Cosmology

According to Taoism, there was only Tao, the void. When the Tao started swirling and moving, it started creating and building up qi. The qi later created yin and yang. Yin's energry sank downward to form the Earth, and yang's energy rose to form the Heavens. Later, both elements harmonized to create humans.

Three Realms

In Taoism, there are three interconnected realms; Heaven (the realm of the gods and immortals), Earth (the physical world), and Humanity (the middle realm which can harmonize with Heaven or fall into chaos)

Elements (Wu Xing)

Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water are the five main elements according to Taoism.

Generative Cycle (Shēng)

Elements can create eachother in the following ways:

• Wood burns to create Fire
• Fire creates ash which nourshes Earth
• Earth compresses to create Metal
• Metal turns moisture into Water
• Water ensures trees (Wood's) growth

Destructive/Control Cycle (Kè)

Elements can also, just as they can create one another, destroy eachother. This is so elements aren't continously created and ensures harmony/balance

• Wood (tree roots) move or break up soil
• Earth absorbs Water
• Water estinguishes Fire
• Fire melts Metal
• Metal (axe) chops Wood

Keep in mind that the term 'elements' is abstract, atleast in this context. 'Metal' can be used as a metaphor for example grief. Fire could also for example mean anything radiant, like joy or light.

Seasons

Taoism has five seasons. Spring, Summer, Late Summer, Autumn and Winter are seen as cosmic rythms that imitate the interplay of Yin and Yang. Taoists imitate the seasons, i.e. they're more introspective in the colder months and more active in the warmer seasons. Why? To keep balance. Overworking in the winter, which is against what water (restful and calm) stands for, causes fatigue.

Celestial Animals

In Daojiao, there are four celestial animals, sometimes called the Four Symbols. Each one of them guard one direction and come from ancient Chinese constellations. For example, because the Black Tortoise's constellation, the Xuán Wǔ was most visible in winter months in the northern sky, it was associated with the north and the winter.

Trigrams

Trigrams are in Taoism three-line symbols, made up out of split (Yin) and unsplit (Yang) lines. It lays the basis for the I Ching, an Ancient Chinese book. Trigrams represent the forces of the universe, with each trigrams encoding energy, forces, spiritual principals and phenomena. Here's how it works.

Structure

Every trigram has 3 lines stacked on top of eachother, which are either Yang (light, positivity) or Yin (dark, negativity). Their positions are equal to the three realms, Earth (bottom), Humanity (middle) and Heaven (top). For example, this ☰ represents heaven because it's all full lines, meaning yang. There are in total 8 trigrams, in the table below you can see the full list.

Geography

Doajiao has sacred geography. An example of said sacred geography are the Eight Directions (Bā Fāng), see below. The Eight Directions are seen as the axis mundi (cosmic pillars) where all of the three realms meet.

Bā Fāng

Five Great Mountains (Wǔ Yuè)

The Five Great Mountains are specific to the Earth Realm and act as axis mundi for Earth. The mountains listed below are sacred and are the so-called 'power-nodes' where the energy emitted from the Eight Directions condense.

• Mount Tai - Represents the element of Wood and is one of the most important mountains in Chinese history as emperors made pilgrimage here to legitimize their mandate from Heaven.
• Mount Hua - Represents the element of Metal and links the death and the afterlife. It has sheer cliffs and hard-to-traverse trails.
• Northern Mount Heng - Northern Mount Heng represents the element of Fire and is linked to the Northern Dipper. Taoists meditate in the meditation caves carved into the slopes.
• Southern Mount Heng - This mountain represents Fire and associated with the Southern Dipper. It's an entirely different mountain than the Southern Mount Heng, Heng translated as 'equilibrium'.
• Mount Song - Acts as the Center and represents the Earth element, it's where cosmic energies merge together.

Immortality

Time, according to Taoism, moves in a cycle. The end goal for Taoists is to become immortal (Xian). This can be done by aliging with the Tao and transcending the Earth (physical world) into the Heavens (realm of the gods and immortals).