Birthday dishes

A birthday is a personal day for all children or adults. Planning for birthday dishes may seem like a simple project, but it can be difficult with a lot of work. Organization, preparation, and food selection. First of all, we needed a good organization.For example, making a list of family, relatives, friends, others in order to know the number of the guests Secondly, we spent time selecting the right food. Informal meals usually include appetizer and drinks, the main dishes and deserts as ell as the local dishes. Prepare the appetizer, which can include salads, nuts, potato chips, and snacks. Soft drinks, fruit Juice, and alcohol go well with the appetizer.Prepare the main dishes, such as chicken in paste, School food like pasted mammalian serve with potatoes and salty Nile parched in paste(agar) which are my favorite dishes, green vegetables in paste, grind pea in paste (mongo) served with moo- yea, and bush meat , roasted pork, , grilled chicken, all serve with potatoes, smashed ca ssava, rice, millet, maize and sorghum posh, Cheesecake and apple pie, paw-paw, avocado, the lion's heart, pineapple, mangoes can also be Included with the deserts and My mother spent the whole day in the kitchen cooking and preparing all the above for us.The cake arrived in the evening and soon my friends and other Invited guests started pouring in. At last, making my birthday dishes takes a lot of time. Through organization, preparing, and selecting the food, I found out that planning a successful birthday party dishes was not really simple and easy.

Iran Contra Affair Essay

In 1979, an Iranian government supported terrorist group overtook the US embassy. They captured 52 people. In an order to obtain the release of the American hostages being held in Lebanon, The Reagan Administration secretly began to sell weapons to Iran. This went against an American ban on arms sales to Iran, which had been in affect since the embassy had been seized. (Corrigan 40-41) These deals were arranged through Robert McFarlane, who was the head of the National Security Council. One of McFarlane’s main staff members was Marine Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North. McFarlane gave North the responsibility of handling the details of the deal and told him not to send anything to Iran until the hostages had been released. North wanted to keep the deal going so he allowed Israel to ship the weapons before any hostages had been released. McFarlane criticized North, but North kept his job. McFarlane was replaced with Rear Admiral John M. Poindexter. North tried to convince Poindexter to continue the arms-for-hostage deal with Iran. North realized that there was a massive amount of money being made in this trade. He used some of this money made could be used to support an anti-communist organization in Central America. This organization, that was active in Nicaragua, was known as the Contras. The Contras were also highly supported by Reagan and his administration, seeing as we were in the Cold War against Communism. (Lawson 41-60) In the early 1980s, Congress passed a series of amendments known as the Boland Amendments. The Boland Amendments made it illegal for the U. S. military to further aid the Contras. (Cohen) The National Security Council was formed in 1947 to acquire secret information about the military plans of Russia throughout the Cold War. (Lawson 49) In 1985, North and McFarlane gave several letters to Congress, in which he lied about the questions that they had been asked about their involvement in supporting the Contras in Nicaragua. North lied again in a face-to-face meeting with Congress in 1986. North told the House Intelligence Committee he was involved neither in fundraising for, nor in providing military advice to, the Contras. In 1987 he was confronted with these accusations to which he admitted to misleading Congress with the answers he gave them. When the president later asked Attorney General to gather the relevant facts, North and Poindexter shredded and altered official documents on November 21, 1986. The destruction of these documents was a major loss to Congress, because they were now unable o use those destroyed documents against North in court. (http://icah. infobaselearning. com/pdocument. aspx? ID=129729&search=iran+contra+north) Further complicating the situation, Congress granted immunity to North and Poindexter so that they could eliminate the need for the testimony of President Reagan and Vice President Bush. Oliver North and Poindexter, while accused and under intense investigation were ultimately convicted. (http://icah. infobaselearning. com/pdocument. aspx? ID=110538&search=iran+contra+north) Lt.  Colonel Oliver North was criminally charged, prosecuted and convicted but later the convictions were overturned upon appeal due to the fact that he was granted immunity. North should have been convicted of his crimes and faced his time in jail for what he did. North burned legal documents containing crucial evidence for his trail, he lied to Congress about using the money from the Iran weapons sales to help the Contras, and by helping the Contra, he violated the Boland Amendments. On November 21, 1986, Oliver North shredded documents that were to be used in court as evidence. These documents were important legal information concerning his involvement in helping the Contras. His destruction of these documents led to Congress losing very valuable data to prove whether he was a scapegoat or a criminal. The fact that he destroyed the evidence made it clear that he wasn’t being honest and that led Congress to believe his other criminal charges. Oliver North violated many laws. The two most flagrant legal violations were the Boland Amendments and the American ban on arms sales to Iran. North continued to sell the weapons to Iran without any argument even though he knew it was against the law that was put in place by Congress. He went against the banned sales of guns with Iran, which was put in place to keep Iran from gaining powerful weaponry and putting American citizen’s lives in danger. His involvement and encouragement of continuing the illegal trade to aid the policies that he believed in should lead to his punishment. Also, the fact that he was also using federal money and weapons for the Contra agenda is a misappropriation of funds and of his position of power.

