Any ideological system has a process of initiation, formation and evolution, and the ideological system of Taoist doctrines is no exception.
In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, when Taoism was first established, it mainly inherited the ideological achievements of the Fangxian Taoism and Huanglao Taoism in the Han Dynasty that had a touch of mysticism. In its doctrines, it formed an understanding of the generation and operation of the universe, namely the basic contents of some of the four elements: heaven way, earth way, human way and ghost way.
During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, works such as Ge Hong's "Inner Chapters of Bao Pu Zi" of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and Tao Hongjing's "True Declarations" of the Qi and Liang Dynasties still focused on elaborating the universe view and the immortal view of Taoism in the development of Taoist doctrines, enriching the contents of the four elements.
During the Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties and Northern Song Dynasties, the ideological system of Taoist doctrines was gradually constructed, and the structural relationship of the four elements centered on Tao and virtue became increasingly complete.
After the Southern Song Dynasty, with the development of Taoist inner alchemy, the doctrinal thought mainly focused on exploring human endowment, and adopted some viewpoints of Confucianism on human nature and the study of mind to enrich the content of the human way element.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, due to social evolution and development, Taoism lost the support of the imperial court, and its doctrinal thought failed to adapt to the rapid changes of social life. The ideological system of Taoist doctrines gradually lacked vitality, and its influence gradually declined.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, under the guidance of the correct policy of freedom of religious belief and based on the spirit of patriotism and love for religion, the connotation of Taoist doctrines is gradually adapting to the requirements and needs of the socialist society, maintaining the healthy development of religious life and playing a beneficial role in strengthening the national strength and stabilizing social life.
III. Main Doctrines
The Taoist doctrine takes "Tao" or "morality" as the core, believing that all things in heaven and earth are derived from "Tao", that is, the so-called "One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, and Three gives birth to all things". Social life and human life should follow the Tao and finally return to nature. Specifically, the doctrine system is developed from the aspects of heaven, earth, human and ghost.
Taoism advocates the pursuit of immortality and helping countless people. It also emphasizes natural inaction, quietness and few desires, weakness and non-competition, returning to simplicity and the return of all laws to the origin, fully demonstrating the state of mind of Taoism in the pursuit of the supreme Tao.
● Tao
Tao is the core of Taoist doctrinal thought and the main ideological content of Taoist believers. Since the late Eastern Han Dynasty, many sects of Taoism have emerged, such as the early Five Pecks of Rice Taoism and Taiping Taoism, and later Shangqing Sect, Lingbao Sect, Quanzhen Sect and Zhengyi Sect. Each sect has slight differences, and the rituals and techniques also have different focuses. However, there is no difference in believing in Tao and taking Tao as the core of the doctrine.
The word "Tao" originally meant road. In pre-Qin philosophy, the concept of Tao was proposed as a philosophical concept in the works of Taoism. In Laozi's "Five Thousand Words", the word "Tao" appears 74 times. Fangxian Taoism is the way of becoming immortals advocated by alchemists. The immortal and spiritual way refers to the theory of creating gods. The way of heaven and earth refers to the cosmology, especially the theory of the generation of the universe. The way of ghosts and spirits refers to the ghost view, which is Taoism's understanding of the destination of people after death.
The reason why Taoism respects Tao is that Tao is the main body of Taoist believers' belief. All beliefs and practices of Taoism are centered on Tao. To sum up, there are mainly four aspects:
First, Tao is the driving force for generating all things in the universe and the root of creation; second, Tao is the foundation of gods, transformed from the three-element qi into the Three Pure Ones and taking the form of the Supreme Lord Laozi; third, Tao has the greatest virtue. It takes nothingness as its body, quietness as its essence and weakness as its function, being inactive and non-competitive; fourth, Tao is eternal, without birth or death, existing everywhere and all the time.
The greatness and sacredness of Tao can be reflected everywhere. Due to the greatness and sacredness of Tao, Taoism respects Tao as the highest belief and teaches people to learn Tao, cultivate Tao, practice Tao and promote Tao.
● Virtue
Virtue corresponds to Tao and constitutes the core of Taoist doctrine.
