Library: Eastern Religions by Credo Reference: Taoism

Practices & Beliefs

Astrology: Topic Page
Study of the relative position of the planets and stars in the belief that they influence events on Earth. A strongly held belief in ancient Babylon, astrology spread to the Mediterranean world, and was widely used by the Greeks and Romans.
The Jade Emperor
From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
In Chinese religion, the supreme god of pantheistic Taoism, also known as the August Personage of Jade and Father Heaven, who watches over human actions and is the ruler of life and death.
Meditation: Topic Page
Act of spiritual contemplation, practised by members of many religions or as a secular exercise.
Mysticism: Topic Page
The practice of putting oneself into, and remaining in, direct relation with God, the Absolute, or any unifying principle of life. Mysticism is inseparably linked with religion.
Qi or Ch'i
From The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Chinese term for ether, air, corporeal vital energy, and the “atmosphere” of a season, person, event, or work. Qi can be dense/impure or limpid/pure, warm/rising/active or cool/settling/still.
T'ai Chi
From Chamber's Dictionary of the Unexplained
A Chinese system of exercise in which a series of slow, continuous movements are performed with synchronized breathing while the practitioner meditates on the flow of energy or ‘qi’ through the body.
Taoism: Topic Page
Refers both to a Chinese system of thought and to one of the four major religions of China (with Confucianism, Buddhism, and Chinese popular religion).
Wu Wei
From The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Chinese philosophical term often translated as ‘non-action’ and associated with Taoism.
Yin and yang: Topic Page
The Chinese concept that everything is explicable in terms of two complementary but opposing principles. Yang represents heaven, and is the positive, male force.

People & Places

Chuang Tzu (BCE 369 - 286)
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Chinese Taoist writer. Little is known about his life. He was a native of the state of Meng, on the border of present-day Shandong and Henan provinces, and is said to have lived as a hermit.
Lao Tzu
From The Essentials of Philosophy and Ethics
Lao Tzu seems to have been a contemporary of CONFUCIUS (sixth to fifth century BCE), and is traditionally viewed as the author of the classic of TAOISM, the Tao Te Ching, or the ‘Classic of the Way and Its Power’.
The Eight Immortals
From Bloomsbury Dictionary of Myth
The Eight Immortals (Ba Xian), in Chinese Daoist myth, were a group of people who all lived mortal lives on Earth (and in some cases were historically real), who achieved immortality in different ways, and then spent eternity together, traveling to see and perform wonders.
Zhuangzi
From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Most significant early Chinese interpreter of Daoism and the purported author of the Daoist classic that bears his name.

Sacred Literature

Tao Te Ching
From Chamber's Dictionary of the Unexplained
An ancient Chinese text, the authorship of which is traditionally attributed to the sage and philosopher Lao Tzu in the 6th century bc.
I Ching
From Chamber's Dictionary of the Unexplained
An ancient Chinese book thought to be some 3,000 years old. It consists of a series of 64 hexagrams (figures made up of six lines), and a text giving interpretations of these.

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