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Taoist religion is essential to Chinese culture. Taoist attitudes, ideas, and values have helped shape the minds and characters of millions of people in China, in East and Southeast Asia, and wherever Chinese communities have become established throughout the world. Not exclusive to Chinese cultures, Taoist religion has entered the mainstream of many Western societies. A brief introduction of Taoist religion in English demonstrates the popularity of Taoist ideas and practices throughout the world.
One of the three major religious traditions in China, Taoist religion consisted of a series of organized religious movements that worshiped Dao or the Way and its emanations and observed magical, physical, alchemical and meditative practices (炼金术和冥想练习) aiming at immortality. Taoist religion sought its origins in three aspects: the worship of gods and ghosts in ancient times, the theories and practices of the immortals advocated by necromancers of alchemists and philosophical Taoism, and the learned tradition of Huang-Lao masters.
People of the Shang Dynasty worshiped an anthropomorphic supreme God (赋予人性的至高神仙) who was thought to dominate the whole world. Under this supreme God, there was a large group of various minor gods and ghosts that helped the supreme God to mete out reward and punishment in various aspects of life according to men’s good or evil behaviors. People also believed that man’s soul would not perish after death, and therefore they constantly made sacrifices to the departed ancestors in order to obtain their blessings. Moreover, divination and other magic techniques were developed to consult the will of gods and the ancestors for decisions on important affairs. The wizard acted as an intermediate between man and the other world of gods, ghosts, and ancestors. Some of the gods and ghosts later “served” in the Taoist pantheon, and most of the Taoist masters (道士), like wizards, were magicians who were believed to possess occult techniques.
Beliefs in immortal beings and practices aiming at immortality were quite popular during the Warring States Period, especially in the north-eastern coastal regions. The people who engaged in such practices and claimed to possess magical powers were called necromancers or wonder-workers (方士). A number of such wonder-workers visited the courts of Qin and the early Han. They talked about islands in the ocean and people by immortal beings that were described in the ancient books, and so convincing were their accounts that sizable expeditions were fitted out and sent in search of them. The necromancers (巫师, 方士) persuaded emperors to climb holy mountains and perform sacrifices in order to receive from immortals the elixir of longevity. One of these necromancers, Li Shao-jun (李少君), taught Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to perform sacrifices into the furnace, which would enable him to summon spiritual beings. They, in turn, would allow him to change cinnabar powder (mercuric sulfide) into gold, from which vessels were to be made, out of which the Emperor would eat and drink. This would increase his span of life and permit him to behold the immortals who dwell on the Isles of Penglai (蓬莱岛), in the midst of the sea. Many people believed that immortals frequently appeared disguised among men to transmit their immortality formulas and magical powers to worthy humans. This idea that humans could become immortals was later incorporated into the Taoist religion, and became one of its most important tenets.
Also originating in the eastern coastal region, alongside these same thaumaturgic tendencies, was the learned tradition of Huang-Lao masters, devotees of the legendary Yellow Emperor and Lao Zi. Lao Zi was the initiator of philosophical Taoism, and later was venerated also as the founder of Taoist religion. Lao Zi’s work, Dao De Jing , or Classic of the Way and Its Virtue , in which he discoursed upon Dao , the arts of government and the method of longevity, became the most holy scripture of the Taoist followers. The Yellow Emperor was believed to be a ruler of the Golden Age who achieved success through following the principle of non-action. He was also celebrated as the patron of technology; and the classic works of many arcane arts, including alchemy, medicine, sexual techniques, cooking and dietetics, were all placed under his aegis.
In the early Han Period, the teachings of Huang-Lao masters spread throughout learned and official circles in the capital. Many early Han statesmen became their disciples and attempted to practice government by non-action; among them were also scholars who cultivated esoteric arts. Although their doctrine lost its direct political relevance during the reign of Emperor Wu Di, their ensemble of teachings concerning both ideal government and practices for prolonging life continued to evoke considerable interest and is perhaps the earliest real Taoist movement of which there is clear historical evidence.
At the end of the 1st century B.C.E., a certain necromancer, Gan Zhongke (甘忠可), presented to the emperor a Classic of the Great Peace (《太平经》) which, he claimed, had been revealed to him by a spirit, who had come to him with the order to renew the Han Dynasty. His temerity cost him his life, but other works bearing the same title continued to come out. These works, miscellaneous in contents, contained some of the tenets of early Taoist religion, and were taken as holy scriptures by the Taoist masters.
