What is Taoism?

In the minds of Taoist believers, it seems self-evident that Taoism is Taoism. However, it is not easy to understand what Taoism is. Scholars of Taoism both at home and abroad are divided on the question of "what is Taoism". Indeed, it is undoubtedly difficult to give a precise and convincing definition of Taoism. In the Song Dynasty, Ma Duanlin's "Documentary Generalization" considered Taoism to be "diverse and multifarious", but in fact Taoism is a vague and comprehensive religion with a wide range of schools of thought. Its vast and profound beliefs and cultural system, as well as its inextricable links with Chinese social life over the past few thousand years, make it difficult for people to accurately and comprehensively grasp its connotation. We, the believers within Taoism, have our own advantages in understanding Taoism, and we should go deeper to understand the Taoism we believe in.

What is Taoism? In a nutshell, Taoism is a traditional Chinese national religion that believes in the way of the Yellow Emperor, Laozi, and takes "Tao" as its "religion," pursuing the path to immortality and the rule of Taoism.

Taoism is a religion. In the course of history, the word "religion" has been given different meanings. In Indian Buddhism, the teachings of the Buddha and the teachings of the disciples of the Buddha are called religions, meaning the teachings of Buddhism. In the West, the word "religion" is said to be the Latin word religare, which means to connect or reconnect, i.e., "the reconnection of man with God"; and religio, which means to honor God, is said to be the Latin word. In Chinese etymology, "zong" is from "宀" (宀) to "示" (示), meaning "universal deity ('祇' as '示' in ancient Chinese)". meaning "the place where the gods of the universe ('祇'作 '示') reside". Zong also means "honoring ancestors" or sacrificing to "the sun, the moon, the stars, the rivers and the sea". "Teach", "Yunshi seven signs" said: "Teachers, tell also", "political education", "indoctrination" meaning. Ancient China regarded the belief in ghosts and gods as the most important reason to educate the people, "Zhouyi" said, "the sages set up teaching by the divine way, and the world served." In ancient China, religion was the religion of worshipping gods and ancestors, and to teach by the way of gods became the highest meaning of religion. What we mean by "religion" here is to inherit the ancient meaning of Chinese religion, and to take the meaning of "having a religion to teach".

The reason why Taoism is called "Taoism" lies in the belief in the "Tao" of Huang Lao. "Taoism is the most fundamental, the highest and the most central belief of Taoism. Laozi's Tao Te Ching discusses "Tao" from a holistic view of the universe, summarizing the way of nature, the way of governance, and the way of cultivation in one and the same natural law. In addition to the theory of Taoism, the Tao Te Ching also talks about "virtue", and the Tao Te Ching and the Tao Te Ching are both emphasized. "Virtue, the nature of all kinds of people", "the thing in me is called virtue", "virtue" that is, "Tao" is realized in life, society and nature. The "morality" of Taoism is the virtue that the Way implements at the level of life, society, and nature. The "morality" of Taoism is different from the social ethics of Confucianism, which focuses more on nature, and this point should be distinguished.

The belief in immortality is a distinctive feature that distinguishes Taoism from other religions, and the pursuit of immortality is one of the core doctrinal ideas of Taoism. Taoism's huge system of deities and immortals can be roughly divided into two categories: "gods" and "immortals". "God" has the first day of God and the God of the day after the difference; the first day of God is "yin and yang is unpredictable God", is the sun, moon, mountains and rivers, flying and moving plants and other natural phenomena such as natural objects and natural phenomena personified, such as the gods and goddesses of heaven and earth, the four blasphemies of the five mountains and four genera. After God is "intelligent and upright is called God", Taoism has a sacrificial principle: "merit in the people are sacrificed," the merit of the people as "God", such as the Chinese ancestors, sages and philosophers, The ancestors of the industry, the land and so on, Xian can also be divided into "immortal" and "real people", they are cultivated by the people, get the "way" of the people. The difference lies in the immortality of the immortal's body and the immortality of the real person's spirit. Taoism believes that immortals are real and can be learned, and has developed a complete set of theories and methods of cultivation.

The purpose of Taoism, in a nutshell, can be described as "morality and immortality". The content of Taoism, which includes the philosophical thinking of Taoism, the theories of immortals and the art of health care, and the three parts of the Biao rituals, is summarized as follows: "The upper standard is Laozi, the second describes the gods and immortals, and the next is Zhang Ling".

Taoism takes "Taoism" as its "religion," and its religion and education are reflected in its goal of helping the world and the people. Over the past thousands of years, Taoism has been developing along the main vein of seeking both "peace" and "immortality", and has not deviated from this main vein, although various stages of development have been emphasized due to differences in social climates throughout history. The quest for national peace, people's contentment, and world peace complemented the quest for immortality and the quest for immortality. Taoism's political ideology of ruling by doing nothing, and its interest in a life of total life are most prominently expressed in the Quanzhen School of Taoism. Quanzhen Taoism requires true work and true action, true work is the physical and mental cultivation of life, true action is to help the world and the people's social practice.

