Taoism is a polytheistic religion formed and spread in China. Its influence was second only to Buddhism in ancient China. Taoism, together with Confucianism and Buddhism, is considered to form the three pillars of traditional Chinese culture. Taoism takes Tao as its pursuit goal, hence the name Taoism. Taoism is formed on the basis of ancient Chinese Taoist thought and theory by absorbing the magic of immortals, folk ghost and god worship concepts and witchcraft activities. It advocates tranquility and inaction, immortality, and attainment of enlightenment and immortality.

Origins

Although Taoism regards Laozi as its founder, its ideas are not completely consistent with the thoughts of Laozi and Zhuangzi, but more benefit from the famous sayings of Laozi that were popular in the early Han Dynasty. Huang Lao Tao who cultivates Taoism and maintains longevity. Another origin of Taoism is Fangxian Taoism, which began in the Warring States and flourished in the Qin and Han Dynasties. In addition, we can also trace the worship of ghosts and gods in the Yin and Shang Dynasties.

In the process of its gradual formation, the interaction between Taoism and Buddhism that was entering China at that time (the influence of Buddhism on Taoism and the influence of Taoism on the Sinicization of Buddhism) is also worth noting.

Development process

The development of Taoism is generally divided into four periods: the origin period of the Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties, the prosperity of the Tang and Song Dynasties, the emergence of Quanzhen religion during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, and the decline after the Qing Dynasty.

The formation of Taoism is a slow development process. As two landmark events in the final formation of Taoism, one is the spread of the Taiping Jing and the other is Zhang Daoling's Five Dou Rice Road. During the reign of Emperor Shun of the Eastern Han Dynasty (126-144), the "Taiping Qingling Book" (later known as the "Taiping Jing") passed down by Yu Ji and Gong Chong was published and was widely disseminated. By the time of Emperor Ling of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Jiao was preaching according to the "Book of Taiping Qingling", which was called Taiping Dao. He claimed to be a great sage and a good teacher. His followers were spread all over the world, and he was already quite influential. Later, the Yellow Turban Uprising failed, and Taiping Road declined day by day. Also during the reign of Emperor Shun of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Ling studied Taoism at Huming Mountain in Shu County and recruited disciples to teach. Those who believed in the Taoism gave five buckets of rice, so it was called the Five Bucks of Rice Tao. His grandson Zhang Lubao had been in Hanzhong for many years, and later cooperated with the highest ruling authorities, causing the influence of the Five Dou Rice Road to spread throughout the country from the southwest corner, and it became the authentic Taoism.

During the Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, with the popularity of alchemy and the deepening of related theories, Taoism achieved great development. At the same time, Taoism also absorbed the popular metaphysics at that time and enriched its own theories. In the first year of Jianwu in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Ge Hong systematically discussed the theories of immortals since the Warring States Period and wrote "Baopuzi", which was the first systematization of Taoist theory and enriched the ideological content of Taoism. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Kou Qianzhi established the "Northern Master's Way" with the support of Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and Lu Xiujing established the "Southern Heavenly Master's Way".

In the Tang and Song Dynasties, Li Yuan, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, recognized Laozi Li Er as his ancestor. Zhenzong and Huizong of the Song Dynasty also believed in Taoism. Taoism was therefore highly respected and became the state religion. At this time, sects such as Maoshan and Gezao appeared, and Tianshi Tao also re-emerged. In terms of theory, the inner alchemy theory expounded by Chen Tuan, Zhang Boduan and others is extremely popular.

During the Jin Dynasty, the Quanzhen Taoism founded by Wang Chongyang appeared in the north. Later, Qiu Chuji, a disciple of Wang Chongyang, preached to Genghis Khan of Mongolia and was highly trusted. He was granted the power to take charge of Taoism in the world by the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty. At the same time, in response to the rapid rise of Quanzhen Taoism, the original Longhushan Tianshi Taoism, the Maoshan Qing sect, and the Gezaoshan Lingbao sect merged into the Zhengyi sect, with Zhang Tianshi as the leader of the Zhengyi sect, thus formally forming the Taoist Beiyou sect. There are two major factions, Quanzhen and Nanyouzheng.

In the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Yongle Zhu Di claimed to be the incarnation of Emperor Zhenwu, and strongly supported Zhang Sanfeng and his Wudang sect who worshiped Zhenwu. At this time, Taoism still occupied a dominant position among various religions in China.

Since the Qing Dynasty, the Manchu rulers believed in Tibetan Buddhism and suppressed Taoism, which was mainly believed by the Han people. Taoism has since declined.