Chapter 29 Chapter 7 Conclusion
Taoism in China was born in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, matured and finalized in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, reached its peak of prosperity in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, developed a new trend in the Song and Yuan dynasties, and gradually stagnated and even declined after entering the Ming and Qing Dynasties.In the long historical period, it has been constantly changing with the development of society and the changes of social thoughts. It has always interacted with Confucianism and Buddhism and penetrated into each other. It has become one of the three pillars of Chinese traditional culture that stand side by side with them.
When Buddhism was first introduced into China, because of its small influence, it used Taoism to pave the way for itself.Taoism has also learned a lot from Buddhist rituals and scriptures such as worship and chanting, as well as classic teachings.Buddhism also absorbs the content of Taoism.But on the whole, it is not as much absorbed by Taoism.When Taoism argues with Buddhism, it always uses the banner of Chinese orthodox culture, saying that Buddhism is foreign, and competes with it for religious positions.Facing the attack of Taoism, Buddhism continued to speed up the process of Sinicization in order to gain a firm foothold, thus developing into a distinctive Chinese Buddhist culture.Therefore, in a certain sense, Taoism is of great help to Buddhism.
Taoism has invoked the Confucian doctrine of loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness from the very beginning.The early Taoist classics "Taiping Jing" and "Laozi Xianger's Notes" both vigorously advocated loyalty to the emperor and filial piety. To peace.During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Kou Qianzhi rectified the old Taoism of Heavenly Masters, mainly using the so-called "propriety" of Confucian moral norms to carry out the transformation.After the Tang Dynasty, the integration of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism has become a general historical trend.With the rise of Neo-Confucianism (also known as Neo-Confucianism) in the Song Dynasty, Neo-Confucians absorbed the theories of Buddhism and Taoism on the cultivation of mind and nature, took over the issue of mind and made a big fuss, talking about "preserving the principles of nature and destroying human desires" to cultivate people's mind and nature. Combined with the political theory of governing the country and the world, it formed a complete Confucian ideological system and gained a major position.Both Buddhism and Taoism had to move closer to it.During the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, Taoism has been developing and existing in this general trend.For example, Jingming Dao, which belongs to the Fulu School, regards loyalty and filial piety as the purpose of its teaching, saying that those who practice immortality "are not studying Zen and asking questions, going to the mountains to refine their shapes, and the most important thing is loyalty and filial piety... There is no need to practice, and the Tao will come naturally" ("Jingming Zhongxiao Quanshu" Volume 2), it is almost the same as Confucianism.The Quanzhen Taoism in the Jin and Yuan Dynasties advocated the combination of monkhood and immortality with secular loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness. The "true skills" are internally cultivated with the "true skills" of being pure-hearted, ascetic and filthy, and clear-eyed. "True practice" emphasizes the combination of the two to achieve Taoism and immortality, and can also be regarded as a variant of Confucianism.
When Taoism first appeared on the stage of history, it was a banner of social improvement thoughts and produced classics such as the "Taiping Jing".Its lower-level organizations, such as Taiping Road and Wudoumi Road, embarked on the road of resisting the feudal court.In later historical periods, people often used Taoism to organize peasant uprisings.However, Taoism at the upper level was mostly attached to the imperial court, serving the feudal rulers from two aspects: satisfying the emperor's personal spiritual needs in pursuit of immortality and satisfying the emperor's desire to use Taoism to deify his feudal imperial power to consolidate his rule.When dynasties change, Taoism often chooses new service objects and speculates by fabricating political prophecies.
During the historical development of Taoism, it has continuously absorbed nutrients from the soil of the entire Chinese traditional culture, and at the same time exerted its own influence and role.For example, metal smelting technology began to appear in China as early as around the 30th century BC. By the Shang Dynasty, an extremely exquisite bronze culture had been developed, and alchemy appeared in the Qin and Han Dynasties.Medicine is directly related to life phenomena such as birth, old age, sickness and death of people, and it was produced earlier in various specific sciences.China already knew how to use acupuncture, medicine and other treatment methods in the Shang Dynasty, and relatively systematic medical theoretical works had appeared in the Western Han Dynasty at the latest.Metallurgy and alchemy, as well as ancient medicine, have become the main sources of the Taoist thought of taking golden elixir to become immortal.Taoism also made important contributions to the development of these disciplines.Many Taoist priests in the past dynasties traveled all over famous mountains and rivers in search of raw materials for refining alchemy, and conducted on-the-spot investigations on a large number of minerals and plants, leaving very valuable documents and records.People like Ge Hong, Tao Hongjing, Sun Simiao, etc. are not only important historical figures of Taoism, but also famous medical experts, who have made important contributions to medicinal chemistry and Chinese pharmacy.
Ancient myths and legends are also one of the sources of Taoist immortal thought.At the same time, a large number of Taoist works themselves have also enriched the treasure house of literature and art.Not only that, it also provided a lot of material for ancient Chinese literary creation and promoted the development of literary and artistic forms.In classic literary masterpieces such as , , , , , etc., traces of the influence of Taoist culture can be seen.The Taoist legend of the Eight Immortals is also widely circulated among the Chinese people, and many vivid folk stories such as "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea" and "Eight Immortals Celebrating Birthday" have evolved.Taoist themes have become one of the important contents of folk literature.In addition, traces of Taoist ideology and culture can be seen everywhere, such as opera, dance, music, architecture and sculpture art, painting and calligraphy art, etc.
In the feudal era, many intellectuals lived in seclusion in the mountains because they were dissatisfied with the social reality, and devoted themselves to practicing Taoism in order to keep themselves clean. Taoism became their spiritual sustenance and life destination.In the lower class of society, Taoism uses talisman water to cure diseases, suppress evil spirits and exorcise ghosts, seek blessings and ward off disasters. Rural areas are particularly easy to spread, so that there are many temples, such as the land, the city god, the god of wealth, the kitchen god, Guandi, the Jade Emperor, etc., have all become objects of worship.There are also many Taoist activities that have been passed down and become habits, which have gradually transformed into folk customs, passed down from generation to generation, and continue to the present.Taoism among the masses is different from Taoism in the upper class in many respects.
Today, with the prosperity and development of science, few people probably believe that people can really live forever and become immortals after attaining enlightenment.People climb Wudang, visit Laoshan, stick door gods, and visit temple fairs, and they often have different moods and purposes.However, as a religious culture, Taoism has many influences on various fields and levels in China. Knowing a little about Taoism can help us understand Chinese history and culture, and can inspire us to think and understand more social phenomena.