Taoism: the religion of Magic and Yoga

Taoism, or Daoism, is the Chinese philosophical and religious system,
dating from about the 4th century BC. Taoism has, alongwith
Confucianism, shaped Chinese life for more than 2,000 years. Taoist
clergy flourished in China until 1927, when the Chinese Communists
ousted them. While the future of 'Taoist practice on the Chinese
mainland remains in question, there has been in recent decades some
renewed interest in the religion. Daoism was recognized as the
official religion of China for several brief periods and its influence
has been second only tothat of Confucianism.
Historical Development
The historians quote variant accounts, including one that Taoism is
founded by Lao Zi, also known as Lao-tzu, supposedly a senior
contemporary of Confucius(6th-5th century BC) and a curatorof the
archives at the court of theChou dynasty (c. 1111-255 BC) and,
finally, a mere mortal. The information on the life of this mysterious
person is legendary and controversial. Somehow Lao-tzu became deified
as a revealer of sacred texts and a savior. There are seven reported
versions of a meeting between Lao-tzu and Confucius.
However, about the 2nd century AD, popular Daoist religious
organizations concerned with faith healing began to appear.
Subsequently, under the influence of Buddhism, Daoist religious groups
adopted institutional monasticism and a concern for spiritual
afterlife rather than bodily immortality. The basic organization of
these groups was the local parish, which supported a Daoist priest
with its contributions. Various Daoist sects eventually developed, and
in 1019 the leaderof one of these was given an extensive tract of land
in Jiangxi ) Kiangsi ) Province.
Of the two early-organized Taoist communities, the religio-political
movement known as the "Way ofthe Great Peace" was destroyed as a
threat to the Han dynasty in 184 AD. A more important and enduring
tradition was that of the "Way of the Celestial Masters," founded by
Chang Tao-ling in 142 AD. Two late 4th-century movements were also
very important: (1) the Shang-ch'ing (Supreme Purity) Mao Shan sect,
and (2) the Ling Pao (Sacred Jewel) scriptural tradition. During the
T'ang dynasty (618-907), Taoism received special favour at court and
was characterized by doctrinal and liturgical syntheses.
Main Tenets and Sacred Texts
The essential Daoist philosophicaland mystical beliefs can be found in
the Daode Jing (Tao-te Ching - Classic of the Way and Its Power),a
composite text dating from about the 3rd century BC and attributed to
the Laozi (Lao-tzu), and in the Zhuangzi (Chuang-tzu),a book of
parables and allegories also dating from the 3rd century BC but
attributed to the philosopher Zhuangzi. Tao-te Ching is the text
central to all expressions of the Taoist spirit. There is an abundant
testimony to the vast influence exercised by the sacred book (the
'Tao'-te Ching) since the earliest times and in surprisingly varied
social contexts.
Among the classics of speculativeTaoism, it alone holds the
distinction of having become a scripture of the esoteric Taoist
movements, which developed their own interpretations of its
ambiguities and transmitted it asa sacred text. The same book contains
many of the Master's (Lao-tzu's) discourses, generally introduced by
the questions of a disciple.
The Tao-te Ching was meant as a handbook for the ruler. He shouldbe a
sage whose actions pass so unnoticed that his very existence remains
unknown. He imposes no restrictions or prohibitions onhis subjects. He
does not teach them discrimination, virtue, or ambition because "when
intellectemerges, the great artifices begin. When discord is rife in
families, 'dutiful sons' appear. When the State falls into
anarchy,'loyal subjects' appear." Thus, it isbetter to banish wisdom,
righteousness, and ingenuity, and the people will benefit a
hundredfold.
Daoism maintained that the individual should ignore the dictates of
society and seek only to conform to the underlying pattern of the
universe, the Dao (or Tao, meaning "way"), which can neither be
described in words nor conceived in thought. To be in accord with Dao,
one hasto "do nothing" (wuwei)-that is, nothing strained, artificial,
or unnatural. Through spontaneous compliance with the impulses of
one's own essential nature and by emptying oneself of all doctrines
and knowledge, one achieves unity with the Dao and derives from it a
mystical power. This power enables one to transcend all mundane
distinctions, even the distinction of life and death. At the
sociopolitical level, the Daoists called for a return to primitive
agrarian life. Unlike Confucius, who sought harmony in the ordering of
social life, Lao Zi located life's ultimate principle innature.