The tradition of fully developed Taoist religious movements began in the second century with the Way of the Great Peace (太平道) and the Way of the Celestial Masters (天师道).
The Way of the Great Peace was organized by Zhang Jiao (张角) who led the great Yellow Turban Rebellion (黄巾起义) in 184. Zhang Jiao declared that the “blue heaven” was to be replaced by a “yellow heaven”; and his followers wore yellow turbans in token of this expectation. Worshiping a “Huang-Lao Lord (黄老君)”, the movement gained a vast number of adherents throughout eastern China. Though they were eventually defeated by the imperial forces, the tendency towards messianic revolt continued to manifest itself at frequent intervals.
Zhang Jiao
The Way of the Celestial Masters, also known as the Way of the Five Dou of Rice (五斗米道) after a famous tax levied by the organization on its members, was founded in the mountains of modern Sichuan Province by Zhang Daoling (张道陵) who is said to have receive a revelation from Lao Zi or Lord Lao the Most High (太上老君). Lao Zi was honored as the originator of this religion, and Dao De Jing as the bible.
Zhang Daoling
For ceremonial and administrative purposes, the Way of the Celestial Masters organized 24 (later 28 and 36) parishes (教区, 堂区), where the Masters offered political as well as spiritual government. The focal point of each parish was the oratory, or “chamber of purity” which served as the center for communication with the powers on high. Here the jijiu (祭酒), the priestly functionary of the nuclear community, officiated. Zhang Daoling was later honored by his disciples as the Celestial Master (天师), whence came the name of the Way of the Celestial Masters.
Both the Way of the Great Peace and the Way of the Celestial Masters are in a sense associated with peasants, whose wishes they reflecte to some extent. The two movements lacked systematic theories as well as practices, therefore they were called by later people Primitive Taoist religion in contrast to the Taoist religion by later aristocrats.
As stated above, the Way of the Great Peace was suppressed by the Eastern Han Dynasty and only circulated secretly among people of lower class. The Way of the Celestial Masters, however, survived. In 215, the celestial master Zhang Lu (张鲁), grandson of Zhang Daoling, submitted to the authority of the Han general Cao Cao (曹操), which resulted in official recognition of this sect, though it was closely controlled. In the Wei-Jin chaotic years, Neo-Taoism flourished and the prominent scholars of the age were almost all engaged in discussions about Dao or the Way, non-action and techniques for longevity and immortality. This served as a catalytic agent for the development of the Way of the Celestial Masters. Consequently, this sect made marked progress at the courts of the Wei and Western Jin Dynasties until, by the end of the 3rd century, it counted among its adherents many of the most powerful families in North China.
This period also witnessed the mutual interaction of Religious Taoism and Buddhism. Taoism participated in the widening of thought because of the influence of a foreign religion and Buddhism underwent a partial “Taoicization” as part of its adaptation to Chinese conditions. The Buddhist contribution is particularly noticeable in the developing conceptions of the afterlife; Buddhist ideas of purgatory had a most striking effect on Taoism. Also during this period appeared The Classics of Lao Zi’s Conversion of the Barbarians (《老子化胡经》) which claimed that Lao Zi, after vanishing into the west, became the Buddha and that Buddhism was a debased form of Religious Taoism.
To serve the needs of the aristocracy, some aristocratic adepts of Religious Taoism altered the Way of the Celestial Masters: eliminating the vulgar elements and systematizing its theories and practices. The new Religious Taoism was called Aristocratic Religious Taoism, the representatives of which included Ge Hong (葛洪), Kou Qianzhi (寇谦之), Lu Xiujing (陆修静) and Tao Hongjing (陶弘景).
Ge Hong, a Taoist master, alchemist and medical scientist of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was a native of contemporary Jiangsu Province. After a strenuous life in civil and military service, in the course of which he managed to write voluminously on many subjects, this great eclectic scholar is said to have undertaken a long journey to Southern China in quest of the pure cinnabar found there. He stopped at Luofu Mountain, near contemporary Guangdong Province, however, where he died.
