The journey through dark and light as revealed and unrevealed by nature.
5000 BC – Neolithic China were hunters-gatherers, and farmers. Millet was most likely their first grain cultivated, rice and corn and wheat coming later. They were also potters and musicians, and that they produced the world’s first wine.
4000 – 1766 BC – Early forms of ancestor worship appear during this period. There is evidence of Shamans who performed divination and communicated with spirits.
Jade Emperor - Considered the supreme sovereign of all Chinese deities, the Jade Emperor is credited for creating mankind from clay. Animals of the Zodiac
Xi-Wang Mu – Queen Mother of the Jade Emperor
3500 – 1766 BC – The Xia Dynasty
2852 – 2205 BC – The Three Sovereigns & Five Emperors were morally perfected Shaman/Sage-kings who used their “magical” powers to protect their people and create conditions for peaceful and harmonious living. Three Sovereigns, or “August Ones”:
Fuxi – The Heavenly Sovereign, developed the eight trigrams, based on the eight changing aspects of nature and the four primary and four secondary directions of the bagua. This forms the foundation of the I-Ching and Taoism.
Nuwa – The Earthly Sovereign
Shennong – The Human Sovereign, is credited with the invention of farming, and the introduction of herbs as medicine.
The Five Emperors
Yellow Emperor - is known as the father of Chinese Medicine is also considered the ancestor of the Han. He is the chief deity of Taoism.
Zhuanxu or Gaoyang - a grandson of the Yellow Emperor, led the Shi clan in an eastward migration to present-day Shandong, where intermarriages with the Dongyi clan enlarged and augmented their tribal influences. He made contributions to a unified calendar and astrology, advocated the patriarchal as opposed to the previous matriarchal system.
Emperor Ku – was the great grandson of the Yellow Emperor.
Emperor Yao – the morally perfect shaman/sage-king, Yao’s benevolence and diligence served as a model for future Chinese monarchs and emperors. Early Chinese often speak of Yao, Shun, and Yu as historical figures, and contemporary historians believe they may represent leader-chiefs of allied tribes who established a unified and hierarchical system of government during a transition period to patriarchal feudal society.
Emperor Shun – a legendary leader of ancient China According to legend, he was treated with hostility and jealousy by his parents and younger brother, yet he remained loving and free of resentment towards them. Shun is also renowned as the originator of the music called Daoshao a symphony of nine Chinese music instruments.
1766 – 1027 BC – The Shang Dynasty and the Wu – Shamans of Ancient China. Shamans are healers, rainmakers, officials and dream interperters. They were able to communicate directly with plants, minerals, and animals, to journey deep into the earth, or visit distant galaxies. They were able to invoke, through dance and ritual, elemental and supernatural powers, and enter into ecstatic union. The use of talismans to invoke the powers and protection of supernatural beings and rituals are oriented toward communication with the plant and animal kingdoms. Divining involved heating animal bones in a fire and studying the cracks that formed in them, in order to open communication with the spirits and ancestors.
Wuji – the limitless produces the delimited, and this is the absolute.
Taiji – produces two forms, named yin and yang.
1150 BC – King Wen and his son Duke Chou develop the 2nd Heavenly Bagua as a means of divination with the use of Yarrow Stalks. This system is called the Chou I.
1122 – 256 BC – The Zhou Dynasty. The practices of Inner Alchemy begins - its practitioners begin to go within themselves to create spiritual union.
670 – 590 BC - The founder of Taoism is believed to be Lao-Tzu historians suggest that he is a synthesis of a number of historical figures or that he is mythical.
551 – 479 BC – Confucius taught the value of lead by example, and believed that strong familial loyalty, ancestor worship, respect for elders, and the family unit form the basis of good government. He had faith in ordinary humans to become sages.
475 – 221 BC – The texts of the I Ching were collected into book form, and diviners carried it throughout China.
250 BC – Daodejing – The Book of the Way and its Power emerged as a written text in a time of seemingly endless feudal warfare and constant conflict. Tao Te Ching – began to take shape over a long period of time in pre-Han China and circulated in many versions and edited collections.
206 BC – 220 AD – Han Dynasty – Confucianism is recognized as the Han state belief, and the Five Classics became the core of education. The I Ching is ‘canonized’ as a classic ‘Ching’ and becomes the object of intense scholarly work.
200 BC – I Ching (Classic of Changes) – divination based on a set of 64 hexagrams that reflect the relationship between Yin and Yang in nature and society. The hexagrams are combinations of eight trigrams or gua, (collectively called bagua), resulting in sixty-four possible combinations. Each hexagram has six Yin or Yang lines. When cast, each gives a reading with an image, a judgement and commentaries on the lines. The shift of one or more lines from Yin into Yang (or the reverse) gives rise to another reading, representing a change.
