The Eastern Han Dynasty laid the foundation for Taoism

After Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty ascended to the throne, his governance policy continued the "internal use of Huanglao and Laozi, external display of Confucianism" from the Western Han Dynasty, without significant changes. Therefore, although the atmosphere of the Eastern Han Dynasty was not as chaotic with Taoist immortals and alchemists as the Western Han Dynasty, its intellectual scope still did not depart from the framework of Confucianism and Taoism from the Western Han. Emperor Guangwu himself was very convinced of geomancy (chen), which directly led to the widespread popularity of later studies in Yin-Yang numerology and the prophecies of the Chenshu and Weiwen.

The reason why it is said that the Eastern Han Dynasty marked the beginning of Taoism is that the academic thought of this period evolved towards Taoism from two main aspects:

1.Scholars who revered numerology, following the tradition of Confucius' transmission to Shang Qiu, associated with the theories of Yin-Yang such as the Five Elements, Eight Trigrams, Heavenly Stems, and Earthly Branches, forming a major current of numerology like the Yi Jing (I Ching) studies of Jiao Gan, Jing Fang, Fei Changfang, etc., which were popularized along with geomancy. The studies of Gua Qi (Hexagram Qi), Bian Tong (Change), Sheng Chang (Ascension and Descent), Yao Chen (爻辰), Na Jia (纳甲) in the late Han Dynasty mixed together, gradually forming the basis for the academic transformation of Taoism after the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Main Components of Taoism in the Eastern Han Dynasty

2. The popular ancient "Zhu You" (Divination by Words) witchcraft and spells, combined with the totemic concepts of primitive pictographic and ideographic characters, exchanged with Indian Brahmanism and Yogic schools of thought, developed into talismans with refined spirits that could influence things. The ritual of offering sacrifices to heaven through fasting and prayers was used as a way to pray for the gods; wearing hair and wielding swords, drawing talismans and reciting spells were considered magical ways to communicate with spirits. This gradually became deeply rooted in the folk and reflected from the common people into the upper classes, thus enveloping the court and society with a mysterious aura after Emperors Huan and Ling of the late Han Dynasty. Therefore, adopting figures behind the scenes of Chinese culture since ancient times, such as hermits and immortals, along with the inexplicable spiritual effects of talismans and spells, compared to geomancy and totems, became Taoism after the late Han Dynasty, Wei, and Jin Dynasties.