1. Lao Tzu (“Old Master,” b. 604 BC)
517 BC Confucius meets Lao Tzu
Pass of Hangu
Tao Te Ching (The Way and Its
Power)
Symbolic of thinkers of
4th-3rd c. BC?

2. Tao (“Way”)
Sacred principle immanent
in nature
Source and destiny of all
Aim to be in harmony with
the Tao
wu wei (no action)

3. Chuang Tzu (c BC)
Image of the ideal Taoist
Freeing self from human
conceptions and
limitations
Unconventionality

4. Philosophical Taoism
Religious Taoism
Hygiene Taoism
Underlying themes of long life and
immortality
Development of practices, religious
structures, divisions

5. Quanzhen (Total Perfection) Taoism
Founded in N. China by Wang Zhe
( )
Influenced by Chan Buddhism, use of
celibacy and meditation
Monasteries, celibacy, abstinence in
quest of self-perfection
Disbanded by Kublai Khan (r )

6. Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Taoism
Enjoyed imperial favour
Monks handing knowledge down through
families
Monks known as “fire dwellers”
1949 Heavenly Master flees Communist
takeover, goes to Taiwan

7. Qi/chi
Primordial breath/substance from which
all nature evolves. Comes from the
Tao and is present in everything
Need to renew and restore qi
Human body as microcosm of great
cosmos (macrocosm)

8. Qi/chi
Use of alchemical elixirs, breathing and
gymnastic techniques
Roles of yin and yang

9. 1966-76 Cultural Revolution in China
Mao Zedong ( )
Recovery of Taoism, especially outside
China?

10. Tao (“Way”)
Primordial source of all
reality
Not produced or limited by
anything
All depends on the Tao
Operates in, produces,
regenerates everything

11. Tao (“Way”)
Beyond description
Can only be known through
intuition and being in
harmony with it
Tao operating in everything
Innermost universal way of
nature

12. The Three Ones
Three primordial breaths ruling heaven
Yuanshi, Lord of Heaven
Lingbao, Lord of Earth
Master Lao (Tzu), Lord of Humans
Lord of head and primordial breath
Lord of chest and spirit
Lord of belly and seminal essence

13. Other deities
Jade Emperor
Ancestor spirits
Bodhisattvas, e.g.
Avalokiteshvara/
Guanyin (The Lord
Who Looks Down)