Daoism has never been a single church but the sum of many teachings, lineages, traditions and ritual currents. Listed by date of founding, each entry covers origins, founders, ancestral seats, core doctrine, practice, key scriptures and present-day survival.
The Lao–Zhuang School is the strand of pre-Qin philosophical thought that takes the "Dao" as its highest category; it was first named "Daoism" (Daojia) in the Han dynasty by Sima Tan's Essential Point…
"Huang-Lao" refers to a system of thought and belief attributed to the Yellow Emperor and following the teaching of Laozi. In the Warring States period, scholars of the Jixia Academy in the state of Q…
Fangxian Dao is the general term for the immortality beliefs and traditions of esoteric arts current from the Warring States through the Qin and Han, taking its name from the Records of the Grand Hist…
The Way of Great Peace (Taiping Dao) was an early Daoist religious community founded by Zhang Jiao in Jizhou at the end of the Eastern Han, and together with the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice it stand…
The Way of the Five Pecks of Rice (Wudoumi Dao) was a Daoist religious community founded by Zhang Daoling (Zhang Ling) in the Ba-Shu region at the end of the Eastern Han, taking its name from the requ…
The Way of the Celestial Masters (Tianshi Dao) is the continuation and further development of the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice after Zhang Lu's surrender to Wei in 215, taking its name from the vener…
The Northern Celestial Masters is the school that took shape after the Daoist priest Kou Qianzhi reformed the Way of the Celestial Masters under the Northern Wei. Kou Qianzhi cultivated the Dao in his…
The Southern Celestial Masters refers to the branch of the Way of the Celestial Masters that developed in Jiangnan during the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties, usually represented by the reforms of …
The Shangqing (Highest Clarity) School is a new Daoist school that emerged among the great clans of Jiangnan in the mid-Eastern Jin, taking its name from the Shangqing Scriptures that it venerates; it…
The Maoshan Lineage is the sectarian institution that the Shangqing School developed after the Southern Dynasties, centered on Mount Mao (Maoshan) as its ancestral court; scholars commonly call the pe…
The Lingbao (Numinous Treasure) School is a Daoist scriptural tradition that arose at the end of the Eastern Jin, based on the Lingbao scriptures. The transmission of the Lingbao scriptures is traditi…
The Gezao Lineage is the sectarian institution that the Lingbao School developed after the Tang and Song, centered on Mount Gezao in Jiangxi as its center of transmission, ranked alongside the Zhengyi…
The Sanhuang (Three Sovereigns) Tradition is a Wei–Jin Daoist scriptural school centered on the Sanhuang wen (Scripture of the Three Sovereigns — comprising the Sanhuang neiwen, Tianhuang wen, Dihuang…
The Bo Family Way (Bojia Dao) was a Daoist tradition popular in the Jiangnan region during the Wei–Jin period, named for its patriarch Bo He. Bo He, styled Zhongli, was a native of Liaodong who, accor…
The Li Family Way (Lijia Dao) was a popular Daoist tradition that originated in Shu during the Three Kingdoms and Jin periods and spread widely in the Jiangdong region. According to Ge Hong's Baopuzi …
The Golden Elixir tradition, or Danding (Elixir and Tripod) School, is a Daoist tradition whose principal path of cultivation is the compounding of external elixirs (waidan) and their ingestion to att…
Louguan Daoism was a Daoist tradition centered on the Louguan (Tower Belvedere) on Mount Zhongnan, active from the Northern and Southern Dynasties through the Sui and Tang. According to its own accoun…
The Chongxuan (Twofold Mystery) school was not an organized religious community but a hermeneutical school and philosophical current within Sui-Tang Daoism devoted to interpreting the Laozi under the …
