I think you might have slightly missed the point.

There is a clear division between the real, physical Universe and the perceived Universe. The real Universe, like the Tao, is simply there, moving from the Beginning to the End at its' own pace and regardless of anything 'intelligent' beings do or say. It is devoid of either meaning or purpose other than to be what it is.

The perceived Universe is composed of signs and the signs of signs, detected via the senses and processed in the mind. We do not see gravity, we see the apple fall. If the tree falls in the forest where there is nobody to hear, it makes no sound; just a vibration of air molecules.

Intelligent beings possess the imaginative capacity to interpret the signs in a more complex manner than the immediate 'act or ignore' reaction of less intelligent beings. That capacity allows us to construct meanings, among other things. The communicative facility allows meanings to be shared and compared. From this flows culture, ideology, religion, politics, all the constructs which shape our world. None of these are 'real' in the sense that the Universe is real, but they are real in the sense that they affect our lives. We live, to far too large an extent, within this constructed reality and the consequences of this are far too apparent!

Which is why some philosophies are in the business of stripping away unnecessarily elaborate constructs in favour of simpler ones.