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Most recently, Taoism has emerged from a period of suppression and is undergoing a revival in China. Laozi (Lao Tzu) is traditionally regarded as the founder of the Taoist religion and is closely associated in this context with "original", or "primordial", Taoism. [1]
Throughout the history of Taoism, mountains have occupied a special place for Taoist practice. They are seen as sacred spaces and as the ideal places for Taoist cultivation and Taoist monastic or eremitic life, which may include "cloud wandering" (yunyou) in the mountains and dwelling in mountain hermitages (an) or grottoes (dong). [259]
The term Tao means "way", "path" or "principle", and can also be found in Chinese philosophies and religions other than Taoism. In Taoism, however, Tao denotes something that is both the source and the driving force behind everything that exists. It is ultimately ineffable: "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao." [1] Also called Daoism.
Forms of religion in China throughout history have included animism during the Xia dynasty, which evolved into the state religion of the Shang and Zhou.Alongside an ever-present undercurrent of Chinese folk religion, highly literary, systematised currents related to Taoism and Confucianism emerged during the Spring and Autumn period.
The bagua, a symbol commonly used to represent the Tao and its pursuit. In the study of comparative religion, the East Asian religions or Taoic religions, form a subset of the Eastern religions which originated in East Asia. Main hall of the City of the Eight Symbols in Qi County, Hebi, the headquarters of the Weixinist Church in Henan.
The Tao Te Ching is a text of around 5,162 to 5,450 Chinese characters in 81 brief chapters or sections (章). There is some evidence that the chapter divisions were later additions—for commentary, or as aids to rote memorisation—and that the original text was more fluidly organised.
Calligraphy of Tao (道)The word "Tao" has a variety of meanings in both the ancient and modern Chinese language. Aside from its purely prosaic use meaning road, channel, path, principle, or similar, [2] the word has acquired a variety of differing and often confusing metaphorical, philosophical, and religious uses.
Yao folk religion is the ethnic religion of the Yao people, a non-Sinitic ethnic group who reside in the Guangxi, Hunan and surrounding provinces of China.Their religion has been profoundly intermingled with Taoism since the 13th century, so much that it is frequently defined as Yao Taoism (瑶族道教 Yáozú Dàojiào).