"The Taoist Doctrinal Pivot - The Meaning of Morality" states that "Morality is one entity, but has two meanings. It is both one and not one, two and not two". That is to say, Tao and virtue are originally one entity. Because Tao is manifested through virtue, there are differences in theory and meaning, which can be separated but cannot be combined and called Tao. Because virtue is not the root of creation or the foundation of gods. However, when people believe in and cultivate Tao, they must take virtue as the foundation to prove and achieve Tao.
Those who have Tao must have noble virtue, and only with noble virtue can one obtain Tao.
There are 41 occurrences of the word "virtue" in the "Tao Te Ching", proposing concepts such as superior virtue, profound virtue, profound virtue and accumulating virtue. However, there is no specific explanation of the meaning of virtue.
The 51st chapter states: "Tao gives birth to it, virtue nurtures it, things shape it, and circumstances complete it. Therefore, all things in the world respect Tao and value virtue. The respect for Tao and the value of virtue are not commanded but are natural." Therefore, it is generally believed that "Virtue is the achievement of Tao", "Virtue is the function of Tao" and "Virtue is the manifestation of Tao".
The supreme manifestation of the dignity and greatness of Tao is virtue. Tao creates all things and virtue nurtures them. The respect for gods is also because of the highest virtue.
Therefore, cultivating Tao should be based on virtue. For the majority of believers who pursue and cultivate Tao, the prerequisite for cultivating Tao is to establish virtue, and establishing virtue requires continuous accumulation of merit in daily life. The key lies in improving self-cultivation and having good moral character.
Strive to act in accordance with the laws of Tao in both internal cultivation and external behavior. Be quiet, have few desires, be gentle and non-competitive, be tolerant. Do not pursue fame, profit, do not be self-important, do not praise oneself, do not be jealous, do not speak falsely, do not indulge in sounds, colors and delicious food.
Rejoice in the good fortune of others, rush to help others in hardship, assist others in urgent need, rescue others in poverty. Give without expecting repayment, do not kill for self-entertainment, benefit the world and help people, have kindness towards all things, be sincere and trustworthy. Be in harmony with the Great Tao. With such cultivation, virtue accumulates and the foundation is established. With the foundation established, one can cultivate Tao and become true, obtain Tao and become immortal.
● One
"One" in Taoist doctrine is generally considered equivalent to "Tao". It was first interpreted as Tao in the "Tao Te Ching". In the "Tao Te Ching", there are 14 occurrences of "One", most of which are interpreted as Tao except for being used as a numeral and a demonstrative pronoun.
The 39th chapter of the "Tao Te Ching" states: "In the past, those who obtained One, heaven obtained One and became clear, earth obtained One and became peaceful, gods obtained One and became spiritual, valleys obtained One and became full, all things obtained One and came into being, and feudal lords obtained One and became righteous in the world." Therefore, Lin Xiyi of the Song Dynasty noted: "One refers to Tao."
Later, with the development of Taoist thought and the emergence of Taoism, the understanding and interpretation of "One" and "Tao" have new changes. For example, in "Zhuangzi - Heaven and Earth", it is stated that "In the beginning of Tai Chu, there was nothing, neither existence nor name. The beginning of One, there was One but no physical form." Guo Xiang noted: "One is the beginning of existence, the most subtle state without the form of physical objects." Here, One is interpreted from the perspective of numbers. There is a transition from nothing to existence, and the first state of "existence" is One.
Gao You of the Han Dynasty, when annotating "One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, and Three gives birth to all things" in "Huainanzi - Spiritual Training", stated: "One refers to Tao, Two refers to gods and spirits, Three refers to harmonious qi. Or, One is primordial qi, giving birth to heaven and earth as Two. Two gives birth to Three, and Three gives birth to all things. Heaven and earth are established, yin and yang flow freely, and all things are born." Here, One is interpreted from the perspective of generation theory and primordial qi theory.
The "Taiping Jing" of early Taoism summarized in "The Five Matters to Explain the Law of Cause and Effect" as follows: "One is the beginning of numbers; One is the way of life; One is the origin of primordial qi; One is the law of heaven." Understanding One from the perspective of primordial qi makes the cosmic generation process of "Tao gives birth to One" concrete.