In his major work, The Man Who Holds to Simplicity (《抱朴子》), Ge Hong systematized and elaborated the theories and practices of immortals beginning with the Warring States Period. He discussed in detail the various formulas and practical operations for making the “gold elixir” and hence he was regarded by some scholars as the founder of the Way of Gold Elixir (金丹道). Ge Hong also incorporated into Religious Taoism Confucian ethical teachings, such as the Three Cardinal Guides and the Five Constant Virtues (三纲五常), and thus laid the theoretical basis of Aristocratic Religious Taoism.
Kou Qianzhi, a Taoist master of the Northern Wei Dynasty, was in his early years a follower of the Way of the Celestial Masters. Later, he alleged that he received the revelation from Lord Lao the Most High, who designated him celestial master and ordered him to undertake a total reformation of Religious Taoism. Not only were all popular messianic movements claiming to represent Lao Zi unsparingly condemned, but Kou’s mission was particularly aimed at the elimination of abuses from the Way of the Celestial Masters itself. Sexual rites and the taxes contributed to the support of the priesthood were the principal targets of his denunciations. The proposed reform was radical and the Religious Taoism thus established was called by later people the Northern Way of the Celestial Masters (北天师道). Political and economic factors favored the acceptance of Kou’s message at court; Emperor Tai Wu of the Northern Wei Dynasty put Kou in charge of religious affairs within his dominions and proclaimed this sect the official religion of the empire.
Lu Xiujing, a Taoist master of Song during the Southern Dynasties, codified the Taoist liturgies according to the requirements of the rulers, and by fusing several Southern Taoist sects he established the Southern Way of the Celestial Masters (南天师道). Lu also examined and distinguished 1,228 volumes of Taoist scriptures, including precepts (戒律), ceremonies, alchemical drugs, and charms and talismans, which he divided into three Caves (三洞). Thus he laid the basis for the divisions of Taoist canons (教规).
Tao Hongjing, a great Taoist master between Qi and Liang during the Southern Dynasties, was also a poet, calligrapher, natural philosopher and the founder of critical pharmacology. He spent years searching out the manuscript legacy of Yang Xi (杨羲) and Xu Mi (许谧), two Taoist masters of the age, and in 492 retired to Maoshan (茅山), where he edited and annotated the revealed texts and attempted to re-create their practices in their original setting. The result was the writing of Declaration of the Perfected (《真诰》) and Secret Instrument for Ascent to Perfection (《登真隐诀》). His another important work is Chart of the Ranks and Functions of the Gods (《真灵位业图》) in which he integrated the Confucian hierarchy into Religious Taoism, and divided gods into several grades. Tao Hongjing founded the Maoshan Sect (茅山宗) which survived the prescription of all other Taoist sects in 504. It is reported that both Buddhist monks and Taoist priests officiated at his burial rites, because he was an intimate friend of Emperor Wu of Liang. Tao was also a Buddhist follower, and his writings evidence a complete familiarity with Buddhist literature.
After all these reforms, Religious Taoism became an effective tool to rule the people, and hence won the support of the rulers. In the following hundreds of years, it gained great popularity and ranked as one of the three main Chinese religions.
The Tang Dynasty marked the beginning of Religious Taoism’s most spectacular success. The dynasty’s founder, Li Yuan (李渊), claimed to be descended from Lao Zi and the Tang emperors were commonly referred to as “sages”. Many officially sponsored shrines (神龛) were erected to worship Lord Lao the Most High, and even the Taoist priests and nuns were regarded as belonging to the imperial family. There appeared during this period many Taoist writings and prospective candidates who were examined in Taoist classics for the civil service. Also during this period, some important Taoist classics were translated into foreign languages and Religious Taoism thus spread to other Asian countries.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, Religious Taoism continued to hold a strong position, and was further strengthened by the comedies of the Song emperors’ mystification. A whole series of “revelations” was arranged—the finding of letters from Heaven congratulating the dynasty, the announcing of auspicious omens, the conferring of titles on spirits and genii by the emperors, the sending of magic mushrooms to the court and so on.
