Taoism Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Theology=== [[File:Portraits of Jade Emperor and the Heavenly Kings.JPG|thumb|Chinese painting of the [[Jade Emperor]] and [[Four Heavenly Kings|the Heavenly Kings]].]] [[file:Yu Zhiding - Xi Wangmu (The Queen Mother of the West).jpg|thumb|[[Queen Mother of the West|Xi Wangmu]] (The Queen Mother of the West).]] {{Main|Taoist theology}} {{See also|Xian (Taoism)|Li Hong (Taoist eschatology)}} Taoist [[theology]] can be defined as [[Apophatic theology|apophatic]], given its philosophical emphasis on the formlessness and unknowable nature of the Tao, and the primacy of the "Way" rather than [[Anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] concepts of [[God]]. Nearly all the sects share this core belief.{{sfnp|Robinet|1997|p=1}} Arguments do exist the [[monotheistic]] concepts in Taoism.<ref>White, R.J. Teaching the Dao: monotheism, transcendence, and intercultural philosophy. Int. Commun. Chin. Cult 8, 271–287 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40636-021-00225-1</ref> However, Taoism does include many deities and spirits and thus can also be considered [[Animism|animistic]] and [[Polytheism|polytheistic]] in a secondary sense (since they are considered to be emanations from the impersonal and nameless ultimate principle).{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=99-100}} Some Taoist theology presents the [[Three Pure Ones]] at the top of the [[Pantheon (religion)|pantheon]] of deities, which was a hierarchy emanating from the Tao.<ref name="Gurdon-2002g" /> [[Laozi]] is considered the incarnation of one of the three and worshiped as the ancestral founder of Taoism.{{sfnp|Robinet|1997|p=63}}<ref>{{harvp|Maspero|1981|p= 41}}</ref> The gods and immortals(神仙) believed in by Taoism can be roughly divided into two categories, namely "gods" and "xian". "Gods" refers to [[Deity|deities]] and there are many kinds: heaven gods/celestials(天神); earth spirits(地祇); wuling(物灵,animism,the spirit of all things); netherworld gods(地府神灵); gods of the human body(人体之神); gods of the human ghost(人鬼之神)etc. "Xian" are those who have acquired perfect cultivation of the Tao, persons with vast supernatural powers, unpredictable changes and immortality.<ref name="道教神仙分类"/> Different branches of Taoism often have differing pantheons of lesser deities, where these deities reflect different notions of cosmology.<ref>{{harvp|Segal|2006|p=50}}</ref> Lesser deities also may be promoted or demoted for their activity.<ref>{{harvp|Maspero|1981|p=92}}</ref> Some varieties of popular Chinese religion incorporate the [[Jade Emperor]] ([[Yü-Huang]] or [[Yü-Di]]), one of the Three Pure Ones, as the highest God. Historical Taoist figures, and people who are considered to have become immortals (''[[xian (Taoism)|xian]]''), are also venerated as well by both clergy and laypeople.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Vuong|first1=Quan-Hoang|date=2018|title=Cultural additivity: behavioural insights from the interaction of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in folktales |journal=Palgrave Communications|volume=4|issue=1|page=143|doi=10.1057/s41599-018-0189-2|s2cid=54444540 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Despite these hierarchies of deities, most conceptions of Tao should not be confused with the Western sense of [[theism]].{{Explain|reason=I have found quite a bit of information on Taoist gods, although this appears to be correct as well. It just needs a bit of expanding.|date=May 2023}} Being one with the Tao does not necessarily indicate a union with an eternal spirit in, for example, the Hindu theistic sense.{{sfnp|Martinson|1987|pp=168–169}}{{sfnp|Fasching|deChant|2001|p=35}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page