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"Be still like a mountain and flow like a great river." - Lao Tzu

"We believe in the formless and eternal Tao, and we recognize all personified deities as being mere human constructs. We reject hatred, intolerance, and unnecessary violence, and embrace harmony, love and learning, as we are taught by Nature. We place our trust and our lives in the Tao, that we may live in peace and balance with the Universe, both in this mortal life and beyond." - Creed of the Western Reform Taoist Congregation.

T'ang Yin, Dreaming of Immortality in a Thatched Cottage - Ming Dynasty

Taoism is the Chinese Philosophy and/or Religion best known through the classical Taoist literature of Lao-Tzu and Chuang-Tzu. This website is devoted to the study of the Taoism of the modern and international Taoist, who wants a world view and Way of life rooted in the insights and aesthetics of the Chinese tradition. This is a view that accepts the good things of the modern, scientific world, and is not limited by the ethnocentrisms of old Imperial China.

The modern Chinese philosopher Fung Yu-lan once remarked to the pre-eminent British historian of the history of Chinese science, Dr. Joseph Needham, that Taoism was the only mystical system known to him which was not hostile towards science. Taoism indeed was the tradition in Chinese society which actively concerned itself with medicine and chemistry, with the results being the whole system of Chinese medicine and the invention of gunpowder and the rocket motor.

Unfortunately Taoist science based itself on the Five-Element Theory, which was a dead end, and it never adequately developed mathematical analysis and a truly systematic experimental method. In many ways, therefore, we may say that the science that in more recent centuries developed in the West (inheriting various Chinese elements) is the true heir of the Taoist impulse towards the understanding of Nature.

At the same time, we must acknowledge that the fundamental world view of Taoism has been shown correct in that Taoism has always seen the world as a vast interplay and evolution of energy-matter (ch'i) according to its own impersonal formative principles. Minds that have been used to a personalised deity might even today feel uncomfortable with this scientific perspective, which to them seems overly vast, cold, uncaring, and amoral; to a Taoist, though, it is normal, and the spontaneity of Nature in her myriad transformations is ever a source of infinite delight.

The Taoist has always lived in the world postulated by modern science, and more importantly, he has been happy in that world. He has ever been both mystical and practical, both idealistic and realistic, both artistically inclined and satisfied with the simple and crude, both naturalistic and humanistic.

For some centuries there has been no great figure in Taoist history. This is partly due to the scientific wrong turning, but also due to the taking over of many Taoist concerns into Chinese Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism. Today, however, the appeal of Taoism is making itself felt around the world as never before, and the time is ripe for the evolution of a truly modern and international Taoism.

Within these pages we will be looking at all aspects of the Tao and the many related subjects. We shall take a look at the two branches of religious and philosophical Taoism and delve into the world of Taoist mysticism with a look at the I-Ching, or Book of Changes. We take a look at some of the best translations of the Tao Te Ching and experience some of the best practices for Taoist living, such as Tai Chi Chuan, Taoist Yoga, Chang Ming diet and meditation.

I live Exmouth, Devon, and would very much like this site to become a useful source of information for English Taoists everywhere, but you are welcome, no matter whence you spring. We are all Brothers and Sisters of the Tao.

I-Kuan Tao