Gender Role Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gender Role - Essay Example "Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women" (Jacobs, 2003). Through the character of Linda, Harriet Jacobs depicts that women sexual abuse and physical violence are the main forms of humiliation and oppression. Sexual abuse of a slave woman is the expression of male's power and dominance of the owner. Jacobs describes that socially slave women are used to be oppressed. They have no rights to protect their dignity and freedom used to cultural norms followed by generations. "But I do earnestly desire to arouse the women of the North to a realizing sense of the condition of two millions of women at the South, still in bondage, suffering what I suffered, and most of them far worse" (Jacobs, 2003). Similar to Jacobs, Frederick Douglass discusses the role of gender in society and its impact on relations between a slave and owner. Gender roles in 'Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass' shape not only how people identify themselves and view the world but also how others identify and relate to them and how they are positioned within society. "Slaveholders have ordained, and by law established, that the children of slave women shall in all cases follow the condition of their mothers" (Douglass, 1997). Both Jacobs and Douglass portray that women are traditionally associated with childbearing, child rearing, emotional caretaking, and responsibility for the physical maintenance of the household. In contrast, men are associated with the activities of wage labor, physical prowess, intellectual achievements, and political agency. "Slaveholders pride themselves upon being honorable men; but if you were to hear the enormous lies they tell their slaves, you would have small respect fo r their veracity" (Douglass, 1997).This gender labeling is so strong that even when women work, they typically do so in areas regarded as "women's work". Also, "Women are considered of no value, unless they continually increase their owner's stock. They are put on a par with animals" (Jacobs, 2003). Labor markets are thus segregated horizontally by gender, with women and men differentiated in occupational roles. Dominance of men adds aggression and cruelty to cultural dimensions and values. Both narratives under analysis describe masculine societies. Masculinity describes a society in which men are expected to be assertive, competitive, and concerned with material success, and women fulfill the role of nurturer and are concerned with issues such as the welfare of children. Lack of respect towards women results in norms and values which reflect gender roles. It means that men play a dominant position as keepers of traditions and customers in contrast to women who perform a reproduction function only. Jacobs portrays that even free women suffer from male oppression and low social roles. "Mrs. Flint, like many southern women, was totally deficient in energy. She had not strength to superintend her household affairs" (Jacobs, 2003). Jacobs chose to write about gender roles faced with extreme violence and oppression during her young years. She underlines that emotional abuse is socially accepted form of violence. The consequence of emotional abuse is that it causes the greatest distress resulted in betrayal of trust and responsibility involved. Douglass writes about gender roles

