Daoism
Daoism is an indigenous religion of China. It not only possesses the general religious characteristics essential to world religions but also has unique national cultural features that distinguish it from the three major world religions.
It evolved from the primitive natural religion of the ancient matriarchal clan society and bears a strong witchcraft influence. Daoism took shape during the Eastern Han Dynasty. Based on the prevalent beliefs in Huangdi (the Yellow Emperor) and Laozi at that time, with Daoist philosophy as its theoretical pillar, it absorbed the religious forms of Buddhism and incorporated into its fold various elements from social folk customs, such as beliefs in ghosts and gods, divination, astrology, and other magical arts and techniques, thus forming a multi-layered religious system.
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Early Daoism from the Eastern Han Dynasty onwards had the nature of a popular religious association, advocating disaster relief, poverty alleviation, healing the sick, and encouraging virtue. Subsequently, the Daoist tradition centered on sacred mountains that emerged during the Wei and Jin dynasties took immortality as its doctrinal core. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it developed into a mature church-style Daoist religion with temples and monasteries, still calling on believers with the promises of eliminating disasters, encouraging goodness, and achieving immortality.
In the Sui and Tang dynasties, Daoism went through a period of nationalization and became integrated with the superstructure of China's feudal society. Later, during the Song, Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties, through the reform and proliferation of Daoism, cultures of Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and medicine merged closely. New Daoist sects such as Quanzhen Dao (Perfect Realization Dao) were founded, and the Northern and Southern Schools of inner alchemy emerged. The cultivation techniques and religious qualities of Daoism were increasingly enhanced, and its doctrines returned once again to the teachings of Laozi and Zhuangzi.
Although Daoism gradually declined and became secularized during the Ming and Qing dynasties, its cultivation practices and core doctrines had long been established. Since the founding of the Northern and Southern Schools of Quanzhen Dao, Daoism has emphasized even more the religious experience of embodying and uniting with the true Dao, pursuing the unity of humans and the Dao. In this way, Quanzhen Dao finally transcended the belief in eternal life of immortal Daoism, asserting that an immortal is one who has realized and attained the Dao; cultivating the Dao is actually about seeking one's true self and returning to one's natural essence. Daoism exhorts and saves the world with the doctrine of returning to nature through the Dao, embodying the essence of Daoist philosophy and revealing the true face of Chinese Daoism.
Based on this, Daoism can be defined as follows:
Daoism is a multi-layered religious system that, in the course of evolution from the spontaneous primitive religion of China's matriarchal clan society, integrated various elements such as witchcraft, taboos, magical arts and techniques, sacrifices to ghosts and gods, folk beliefs, and myths and legends. It took the Huang-Lao doctrine, which merges Daoism and immortality beliefs, as its banner and theoretical pillar, and incorporated elements of cultivation theories, ethical concepts, and religious beliefs from various schools such as Confucianism, Mohism, Yin-Yang School, Five Elements School, medical schools, technical experts, and health-preserving schools. Under the goals of exhorting and saving the world, achieving immortality, and further pursuing unity with the Dao, it was theologized and transformed into a multi-layered religious system with magical arts.
It is a religion with distinct popular cultural characteristics, centered on the belief in the Dao, integrating various elements of traditional Chinese culture, continuously absorbing religious forms from Buddhism, and gradually developing over time.
