Symbolism of Water in Daoism: A Sufi Point of View

On the symbolism of water, two esoteric doctrines of the far-eastern and islamic traditions, namely, daoism and sufism, have many comparable teachings. although different points of view would take different aspects of the symbol into account, the teachings in question come to significant analogous points around the life-giving aspect of the symbol. above all, water represents fons vitæ equally and simultaneously containing all the possibilities of manifestation and seeds of life. in this meaning, water is a symbol of the great element of the throne of life for ibn ʿarabī, equivalent to the state of the water-veiled immersion (hunlun) or water as the first epiphany of the great one (taiyi) in daoism. this pre-eternal water of the unmanifested state is also manifested with the same quality in the heirarchical levels of existence. this paper first takes a short survey of different symbolical aspects of water in sufism, and after explaining the place of the idea of life in daoism, it presents major connotations of the symbol in daoism from a sufi point of view.