“Taoism is the English name for a cluster of Chinese religious and philosophical traditions. While there is a great deal of debate over how (and whether) Taoism should be subdivided, some scholars have divided it into three categories:
- a philosophical school based on the texts the Tao Te Ching (ascribed to Laozi and alternately spelled Dào Dé Jīng) and the Zhuangzi;
- a family of organized Chinese religious movements such as the Zhengyi (“Orthodoxy”) or Quanzhen (“complete reality”) sects, which collectively trace back to Zhang Daoling in the late Han Dynasty;
- the Chinese folk religion.
“Taoism has never been a unified religion and has always consisted of different teachings based on many different original revelations. Therefore different branches of Taoism often have very different beliefs. Nevertheless, there are certain core beliefs that all the schools share.
“Beyond the Chinese folk religion, various rituals, exercises, or substances are said to positively affect one’s physical health (even to the point of immortality); align oneself spiritually with cosmic forces; or enable ecstatic spiritual journeys. These concepts seem basic to Taoism in its elite forms.
“The philosophical aspect of Taoism emphasizes various themes found in the Tao Te Ching such as “nonaction” (wu wei), emptiness, detachment, the strength of softness (or flexibility), and The Zhuangzi such as receptiveness, spontaneity, the relativism of human ways of life, ways of speaking and guiding behavior. Most philosophical debate concerns dao–what way we should follow, but really, Taoists more directly question what dao is, how or if we can know it.”
See also Sikhism.
