The Tao Te Ching is the sacred text of Taoism

Taoism’s doctrines and teachings, such as Taoism’s fundamental doctrines of birth and virtue, natural inaction, tranquility, non-desire, weakness and non-competition, and longevity, are all derived from the Daodezhenjing of Taishang.

When Zu Tianshi Zhang Daoling established the Taoist religious organization, he took the 5,000 texts (“Tao Te Ching”) as the sacred text, and made the “Lao Zi Thinks About It” commentary to expound the main tenets of the doctrine and the guidelines for practice, and initially set up the Taoist doctrinal system of thought, and used the name of “Zhengyi” to indicate that the doctrine of indoctrination advocated by him was the true religion of the Supreme Truth and Undiminished Truth.

Moreover, the Taoist classics and the writings of many Taoist masters were all based on the Tao Te Ching Sacred Scriptures, which were fully utilized or interpreted as necessary. The Nanhua Zhenjing and the Chongxu Zhenjing, which are honored by Taoism, carry forward the ideas of the Daodezhenjing, enriching and elaborating on Taoism’s ideas of cultivating the body, spiritual freedom, sitting in oblivion to maintain one’s health, and changes in the gods and immortals, so that Taoist doctrines, which emphasize rationality, are inherited and elaborated by the high Taoists of the later generations and transitioned to Taoist doctrines and doctrines, and they become a common ground for each other.

The Taiping Jing is based on religious indoctrination, and it fully explains the creation of all things in heaven and earth by the Tao Te Ching, as well as the Tao Te Ching’s teaching that “the way of heaven is more than enough to make up for the lack of it”. Ge Hong’s teachings on the art of immortality also belong to the system of Taishang Taoism.

The Taoist Sutra, with its main theme of “Immortalism, No Measure of Man”, embodies the fundamental tenets of the Taoist Sutra. In short, the doctrines and thoughts of Taoism are all rooted in the Tao Te Ching, which is therefore honored as the sacred text.