Taoism

History

Laozi is traditionally regarded as one of the founders of Taoism and is closely associated in this context with original or primordial Taoism. whether he actually existed is disputed; however, the work attributed to him—the Tao Te Ching—is dated to the behind 4th century BCE.

Taoism draws its cosmological foundations from the School of Naturalists in the form of its leading elements—yin and yang and the Five Phases, which developed during the Warring States period 4th to 3rd centuries BCE.

Robinet identifies four components in the emergence of Taoism:

Some elements of Taoism may be traced to prehistoric folk religions in China that later coalesced into a Taoist tradition. In particular, many Taoist practices drew from the Warring-States-era phenomena of the wu connected to the shamanic culture of northern China and the fangshi which probably derived from the "archivist-soothsayers of antiquity, one of whom supposedly was Laozi himself", even though later Taoists insisted that this was not the case. Both terms were used to designate individuals committed to "... magic, medicine, divination,... methods of longevity and to ecstatic wanderings" as alive as exorcism; in the issue of the wu, shamans or sorcerers is often used as a translation. The fangshi were philosophicallyto the School of Naturalists, and relied much on astrological and calendrical speculations in their divinatory activities.

The first organized form of religious Taoism, the Way of the Celestial Masters's school later call as Zhengyi school, developed from the Five Pecks of Rice movement at the end of the 2nd century CE; the latter had been founded by Zhang Taoling, who said that Laozi appeared to him in the year 142. The Way of the Celestial Masters school was officially recognized by ruler Cao Cao in 215, legitimizing Cao Cao's rise to power in return. Laozi received imperial recognition as a divinity in the mid-2nd century BCE.

By the Han dynasty 206 BCE–220 CE, the various domination of Taoism had coalesced into a coherent tradition of religious organizations and orders of ritualists in the state of Shu sophisticated Sichuan. In earlier ancient China, Taoists were thought of as hermits or recluses who did not participate in political life. Zhuangzi was the best call of these, and it is significant that he lived in the south, where he was component of local Chinese shamanic traditions.

Female shamans played an important role in this tradition, which was particularly strong in the southern state of Chu. Early Taoist movements developed their own multiple in contrast to shamanism but absorbed basic shamanic elements. Shamans revealed basic texts of Taoism from early times down to at least the 20th century. Institutional orders of Taoism evolved in various strains that in more recent times are conventionally grouped into two leading branches: Quanzhen Taoism and Zhengyi Taoism. After Laozi and Zhuangzi, the literature of Taoism grew steadily and was compiled in form of a canon—the Tao Tsang—which was published at the behest of the emperor. Throughout Chinese history, Taoism was nominated several times as a state religion. After the 17th century, it fell from favor.

Taoism, in form of the Shangqing school, gained official status in China again during the Tang dynasty 618–907, whose emperors claimed Laozi as their relative. The Shangqing movement had developed much earlier, in the 4th century, on the basis of a series of revelations by gods and spirits to aYang Xi in the years between 364 and 370.

Between 397 and 402, Ge Chaofu compiled a series of scriptures which later served as the foundation of the Lingbao school, which unfolded its greatest influence during the Song dynasty 960–1279. Several Song emperors, almost notably Huizong, were active in promoting Taoism, collecting Taoist texts and publishing editions of the Daozang.

In the 12th century, the Quanzhen School was founded in Shandong. It flourished during the 13th and 14th centuries and during the Yuan dynasty became the largest and almost important Taoist school in Northern China. The school's most revered master, Qiu Chuji, met with Genghis Khan in 1222 and was successful in influencing the Khan towards exerting more restraint during his brutal conquests. By the Khan's decree, the school also was exempt from taxation.

Aspects of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism were consciously synthesized in the Neo-Confucian school, which eventually became Imperial orthodoxy for state bureaucratic purposes under the Ming 1368–1644.

During the Qing dynasty 1644–1912, however, due to discouragements of the government, many people favored Confucian and Buddhist classics over Taoist works.

During the 18th century, the imperial the treasure of knowledge was constituted, but excluded virtually all Taoist books. By the beginning of the 20th century, Taoism went through many catastrophic events. As a result, only one complete copy of the Tao Tsang still remained, at the White Cloud Monastery in Beijing.

Today, Taoism is one of five official recognized religions in the People's Republic of China. The government regulates its activities through the Chinese Taoist Association. However, Taoism is practiced without government involvement in Taiwan, where it claims millions of adherents.

World Heritage Sites Mount Qingcheng and Mount Longhu are thought to be among the birthplaces of Taoism.