After the retreat of the Song government to the south of the Changjiang River, a number of new Taoist sects were founded in the occupied North and soon attained impressive dimensions. Among them were: the Supreme Unity sect (太一道) founded in 1140 by Xiao Baozhen (萧抱珍); the Perfect and Great Way sect (真大道) founded in 1142 by Liu Deren (刘德仁); and the Perfect Realization sect (全真道) founded in 1167 by Wang Chongyang (王重阳). This last sect advocated the syncretism of the three religions and placed emphasis on meditation as a means to return to one’s original nature and thus to prolong life. This sect enjoyed great popularity, and its establishments of celibate monks continued to be active into the 20th century, with the famous White Cloud Monastery (白云观) at Beijing as headquarters.
In the South, the Maoshan sect (茅山道) continued to prosper. In 1131, a Taoist master He Zhengong (何真公) claimed to have received a revelation from Xu Xun (许逊), a Taoist master of the 4th century, and founded the Pure and Luminous Way of Loyalty and Filial Piety (净明忠孝道). This sect preached the Confucian cardinal virtues as being essential for salvation, and consequently won many followers in conservative intellectual and official circles.
After the Song Dynasty, however, there was a decline. The Mongols were suspicious of Taoism on account of its continuing subversive political nature, which so easily took the form of anti-foreign agitation. In spite of the persecutions in the Yuan Dynasty, Religious Taoism continued to develop. In 1304, Zhang Yucai (张与材), the 38th descendant of Zhang Daoling, was honored as the head of the Way of Orthodox Unity (正一道), and all the sects characterized by the practices of charms and talismans were put under his control. Since then, there have been only two Religious Taoist schools: the Way of Orthodox Unity which gathered all the sects of charms and talismans and the Way of Perfect Realization which practiced the inner elixir techniques.
The primary concern of the Taoist religion has been the Way, the origin of all things. The supreme way in its concealed state, itself permanent and unchanging, is seen as the first in a series of generating causes. In a typical formulation, the invisible Way gives birth to material forces in a state of a primordial chaos. This in turn gives rise by movement to the active principle of Yang , and by stillness to the principle of rest of Yin . The interaction of these two principles engenders the phenomenal world. But material forces are of different levels, and that of the highest level produces the world of immortals. In the cosmos, there are heavens beyond heavens, and altogether there are 36, all populated by immortals. Apart from these heavens, there are still cavern-heavens (洞天) and sanctuaries (福地) peopled by immortals in the human world. It is believed that there are 10 great cavern-heavens, 36 lesser cavern-heavens and 72 sanctuaries in this world.
The premise of Religious Taoism is that life is good and to be enjoyed. Like all things, the individual self is not set apart from the rest of nature but is a product of yin and yang as the creative processes of the Way. Neither the ego nor the rest of the phenomenal world is illusory—both are completely real. The religious quest is for the liberation of the spiritual element of the ego from physical limitations, so that it may enjoy immortality or at least longevity. In other words, the goal is the triumph: one will become an immortal.
Material forces not only engender the phenomenal world but also give birth to great gods, for example, the Three Celestial Worthies (三天尊) or the Three Pure Gods (三清), namely Celestial Worthy of the Original Beginning (元始天尊), Celestial Worthy of the Sacred Treasure (灵宝天尊) and Celestial Worthy of the Way and Its Virtue (道德天尊) who is identified with Lao Zi. The Three Celestial Worthies govern the Three Pure Heavens (三清天), and they are the highest Taoist gods under whom there is still a vast group of minor gods and immortals, such as Town God (城隍), Door God (门神), God of the Hearth (灶君), God of Blessings (福星) and God of Longevity (寿星). In fact, there are as many gods as there are aspects of the Way that can become visible to the believers. The Taoist master Tao Hongjing attempted to codify the sprawling multiplicity in his Chart of the Ranks and Functions of the Gods (《真灵位业图》).
The Taoist pantheon, like the Han Dynasty imperial government, is constructed as a vast other-worldly bureaucratic administration. These gods rule in the manner of earthly emperors with ministers, armies, and local bureaucratic functionaries.
The Chinese ideogram for “immortal (仙)” depicts a man and a mountain, suggesting a hermit; the older form of “immortal”, however, shows a man dancing around, flapping his sleeves like wings. To become immortal is to be “transformed into a feathered being”. This image comes from the mythology of eastern Chinese tribes who claimed bird ancestors, worshiped bird deities, and held religious rites with bird dances performed on stilts.
