Contemporary ecotourism development from the perspective of traditional Taoist philosophy¹

El desarrollo del ecoturismo contemporáneo desde la perspectiva de la filosofía taoísta tradicional

Abstract:

The development of modern ecotourism cannot do without the support of the cultural industry. Placing China’s ecotourism industry within the traditional Taoist ideology and culture of China can effectively establish a systematic cultural and tourism theory, enrich the methods of ecotourism construction and promote the development of the tourism industry. Therefore, this study is based on Taoist ecological ideology and analyzes the impact of traditional ideological connotations on the development of ecotourism from the perspectives of natural harmony and spiritual balance in Taoist ideology. At the same time, the study explores the modern value of Taoist philosophy and its advantages in integrating with tourism at three levels: sustainable development, social ecological civilization and human spiritual needs. The purpose of this study is to explore the development path of contemporary sustainable ecotourism culture and provide theoretical guidance for achieving harmonious development and unity between humans and nature.

Keywords:
Taoism; Philosophy; Ecological View; Ecotourism; Harmonious; Natural ecology

Resumen:

La esencia del desarrollo del ecoturismo moderno reside en la coexistencia armónica y armoniosa de la relación entre el hombre y la naturaleza, que es la práctica ecológica del turismo bajo el trasfondo del desarrollo sostenible moderno. El desarrollo del turismo tradicional se centra en los intereses económicos y descuida la protección sostenible de la ecología turística, y el ecoturismo se ha convertido gradualmente en la dirección de desarrollo y reforma del turismo contemporáneo. El taoísmo hace hincapié en seguir a la naturaleza, lo que tiene evidentes tendencias naturalistas, proporciona diferentes perspectivas filosóficas clásicas tradicionales para comprender la relación entre la naturaleza y el desarrollo humano, y tiene un importante significado esclarecedor para promover el desarrollo común del hombre y la naturaleza. El taoísmo aboga por respetar e imitar las leyes del desarrollo natural, persiguiendo la armonía general entre el hombre y la naturaleza, y es coherente con la naturaleza intrínseca del ecoturismo moderno. Por lo tanto, basándose en el pensamiento ecológico taoísta, la investigación explora la vía de desarrollo de la cultura ecoturística sostenible contemporánea y proporciona orientación teórica para el desarrollo armonioso y la unidad del hombre y la naturaleza.

Palabras clave:
Taoísmo; Filosofía; Visión ecológica; Ecoturismo

Introduction

Traditional mass tourism does not fundamentally recognize the internal relationship between humans and the natural ecology during the tourism process, resulting in many disharmonious behaviors and tourism habits, which have a negative impact on the natural ecological environment (Yu, 2022, p. 46). In the development process of traditional Chinese culture and philosophy, Taoism has always advocated for returning to nature and respecting it, advocating the Taoist natural ecological concept of nature and the unity of heaven and man. This is highly consistent with the attitude of modern social ecological protection and has important implications for the long-term development of modern ecotourism (Yang et al., 2019, p. 1117; Zhong; Deng, 2019, p. 810). The spiritual realm pursued by Taoism, the acquisition of primitive naturalness suppressed by social norms and the purpose of modern young people’s tourism complement each other. The Taoist ecological view advocates returning to its roots, respecting nature, and being in line with the development concept of modern ecotourism. It can provide ecological philosophy guidance and direction for the development of modern ecotourism. Modern ecotourism is a new development of traditional tourism, in the context of environmental crisis, and is an inevitable choice for ecological development. The practice of tourism development cannot be separated from the support of cultural ideology, and Taoist ideology has important guiding significance for the construction of ecotourism. This study links the philosophical ideas and cultural connotations of Taoism with the development of ecotourism industry, starting from analyzing the relationship between China’s tourism and cultural industry, and exploring the role of Taoism in promoting the development of China’s tourism culture. The purpose of this study is to enrich the current theories and cultural connotations of ecotourism, thereby promoting the development of sustainable tourism.