168 BC – Tao Te Ching – is completed based on the writings and editing of several ancient Chinese scholars. Rewritten and translated many times from its original form.
140 – The Way of the Celestial Masters – Zhang Daoling – is the founder of the first organized Taoist religious system. Taoist priests today claim to be ordained in a lineage that stretches back to this original founder.
150 – The Way of Highest Clarity – Shangqing Taoism
160 – The Way of Numinous Treasure – Lingbao Taoism
170 – 199 – Buddhism was brought to China by missionaries from India and Tibet. Buddhist ideas and practices were absorbed into Taoism creating an intense rivalry
200 – 300 – Buddhists entered into Xuan Xue discourses, and it was by way of Xuan Xue discourses that Buddhism became integrated into the intellectual mainstream.
440 – Taoism and Buddhism influenced each other as they developed. Some early translations of Buddhist texts used Taoist terms to interpret Buddhist concepts.
Kwan Yin - Goddess of mercy and compassion. Could be seen as the Queen Mother of the West bringing Buddhism to China. Also known as the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara who is known as a man.
538 – Spread of Buddhism into Southeast Asia. With the introduction of Mahayana Buddhism to China in around the fourth to fifth centuries AD, Daoism and Buddhism became religious rivals in China. The Buddhist tactic was to change, and even replace, indigenous Daoist deities in favor of Buddhist deities. By the end of the century, Buddhism had become the state religion of the country
618 – 907 – Tang Dynasty – Daoism became fully integrated with the imperial court system particularly under the reign of the Xuanzong Emperor. Taoism functioned as the official religion of the imperial court and exerted complete supremacy over Buddhism.
800 – Chinese Buddhism spreads under the patronage of Emperor Shomu. Six schools of Chinese Buddhism, namely Sanron, Jojitsu, Hosso, Kusha, Kegon and Ritsu, were also introduced during this period. Later, Tendai and Shingon schools in Japan.
969 – 1279 – Sung Dynasty – Taoism, Buddhism, & Confucianism blur. The Confucian Canon achieved its present form in the Sung dynasty under the direction of Chu Hsi. Based on the syncretism that began in this period, it becomes increasingly difficult to separate out Taoism as a religious category from Confucianism.
1279 – 1368 – Yuan Dynasty – The Way of Complete Perfection aims to harmonize Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, and became highly influential under the Mongol Yuan dynasty after Wang Zhe’s disciple, Qiu Changchun, went on a three-year journey to the court of the Mongol warlord, Genghis Khan. The Eight Immortals – of the Taoist tradition are identified as ordinary mortals who, through good works & good lives, are rewarded by the Queen Mother Wang who gives them peaches of everlasting life.
LI TIEH-KUAI – A healer & beggar in the market place selling wondrous drugs.
CHUNG-LI CH’UAN – A smiling old men always beaming with joy.
LAN TS’AI-HO – A young flute-player & wandering minstrel with a fruit basket
LU TUNG-PIN – Carries a sword punishes the wicked and rewards the good.
CHANG-KUO LAO – An aged hermit with miraculous abilities.
HAN HSIANG-TZU – A scholar who chose to study magic.
TS’AO KUO-CHIU – Teaches the laws of heaven are inescapable.
HO HSIEN-KU – A girl who dreamed of becoming immortal.
1368 -1644 – Ming Dynasty – Taoism flourished and the year 1445 saw the compilation of the Taoist Canon Daozang, a compendium of some 1,500 Daoist texts, under the patronage of the Yongle Emperor.
1530 – Ming emperor reformed Confucianism to focus more on Confucius’ teachings than the sage himself, images of Confucius were replaced with inscribed tablets.
1644 – 1911 – Manchu or Qing dynasty – Taoist ideas and practices became more popular in religious culture. Daoist inspired arts such as Tai Chi and Qigong became increasingly widespread.
1891 – James Legge translated the Tao Te Ching into English
1912 – 1948 – State support for Taoism ended
1949 – Communist victory in China – religious freedom was severely restricted. Several million monks were reduced to fewer than 50,000 by 1960.
1966 – 1976 – Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution – Taoist temples destroyed and the overt functioning of the religion ceased to exist in mainland China
1973 – Two silk manuscripts are excavated from a tomb in Hunan that showed that the text of the Tao to Ching was completed before 168 BC.
1980 – Taoism begins to be practiced openly again in China – a new generation of Taoists rebuilt their temples and recovered their tradition
1993 – Archaeologists find 804 bamboo slips dating back to 300 BC that contain fragments of Confucian texts and thirty-three passages of the Tao Te Ching.
