Taoism has different appellations in its early stage of formation. Many people in pre-Qin hundred schools of thought used to call their theories and methods "Tao". Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism, Yin and Yang, and even Buddhism all called themselves "Tao" for various reasons. Confucianism first used the word "Tao" and called the theories of Wang Zhidao and Confucius "Tao". When Buddhism was first introduced into China, it was translated into Tao, so it was also called Tao. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, five doorways (Shi Tian Daoism) appeared, calling itself "Tao" and taking the meaning of "Tao goodness". Since then, in order to show its uniqueness, other schools no longer call themselves "Taoism", but become proper names of Wudou Midao (Shitiandao). During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the religious form of Taoism gradually improved.
Taoism now refers to a religion based on China's ancient religious beliefs, inheriting some religious concepts and practice methods such as Fang and Huang, and gradually forming a religion with "Tao" as the highest belief, Laozi and Yuanshi Tianzun as the leader, and Laozi's Tao Te Ching as the main classic, and pursuing immortality. The main methods of Taoist immortality can be roughly summarized into five types.
Teaching and doctrine
From the very beginning, Taoism in Shi Tian took Laozi's Tao Te Ching as its basic classic and took "Tao" and "virtue" as its basic beliefs. Taoism believes that "Tao" is the source and master of all things in the universe, omnipresent and all-encompassing, and everything evolved from "Tao". And "virtue" is the embodiment of "Tao". Respecting God in Sanqing is the initial personification of Tao, and it also represents three important processes of the creation of the universe (Tao gives birth to the first, the second, the third and all things-Tao Te Ching). Sanqing gave birth to the gods of heaven, earth, universe and nature, known as the first deity, which evolved from Tao. Tao and Tao are internally integrated, while Tao fills the universe infinitely.
Taoism takes the Taishang Laojun (that is, the moral Buddha) as its leader, that is, Laozi. In Taiwan Province Province, the Taoist school represented by Taishang Laojun is the Taoist Taiyi school, with Taishang Laojun as its founder, and it ranks as two major Taoist schools together with Zhengyi school. In addition, there are other sayings about the highest god of Taoism in the Taoist scriptures of different sects in history. First, the God of Jade Qing is the highest God; Second, the spirit treasure god in the supernatant is the highest god; Third, the pure god is the supreme god; Finally, it evolved into a trinity theological theory of "one brush and three cleanses".
In the aspect of self-cultivation, Taoism stresses the unity of heaven and man, the correspondence between heaven and man, the rule by doing nothing and teaching without words, the modesty and integrity, the ultimate life, the deep-rooted, the long life, the satisfaction without humiliation, the awareness of its danger and the long life, and so on.
Taoism is born again, hates death and pursues immortality. It believes that people can make their own decisions in their lives and don't have to obey the heavens. People think that as long as people are good at cultivating health, they can live forever. Therefore, there are many ways to practice: alchemy, eating, breathing, fetal interest, massage, guidance, room, avoiding valley, thinking, offering symbols and chanting.
Zhang Sanfeng, a Taoist priest in the Ming Dynasty, believed that the function of Taoism was to cultivate one's morality and benefit others, while Confucianism practiced the discipline of Taoism, Buddhism realized and Taoism realized. Taoist cultivation of immortals. Zhang Sanfeng regards the cultivation of human nature as the basis of refining the road to immortality, and emphasizes that as long as you are virtuous, kind, compassionate, loyal and filial, and sincere, it is all about human nature, not far from the road to immortality. "If people can correct their bodies and minds, they will really concentrate, and great talents and virtues will come out from this."
Taoist theology can be said to be a religious doctrine after the mystification of Taoist thought, which may not be completely consistent, but the similarities and differences between them are worth pondering. However, ancestors were called Taoists of Laozi and Zhuangzi, and praised many Taoist classics such as Tao Te Ching (Laozi) and Nanhuajing (Zhuangzi). After all, they absorbed and inherited many Taoist thoughts. In addition, it is also influenced by the Book of Changes, Yin and Yang, Confucianism, Chinese medicine health care, Buddhism and ancient myths and stories.
origin
Although Taoism takes Laozi as its ancestor, its thought is not completely consistent with Laozi's thought, and it is more due to the fact that Huang used Laozi's famous words to cultivate health in the early Han Dynasty. Another source of Taoism is Fang Xiandao, which began in the Warring States and flourished in Qin and Han Dynasties. Fang Xiandao is divided into three schools: style (including guidance school), hook school and room school. Style respects Peng Zu, Wang Qiao and Korean pine nuts as ancestors; The bait school is represented by Xianmen and An Qisheng. The interior school is represented by Rongcheng and Wu. In addition, we can also pursue the worship of ghosts and gods in Shang Dynasty.
