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Today, Taoism is one of five religious doctrines officially recognized by the Chinese government, also having official status in Hong Kong and Macau. [9] It is considered a major religion in Taiwan, [10] and also has significant populations of adherents throughout the Sinosphere and Southeast Asia.
Taoism evolved in response to changing times, with its doctrine and associated practices being revised and refined. The acceptance of Taoism by the ruling class has waxed and waned, alternately enjoying periods of favor and rejection. Most recently, Taoism has emerged from a period of suppression and is undergoing a revival in China.
Daoism (or Taoism) is a philosophy centered on living in harmony with the Dao (Tao) (Chinese: 道; pinyin: Dào; lit. 'Way'), which is believed to be the source, pattern and substance of all matter. [9] Its origin can be traced back to the late 4th century B.C.E. and the main thinkers representative of this teaching are Laozi and Zhuang Zhou. [6]
Paronomastically, tao is equated with its homonym 蹈 tao < d'ôg, "to trample," "tread," and from that point of view it is nothing more than a "treadway," "headtread," or "foretread "; it is also occasionally associated with a near synonym (and possible cognate) 迪 ti < d'iôk, "follow a road," "go along," "lead," "direct"; "pursue the right ...
With a partial reconstruction of the pronunciation of Old Chinese spoken during the Tao Te Ching ' s composition, approximately three-quarters rhymed in the original language. [47] The Chinese characters in the earliest versions were written in seal script, while later versions were written in clerical script and regular script styles. [48]
Professionalised Taoism (i.e. priestly orders) usually presents Laozi and the Three Pure Ones at the top of the pantheon. [29] Worship of nature deities and ancestors is common in popular Taoism, while professional Taoists put an emphasis on internal alchemy. The Tao is never an object of worship, being treated more like the Indian concept of ...
Bagua diagram from Zhao Huiqian's (趙撝謙) Liushu benyi (六書本義, c. 1370s).. The Daodejing (also known as the Laozi after its purported author, terminus ante quem 3rd-century BCE) has traditionally been seen as the central and founding Taoist text, though historically, it is only one of the many different influences on Taoist thought, and at times, a marginal one at that. [12]
Both Buddhism and Taoism developed hierarchic pantheons which merged metaphysical and physical being, blurring the edge between the human and the divine, which reinforced the religious belief that gods and devotees sustain one another. [55] The earliest evidence of Christianity in China dates to the Eighth century.