Taoism

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This article is about Taoism as a traditional religion from China. For Taoism as a
Chinese philosophy, see Taoist philosophy. For Taoism as a new religious
movement/concept in Western world, see History of Taoism § Taoism in the West.

Taoism

Tao, a Chinese word signifying way, path, route, road or, sometimes

more loosely, doctrine

Chinese 道教

Hanyu Pinyin Dàojiào[1]

Literal meaning "Way Tradition"

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Taoism
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 History

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Concepts

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Practices

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Texts

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Deities

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People

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Schools

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Taoism (/ˈtaʊɪzəm/, /ˈdaʊɪzəm/) or Daoism (/ˈdaʊɪzəm/) refers to either a school

of philosophical thought (道家; daojia) or to a religion (道教; daojiao); both share
ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with
the Tao (Chinese: 道; pinyin: Dào; lit. 'Way', 'Thoroughfare'). The Tao Te Ching, a
book containing teachings attributed to Laozi (老子), together with the later writings
of Zhuangzi, are both widely considered the keystone works of Taoism.
In Taoism, the Tao is the source of everything and the ultimate principle underlying
reality.[2][3] Taoism teaches about the various disciplines for achieving perfection
through self-cultivation. This can be done through the use of Taoist techniques and
by becoming one with the unplanned rhythms of the all, called "the way" or
"Tao".[2][4] Taoist ethics vary depending on the particular school, but in general tend to
emphasize wu wei (action without intention), naturalness, simplicity, spontaneity and
the Three Treasures: 慈, compassion, 儉, frugality and 不敢爲天下先, humility.
The roots of Taoism go back at least to the 4th century BCE. Early Taoism drew its
cosmological notions from the School of Yinyang (Naturalists) and was deeply
influenced by one of the oldest texts of Chinese culture, the I Ching, which expounds
a philosophical system about how to keep human behavior in accordance with the
alternating cycles of nature. The Legalist Shen Buhai (c. 400 – c. 337 BCE) may also
 have been a major influence, expounding a realpolitik of wu wei, or qualified
inaction.[5]
Taoism has had a profound influence on Chinese culture in the course of the
centuries and Taoists (道士; dàoshi, "masters of the Tao"), a title traditionally
attributed only to the clergy and not to their lay followers, usually take care to note
the distinction between their ritual tradition and the practices of Chinese folk
religion and non-Taoist vernacular ritual orders, which are often mistakenly identified
as pertaining to Taoism. Chinese alchemy (especially neidan), Chinese
astrology, Chan (Zen) Buddhism, several martial arts including kung fu, traditional
Chinese medicine, feng shui and many styles of qigong have been intertwined with
Taoism throughout history.
Today, the Taoist religion is one of the five religious doctrines officially recognized by
the People's Republic of China (PRC), including in its special administrative
regions (SARs) of Hong Kong and Macau.[6] It is also a major religion in Taiwan[7] and
has a significant number of adherents in a number of other societies throughout East
and Southeast Asia, particularly in Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.

Contents

 1Definition
o 1.1Spelling and pronunciation
o 1.2Categorization
o 1.3The terms "Taoist" and "Taoism" as a liturgical framework
 2History
 3Doctrines
o 3.1Ethics
 3.1.1Tao and De
 3.1.2Wu-wei
 3.1.3Ziran
 3.1.4Three Treasures
o 3.2Cosmology
o 3.3Theology
 4Texts
o 4.1Tao Te Ching
o 4.2Zhuangzi
o 4.3I Ching
o 4.4The Taoist Canon
o 4.5Other texts
 5Symbols and images
 6Practices
o 6.1Rituals
o 6.2Physical cultivation
 7Society
o 7.1Adherents
o 7.2Art and poetry
o 7.3Political aspects
o 7.4Relations with other religions and philosophies
 8Taoist clothing
 9See also
 10References
 o 10.1Citations
o 10.2General sources
 11Further reading
o 11.1Popular (non-academic) interpretations of Taoism
 12External links

Definition[edit]

Birthplaces of notable Chinese philosophers from Hundred Schools of Thought in Zhou Dynasty.
Philosophers of Taoism are marked by triangles in dark green.

