The schools of Daoism 道派
Daoism is not one church but a family of lineages. Some are philosophical, some monastic, some priestly, some living quietly in village temples.
| School | Began | Founders | Home |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classical (philosophical) Daoism | c. 6th–3rd c. BCE | Laozi, Zhuangzi, Liezi | No temple. Its homes are the hermit's hut, the mountain and the reader's heart. |
| Huang-Lao | c. 4th–2nd c. BCE | Attributed to the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi) and Laozi | Han imperial court |
| Celestial Masters / Zhengyi | 142 CE | Zhang Daoling | Longhu Shan (Dragon-Tiger Mountain), Jiangxi, and Qingcheng Shan / Heming Shan, Sichuan |
| Shangqing (Supreme Clarity) | 364–370 CE | Revealed to Yang Xi; organized by Tao Hongjing | Maoshan (Mount Mao), Jiangsu |
| Lingbao (Numinous Treasure) | c. 400 CE | Ge Chaofu (grand-nephew line of Ge Hong) | Gezao Shan, Jiangxi |
| Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) | 1167 | Wang Chongyang and his Seven Perfected (including Qiu Chuji and Sun Bu'er) | White Cloud Temple (Baiyun Guan), Beijing; Chongyang Palace; Wudang; Laoshan |
| Wudang Daoism | Ming dynasty flowering (1412 temple complex) | Tradition honours Zhang Sanfeng; the patron deity is Zhenwu (Xuanwu) | Wudang Shan, Hubei (Purple Heaven Palace, Golden Summit) |
| Inner Alchemy (Neidan) lineages | c. 8th–11th c. onward | Zhongli Quan, Lü Dongbin, Zhang Boduan and others | Taught inside temples and in family lines |
| Popular & folk Daoism | Ancient and ongoing | Communities and temple associations | Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and Chinatowns worldwide |
Classical (philosophical) Daoism 道家
Dàojiā
The "school of the Way" of the Warring States masters: simplicity, naturalness (ziran), non-forcing (wu wei) and the relativity of all views. It is not a church but a way of seeing.
- Began
- c. 6th–3rd c. BCE
- Founders
- Laozi, Zhuangzi, Liezi
- Practice
- Reading and contemplating the classics, living simply, sitting in stillness (zuowang), and wandering freely in nature.
- Key texts
- Daodejing, Zhuangzi, Liezi, Neiye, Huainanzi
- Home
- No temple. Its homes are the hermit's hut, the mountain and the reader's heart.
- Today
- Read worldwide. It influences Chan/Zen, poetry, painting, ecology and the internal martial arts.
Huang-Lao 黃老
Huáng Lǎo
A political and cosmological Daoism of the early Han: rule lightly, align the state with heaven's patterns, and cultivate the body's qi.
- Began
- c. 4th–2nd c. BCE
- Founders
- Attributed to the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi) and Laozi
- Practice
- Statecraft by non-interference, plus nourishing life (yangsheng).
- Key texts
- Huangdi Sijing (Four Classics of the Yellow Emperor, found at Mawangdui), Huainanzi
- Home
- Han imperial court
- Today
- Survives as an influence on Chinese medicine (the Huangdi Neijing) and longevity practice.
Celestial Masters / Zhengyi 天師道 · 正一
Tiānshī Dào · Zhèngyī
The first organized Daoist religion, with a hereditary line of Celestial Masters (the Zhang family), communities led by libationers, confession, talismans and registers. Its priests (daoshi) may marry and live at home.
- Began
- 142 CE
- Founders
- Zhang Daoling
- Practice
- Liturgy and offerings (jiao), talismans (fu), ordination registers (lu), exorcism, and festivals for the community.
- Key texts
- Xiang'er commentary on the Daodejing, Zhengyi scriptures, Lingbao liturgies
- Home
- Longhu Shan (Dragon-Tiger Mountain), Jiangxi, and Qingcheng Shan / Heming Shan, Sichuan
- Today
- The main Daoist order of southern China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the diaspora.
Shangqing (Supreme Clarity) 上清
Shàngqīng
An aristocratic mystical school of visualization: meeting the deities of the body and the stars, and ascending to the heavens of Supreme Clarity.
- Began
- 364–370 CE
- Founders
- Revealed to Yang Xi; organized by Tao Hongjing
- Practice
- Visualization meditation, star-walking, absorbing the essences of sun and moon, and reciting scriptures.
- Key texts
- Dadong Zhenjing (True Scripture of the Great Cavern), Zhen'gao (Declarations of the Perfected)
- Home
- Maoshan (Mount Mao), Jiangsu
- Today
- Absorbed into later traditions. Maoshan remains a major temple mountain.
Lingbao (Numinous Treasure) 靈寶
Língbǎo
It borrowed Buddhist ideas of universal salvation and rebirth and created the great communal rituals of Daoism.
- Began
- c. 400 CE
- Founders
- Ge Chaofu (grand-nephew line of Ge Hong)
- Practice
- Collective liturgy, fasts (zhai), offerings (jiao) and scripture recitation for the living and the dead.
