道 · The Way
Daoism 道教 · 道家
Daoism (also spelled Taoism) is the native philosophy and religion of China, the tradition of the Dao 道, the Way: the nameless source that everything arises from and returns to. It has two faces that were never fully separate. One is a philosophy of naturalness, simplicity and non-forcing (the Laozi and the Zhuangzi). The other is a living religion with temples, priests, rituals, immortals, meditation and inner alchemy. Tai chi, qigong and Traditional Chinese Medicine grew up in its shade.
Before anything, a single chapter
The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name.
Daodejing, chapter 1 (tr. Legge)
There is nothing here you have to believe. Daoism has always said that the Way cannot really be put into words, so these pages are only a finger pointing at the moon. Read a little, breathe a little, move a little. Take what helps and leave the rest by the side of the path.
What is Daoism?
ReligionForBreakfast · 25:47
What is Daoism?
Let's Talk Religion · 27:54
Press play to watch here. Credits on the audiobooks & videos page.
Where to begin 入門
Read
81 short chapters. Read one a day, slowly. The whole Daodejing is hosted here, free.
Listen
Public-domain audiobooks of the Daodejing, Zhuangzi, Liezi and the Yijing, playable right on this site.
Move
Tai chi and qigong are Daoist practice you can feel: stillness in motion. Join a free class.
Key ideas 要義
Dao 道
dào
The Way: the source, pattern and flow of all things. It can be followed but never fully named. "The Dao that can be told is not the eternal Dao" (Daodejing 1).
De 德
dé
Virtue or power: the Dao as it shows up in a particular being. It is the quiet potency of someone living in harmony with the Way.
Wu wei 無為
wú wéi
Non-forcing, effortless action, "doing not-doing". It doesn't mean doing nothing. It means acting without strain, like water finding its way downhill. "The Dao does nothing, and yet nothing is left undone" (ch. 37).
Ziran 自然
zìrán
Self-so-ness, naturalness: things being what they are of themselves. "The Dao follows what is natural" (ch. 25).
Pu 樸
pǔ
The uncarved block: original simplicity, before we were shaped by ambition and cleverness.
Yin and Yang 陰陽
yīn yáng
The two complementary currents of change, shade and sun, receptive and active. Each holds the seed of the other, as in the taiji symbol ☯.
Qi 氣
qì
Breath, vapour, vital energy: the living stuff that moves through the body and the cosmos. Qigong, tai chi and Chinese medicine all work with qi.
Wuxing 五行
wǔ xíng
The Five Phases (wood, fire, earth, metal, water): a map of how things transform through seasons, organs and emotions.
Jing, Qi, Shen 精氣神
jīng qì shén
The Three Treasures of the body: essence, energy and spirit. Inner alchemy refines one into the next.
Xu and Jing 虛靜
xū jìng
Emptiness and stillness. "Attain utmost emptiness, hold fast to stillness" (ch. 16). They are the root of meditation.
Neidan 內丹
nèi dān
Inner alchemy: meditation that "cooks" the Three Treasures in the body's cauldrons (dantian) to return to the Dao.
Xian 仙
xiān
Immortals or transcendents: people who have realized the Dao and live in harmony beyond ordinary limits, like the Eight Immortals.
The schools of Daoism 道派
From the hermit-philosophers to the Celestial Masters, the monks of Complete Perfection and the temples of Wudang. Compare them all →
Classical (philosophical) Daoism
c. 6th–3rd c. BCE · Laozi, Zhuangzi, Liezi
Huang-Lao
c. 4th–2nd c. BCE · Attributed to the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi) and Laozi
Celestial Masters / Zhengyi
142 CE · Zhang Daoling
Shangqing (Supreme Clarity)
364–370 CE · Revealed to Yang Xi; organized by Tao Hongjing
Lingbao (Numinous Treasure)
c. 400 CE · Ge Chaofu (grand-nephew line of Ge Hong)
Quanzhen (Complete Perfection)
1167 · Wang Chongyang and his Seven Perfected (including Qiu Chuji and Sun Bu'er)
Wudang Daoism
Ming dynasty flowering (1412 temple complex) · Tradition honours Zhang Sanfeng; the patron deity is Zhenwu (Xuanwu)
Inner Alchemy (Neidan) lineages
c. 8th–11th c. onward · Zhongli Quan, Lü Dongbin, Zhang Boduan and others
Popular & folk Daoism
Ancient and ongoing · Communities and temple associations
Keep exploring
Timeline
From oracle bones to the present, 37 moments.
Globe of temples
31 sacred mountains, temples and centres worldwide.
Daoism & the martial arts
Wudang, tai chi, qigong and where Shaolin fits.
Figures In Space shares this as free education. It speaks for no temple or lineage. For deeper study, seek out the teachers and temples on the globe and the Martial Arts Atlas. Its sister path: Buddhism & Zen.