![]() Taoists believe that nature is a continual balance between yin and yang, and that any attempt to go toward one extreme or the other will be ineffective, self-defeating, and short-lived. Any action would have some negative (yin) and some positive (yang) aspect to it. This is represented in the t'ai chi, more commonly referred to as the yin-yang symbol. Quick Fact Sources include The Oxford Handbook of Global Religions (2006), The Encyclopedia of Religion (2005), the Religious Movements Page at the University of Virginia, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Religions (2002), and the Encyclopedia of World Religions (1999).The reality of good and evil is that all actions contain some aspect of each. However, the White Cloud Temple in Beijing is a key center for training for priests and for administration. Headquarters: Taoism has no centralized authority and different sects have different headquarters.All the gods, including Laozi, are divine emanations of celestial energy. Deity: While Taoists recognize a vast pantheon of gods and goddesses, they do not acknowledge any that are omnipotent or eternal.These writings were not collected as a composite teaching of the "Tao" until the 4th or 3rd century B.C.E. 550 B.C.E.) is generally the time period when a variety of spiritual thinkers were putting their ideas into writing. Taoist ideas and early writings long precede any organizational structure. Formed: As with many ancient religious traditions, an exact date is impossible to determine.Western interest in Taoism has, for the most part, been confined to the Daode jing, but in both the West and in the East, there is considerable interest in practices which, while not "Taoist" per se, are often associated with Taoism, ranging from fengshui to taiji quan to acupuncture and herbal medicine. Taoist religious sects were persecuted in China during the 19th and 20th centuries, but are currently undergoing a revival. In both, a harmonious relationship between nature, humanity, and the divine is emphasized, and both are concerned with appropriate behavior and ways of leading and governing others. ![]() At one time, scholars in both China and the West distinguished philosophical from religious Taoism, but more recently a continuity of belief and practice between these has been recognized. Taoists also engaged with Chinese politics in a variety of ways throughout Chinese history. The Way of the Celestial Masters and other later sects of Taoism engaged in complex ritual practices, including devotion to a wide range of celestial divinities and immortals, and thousands of Taoist religious texts were produced over the centuries. by Zhang Daoling, who based the sect on spiritual communications from the deified Laozi. Taoism did not exist as an organized religion until the Way of the Celestial Masters sect was founded in 142 C.E. The Daode jing focuses on dao as a "way" or "path" - that is, the appropriate way to behave and to lead others - but the Daode jing also refers to Tao as something that existed "before Heaven and Earth," a primal and chaotic matrix from which all forms emerged. Taoism, also known as Daoism, is an indigenous Chinese religion often associated with the Daode jing (Tao Te Ching), a philosophical and political text purportedly written by Laozi (Lao Tzu) sometime in the 3rd or 4th centuries B.C.E.
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