Daoism

Yinyang

Lao Zi

Daoism is the only major religion that came exclusively from Chinese roots and grew to maturity in Chinese soil. It originated at the end of Eastern Han Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Shun Di(125-144 A.D.) and is based on ancient witchcraft and formulas of immortality. Taoists, however, regards Lao Zi (LaoTzu) as the founder and supreme god of Daoism, and Dao Dejing, a profound bood of only five thousand Chinese characters by Lao Zi as the believer's canon.
In this book, Lao Zi says that the basic principle is: first, be benevolent; second, be pure, and third, do not act in advance of other people. Being benevolent means assuming an amiable attitude toward everything in the universe and maintaining universal harmony, Being pure means getting rid of extravagant hopes and being plain in mind and body.

Daoism Sanqing Palace

Not daring to act in advance of other people means being modest and holding the self in check instead of assuming an attitude of strength and dominance.
The word "Dao"(Tao), translates as "the way". In its broadest sense, Dao is the way the universe functions, the path taken by all natural events. Dao is nature's way, expressed in effortless action. Daoists often use the image of water to illustrate such effortless action. Water always settles to the lowest level and yet can wear away even the hardest of substances.
According to Daoism, the cosmos is a maganitude of harmony and order. It is active, not static. Its state is one of change and variation, perpetually becoming and fading away,

Yuanshitianzhun (a main God of Dao)

contracting and expanding. The Dao guides its function as an ordering principle. Within the Dao, the two elementary powers, Yin and Yang, function by reciprocal action. Yin and Yang are the two polar opposites into which all things can be classified. Thus dark and light, life and death, male and female, good and evil, srrong and wiak are all manifestations of Yin and Yang.
In China, various sects of Daoism appeared in different periods. During the reign of Emperor Shun Di, Zhang Ling established the Heavenly Teacher Sect, also known as the Five Piculs of Rice Sect. Toward the end of theEastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Jiao,

WuDang, a famous Dao Monastery in Hubei Province

a peasont rebel leader, set up another Daoist sect named Tai Ping Tao. By the Western and Eastern Jin dynasties, the Five Piculs of Rice Sect had become a major religion. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the ruling class tried to reform Daoism so that it would help them in controling the peasants. The peasants. In the north, the Northern Heavenly Teacher Sect was established and in the south, the Southern Heavevly Teacher Sect. During the Yuan Dynasty the northern and southern sects merged into a new sect known as the True Unity Sect. From then on, this sect and the Complete Unity Sect which From then on, this sect and theComplete Unity Sect which was founded during the Jin Dynasty, in 1167, were the two majir sects of Daoism.
The True Unity Sect believed in driving out devils by calling in the gods and averting disasters by prayer. Its priests could, marry and have meat and wine except during the special fasting periods; the Complete Unity Sect emphasies self-cultivation and immortality, and its priests had to renounce home life, practice vegetarianism, and remain unmarried.
Now, however, the Complete Unity Sect and the True Unity Sect, and other different Daoist sects gradully merged into one.