There are many categories of immortal. The highest are those who “ascend to heaven in broad daylight”. There are also those who live in terrestrial paradises (on holy mountains or islands) for centuries without growing old and later appear disguised in this world to transmit their immortality formulas and magical powers to worthy adepts. Lower immortals do not reach paradise before dying an apparent death (尸解), leaving their sandals or their canes in the coffins to take on the appearance of their corpses.
Religious Taoism assimilated the Buddhist doctrine of karma (因果报应) and reincarnation (轮回) and the Confucian moral teachings. In Religious Taoism, moral conduct was rewarded with health and long life; immorality caused sickness, premature death, and, according to later texts, suffering in hell. Numerous deities came to be the “directors of destiny (司命)” who record man’s virtues and vices. A complex heavenly bureaucracy received annual reports on the deeds of the family or the individual from the God of the Hearth at New Year or from the malevolent “three worms (三虫)” residing in the human body. A proliferating literature of merits and demerits, including schedules of points for good and bad deeds (the most famous being The Tract on the Most Exalted One on Actions and Retributions 《太上感应篇》), probably shaped the minds of the masses more than any other religious texts in China.
Daoists hope to have a long earthly life and they try to do everything possible to see that they will have such a life. Living according to Daoist principles requires self-discipline, self-awareness, and self-control. They hope, through the practice of various life-enhancing activities such as exercise, meditation, and healthful diet, to live a very long time. They believe that by so doing, they will become Xian, able to achieve immortality in present life.
Religious Taoists believe that the five major organs of the body correspond to and partake of the Five Elements or Five Agents: lungs corresponding to metal, heart to fire, spleen to earth, liver to wood, and kidneys to water. These sense organs are orifices which are passageways for entry and exit of vital forces. Desires are seen as leading to the loss of vital forces, and therefore the senses have to be carefully kept in balance lest disease be caused through overindulgence in any one of the corresponding desires.
All dietary regimens are intended to nourish the respective organs in right proportions with foods and medicinal herbs containing the energy corresponding in quality to their respective elements. A preliminary step in diet is “complete abstinence from all cereals (辟谷)” in order to starve and kill the “three corpses (三尸)” or the “three worms (三虫)”, which caused disease, old age, and death.
In order to make all energies in the body reach their proper place and to maintain a continuous circulatory process, the adepts practice gymnastics called Dao Yin (导引), to attract them to the proper places. Massage and Chinese boxing were also performed. Such practices can render the body flexible and make the energy circulate everywhere. They eliminate any internal obstructions, which can cause disease, and untie internal knots so that everything inside the organism can communicate freely.
Ordinary people breathe through the throat but the Taoist saint breathes through the whole body, starting from the heels. The Taoists breathe not only atmospheric air but solar, lunar, and stellar emanations. They absorb the characteristic energies of the five directions, guiding the green emanation of the east to the liver, the red emanation of the south to the heart, and so on. They absorb the emanations of the sun at noon (the peak moment of Yang ) and of the moon at midnight (the peak moment of Yin ). Another method teaches how to “feed on air (服气)” by retaining breath and conducting it throughout the body. One who could hold his breath for the time of 1,000 respirations would become immortal.
About the time of the Tang Dynasty, ordinary respiration was replaced by the respiration of inner breath, or “embryonic breathing (胎息)”. This inner breath was viewed as man’s share of the primordial life breath contained in the lower of three “elixir fields (丹田)” of the body. This life breath is conducted, in a closed circuit like that of the embryo, through the body and directed by means of the “inner sight (内观)”, an inward-turned vision of the eyes. In case of sickness, the inner breath is conducted to the diseased organ and heals it.
The Taoists seem to have discovered some of the virtues of heliotherapy, not recognized by European medicine until the modern age. The “method of wearing the sun rays (服日芒之法)” consisted in the exposure of the body to the sunlight, while holding in the hand a special character (the sun within an enclosure) written in red on green paper. Women adepts were to expose their bodies likewise to the moon, holding a special character (the moon within an enclosure) written in black on yellow paper.
