Editing Taoism (section)

=== Longevity practices ===
[[File:Chinese_woodcut,_Famous_medical_figures;_Sun_Simiao_Wellcome_L0039324.jpg|thumb|Sun Simiao as depicted by Gan Bozong, [[Woodblock printing|woodblock print]], Tang dynasty (618–907)]]
[[File:Daoyin_tu_-_chart_for_leading_and_guiding_people_in_exercise_Wellcome_L0036007.jpg|thumb|Reconstructed drawings of guiding and pulling (Daoyin) exercises from the [[Mawangdui Silk Texts]].]]

Taoist longevity methods are closely related to ancient [[Chinese medicine]]. Many of these methods date back to Tang dynasty figures like alchemist [[Sun Simiao]] (582–683) and the Highest Clarity Patriarch [[Sima Chengzhen]] (647–735).{{sfnp|Kohn|2008|p=131}} The goal of these methods range from better health and longevity to immortality. Key elements of these "nourishing life" ([[Yangsheng (Daoism)|yangsheng]]) methods include: [[moderation]] in all things (drink, food, etc.), adapting to the cycles of the [[season]]s by following injunctions regarding healing exercises ([[daoyin]]), and [[Breathwork (New Age)|breathwork]].{{sfnp|Kohn|2008|p=132-135}}

A number of physical practices, like modern forms of [[qigong]], as well as modern internal martial arts ([[neijia]]) like [[Tai chi|Taijiquan]], [[Baguazhang]], [[Xing Yi Quan|Xingyiquan]], and [[Liuhebafa]], are practiced by Taoists as methods of cultivating health and longevity as well as eliciting internal alchemical transformations.<ref>{{harvp|Silvers|2005|pp=135–137}}</ref>{{sfnp|Kohn|2008|p=174}}{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=133}} However, these methods are not specifically Taoist and are often practiced outside of Taoist contexts.{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=150-51}}

Another key longevity method is "ingestion", which focuses on what one absorbs or consumes from one's environment and is seen as affecting what one becomes.{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=138-39}} Diatectics, closely influenced by Chinese medicine, is a key element of ingestion practice, and there are numerous Taoist diet regimens for different effects (such as ascetic diets, monastic diets, therapeutic diets, and alchemical diets that use herbs and minerals).{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=139}} One common practice is the [[Bigu (grain avoidance)|avoidance of grains (bigu)]].{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=140}} In certain cases, practices like [[vegetarianism]] and true fasting is also adopted (which may also be termed ''bigu'').{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=142-43}}

Some Taoists thought of the human body as a spiritual nexus with thousands of ''[[Shen (Chinese religion)|shen]]''<ref name="Gurdon-2002e" /> (often 36,000),<ref name="Stevenson-2000">{{Cite book |last=Stevenson |first=Jay |title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to Eastern Philosophy |publisher=[[Alpha Books]] |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-02-863820-1 |location=Indianapolis |page=226 |language=en-US}}</ref> gods who were likely thought of as at least somewhat mental in nature because of the word's other meaning of consciousness, that could be communed with by doing various methods to manipulate the [[yin and yang]] of the body, as well as its qi.<ref name="Gurdon-2002e" /> These Taoists also thought of the human body as a metaphorical existence where three "[[cinnabar]] fields"<ref name="Gurdon-2002e" /> that represented a higher level of reality or a spiritual kind of cinnabar that does not exist in normal reality. A method of meditation used by these Taoists was "visualizing light" that was thought to be ''qi'' or another kind of life energy a Taoist substituted for ''qi<ref name="Gurdon-2002e" />'' or believed in the existence of instead. The light was then channeled through the three cinnabar fields, forming a "microcosmic orbit" or through the hands and feet for a "macrocosmic orbit".<ref name="Gurdon-2002e" />

The 36,000 ''shen'' regulated the body and bodily functions through a bureaucratic system "modeled after the Chinese system of government".<ref name="Stevenson-2000" /> Death occurs only when these gods leave, but life can be extended by meditating while visualizing them, doing good deeds, and avoiding [[meat]] and [[wine]].<ref name="Stevenson-2000" />