Religion and Philosophy
Taoism encompasses both a philosophical tradition (Tao-chia)
associated with the 'Tao'-te Ching(Lao-tzu), Chuang-tzu, Lieh-tzu, and
other texts, and a Taoist religious tradition (Tao-chiao) with
organized doctrine, formalized cultic activity, and institutional
leadership. Philosophical Taoism is rational, contemplative, and
non-sectarian, and it accepts death as a natural returning to the Tao.
The themes and texts of philosophical 'Tao'ism became established
during the Warring States period (481-221 BC). War is condemned but
not entirely excluded: "Arms are ill-omened instruments," and the sage
uses them only when he cannot do otherwise. He does not glory in
victory; "he that has conquered inbattle is received with rites of
mourning."
Religious Taoism is magical, cultic, esoteric, and sectarian, and it
emphasizes health and healing as ways to gain long life or even
immortality. T'ai chi and the medical practice of Quigong are modern
manifestations of Taoism.
Taoism takes its name from the word "Tao" ("the Way"), the ancient
Chinese name for the ordering principle that makes cosmic harmony
possible. Not a transcendent ultimate, the Tao is found in the world
(especially in nature) and can be encountered directly through
mystical experience. It is the ultimate reality as well as the proper
natural way of life humans must follow. Taoism prizes the non-action
and inwardness.
The cardinal concept is that the ''Tao'' is the ineffable, eternal
andcreative reality that is the source and end of all things. ''Tao''
is theAbsolute, the "Uncarved Block" experienced only in mystical
ecstasy. 'Te' is the manifestation of the 'Tao' within all things.
Thus, to possess the fullness of 'te' means to be in perfect harmony
with one's original nature.
The universe has its 'Tao'; there isa 'Tao' of the sovereign, his
royal mode of being, while the 'Tao' of man comprises continuity
through procreation. Each of the schools, too, had its own 'Tao', its
way or doctrine. But in the 'Tao-te' Ching, the ultimate unity of the
universal 'Tao' itself is being proposed as a social ideal. It is this
idealistic peculiarity that seems to justify later historians and
bibliographers in their assignment of the term 'Taoist' to the
'Tao-te' Ching and its successors.
Techniques for achieving immortality included dietary regimens, breath
control and meditation, sexual disciplines, alchemy, the use of
magical talismans, and the search for the fabled Isle of Bliss.
Dietary concerns focused on necessary nourishment while abstaining
from foods, which benefited the"three worms" in the body (which caused
disease, old age, and death). In meditation, the 'Taoist' adept
visualized the thousands of gods that inhabitedthe human body
(microcosm) as they inhabited the universe (macrocosm).
Through breath control and the movement of breath throughout the
fields of the body, the individual both approached immortality in this
life and achieved it finally through the nourishment of a
mysterious"embryonic body," which becamethe immortal self after death.
By avoiding ejaculation during the sexual act, it was believed that
semen could be mixed with breath to further nourish the embryonic body
or be forced back through the spinal passage to repair the brain.
The ancient Taoist mystics, and their ecstasies, for example,
wereclosely related to the trances and spirit journeys of the early
magicians and shamans (religious personages with healing and psychic
transformation powers).
'Taoism' and Other Religions
Taoist and Confucian traditions share many of the same ideas about
man, society, the ruler, Heaven, and the universe--ideas that were not
created by either school but that stem from a tradition prior to
either Confuciusor Lao-tzu.
Taoist thought permeates Chinese culture serving as a link between the
Confucian tradition and folk tradition. In contemporary China
religious Daoism has tended to merge with popular Buddhism and other
religions. Daoism exerted its greatest influence on Chinese hygiene
and aesthetics. Daoism also developed on a popular level as a cult in
which immortality was sought through magic and the use of various
elixirs.
In the case of Buddhism--a third tradition that influenced China
--fundamental concepts such as the nonexistence of the individual ego
and the illusory nature of the physical world are diametrically
opposed to Taoism. In terms of overt individual and collective
practices, however, competition between these two religions for
influence among thepeople-a competition in which Confucianism had no
need to participate because it had state patronage--resulted in mutual
borrowings, numerous superficial similarities, and essentially Chinese
developments inside Buddhism, such as the Ch'an (Japanese Zen) sect.
In folk religion, since Sung times (960-1279), Taoist and Buddhist
elements have coexisted without clear distinctions in the minds of the
worshippers.