Regarding the content of Taoism, the explanations of Liang and Liu Xie in the Southern Dynasties are marked by Laozi, followed by immortals and attacks. Duan Lin of Ma Song said in Volume 225 of Literature General Examination: Daoism is miscellaneous and diverse. In the early Taoist classics, the word Taoism was first seen in Zhang Lu's Two Notes on Old Xiangzi: "It is vain to hide the truth and publish the evil, and the world often pretends to call Taoism." Then, Ge Hong of the Jin Dynasty said in Bao Puzi. Inner chapter. Ming Ben: "Only the teaching of Taoism makes people single-minded, dynamic and intangible."
In the process of its gradual formation, the interaction between Taoism and Buddhism (the influence of Buddhism on Taoism and the influence of Taoism on Buddhist China) was also worthy of attention.
[Editor] Development course
The development of Taoism can be roughly divided into four periods: the origin of Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties, the prosperity of Tang and Song Dynasties, the emergence of Quanzhen religion in Yuan and Ming Dynasties and the decline after Qing Dynasty.
The formation of Taoism is a slow development process. As two landmark events in the final formation of Taoism, one is the spread of Taiping Jing, and the other is Zhang Daoling's Five Dou Mi Dao (Shi Tiandao). During the reign of Emperor Shun of Han Dynasty (126- 144), Taiping Qing Lu (so-called Taiping Jing, it is believed that it was compiled by Gan Zhongke of Qi State during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty) was widely circulated. When he arrived at Emperor Ling of Han Dynasty, Zhang Jiao preached in Taiping Qing Dynasty, nicknamed Taipingdao, calling himself Teacher Dade, and his followers were all over Kyushu, which was already quite influential. Later, the Yellow turban insurrectionary failed, and Taiping Road gradually declined. Also at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, when Shundi was in Shundi, Zhang Daoling studied Taoism in Shu County, and recruited disciples to preach, so his followers separated five meters, so he called it the Five-door Rice Road (some studies also called it the Five-door Rice Road because he believed in the five stars such as Beidou and Nanmen, and combined with the rice teaching in Shu, so he called it the Five-door Rice Teaching). Zhang Lu, his grandson, stayed in Hanzhong for many years, and then cooperated with the highest ruling authorities, so that the influence of Wudou Mi Dao spread at sea from the southwest corner and developed into an authentic stone heaven of Taoism.
During the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, with the prevalence of alchemy and the deepening of related theories, Taoism gained great development. At the same time, Taoism also absorbed the popular metaphysics at that time and enriched its own theory. In the first year of Jianwu in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Ge Hong systematically expounded the theory of immortals since the Warring States Period and wrote Bao Puzi, which was the first systematization of Taoist theory and enriched the ideological content of Taoism. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, with the support of Taizu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Kou established the "North" Road and Lu established the "South" Road.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan recognized Laozi Li Er as his ancestor, Song Zhenzong and Song Huizong also believed in Taoism extremely, and Song Huizong even called himself "Emperor Daojun", so Taoism was highly respected and became the state religion. At this time, Maoshan, Gezhi and other factions appeared, and Shi Tiandao also re-emerged. Since the Han and Jin Dynasties, the Dante School of Taoism has been hidden. Under the vigorous advocacy of Han Zhongli, Lv Dongbin and others, Inner alchemy began to appear in the world. In theory, Chen Tuan and Zhang Boduan's "Inner Dan Theory" is very popular.
