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Why is Daoism Important?

Daoism has a major impact on North American culture. Some of the ways are in acupuncture, herbalism, holistic medicine, and martial arts. I didn't know all of this came to America because of Daoism! Daoism has made two types of martial arts called  Tai Chi and Qigong. I wonder if martial arts has always been popular in China. Also, Daoism has impacted America in healthy living, such as practicing vegetarianism and exercise.

What is Daoism and How Did it Develop over the years?

Daoism was one of China's major religions a long time ago. The main belief is learning and practicing the dao, the word dao means "way" or "path". Daoism as a religion didn’t really flourish until hundreds of years later around 100 A.D, when Daoist hermit Zhang Daoling founded a sect of Daoism known as the Way of the Celestial Matters. I can't believe it took so long for Daoism to become a major religion! Daoism grew quickly from 200-700 AD, where more rituals and practices developed. During this period, Daoism faced competition from the major religion Buddhism which came to China by traders and missionaries from India. Unlike Buddhism, Daoists do not believe that life is suffering. Daoism believes that life is generally happy but that it should be lived with balance. I think that Daoism seams like a more happy religion than Buddhism.

Daoism Today

With the end of the Ching Dynasty in 1911, state support for Daoism ended. The Daoist heritage was destroyed during the next military leader. The government did a lot of horrible things to Daoists like putting monks to work, taking over temples, and damaging treasures. It is really sad that they would do such a mean thing to all the Daoists. Sadly, several monks were reduced to fewer than 50,000 by 1960. I can't believe the government was that mean to Daoists! Today, Daoism has only about 20 million followers and the main country were Daoism is practiced is Taiwan. In North America, there are 30,000 Daoists. I wonder if any of this would have happened if the Ching Dynasty never ended.

Daoism Beliefs

Daoists believe that the universal force called the Dao or the "way" guides all things. All creatures, except humans, live in harmony with this force. The Tao-Te Ching is the book of Daoist teachings and it explains all Daoism beliefs. A weird belief that Daoists have is each human being has to learn to live in harmony with nature and with their inner feelings. This is also called the Dao, or individual "way". Most Daoists didn't argue about good and bad and they didn't try to change things. In other words, they accepted things as they were. Most Daoists didn't even want to be involved with the government! To me it seams like a person has to be involved with the government to get a job, buy a house, and many other things today. The Daoism symbol is called the Yin-Yang. The Yin-Yang is the idea that two things interact with each other. Black on the Yin-Yang stands for all that is cold, dark, and mysterious, and the white stands for all that is warm, bright, and light. Last, the outer circle represents "everything". Understanding the Yin-Yang helped a person understand how they fit into the world. Finally, Dao isn't influenced by prayer, hymns or rituals.