Chinese classicsChinese classic texts or canonical texts () or simply dianji (典籍) refers to the Chinese texts which originated before the imperial unification by the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, particularly the "Four Books and Five Classics" of the Neo-Confucian tradition, themselves a customary abridgment of the "Thirteen Classics". All of these pre-Qin texts were written in classical Chinese. All three canons are collectively known as the classics (t , s , jīng, lit. "warp").
MoziMozi (ˈmoʊˈtsiː; ˈmoʊˈtsuː; Latinized as Micius ˈmɪsiəs; 470 – 391 BCE), original name Mo Di (), was a Chinese philosopher who founded the school of Mohism during the Hundred Schools of Thought period (the early portion of the Warring States period, 475–221 BCE). The ancient text Mozi contains material ascribed to him and his followers. Mozi taught that everyone is equal in the eyes of heaven. He believed that the decision of who is in power should be based on meritocracy, or those who are worthy of power should receive power.
XuanxueXuanxue (), sometimes called Neo-Daoism (Neo-Taoism), is a metaphysical post-classical Chinese philosophy from the Six Dynasties (222-589), bringing together Taoist and Confucian beliefs through revision and discussion. The movement found its scriptural support both in Taoist and drastically reinterpreted Confucian sources. Xuanxue, or "Mystic Learning", came to reign supreme in cultural circles, especially at Jiankang during the period of division. The concept represented the more abstract, unworldly, and idealistic tendency in early medieval Chinese thought.
FuxiFuxi or Fu Hsi (伏羲 ~ 伏犧 ~ 伏戲) is a culture hero in Chinese mythology, credited along with his sister and wife Nüwa with creating humanity and the invention of music, hunting, fishing, domestication, and cooking as well as the Cangjie system of writing Chinese characters around 2000 BC. Fuxi was counted as the first mythical emperor of China, "a divine being with a serpent’s body" who was miraculously born, a Taoist deity, and/or a member of the Three Sovereigns at the beginning of the Chinese dynastic period.
Wu weiWu wei () is an ancient Chinese concept literally meaning "inexertion", "inaction", or "effortless action". Wu wei emerged in the Spring and Autumn period. With early literary examples in Confucianism, it is an important concept in Chinese statecraft and Taoism. It was most commonly used to refer to an ideal form of government, including the behavior of the emperor. Describing a state of personal harmony, free-flowing spontaneity and laissez-faire, it generally also more properly denotes a state of spirit or mind, and in Confucianism accords with conventional morality.
Chinese nobilityThe nobility of China represented the upper strata of aristocracy in premodern China, acting as the ruling class until 1000 , and remaining a significant feature of the traditional social structure until the end of the imperial period. The concepts of hereditary sovereignty, peerage titles, and noble families existed as early as the semi-mythical and early historical periods, but the systems of enfeoffment and establishment only developed in the Zhou dynasty, by the end of which a clear delineation of ranks had emerged.
Chinese alchemyChinese alchemy is an ancient Chinese scientific and technological approach to alchemy, a part of the larger tradition of Taoist body-spirit cultivation developed from the traditional Chinese understanding of medicine and the body. According to original texts such as the Cantong qi, the body is understood as the focus of cosmological processes summarized in the five agents of change, or Wuxing, the observation and cultivation of which leads the practitioner into alignment and harmony with the Tao.
Way of the Celestial MastersThe Way of the Celestial Masters or the Heavenly Masters Sect is a Chinese Taoist movement that was founded by Zhang Daoling in 142 AD. Its followers rebelled against the Han Dynasty, and won their independence in 194. At its height, the movement controlled a theocratic state in what is now Sichuan. Way of the Five Pecks of Rice In 142 CE, Zhang Daoling announced that Laozi had appeared to him, and commanded him to rid the world of decadence and establish a new state consisting only of the "chosen people".
Miraculous birthsMiraculous births are a common theme in mythological, religious and legendary narratives and traditions. They often include conceptions by miraculous circumstances and features such as intervention by a deity, supernatural elements, astronomical signs, hardship or, in the case of some mythologies, complex plots related to creation. The Assyrian and Babylonian concept of origins expressed procreation first in "relationships between gods and goddesses resulting in other gods and goddesses", such as Ea and Damkina assisted by Apsu giving birth to Marduk.
DaozangThe Daozang () is a large canon of Taoist writings, consisting of around 1,400 texts that were seen as continuing traditions first embodied by the Daodejing, Zhuangzi, and Liezi. The canon was assembled by monks 400 CE in an attempt to bring together these disparate yet consonant teachings, and it included commentaries and expositions from various masters on material found in the aforementioned core texts of Taoism. The anthology consisted of three divisions (known as grottoes) based on what were seen at that time in Southern China as Taoism's primary focuses: meditation, ritual, and exorcism.
