Who can tell me the origin of Taoism?

The core of Taoist thought is "Tao", which is regarded as the origin of the universe and the law governing all movements of the universe. Laozi once said in his works: "Things are born in harmony, and they are born naturally. Little ha! How rare! Independent and unchanging, it can be the mother of heaven and earth. I don't know its name, but it is a strong name "(Chapter 25 of Laozi).

Sima Tan, the father of Sima Qian, the "Taishigong", once wrote an article "On the Essentials of the Six Classics", which summarized the pre-Qin philosophers into six schools: Taoism, Confucianism, Mohism, Ming, Fa and Yin and Yang, and expounded the essentials, gains and losses of the Six Classics. He said: "Taoism makes people single-minded, dynamic and intangible, and supports everything." It is also a skill. Because of the harmony between yin and yang, it is not appropriate to adopt the goodness of Confucianism and ink, sum up the essence of law, keep pace with the times, conform to the changes of things, and establish customs and do things. It is easy to adopt with reference to the contract and get twice the result with half the effort. " "Its art is based on nothingness and uses conformity. Nothing is impermanent, so we can study the feelings of everything. Not the first thing, not the last thing, so it can be the master of all things. "

In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wen of Han and Emperor Jing of Han ruled the country with Taoist thoughts, so that the people could recuperate from the tyranny of the Qin Dynasty. History calls it the rule of cultural scene. Later, Confucian scholar Dong Zhongshu advocated the policy of "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone" to Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, which was adopted by later emperors. Taoism has since become a non-mainstream thought. Although Taoism has not been officially adopted, it continues to play an important role in the development of China's ancient thoughts. Metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties and Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties were developed by combining Taoist thoughts. After Buddhism was introduced into China, it was also influenced by Taoism, and Zen was inspired by Zhuangzi in many ways. Among the pre-Qin philosophers, Taoism did not have as many disciples as Confucianism and Mohism, and its status was not as lofty as Confucianism. However, with the development of history, Taoism, with its unique understanding of the universe, society and life, presents eternal value and vitality in philosophical thought.

Taoism was later absorbed by Zhang Lu's Wudou Midao and other religions, and evolved into one of the important religions in China-Taoism. Romantic in Wei and Jin Dynasties paid more attention to alchemy when talking about metaphysics. So Taoism and Taoism are often confused. (Zhang Ling, also known as Zhang Daoling, is the founder of the "Five Mi Dou Daoism" and is also considered as the founder of Taoism).

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, a school with Taoism as the core was formed in the contention of a hundred schools of thought. Its founder is the famous thinker Lao Zi (Li Er), and its main representative is the famous thinker Zhuangzi (Zhuang Zhou). Later, Taoism merged with famous scholars and legalists, taking the advantages of Yin and Yang, Confucianism and Mohism, and formed the Huang-Lao School, which advocated taking nothingness as the foundation, imitating others, and doing nothing because of the times. After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, due to the exclusive admiration of Confucianism, the study of Huang Lao began to decline. However, Taoism still affects China's traditional thought and culture. Taoism here is not Taoism ~ ~ Taoism originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty ~ ~ Taoism mainly includes Wudou Taoism and Taiping Taoism.