Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 8 (Chinese and Japanese).djvu/38

14 which his teaching became known as the Wu Tou Mi Tao or the "Doctrine of Five Pecks of Rice." This congregation of Chang's disciples was the first stirring of the movement which later was organized into a religion. Chang called himself "Celestial Teacher" (t'ien shih). This was a term used by Chuang Tzǔ, who states that it was conferred upon a youth of Hsiang Ch'êng by the Yellow Emperor. According to the Su Wên it was also given to Ch'i Po, one of the assistants of the Yellow Emperor, who is known as the founder of the art of healing. This was the stage of development of the magical arts and was based upon the mysteries of "The Book of Changes" rather than upon the ethical teachings of Lao Tzǔ. The third stage, or that of an organized religion, came in the seventh century during the reign of the illustrious founder of the T'ang dynasty, Li Shih-min, whose dynastic title is T'ai Tsung. Profoundly influenced by the tradition that the family name of Lao Tzǔ was Li, and that this was his own patronymic, T'ai Tsung lent his influence to the establishment of Taoism as a religion on the same basis as the flourishing Buddhistic religion in whose mysteries he was also a profound believer. According to Fên Yen Chien Wên Chi, T'ai Tsung claimed Lao Tzǔ as the progenitor of his branch of the Li family.

As a religion Taoism was founded in the seventh century, and in its religious aspects is an imitation of Buddhism. It adopted the Buddhistic custom of building temples in which groups of ascetics were collected for the purpose of performing religious rites and of propagating doctrine. Early Chinese history was searched for personages who could be matched with those from India introduced into China by Buddhism. Lao Tzǔ took the place of Śākyamunij the Four Heavenly Kings (Ssǔ T'ien Wang) that of the Four Lokopolas; the Three Pure Ones (San Ch'ing) that of the Three Precious Ones (San Pao), etc. There was little attempt on the part of this new Taoist religion to refute any of the doctrines of Indian Buddhism, although a