Taoism is a traditional religion native to China. The traditional nature of Taoism is reflected in its long history and far-reaching influence on Chinese society. There are five major religions in China, namely, Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Catholicism and Christianity, of which only Taoism is an indigenous and inherent Chinese religion. According to the Seven Signs of the Cloud, "There is no religion in the ancient times, and there have been since the Three Emperors and Five Emperors." Taoism originated from the Yellow Emperor and has a history of nearly 4,700 years. Since the Yellow Emperor went to Kongdong and asked Guangchengzi, he opened the way of governance for the world. Afterwards, Huang Di accomplished his cultivation and ascended to heaven on the dragon in Dinghu, which was honored as the originator of Taoism. The subsequent rituals of Tang Yu, Xia, Shang and Zhou were all based on Taoism. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Laozi wrote Tao Te Ching, which expounded the essence of Tao. During the Warring States period, Lie Zi, Zhuang Zi, Wen Zi, Sun Zi, Guan Yin Zi, and Crossbill Zi all advocated the Tao of Huang Lao, thus forming the Taoist school. From then on, the Yin-Yang School, the Zong-Heng School, the Mohist School, the Miscellaneous School, etc., as well as the Astronomy, the Five Elements, the Mathematical Arts, the Yarrow and Tortoise, the Square Technique, the Room, the Immortals, and all other schools, were gradually all attached to Taoism. To the Eastern Han Dynasty Zhang Daoling is composed of Taoism, its road to great popularity, believers throughout China. Song and Jin Dynasty Wang Chongyang and the continuation of the Quanzhen Road lineage, the time of the Jin and Yuan to save the people out of the fire, to the real work of the real behavior of the Church, the world, and continues to this day.

Taoism is the root of Chinese culture, is the sum of all the schools of thought, thousands of years and China's social change, historical development is closely related to the ancient society of politics, military, philosophy, ethics, medicine, health care, smelting, astronomy and calendar, arts and mathematics, symbols and diagrams, literature, art, architecture, ecological environment, social psychology, ethnic relations and so on have produced a wide range of far-reaching impact. The influence of these three religions has been extensive and far-reaching. Compared with the three world religions of Christianity, Islam and Buddhism, Taoism has distinctive national cultural characteristics. Unlike the three world religions, Taoism was not founded in a short period of time by a certain godfather, but had a long nurturing process in the soil of traditional culture.

Taoism is an inseparable part of China's traditional culture, and its cultural connotation of being both worldly and transcendent has become an important spiritual pillar of traditional Chinese society. Unlike Christianity, Islam and other monotheistic religions, Taoism is a polytheistic religion. The deities in Taoism are not exclusive; not only are they complementary to each other, but they are also complementary to the gods of other religions. From the viewpoint of Taoism, it seeks "peace" and "immortality" and emphasizes the benefits of the present. This is very different from the three major world religions, which pursue the liberation of the soul and emphasize the benefits of the afterlife. In terms of the style of Taoism, it is characterized by the practice of arts and crafts, and it does not adopt an attitude of submission, humility and prayer towards mysterious powers and sacred objects as other religions do. Instead, it believes that "my destiny lies in me, not in heaven", and tries its best to control and dominate it in a certain way, so as to put supernatural powers to use for my own purposes. In terms of the structure of Taoism's content, it has more folk beliefs and ideological materials than the three major world religions, and is eclectic and diverse in its content, with a clear hierarchy in its structure. Taoism is also generally divided into two larger levels, the upper level of immortal Taoism and the lower level of folk Taoism, in terms of the organization of religious groups and preaching activities. These characteristics of Taoism are in keeping with China's national and ethnic conditions.

Taoism is not only the religion of the Han Chinese people, but also the religion of many ethnic minorities. Among the existing fifty-five minorities in China, there are twenty minorities such as Yao, Zhuang, Bai, Miao, Dong, Jing, Qiang, Li, Tu, Shui, Yi, Maonan, Mulao, Achang, Tujia, Buyei, Naxi, Mongolia, Korea, Daur, and so on, who believe in Taoism. Among them, Yao, Zhuang, Jing, Bai, Maonan, and Mulao are mainly Taoist and also believe in other religions; Miao, Dong, Li, Yi, Qiang, Tu, Shui, Achang, Tujia, Buyi, Naxi, Korean, and Daur ethnic groups have a part of the population that mainly believes in Taoism, but at the same time, they also believe in other religions, or they mainly believe in other religions and also believe in Taoism. Of course, it should also be noted that in different historical periods, Taoism's doctrines and teachings, jiaojiao rituals, organizations and so on have developed and changed, even if the same period, the same sect, there are also regional differences. Moreover, Taoism was introduced to various ethnic minorities at different times, so the beliefs of various ethnic minorities in Taoism varied according to the time of their introduction, even if the same ethnic group was located in a different region, there were certain differences in the beliefs of Taoism.

Taoism is not only a traditional Chinese national religion, but it also has the potential to become a world religion. Since the 1970s and 1980s, with the rise of the worldwide Taoist cultural research boom, not only is there an increasing number of believers in Taoism in some countries with Chinese cultural backgrounds and overseas Chinese societies, but there is also a "generation of believers in Taoism" in the Western societies who have set up Taoist organizations such as the British Taoist Association, the Italian Taoist Association and so on. Taoist organizations. Judging from the profound connotation of Taoism and Taoist culture, the character of emptiness and harmony, and the current development of Taoism, it is entirely possible for Taoism to develop into a world religion. We are confident in the bright future of Taoism and Taoist culture.