War among Gods and Men - 2. A New Empire - Hong-Yee Chiu

The Lost Wisdom of Tao

In the beginning, it was darkness. "... 'Let there be light', and there was light." Light is energy. Energy can create matter. This was how the Universe began billions and billions of years ago, so we were told. Since the beginning of the Universe, Energy has always played a dominant role as a chief driving force for all courses of events.

Yet far more powerful than energy is the wisdom of Tao. Tao is the nameless and the formless, the gateway to all subtleties, the law of laws of nature, the most profound of the profound, the guidance of Energy. Tao permeates everywhere, but only in ancient times were there real masters who could grasp the essence of Tao.

Many astounding events, human and otherwise, have taken place since the Universe began, but most of these early events were forgotten and few were recorded. Nevertheless, some events taking place during the dawn of civilization in the Middle Kingdom were captured in annals. One such set of annals detailed a series of inexplicable feats achieved through the wisdom of Tao.

These enigmatic feats were accomplished by the few who had mastered the wisdom of Tao. At the end of this period of history, under a decree of peace, Taoists of the three Sects agreed never to become involved with human affairs again and they all sequestered to remote mountains to continue their pursuit of Tao. The wisdom of Tao thus became lost and has not been recaptured since.

Quite accidentally I came upon this set of unusual annals which gave a detailed depiction of events during that period. The annals were cryptically written in the ancient language of the Middle Kingdom. Armed with the knowledge of this ancient language (which I learned from distant disciples of the great master teacher Confucius), I managed to accomplish the difficult task of deciphering the mystifying messages embodied. Incredible as these narrations may seem, they did take place, as contended by the annals. However, since these events took place such a long time ago, only scattered (though numerous) artifacts of that period were preserved and found. It will probably take a few more centuries; at least, for historians and archeologists to reconstruct the lost wisdom of Tao from these artifacts, if ever. In the meantime, I decided to make the only depictions of the power of the wisdom of Tao known to the world.

During the wee hours when I struggled to decipher the cryptic messages of the annals, I often developed the strange feeling that I could feel the presence of the Great Master of Tao, Lao Tzu, a Yoda of his time. In the hopes of my heart, perhaps one day this Great Master will once again come upon us to reveal the wisdom of Tao.