This paper attempts to present the Taoist understanding of evil. In the Taoist tradition, especially in Tao Te Ching, evil is divided into two categories: causal evil and consequential evil. Causal evils are those evils that are said to be the causes of other evils; consequential evils are those that are said to be the consequences of the causal evils. Causal evils originate from human will, and cause suffering. This means that evil is not equal to suffering. Lao Tzu does not clearly talk about natural suffering. He regards all evil and suffering as resulting from human actions that are not in accordance with Tao, which is the source of all life. Therefore, the way to overcome evil is to follow Tao, to actualize wu-wei in life.

This essay deals with the Taoist (Daoist) aesthetics and its specificities. It is hypothesized that knowing TAOISM will help us understand Chinese landscape painting. The present essay attempts therefore to show that TAOISM has founded the theoretical basis of the aesthetics of Chinese landscape painting. According to Taoist teachings, painting, in its best, should be the medium of the Tao. That’s why it is aimed to clarify the fact that the painting is the adequate medium to “express” the Tao. The texts of TAOISM tell us that the Tao cannot be communicated in language, yet Taoists saw in painting a powerful medium to convey the Taoist wisdom. An analysis of the composition of landscape painting shows us how the pictorial image could represent this wisdom adequately. Finally, it is concluded that the application of light and diffused colors, the ubiquitous vacuum and emptiness, and the absence of linear perspectives in Chinese landscape paintings indicate the influence of the TAOISM in the Chinese artistic creation.

Mystical journey is the movement from the point of origin to the destination. In mystical behavior (journey), the destination and end point is annihilation in monotheism. Mystical journey, which is a spiritual and heartfelt one to reach the essence of spiritual perfection, is depicted in mystical thoughts in the form of Maqā, mah. The method of this article is descriptive –,analytical and comparative the library resources of mystical behavior in Islamic mysticism and TAOISM are applied and discussed comparatively to answer the question: “, what are commonalities and differences in the structure of Maqā, mah in Islamic mysticism and Taoist mysticism? The findings show that in both Islamic mysticism, Sufism, and Taoist mysticism, the wayfarer has achieved intuition, knowledge, and awareness by leaving behind the stages and Maqā, mah of cultivating sensual contaminants, and finally reaches conciousness in mystical poverty and annihilation and its equivalent in TAOISM, in the enlightenment and intuition of the Tao. The main differences are the Shari'a-oriented viewpoint of the Muslim wayfarer who seeks worship and gain the pleasure of his Lord by emphasizing the kindness. since mystic journey of TAOISM lacks such concepts.

One of the necessary discussions of educational sciences, especially of the philosophy of education, is to present a critical knowledge of the schools of education, with a comparative study of these schools and some contemporary religious philosophical schools. This research tries to criticize Tao’s aims and educational principles, based on the transcendental wisdom of Molla Sadra, to achieve this goal. Using an inferential method, I have first extracted the goals, principles and educational methods of TAOISM; and second, I have criticized TAOISM and its philosophical foundations based on the transcendental wisdom. The most important educational goal of TAOISM, as I have researched, is educating human in harmony with the true tariqa (method), i.e. Tao. Examining these goals and principles on the basis of the transcendental wisdom, I will show that the lack of proper theology and the philosophical gap between ontology and anthropology has made TAOISM - as an educational philosophy - incapable of correctly interpreting its goals and principles - such as balance and complete obedience of tariqa - in the first place. Nevertheless, some of the educational teachings of TAOISM, such as simplicity, return to nature and balance between physical and mental education, can have a positive messages for education and training.

One way of comparing religious traditions, is comparing the ideal moral man in those schools. It is clear that the greater similarity of the ideal moral man attributes in two schools reveals close intellectual foundations, and it prepares the conditions for dialogue and cultural interaction. Using a desk-research and focusing on the main ethical texts of the two schools of Islam and TAOISM, especially "Nahj al-Balagh" and "Tao Te Ching" the similarity of the ideal man qualities in these two educational systems is compared. Farzaneh (the ideal man of TAOISM) has certain characteristics, is similar to the "Parsa" (the ideal man of Islam), in many respects. Piety, satisfaction to predestination, isolation, thinking, Intimacy with nature, silence, forgiveness, serving the people, avoidance of self-esteem, avoidance of violence and etc., are among those characteristics. On the other hand, Islamic Parsa is distinct from the Taoist due to features such as prayers and worship, a sense of responsibility towards the community, and the separation from the opponents (unbelievers) and believing in the Resurrection, and so on, which shows that these two schools have a considerable distance from each other despite the many similarities.