The Zhong-Lü internal-alchemy tradition took shape in the late Tang and Five Dynasties, attributed to the transmission of Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin, and is the common source of both the Southern and…
The Yinxian (Hidden Immortals) Lineage is a name later applied to the internal-alchemy and Yijing-study transmission descending from Chen Tuan in the Five Dynasties and Northern Song. It is so called …
The Southern Lineage of the Golden Elixir (Nanzong) is a Daoist school of the Song–Yuan period that takes Zhang Boduan as its founding patriarch and internal-alchemical cultivation as its central aim;…
The Central Lineage of Internal Alchemy (Zhongpai) is an internal-alchemy school founded by the Yuan-dynasty Daoist Li Daochun, centered on the principle of “guarding the center”; it came to be called…
The Eastern Lineage of Internal Alchemy (Dongpai) was founded by Lu Xixing (1520–1606?), a native of Xinghua in Jiangsu during the Ming dynasty, and takes its name from its location in the east of Jia…
The Western Lineage of Internal Alchemy (Xipai) was founded by Li Xiyue (1806–1856), a native of Leshan in Sichuan during the Qing dynasty, and takes its name from its location in western Shu, in cont…
Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoism was founded by Wang Chongyang (1112–1170) of the Jin dynasty and, together with Zhengyi Daoism, forms one of the two main currents of Daoism over the past eight h…
The Longmen (Dragon Gate) Lineage is the most influential of the branches descending from the Seven Perfected of Quanzhen, honoring Qiu Chuji as its patriarch, and takes its name from Mount Longmen in…
The Suishan Lineage is the branch founded by Liu Chuxuan, one of the Seven Perfected of Quanzhen. Liu Chuxuan, courtesy name Tongmiao, sobriquet Changsheng Zi, was a native of Donglai, Shandong (prese…
The Nanwu Lineage is the branch founded by Tan Chuduan, one of the Seven Perfected of Quanzhen. Tan Chuduan, courtesy name Tongzheng, sobriquet Changzhen Zi, was a native of Ninghai, Shandong; he beca…
The Yuxian Lineage was founded by Ma Yu, foremost of the Seven Perfected of Quanzhen. Ma Yu was originally named Congyi, courtesy name Yifu; after entering the Dao he changed his name to Yu, courtesy …
The Huashan Lineage was founded by Hao Datong, one of the Seven Perfected of Quanzhen. Hao Datong's given name was Lin, his courtesy name Taigu, and his sobriquet Guangningzi; he was a man of Ninghai …
The Yushan Lineage was founded by Wang Chuyi, one of the Seven Perfected of Quanzhen, and takes its name from his long cultivation of the Dao at Mount Kunyu (Yushan) in Shandong. Wang Chuyi's courtesy…
The Qingjing Lineage was founded by Sun Bu'er, one of the Seven Perfected of Quanzhen, and takes its name from her sobriquet 'Wanderer of Clarity and Stillness' (Qingjing Sanren); it is one of the rar…
Zhengyi Daoism takes the Celestial Masters of Longhushan as its patriarchal line and is characterized by talismans, registers, and rites of retreat and offering; together with Quanzhen Daoism it forms…
Xuanjiao (the Mysterious Teaching) is a lineage that split off from Zhengyi Daoism in the Yuan dynasty, founded by Zhang Liusun. Zhang Liusun (1248–1321), a native of Guixi, Jiangxi, and a Daoist prie…
Taiyi Daoism was a new Daoist tradition that arose in the Hebei–Henan region in the early Jin dynasty, together with Quanzhen Daoism and Zhen Dadao known as the 'Three Great New Daoist Traditions of t…
Zhen Dadao (True Great Way), originally named Dadao Jiao (Teaching of the Great Way), is a new Daoist order founded by Liu Deren (1122–1180) of Cangzhou, Hebei, in the early Jin dynasty, counted toget…
Jingming Daoism (Pure and Bright Daoism) is a Daoist order formed during the Song and Yuan at Xishan, Nanchang, Jiangxi, taking Xu Xun of the Eastern Jin as its patriarch and "loyalty, filiality, and …