Lessons learned Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lessons learned - Essay Example a colonel of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders as well as a deputy lieutenant of Argyllshire county and colonel of militia in the same area in his retirement. As a nurse trained to Florence Nightingale’s ideals that require commitment and service oriented attitudes in nurses, she did not like the idea of young women joining nursing without the much required dedication to it as their predecessors. According to her, a nurse only has one main function, to serve others. This attitude therefore came to be fully incorporated into the nursing profession (Andrist, Nicholas, & Wolf, 2005). However, her greatest achievement came in when she brought up the idea of having nurses registered for them to carryout their practice properly. Her main aim in this was to enhance protection of the public as well as the profession from unqualified people that may carryout their mal-practice on innocent people. Later on in 1901, she helped Dr, McGregor in grafting the Nurse’s Registration Act that was finally passed in parliament and it was first one of its kind. In this bill, nurses were expected to have three years training program, a state or national examination, and a state or national register (The Porirua Hospital Museum, n.d). After this establishment, it was felt that something should also be done for the case of midwives. There was also supposed to be some form of training for the midwives in New Zealand. It occurred that there were no schools to train them, she had to push for another bill to go through parliament for the establishment of such a school. This was a more challenging bill as it was put to her to come up with a curriculum for the midwifery training as well as establish state maternity hospitals that were to be used for the training. In this, she only had the goal of ensuring that there were hospitals for women, doctored by women, and managed by women. Later on in 1904, Richard Seddon introduced the Midwives Registration Act in parliament which was

A worn path Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A worn path - Essay Example sion, one incident shows the roundness of her character as she picks up the nickel that slides from the Hunter’s pocket, â€Å"God watching me the whole time. I come to stealing† (Welty, 3) This god fearing nature is also typical of her age and racial background who had none but God to trust their fate upon and hence needs to fear them at times. The sole aim of her life is to save her grandson and for that reason she even opts for stealing but her realization that of the commission of her guilt is unmistakable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Other characters of the story are also of round type. The hunter, for instance, initially appears to be harsh but when he sees that the old woman does not fear death, softens his tone and admires her courage. The nurse and the attendant though both of them spoke initially with the old woman in a harsh note but finally sympathize with her. These ups and downs are signs of a normal human nature. As these traits have reflected from the approach of all these characters, thus, neither of those can be classified as flat characters. The main aim of literature is to reflect different dimension of life and due to the roundness of characters, the story has become a real depiction of life. The treatment of a poor, racially inferior old woman normally initializes with a poor welcome. The disadvantage of old age, economic backwardness and also racial inferiority has been reflected here. However the author does not forget to bring out the courage, typical of a black woman through the other characters’ behavior after knowing her. All the characters she meets later become kind towards her. However the woman indulges in the act o stealth but earns the readers sympathy when they know her cause.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Though is determined to save the life of her grandson yet she remembers her self-dignity. Thus, during the time of picking up the nickel she feels the bite of her conscience. Later on, at the doctor’s chamber in the town, when the attendant offers her to

Asian Americans V.S. African Americans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Asian Americans V.S. African Americans - Essay Example With time, these conflicts have intensified as their number keeps on increasing. Economic strength has also greatly enhanced intensity of conflict between these two groups. The battle over who is superior to the other economically seems to intensify as each group try to take control over the other (Andersen, et al 239). Limited economic resources are not enough to cater for everyone thus creating division between those who have and those who do not have. To weaken each other economically, these groups destroy properties that belong to the other group like it was witnessed in 1992 during the ‘Black – Asian’ conflict. In addition, many Asians have made money, by venturing into businesses in the areas occupied by the Africans. Because of anti-black racism that discriminates Africans in America, such as getting loan to start business, many Africans are unable to venture into business. Due to this fact, Africans feel that the Asians are siphoning money from them. Media is another cause, which has been fueling racial conflict between Asians and Africans. Africans are depicted in media as arrogant, gangsters, lazy and poor. On the other hand, Asians are depicted as hardworking, eager to please and opportunistic. Such notions portrayed by media every now and then fuel the rivalry between these two groups (Chang 4). Cultural practices and customs is another root cause of conflict between Asians and Africans in America. Each group has its diverse culture, which it follows and respect. Fear of their culture being dominated or absorbed completely makes the two groups to distance from each other (Takaki 7). A conflict arises as each group try to maintain the benefits of their culture and disrespect cultural practices of the other group. The difference in skin color between Asians and Africans is another cause of conflict between them. Asians compares themselves to white

