by Bob O'Shaunessey

Created on: February 12, 2007   Last Updated: May 11, 2007

Taoism is a religion native to China. Many belive it was started by Lao Zi(604-531 B.C.E.) when he composed the Tao Te Ching. Most Taoists deny this claim, and instead hold that these spiritual practices are several centuries, if not millenia older than this. Taoism most likely evolved into a religion toward the end of China's Hundred Schools of Thought period (770-222 B.C.E.). While some call it a philosophy rather than a religion, the presence of a unique cosmological and metaphysical structure explaining reality qualifies it as a religion.

Many have tried to describe the Tao. To some it is a flowing energy source that influences the events of the planet. To some it is an impersonal force that one must seek to harmonize with. Some think it works like "the force" in the Star Wars movies. While some of these descriptions are better than others, the most lasting and widely accepted description of the Tao comes from the first two lines of the first verse of the Tao Te Ching:

The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.*

Thus, any description of the Tao is futile because the Tao would not be as extraordinary as it is if it were so easily described.

While the Tao Te Ching is considered the sacred book of Taoism, it is only one of many. The Taoist Canon contains more 1500 texts. Zhuangzi and Liezi are two other important texts. Some of the texts, such as the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, predate Lao Zi's composition and thus support the claim that Taoism is older than Lao Zi.

Taoist practice focuses on humility, awareness, self-cultivation, nuetrality and simplicity. Often Taoism is practiced in conjunction with either Buddhism or Confucianism and Chinese traditional religion. In some classification systems Taoism is seen as a subset of Chinese traditional religion. Taoist practice involves meditation and spiritual exercises designed to bring one closer to whatever one's spiritual goal is.

The most prominent historical Taoists include Lao Zi, Zhuang Zi, Zhang Daoling, and Sun Bu'er. There are many Taoist monasteries, with the Wudang monastery probably being the most famous, after it's recent mention in the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

*Translation by S. Mitchell

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