What is Daoism and what is its fundamental belief?
Daoism means to learn, to cultivate, and to practice Dao. It
originated from the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan as the native religion
of the Chinese people. The fundamental belief is in Dao and that is
why it is called Daoism. Daoism reveres the book Laozi, also known
as the Book of Dao and its Virtue, which is used as the most
important Daoist scripture. Daoism thinks that Dao is "the system
of the Void, the foundation of creation, the source of the gods and
deities, and the origin of heaven and earth", so that everything is
produced by it and the five elements are formed owing to it. In
other words, the universe, Yin and Yang, and everything in the
universe is transformed by Dao. Daoism considers that in the
universe, apart from the world in which human beings live, there
are places like the Ten Great Grottoes, the Thirty-Six Small
Grottoes, and the Seventy-Two Blissful Realms where the Immortals
live.
Dao is transformed into the three qi (vital breaths), and then
transformed further into the three spirits: they are the Primeval
Lord of Heaven, the Heavenly Lord of the Numinous Treasure, and the
Heavenly Lord of Dao and its Virtue. They are the Three Pure Ones.
highest divinity in Daoism.
In addition to the spirits and deities mentioned above, there are
many other spirits and gods worshiped by Daoism. Moreover, Daoism
has a large system of spirits and immortals. For instance, the
Three Heavenly Officials, the Four Heavenly Ministers, the
Officials on Duty, the Spirits of the Six Ding Days and Six Jia
Days, the Thirty-Six Spirits of the Big Dipper, the Seventy-Two
Spirits of the Earth, the Great Jade Emperor, the Auntie Queen
Mother, the Great Perfect Warrior Emperor, the Great Emperor of the
Sacred Mountain of the East, the Primordial Lady of the Emerald
Cloud, the Primordial Sovereign of the Big Dipper, the Grandma of
Mt. Lishan, Imperial Sovereign Guan, the City God, the Earth
Spirit, the Door Spirit, and so on.
Daoist believers also think that human beings can enjoy eternal
life and become Immortals. Daoism believes that the Dao possesses
eternal life. The man who is able to obtain and keep the Dao can
achieve longevity, which is called "virtue". In Daoist opinions,
virtue refers to obtaining or achieving the Dao. Daoism values life
very much and pursues longevity, and Daoists believe that human
beings can obtain the Dao through praying to spirits and
cultivation, so that they could enjoy not only happiness in this
world, but also return to the ultimate source and origin of the
universe, share the same body with the Dao, enjoy the eternal
physical life, ascend to heaven in the daytime, and stay in the
immortal world forever.