Normative Definition of Daoism

Daoism (Taoism) (daotong 道統) is a Chinese religious tradition in the process of being transmitted and adapted to a global context. On the most basic level, “Daoism” refers to an indigenous Chinese religious tradition in which reverence for and veneration of the Dao 道, (Tao), translatable as both the Way and a way, is a matter of ultimate concern. In contrast to adherents of other Chinese religious and cultural traditions, Daoists (Taoists) understand the Dao as Source of all that is, unnamable mystery, all-pervading numinosity, and the cosmological process which is the universe. The Dao is impersonal and simultaneously immanent and transcendent. Broadly understood, the point of a Daoist way of life is to cultivate alignment and attunement with the Dao.

Daoism is a Chinese religious tradition. Daoism is Chinese because it originates in Chinese culture and, in some sense, because it is most clearly understood through the Chinese language and views of being. Daoism is a “religion” because it involves an orientation towards and relationship with the sacred. Daoism is a “tradition” because it is a community of dedicated practitioners connected to each other as a historical and energetic continuum.

At the same time, Daoism is now being transmitted and adapted to a global context. Daoism is no longer simply a Chinese religious tradition. It is now a global religious and cultural phenomenon, existing in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Italy, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, and practiced by people of a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds. Daoists, or members of the Daoist religious tradition, are those for whom cultivating the Dao is their most important commitment. Daoists maintain reverence for the Daoist religious tradition, as expressed and manifested in the external Three Treasures of the Dao, the scriptures, and the teachers.

In the case of the United States, Daoism is also slowly becoming established in various forms, with varying degrees of connection with the earlier Chinese religious tradition. This is being accomplished by dedicated teachers and practitioners, both Chinese immigrants and Euro-American converts, who endeavor to transmit the cultivational contours of Daoist practice-realization in a clear and transformative way. For those who would participate in the tradition, familiarity with the historical realities of Daoism and with members of the religious community is essential. Without an understanding of such precedents and models, Daoism in the West will simply be a fabrication, a fiction, and a fantasy. This does not mean that there should not be adaptation and modification; change necessarily occurs when a religious tradition enters a new cultural context and when religious practitioners have different concerns and motivations. But it does mean that without a connection and collective memory such “innovations” become meaningless names. Participation in the religious community which is Daoism requires respect and support for that tradition on the part of potential converts. There are larger consequences for disrespectful and exploitative behavior patterns.

From a normative Daoist perspective, the Daoist tradition is thus a community of practitioners connected to each other as a historical and energetic continuum. Daoists are those for whom cultivating the Dao (xiudao 修道) is their most important orientation. The tradition was established through specific training regimens, mystical experiences and revelations. It continues to be transmitted through the numinous presence of the Dao made manifest through dedicated teachers, practitioners and communities. Daoism is a subtle transmission beyond egoistic identity.

For a specific presentation see Daoist Lineage at the Daoist Foundation.

Further Reading: “Chronology of Daoist History”/Louis Komjathy; Daoism: A Short Introduction/James Miller; Daoism and Chinese Culture/Livia Kohn; Daoism Handbook/Livia Kohn (ed.); Daoist Identity/Livia Kohn and Harold Roth (eds.); Daoism in China/Wang Yi’e; Handbooks for Daoist Practice/Louis Komjathy; “Models of Daoist Practice and Attainment”/Louis Komjathy; Original Tao/Harold Roth; “Periodization of Daoist History”/Louis Komjathy; Taoism: The Enduring Tradition/Russell Kirkland; “The Dao of America”/Elijah Siegler; The Encyclopedia of Taoism/Fabrizio Pregadio (ed.); “The Taoism of the Western Imagination and the Taoism of China”/Russell Kirkland; The Taoist Canon/Kristofer Schipper and Franciscus Verellen (eds.); The Taoist Manual/Brock Silvers; “Tracing the Contours of Daoism in North America”/Louis Komjathy.

See also American Daoism, Dao, Daoism (Historical), Daoism (Popular Construction), Philosophical Daoism, and the entries on Daoist.