- Key texts
- Duren Jing (Scripture of Salvation), the Five Talismans
- Home
- Gezao Shan, Jiangxi
- Today
- Its liturgy lives on in Zhengyi ritual.
Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) 全真
Quánzhēn
A monastic Daoism that unites the Three Teachings (Daoism, Buddhism, Confucianism). Monks and nuns live celibate lives in temples, practise meditation and inner alchemy, and follow strict precepts. Its Longmen (Dragon Gate) branch is the largest.
- Began
- 1167
- Founders
- Wang Chongyang and his Seven Perfected (including Qiu Chuji and Sun Bu'er)
- Practice
- Seated meditation, inner alchemy, precepts, temple life, and martial and health arts (Wudang).
- Key texts
- Chongyang Lijiao Shiwu Lun (Fifteen Articles), Qingjing Jing, Wuzhen Pian, Longmen precepts
- Home
- White Cloud Temple (Baiyun Guan), Beijing; Chongyang Palace; Wudang; Laoshan
- Today
- The main monastic Daoism of mainland China, with a growing presence abroad.
Wudang Daoism 武當
Wǔdāng
The Daoist mountain of the martial arts. Its temples honour Zhenwu, the Perfected Warrior of the North. Wudang is linked by tradition with the internal arts: tai chi, bagua, xingyi, Wudang sword and qigong.
- Began
- Ming dynasty flowering (1412 temple complex)
- Founders
- Tradition honours Zhang Sanfeng; the patron deity is Zhenwu (Xuanwu)
- Practice
- Quanzhen and Zhengyi rites, inner alchemy, and the internal martial and health arts.
- Key texts
- Zhenwu scriptures, inner-alchemy classics
- Home
- Wudang Shan, Hubei (Purple Heaven Palace, Golden Summit)
- Today
- A UNESCO site whose kung fu academies teach students from all over the world.
Inner Alchemy (Neidan) lineages 內丹
Nèidān
Meditative traditions that use the language of the cauldron and elixir to transform essence into energy and energy into spirit, and finally to return to emptiness. Southern (Nanzong) and Northern (Quanzhen) lineages, plus Wu-Liu, Western, Eastern and many others.
- Began
- c. 8th–11th c. onward
- Founders
- Zhongli Quan, Lü Dongbin, Zhang Boduan and others
- Practice
- Breath and intent in the dantian, microcosmic orbit, and stillness meditation.
- Key texts
- Cantong Qi, Wuzhen Pian, Secret of the Golden Flower (Taiyi Jinhua Zongzhi), Huangting Jing
- Home
- Taught inside temples and in family lines
- Today
- The root of much modern qigong.
Popular & folk Daoism 民間道教
Mínjiān
Local temples to Mazu, Guan Yu, the City God, Wong Tai Sin, the Eight Immortals and the Jade Emperor, run by communities and served by Daoist priests at festivals.
- Began
- Ancient and ongoing
- Founders
- Communities and temple associations
- Practice
- Incense, divination (kau cim), festivals, temple fairs, and lion and dragon dance.
- Key texts
- Morality books such as the Taishang Ganying Pian (Treatise on Response and Retribution)
- Home
- Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and Chinatowns worldwide
- Today
- The most widely practised face of Daoism.
People of the Way 高道
| Name | Dates | Remembered for |
|---|---|---|
| Laozi 老子 | Traditionally 6th c. BCE | The "Old Master" credited with the Daodejing, later deified as Taishang Laojun. |
| Zhuangzi 莊子 | c. 369–286 BCE | The butterfly dreamer, master of parable, humour and free wandering. |
| Liezi 列子 | c. 5th c. BCE (traditional) | The sage who rode the wind. His name is on the Liezi. |
| Zhang Daoling 張道陵 | 34–156 CE (traditional) | First Celestial Master and founder of religious Daoism. |
| Wei Huacun 魏華存 | 252–334 | Female Daoist master and first patriarch of Shangqing. |
| Ge Hong 葛洪 | 283–343 | Alchemist and author of the Baopuzi. |
| Tao Hongjing 陶弘景 | 456–536 | Scholar of Maoshan and organizer of the Shangqing scriptures and Chinese pharmacy. |
| Lü Dongbin 呂洞賓 | 8th–9th c. | Immortal, patriarch of inner alchemy, one of the Eight Immortals. |
| Chen Tuan 陳摶 | 871–989 | Hermit of Mount Hua, famed for sleep meditation and the Taiji diagram tradition. |
| Zhang Boduan 張伯端 | 987–1082 | Author of the Wuzhen Pian and patriarch of the Southern School. |
| Wang Chongyang 王重陽 | 1113–1170 | Founder of Quanzhen. |
| Sun Bu'er 孫不二 | 1119–1182 | One of the Seven Perfected, patron of women's inner alchemy. |
| Qiu Chuji 丘處機 | 1148–1227 | Founder of the Longmen branch, who counselled Genghis Khan. |
| Zhang Sanfeng 張三丰 | Legendary, Yuan–Ming | Wudang immortal credited with tai chi. |
| Liu Yiming 劉一明 | 1734–1821 | Longmen master and clear commentator on alchemy. |