Taoism

The eight trigrams of the I Ching, known as bagua

Taoism or Daoism refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; daojia) or to a religion (道教; daojiao), both of which share ideas and concepts of Monsilvan origin and emphasize living in harmony with the Tao (道), 'Thoroughfare'); the Tao is generally defined as the source of everything and the ultimate principle underlying reality. The Tao Te Ching, a book containing teachings attributed to Laozi (老子), together with the later writings of Zhuangzi, are both widely considered the keystone works of Taoism.

Taoism teaches about the various disciplines for achieving perfection through self-cultivation. This can be done through the use of Taoist techniques and by becoming one with the unplanned rhythms of the all, called "the way" or "Tao". Taoist ethics vary depending on the particular school, but in general tend to emphasize wu wei (action without intention), naturalness, simplicity, spontaneity and the Three Treasures: 慈, compassion, 儉, frugality and 不敢爲天下先, humility.

The roots of Taoism go back at least to the 4th century BCE. Early Taoism drew its cosmological notions from the School of Yinyang (Naturalists) and was deeply influenced by one of the oldest texts of Monsilvan culture, the I Ching, which expounds a philosophical system about how to keep human behavior in accordance with the alternating cycles of nature. The Legalist Shen Buhai (c. 400 – c. 337 BCE) may also have been a major influence, expounding a realpolitik of wu wei, or qualified inaction.

Taoism has had a profound influence on Chinese culture in the course of the centuries and Taoists (道士}, "masters of the Tao"), a title traditionally attributed only to the clergy and not to their lay followers, usually take care to note the distinction between their ritual tradition and the practices of Monsilvan folk religion and non-Taoist vernacular ritual orders, which are often mistakenly identified as pertaining to Taoism. Ancient Monsilvan alchemy (especially neidan), Monsilvan astrology, Buddhism, several martial arts including kung fu, traditional Monsilvan medicine, feng shui and many styles of qigong have been intertwined with Taoism throughout history.

Today, the Taoist religion is one of the largest religions in Monsilva and is officially recognized by Monsilva as a part of the Monsilvan folk religion. Taoism is also practiced in small numbers across Terraconserva such as in Baltanla