"Zhuangzi - The Great Master" states: "He is now communicating with the Creator and wandering in the One qi of heaven and earth." With the development of the concept of immortals in Taoism, during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, One transformed into a spirit form and combined with the traditional concept of zang-fu gods. Ge Hong's "Inner Chapters of Bao Pu Zi" stated that "Thinking of gods and maintaining One" can "ward off evil and protect the body, just like a monarch governing a country or a general awaiting the enemy, and can achieve the effect of attaining longevity." One has its dwelling place and guard.
● Mysterious
The "mysterious" in Taoist doctrine is equivalent to Tao. The mysterious in Taoism follows the concept of mysterious in Taoist works.
There are 11 occurrences of the word "mysterious" in the "Tao Te Ching". The most important one is in the first chapter: "These two emerged from the same source but have different names. Both are called mysterious. The more mysterious it is, the more profound the mysteries." The two refer to the way of existence and non-existence, and are collectively referred to as mysterious.
"Shuowen" interprets mysterious as "remote and profound. Black with a hint of red is called mysterious, like something profound and covered." In the "Tao Te Ching", there are also some combined words such as mysterious mirror, mysterious virtue, mysterious communication and mysterious female, in which the word mysterious is mostly used as an adjective, meaning profound and unfathomable, profound and insightful.
Yang Xiong, a philosopher of the Western Han Dynasty, wrote "Tai Xuan", proposing that "Mysterious is the way of heaven, the way of earth and the way of human." Taking mysterious as the origin of all things in the universe. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the study of mysterious learning emerged. Ge Hong set a new trend. In the "Inner Chapters of Bao Pu Zi", he listed the "Elaborating Mysterious" chapter at the beginning, explicitly proposing: "Mysterious is the originator of nature and the great origin of all differences."
Ge Hong regarded mysterious as the source and driving force of all things in heaven and earth, as well as a spiritual entity beyond matter. Clearly using mysterious instead of Tao, mysterious and Tao have the same meaning.
Among them, "The fetus of the origin of One, encompasses the two forms, absorbs the great beginning, refines countless kinds," is the meaning of "Tao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, and Three gives birth to all things" as stated in Laozi.
Therefore, mysterious is the entity that generates the universe and all things, the same as Tao. Taoism is named after Tao, and later it is also called Mysterious Teaching. The Taoist ritual books and imperial ritual music collections of the Ming Dynasty are called "The Great Ming Mysterious Teaching Establishing the Ritual of Offering Sacrifices and Abstaining from Food" and "The Great Ming Imperial Mysterious Teaching Music".
● Theft
Theft, in Taoist doctrine, refers to the mutual connection and stealing of essence among all things in heaven and earth. As long as learners of Tao consciously apply the principle of "theft", constantly absorbing the essence of all things in heaven and earth, they can achieve longevity. The idea of "stealing from heaven and earth" was explicitly proposed in "Chongxu True Classic - Heavenly Auspices". It states: "Isn't the body itself a kind of theft? Stealing the harmony of yin and yang to form oneself, sustain oneself and shape oneself, and sink into external things. Isn't this theft?"
After the Tang Dynasty, the thought of theft has always been an important theoretical basis for inner alchemy in Taoism. Xia Yuanding of the Song Dynasty, in his commentary on "Theft Mechanism" in "Lectures on the Yellow Emperor's Yin Talisman Classic", stated: "Theft mechanism is wonderful! Theft is unpredictable! Mechanism is uncontrollable!"
"The Entering the Medicine Mirror", which elaborates the theory and practice of inner alchemy, states that the internal cultivation method is "Stealing from heaven and earth, seizing creation, gathering the five elements, and combining the eight trigrams. True water is water, true fire is fire. The combination of water and fire will never age." Xiao Tingzhi's commentary states: "The process of internal cultivation is like the harmony and imbalance of yin and yang, the waxing and waning of the moon and the sun."
