Laozi had high regard for females
"Lao-Tze says: Tao is one. It was in the beginning. It will remain for ever. It is impersonal, eternal, immutable, omnipresent, bodiless, immaterial. It cannot be perceived by the senses. It is nameless. It is indescribable. It is the first cause from which all substances take their origin and all phenomena flow. The great Tao is all-pervading. All things depend on it for life. It is The Mother of all phenomena, of heaven and earth. It existed before the Personal God. It is the father of God. It is the producer of God. It is the originator of heaven and earth. It is The Mother of all things. You will find that there is an aroma of Indian Vedantic philosophy in the teachings of Lao-Tze.”The Tao of Laozi (Lao Tzi)
'Tao' is a Chinese word meaning 'way', 'way of Heaven', 'Path'
or 'road' or 'method'. It indicates a line or principle of conduct.
There is no proper English term for atao'. It means the 'Eternal
Being'.
The Founder of Taoism was Lao-Tze. Lao-Tze was born in 604 B.C. in
the village of Chu-Jhren, in Li country, belonging to the Ku province
of the State Chu. He was born under the plum tree (in Chinese 'Li').
He adopted it as his surname. The hair of the head was white when he
was born. Hence he was called Lao-Tze (old boy) or philosopher, one
who is child-like even when old.
He was popularly called Lao-Tze. His name was Er (ear). He was called
Tan after his death. atan' means 'long lobe'. He had peculiar long
ears. His appellation was 'Po Yang' or"count of positive principle.”
He was a keeper or recorder of the secret Archives in the Royal court
of Chore. He was a State Historian.
Lao-Tze says: Tao is one. It was in the beginning. It will remain for
ever. It is impersonal, eternal, immutable, omnipresent, bodiless,
immaterial. It cannot be perceived by the senses. It is nameless. It
is indescribable.
It is the first cause from which all substances take their origin and
all phenomena flow. The great Tao is all-pervading. All things depend
on it for life. It is The Mother of all phenomena, of heaven and
earth. It existed before the Personal God. It is the father of God.
It is the producer of God. It is the originator of heaven and earth.
It is The Mother of all things.
You will find that there is an aroma of Indian Vedantic philosophy in
the teachings of Lao-Tze.
Tao is everywhere. It is in the ant. It is in the grass. It is in the
earthen-ware vessel. It is in excrement. It is in the highest place
but is not high. It is in the, lowest place, but is not low. It is in
ancient times, but itself is not ancient. It is in old age but itself
is not old. It is everywhere, but appears to be nowhere.
Tao is the sanctuary where all things find refuge. It is the good
man's priceless treasure. It is the guardian and saviour of him who
is not good. (Sri Swami Sivananda)
Laozi believed that females are The Mothers of all things and all
human beings. In accordance with Dao, which generates everything,
females are those that produce all things. Without females or
mothers, there is nothing else in the world.
The mystery of the valley is immortal;
It is known as the Subtle Female.
The gateway of the Subtle Female
Is the source of the Heaven and Earth. (Chapter 6)
In another chapter, Laozi observed:
The beginning of the world
May be regarded as The Mother of the world.
To apprehend The Mother,
Know the offspring.
To know the offspring
Is to remain close to The Mother,
And free from harm throughout life. (Chapter 52)
As per Daoist humanism, females, instead of males, are usually highly
regarded in his writing:
Know the male
Hold to the female;
Become the world's stream.
By being the world's stream
The Permanent De (or humanism) will never leave.
This is returning to Infancy. (Chapter 28)
From this perspective, it is easy to see that femininity and
mothering were highly valued by Laozi. Simply speaking, nothing in
the world is as important as women and mothers. If many philosophical
and religious ideas tend to maintain male superiority or dominance,
directly or indirectly (e.g., Confucianism; Hinduism; Christianity,
including Mormonism; Islam; Chauvinism; or Freudianism), Daoism
differs because females play a more important role in humanism than
males. This point may not have been well understood in modern
feminist research (see Laughlin & Wong, 1999). Perhaps philosophically
or religiously, Laozi could be seen as one of the first proponents of
feminism in human history.
Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 43 No. 1, Winter 2003 64-85
“Now, the principle of Mother is in every, every scripture - has to be there.” Shri Mataji, Radio Interview 1983 Oct 01, Santa Cruz, USA