What are the essential parts of Daoism doctrine？
3 min readDaoist 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.
What is the dao？
The dao is the central focus of Dao De Jing.It refers an unnameable，inherent order or force of the universe.The book begins by saying”The dao is that can be spoken of，is not the constant way；the name that can be named，is not the constant name.”
The dao is thought to be responsible for the creation and maintenance of the universe in being.One may say that it is misleading to say that the dao produced the universe.However，the book does not say that it produced the universe like a father produces a son.It produced the universe only in a figurative sense.
The dao is ineffable but then suggests some similes and gives a hint at its nature.It is humble like water，which flows downwards and always seeks the lowestplace.It is like the yin-passive and yielding，not active or dominating.It is likempty space，but not an emptiness that has no value.The central Daoist philosophy is the nation that great inner peace and power come to persons who center their lives on the dao，the way of the universe.