Zhang Ziyang of the Song Dynasty wrote a poem in "Understanding the Truth": "The three elements steal at the right time. This is the moral mechanism of immortals. When all changes are in order and all thoughts cease, all bones and bodies are regulated and the state of non-action is achieved." It means that for those who cultivate Tao, grasping the timing of the "three thefts" is the key to achieving longevity and immortality. When all changes in heaven and earth follow the law, all mundane thoughts of humans cease, and all bones and bodies are regulated, it proves the way of non-action and nature.
Liu Yiming, a Quanzhen Taoist in the Qing Dynasty, in "Understanding the Dao Record", starting from the example of the moonlight borrowed by the moon, simply explained the principle of "theft". Liu Yiming also believed that the secret of "theft" lies in not missing the right time and not missing the opportunity. "This time is the time of heaven, and this opportunity is the opportunity of heaven." Only those who deeply understand creation and clearly understand yin and yang can understand and master it.
● Mechanism
Mechanism is the device for shooting arrows on a bow. "Shuowen" states that "The main trigger is called mechanism." But it also contains meanings such as key, opportunity, sign and quality. Taoism regards "mechanism" as the basis for the existence and change of heaven and earth and all things, as well as human understanding of the key to the existence and change of heaven and earth and all things.
"The True Classic of Southern Florescence - Supreme Joy" states: "Liezi was walking and eating on the road. When he saw a skull of a centenarian, he lifted the wild grass and pointed at it, saying: Only you and I know that you have never died and never lived." Finally, it concludes that "All things come out of mechanism and return to mechanism."
During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the "Yin Talisman Classic" states: "Nature is human. Human heart is mechanism. Establishing the way of heaven is to determine human beings." "Heaven initiates the killing mechanism, dragons and snakes rise from the land; humans initiate the killing mechanism, heaven and earth are reversed. When heaven and humans initiate together, all changes are determined by the mechanism." Here, a series of important doctrinal concepts such as mechanism, theft mechanism and killing mechanism are proposed. Regarding the understanding of mechanism, Yu Yan of the Yuan Dynasty, in his "Commentary on the Yellow Emperor's Yin Talisman Classic", believed that there have always been two explanations. The benevolent have their own views, and the wise have their own wisdom. One is the explanation of "crafty and strategist scholars"; the other is the explanation of "Taoist scholars". Although each expresses their own aspirations, the reasoning is implicitly in agreement.
Xia Yuanding's "Lectures on the Yellow Emperor's Yin Talisman Classic" states: "Humanity is the way of heaven, the way of heaven is the mechanism of heaven, and the mechanism of heaven is the nature. What is called preserving the heart and nurturing the nature is serving heaven." Liu Chuxuan, one of the Seven True Persons of Quanzhen Taoism in the Yuan Dynasty, in his "The True Record of the Immortal of Wuwei, Quietness and Longevity", stated: "Mechanism is wisdom. Unrighteous people use wisdom to harm others and benefit themselves, which is called being a thief. Righteous people use wisdom to harm themselves and benefit others, which is called being blessed." Liu Chuxuan believed that "natural wisdom" is "natural mechanism", and "understanding the Dao means having no worries."
Most Taoist scholars in the Ming and Qing Dynasties used "mechanism" to explain the art of inner alchemy. Liu Yiming, a Quanzhen Taoist in the Qing Dynasty, in "Twelve Kinds of Taoist Books - Understanding the Dao Record", starting from the seeds of fruits and melons, believed that the operation of natural mechanism is based on yin and yang. If humans can grasp the natural mechanism of yin and yang, they can bear fruits and achieve the Great Dao.
● Life
Life refers to human lifespan. Taoism believes that the length of human life is a natural endowment, but it is also directly affected by human's good and evil deeds and the amount of virtue. Through the accumulation of good deeds, the virtue of quietness and few desires, and the practice of inner and outer alchemy, humans can enjoy a full lifespan or even become immortals and live forever.
The Taoist classic "The Supreme Lingbao Five Talismans Preface" during the Wei and Jin Dynasties stated: "Humans are the most intelligent among all beings, but humans cannot know themselves
