The Pregnant Mother
as First Teacher

Ancient Taoist Guidelines for Pregnancy
from the 7th century text Tung Hsuan Tzu

***There is considerable sympathy for the feminine in Taoism and it offers women at least
potentially a great deal in both theological and psychological terms.  The Chinese saw the
the universe as pervaded by the mysterious life force Chi, which was made up of the "eternal
mutual interaction of dual cosmic forces", yang (identified with male) and yin (female). These
beliefs were particularly associated with Taoism.

When she is pregnant, she must do the following:
She must practice good deeds
She must not look at ugly colors
She must not listen to ugly sounds or voices
She must not use bad language
She must not be frightened or worried
She must not overwork or tire herself
She must eat very carefully and thoughtfully
She must not ride horses or climb mountains
She must not walk too fast
She must read good books and listen to beautiful music

The above are just some important points of what we call:
"Teaching the young
when they are still in the mother's womb."