyin and Xujing teach us that through softness, we cultivate empathy; through stillness, we reconnect with our inner selves and our spiritual roots, therefore making space for reflection instead of mindless action.
Feminine virtues are not exclusive to women, but they are often more closely embodied by them. In Chinese, there is a saying: "物极必反." When something reaches its extreme, it reverses." Our society's overreliance on masculine energy is reaching such an extreme. To restore balance in our ecosystems and societies, we must recognize the value of feminine qualities and empower women as vital carriers of them: in politics, in art, in education, in our homes, and in our collective imagination.