Warfighting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Warfighting - Essay Example The military operation plan has to correlate with the security cooperation and contingency planning guidelines of the Guidance for Employment of the Force (GEF) [Sweeney, pg.64]. As the US is not supporting the claim of present Moroccan government with respect to their sovereignty over Western Sahara, and is of the position that the UN-mediated ceasefire of 1991 be respected by all parties and a peaceful resolution of the conflict be sought, the mission will try to accomplish the same under a wider perspective. In this matter US forces envisage to work in cooperation with a UN peacekeeping force and will try to accomplish in long term, a permanent ceasefire, reduction of Moroccan military presence in the region, ensuring Moroccan and Polisario militaries keep to their assigned territories, release from Moroccan jails of all Western Saharan political prisoners and also exchange of pows, implementation of a UN-led repatriation program for refugees, registration of all qualified voters, and a free and fair referendum. Under the short term objectives of the mission, will come another set of conflict resolution and humanitarian aid providing steps. The immediate step in this sequence of action will be to try to prevent more people from marching in into the cities and also finding solution to the humanitarian crisis caused by the already happened influx of people. It would be a matter of priority to help the women and children who have entered the city as part of the protesting groups as they are the most vulnerable elements to a humanitarian tragedy. Food, potable water and medical support will have to be arranged for all those who are in need of them. In view of the US policy to have a peaceful solution to the crisis, our mission will also be primarily to avert the exercise of force that can lead to violence or physical repression.

Managing Diversity Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Managing Diversity - Assignment Example This research intends to provide a more integrated perspective considering the difficulties in forming the conceptual links and difficulty in the comparability of constructs of measure and measurement. The common argument is that motivation denotes the best umbrella that includes all members and sub units of any organization and does not pin down a measurable construct. Intrinsic Motivation Intrinsic motivation refers to the motivation that sources from within an individual rather than from any other external sources like rewards, salary increase and or grade improvement. This motivation comes from the pleasure that an individual gets from the task he is pursuing or the sense of satisfaction on completion of a certain given task (Lucas, 2012). An intrinsically motivated person will function willingly because the task he is performing is enjoyable or has passion for it. He works to solve a problem that is challenging and provide a sense of pleasure and task completion too (Bennett, 20 04). The dire point of reference is that the intrinsically motivated person does not work because of the reward attached to the task but works g to get enjoyment from the task. However, this does not mean that the intrinsic motivated person does not seek for rewards but it rather means that the external reward is not enough to keep the person motivated. For example in a tamed case, a student may want to get a good grade on a given assignment, however, if the assignment is not interesting, the possibility of a good grade is not sufficient to maintain students motivation in the projects efforts. Psychologists argue that people perform better when they perform a task because they have passion for it rather than when a reward is designated (Tony, 2002). There is a current common question whether or not the extrinsic motivation top a persons has an effect on the intrinsic motivation. Researches have shown that having an extrinsic motivation fir something that would naturally be intrinsic ally motivated decreases the intrinsic motivation (Wilson, 2005). Researches have shown that, how an individual perceives the rewards determines whether it has effect on the intrinsic motivation. For example, an athlete may feel that the reward may be due to his foreseen incompetency and this significantly lower his intrinsic motivation. Another athlete may be extrinsically rewarded and directly translate to a positive feedback. The common argument is that individuals differ enormously in what makes them happy. There is no reason as to why money or grades for students should not improve their performance what matters are the individual difference and the different motivation ways (Lucas, 2012). All researchers have assumed that rewards simply make the person less interested in the intrinsic joys of an activity. Rewards may generally cause an individual to pursue an individual less because of the effects that come along with the rewarding like performance anxiety. Therefore, the gene ral impression that comes along with extrinsic rewarding is that, rewarding undermines the intrinsic motivation (Bennett, 2004). Too many studies have supposedly proved that intrinsic motivation has serious flaws in logic and too many uncontrolled variables that requires more scientific rigor. Ethnocentrism This is the habit of looking at the world primarily from the dimension of ethnic culture an event, which has proven significant in the social sciences (Lucas, 2012). Ethnocentric has bias

COMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS-case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

COMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS-case study - Essay Example Cultural dimensions like Power Distance Index (PDI), Individualism (IDV), Masculinity (MAS), Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI), and Long-Term Orientation (LTO) etc can affect international business negotiation process. Most of the societies are unequal because of the variations in power possessed by them and the different perceptions about the long term and short term goals. Some societies do things collectively whereas other societies do it individually. Moreover, some societies treat males and females differently whereas some others treat them equally. The ability of some cultures or societies in avoiding uncertainty is more than other societies. Moreover, political, economical, social, technological, environmental and legal factors can also affect the cross cultural business negotiation process. The international negotiators should possess adequate knowledge about all these factors in order to conduct the negotiation process in an effective manner. They should do their homework pr operly before going for the negotiation process. Terms of Reference Business negotiation is a complex task which requires lot of preparations and planning. Cross cultural business negotiations are even harder because of the high percentage of uncertainty and ambiguity in such negotiations. Most of the organizations will seek the guidance of business consultants before actively participating in international business negotiations. I am working as an international business consultant and recently one of the biggest American firms approached me in order to seek my advice for expanding their business to the Chinese territory. My client was interested in joint venture business strategy for entering into the Chinese territory. They already short listed few Chinese companies as their future partners and asked me to submit a report about how to negotiate with them. My client asked me to give more emphasize on the cultural aspects of international business negotiations since America and Chin a have entirely different cultures. This report is prepared for my American client in order to make them aware of the role of culture in international business negotiations. Overview of the situation Both China and America have extremely diverse population. America is under a democratic regime whereas China is under an autocratic or communist regime. In other words, China and America are extremely different nations as far as politics; culture, social setups, economy, legal frameworks, etc are concerned. Language, environment, social organizations, level of knowledge and authority possessed by the people, verbal and nonverbal communication means, temporal conceptions etc are entirely different in these two countries. In my opinion, my client should have better ideas about all these things in order to conduct successful business negotiations with their Chinese counterparts. An international negotiator should possess intelligence, creativity etc and he should have flexibility and diplo macy in his approaches. He should also possess skills such as problem solving, negotiations etc. He should also possess knowledge about different legal structures, governmental policies, possibilities of natural and manmade disasters. He should be hardworking and should do the