At this stage, Taoism not only developed in China, but also spread to other parts of Asia through migration and cultural exchange. For example, at the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, after Wudou Midao failed to launch an uprising in the south of China, Lu Xun led his troops to Vietnam (Jiaozhou). Vietnamese Li Tuo helped Lu Xun attack Jiaozhou Fucheng and committed suicide after failure. This is the earliest record of Taoism being introduced into Vietnam.
At the end of Song Dynasty and the beginning of Yuan Dynasty, Quanzhen Taoism advocated by Wang Zhongyang appeared in the north. Later, Qiu Chuji, a disciple of Wang Zhongyang, preached for Genghis Khan in Mongolia, and was trusted by the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty to take charge of Taoism in the world. At the same time, in order to cope with the rapid rise of Quanzhen religion, the original Shi Tian Taoism in Longhushan, the Shangqing School in Maoshan and the Lingbao School in Gezaoshan were merged into one, and Zhang Tianshi was regarded as the founder of the orthodox school, thus formally forming the Taoist pattern of Quanzhen religion in the north and orthodox school or two schools in the south.
Judy, the Yongle Emperor of Ming Dynasty, claimed to be the embodiment of Zhenwu Emperor, and gave great support to Zhang Sanfeng and Wu Tang who sacrificed Zhenwu. At this time, Taoism is still dominant in various religions in China.
Since the Qing Dynasty, Manchu rulers believed in Tibetan Buddhism and suppressed Taoism, which was dominated by Han people. Taoism has since declined.
Taoism is a polytheistic religion, and the highest god is the god of Sanqing originated from Taoism ("one move for Sanqing"), namely, the god of Yuan Dynasty, the god of Lingbao and the god of morality, among which the god of morality is Taishang Laojun. In addition, some Taoists have developed a series of officials such as heaven and jade emperor according to the human order, and absorbed Buddhist concepts such as hell and the world in the sea. As a subsidiary of heaven, they also developed the immortal official series of Yamaraja underworld and Dragon King Crystal Palace, plus the four-value meritorious service, mountain gods, city gods, land gods, kitchen gods and other local immortal series. It also absorbed many ancient myths in China, such as the Queen Mother of the West and Nine Days Xuan Nv. Therefore, there are many immortals in Taoism. All immortals created by local people and celebrities they worship, such as Mazu and Guandi, can be absorbed into the Taoist immortal system at any time. All gods can build their own temples, but large temples must worship the Sanqing statue.
In addition, Taoism believes that the human body is also a small world, so various organs on the human body, such as hair, facial features and so on. They are also stationed by immortals, and they also have corresponding practice methods.
Taoist precepts are some norms that restrict Taoist thought and behavior. Taoist precepts have different contents according to different sects. Generally speaking, the commandments of Quanzhen school are stricter than those of Zuo Fu school. The main contents of the commandments are not to kill, not to drink and eat meat, not to steal, not to commit adultery and so on. Commandments are what believers must abide by, and Taoist priests must have a rite of passage to be counted as believers. According to the strictness of discipline, discipline can be divided into top-grade discipline, middle-grade discipline and inferior discipline. According to the number of precepts, there are "three precepts", "five precepts", "eight precepts", "ten precepts" and "twenty-seven precepts of the old man"
The five commandments are "don't kill", "don't steal", "don't commit adultery", "don't lie" and "don't drink".
Bajie means "no killing", "no stealing", "no adultery", "no talking nonsense", "no drinking", "no sleeping in a luxurious bed", "no painting" and "no watching or listening to songs and dances".
In addition to the precepts, there are Taoist rules, which are a means of punishment for Taoist priests who violate the precepts. Specifically, different factions have different regulations.
On the basis of absorbing some contents of Buddhism and requirements of Confucianism, Taoist precepts have formed a set of their own unique contents. Taoist rules and regulations also change with time, and when they conflict with the laws of the regime, they will be adjusted appropriately.
Taoism regards Laozi's Tao Te Ching and Zhuangzi's Nanhua Ching as the two most important classics. In addition, some scholars believe that Taoism imitated the Buddhist Tripitaka and created the Tripitaka [1], which is a collection of Taoist works of past dynasties, including not only philosophy and Taoist theory, but also works on alchemy, health care, medical care and qigong. There are mainly orthodox Taoist scriptures, Taoist scriptures and the continuation of Wanli Taoist scriptures. At present, only the orthodox Taoist scriptures of the Ming Dynasty have been circulated, and other versions have been lost. Most of the existing Taoist classics are included here. The number of Taoist scriptures is very large, and the main classics of various factions are also different.