1 The basic connotation of ecotourism and Taoist ecological view

1.1 Basic content of ecotourism

By definition, tourists are the subject and center of tourism activities and processes, while ecotourism refers to responsible tourism activities carried out within a certain natural area. In order to appreciate and appreciate historical and existing natural and cultural landscapes, tourism activities should be carried out without disturbing natural areas, protecting the ecological environment, reducing negative impacts of tourism, and providing beneficial social and economic activities for the local population. The tourism industry is the study of people leaving their place of residence, industries generated by tourist demand, and the tourists’ impact and of the industry on the host country’s society, culture, economy and natural environment. Among them, the ecological and cultural characteristics of the tourism industry are relatively significant. The tourism industry has taken tourists out of the world of daily family life, creating various plots that can be freely expressed and have relatively abstract meanings.

From the perspective of subject function, the essence of ecotourism lies in the regulation and balance of people’s body and mind through contact between people and natural ecology. In the process of ecotourism, people experience the balance between natural ecology and self, and realize self-relaxation and physical and mental regulation through the perception and personal experience of cultural ecological resources (Saffarheidari; Saffarheidari, 2019, p. 8). Ecotourism not only emphasizes the positive role of tourism activities on people, but also requires tourists to assume the responsibility and obligation to protect the ecological environment in the process of ecotourism, and respects and protects ecological civilization as the basis of ecotourism.

From an environmental perspective, under the guidance of ecological theory, eco-tourism takes the natural ecological environment space as the object, and helps tourists enjoy and understand natural scenery and ecological culture through their contact with nature, which is a modern tourism activity produced under the concept of green leisure. Ecotourism is based on natural ecological resources, including the overall ecological environment system of natural and cultural ecological combination, emphasizing the balance and coordination between the ecosystem and tourists, so that tourists can obtain a good sightseeing tourism experience in the process of ecotourism (Tauro et al., 2021, p. 4526). Ecotourism is a new development direction of modern tourism activities and the product of the combination of ecological civilization and tourism under the background of human social development. The harmonious coexistence between tourists and natural ecology cannot only help tourists obtain psychological pleasure through eco-tourism activities, but also enhance people’s awareness of ecological protection in tourism interaction and promote the harmonious development of ecological environment and human activities.

From an economic perspective, the sustainable development of the tourism economy is the prerequisite and foundation for other aspects of sustainable development. And development is the goal of improving and improving the human life’s quality. To achieve sustainable development, there must be certain social conditions. Only by caring about equality among generations, a sense of responsibility and participation among regions, we can subjectively provide possibilities for the fact and realization of sustainable development. The central issue of sustainable development is the sustainability of resources. Resources are the foundation, and without them, there can be no sustainable development without their rational utilization. Environmental protection and construction are important contents and measurement standards for sustainable development, and the quality and level of development are reflected in the degree of protection of the ecosystem during the development process. Sustainable development is a global issue and a humanity’s common goal.

1.2 The spiritual connotation of the Taoist ecological view

The core of Taoist ideology is closely related to ecological nature, and the connotation of “Dao” is based on the development of natural laws. In the ideas of natural balance and harmony between nature and humans, ecotourism and Taoism have unity. Taoism has a clear naturalistic tendency, linking society and human activities with nature, and exploring the people’s and the world’s meaning and value from a naturalistic perspective. Taoism regards nature as the origin of all things, uses nature to explain the root of the birth and development of all things, and combines human and social development with natural objects, which is a deep integration of ecological civilization and Eastern classical philosophy. The holistic ecological concept is the basis of Taoist ecological thought, which emphasizes Taoism and nature, believes that all natural things and people are symbiotic, and emphasizes the overall equal and coexistence relationship between man and the natural environment from an ecological point of view. Taoism pointed out that the relationship between man and nature is symbiotic dependence and mutual development The natural ecology provides the necessary living resources for human activities and development. And the nature eclogy is the necessary natural foundation for the human society’s development (Hamidi et al., 2022, p. 103; Huang et al., 2020, p. 314). The human society’s long-term development must respect the law of natural development, not violate and break the nature’s law, and need to achieve human development on the basis of natural development. On this basis, Taoists reduce the fundamental law of natural development to the “Tao”, emphasizing the realization of long-term human development on the basis of obeying the “Tao”. Taoism believes that all things in man and nature come from the Tao, and that man and nature are equal in origin, so the man and nature’s development should maintain a balanced relationship and should not put the interests of one party above the other, emphasizing ecological equality and harmonious coexistence between man and nature. Therefore, Taoism believes that human development needs to respect nature and all things, oppose the abuse and destruction of natural resources, emphasize the highest principle of morality to treat the natural ecological environment, and care for nature and the growth and development of all things.

