How many years have Taoism lived together?

Taoism is a native religion in China, which was formed after a long historical development. Taoism shares the same fate with the Chinese nation, so the history of Taoism is closely linked with the history of China.

The worship of nature and ghosts and gods can be traced back to ancient times. From the earliest divination of communication between man and god to the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, it gradually evolved into offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors.

Worship of ghosts and gods existed as early as the primitive society, even before the flood season. The ancestors regarded the sun, moon, stars, storms, thunder and lightning, mountains and rivers as gods, so they were awed and worshipped. At that time, the ancestors not only believed in animism and produced natural reverence, but also believed that the soul could not be destroyed after death, thus producing reverence for ghosts and gods. Various funeral ceremonies and rituals of offering sacrifices and exorcising ghosts have gradually taken shape. "Chronicle of Bamboo Books" says: "When the Yellow Emperor collapsed, his minister Zuo Che took a few branches from his clothes and worshipped them in the temple." In the Yin and Shang Dynasties, the prehistoric worship of nature had developed to believe in the Heaven Emperor and the Destiny, and initially formed a god system centered on the Heaven Emperor. When things happened, Wu Zhu sought answers from the Emperor of Heaven through divination. The primitive worship of ghosts and gods has developed into ancestor worship based on blood relationship and patriarchal clan system, and its ancestor worship activities are held regularly. During this period, a religious professional-Wu Zhu, who specializes in communicating with human beings, appeared. Among them, witches can sing and dance well and have a set of professional witchcraft to drive away ghosts; I hope to please God with words. I am the emcee in charge of welcoming God and praying in religious sacrificial activities. They heal people, predict good luck and bad luck, show magical power, and so on. On the one hand, they hold the theocracy, on the other hand, they are the teachers and counselors of the emperor. At that time, the country and society were ruled by witches and gods, which was the representative period of theocracy.

The worship of ghosts and gods in the Zhou Dynasty developed further, and the ghosts and gods worshipped had formed three systems: gods, ghosts and earthly gods. Respecting ancestors and offering sacrifices to heaven side by side is called respecting heaven and ancestors. Everything is based on the sky, and people are based on their ancestors.

By the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, ancient religions had undergone a remarkable rational evolution, which was combined with the differentiation of social and cultural knowledge. A hundred schools of thought contend, especially Taoism, Confucianism and Mohism, as well as the prosperity of Yin and Yang schools and fairy schools at that time, which had a great influence on the history and culture of later generations.

By the end of the Han Dynasty, due to years of war and the collapse of the Han Dynasty, religion was urgently needed, so the primitive Confucianism gradually became religious, and at this time, the emerging Buddhism was introduced. In this social background, a religion adapted to the national conditions is needed to solve the root cause of suffering for the people, the pain of war disasters, and the traditional worship of ghosts and gods, the worship of immortals, and the evil way of Yin and Yang are gradually integrated with the ideological trend advocated by Huang Lao in the Han Dynasty. Taoist schools also came into being at this time. Taoism became polytheism in later generations, which originated from the belief in ghosts and gods in ancient times and even in the wild times; The fasting ceremony of Taoism in later generations is also closely related to the rituals and rituals of offering sacrifices to ghosts and gods handed down by the ancients for thousands of years.

People worship, admire, trust and communicate with the gods, so they must hold sacrificial activities regularly. Sacrificial activities are inseparable from rites and music. With the collapse of rites and music in the Spring and Autumn Period, the civilization of rites and music gradually descended from the unattainable imperial aristocrats to the people, and was inherited by later folk alchemists and wizards. After the establishment of Taoism, abandoning its dross and taking its essence gradually evolved into a very important fasting of Taoism.

Therefore, a considerable part of the ritual and music civilization in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties has been preserved by Taoism.

Taoism is actually the successor of ritual and music civilization.

The history of Taoism can be roughly divided into four periods: the origin of Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties, the prosperity of Tang and Song Dynasties, the rise of Quanzhen religion in Yuan and Ming Dynasties and the decline after Qing Dynasty.

2. The origin of Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties.

The formation of Taoism is a slow development process. As two landmark events in the final formation of Taoism:

One is the spread of Taiping Jing, and the other is Zhang Daoling's Five Mi Dou Knives (Shi Tian Knives).

The Taiping Jing (Taiping Jing) circulated by Yu Ji (Tan Ganji) and Gong Chong during the reign of Emperor Shun of Han Dynasty (Bingyin in the first year of Yongjian-Shen Jia in the first year of Jiankang [126- 144]) is believed to come from the Taiping Jing of Baoyuan compiled by Gan Zhongke, a Qi man during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. When he arrived at Emperor Ling of Han Dynasty, Zhang Jiao preached in Taiping Qing Dynasty, nicknamed Taipingdao, calling himself Teacher Dade, and his followers were all over Kyushu, which was already quite influential.

Later, the Yellow turban insurrectionary failed, and Taiping Road gradually declined. Also in the Eastern Han Dynasty, when Shun Di was in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Daoling learned Taoism in Hemingshan, Shu County, recruiting disciples to preach, and believers made five meters, so it was called the Five-door Rice Road (some studies also said that it was called the Five-door Rice Road because of its belief in five stars such as Beidou Nandou and its combination with esoteric Buddhism in Shu). Zhang Lu, the son of Zhang Heng and the grandson of Zhang Heng, fought in Hanzhong for many years, and then cooperated with the highest ruling authorities to spread the influence of Wudou Mi Dao from the southwest corner to the sea, and then developed into an authentic Taoist stone heaven.

