Rituals and Customs
The religious aspects of Taoism are related more to shamanism than typical worship. In fact, Taoism shares strong elements of shamanism in its belief in the existence of two worlds: the physical and the spiritual. Taoist priests usually look after temples in urban areas. Monks and nuns live in temples located in sacred mountains. In general, monks and nuns are permitted to marry. Their work ensures the worship of the sacred texts, of which there are some 1,440 books.
In Taoism, there is a strong element of the ways and means of achieving immortality. Throughout life, adherents study and practice exercises designed to increase the flow of chi energy. The search is concerned with chi and its supply, meaning a need to create a greater reservoir of breath (chi). The essence of this is not that you would get younger but would live longer. Some adherents will become experts in meditation to the point where they become one with the Tao. A quote from the Chuang Tzu provides a good clue to the Taoist attitude toward life and death:
Birth is not a beginning; death is not an end. There is existence without limitation; there is continuity without a starting point.
Existence without limitation is space. Continuity without a starting point is time. There is birth, there is death, there is issuing forth, there is entering in. That through which one passes in and out without seeing its form is the Portal of God.
Birth and Death
Birth is a time for casting horoscopes. A month after the birth a naming ceremony is held. Death combines elements of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism regarding life after death. Funeral rites have to be performed correctly for the dead to join the family ancestors. There is a belief that the soul is judged by the King of Hell. After the body is buried, paper models of money, houses, and cars are burnt to help the soul in the afterlife, perhaps by paying for a release from the King of Hell. After about ten years, the body is dug up. The bones are cleaned and reburied, often at a site chosen by a Feng Shui expert.
Festivals
Taoists and Buddhists share four major Chinese festivals. In addition, the Taoists celebrate many others throughout the year including the Taoist vegetarian and fasting days.
Chinese New Year is the major festival, also known as the Spring Festival. It is a time of great excitement and joy, not to mention abundant food and gifts and roving bands of musicians that parade through the streets. Families reunite and give lavish gifts to children. Traditionally, it is the time when new paper statues of the kitchen god are put up in houses. The door gods, who defend the house against evil spirits, are also replaced with new ones and good-luck sayings are hung over the doorways.
The high point of the season is New Year's Eve, when every member of every family returns home. A sumptuous dinner is served and children receive gifts of red envelopes containing lucky money. Firecrackers and whistles go off everywhere.
In preparation for the events, every house is thoroughly cleaned so the New Year will start off fresh and clean. Hair must be cleaned and set prior to the holiday; otherwise, a financial setback would be invited. Debts should also be settled so that the coming year can start off with a clean slate.
Following various religious ceremonies, the eleventh day is a time for inviting in-laws to dine. The Lantern Festival, on the fifteenth day after New Year, marks the end of the New Year season.
The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated with boats in the shape of dragons. Competing teams row their boats forward to a drumbeat in an effort to win the race. Celebrated in June, the festival has two stories about the history of its meaning. The first one is about the watery suicide of an honest young official who tried to shock the emperor into being kinder to the poor. The race commemorates the people's attempt to rescue the boy in the lake from the dragons who rose to eat him. It is viewed as a celebration of honest government and physical strength.
How did the Taoists and Confucians get along together?
Confucians looked at Taoism as emotional, irrational, and magical. The Taoists looked at the Confucians as bureaucratic and imperialistic. But, it was the Confucian system that shaped China for over 2,000 years.
The third great festival is the Hungry Ghosts Festival. Taoists and Buddhists believe that the souls of the dead imprisoned in hell are freed during the seventh month, when the gates of hell are opened. The released souls are permitted to enjoy feasts prepared for them so they will be pacified and do no harm. Offerings and devotions, too, are made to please these ghosts and even musical events are staged to entertain them.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is also called the Moon Festival because of the bright harvest moon, which appears on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. The round shape of the moon means family reunion, so, naturally, the holiday is particularly important for members of a family.
