The rulers of the Qing dynasty did not always pursue the policy of restricting Taoism, and even when they attacked Taoism, there were many believers in the imperial clan of the Qing dynasty. But on the whole, Taoism in Qing Dynasty was still in a state of "silence". Since the emperor shunzhi, Taoism has been severely attacked and its use has been restricted. Since then, emperors have generally followed this principle, with little change. There are several reasons why the Qing Dynasty alienated Taoism: First, the lessons of the demise of the Ming Dynasty, especially in the early Qing Dynasty, the rulers thought that the Ming emperor had lost his country because he believed in Taoism, so they learned this lesson and avoided Taoism. Second, the social function of Taoism is not strong. As mentioned above, the main reason for worshipping Buddhism in the Qing Dynasty was to control various Mongolian ministries, and Taoism obviously played no role in this respect. In the process of entering the Central Plains in the early Qing Dynasty, Taoism not only did not "participate" but also did not show the strength of resistance, so it was marginalized in society and naturally it was difficult to attract the attention of the rulers of the Qing Dynasty. The third is the atmosphere of respecting Confucianism in the Qing Dynasty. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the Han people rebelled against the Qing Dynasty and regained their Ming Dynasty, and the rulers attached great importance to improving their relations with the Han people, thus forming an atmosphere of respecting Kong Jing Confucianism and netting a large number of Han intellectuals for their own use. Although this worship of Confucianism in Kong Jing is just a slogan, the publicity is in place!

Yong Zhengdi

Interestingly, while the rulers of the Qing Dynasty restricted Taoism, a considerable number of people in the imperial clan of the Qing Dynasty also had close ties with Taoism. Some of them choose to formally convert to Taoism, some pretend to be Taoists, have sincere beliefs about Taoism, some have close contacts with Taoists, and some support the construction of Taoist temples. These people have obtained spiritual needs through Taoism, and the clean and leisurely lifestyle advocated by Taoism has become their lifelong pursuit. When Yong Zhengdi was a prince, he kept close contact with Taoist priests and wrote poems for Taoist friends. It can be seen that although the rulers of the Qing Dynasty restricted and suppressed Taoism, Taoism only withdrew from the political stage, but it still penetrated into the daily life of the court.