What is the relationship between Taoism and Taoism?

The concepts of Taoism and Taoism are often confused. In fact, Taoism and Taoism are not the same thing, but Taoist thought is closely related to the development of Taoism. Let's briefly discuss the relationship between Taoist thought and Taoist development from the following aspects.

First of all, why home and Tao are not the same thing in essence can be explained from the following points:

First, Taoism and Taoism came into being in different times. Taoism was founded by Laozi and Zhuangzi at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, while Taoism was formed at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. That is to say, before the formation of Taoism, Taoism has appeared for a long time, with talented people and various schools, and formed two peaks of Taoist development in the pre-Qin and early Han dynasties. Even after the formation of Taoism, Taoism and Taoism still have their own different inheritance pedigrees.

Secondly, Tao and Tao have different representative figures, even the same figure has different personality characteristics in Tao and Tao. As far as the former is concerned, the representatives of Taoism are Laozi, Zhuangzi, Yang Zhu and Liezi in the pre-Qin period, Cao Can, Dou Taihou, Liu An and Yan Junping in the Han Dynasty, and Ge Hong, Tao Hongjing and Cheng in Taoism. These two types of characters are irreplaceable. As far as the latter is concerned, taking Laozi as an example, Laozi in Taoism is a realistic thinker, the founder of Taoism, and Laozi in Taoism is known as the old gentleman on the throne and a religious leader. Obviously, they are different in nature.

Third, Taoism is a school of thought and culture, and Taoism is a religious group. Taoism is an inherent religion in China, with the highest belief in immortality. It educates believers in the way of becoming immortal, persuades people to become immortal through health preservation and moral cultivation, and finally gets rid of death and seeks eternity. The two are completely different in cultural form: the former is human and secular, and it exists in the ideological field. As a school of thought and culture, it shines the world with the light of realistic wisdom. Taoism, on the other hand, not only has ideological function, that is, ideological belief, but also has strict organization and religious activities, and tries to transform the world with a superhuman and surreal force, including seeking eternal life.

However, Taoism has a special relationship with Taoism in its formation and development. This can be seen from two aspects:

On the one hand, Taoism is based on Taoist thought. When Taoism was founded, it combined Laozi, Zhuangzi, Huang Lao's learning, immortal trees and folk witchcraft to form a specific religious form, in which Taoist thought was an important source of Taoism. In the long-term development of Taoism, Taoist thoughts, such as Laozi and Zhuangzi, have always been important classics of Taoism, and Taoist scholars have constantly annotated Laozi and Zhuangzi according to the needs of the times. It can be said that without Taoism, it is impossible to form Taoism Without Taoism, Taoism would lose its solid ideological pillar.

On the other hand, after the Han and Wei Dynasties, there were no influential schools of Taoism and no outstanding Taoist scholars, but Taoism developed by leaps and bounds. An important reason why Taoism has not been annihilated is that it has been continued with the help of the development of Taoism. Since Taoism takes Taoist thought as its theoretical pillar, it must contain Taoist thought. Since Laozi and Zhuangzi's works are regarded as Taoist classics, Taoist scholars will certainly develop Laozi and Zhuangzi's philosophy when commenting on them, but it cannot be denied that Taoism has a much greater influence on Taoism.