Taoist Sects
There are numerous sects within Taoism, with different names based on various classification criteria.
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Classified by academic principles, there are five major categories: the Good Deeds Sect, the Classic Sect, the Talisman Sect, the Alchemy Sect (Golden Elixir Sect), and the Divination Sect.
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Classified by region, there are sects such as the Longmen Sect, Laoshan Sect, Suishan Sect, Yushan Sect, Huashan Sect, Yushan Sect, Old Huashan Sect, Heshan Sect, Huoshan Sect, and Wudang Sect.
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Classified by founders or representative figures, there are sects like the Shaoyang Sect (founded by Wang Xuanfu), Zhengyang Sect (Zhong Liquan), Chunyang Sect (Lv Dongbin), Haiyu Sect (Liu Cao), Feng Sect (Zhang Sanfeng), Sa Zu Sect (Sa Shoujian), Ziyang Sect (Zhang Boduan), Wuliu Sect (Wu Chongxu and Liu Huayang), Chongyang Sect (Wang Zhongfu), Yinxi Sect (Guan Yin), Jinshan Sect (Sun Xuanqing), and Yan Zu Sect (Yan Xiyan).
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Classified by Taoist lineages, there are sects including the Hunyuan Sect (attributed to Taishang Laojun), Nanwu Sect (Tan Churui), Qingjing Sect (Sun Buer), Jinhui Sect (Qi Benshou), Zhengyi Sect (Zhang Xujing), Qingwei Sect (Ma Danyang), Tianxian Sect (Lv Chunyang), Xuanwu Sect (attributed to Emperor Zhenwu), Jingming Sect (Xu Jingyang), Yunyang Sect (Zhang Guolao), Xuwu Sect (Li Tiegui), Yunhe Sect (He Xiangu), Jindan Sect (Cao Guojiu), Yuxian Sect (Qiaoyang Zhenren), Lingbao Sect (attributed to Ancestor Zhou), Taiyi Sect (Xiao Baozhen), Quanzhen Sect (Wang Chongyang), Zhengyi Sect (Zhang Zongyan), Zhenkong Sect (Peng Zu), Tieguan Sect (attributed to Ancestor Zhou), Rixin Sect, Ziran Sect (Zhang Sanfeng), Xiantian Sect, and Guanghui Sect.
Historically, there have been various classification methods:
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- The division into five major sects: Zhengyi Sect (Zhang Daoling), Southern Sect (Lv Chunyang), Northern Sect (Wang Chongyang), Zhenda Sect (Zhang Qingzhi), and Taiyi Sect (Huang Dong).
- The division into four major sects: Tianshi Dao, Quanzhen Dao, Lingbao Dao, and Qingwei Dao.
- The division into eight sects: Daode, Xiantian, Lingbao, Zhengyi, Qingwei, Jingming, Yutang, and Tianxin.
Today, many sects have declined. The well-known surviving sects include the Quanzhen Sect in the north, the Zhengyi Sect in the south, Maoshan Sect, Laoshan Sect, Wudang Sect, Lvshan Sect, as well as folk Taoist sects in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