Dietary and breathing techniques only prolong life so as to give time for the preparation of the elixir of immortality, of which there are two kinds: an “outer elixir (外丹)” and an “inner elixir (内丹)”. The outer elixir is made by compounding cinnabar, orpiment, red-orpiment and magnetite according to certain formulas and tempering them in a crucible several times. It was believed that the taking of the elixir would confer immortality. Sarcastically, many people seeking immortality died shortly after taking such “elixir of immortality”.
The failure of the outer elixir resulted in quest of an inner elixir. Instead of compounding and tempering minerals, the inner elixir alchemists endeavored to make the “elixir of life” within the human body. The human body was taken as the alchemical crucible, semen and vital energy became the “minerals”, and spirit was used as “fire” to temper them. The process consisted of conserving semen to produce vital energy, nourishing vital energy to produce spirit, and nourishing spirit to return to vacuity, that is, to identify with the Way. The inner elixir practice was based on the Taoist doctrine that all things, including human kind, are the emanations of the Way, and thus, to gain immortality meant to reverse the normal vital process leading to old age and death and become one with the Way.
Some religious Taoists tried to prolong life through magical charms and talismans used to control the deities and ghosts and drive away disease. The basis for the Taoists’ control over ghosts and deities was a form of name magic. They could summon and dismiss the deities of macrocosm and microcosm by virtue of the knowledge of their names, true descriptions, and functions. They further controlled them by means of cabalistic writing, talismans or charms, which were, in effect, orders or commands issued by the Taoist masters, and thereby they kept away ghosts and invoked the beneficence of the deities. Charms and talismans were also used to cure disease. To the religious Taoists, illness was caused by demons and ghosts. Accordingly, talismans drawn by the Taoist masters would be burned and the ashes, mixed with water, swallowed by the demon’s victims. Furthermore, charms and talismans served as badges of office and as the signs by which divine ruler or his emissaries would distinguish the virtuous “chosen people” from the villains and reward them with official appointments in the heavenly bureaucracy. Other magic tools employed included mirrors, swords, compass, fans, lamps and flags.
The Eight Taoist Immortals were adored by Taoist believers as well as ordinary people. They were Han Zhongli (汉钟离), Zhang Guolao (张果老), Lü Dongbin (吕洞宾), Li Tieguai (铁拐李), He Xiangu (何仙姑), Lan Caihe (蓝采和), Han Xiangzi (韩湘子) and Cao Guojiu (曹国舅). There exists a famous saying about them: “When the Eight Immortals cross the sea, each demonstrates their divine power. (八仙过海，各显神通。)”
The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea
For Chinese people, the Eight Immortals stand for eight categories of people in their daily life: men and women, the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the noble and the lowly. What’s more, the Eight Immortals held common, everyday items in their hands—fan, fisherman’s drum, sword, gourd (葫芦), lotus, flower basket, flute and castanets (响板)—endearing these items to Taoist followers and to ordinary Chinese people. This explains why stories about the Eight Immortals have been so popular and influential in China. Special halls have been dedicated to the Eight Immortals in most Taoist temples.
The Dragon-Tiger Mountain is located in the southwestern suburb of Yingtan, Jiangxi Province. It is the birthplace of the Taoist religion and a key scenic tourist resort. It is said that the founder of the Taoist religion, Zhang Daoling, started to distill elixirs (长生不老药) here. The legend has it that when the elixirs were made, a dragon and a tiger were observed above the mountain. So the mountain was renamed after those two celestial animals.
The Dragon-Tiger Mountain
Taoists believed that immortals usually lived in high mountains where they assumed that they would find elixirs to obtain immortality. And the Dragon-Tiger Mountain is regarded as the most sacred mountain of the Taoist religion.
Religious Taoism is the original native religion of China. It originated and developed in Chinese culture, and at the same time, exerted a great influence on the formation of Chinese culture. Its influence is apparent in almost all aspects of Chinese life, particularly in the fields of science, literature and art.