Chief information officer Essay Example for Free

Chief information officer Essay Knowledge management at Accenture Richard Ivey School of Business 20090770 †¢2. Accenture A well known global firm that became a public company with a successful initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in July 2001. Great revenue increment in 2001, 2004(two digit increment) Embarked upon a new strategy †High Performance Delivered† Substantially increase company’s focus on outsourcing Oriented to improving shareholder value for its clients Emphasizing the creation and application of intellectual and technological assets to apply in work with clients organizational structure also evolved 5 operating groups 18 industry groups which made up the five operating groups, eight capability groups †¢3. Knowledge Management In 90s Adopted a knowledge-oriented strategy: build a knowledge management organization under the chief information officer By the mid-1990s, the firm built thousands of knowledge repositories on the Lotus Notes platform: Knowledge Exchange From 2000 to 2002 Responsibility for KM was shifted from CIO to the training and learning organization at Accenture Learning knowledge management were combined into a single new group called capability development in 2001 In 2002, the toughening fiscal conditions, training budgets had been cut substantially for Accenture employees †¢4. Knowledge Management Substantial budget pressures on both the training and knowledge management groups Several of the most senior knowledge managers left Accenture 30% of all the knowledge managers left or were laid off Cost reduction by moving knowledge management functions â€Å"offshore† Capability Development organization had developed a KM staffing model in which decentralized groups would employ a few â€Å" onshore† knowledge managers with high domain expertise and a high need for contact with their internal client; the rest would move offshore Although the learning and KM activities remained largely separate and decentralized within Accenture’s business units, there were some joint initiatives. Developed a personalized learning management system called â€Å"myLearning† As the content of KM proliferate, information finding problems happened Accenture employees dedicated to developing new content often remarked that they found it more and more difficult to get the attention of partners and employees . KNOLEDGE MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY The problems for managing existing KM system The KM system was being replaced or augmented with Web-based portals Most major Accenture groups had their own portals Despite one central â€Å"Accenture Portal† that contained links to many decentralized portals, it could be confusing to find the information one needed Duplication of documents throughout the organization was very high The local optimization done by each local company, didn’t seem to work well It was very important that there be a clear governance structure for the new Knowledge Exchange to improve the consistency of the experience Target for the new KM system Barfield who was in charge of KM strategy, decided to develop a governance structure that incorporated senior representatives from each part of the organization †¢6. The new knowledge exchange Accenture changed the foundation of the Knowledge Exchange, from Lotus Notes to Microsoft’s Sharepoint Design of the new Knowledge Exchange were to leverage existing and packaged software to extend SharePoint only to support critical requirements The solution was designed to be simple, cost efficient and effective without an attempt to recreate all existing Lotus Notes functionality to contain all high-value content Opposed to trying to get everything working from the beginning from an end-user perspective user Internal Content Accenture Portal: Knowledge Resources Search (find.accenture.com) Job Aid / Topic page/ Community of Practice Collaboration: Submit question to experts/CoP’s Direct link via browser favorite Contributions/Accenture developed content Accenture purchased content(Research) Browse to other topic pages/COP myLearning courses method Answer from Accenture experts Accenture Discussions †¢7. The new knowledge exchange(cont’d) The strategy identified key insights that drove the overall design: Search quality is the most important aspect of the infrastructure Topic pages are very important for providing context to users who do not immediately find what they need or who are seeking a broader range of content about a subject While collaboration capabilities are not as widely used, this is a required capability for those who can’t find what they need or are working in an area that requires expertise †¢8. LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Training is an investment, not a cost: Vanthourrnout(later Chief Learning Officer) Training function at Accenture was revitalized Accenture employees were again rating training as one of the areas that most drove their satisfaction on the company’s annual employee satisfaction survey †¢9. STRATEGY SESSION 20 people critical to the delivery of Accenture’s KM capability came together to meet and discuss the future direction of KM There was a general feeling that the new Knowledge Exchange would provide a strong technical foundation for a renewed contribution from KM to Accenture’s corporate goals Knowledge Management Mission Drive value from knowledge to enhance revenue, reduce cost and foster innovation Knowledge Management Vision To create a world class knowledge-sharing culture and environment that contributes to Accenture’s success †¢10. Issues The way in which content was added to the system had to be designed Using SharePoint templates An initial typology for documents had been developed Focused on business processes, so that it was easy for people to find relevant documents Users be represented properly in the management and future development of the Knowledge Exchange KM would support, as completely as possible, the entire business cycle within Accenture from initial sales proposal to final client delivery Document obsolescence How can integrate learning and knowledge management? Too tightly integrating them might focus knowledge management on reuse and training and reduce its impact on innovation and collaboration 11. Knowledge Management Vision(cont’d) Five critical goals for KM Fostering and sustaining a knowledge sharing culture Improving the time to competency for new hires Enabling and enhancing Accenture’s sales capability Ensuring and improving the ROI for KM Improving margins and delivered quality on client engagements such as outsourcing and large consulting commitments through speed to capability, use of best practices, etc. †¢12. Five forces Making the knowledge available to the employees Accenture can make entrance barriers high Can analyze customers based on the customer information in KM system Can acquire the experts’ techniques to customers Can help delivery(finding the information of suppliers can be a help) There are plenty of information of substitution of products/services

