Taoism 101

Lesson 2: Development of Taoism

Sects of Taoism

Taoism is not unified as a single entity - this is attested to in the divide of philosophical and religious Taoism. But there are even more divisions, based on lineage and ideology. All these groups fall under the rubric of Taoism, and common elements are often easy to find - a reverence for the Tao, the use of the Dao de Jing and the Zhuangzi, and shared cosmologies and mythologies. There have been several different schools of Taoism, though only a few survive and have had major impact.

The birth of religious Taoism can be found in the Heavenly (or Celestial) Masters school. In 142 CE a Taoist named Chang Dao-Ling claimed to have received instructions from an emanation of the long deceased and now divine Laozi. He instructed that people were beginning to loose the true teachings of Taoism, and he wanted Chang Dao-Ling to rectify this problem. There were to be no more animal sacrifices to Heaven, and people were to understand that a new heavenly order had been established. Followers were to give five portions of rice to the temple to provide for those who worked there. Chang Dao-Ling was designated the first of a series of Heavenly Masters. A following began, and local communities began to worship at local temples.

Chang Dao-Ling had been known previous as a Taoist master, and the mythology that grew around him ascribed magical feats and encounters with demons as some of his achievements. He was also recognized as a master of longevity. He was succeeded by his son and later his grandson, Chang Lu, who would rebel against the Han dynasty. The Heavenly Masters school continues to this day, and is prevalent in Taiwan, where the Heavenly Masters still claim Chang Dao-Ling as an ancestor.

While all this was happening in the north, there was another trend growing in the south. There was an increasing fascination with esoteric hermitage - studying on one's own, learning the secrets of the universe. Often these hermits would strive to learn more about the Tao and the nature of the universe, and try to achieve some form of immortality - either as a celestial immortal, a risen (resurrected) immortal, or simply an immortal who had prolonged their life indefinitely. Eventually this school would encounter the Heavenly Masters school and the Mao Shan (named after the mountain where the genesis of the school began) formed. Mao Shan was syncretism of Heavenly Masters and individual esoteric thought, and became another popular Taoist school.

Much later there developed another popular Taoist school - the Chuan Chen school. It was founded by Wang Che in the twelfth century CE. Wang Che was an ordained Taoist who was said to have been visited by the immortal Lu Dongbin (who we will discuss in our final lesson), who instructed him to develop a new school of Taoism that embraced elements from other schools - for instance, the Classic of Filial Piety of Confucianism and the Prajnaparamita Sutra of Buddhism, as well as Ch'an meditation. This school was another Taoist institution that lasted for a great deal of time.

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