Daoism in the West (Europe, the Americas, Australia)欧美道教传播

Also known as

Daoism in the West, Daoism in the United States, Daoism in Europe, Overseas Daoism, Western Daoism

Type

Daoist Schools

Period

Modern Era

Founded

Brought by Chinese immigrants with their temples in the nineteenth century; localized transmission began from the 1960s–70s (such as the Taoist Tai Chi Society in 1970)

Region

The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Russia, Brazil, Australia, and elsewhere

Status

Extant — Chinese-community Daoist temples and the overseas branches of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland Daoist organizations continue to exist; indigenized Daoist groups are centered chiefly on health cultivation and philosophy, with large memberships but relatively small institutional religious bodies; Daoist studies has become a well-established field within Western academia.

Overview

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 built temples such as Guandi temples, Tianhou temples, and Lisheng Gong (Temple of Many Saints) in San Francisco, New York, Vancouver, Melbourne, and elsewhere, preserving Zhengyi-style sacrifice and seasonal rites; from the late 20th century, priests and lay altars from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and mainland China successively established branch altars in the United States and Canada (such as branches of Ching Chung Koon and Fung Ying Seen Koon from Hong Kong, and Quanzhen temples in San Francisco and New York), some of which hold conferrals of registers and transmissions of precepts. Separately, since James Legge and Richard Wilhelm translated the Daodejing and The Secret of the Golden Flower (Taiyi jinhua zongzhi) in the 19th century, Daoist thought has spread widely in Western intellectual circles, and the Daodejing has become one of the most frequently translated Chinese classics. In the 1960s countercultural movement, a "Western Daoism" emerged (sometimes called American Daoism in scholarship), centered on taijiquan, qigong, neidan, health cultivation, and the philosophy of the Yijing and Daodejing — for example Moy Lin-shin, who founded the Taoist Tai Chi Society in Toronto in 1970 (now present in over twenty countries), and Mantak Chia's Healing Tao — most of which exist not as traditional religious orders but as course-based organizations. Since the 1980s, academic Daoist studies has become institutionalized in Europe and America: Kristofer Schipper and John Lagerwey in France; Livia Kohn, Stephen R. Bokenkamp, and Terry F. Kleeman in the United States; Fabrizio Pregadio and Monica Esposito in Italy, and others, along with the Daoist Studies website and the Journal of Daoist Studies (from 2008); there are also Westerners who have received ordination and registers at White Cloud Temple, Mount Longhu, and Wudang, and returned home to establish Daoist temples (such as the British Daoist Association and some groups in France, Germany, Spain, and Russia). Scholars generally caution that "the popularization of Daoist philosophy," "the commercialization of health-cultivation techniques," and "the transplantation of institutional Daoism" should be distinguished from one another.

Core Doctrine

Chinese-community temples follow the Zhengyi or Quanzhen tradition; the indigenized "Western Daoism" centers mostly on the philosophy of the Daodejing, naturalism, neidan, and taiji-based health cultivation, tending toward de-religionized, individual spiritual practice, and emphasizing universalized interpretations of concepts such as Dao, wuwei, and yin-yang; a small number who have formally received precepts and registers follow Quanzhen or Zhengyi doctrine.

Practice & Ritual

Sacrificial and seasonal rites at Chinese-community temples; classes in taijiquan, qigong, neidan sitting meditation, and daoyin; reading groups and meditation on the Daodejing and Yijing; some groups hold Quanzhen morning and evening liturgies, zhai-jiao rites, or Zhengyi ritual services; academic conferences and translated publications. Western Daoist groups also hold international conferences, study retreats, and online courses, and some temples offer conversion and ordination services; their activities take diverse forms and are often highly commercialized.

Transmission

19th-century Chinese-community temples → early-20th-century sinological translation (Legge, Wilhelm) → the 1960s–70s countercultural movement and the spread of taiji and qigong (Moy Lin-shin, Mantak Chia, and others) → institutionalization of academic Daoist studies since the 1980s and overseas branch altars of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland Daoist organizations → 21st-century Westerners receiving ordination and registers and founding native Daoist associations.

Key Scriptures

Key Figures