Some scholars have stated that the Taoists initiated the sciences of chemistry, mineralogy (矿物学), botany (植物学), zoology and pharmaceutics (药剂学) in East Asia. Though the aims of Taoist alchemy are ridiculous, the processes are similar to those of scientific experiments. In their efforts to transmute baser metals into silver and gold and to make the elixir of life, the Taoists made a lot of discoveries and inventions in chemistry, mineralogy, and pharmaceutics, such as the invention of the dynamite. To preserve health and to prolong physical life, many Taoist masters gained a lot of knowledge of medicine and became famous doctors and pharmacists, of whom Ge Hong, Tao Hongjing and Sun Simiao (孙思邈) were all first-rate doctors in Chinese history and contributed a great deal to the development of Chinese medicine. Many medical works were written by Taoist masters. The earliest surviving medical book, The Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Internal Medicine (《黄帝内经》), for example, presents itself as the teachings of a legendary Celestial Master addressed to the Yellow Emperor.
The Taoist idea of immortals has been the constant theme of Chinese authors who produced romantic and fascinating masterpieces about well-known immortals. Esoteric Taoist writings also held great fascination for men of letters. Their responses might vary from a mere mention of the most celebrated immortals to whole works inspired directly by specific Taoist texts and practices. Many a poet recorded his search, real or metaphorical, for immortals or transcendent herbs, or described his attempts at compounding an elixir. A certain number of technical terms became touchstones of poetic diction. The revealed literature of the Maoshan sect made a decisive contribution to the development of Tang romance stories. Literary accounts of fantastic marvels also drew heavily on the wonders of Maoshan hagiography and topography. The Maoshan influence on the Tang poetry was no less important. Precise references to the literature of this sect abound in the poems of the time, while many of the greatest poets, such as Li Bai (李白), were formally initiated into the Maoshan organization. As awareness of these influences increases, scholars are faced with the intriguing question of the possible religious origins of whole genres of Chinese literature.
Chinese arts are also closely associated with Religious Taoism. Ancient Chinese mirrors, bowls, dishes and other porcelain and pottery wares were often ornamented with delicate pictures of Taoist immortals. Graphic guides existed from early times to aid in the identification of sacred minerals and plants, particularly mushrooms. A later specimen of such a work is to be found in the Taoist Canon. This practical aspect of Taoist influence resulted in the exceptionally high technical level of botanical and mineralogical drawing that China soon attained.
In calligraphy, too, Taoists soon set the highest standard. One of the greatest of all calligraphers, Wang Xizhi (王羲之), was an adherent of the Way of the Celestial Masters, and one of his most renowned works was a transcription of Huang Ting Scripture (《黄庭经》).
Figure painting was another field in which Taoists excelled. China’s celebrated painter Gu Kaizhi (顾恺之), a practicing Taoist, left an essay containing directions for painting a scene in the life of the first Celestial Master, Zhang Daoling. Many works on Taoist themes, famous in their time but now lost, have been attributed to other great early masters. Of these, many have been painted for use in ritual, and religious paintings of the Taoist pantheon are still produced today.
1. The necromancers persuaded emperors to climb holy mountains and perform sacrifices in order to receive from immortals the of longevity.
2. Both the Way of the Great Peace and the Way of the Masters are in a sense associated with peasants, whose wishes they reflected to some extent.
3. Ge Hong also incorporated into Religious Taoism ethical teachings, such as the Three Cardinal Guides and the Five Constant Virtues, and thus laid the theoretical basis of Aristocratic Religious Taoism.
4. And the Dragon-Tiger Mountain is regarded as the most mountain of the Taoist religion.
5. Some scholars have stated that the Taoists initiated the sciences of chemistry, mineralogy, botany, and pharmaceutics in East Asia.
道，原指“道路”，意指“治”“理”。老子用“道”来提出（propound）自己的思想体系；因此，他的思想流派被称为道家。在东汉时期，它成为一种宗教。这种宗教追求不朽和健康；且最终是要长生不老。
道是无为（non-action）。无为就是要遵循自然规律而不是超越自然规律。道遵从自然规律，什么都不做，却又无所不能。道使一切顺利进行，不夸耀自己的成就。
道教也有缺点。例如，中国知识分子遭遇挫折时，就会遁世（hermitic way of life）；当他们成功时，他们会说“大隐隐于市，小隐隐于山”。这种内、外分明的世俗态度使中国的知识分子在积极的儒家和消极的道教之间左右摇摆（hover）。
1. What are the techniques for achieving longevity and immortality of Religious Taoism? How can we best understand them?
2. Are there similar tales about people like those Eight Immortals in the Taoist religion? What can immortals be compared to?