Zhouyi Shentongqi is the earliest single crystal and is called the ancestor of single crystal. In addition, Bao Puzi is also a basic classic of Taoist Dante School. Taiping Jing and Old Xiangzi Jules are also the main classics of early Taoism. Huang Tingjing and The True Classic of Shangqing Dadong are the main classics of Shangqing Classic left, and Maoshan School also attaches great importance to them. Du Hewen is the main classic of Lingbao School and School. Yin Fu Jing and Chang Jing Qing Jing are also two very important Taoist classics that Taoist priests must recite. In addition, the Jade Emperor Sutra and the Heart Seal Sutra are also one of the daily lessons of Taoists.
Although the southern Sect of Taoism is dominated by Fuyong, Zhai Zhi and Yi Ke, after the Northern Song Dynasty, it also advocated three religions and one principle, and cultivated the inner alchemy. So famous works such as Wu, He and Four Hundred Words appeared. Taoism, the northern Sect of Quanzhen religion, advocates the unity of the three religions, the gathering of spirits and spirits, the understanding of nature, and the integration of Confucianism and Taoism. Focusing on the three classics of Tao Te Ching, Filial Piety Sutra and Prajna Heart Sutra, it advocates "filial piety and purity,
religious sect
There are many schools of Taoism with different names because of different distribution standards. According to academic theory, it can be divided into five categories: Jishan School, Classical School, Fulu School, Dante School (then Dan School) and Zhan Yan School. There are five sects in history: Zhengyi (Zhang Daoling), Nanzong (Lv Chunyang), Beizong (Wang Zhongyang), Zhendong (Zhang Qingzhi) and Taiyi (Huang Dongyi), and four sects: Shi Tian Taoism, Quanzhen Taoism, Lingbao Taoism and Wei Qing Taoism. There are also eight schools of morality, innate, spiritual treasure, righteousness, simplicity, Ming, Yutang and Tianxin.
As far as pure religion is concerned, modern Taoism is mainly divided into five schools-Jishan School, Classical School, Dante School, Fu You School and Zhan Yan School. The most influential schools are Fu She School and Dante School. The former advocates treating diseases and exorcising ghosts, while the latter advocates alchemy and seeking immortality, which is different from the external Dan and the internal Dan.
The official distribution of Taoism is generally believed to have started in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. There are seven influential schools in the history of Taoism:
Zhengyi Road: Lingbao School, Shitian Road and Gezaozong. Its Taoist priests can practice at home, do not abstain from meat, marry and have children. Its Taoist temple is generally called "descendants temple".
Quanzhen Road: There are two schools, Nanzong and Beizong. There are many tribes, including Longmen Sect, Encounter Fairy Sect, Jing Ming School Sect, Namo Sect, Suishan Sect, Lushan Sect, Huashan Sect, Static Sect and so on.
True Taoism: Founded in the Jin Dynasty, it gradually declined after the Yuan Dynasty.
Taiyi Road: It was founded by Xiao Baozhen, a native of Weizhou in Jin Dynasty, and gradually declined after the end of Yuan Dynasty. Its religion mainly worships "Taiyi God".
Jing Ming Dow: Founded in the Southern Song Dynasty. After the Ming Dynasty, this religion gradually fell into orthodoxy.
Shangqing school and its branch Maoshan school
Wu Tangshi: Zhang Sanfeng was founded in Wudang Mountain, Xun County, Hubei Province in the Ming Dynasty. Worship Zhenwu the Great.
After the Ming Dynasty, Taoism was mainly divided into orthodox school and Quanzhen school, and all other schools were under these two schools. At present, Beijing Baiyun Temple has collected the general classics of all true sects, and there are 87 schools of Taoist genealogy listed. In fact, some of them are just continuation words of genealogy, not independent schools. (According to the teachings, it should be thirty-six religions and seventy-two religions, and the total * * * should be 108 sect. )