The Way

Website Link: https://feii4805.github.io/Daoism-The-Way/

Description
In this interactive digital artwork, I created a contemplative web experience grounded in Daoist philosophy and inspired by the Dao De Jing. Drawing from ancient Chinese wisdom and personal reflections on mindfulness, the project invites users to engage with generative visuals and interactive poems rendered in both Chinese and English.

Through cursor movement, scrolling, and gentle clicks, users uncover 81 verses of the Dao De Jing—each floating within a dynamic, meditative space built with p5.js. The piece evolves as users interact, echoing the Daoist principle of wu wei(effortless action) and emphasizing flow over control.

Purpose
This thesis explores how digital media can support emotional stillness and invite philosophical reflection in a hyperstimulated world. While much of technology demands speed, efficiency, and output, this project instead values slowness, ambiguity, and inwardness.

By translating the Dao De Jing into a sensory, spatial experience, the work becomes a quiet rebellion against over-optimization and an open space for presence. It asks: how can we design digital tools not to direct or quantify us, but to restore balance and quiet awareness? In doing so, it invites users to slow down, reflect, and return to the present—one verse, one breath, one moment at a time.