Taoism (Daoism)

Harmony with the Way that underlies and moves through all things.

c. 400 BCE → · China · East Asian

Taoism seeks accord with the Tao, the nameless Way from which all arises, cultivating spontaneity (wu wei) and the balance of yin and yang. Beginning as the philosophy of the Tao Te Ching and Zhuangzi, it grew into an organized religion of gods, ritual, meditation, and longevity practices. Its aesthetic and cosmology permeate Chinese art, medicine, and later syncretic faiths.

Key figures

• Laozi
• Zhuangzi
• The Celestial Masters

Texts

• Tao Te Ching
• Zhuangzi

Beliefs

• The Tao — the ineffable Way of nature
• Wu wei — effortless action
• Balance of yin and yang
• Harmony with the natural flow

Rituals

• Meditation and breath work
• Alchemy and longevity arts
• Temple ritual and talismans

Grew from

• Chinese Folk Religion

Connections in the atlas

• Zhuangzi
• The Tao Te Ching (Mawangdui silk copies)
• Wudang Mountains
• Huli jing
• The Church of the East to China
• Bagua (eight trigrams)
• Chinese astrology and the Five Phases
• The food or water of immortality
• The Mongols
• Where people lived
• Fasting (ritual)
• The Wise Old Man