Taoism or sometimes written as Daoism is the English name for:
(1) A Philosophical school based on the texts the Tao Te Ching or Dao De Jing ascribed to Lao Tze (Lao Zi) and Book of Chuang Tze (Zhuang Zi);
(2) A family of organised Chinese religious movements such as the Cheng I (Zheng Yi , means Orthodoxy) or Quan Zhen (‘complete reality) sects, which collectively trace bacj to Chang Tao-ling (Zhang Daoling) in the late Han Dinasty (206 BC – 220 AD);
(3) A Chinese folk religion.
The English word ‘Taoism’ is used to translate the Chinese terms Tao Chiao and Tao Chia. The character Tao literally means ‘path’ or ‘way’, but in Chinese religion and philosophy has taken on more abstract meanings. The compound Tao Chiao refers to Taoism as a religion (i.e. people worshipping at altars); Tao Chia refers to the activity of scholars in their studies. It is what we mean Taoism as a system of philosophy or mysticism.
Much uncertainty exists over the meaning of Taoism. In some countries and contexts – for example the national Taoism organisations of China and Taiwan – the label has come to be aplied to the Chinese folk religion, which would otherwise not have a readily recognisable English name. However many, if not most, of its practitioners would not recognise ‘Taoisme’ as the nama of their religion. Moreover, the several forms of what we might call ‘elite’ or ‘organised’ Taoism often distinguish their ritual activities from those of te folk religion, which some professional Taoists (Tao Shi) tend to view as debased.
Chinese alchemy, astrology, cuisine, several Chinese martial arts, Chinese traditional medicine, fengshui, and many style chigong breath training disciplines have some relationship with Taoism.
History
Depending on on how it is defined, Taoism’s origin may be traced to the prehistoric Chinese religion; to the composition of the Tao Te Ching (fourth Century BC) ; or to the activity of Chiang Tao-ling (second Century AD). Alternatively , one could argue that Taoism as a religious identity only arose later, by way of contrast with the newly-arrived religion of Buddhism, or with the fourth Century AD codification of the Shang Ching and Ling Pao texts.
Warring States Period (403-322 BC)
The texts of the Tao Te Ching and Chuang Tze date back to this period. Scholars disagree as to which is earlier . Some parts of the book of Chuang Tze quote some parts of the Tao Te Ching. The name Lao Tze may have been assigned to tthe latter because Ssuma Chin’s assertion that a certain ‘Lao Tze’ (the Old Master) was a teacher of Kon Fu Tze (thus giving Taoism seniority over its ideological rival – Konfucianism).
Both texts are claimed by later Taoist religious moevements, who variously interpret them in line with their own beliefs. To what extent such readings accurately reflect their original meaning, is a point of controversy.
Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD)
By the early Han, Lao Tze came to be worshipped as a god – either in association with or conflated with the Yellow Emperor. A major text from this Huang Lao movement would be the Huai Nan-tze which interprets earlier Taoist teachings in light of the quest for immortality (including drugs, sexual practises, and breathing techniques).
Chang Tao-ling claimed to have begun receiving a new revelations from Lao Tze in 142 AD, and founded the Tian-shi (Celestial Master) sect around them. He performed spiritual healing, and collected dues of ‘five pecks of rice’) from his followers. Chang Tao-ling’s major message was that the world-order as his followers knew it would soon come to an end, and be succeded by an era of ‘Great Peace’ (Taiping). Their activities did hasten the downfall of the Han dynasty. The same could be said of their contemporaries and fellow Taoists, the Yellow Rurban sect. Chang’s grandson set up a theocratic state in what is now Szechuan province. Toda’s Cheng I sect claims continutiy with Chang Tao-ling.
Lao Tze received imperial recognition as divinity in 166 AD. The Yin & Yang and ‘five elements’ theories date from this time, but were not yet integrated into Taoism.
The name Tao Chia comes from the Han Dynasty. In Szuma Chien’s history (chapt. 63), it refers to immortals; in Liu Ching it refers to Lao Tze and Chuang Tze. Tao Chiao come to be aplied to the religious movements mentioned above. The earliest commentary on the Tao Te Ching is actually that of Heshang Kung (the Riverside Master), a religious Taoist.
Three Kingdoms Period (220-265 AD).
Hsuan Hsue (Dark Learning) school, including Wang Pi, focuses on the texts of Lao Tze and Chuang Tze (not the organised religion).
Six Dynaties (316-589 AD)
Taoist alchemist Ge Hong, also known as Pao Fu-tze (the Master Embracing Simplicity) was active in the third and fourth centuries AD and had great influence on later Taoism. Major scrioputures were produced during this time period, including the Shang Ching (Highest Purity) and Ling Pao (Sacred Treasure) scripture.
The Hua Hui-ching (Scripture of Conversion of Tartars) claimed that Lao Tze went to India, where he taught less advanced doctrines under the nama of Buddha. Buddhist found this claim objectionable, and emperors regularly condemned it.
T’ang Dynasty (618-907 AD)
Taoism gained official status in China during the T`ang dynasty, whose emperors claimed Lao Tze as their relative. However it was forced to compete with Confucianism and Buddhism, its major rivals, for patronage and rank. Emperor T`ang Kao Shung added the Tao Te Ching to the list of classics (ching) to be studied for the imperial examinations.
Sung Dynasty (960-1279 AD)
Several Sung Emperors, most notably Hui Zong, were active in promoting Taoism, collecting Taoist texts and publishing its.