Philosophy Essays Daoism Confucianism

Philosophy Essays Daoism Confucianism Daoism Confucianism Daoism: An Introduction China has contributed immensely towards the culture of the world, some significant contributions include Tangculture which is Bhuddhist influence in art and the same is predominant in the field of sclupture and numerous other masterpieces which are well admired all round the world.One such masterpiece is Daoism, the term may sound complicated but in reality it is not as complicated as it sounds. This paper will discuss the evolution and the principles of Daoism. Daoism has a native connection like another term which is Confucianism, the spirit of the Chinese people is reflected by Daoism. It evolved from the ancient Chinese society and it portrays the beliefs and idealogy of the Han nationality. The souce of its origination is from the workship of gods and spirits. Daoism is regarded as philosophical tradition of China malong with Confucianism. Daoism encompasses thought and practice that sometimes are viewed as philosophical, as religious, or as a combination of both. While modern scholars, especially those in the West, have been preoccupied with classifying Daoist material as either philosophical or religious, historically Daoists themselves have been uninterested in such categories and dichotomies.(IEP.UTM 1, September 2008) Scholars across Europe have been working maticulously on how to classify Daoism, whether it constitutes to philosphy or religion. The confusion has prevailed for quite sometime now. During the time of the Han Dynasty, Daoism was not in existence but early texts like Daodejing and the Zhuangzi triggered off the beginning of Daoism. There is a common belief among the people that a teacher by the name Laozi founded the school and also wrote himself all the major works called as Daodejing, the same is also known as Laozi. Daoists were the people who followed Daoism; they firmly believed that immortality was not a gift from god. They also believed that this is a connection between the nature and their bodies. People who though like this were believed to be living in the mountains and considering the same they considered their bodies to be mountains and walked on the path of immortality. They involved themselves in interesting activities such as physical exercises, discovering new sexual p ostitions to make sure that the flow of energy is greater than what it wasin the earler position, they also tried their hands at Chemistry but many of them died becuause of over experimentation. Not only did they die but a few emporers who followed in their footsteps also met with the same fate as the Daiosts. Get help with your essay from our expert essay writers Daoism always wanted people to cultivate the quality of self-cultivation in them. The teachings that were later called Daoism were first known under the name of Huanglao Dao in the 3rd and 2nd cent. BCE. The thought world transmitted in this stream is what Sima Tan meant by Daojia. The Huanglao School was a center of Daoist practitioners in the state of Qi (modern Shandong). Huangdi was the name for the Yellow Emperor, from whom the rulers of Qi said they were descended. When Emperor Wu, the sixth sovereign of the Han dynasty (r. 140-87 BCE) elevated Confucianism to the status of the official state ideology and training in it became mandatory for all bureaucratic officials, the tension with Daoism became more evident. And yet, at court people still sought longevity. Wu continued to engage in many Daoist practices, including the use of alchemy, climbing sacred Taishan (Mt. Tai), and presenting petitions to heaven. (IEP.UTM 1, September 2008). Principles of natural order as first established in ancient Chinese philosophy To define the principles, a step by step approach towards learning a few new concepts is required. The most important term is Dao, translating the Chinese word into English is very difficult because no word in English exactly gives the Chinese meaning but the english word which comes closest is the way, the meaning is the right path, the word describes the nature of the world in the true sense. People believe that Dao keeps the universe balanced, it is a strange belief but the sentiments of the Chinese people are attached with it. Knowing the key terms is very important as it paves the way in understanding Daoism better. The term Dao should not be misunderstood, it is not treated as god or a guiding figure, it is merely the path which should be adopted by an individual. The term is also perceived as a road. By this it is understood that the Chinese believed in changes, where as resisting changes is human