Taoism believes that natural ecology and social ecology have the characteristics of integration, so the human society’s development should be based on respect for natural ecosystems, carry out human activities under the guidance of the harmonious natural concept of sustainable development and emphasize promoting the human society’s long-term development in the natural cycle. Human beings and nature have a relationship of mutual influence, so human development should respect the nature’s original nature and reduce the negative impact of human activities on natural ecology. On the basis of the holistic ecological view, Taoism has the natural pursuit of the nature’s primitive ecology, emphasizing the human beings’ close attitude to nature and opposing the excessive human impact of human activities on nature (Zhang et al., 2023, p. 1252). In terms of the coexistence relationship between human society and natural ecology, Taoism emphasizes the unity of heaven and man, and believes that there is a natural unity and integrity between human beings and nature. Therefore, human beings should carry out social development on the basis of respecting and protecting the natural ecology, rather than blindly seeking development resources from nature. Taoism emphasizes that human beings should adhere to “Do through non-action” in the process of their own development, oppose the negative anthropogenic impact of human activities and development on nature, and emphasize the development concept of the unity of heaven and man. In the relationship between man and nature, the Taoist ecological concept of natural inaction does not require human beings to do nothing, but emphasizes that human beings should not deliberately act in the process of contact with nature, and should do something on the basis of conforming to natural laws. Nature is the ecological foundation of human social development, and the human beings’ survival and development must obtain natural materials from nature, but human demand should be content, take the concept of sustainable development as the basis for human resource acquisition, obtain natural resources within the limits of conforming to the law of natural development, and realize the human society’s coexistence and progress and of natural ecology.

Taoism believes that Tao is the origin and basic law of all things in the universe, human beings and nature coexist with each other and are interdependent in development, and there is a natural affinity between human society and natural ecology. So human activities should also maintain an ecological attitude close to nature and pursue the innocence and simplicity of primitive nature, and the ecological nature that conforms to Taoism (Brown et al., 2021, p. 120; Van Dung, 2021, p. 429). Therefore, in the process of coexistence between man and nature, human beings should respect and protect nature as the premise. They should not rely on their own attitude to carry out excessive intervention and transformation of ecological development, and develop together with nature on the basis of respecting the growth method of all things. Taoists pointed out that the beauty of all things lies in the unity and harmony of all things in the universe, and human beings should also pursue the man and nature’s harmonious beauty in the process of getting along with nature, and carry out natural interaction on the basis of respecting the nature’s harmonious order. The excessive behavior, which violates the nature’s basic laws, will inevitably affect the harmonious relationship between man and nature, bringing disasters to human development.