The Ch’uan Chen school of Taoism was founded during this period, and together with Cheng I Celestial Masters is one of the two mschools of Taoism that have survived to the present.
Aspects of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism were consciously synthesised in the Neo-Confucian school. Which eventually became Imperial orthodoxy for state bureaucratic purposes.
Yuan Dynasty (1279-1367 AD)
Nei Tan (Interior Alchemy) became a major emphasis of the Ch`uan Chen sect, whose practitioners followed a monastic model inspired by Buddhism. One of the its leaders, Chiu Chu-I became a teacher of Jenghis Khan. Before the end of the dynasty, the Celestial sect and Buddhism again gained preeminence.
Beliefs, Deities and Practices in Religious Taoism
Taoism is not a belief-centered religion, and there are no known Taoist creeds. At the same time, certain characteristic beliefs or assumptions can be identified. One of these is the existence of several classes of supernatural beings, who may enter into relations with human beings. Thses include gods, ghosts, and ancestral spirits. Gods are not invariably benevolent, but are generally on the side of righteousness. Ghosts are dangerous spirits of the departed who must be appeased through offerings, especially during the Chinese Ghost Festival. Ancestors are also spirits of the departed, but are disinguished from ghosts in that they boast (male-line) descendents who commemorate them through home rituals.
Folk Taoism fucuses on rituals of sacrifice; elite Taoism emphasises control over spirits through talisman or spirit-registers (fu), on the pricinple that posession of a spirits’s name confers power over that spirit.
Traditional Chinese religion is determinedly polytheistic. Its deities arranged into a heavenly civil service that mirrors the beuraucracy of imperial Cina. Deities may be promoted or demoted. Many are said to haveonce been virtuous humans.
All forms of Chinese traditional religion involve paipai -- bowing towards an altar, with a stick of incense in one’s hand. This may be done at home, or in a temple, or outdoors; by an ordinary person, or a professional – such as Tao shi. The alter may feature any number of deities or ancestral ablets. Paipai is usually done in a accordance with certain dates of the lunar/solar calendar.
Fortune-telling – including astrology, palmistry, phrenology, and divination – has long been considered a traditional Taoist pursuit. Mediumship is also widely encountered, like the other kind of shamanism’s religions.
Along with Buddhism and Confucianism, Taoism became the three of great religions of China. Other religions embraced by Chinese peoples is Islam, Christianity and Animism. With the end of the Ch`ing Dynasty inm 1911, state support for Taoism ended. Much of the Taoist heritage was destroyed during the next period of warlordism. After the Communist victory in 1949, religious freedom was severely restricted.
Taoism currently has about 20 millions followers, and is primarily centered in Taiwan.
Philosophical Taoism or Tao Chia
Mystical or Philosophical Taoism does not refer to an actual Taoist school or group of philosophers. Rather, it is a way of reading Taoist texts and interpreting them in philosophical terms.
Philosphical Taoism emphasises various themes found in the Tao Te Ching and the book of Chuang Tze such as nonaction (wu wei), emptiness, detachment, receptiness, spontaniety, the strength of softness or flexibility, the relativism of human values, and the search for a long life. The spirit in which such things are discussed tends to be mora playful than doctrinaire, in keeping with the tone of the texts themselves.
In Chinese Tao when used as a noun, it means ‘way’ or ‘path’, but when it is used as a verb, it means ‘tp utter’ or ‘to speak it out’.
On Deities. While a nummber of immortals or other mysterious fugures appear in the Chuang Tze, and to a lesser extent in the Tao Te Ching (chapter 6), these have generally not become the objects of cultic worship. Academic commentators on Taoism are rather more likely to focus on the divinity of the Tao itself, which might be fruitully compared to (and contrasted with) Western conceptions of God.
The fundamental form of activity among philosophical Toist seems to be the reading and writing of books. Taoist of this type tend to be civil servants, elderly retiress,or in modern times, university faculty. For many educated Chinese people, life was divided into a social aspecs, where Confucian doctrine prevailed, and a private life, with Taoist aspirations. Nightime, exile, or retoirement provided the opportunity to cultivate Taoism and reread Lao Tze and Chuang Tze’s books. They often dedicated this period of life to arts such as calligraphy, painting, and poetry, or personal researches into antiquities, medicine, folklore, and so on.
The Essence of Taoism
The essence of Taoism is ‘Tao’, means ‘the way’, who is not the ‘eternal Tao’ (not God); he is the way, the truth, and the life. Tao (pronounced ‘Dow’) is basically indefinable. It has to be experienced. It refers to a power which envelopes, surrounds and flows through all things, living and non-living, in heaven and earth, and he wants to live in your heart. The Tao regulates natural processes and nourishes balance in the Universe. It embodies the harmony of opposites (i. e. there would be no love without hate, no light without dark, no male without female).
In Taoism, Tao, is a force which flows through all life and the first cause of everything. The goal of everyone is to become one with tha Tao.
Tai Chi, a technique of exercise using slow deliberate movements, is used to balance the flow of energy or ‘chi’ within the body. People should develop virtue and seek compassion, moderation and humility. One should plan any action in advance and achieve it through minimal action.
Yin (darks side) and Yang (light side) symbolize pairs of opposites which are seen through the universe, such as good and evil, light and dark, male and female. The impact of human civilization upsets the balance of Yin and Yang. The problem is how to return to Balance between the Yin and the Yang.
