Normatively speaking, Daoists are those for whom cultivating the Dao (xiudao 修道)
is their most important concern and orientation. Practice-realization and reverence
are primary.
Daoist Adherent Engaging in Contemplation before the Three Purities
From the First Page of the Ming-dynasty Daoist Canon
The identity of Daoists derives from their being and presence, from the Dao embodied
and actualized in holistic and integrated Daoist practice. One is a Daoist based
on the extent to which one is aligned with and embodies the Dao in its multi-layered
numinosity. One is Daoist based on the extent to which one embodies Daoist principles
and follows a Daoist way of life. For this, a commitment to self-cultivation and
transformation is essential.
Quanzhen Daoist Priest Bowing before an Altar
Daoist identity does not come from some supposed “orthodoxy” associated with Zhang
Daoling 張道陵, the receipt of registers (lu 籙), “religious licenses,” and/or some magico-ritual
performance. This is the provenance of certain Daoist priests (daoshi 道士), which
must be recognized as one way among many revealed by the historical contours of the
Daoist tradition. The models of Daoist practice-realization, established, modified,
and confirmed through some 2,000 years of history, are many and varied.
Daoists recognize the Dao as Source, all-pervading mystery, and immanent numinosity.
The immanent numinosity of the Dao pervades one’s being; it is one’s innate nature
and innate capacities. Throughout Daoist history, the Dao has become manifest through
the revelations of specific deities and immortals, through their interaction with
and self-disclosure to human beings. From the perspective of classical Daoist “theology,”
based on emanation and immanence, such divine beings are embodiments of the Dao.
Daoists have reverence for both the Dao as Source and unnamable mystery (its apophatic
dimension) as well as the Dao as manifested in Daoist teachers, community, places,
scriptures, and so forth (its kataphatic dimension).
For a specific presentation see the discussion of Daoist Lineage at the Daoist Foundation.
Further Reading: 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; Taoism: The Enduring Tradition/Russell Kirkland.
See also Adherent, Dao, Daoist (Historical), Daoist (Popular Construction), Sympathizer
and the entries on Daoism.