1.3 The essence of the Taoist view of ecology

Taoism takes natural ecology as the core, emphasizes the basic laws of Taoism and nature, and conducts in-depth discussions on the relationship between man and nature. Taoism emphasizes the symbiotic coexistence between man and nature, maintains a respectful attitude towards natural laws and all life, and has a clear naturalistic tendency. The essence of the Taoist view of ecology lies in the harmonious and unified relationship between man and nature, and in the attitude of contact between man and nature, Taoism emphasizes respect and return to natural ecology, and pursues the original state of nature in the world (Yunfeng; Aidi, 2020, p. 305). Taoism advocates an ecological attitude of simplicity and inaction, opposes excessive interference in nature by human activities, and emphasizes that human beings should contact and interact with nature on the basis of respecting the natural development trend. They cannot make excessive external intervention in nature on the premise of their own development, which violates the natural law of natural development. Taoists believe that Tao is the fundamental law of the nature’s development and of all things, and the human beings’ and nature’s development should also be based on the Tao and promote the human society’s development under the guidance of the law of Tao. Taoists advocate Taoism and nature, and believe that the development of all things should follow the moral law and survive and develop on the basis of conforming to the heaven’s, earth’s and universe’s laws. In the process of human contact with nature, Taoists believe that human beings should conform to nature as the premise, not go against the nature of all natural things for their own development, and emphasize the relationship of getting along with each other without deliberately acting recklessly.

Secondly, the Taoist ecological view advocates the basic view of the human beings and nature’s unity as a whole, and Taoism believes that Tao is the root and law of the development and evolution of all things in the universe, and that both man and nature are products under the Tao, with the characteristics of homologous symbiosis and correlation. Taoists believe that heaven, earth, Tao and man together form the cosmic system, and that human beings are an integral part of the universe’s development. Therefore, the human society’s development should be carried out on the basis of the harmony and unity of all things, should respect the Taoist laws of all things in the universe and continue to develop in accordance with the nature’s laws. Taoism unites man and nature, reveals the natural connection between man and nature, and believes in symbiotic coexistence between man and nature (Mason, 2020, p. 266). Therefore, Taoism emphasizes the nature’s law and believes that human development should adhere to the principle of the man and nature’s integrity, integrate human development and survival with the natural universe, emphasize the human society’s long-term development on the basis of respecting the natural universe’s overall ecosystem law, and face the relationship between man and nature with a highly respectful and tolerant attitude. Taoism advocates the unity of heaven and man and the unity of material and self. And, in the relationship between human beings and nature, human beings should pursue the integration of subject and object between man and nature, face nature with an attitude of respect and protection, and promote self-development on the basis of maintaining the natural ecological balance.

2 The value of Taoist ecological view for modern ecotourism

2.1 Development needs adaption of modern eco-tourism

Integrating Taoist ecological concept into the development of modern ecotourism is an important development direction of ecotourism under the background of sustainable development. It adapts to the development needs of ecotourism under the concept of modern ecological environmental protection. The Taoist concept of ecology emphasizes the pursuit of the nature’s original ecological beauty and the development of eco-tourism on the basis of harmonious coexistence between man and nature to pursue the beauty of primitive and simple natural ecology (Yongmou; Hao, 2018, p. 21). The Taoist concept of ecology advocates Taoist nature, combines human tourism activities with natural ecology and pays attention to the pursuit of the original beauty of all natural things. Integrating Taoist ecological concept into the development of eco-tourism and upgrading Taoist ecological thought from the theoretical level to the ecological practice level are the modern theoretical development of Taoist ecological concept and an important practice for sustainable ecological development of tourism. Under the increasingly severe social situation of ecological crisis, the contemporary human beings’ survival and development are inseparable from environmental problems, and the ecological protection and ecological balance, emphasized in the Taoist ecological concept, are the inevitable choices under the modern ecological crisis. They are unique ecological concepts and orientations with traditional Chinese cultural colors. Integrating Taoism into the development of modern eco-tourism, the ecological concept is guided by Taoist natural ecology thought, which not only highlights the respect of traditional Chinese culture for natural life and ecological environment, reflects the human beings’ respect attitude to natural life under the situation of social development, but also provides direction guidance for the development of modern ecotourism, enriching the aesthetic and value connotation of modern ecotourism. The integration of Taoist ecological concept is an ecological interpretation of the relationship between man and nature under the background of modern tourism development. It is also conducive to shaping the modern society’s ecological and cultural value system, which meets the great concern of human survival and development under the environmental crisis on ecological issues, and has important enlightenment and influence value for the long-term development of modern ecotourism.