During the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, with the prevalence of alchemy and the deepening of related theories, Taoism gained great development. At the same time, Taoism also absorbed the popular metaphysics at that time and enriched its own theory. In the first year of Jianwu in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Ge Hong systematically expounded the theory of immortals since the Warring States Period and wrote Bao Puzi, which was the first systematization of Taoist theory and enriched the ideological content of Taoism. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, with the support of Taizu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Kou established the "North" Road and Lu established the "South" Road.

3. Tang and Song Dynasties

During the Tang and Song Dynasties, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan recognized Laozi Li Er as his ancestor, Song Zhenzong and Song Huizong also believed in Taoism extremely, and Song Huizong even called himself "Emperor Daojun", so Taoism was highly respected and became the state religion. At this time, Maoshan, Gezhi and other factions appeared, and Shi Tiandao also re-emerged. Since the Han and Jin Dynasties, the Dante School of Taoism has been hidden. Under the vigorous advocacy of Han Zhongli, Lv Dongbin and others, Inner alchemy began to appear in the world. In theory, Chen Tuan and Zhang Boduan's "Inner Dan Theory" is very popular.

At this stage, Taoism not only developed in China, but also spread to other parts of Asia through migration and cultural exchange. For example, at the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, after Wudou Midao failed to launch an uprising in the south of China, Lu Xun led his troops to Vietnam (Jiaozhou). Vietnamese Li Tuo helped Lu Xun attack Jiaozhou Fucheng and committed suicide after failure. This is the earliest record of Taoism being introduced into Vietnam.

In Taoism in the Song Dynasty, the lineage of Shi Tian in Longhushan, Xinzhou was sealed, which began in the ninth year of Song Zhenzong Dazhong Xiangfu (10 16). According to "History of Song Dynasty", in the eighth year of Tiansheng (1030), Mr. Jia Yinci, alias Zhang Qian, was born in Longhushan, Xinzhou. When he arrived in Song Huizong, although he cherished Taoist Lin Lingsu, he only gave the Shi Tian family a general gift.

4. The emergence of Quanzhen religion in Yuan and Ming Dynasties.

At the end of Song Dynasty and the beginning of Yuan Dynasty, Quanzhen Taoism advocated by Wang Zhongyang appeared in the north. Later, Wang Zhongyang's disciple Qiu Chuji preached for Genghis Khan in Mongolia, hoping that he would not kill innocent people. He was trusted by Genghis Khan and was granted the power to take charge of Taoism in the world by the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty. At the same time, in order to cope with the rapid rise of Quanzhen religion, the original Shi Tian Taoism in Longhushan, the Shangqing School in Maoshan and the Lingbao School in Gezaoshan were merged into one, and Zhang Tianshi was respected as the founder, thus formally forming the pattern of two major Taoist schools, namely Quanzhen School in the North and Zhengyi School in the South.

Judy, the Yongle Emperor of Ming Dynasty, claimed to be the embodiment of Zhenwu Emperor, and gave great support to Zhang Sanfeng and Wu Tang who sacrificed Zhenwu. At this time, Taoism is still dominant in various religions in China.

5. Decline after Qing Dynasty

After the Qing Dynasty, Taoism basically stopped developing. Since the Qing Dynasty, Manchu rulers believed in Tibetan Buddhism and suppressed Taoism, which was dominated by Han people. Taoism has since declined. After entering the modern society, Taoism declined even more.

After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), with the implementation of the new religious policy of the China government, the Chinese Taoist Association was established in Chinese mainland on 1957 to manage the internal affairs of Taoism in China. After the Cultural Revolution, Taoism began to resume normal religious activities, but not many Taoist monks became monks.

At present, there are nearly 654.38 million Quanzhen and Orthodox Taoists in Chinese mainland. According to preliminary statistics, there are nearly 30,000 Taoist temples in China, with more than 60,000 scattered orthodox Taoists and more than 30,000 registered Taoist venues. Taoist organizations include Chinese Taoist Association, provincial local Taoist Association and regional (city) local Taoist Association.

6. Taoism in Taiwan Province Province

Taoism in Taiwan Province Province basically came to Taiwan Province Province with early Han immigrants. At the end of the Japanese occupation, many people believed in Taoism to show their national position. Therefore, Taoism has been suppressed and Taoist temples have been repeatedly destroyed, which needs to be preserved as Buddha statues or folk gods. This mixed phenomenon has continued to this day, which has also led to the separation of Taoism and Buddhism in Taiwan Province.

1949, Zhang Enpu, the 63rd generation Shi Tian of Zhengyi Road, arrived in Taiwan Province Province. After the appearance of 1969, the National Congress of Taijiang West Province promoted Zhang Enpu's nephew Zhang Wei as the agent to preside over the teachings, and now lives in Han Dynasty House in Taiwan Province Province.

In 2008, Zhang was in charge of feathering, and now it is the 64th generation of Daozhen.

According to the statistics of Taiwan Province Provincial Department of Civil Affairs, Taoism is the largest religion in Taiwan Province Province.