Timeline of Daoism 年表

• c. 2000–1000 BCEShamanic roots: ancestor rites, divination with oracle bones, early ideas of yin-yang and qi.
• c. 1000–750 BCEThe Yijing (Book of Changes) takes shape: 64 hexagrams of change that later Daoists treasure.
• c. 6th–4th c. BCELaozi (traditionally an archivist of the Zhou court, older contemporary of Confucius) is credited with the Daodejing. Legend says he wrote it at the Hangu Pass for the guard Yin Xi (Louguantai) before riding west on an ox.
• c. 4th c. BCENeiye (Inward Training), in the Guanzi: the oldest Chinese text on breath and meditation.
• c. 369–286 BCEZhuangzi (Zhuang Zhou) teaches free and easy wandering. The Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi are written.
• c. 300 BCEThe Guodian bamboo slips (found in 1993 in a tomb) hold the oldest known Daodejing material.
• c. 3rd c. BCE–4th c. CEThe Liezi collects tales of Lie Yukou, the sage who "rode the wind".
• 168 BCEMawangdui silk manuscripts are buried, including two copies of the Daodejing and the Daoyin Tu (gymnastics chart), an ancestor of qigong.
• 139 BCEHuainanzi is presented to Emperor Wu: a grand synthesis of Daoist cosmology and statecraft.
• c. 2nd c. BCEHuang-Lao Daoism, the teachings of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi, guides early Han government.
• 142 CEZhang Daoling receives a revelation from Laozi (as Taishang Laojun) on Mount Heming, Sichuan, and founds the Way of the Celestial Masters (Tianshi Dao, also called Five Pecks of Rice). Organized religious Daoism begins.
• 184 CEYellow Turban uprising (Taiping Dao, Way of Great Peace).
• 215 CEZhang Lu, third Celestial Master, submits to Cao Cao. The Celestial Masters spread across China.
• c. 220–420Neo-Daoist "Profound Learning" (Xuanxue). Wang Bi writes his classic commentary on the Daodejing and Guo Xiang edits the Zhuangzi into 33 chapters.
• c. 317Ge Hong writes the Baopuzi (The Master Who Embraces Simplicity) on alchemy, longevity and immortality.
• 364–370Revelations to Yang Xi on Mount Mao found Shangqing (Supreme Clarity) Daoism, with visualization meditation.
• c. 400Ge Chaofu compiles the Lingbao (Numinous Treasure) scriptures, which shape Daoist liturgy to this day.
• 456–536Tao Hongjing organizes the Shangqing texts and the materia medica on Mount Mao.
• 471Lu Xiujing catalogues the scriptures into the Three Caverns (Sandong), the frame of the Daoist Canon.
• 618–907Tang dynasty: the emperors claim descent from Laozi (surname Li). Daoism becomes a state religion and the Daodejing an exam text.
• c. 8th c.The Classic of Purity and Stillness (Qingjing Jing) and the Yinfu Jing circulate widely.
• c. 9th–10th c.Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin, patriarchs of inner alchemy, are revered among the Eight Immortals.
• 1016Zhang Boduan writes the Wuzhen Pian (Awakening to Reality), a classic of neidan.
• 1167Wang Chongyang founds Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoism in Shandong, a monastic order with celibate monks and nuns. Among his Seven Perfected disciples is Sun Bu'er.
• 1222Qiu Chuji travels to Central Asia to meet Genghis Khan. Quanzhen is granted leadership of Daoism in the north, centred at the White Cloud Temple (Baiyun Guan) in Beijing.
• c. 13th–14th c.Zhang Sanfeng, the legendary Wudang Daoist, is credited by tradition with creating tai chi after watching a crane fight a snake.
• 1304The Yuan court makes the Celestial Master of Longhu Shan head of Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Daoism in the south.
• 1412The Yongle Emperor builds the vast temple complex on the Wudang Mountains, honouring Zhenwu, the Perfected Warrior.
• 1445The Zhengtong Daozang (Daoist Canon, about 1,400 texts) is printed. A supplement follows in 1607.
• 1600sWu Shouyang and Liu Huayang found the Wu-Liu school of inner alchemy.
• 1700sLiu Yiming (Longmen Quanzhen) writes lucid commentaries on the Yijing and inner alchemy.
• 1891James Legge publishes The Texts of Taoism in the Sacred Books of the East, bringing the Daodejing and Zhuangzi to English readers.
• 1949The 63rd Celestial Master, Zhang Enpu, moves to Taiwan, where Zhengyi Daoism flourishes.
• 1957The Chinese Taoist Association is founded at the White Cloud Temple.
• 1966–1976Cultural Revolution: temples closed or damaged, and priests laicized.
• 1980s–todayTemples are restored on Wudang, Longhu Shan, Qingcheng Shan and elsewhere. Daoist temples, tai chi societies and qigong groups spread worldwide.
• 1994The Wudang Mountains ancient building complex becomes a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Early dates are traditional and debated by historians.