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Daoism (Taoism)
c. 4th century BC – today· Religion or tradition· Chinese, Japanese & Korean
Mostly agreed by scholarsMost historians agree; some details uncertain.
China's native tradition of living in harmony with the Dao, the 'Way' that underlies and guides all things.
See it on the World Religions map →What it is
Daoism began with philosophical texts, the Dao De Jing and the Zhuangzi, which praise simplicity, spontaneity and wu wei, 'effortless action'. An organized religion appeared in AD 142 (the traditional date), when Zhang Daoling founded the Way of the Celestial Masters, with priests, rituals and a heavenly bureaucracy of gods. Later Daoists sought long life and immortality through diet, breathing exercises, meditation and alchemy. Yin-yang ideas, shared with wider Chinese thought, run through it.
Why it matters
It shaped Chinese medicine, painting, martial arts and folk religion. Formal adherents are hard to count, but Daoist ideas reach hundreds of millions through Chinese popular religion.
Sources and history
Ancient texts, including bamboo-slip copies of the Dao De Jing from Guodian (about 300 BC); the Daoist Canon (Daozang) printed in 1445; and living temple traditions in China and Taiwan.
Questions and debates
Scholars debate whether 'philosophical' and 'religious' Daoism are one tradition or two, and how much it drew on earlier spirit mediums.
Inside this (1)
Connections (5)
▸Shamanism: healers who journey to the spirit world influenced early Daoism (Taoism)Debated by scholars
The connection
Early Daoist religion probably drew on practices of the wu, the spirit mediums of ancient China: trance, spirit journeys, exorcism and healing. The Zhuangzi's flying sages and the Daoist priest's ritual ascent to the heavens echo the shaman's journey, though Daoists recast these as cultivating the Dao.
When and where
The southern state of Chu, about 400–200 BC, where shamanic songs like the 'Nine Songs' circulated; later the Celestial Masters movement from AD 142.
How do we know?
Indirect: the Chu Ci poems describe wu summoning gods, and Daoist ritual texts share their imagery. No early text says Daoism came from shamanism.
Questions and debates
Some scholars see Daoism as refined shamanism; others stress that Daoist priests defined themselves against local mediums and condemned their blood sacrifices.
▸Daoism (Taoism) offered a counterpoint to ConfucianismMostly agreed by scholars
The connection
Confucians stressed ritual, social roles, education and public duty; Daoists mocked rigid rules and urged simplicity, spontaneity and retreat into nature. The Dao De Jing says that when the great Dao is abandoned, 'humaneness and righteousness' arise, a jab at Confucian virtues. Many Chinese lived both: Confucian in office, Daoist in private.
When and where
China, from the Warring States era (about 400–221 BC) in texts like the Zhuangzi, and throughout imperial history.
How do we know?
The texts argue with each other directly; the Zhuangzi makes Confucius a character, sometimes mocked, sometimes won over to Daoist views.
Questions and debates
Whether the rivalry was as sharp as later tradition says, or the neat 'schools' were drawn up by Han dynasty historians, is debated.
▸Dao De Jing, attributed to Laozi is the founding text of Daoism (Taoism)Mostly agreed by scholars
The connection
The Dao De Jing gave Daoism its central ideas: the nameless Dao as the source of all things, wu wei, and the strength of softness and humility. When organized Daoist religion arose, traditionally in AD 142, the Celestial Masters made the book scripture and revered Laozi as a deity, Lord Lao, who revealed it.
When and where
Compiled around the 4th century BC in Warring States China; by the AD 160s Laozi was worshiped at court, and around AD 200 the Celestial Masters wrote the Xiang'er commentary on it.
How do we know?
Early manuscripts from Guodian and Mawangdui, the Xiang'er commentary, and imperial records of sacrifices to Laozi in AD 165–166.
Questions and debates
Parts of the Zhuangzi may be as old, so whether the Dao De Jing truly came first among Daoist texts is debated.
▸Chan, Seon and Zen Buddhism absorbed ideas from Daoism (Taoism)Mostly agreed by scholars
The connection
Chinese Buddhists often explained Indian ideas in Daoist words, and Chan absorbed Daoist themes: spontaneity, distrust of words and concepts, and harmony with nature. Its sayings that the truth 'cannot be spoken' and its love of paradox echo the Daodejing and Zhuangzi, giving Chan a strongly Chinese flavor.
When and where
China, from the 300s, when Buddhists borrowed Daoist terms, to the Tang dynasty (618–907), when Chan took shape.
How do we know?
Shared vocabulary and themes in Chan texts, the Daodejing and the Zhuangzi, and early Chinese translations that used Daoist terms, a method called geyi, 'matching meanings'.
Questions and debates
How much Chan owes to Daoism, versus Indian Buddhist ideas such as emptiness and Buddha-nature, is debated; some scholars think the Daoist link is overstated.
▸Buddhism reaches China on the Silk Road borrowed key terms from Daoism (Taoism)Mostly agreed by scholars
The connection
Early translators lacked Chinese words for Buddhist ideas, so they borrowed Daoist ones. Enlightenment (bodhi) was rendered as dao, 'the Way', and nirvana as wuwei, 'non-action'. A later method, geyi or 'matching concepts', explained Buddhist terms through Daoist ones. This made Buddhism sound familiar but blurred its meaning; Kumarajiva's translations around 400 moved to more precise terms.
When and where
Luoyang and other Chinese cities, c. AD 150–400; translators An Shigao and Lokaksema, then the monk Dao'an and Kumarajiva, who criticized or replaced the borrowed terms.
How do we know?
Early translations survive and show the Daoist vocabulary; Dao'an discusses geyi; and Emperor Huan sacrificed to Laozi and the Buddha together in 166.
Questions and debates
How systematic geyi really was, and whether Daoism shaped Buddhism more than Buddhism shaped later Daoism, are debated.