Taoism or Daoism (/ˈdaʊɪzəm/) refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; daojia) or to a religion (道教; daojiao); both share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the

Laozi is traditionally regarded as one of the founders of Taoism and is closely associated in this context with original or primordial Taoism. Whether he actually existed is disputed;

Tao Te Ching
The Tao Te Ching or Daodejing is widely considered the most influential Taoist text. According to legend, it

The taijitu (太極圖; tàijítú; commonly known as the "yin and yang symbol" or simply the "yin yang") and the Bagua 八卦 ("Eight Trigrams") have importance in Taoist symbolism. In this cosmology, the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of material energy,

Spelling and pronunciation
Since the introduction of the Pinyin system for romanizing Mandarin Chinese, there have been those who have felt that "Taoism" would be more

Ethics
Taoism tends to emphasize various themes of the Tao Te Ching and Zhuangzi, such as naturalness, spontaneity, simplicity,

Rituals
In ancient times, before the Taoism religion was founded, food would sometimes be set out as a sacrifice to the spirits of the deceased or the gods. This could include slaughtered animals, such as pigs and ducks, or fruit.