2.2 Harmonious coexistence between people and ecology

Under the situation of social development, the environmental crisis between man and nature is becoming increasingly serious. Ecological and environmental problems have gradually affected the human society’s development, and countries around the world are increasingly aware of the importance of natural ecology to human survival and development. The Taoist ecological concept emphasizes the unity of Taoist nature and heaven and man, and believes that, in the process of coexistence with the natural environment, human activities should be carried out on the basis of respecting the development of all natural things, and on the basis of protecting the balance of natural development. The Taoist concept of ecology emphasizes contentment and knowledge. It believes that people should adapt to the natural development law of the ecological environment in the process of contact with the ecological environment. They should not over-consume and over-take the natural ecology. They should use natural ecological resources on the basis of natural development and try to avoid the excessive negative impact of human activities on the natural ecosystem. In the social context of the increasingly intensifying contradiction between man and nature, the Taoist ecological concept emphasizes human obedience to the laws of natural development and opposes the nature’s destruction and plunder of nature. This attitude of respecting nature is conducive to resolving the antagonistic relationship between human beings and nature in today’s society, helping people establish a natural ecological awareness of harmonious coexistence and maintaining the balance between human society and ecological environment (Imani Khoshkhoo et al., 2021, p. 59). The Taoist concept of natural ecology takes the harmony and balance between man and nature as the goal of development, which can help human beings correct the current erroneous ecological attitude and establish a natural coexistence model based on sustainable development as the fundamental principle, which has important enlightening significance for the handling of human environmental problems.

2.3 Construction promotion of social and ecological civilization

The construction of ecological civilization and ecological harmonious society is an important direction of China’s social development. The construction of social ecological civilization includes social, humanistic and natural aspects. Integrating Taoist ecological concept into the development of ecotourism can not only provide direction for the long-term development of modern tourism, but also use the positive ecological attitude of Taoist ecological concept to help people establish correct ecological awareness and promote an ecologically harmonious society’s construction and development. On the basis of affirming the unity of the homologous symbiosis between all natural things and human society, Taoism emphasizes that human activities should be carried out on the basis of respecting and protecting nature. The Taoist ecological concept emphasizes the equal coexistence relationship between man and nature, believes that the human society’s long-term development must be based on conforming to the nature’s laws and requires human beings to change their past erroneous attitudes to resolve the antagonistic contradictions between humans and nature. The construction of social ecological civilization requires people to face the relationship between man and nature with a high degree of ecological consciousness, fully realize the equal symbiotic status between man and natural ecology, fully understand the law of natural development in the process of contact with nature and take the fundamental law of natural development as the guide for human activities to promote the human society’s long-term development under the limits of natural Tao.

3 Development of contemporary ecotourism under the Taoist ecological view

3.1 Promote simplicity and self-spirit balance

Eco-tourism is an emerging tourism development model under the background of sustainable tourism in modern society. It emphasizes the integration of natural ecological concepts on the basis of traditional tourism and the nature’s protection and balance under tourism activities. It requires tourists to pay attention to the harmonious relationship between man and nature in the process of eco-tourism, and meet their own pursuit of natural ecology on the basis of protecting and respecting nature. Taoism emphasizes Taoist nature and human law nature, and believes that there is a natural harmony and unity between nature and human society. Ecotourism is an interactive activity between human beings and natural ecology, and people contact and interact with the natural environment through ecotourism to obtain beautiful natural experiences. Examining the development of modern tourism from the perspective of Taoist ecological view, Taoism advocates a simple concept of eco-tourism, emphasizing that, in eco-tourism, tourists should pursue the natural nature of the natural ecosystem and the original state of innocence and simplicity, face eco-tourism activities with a simple mentality and, in the process of contact with the natural ecology, feel the nature’s original tranquility, exclude the spiritual influence of secular concepts and face tourism and life with a simple state of mind and attitude (Jiang et al., 2019, p. 90).