The Shenxiao (Divine Empyrean) School is a talismanic Daoist order distinguished by its thunder rites, which arose at the end of the Northern Song. "Shenxiao" refers to the highest of the celestial re…
The Qingwei School is a Thunder Rites Daoist tradition that arose at the end of the Southern Song and into the Yuan, fusing the talismanic methods of the Shangqing, Lingbao, Celestial Masters and Shen…
The Tianxin Zhengfa (Correct Method of the Celestial Heart) is a talismanic Daoist tradition that arose in Jiangxi at the beginning of the Northern Song, the earliest of the Song-dynasty 'new talisman…
The Donghua School is a Daoist tradition that split off from the Lingbao school during the Southern Song, with Ning Quanzhen as its effective founder. Its self-narrated genealogy holds that the Lingba…
Wudang Daoism refers to the Daoist tradition centered on Mount Wudang in Hubei and on the cult of Zhenwu (the Dark Emperor of Heaven); historically it was not a single school but rather the confluence…
The Sanfeng Lineage is a Daoist tradition honoring Zhang Sanfeng as its founding patriarch, transmitted mainly at Mount Wudang. Zhang Sanfeng, given name Quanyi, also called Junbao, style Sanfeng, was…
The Wu-Liu School is a lineage of Internal Alchemy represented by the master-disciple pair Wu Shouyang and Liu Huayang at the end of the Ming and beginning of the Qing, taking its name from the Qing-d…
The Xizhu Xinzong (Western India Mind Lineage) of Longmen is a branch of the Longmen lineage that emerged in the early Qing, named for its founding patriarch, the 'Jizu Daozhe' ('the Daoist of Mount J…
The Jinshan Lineage is a branch that split off from the Quanzhen Longmen lineage in the Ming, centered on Mount Lao (Laoshan), named for its founding patriarch Sun Xuanqing, who is said to have cultiv…
The Qianfeng (Thousand Peaks) School is an internal-alchemy lineage founded by Zhao Bichen at the end of the Qing and the beginning of the Republic, named for his sobriquet 'Old Man of a Thousand Peak…
Xianxue (Immortality Studies) is a Daoist reform movement and school of Neidan research proposed by Chen Yingning during the Republican era, which held that the study of immortality cultivation should…
The Lüshan (Mount Lü) Ritual Tradition is a popular tradition of Daoist ritual practice current in Fujian and the surrounding regions, in Taiwan, and among Fujianese communities in Southeast Asia; it …
The Sannai (Three Ladies) Branch of Lüshan is a division of the Lüshan tradition whose patriarchs are the "Three Lady Sovereigns" — Chen Jinggu (Lady Chen), Lin Jiuniang (Lady Lin), and Li Sanniang (L…
The Pu'an Ritual Tradition is a folk ritual tradition venerating the Southern Song eminent monk Patriarch Pu'an as its founding master; although it arose from Buddhism, in the course of its transmissi…
The Meishan Ritual Tradition is a folk Daoist ritual tradition that originated in the ancient Meishan region of central Hunan (roughly today's Xinhua and Anhua), practiced among Han Chinese as well as…
Yao Daoism refers to the form of Daoism believed in and transmitted by the Yao people (particularly the various branches of the Guoshan Yao and the Panyao). From the Song and Yuan onward, Zhengyi Daoi…
The Sanyi Teaching is a religion founded by Lin Zhao'en of Putian, Fujian, in the Ming dynasty, teaching the unity of the Three Teachings; it does not itself belong to Daoism, but is included here as …
Daoism in Hong Kong and Macau consists mainly of Daoist halls (daotan), temples, and married (huoju) Zhengyi Daoist priests who arrived from Guangdong from the late Qing onward, forming a distinctive …
Daoism in Taiwan is composed mainly of the system of married (huoju) Zhengyi Daoist priests brought by Hokkien and Cantonese emigrants during the Ming and Qing, and Taiwan is one of the regions in the…
Daoism in Southeast Asia arrived with waves of Chinese emigration from Fujian, Guangdong, Chaozhou, Hakka, and Hainan communities from the nineteenth century onward, taking its largest scale in Singap…
