Who is the founder of Taoism?

The founder of Taoism is Zhang Daoling.

Extended data

Zhang Daoling

Zhang Daoling was born in Pei Guofeng (now Fengxian County, Jiangsu Province) to a family that believed in Huangdi and Laozi. According to legend, he was a descendant of Hou Zhangliang of the Western Han Dynasty.

In the 10th year of Yongping in 98 AD, Zhang Ling and his disciples Wang Chang and Zhao Sheng bypassed Luoyang and sailed into Poyang Lake, Jiangxi Province, to Yunjin Mountain, where they taught the Huangdi Nine Dingdan Method. In Yunjin Mountain, they practiced the external alchemy of Atractylodes macrocephala, and after three years, they became Jiuding Shen Dan, known as "Dragon Tiger Dan Tai". It is said that this mountain was changed to Longhu Mountain after the alchemy of Longhu Dadan.

After Zhang Ling entered Shu, he first made active preparations to set up education in Hemingshan, Dayi County. There are two main reasons for this:-Bashu has been deeply influenced by the eastern culture represented by Chu culture, and the witch culture (or ghost culture) in Chu culture has formed a witch worship society before Zhang Ling founded religion in the Eastern Han Dynasty; Second, if Zhang Ling wants to compete with the witchcraft that has been "prostrated" by Chu since the Warring States Period and influenced Bashu, she must actively prepare her thoughts and teachings before establishing Shinto. Before and after the establishment of the Sect, he wrote 24 books, including Notes on Laozi's Thoughts, Yellow Book, Taoist Book and Twenty-four Pictures, and used water to cure diseases and develop believers.

Reference: Zhang Daoling-Baidu Encyclopedia