The Taoist concept of ecology believes that free nature is the original nature and preciousness of things. So, in the tourism interaction between people and nature, they should pursue the original nature of natural ecology, withdraw themselves from earthly life and feel the beauty of natural ecology. The Taoist ecological concept advocates that people appreciate and perceive the nature’s original beauty in natural eco-tourism, without overly pursuing the artificial beauty of ecological landscaping, and carry out eco-tourism with the concept of simplicity. The Taoist ecological concept emphasizes the pursuit of self-spiritual freedom and happiness on the basis of the laws of Taoism, maintaining man’s free and natural state of mind in the harmonious coexistence and interaction between man and nature, and pursuing the primitive nature’s beauty in natural activities. Taoism emphasizes the cultivation of one’s inner self and self-cultivation, emphasizing the harmony and integrated development of human body and mind. Taoism believes that the harmony between one’s self and body and the harmony between man and nature are essentially the same, and that people should first pursue the overall development of themselves through the cultivation of the inner self, so as to achieve the harmonious development between man and nature and all things. Taoism emphasizes the people’s self-“heart”, pays attention to the pursuit of people’s inner spirit and aesthetics, and emphasizes the people’s nature’s essence and of all things. In the context of the society’s rapid development, people are forced to run constantly under the life’s pressure, neglecting the cultivation of self-spirit and inner spirit. Thus, the problem of spiritual emptiness and inner lack appears. In the process of traditional tourism development, people overly pursue the pseudo-beauty of artificial landscaping, while ignoring the primitive beauty of natural ecosystems. But they cannot meet the human beings’ needs of for self-spiritual satisfaction. Therefore, in the process of ecotourism, people should take the regulation of self-spirit as the goal, take balancing self-spirit as the purpose of ecotourism activities, and feel the nature’s original beauty in the process of harmonious coexistence with nature, so as to realize the balanced development of self-spirit.

3.2 Moderate consumption

The Taoist view of ecology emphasizes human contentment with nature and opposes excessive appropriation and consumption of natural resources. Taoist natural ecology consciousness emphasizes human respect and protection of nature, as it does the human society’s development and human activities to excessively take natural resources. Therefore, in the process of ecotourism development, human beings should not regard themselves as consumers of ecological resources, but should respect the basic laws of natural development, take natural laws as the basic principles of ecotourism, and oppose excessive ecological consumption (Qiu et al., 2023, p. 58). In eco-tourism activities, people strengthen the communication and interaction between themselves and the ecological environment through tourism, and people’s ecological experience in ecotourism must be based on people’s contact and utilization of the natural environment. Taoism, on the other hand, advocates the path of harmony and believes that extremes should not be pursued excessively. Therefore, in the process of eco-tourism, human tourism activities should grasp the limits of natural ecology on the basis of respecting and understanding nature, and should not exceed the law of natural development and overconsume nature. In the process of ecotourism development, if people can adhere to the eco-tourism concept of moderate consumption, it will greatly reduce the pressure caused by tourism activities on the ecological environment system, reduce the excessive consumption and waste of eco-tourism resources, and achieve the goal of balanced coexistence between man and nature. The fundamental purpose of ecotourism is to strengthen the contact and interaction between man and nature through human tourism activities, so that tourists can perceive natural landscapes and all life in the process of ecotourism, so as to obtain spiritual beauty experience and freedom and happiness. Therefore, in the process of ecotourism, tourists should be content and not use the ecosystem as a target for overconsumption and taking.