Daoism was never transmitted to Japan as an organized religious order, but from ancient times its ideas, deities, and techniques were transmitted in great volume via the Korean peninsula and the missi…
The transmission of Daoism to the Korean peninsula began in the Three Kingdoms period: the Samguk Sagi records that in the seventh year of the Wude era of Tang (624), Emperor Gaozu sent Daoist priests…
Vietnam has been under Daoist influence since the Han dynasty, when it belonged to Jiaozhi Commandery, and it is one of the regions within the Sinitic cultural sphere where Daoism has spread most deep…
The spread of Daoism in Europe and the Americas can be traced along two threads: Daoism carried by Chinese immigrants and Daoism as indigenized in the West. From the mid-19th century, Chinese laborers…
The Xuanwu Lineage is a branch within the resident Daoist orders of the Wudang Mountains that possesses a complete generational-name genealogy; it takes its name from its principal deity, Zhenwu (Xuan…
The Langmei (Elm-Plum) Lineage is one of the resident schools of the Wudang Mountains, taking its name from Wudang's native "langmei" fruit and from Li Suxi, a Daoist priest active in the Yuan-Ming tr…
The Wudang Qingwei Lineage is a local branch that formed after the Qingwei Thunder Rites spread north to the Wudang Mountains. Its founder, Zhang Shouqing (1253–1336?), personal name Dongyuan, sobriqu…
The Zhengyi Sanshan Dixue Lineage is the generation-name system current within Zhengyi Daoism, and is today the principal basis on which ordination names are assigned in the conferral of registers. "T…
The Bidong Branch, in full the "Dantai Bidong Zong," is a branch of the Longmen Lineage of Quanzhen that emerged in Sichuan, and has been the main current of Daoism in the southwest of China since the…
The Hunyuan Lineage was a ritual tradition founded by Lei Shizhong at the end of the Southern Song and the beginning of the Yuan, a branch of the Correct Method of the Celestial Heart system. Lei Shiz…
Lingguan Fa refers to the system of ritual methods and liturgies centered on invoking the Daoist Dharma-protecting deity Wang Lingguan (also called Wang E or Wang Shan, a Celestial General of the Fire…
Nanyue (Mount Heng) Daoism refers to the regional Daoist tradition formed around Mount Heng (Hengshan) in Hunan. Mount Heng is the Southern Peak among the Five Great Peaks; Daoism calls it the 'Zhulin…
Folk Daoist Ritual Traditions (Minjian Daofa, also called Fajiao or Shijiao in scholarship) is a collective term for the many ritual-master (fashi) systems that formed from the Song and Yuan onward as…
The Qionglong Mountain Lineage is a Daoist school founded in the early Qing by Shi Daoyuan in Suzhou, named after its ancestral court, Shangzhen Temple on Mount Qionglong, and also known within the tr…
The Xihe Lineage is a ritual tradition that honors Sa Shoujian as its founding patriarch, taking its name from Sa Shoujian's self-styling as the "Sa Guest of Fenyang" and from the tradition that he wa…
The Lü Dongbin cult refers to the worship and ritual tradition centered on Lü Dongbin (given name Yan, courtesy name Dongbin, style Chunyangzi), the most widely disseminated and socially deep-rooted o…
The Cult of Wenchang Dijun is the worship, within Daoism, of the deity who presides over civil office and emolument, formed by the merging of two strands: one is the local cult in Sichuan of Zhang Yaz…
Bixia Yuanjun, popularly known as the Lady of Mount Tai or the Old Grandmother of Mount Tai, is the female deity with the greatest popular influence within the Daoist pantheon of the Eastern Peak. The…
Mazu worship is the most important cult of a seafarers' protective deity around the China seas; its relationship to Daoism is close but not fully coextensive, and this site therefore lists it as an 'a…