The Golden Elixir

Taoism is a traditional Chinese form of thought and religion. It is based on several central views, cults, and practices but has never been subject to systematization as a whole. It integrates many elements from other Chinese traditions — philosophical schools, popular religion, and self-cultivation practices — but frequently emphasizes its distinction from them. These basic features underlie different formulations of doctrines and a large variety of practices, ranging from self-cultivation to communal rituals.

The foundational text of Taoism is the Daode jing (Book of the Way and its Virtue), a short work consisting of aphorisms attributed to Laozi (the Old Master, or Old Child; pictures). All movements and lineages within Taoism consider this as the founding scripture of the entire tradition, even though they may venerate their own texts and their own founders. Another early work, the Zhuangzi (Book of Master Zhuang Zhou), has provided Taoism with doctrines, notions, and technical vocabulary throughout its history. Despite differences in emphasis, the two texts present the same view of the Dao and its relation to the world.

The Dao

The word dao has two main meanings: "way, path" and "method." The early Taoist texts, however, are the first ones to use this word to mean the absolute principle that generates the "ten thousand things." The Dao actually has no name and is beyond definition or description: as the Daode jing says, the word dao itself is used only because one "is forced" to refer to it. The Dao is unknowable, has no form, and is "constant" (i.e., it does not undergo change); it is "invisible, inaudible, and imperceptible," and it is "vague and indistinct" (huanghu). However, it contains an "essence" (jing) that is the seed of the world of multiplicity. Under this second aspect — which can only be distinguished from the first one from the perspective of the relative world in which we live — the Dao is the "beginning" of the world, and its "mother."

The Taoist Saint

He does not make himself seen,
     therefore he is luminous;
he does not deem himself to be right,
     therefore he is illustrious;
he does not brag,
     therefore he has merit;
he does not boast,
     therefore he lasts long.

In the Daode jing. the person who "returns to the Dao" is called the shengren, a term that with regard to Taoism may be translated as "saint" to distinguish him from the Confucian "sage." As the highest realized human being who has achieved liberation in life, the Taoist saint has transcended the limitations of individuality and form. In the human world, the Taoist saint practices "non-doing" (wuwei) simply by responding to events and phenomena; "he makes it possible for the ten thousand things to function, but does not start them."

Laozi and the Way of the Celestial Masters (Tianshi dao)

To a significant extent, the history of Taoism may be seen as a continuous restatement of the principles enunciated in the early founding texts. To an equally significant extent, its development has been marked by adaptation to varying historical circumstances, response to the needs and demands of different social groups, and incorporation of concepts, beliefs, cults, and practices derived from other trends of Chinese thought, religion, and culture.

At the beginning of this process is the divinization of Laozi, now represented not only as the sage who expounds the doctrines of the Daode jing, but also as a deity named Lord Lao (Laojun), who embodies the Dao and reappears at different times as a counselor of political rulers or the inspirer of religious leaders. In one of these transformations, Lord Lao appeared (in 142 CE, according to the traditional date) to Zhang Daoling, in the southwestern region of Sichuan. Lord Lao revealed the teaching of Orthodox Unity (zhengyi) to Zhang Daoling and granted him the title of first Celestial Master (tianshi). This revelation is at the origin of the Way of the Celestial Masters (Tianshi dao), the main Taoist priestly lineage, which continues to exist in the present day.

The Taoist Tradition: An Introduction to Teachings, Schools, and Practices

A concise but comprehensive introduction to Taoist thought and religion, treating them not as separate domains but as two inseparable aspects of a single tradition. Early texts, history, cosmos and human being, and main practices, including External and Internal Alchemy.

Shangqing (Highest Clarity) and Lingbao (Numinous Treasure)

The diaspora of the Celestial Masters' communities after the end of the Han (early 3rd century) resulted in the expansion of the new religion to other parts of China. Its spread in Jiangnan, the region south of the lower Yangzi River, was one of the prerequisites for the formation of two other major bodies of Taoist doctrines, texts, and practices in the second half of the 4th century. The first corpus, known as Shangqing (Highest Clarity), derived from revelations that occurred from 364 to 370 and was centered on meditation practices. The second corpus, known as Lingbao (Numinous Treasure), derived from revelations that occurred between ca. 395 and 405 and was based on communal ritual. These two codifications clearly define, for the first time, the two main poles of Taoism as a whole, namely individual practices of self-cultivation on the one hand, and collective practices for the community, on the other.

The Three Caverns

The relations among these and other traditions were formally codified in the early 5th century in the system of the Three Caverns (sandong). Its purpose was to arrange hierarchically the main Taoist legacies of that time, assigning the higher rank to Shangqing, the intermediate one to Lingbao, and the lower one to other local traditions of Jiangnan. Around 500 CE, the textual corpora associated with the Daode jing, the Taiping jing (Book of Great Peace), alchemy, and the Way of the Celestial Masters were also incorporated into this system, by assigning them to the so-called Four Supplements (sifu). The Three Caverns also provided the formal schema for other important aspects of Taoist doctrine and practice, including the ordination stages of Taoist priests and the arrangement of writings in the collections of Taoist texts (Daozang) that began to take shape from the early 5th century.

This model continued to perform its function even after the contours of the Taoist religion were reshaped by several new revelations and codifications during the Song period (960-1279) and later, and by the creation in the early 13th century of Quanzhen (Complete Reality, or Complete Perfection), a monastic order that is, with the Way of the Celestial Masters, the main branch of present-day Taoism.

© Golden Elixir Press

Picture of Laozi reproduced from Stephen Little, Taoism and the Arts of China (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 2000).