Why did Taoism lose to Buddhism?

In the history of China, Buddhism was introduced to China from the Han Dynasty. Before Buddhism gained the belief of most people in China, Taoism had a high social influence and status in Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties, and also played an important role in the cultural development of China. Since the gradual maturity of Taoism, Taoism has generally practiced the practice of avoiding the world and worshiping immortals, which is the concrete embodiment of Taoist concept of freedom and equality. The Taoist view of freedom is manifested in the desire to realize the unity of man and nature in nature. For example, they put forward that "my life is in my absence" and actively keep fit, instead of leaving it to fate. Politically, the Taoist concept of equality hopes to establish a peasant society with a small-scale peasant economy, create a living environment without war, exploitation and oppression, and give everyone fairness and freedom. The Taoist concept of freedom and equality is the most precious spiritual wealth of the Chinese nation and cannot be easily erased and forgotten.

1258, in the dispute between "truth" and "Buddha" in Yuan Dynasty, Taoism lost to foreign Buddhism because of its lack of theoretical spirit, which fully shows that Taoism lost to Buddhism in terms of talent quality. The prosperity of a religion is actually a contest of talents, and it is impossible to gather all kinds of outstanding talents like Buddhism, so the decline of Taoism is inevitable.

Aside from the intention of most emperors and upper-level bureaucrats to convert to Buddhism since the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, there are also some drawbacks in the development of Taoism itself, such as the stagnation of Taoist principles, doctrines, philosophy and fasting ceremonies, which is also an important reason for the decline of Taoism.

The fundamental reason for the decline of Taoism lies in the coexistence of essence and ugliness, and the contradiction between justice and fallacy in Taoist traditional doctrine and practice. The immortal theory in Taoism, the elixir of immortality, the calculation theory of divination with the Book of Changes as the core, and the choice of Yang house and Yin house, geomantic omen and changing one's life to avoid evil spirits are all difficult to keep pace with the times in the reality of later social development. In this respect, Taoism is far less than Buddhism, and even less than Catholicism and Christianity.

Emperor Taizong, Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty and Yong Zhengdi of the Qing Dynasty, who made outstanding historical contributions in history, all died after taking a lot of Taoist alchemy. After the world, Tang Gaozong, who succeeded to the throne, immediately expelled the Taoist priest from the palace (this is similar to that after the death of Emperor Shizong and Yongzheng of Ming Dynasty, Mu Zong of Ming Taizu and Emperor Qianlong who succeeded to the throne immediately expelled the Taoist priest from the palace). In 653, the Tang Dynasty issued a decree prohibiting Taoist priests from treating others, and later dynasties also had similar regulations. By the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, Taoism was basically completely driven out of the Qing court and completely isolated from politics. Therefore, the gradual decline of Taoism in modern times is the final result of some reasons in the past dynasties.

There are two reasons why Buddhism can't be worshipped by so many people like Buddhism: 1 Since the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the whole country began to believe in Buddhism under the influence of the emperor, which led to a sharp decline in the influence of Taoism in China. 2. Taoism, like China in feudal times at that time, stood still and had no enterprising spirit. It just preached spells all day, unlike foreign Buddhism, which did not meet the needs of ordinary people, and what sects such as Zen Pure Land Sect were derived to meet the requirements of the market at that time. The concept of declaration is also very suitable for the mentality of ordinary people. So Taoism was gradually replaced by foreign Buddhism.