Spelling and pronunciation[edit]

Main article: Daoism–Taoism romanization issue
Since the introduction of the Pinyin system for romanizing Mandarin Chinese, there
have been those who have felt that "Taoism" would be more appropriately spelled as
"Daoism". The Mandarin Chinese pronunciation for the word 道 (way, path) is spelled
as tao4 in the older Wade–Giles romanization system (from which the spelling
'Taoism' is derived), while it is spelled as dào in the newer Pinyin romanization
system (from which the spelling "Daoism" is derived). The Wade–Giles tao4 and the
Pinyin dào are pronounced identically in Mandarin Chinese (like the unaspirated 't' in
'stop'); despite this, "Taoism" and "Daoism" are often pronounced differently in
English vernacular.[8]
Categorization[edit]
The word Taoism is used to translate different Chinese terms which refer to two
semantically distinct fields:[9]

1. Taoist religion (道敎; Dàojiào; lit. "teachings of the Tao"), or the "liturgical"
aspect[10] – A family of organized religious movements sharing concepts or
terminology from "Taoist philosophy";[11] the first of these is recognized as
the Celestial Masters school.
2. Taoist philosophy (道家; Dàojiā; lit. "school or family of the Tao") or "Taology"
(道學; dàoxué; lit. "study of the Tao"), or the mystical aspect[10] –
The philosophical doctrines based on the texts of the I Ching, the Tao Te
Ching (道德經; dàodéjīng) and the Zhuangzi (莊子; zhuāngzi). The earliest
recorded uses of the term Tao to refer to a philosophy or a school of thought
are found in the works of classical historians during Han Dynasty.[12][13] These
 works include The Commentary of Zhuo (左传; zuǒ zhuàn) by Zuo Qiuming (
左丘明) and in the Records of the Grand Historian (史記; Shǐjì) by Sima Tan.
This usage of the term to narrowly denote a school of thought precedes the
emergence of the Celestial Masters and associated later religions. It is
unlikely that Zhuangzi was familiar with the text of the Tao Te Ching,[14][15] and
Zhuangzi himself may have died before the term was in use.[15]
In ancient China, the use of the term Taoist to narrowly describe a school of thought,
rather than a set of religious teachings, has been recorded as early as 100
BCE[16][17] and such usage precedes the emergence of the earliest Taoist religious
sects such as the Celestial Masters by at least 300 years.
The distinction between Taoist philosophy (道家) and religion (道教) has been
maintained by modern pioneers of Chinese philosophy Feng Youlan (馮友蘭; 1895-
1990) and Wing-tsit Chan (陳榮捷; 1901–1994). The distinction as advocated by
outstanding philosophers such as Feng and Chan, however, is rejected by the
majority of Western and Japanese scholars.[18] It is contested
by hermeneutic (interpretive) difficulties in the categorization of the different Taoist
schools, sects and movements.[19]
Taoism does not fall under an umbrella or a definition of a single organized
religion like the Abrahamic traditions; nor can it be studied as a mere variant
of Chinese folk religion, as although the two share some similar concepts, much of
Chinese folk religion is separate from the tenets and core teachings of Taoism.[20] The
sinologists Isabelle Robinet and Livia Kohn agree that "Taoism has never been a
unified religion, and has constantly consisted of a combination of teachings based on
a variety of original revelations."[21]
The philosopher Chung-ying Cheng views Taoism as a religion that has been
embedded into Chinese history and tradition. "Whether Confucianism, Taoism, or
later Chinese Buddhism, they all fall into this pattern of thinking and organizing and
in this sense remain religious, even though individually and intellectually they also
assume forms of philosophy and practical wisdom."[22] Chung-ying Cheng also noted
that the Taoist view of heaven flows mainly from "observation and meditation,
[though] the teaching of the way (Tao) can also include the way of heaven
independently of human nature".[22] In Chinese history, the three religions of
Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism stand on their own independent views, and yet
are "involved in a process of attempting to find harmonization and convergence
among themselves, so that we can speak of a 'unity of three religious teachings' (三
敎合一; Sānjiào Héyī).[22]
The terms "Taoist" and "Taoism" as a liturgical framework[edit]
Traditionally, the Chinese language does not have terms defining lay people
adhering to the doctrines or the practices of Taoism, who fall instead within the field
of folk religion. Taoist, in Western sinology, is traditionally used to translate daoshi (
道士, "master of the Tao"), thus strictly defining the priests of Taoism, ordained
clergymen of a Taoist institution who "represent Taoist culture on a professional
basis", are experts of Taoist liturgy, and therefore can employ this knowledge and
ritual skills for the benefit of a community.[23]
This role of Taoist priests reflects the definition of Taoism as a "liturgical framework
for the development of local cults", in other words a scheme or structure for Chinese
religion, proposed first by the scholar and Taoist initiate Kristofer Schipper in The
Taoist Body (1986).[24] Daoshi are comparable to the non-Taoist fashi (法師, "ritual
masters") of vernacular traditions (the so-called "Faism") within Chinese religion.[24]
The term dàojiàotú (道敎徒; 'follower of Tao'), with the meaning of "Taoist" as "lay
member or believer of Taoism", is a modern invention that goes back to the
introduction of the Western category of "organized religion" in China in the 20th
century, but it has no significance for most of Chinese society in which Taoism
continues to be an "order" of the larger body of Chinese religion.