What is the relationship between Taoism and Chinese mythology?

Taoism absorbed some of the contents and deities of traditional myths (ancient myths); some religious myths were derived after the creation of the Inverted Horn

Traditional myths and religious myths are the products of different systems, and their characters, backgrounds, and scene settings are also different. Traditional myths it was established by Chinese ancestors in ancient times (generally refers to the period of the three emperors and five emperors and before) and passed down from generation to generation, and then collected and recorded by the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Thousands of years have passed between its creation and its recording, and there must have been distortion and loss in the interim.

The general content is that Fuxi a painting to open the sky, Nuwa to create people, to the Yellow Emperor war Chi You, and then to the Great Yu to rule the water. By the establishment of the slave dynasty Xia Dynasty and end. As for the Zhou Dynasty to the establishment of Taoism within the period of the gods and monsters, can be said to be the continuation of the myth, but the essence is no longer a myth. The myth itself is established, not developed. Because history only progresses, myths do not develop. Mythological myths, in fact, can be said to reflect that period of history side by side. Nuwa mending the sky, we can guess that there was a great flood in that period. The Yellow Emperor war Chi You, reflecting the tribal wars of the time and so on ...... ancient myths from oral to fall in the canon, there has been no Taoism so much as the existence of only Taoism.

Traditional myths and religious myths are produced in different system background. Traditional myths came before and religious myths came after, for example, it can be said that the character so-and-so in a famous classic work was based on the creator's next-door neighbor, Ming, but it cannot be said that the character so-and-so in the work was Ming. In the period when traditional myths were created, there were no written records, everything was stone paintings and oral tradition. As for the books that recorded the myths, it was many years later, with writing, by different people according to the legend, recorded, the myths can be said to be a kind of deified historical story while the religious myths are not. The establishment of a religion must have its compelling doctrines, and his religious figures and religious myths are the embodiment of the doctrines. Confucianism, for example, advocates heaven and earth, the king, the parents and the teacher, advocates loyalty and righteousness of Guan Yu, there is also a primitive myth of witchcraft characters and its influence and a large number of believers, the religion in order to develop and expand the influence so they are incorporated into the religious system, such as Mazu. Many of the gods of Confucianism are based on historical figures, and some have borrowed from ancient myths, so it has the shadow of Chinese mythology but is no longer Chinese mythology. Plus, it was later utilized by rulers, so it became very easy to confuse Chinese mythology.