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Taoism: Difference between revisions
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{{Useful Notes}}
[[File:Yin_Yang.jpg|frame|The ''Taijitu'' ("Diagram of Ultimate Power")]]
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Everything in the universe is made up from the flow of two equal, opposite, and interpenetrating forces. Yang is solid and masculine, represented by white in the traditional symbol you often see [[Dragons Up the Yin-Yang|in martial arts movies]]. Yin, the feminine and passive quality, represented by black. When casting the traditional Yijing hexagram, Yang is solid yarrow sticks and Yin is broken sticks. From boundless nothingness (wuji) comes the duality of Yin/Yang, and from the duality comes "ten thousand things" as said in the Tao Te Ching.
Of course nothing is really that simple. Taoism is deeply infused with Chinese animism and cultural beliefs. Taoism has a variety of sects with sweet names like "The Mighty Commonwealth of Orthodox Oneness" and "The School of Complete Reality." Many Taoist sects are deeply concerned with the individual soul, and are famed for discovering gunpowder in their pursuit of an alchemical elixir of immortality.
The foundational text of Taoism is the ''Tao De Ching'' written by [[Laozi]]. Traditionally, it's been said he was a contemporary of [[Confucius]]'s; modern research seems to indicate that either he lived in the Warring States Period (4th Century BCE) or he never existed. (So if he never existed, who would have written it? A compilation of various authors' works is the theory.)
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* ''[[A Chinese Ghost Story]]'': One of the main characters is a reclusive Taoist wizard, who at one point has a musical number ''rapping'' about Taoism.
* ''[[Moment in Peking]]'': The heroine's father is a follower of Taoism, and at one point leaves home to become a hermit.
* ''[[Oracle of Tao]]'': Strangely subverted. There is a Taoist temple, and many Taoist teachings. The subversion is that although this includes Taoism, it also includes Christianity, and a syncretic religion called Aiken. And some ''very strange'' cults, like the Church of the Holy Maple Tree.
* ''[[Shin Megami Tensei I]]'':Tai Shang Lao Jun is the key representative of the Neutral path
* ''Woochi'': A Korean movie about a Taoist wizard. It's a bit of a stretch as far as religious accuracy goes though, in all probability.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Useful Notes/China]]
[[Category:Taoism]]
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