nature, so from this it can be made out that the Chinese were unlike other peopl e who had this feeling of resisting changes. The next important term is Wu Wei, this is the core of Daoism or in other words it will not be unfair to say that this forms the center of Daosim. If the literal meaning of this term is taken, it means without action or in other words doing a task effortlessly. The main goal of Wu Wei is to align with Tao, hence it can be made out that the two terms are realted in more ways than one. Wu wei should be the way of life, because the dao always benefits, it does not harm (ch. 81) The way of heaven (dao of tian) is always on the side of good (ch. 79) and virtue (de) comes forth from the dao alone (ch. 21). What causes this natural embedding of good and benefit in the dao is vague and elusive (ch. 35), not even the sages understand it (ch. 76). But the world is a reality that is filled with spiritual force, just as a sacred image used in religious ritual might be (ch. 29). (IEP.UTM 1, September 2008). The next term is Pu, the terms sound really strange because these are taken from Chinese language and any language which is not familiar creates a strange impact on people. The term means simplicity; it is all about passive reception. This is perception of people leaving prejudice out of the equation, which is very difficult in any circumstances. Prejudice plays a key role in anyones perception and leaving it out of the equation is a very very big ask for all the normal people. The term Pu is all about being content with what is available with a person. The fourth and the last principle is De, the concept is very very complex and obviously very difficult to understand. To simplify the concept and understand it better it is fair to say that De is nothing but the expression of personal integrity. So the four terms aim at developing four qualities in a person namely oneness, all are equal and no differentiation of any kind should be shown towards anybody, harmonial action aims at mainta ing harmony among the people, dynamic balance focusses upon bringing stability in the people and cyclic growth makes sure that the people grow as individuals which is imperative for any individual, everyone should always strive to grow, there should not be a standstill as far as growth is concerned. All the four principles have their aims and all are meant to instill some quality or the other in an individual. How the style of poetry conforms to the basic ideals of the Daoists The poems written by the Daoists were called the Ci-poetry; it followed strict rhymic notes and lines. It was also made sure that the words used in the poetry were precise and made good sense. The Daoists composed Ballads, a musical poem which tells a story. The Book of Laozis Conversion of the Barbarians also collects 18 pieces of Ci of the Venerable Sovereigns 16 Transformations. They belong to Daoist tales about deities transformation. Tales about deities transformation are a means of relating the transformation of deities. Daoist tales about deities transformation refer to the style of relating the transformation of Daoist deities. In order to be adapted to the need of reciting and singing, this genre always adopts the form of yunwen (i.e. literary composition in rhyme). For example, Ci of the Venerable Sovereigns 16 Transformations is a piece of yunwen. The author arranges the plots according to the changes in orientations, and the shifting in places is based on the positions of the Eight Trigrams 4 in nine palaces of change. The Eight Trigrams represent the eight directions, and two cycles of the Eight Trigrams produce 16 pieces of Ci of transformation. (Eng. Taoism, 1 September 2008). The concept of the poems generally focussed upon immortality, ways to become immortal and what it takes to be immortal. Poetry was very influencial in shaping up the people at that time. Conclusion Classifying the term Daoism as philosphical or relioginal causes an ambiguity, let the scholars decide that but the positives can be taken and applied in day to day life, results will surely be visible if people stick to the four principles of Daoism which focus upon oneness, harmony, growth and dynamic balance. References Daoist Philosphy. In Iep.Utm. Retrieved on 1 September 2008 from: http://www.iep.utm.edu/d/daoism.htm#H2 A General Introduction. In Taoist.Org. Retrieved on 1 September 2008 from: http://www.taoist.org.cn/English/daoism.htm Daoism in Brief. In His.com. Retrieved on 1 September 2008 from: http://www.his.com/~merkin/daoBrief.html Taoism. In ReligiousTolerence. Retrieved on 1 September 2008 from: http://www.religioustolerance.org/taoism.htm