3.3 Pursuit of harmony nature

The Taoist view of ecology emphasizes the preciousness of things, and nature believes that the primitive state of everything is the highest and natural beauty. The Taoist attitude of advocating the nature of nature holds that the Tao is the source of the development of all things in the universe, and that nature, embodied in nature and Tao, is the preciousness of all things. Taoists believe that the nature’s true beauty lies in the nature’s nature and primitiveness, and oppose the artificial influence and transformation of natural ecology, and the imposition of human aesthetics and concepts on nature. Taoism emphasizes simplicity and inaction, and believes that, in the process of contact with nature, people should respect the nature’s nature and do something on the basis of conforming to natural Taoism, rather than deliberately acting arbitrarily guided by human self-needs (Shuai; Wang, 2018, p. 107; Wang, 2021, p. 222). In the process of tourism development, in order to meet the needs of self-tourism, people over-exploit natural eco-tourism resources and artificially transform the original appearance of the natural environment, resulting in serious natural damage and waste of ecological resources. This excessive intervention in natural ecology violates the Taoist concept of wuwei and is a destructive act that violates the nature’s laws and the laws of circulation. In the process of eco-tourism development, tourists should also uphold the ecological idea of natural inaction, emphasize the pursuit of the beauty of natural primitive ecology, and not be able to overly intervene in nature guided by their own subjective concepts and needs. Tourists should carry out tourism on the basis of conforming to the heaven and earth’s natural nature.

The Taoist ecological concept emphasizes the symbiotic coexistence between man and nature, and believes that man and nature have natural unity and wholeness, and that both ones are closely linked. Therefore, the development of ecotourism should also be based on respect for ecology and the people’s overall harmony, emphasizing the balanced relationship between people and ecology. Taoism believes that people and all natural things are part of the natural universe, and that there is harmony and equality between people and all things under the natural ecosystem. And only by maintaining the integrity and unity of the overall system, the normal operation of all things in the universe can be maintained. Taoism emphasizes the man and nature’s integral characteristics, and believes that both ones are derived from the rules of Taoism, are essentially organic wholes with natural connections. It also believes that man and nature are interdependent and coexisting (Zhao; Wu, 2022, p. 21). Therefore, ecotourism should be based on respecting the man and nature’s integrity, pursue the overall unity and harmony between man and nature, and should not make destructive acts that break the harmony between man and nature in the process of tourism. Ecotourism should take the overall harmony of the ecological environment as the basic goal, emphasize the balance and development of the natural ecology under human tourism activities, and respect the natural ecology. Ecotourism, under the Taoist ecological concept, should be based on respecting the original nature of the natural ecological environment and carry out eco-tourism activities under the condition of conforming to the development law of all natural things. In the process of eco-tourism, human beings should not make bad behaviors that destroy the original ecology for their own tourism needs, should combine eco-tourism with natural development and develop modern eco-tourism on the basis of respecting the natural ecological balance of tourist places to realize the human beings’ pursuit and return to ecological beauty.

Conclusion

In the context of the increasingly severe natural ecological crisis in the world, the overall concept and harmonious pursuit of Taoist ecological concept have important enlightening significance for the development of ecotourism. Integrating Taoist ecological views into modern ecotourism can provide direction and ideological guidance for the long-term development of modern ecotourism, and it is an important ecological practice under the construction of ecological civilization in China. Taking the Taoist concept of ecology as the development guide of modern ecotourism, it is required that ecotourism should be based on simple ecological concepts, pursue the primitive nature’s ecological beauty, pay attention to the harmonious coexistence between people and ecology, and enable people to achieve self-spirit and inner balanced development in ecotourism interaction. This study analyzes the impact of Taoist philosophy on the current development of ecotourism from three perspectives: spiritual balance, natural harmony and tourism consumption. At the same time, the positive impact of Taoist ideology on the improvement of China’s ecological tourism spiritual form and the expansion of tourism behavior was analyzed. This study explores the relationship between ecotourism and Taoist ideology, showcasing the profound cultural connotations of China’s tourism industry, and providing new theoretical support for ecotourism and sustainable development.

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  The research is supported by National Social Science Foundation Project: Research on the construction index system of tourism characteristic villages and towns (nº 15XMZ048).

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  04 Mar 2024
• Date of issue
  2024

History

• Received
  17 July 2023
• Accepted
  10 Oct 2023
• Published
  27 Feb 2024