Taoism

Abstract

Taoism is a traditional Chinese religion, originating from ancient religious beliefs. Taoism is based on the thoughts and theories of pre-Qin Laozhuang. Then, it absorbed FangXiandao’s thought, HuangLaodao’s thought, Confucianism, Buddhism and other ideological wisdom, finally created with the formation of “Zhengyi Mengwei” Taoism. After that, Taoism developed and flourished into two sects; one is Zhengyi Taoism, whose main content is incantations, and the other one is Quanzhen Taoism, whose main content is practising Neidan. In general, traditional Taoist thoughts, contents, and sects are diverse, which embody the ideal of “absorbing everything inside and being miscellaneous outside”. Taoism respects the belief of “Dao”, and Lao Tzu as the most eminent figure in Chinese antiquity apart from Confucius. Taoism holds two books, “Tao Te Ching” and “Duren Displine” as classics. The unique ideology of Taoism impacted traditional Chinese culture dramatically. Definitions of Taoism are controversial because of the complex twists in its development as it played its role in the long history of China. Even the coining of the term creates ambiguity about what counts as ‘Taoism’.