This paper, as the first Persian writing in this context, tries to introduce, present and comment on three newly found Chinese documents discovered in 2008 from the Xiapu county in Fujian province, southeastern of China. One of them is Manichaean and two others are non-Manichaean but about the Manichaeism and the Chinese Manichaeans. This important heritage, some of which are very old and even go back to the Song and Tang periods, illustrates new effects of Manichaeism with the Chinese characteristics and shows the Manichaean influences on the Chinese popular thoughts on the one hand and the combination of this religion with TAOISM and Buddhism on the other. Here, some previous commentaries have been corrected.

Using descriptive-analytical method and concentrating on original sources, this paper compares the ideas of Fudayl ibn Iyad, the second century Islamic Sufi, and Yang Zhu, the earliest Taoists ascetic about piety. The primary similarities of TAOISM and Sufism on piety have made it necessary to study this issue, which suggests the similarity of these two concepts with each other, since the Islamic Sufism began with asceticism as the of TAOISM also began with piety. In sum, the ideas of Fudayl and Yang Zhu are somewhat similar, but despite the apparent similarities, Fudayl was an ascetic, mystic, devout, devoted and right seeker man, while Yang Zhu was a hermit, materialist and was inclined to get rid of the terrible suffering from himself, which lacks the transcendental values. Consequently, the concept of piety in Fudayl's ideas is superior to Yang Zhu's ones.

By combining the artistic traditions of the previous eras and the new Islamic taste, the Samanians played a fundamental role in the creation of modern Iranian-Islamic art. The important question here is how much the role of different artistic traditions has been in this artistic creation. The basic point in answering this question is that due to the settlement of the Samanids at the meeting point of the Central Asian caravans that reached that region from China and India and the reference of their capital Bukhara to the Assembly of Great Religions by some Islamic writers, it had a great potential for internationalization which has also come to the fore in the field of art. Therefore, Samanian art can be seen as the arena of confrontation between different Zoroastrian, Buddhist, Taoist and Islamic cultures and religions, and in the end, under the influence of the Iranian ambition of the Samanids and the power of the Islamic religion, only the Iranian and Islamic elements remained and continued. Since the Islamic or even Zoroastrian elements of Samanian art (such as Chahartaqhi design, Sakanj, etc.) are more or less known; With the aim of identifying the imported Buddhist and Taoist elements affecting the form and decorative motifs of Samanid architecture, this research examines several prominent Samanid buildings, including Amir Ismail’s tomb, Tim’s tomb, and the Nine-Dome Mosque. Therefore, the present research, by using the descriptive method and analytical comparative approach and the method of collecting documentary and electronic information, intends to answer this central question that apart from Zoroastrian and Islamic elements, which Buddhist and Taoist elements inspired the form and decorative motifs of Samanian period architecture? The results of the research show that Buddhist and Taoist art entered eastern Iran through exchanges on the Silk Road, and finally by combining the artistic elements of these religions such as the lotus flower, Dharmacakra and Chinese crucifix with Iranian and Islamic elements, the first artistic and decorative style of Iran was born in It has become an Islamic era.

This paper together with the use of firsthand sources through descriptive–analytic method deals with comparing the concept of asceticism in the thoughts of Hamdoon GHassar, the Islamic Sufi in Three century, and Lao Tzu, the primitive ascetic in TAOISM. The necessity of this search is according to primitive similarities of TAOISM and Sufism school of thought in the concepts of Mallamat and Wu Wei. This similarities cause a comparative researcher to be Interested in this Field. It Takes Result that The Conception of Wu wei in the Thoughts of Lieh tzu Has a Yogi Tradition That Although It Has Positive Features Such as Doing in Reticence, Sincerity, Path and Refusal of Formalism, Nevertheless, Reception of That Lead to Poverty, Inaction, Non Responsibility, Indifference and Extremist Ascetic. But The conception of Mallammat in the Thoughts of Hamdoon Has a Semitic Tradition That Its Basic Foundation is on Pragmatic, More Responsibility, Keeping of Piety And Honesty. Thereupon The Conception of Asceticism in the Thoughts of Both is Difference.