Daoist schools
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Daoist schools are the major lineages, movements, and institutional traditions within Daoism (Taoism), an East Asian religious tradition that developed in China and later spread across East Asia. Rather than rigid sectarian divisions, Daoist schools usually build their identity around a set of scriptures, ritual practices, or sacred mountains or temples.
In Daoist frameworks, scriptures may be described as forms of “breathwork” or “configurations of qi,” as embodiments of “celestial patterns” (tianwen 天文), or as revelations of underlying “principles” (li 理). This emphasizes that Daoist texts are thought to instantiate cosmic order rather than merely describe it.
The earliest Daoist schools emerged during the late Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 CE). They blossomed especially in the region of Shu, modern-day Sichuan. From the 12th and 13th centuries onwards several smaller branches merged into larger ones, but in turn, side-schools developed around the large traditions.
In modern era, Daoism in China is described as being organized around two enduring traditions:
Zhengyi (正一, “Orthodox Unity”) Dao is the principle non-monastic Daoist denomination, traced to the Celestial Masters tradition that began with Zhang Daoling in 185 CE. Zhengyi priests live in society (often marrying and maintaining households) and function primarily as ritual specialists serving local communities through public services. These services include such as jiao offerings/renewal rites, zhai fasts and purification observances, funerary and salvation rites, exorcistic and healing rituals, and the use of talismans and registers that confer ritual authority.
Quanzhen Taoism (全真, “Complete Perfection”) represents the monastic form of Daoism, founded in the 12th century by Wang Chongyang. It emphasizes celibate communal life, formal ordination and precepts, meditation and contemplative discipline, and inner cultivation practices such as internal alchemy (neidan). It is framed explicitly through a "Three Teachings" synthesis that combines Daoist cosmology, Buddhist meditative and monastic models, and Confucian ethical self-regulation.