The Evolution and Influence of Taoism
Taoism has had a history of more than 1,800 years. The basic ideas of Taoism are long living, god, and immortal, etc., and its doctrine has evolved from the academic thought of Taoists in the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States periods. In addition, nature-worshiping and ghost-worshiping, popular in ancient Chinese society, also contributed a social and cultural basis to the formation of Taoism.
At the very beginning, there were two sects within Taoism: Fang Xian Tao and Huang Lao Tao. Fangxian Tao was formed in about the 4th century BC. Its aim was to get longevity and become immortal with the help of ghosts and gods. From the Warring States Period to the reign of Emperor Wudi of the Western Han Dynasty, under the encourage- ment of both Taoist experts and emperors and kings, a famous move- ment in the history was initiated to seek longevity panacea in the sea. Huanglao Tao is a combination of the philosophy in emperors’ ruling, Five Elements of Yin (negative) and Yang (positive), and the immortal theories. Fangxian Tao was combined with Huanglao school of thought afterwards.
During the reign of Emperor Shundi (126— 144) of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Ling created Wutoumi Tao, and then during the reign of Emperor Lingdi (168—184) of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Jiao established Taiping Tao. These marked the real formation of Taoism. During its popularization since its birth, Taoism had long been a kind of highlevel culture, and widely pursued by the upper-class society. However, since the 12th century, Taoism began to decline due to its own rea- sons. From then on, Taoism started to spread in the lowerclass society, and its witchcraft elements facilitated its influence on the folk society.
In the Ming Dynasty, the influence of Taoism on folks became stronger. People held a mussy, superstitious, and vulgar faith in re- ligions because of their illiteracy. In order to attract followers, the doctrine of Taoism had been randomly modified to cater for people’s psychological needs. During this period, Taoists were of low quality, and knew little about the doctrine and laws of Taoism. Regretfully, it had witchcraft elements such as spell and conjuration and developed into a series of superstitious activities, such as fortune-telling and lots- drawing.
Due to its main aim at longevity, Taoism has paid a special atten- tion to medicine, which covers various aspects such as methods to keep in good health, therapeutics, materia medica and medical knowledge. The raw materials Taoists used for medical purpose consist of plants, metals and minerals, etc. Frequently, they use deadly poisonous ele- ments such as mercuric sulfide as raw materials. The misapplication of such materials may cause death to people who take it. However, mod- ern chemistry has benefited a lot from it.
In Taoist medicine, the most valuable aspect is its methods to build up the health. Taoists have created the Taijiquan. It has spread all over the world.
The Spread and Sinicization of Buddhism in China
The first Buddhist parishes were found in China in the 1st century AD and focused mainly on the suppression of passions by means of meditation, charity and compassion. The monastery claiming to have been the first built by the government in China is the White Horse Temple near Luoyang. Many similarities with Taoism made Buddhism look like another sect of Huang Lao Taoism; both religions have no sacrificial rites, and believe both in immortality, and operate with concentration, meditation and abstinence.
The first great time of Buddhism in China was during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, when the new religion entered the gentry class. Disap- pointed and not more interested in governmental officials, the land- owning class joined the Buddhist community. But also scholars, that were more interested in Taoism since the end of the Later Han Dynasty, became fond of the new religion that gave both groups a strong hold in a time of ceaseless war. The rulers of the Northern Wei Dynasty con- verted to Buddhism and saw themselves as personification of the Bud- dha. The maturity and great age of Buddhism in China was the Tang Dynasty when emperors spent their wealth to establish monasteries and sculptures in different Buddhist caves. But this age was not free of persecution, especially by Confucian oriented statesman that wanted to get rid of the foreign religion. Many people converted to and entered a monastery to escape military service and taxpaying. The revival of Con- fucianism under the Song Dynasty caused the decline of Buddhism as a state religion. But as popular belief, Buddhism is still very widespread, but highly mixed with Taoist belief.
The transition of the foreign religion into a Chinese one was made easy especially by the ideal of charity and compassion of Buddhism. Both terms are quite similar to the Confucian idea of filial piety and the compassion of the ruler for his subjects. Other concepts of Buddhism are quite contrary to Confucianism (suffering/enjoying; celibacy/ family; mendicant monks/productive farmers; monastic community/ subordination under the state), but the missing of a central power dur- ing the 3rd and the 4th centuries gave room for the Buddhist religion of salvation of the individual. The power of spells and charms had a great attraction not only to Chinese peasants, but also for the rulers in the north.
Buddhism and its representing objects became part of the Chinese culture like dragons and chopsticks. The Laughing Buddha (Pot-Belly Buddha) is the transformation of one of the Indian skete. The Indian stupa became the Chinese nine-floor pagoda.
Popular Chinese Folk Deities: The God of Wealth and King Yama
As a god that can bring in wealth and riches, the God of Wealth is worshiped by most Chinese. Each time of the Spring Festival, a lot of families will hang a picture of the god for blessings of great luck and large wealth. People of different times and regions worship their own God of Wealth differently. The Civil God of Wealthor Cai Bo Xing Jun usually refers to Bi Ganand Fan Li; the Martial God of Wealth usually refers to Zhao Gongming and Guan Yu, in the look of a dark face and thick beards wearing a iron hat and coat armor. In some places, histori- cal figures such as Shen Wansan, a well-known and intelligent merchant prince, are also worshiped as a god of wealth.
In Chinese folk beliefs, Yama (King of Hell) is the judge of the dead, who presides over the hell and is responsible for the life, death and transmigration of human beings. He’s said to have a book listing the length of life of every individual. When someone’s life in the mortal world has come to an end, Yama would order fearsome guardians of hell to bring the newly-dead to the hell for judgment. If the person did good things before death, they could be brought to heaven and enjoy good wealth; if they did evil things, they could be sent to the hell for punishment. There was no concept of Yama in ancient China till Buddhism was introduced to China via ancient India.
In folk culture, there are lots of popular sayings about Yama, such as “when Yama is away, the ghosts are free to do whatever they want”, which means when someone in charge is absent, his underlings run wild; the saying “it’s easy to meet Yama, but the devils are hard to tackle” means low-ranking officials are even more difficult to deal with than their superiors.
Other Beloved Folk Deities: The God of Kitchen and the Matchmaker
The God of Kitchen is a God in charge of eating in China’s an- cient mythic legend. Some people in China regard the God of Kitchen as an important immortal and a supervisor appointed by the Emperor of Heaven to supervise virtues and vices, and contributions and debts made by the members of every family, and to report to the Heaven Gov- ernment periodically.
Anciently, the figure of the God of Kitchen was usually pasted on the wall of kitchen. The figures of the God of Kitchen and his wife sat side by side. Beside the picture are usually corresponding couplets like “if Gods in heaven say well, the world will be peaceful”. These sentenc- es expressed the Chinese people’s aspiration for happy life.
The Matchmaker, or Yue Lao, the old man in the moon, is the god who unites persons in marriage in a Chinese legend that originated in the Tang Dynasty. The figure later became a widely known image of im- mortal. As the legend goes, the matchmaker holds “the book of fate”, on which the marriage of all people are recorded. Also in his hands there is a red strand, and once he ties a man and a woman on their feet with the strand, the two will surely become a couple even if they were strangers far away from each other. There is a folk custom in China to make stat- ues of the matchmaker and build temples to pray for blessings. There are temples in China, in which people can vow to the god for their mar- riage.
