Taoism

Examples of Taoism in the following topics:

• Religion Under the Tang Dynasty

  • Taoism was the official religion of the Tang.
  • Taoism has had a profound influence on Chinese culture, and clerics of institutionalized Taoism usually take care to note distinctions between their ritual tradition and the customs and practices found in Chinese folk religion, as these distinctions sometimes appear blurred.
  • Chinese alchemy, Chinese astrology, Chan Buddhism, several martial arts, traditional Chinese medicine, feng shui, and many styles of qigong have been intertwined with Taoism throughout history.
  • During the Tang dynasty, the Chinese continued to combine their ancient folk religion with Taoism and incorporated many deities into religious practice.
  • This situation also came about through a revival of interest in native Chinese philosophies, such as Confucianism and Taoism.

• Culture Under the Song Dynasty

  • The major deities of Taoism and Buddhism, ancestral spirits, and the many deities of Chinese folk religion were worshipped with sacrificial offerings.
  • However, Buddhism in this period continued as a cultural underlay to the more accepted Confucianism and even Taoism, both seen as native and pure by conservative Neo-Confucians.
  • These deities included the nationally accepted deities of Buddhism and Taoism, as well as the local deities and demons from specific geographic locations.
  • The emphasis laid upon landscape painting in the Song period was grounded in Chinese philosophy; Taoism stressed that humans were but tiny specks amongst vast and greater cosmos, while Neo-Confucianist writers often pursued the discovery of patterns and principles that they believed caused all social and natural phenomena.

• Administrative Reform in the Mongol Empire

  • It should also be noted that the vast religious and cultural traditions of these khanates, including Islam, Judaism, Taoism, Orthodoxy, and Buddhism, were often at odds with the khanate rulers and their demands.

• Chinese Philosophy

  • Another important philosopher in this period was Lao-tzu (also called Laozi), who founded Daoism (also called Taoism) during the same period as Confucianism.