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Throughout history, Taoism has been one of the most influential
religions of Eastern culture. ... 1 That is what essentially separates Taoism from the rest of
the world religions: there is no heated debate or battle over Taoist
doctrine; there have been no crusades to spread the religion. The very
essence of Taoism is quite the opposite. Taoism’s uniqueness and
open-endedness have allowed the religion to flourish almost undisturbed
and unchanged for over two thousand years.
The founder of Taoism was a man named Lao Tzu, who lived around the
year 604 B. ... During this time, he
wrote the Tao Te Ching, the major scripture of Taoism. ... 13
Taoism became an official religion between 100 and 200 C. ... He
created a dynasty of high priests who manipulated Taoism to support a
superstitious doctrine of magic and mysticism.18 Seizing higher power
as a religious leader, he pioneered a merging of Taoism and
Zoroastrianism into a system called Five Bushels of Rice Taoism. ... 20
Three hundred years later, the philosopher Honen moved away from
Mazdaism and combined Taoism with Buddhism. ... Gradually,
however, Taoism again became tied to magic, and it failed as a
religion.21 Today, only its original philosophies survive and there are
very few followers of Taoism, mostly found in Taiwan.22 Although
Taoism’s religious practices deteriorated with advancing Western
influence, its philosophical aspects have outlasted those of
Confucianism and Zen Buddhism.23
For centuries, Taoism has been known as the Way of Harmony. ...
Taoism is different from any other Eastern religion. According to
Lawrence Durrell, “Taoism is such a privileged brand of eastern
philosophy that one would be right to regard it as an aesthetic view of
the universe rather than a purely institutional one.”33 Thus, as Taoism
is a religion of non-action, Lao Tzu and his followers discouraged the
practice of rituals. As a result, Taoism has no tangible rituals. ... 37 The closest
lasting action in Taoism to rituals is the idea of wu-hsing. ... 41
Several sects of Taoism emerged during the eleventh and twelfth
centuries. ... 42
Taoism has been affected largely by Confucianism, and vice versa.
Approximate Word count = 1744
Approximate Pages = 7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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