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The “Three Star Gods,” Fu, Shou, and Lu, are among the most recognizable figures in popular Chinese religion. Fu represents fortune, blessings, happiness, and good luck, Shou represents prosperity, status, success, official rank, and Lu represents longevity, health, and long life. Although the Three...
On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, one of the oldest traditional festivals in China is celebrated. Although the Dragon Boat Festival is most commonly associated with dragon boat races and eating zòngzi (sticky rice dumplings), its origins are complex and appear to predate both organized Taoi...
Zhang Sanfeng is one of the most famous and mysterious figures in Taoism and martial culture. He is traditionally depicted as a wandering Taoist immortal, internal alchemist, martial artist, and spiritual teacher. Placed somewhere between the late Yuan dynasty and early Ming dynasty periods, he is p...
On the 14th day of the 4th moon, which this year will fall on May 30th, Taoist observe the birthday of one of its most famous figures, Lu Dongbin. Lu Dongbin is one of the Eight Immortals, a legendary group of enlightened beings who embody different paths to spiritual realization. He also holds crit...
Xi Wangmu (also known as the Queen Mother of the West) is a profoundly important figure in Taoist philosophy and Taoism, and actually predates Lao Tzu and organized Taoism itself. Xi Wangmu is a remnant of an earlier matrilineal society in ancient China. Before the big three teachings (Taoism, Buddh...
The third day of the third lunar month is the Immortals’ Peach Celebration Day, known as the Pántáo HuĂ, or Feast of Peaches. Peaches are symbolic of immortality—i.e., the peach of immortality as presented in the legends of the Western Royal Mother (Xi Wang Mu), which became her most famous attribu...
On the 19th day of the 2nd Moon, which this year falls on April 6th, we celebrate the Golden Immortaless Guan Shi Yin’s Birthday. Known as “Vessel of Compassion” and “The True Person” to Taoists, Guan Yin is highly revered in both Taoism and Buddhism. Asians, and the Chinese especially, have long pr...
You would be hard-pressed to try learning about Taoism and Taoist philosophy without any mention of Lao Tzu. Considered the founder of Taoism, his philosophical work, the “Tao De Jing,” is the foundational text and cornerstone of Taoist philosophy and its teachings and practices. This work explains ...
