Editing Taoism (section)

==Terminology==
[[File:Birth Places of Chinese Philosophers.png|upright=1.35|thumb|The birthplaces of notable Chinese philosophers from the [[Hundred Schools of Thought]] in the [[Zhou dynasty]]. Philosophers of Taoism are marked by triangles in dark green.]]

===Spelling===
{{Further|Romanization of Chinese}}
"Tao" and "Dao" are different romanized spellings of the same Chinese word: 道.
* "Tao" is the romanized spelling in the [[Wade–Giles]] system, which was predominant in English-speaking countries until the late 20th century, and remains in use for certain terms with strongly established spellings.
* "Dao" is the romanized spelling in the [[Hanyu Pinyin]] system, officially adopted in China in the 1950s, which has largely replaced Wade–Giles romanization.

===Standard Chinese and English pronunciation===
{{Further|Standard Chinese phonology}}
The Standard Chinese pronunciation of 道 is {{IPA|/tau̯˥˨/}}.
* In Standard Chinese, the initial consonant, {{IPA|/t/}}, is ''not'' [[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]] like the {{IPA|/d/}} in the English word "do".
* In Standard Chinese, the initial consonant, {{IPA|/t/}}, is ''not'' [[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]] like the {{IPA|/tʰ/}} in the English word "to".
Neither an English pronunciation like {{IPA|/daʊ/}} (an English pronunciation of "Dao") nor an English pronunciation like {{IPA|/tʰaʊ/}} (an English pronunciation of "Tao") is the same as the Standard Chinese pronunciation of 道.

These differences in the initial consonants used in English and Standard Chinese may contribute to there being different methods of romanizing Chinese, which consequently may confuse English speakers when encountering both "Tao" and "Dao" spellings for the same Chinese term.

One authority calls the pronunciation with a {{angbr|t}} as in "tie" (with a {{IPA|/tʰ/}}) to be a "mispronunciation" originally caused by the "clumsy Wade–Giles system", which misled most readers.<ref>{{harvp|Carr|1990|pp=58, 60, 62, 68}}</ref> Standard Chinese phonology does not have the same sound inventory as English phonology; the Wade–Giles romanization system provides spellings in the Latin alphabet, but they are not meant to indicate an exact English pronunciation in the same way as though they were English words.

===Classification===
{{see also|Taoist philosophy}}
The word ''Taoism'' is used to translate two related but distinct Chinese terms.{{sfnp|Pregadio|2008|loc=Vol. 1, p. xvi}}
# Firstly, a term encompassing a family of organized religious movements that share concepts and terminology from Taoist philosophy—what can be specifically translated as 'the teachings of the Tao', ({{zhi|c=道教|p=dàojiào|}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=道教信仰 |url=https://www.taoistfederation.org.sg/taoist-beliefs-2/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=Singapore Taoist Federation |language=zh-CN}}</ref>), often interpreted as the Taoist "religion proper", or the "mystical" or "liturgical" aspects of Taoism.{{sfnp|Pregadio|2008|loc=Vol. 1, p. 327, "Taoshih"}}{{sfnp|Robinet|1997|p=xxix}} The [[Celestial Masters]] school is a well-known early example of this sense.
# The other, referring to the [[philosophy|philosophical doctrines]] largely based on core Taoist texts themselves—a term that can be translated as 'the philosophical school of the Tao' or 'Taology' ({{zhi|c=道家|p=dàojiā|l=school of the Tao}}, or sometimes {{zh|labels=no|c=道學|p=dàoxué|l=study of the Tao}}). This would go on to be considered one of the [[Hundred Schools of Thought]] from the Warring States period. The earliest recorded use of the word 'Tao' to reference such a philosophical school is found in the works of [[Han dynasty|Han-era]] historians:{{sfnp|Kohn|2000|p=44}}<ref name="Stanford Taoism2">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Taoism|encyclopedia=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, CSLI, [[Stanford University]]|url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/taoism/|access-date=2008-10-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624092211/http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/taoism/|archive-date=24 June 2013|author=Chad Hansen|url-status=live}}</ref> such as the ''[[Zuo Zhuan|Commentary of Zuo]]'' ({{zh|c=左傳|hp=Zuǒzhuàn|labels=no}}) by [[Zuo Qiuming]], and in the ''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]''. This particular usage precedes the emergence of the Celestial Masters and associated later religions. It is unlikely that [[Zhuang Zhou]], author of the [[Zhuangzi (book)|Zhuangzi]], was familiar with the text of the ''Tao Te Ching'', and Zhuangzi himself may have died before the term was in use.<ref name="Stanford Taoism2"/><ref name="Graham 1989 p. 170–171">{{harvp|Graham|1989|pp=170–171}}</ref>
[[File:Pakua with frame.svg|thumb|The [[bagua]], a symbol commonly used to represent the Tao and its pursuit]]
The distinction between Taoism in ''philosophy'' and Taoist ''religion'' is an ancient, deeply-rooted one. Taoism as a positive philosophy aims for the holistic unification of an individual's reality with everything that is not only real but also valuable, encompassing both the natural world and society.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Xiong |first1=Qinjing |last2=Ju |first2=Yucui |date=2023-03-21 |title=Taoism and teaching without words |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00131857.2022.2112031 |journal=Educational Philosophy and Theory |language=en |volume=55 |issue=4 |pages=496–507 |doi=10.1080/00131857.2022.2112031 |s2cid=251688453 |issn=0013-1857}}</ref> But the earliest references to 'the Tao' per se are largely devoid of liturgical or explicitly supernatural character, used in contexts either of abstract metaphysics or of the ordinary conditions required for human flourishing. This distinction is still understood in everyday contexts among Chinese people, echoed by early modern scholars of Chinese history and philosophy such as [[Feng Youlan]] and [[Wing-tsit Chan]]. Use of the term ''daojia'' dates to the Western Han {{circa|100 BCE}}, referring to the purported authors of the emerging Taoist canon, such as [[Lao Dan]] and [[Zhuang Zhou]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Daoist Philosophy {{!}} Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy|url=https://iep.utm.edu/daoism/|access-date=2022-01-27|language=en-US|archive-date=11 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211053946/https://iep.utm.edu/daoism/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Hansen|first=Chad|title=Daoism|date=2020|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2020/entries/daoism/|encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|editor-last=Zalta|editor-first=Edward N.|edition=Spring 2020|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|access-date=2022-01-27|archive-date=1 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230901021617/https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2020/entries/daoism/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Neither the ''Tao Te Ching'' and ''Zhuangzi'' themselves, or the early secondary sources written about them, put forward any particular supernatural ontology. Nonetheless, that religious Taoism emerged from a synthesis of folk religion with philosophical Taoist precepts is clear. The earlier, naturalistic was employed by pre-Han and Han thinkers, and continued to be used well into the Song, including among those who explicitly rejected cults, both private and state-sanctioned, that were often either labeled or self-identified as Taoist.

