How did Daoism take shape？
3 min readHow did Daoism take shape？
Daoism is a religion native to China.It took shape during the reign of Emperor Shun Di（125-144）of the Eastern Han Dynasty.At that time，Zhang Daoling founded the Five-Picul-of-Rice Sect，the early form of Daoism.Its followers worshiped Lao Zi as their great teacher and took Dao De Jing as their accepted standard of thought.They believed that a man could obtain immortality through personal cultivation.
Zhang was born in Anhui Province and in his early years studied Confucianism.
Later，however，he became dissatisfied with some of the Confucian principles because they failed to offer methods of immortality.So he began to study the way to immortality；and he soon mastered the process of producing dan，as a help to live forever.In his hometown，Zhang couldn’t afford to buy the herbs that needed for the dan production；so he and his followers came to Sichuan Province and settled in Mt.Heming in Dayi County，where he could get enough herb material.While continuing his Daoist studies，he used Daoist methods to offer medical treatment to the local people and eventually gathered 10，000 followers to form the Five-Picul-of-Rice Sect.The five picul refers that each member of the secmust pay a certain amount of rice or firewood when he or she joins in the section.
The sect was officially established in Sichuan，and Mt.Qingcheng became the spot where Zhang preached his doctrines.
Towards the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty，a peasant rebel leader named Zhang Jiao established another Daoist sect called Tai-ping Dao（The Peace Sect）.He also managed to gather 10，000 followers and he organized an uprising in the name of the sect which heavily weakened the feudal ruling class.
What are the essential parts of Daoism doctrine？
Daoist doctrine was rooted on age-old witchcraft，recipes for immortality and the concepts of Huang Di（the Yellow Emperor）and Lao Zi.It greatly influenced economy，culture and political thinking of feudal China for more than 1，700 years.
The age-old witchcraft goes back at least the 2lst and 1lth centuries B.C. People worshiped gods，ghosts，and numerous supernatural beings-heavenly，earthlyand human.Heavenly beings include Blue，Yellow，White and Black Kings，as well as gods of the sun，the moon，stars，wind，rain，thunder，and lightening.Earthly spirits include local village gods，agricultural gods，river gods，as well as the gods of the five mountains-Taishan，Hengshan，Huashan，another Hengshan in Shanxi Province，and Songshan. Human supernatural beings include ancestral，sages and personages of virtue，loyalty，filial piety，justice and chastity.
Beginning with the Spring and Autumn Period，many persons wanted to live forever.Some books from that time described how supernatural beings live eternally and propose methods by which human beings can do the same.One focused on increasing one’s qi，which literally means“vitality.”It is thought that such method exercises to absorb qi from outside the body.
Another method was gradually developed，called alchemy.Alchemists attempted toproduce dan by refining cinnabar.People expected to achieve long life after ingesting dan，and Daoism included the recipes for immortality as part of its key doctrine.
Chinese people often refer to ourselves as the descendents of Huang Di，the Yellow Emperor.Ancients believed that he was a part-real and part-legendary being.
In the early Western Han Dynasty，the ruling class believed in both the ways of Huang Di and Lao Zi for seeking peace and quiet；and they hoped this belief would dominate the whole country.At the beginning，Daoists accordingly worshiped both Huang Di and Lao Zi；but later they shifted the emphasis to focus only on Lao Zi who was generally admitted to be the founder of Daoism.