However, this distinction has been challenged or rejected by some scholars of religion, often those from a Western or Japanese background, who often use distinct interpretive models and techniques.<ref>{{harvp|Robinet|1997|p=3}}; {{harvp|Kohn|2000|p=xi}}</ref> This point of view characterizes the religious and philosophical characteristics of the Taoist tradition as being inseparable. [[Sinology|Sinologists]] such as Isabelle Robinet and [[Livia Kohn]] state that "Taoism has never been a unified religion, and has constantly consisted of a combination of teachings based on a variety of original revelations." The distinction is fraught with hermeneutic difficulties when attempting to categorize different schools, sects, and movements.{{sfnp|Mair|2001|p=174}} Russell Kirkland writes that "most scholars who have seriously studied Taoism, both in Asia and in the West" have abandoned this "simplistic dichotomy".{{sfnp|Kirkland|2004|p=2}} Louis Komjathy writes that this is an untenable misconception because "the association of ''daojia'' with "thought" (''sixiang'') and of ''daojiao'' with "religion" (''zongjiao'') is a modern Chinese construction largely rooted in earlier Chinese literati, European colonialist, and Protestant missionary interpretations. Contemporaneous Neo-Confucianists, for example, often self-identify as Taoist without partaking in any rituals.{{sfnp|Robinet|1997|p=2}}

In contrast, Komjathy characterizes Taoism as "a unified religious tradition characterized by complexity and diversity", arguing that historically, none of these terms were understood according to a bifurcated 'philosophy' versus 'religion' model. ''Daojia'' was a taxonomical category for Taoist texts, that was eventually applied to Taoist movements and priests in the early medieval period.{{Sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=4}} Meanwhile, ''daojiao'' was originally used to specifically distinguish Taoist tradition from Buddhism. Thus, ''daojiao'' included ''daojia''.{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=4}} Komjathy notes that the earliest Taoist texts also "reveal a religious community composed of master-disciple lineages", and therefore, that "Taoism was a religious tradition from the beginning."{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=4}} Philosopher [[Chung-ying Cheng]] likewise views Taoism as a [[religion]] embedded into Chinese history and tradition, while also assuming many different "forms of philosophy and practical wisdom".<ref name="Routledge">{{cite book|editor-last1=Meister |editor-first1=Chad |editor-last2=Copan |editor-first2=Paul |title=The Routledge companion to philosophy of religion |date=2010 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-0-415-43553-6}}</ref> Chung-ying Cheng also noted that the Taoist view of 'heaven' mainly from "observation and meditation, [though] the teaching of [the Tao] can also include the way of heaven independently of human nature".<ref name="Routledge"/> Taoism is generally not understood as a variant of [[Chinese folk religion]] per se: while the two umbrella terms have considerable cultural overlap, core themes of both also diverge considerably from one another.<ref name="Robinet 1997, p. 103">{{harvp|Robinet|1997|p=103}}</ref>

===Adherents===
Traditionally, the Chinese language does not have terms defining lay people adhering to the doctrines or the practices of Taoism, who fall instead within the field of folk religion. Taoist, in Western [[sinology]], is traditionally used to translate ''[[daoshi]]/taoshih'' ({{zh|labels=no|c=道士|l=master of the Tao}}), thus strictly defining the priests of Taoism, ordained clergymen of a Taoist institution who "represent Taoist culture on a professional basis", are experts of Taoist liturgy, and therefore can employ this knowledge and ritual skill for the benefit of a community.{{sfnp|Pregadio|2008|loc=Vol. 1, p. 326, "Taoshih"}}

This role of Taoist priests reflects the definition of Taoism as a "[[liturgy|liturgical]] framework for the development of local cults", in other words a scheme or structure for Chinese religion, proposed first by the scholar and Taoist initiate [[Kristofer Schipper]] in ''The Taoist Body'' (1986).{{sfnp|Wu|2014|pp=105–106}} ''Taoshi'' are comparable to the non-Taoist ritual masters ({{lang|zh|法師}}) of vernacular traditions (the so-called [[Chinese ritual mastery traditions|Faism]]) within Chinese religion.{{sfnp|Wu|2014|pp=105–106}}

The term {{transliteration|zh|dàojiàotú}} ({{zh|labels=no|c=道教徒|l=follower of Dao}}), with the meaning of "Taoist" as "lay member or believer of Taoism", is a modern invention that goes back to the introduction of the Western category of "organized religion" in China in the 20th century, but it has no significance for most of Chinese society in which Taoism continues to be an "order" of the larger body of Chinese religion.