List of Taoists
Encyclopedia
Classical
- Chen PoChen PoChen Tuan was a legendary Taoist sage. His birth name was Chen Tuan ; his courtesy name was Tunan ; his pseudonym as a sage was Chen Hsi I Chén Xīyí or Master Xīyí 希夷先生 or Fúyáozǐ 扶搖子...
(Chen Tuan, Chen Hsi I) 871-989 - Ge HongGe HongGe Hong , courtesy name Zhichuan , was a minor southern official during the Jìn Dynasty of China, best known for his interest in Daoism, alchemy, and techniques of longevity...
284–364 - GuiguziGuiguziWang Xu , better known by his pseudonym Guiguzi , is an ancient Chinese philosopher from the Warring States Period of Chinese history. He was the founder of the School of Diplomacy of the Hundred Schools of Thought during that period...
- Guo XiangGuo XiangGuo Xiang , is credited with the first and most important revision of the text known as the Zhuangzi which, along with the Laozi, forms the textual and philosophical basis of the Taoist school of thought...
(Kuo Hsiang) d. 312 - Kou QianzhiKou QianzhiKou Qianzhi was a Taoist reformer who reenvisioned many of the ceremonies and rites of the Way of the Celestial Master form of Taoism and reformulated its theology into a new movement known as The Northern Celestial Masters...
- LaoziLaoziLaozi was a mystic philosopher of ancient China, best known as the author of the Tao Te Ching . His association with the Tao Te Ching has led him to be traditionally considered the founder of Taoism...
c. 600 BCE (Traditional founder of Taoism) - Lie YukouLie YukouLie Yukou is considered the author of the Daoist book Liezi, which uses his honorific name Liezi . The second Chinese character in Yukou is written kou 寇 "bandit; enemy"; the first is written yu 圄 "imprison", yu 禦 "resist; ward off", or occasionally yu 御 "drive ; ride ; control" Lie Yukou is...
(Liezi) c. 400 BCE - Lü DongbinLü DongbinLǚ Dòngbīn is a historical figure and also a deity/Immortal revered by many in the Chinese culture sphere, especially by Daoists/Taoists. Lǚ Dòngbīn is one of the most widely known of the group of deities known as the Eight Immortals and considered by some to be the de facto leader...
c. 750 - - Qiu ChujiQiu ChujiQiu Chuji was a Daoist disciple of Wang Chongyang. He was the most famous among the Seven True Daoists of the North...
- Sun Bu'erSun Bu'erSun Bu'er , one of the Taoist Seven Masters of Quanzhen lived c. 1119–1182 C.E. in the Shandong province of China. She was a beautiful, intelligent, wealthy woman, married with three children. Her family name was Sun and her first name was Fuchun, Bu'er being her name in religion. Her husband Ma Yu...
c. 1119 – 1182 - Sun SimiaoSun SimiaoSun Simiao was a famous traditional Chinese medicine doctor of the Sui and Tang dynasty. He was titled as China's King of Medicine for his significant contributions to Chinese medicine and tremendous care to his patients....
- Sun TzuSun TzuSun Wu , style name Changqing , better known as Sun Tzu or Sunzi , was an ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher who is traditionally believed, and who is most likely, to have authored The Art of War, an influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy...
c. 544 BCE – 496 BCE - Wang ChongyangWang ChongyangWang Chongyang [Chinese calendar: 宋徽宗政和二年十二月廿二 – 金世宗大定十年正月初四] was a Chinese Taoist and one of the founders of the Quanzhen School in the twelfth century during the Song Dynasty. He was one of the Five Northern Patriarchs of Quanzhen...
(1113 – 1170) - Wang BiWang BiWang Bi , style name Fusi , was a Chinese neotaoist philosopher.-Biography:Wang Bi's most important works are commentaries on Laozi's Dao De Jing and the I Ching. The text of the Dao De Jing that appeared with his commentary was widely considered as the best copy of this work until the discovery of...
226 – 249 - Wei BoyangWei BoyangWei Boyang was a noted Chinese author and Taoist alchemist of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He is the author of The Kinship of the Three, and is noted as the first person to have documented the chemical composition of gunpowder in 142 AD.-References:...
- Wei HuacunWei HuacunWei Huacun , courtesy name Xianan , was a founder of the Shangqing sect of Daoism.-Overview:Wei was born in 252 in Jining, Shandong in the former county of Rencheng . Her father, Wei Shu , was a government official...
- WenziWenziThe Wenzi , or Tongxuan zhenjing , is a controversial Daoist classic allegedly written by a disciple of Laozi. Although generations of Chinese scholars have dismissed the Wenzi as a plagiarism or forgery, in 1973 archeologists excavating a 55 BCE tomb discovered a Wenzi copied on bamboo...
- Yang Xiong 53 BCE – 18
- Zhang DaolingZhang DaolingZhang Ling , style name Fuhan , was an Eastern Han Dynasty Taoist hermit who founded the Way of the Celestial Masters sect of Taoism, which is also known as the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice....
(Zhang Ling) 2nd century CE - Zhang SanfengZhang SanfengZhang Sanfeng was a semi-legendary Chinese Taoist priest who is believed by some to have achieved immortality, said variously to date from either the late Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty or Ming Dynasty. His name is said to have been Zhang Junbao 張君寶 before he became a Taoist.Zhang's legend is that of...
- Zhuang Zi (Chuang Tzu) c. 4th century BCE
- Zhang JiaoZhang JiaoZhang Jue was the leader of the Yellow Turban rebels during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was said to be a follower of Taoism and a sorcerer. His name is sometimes read as Zhang Jiao, since the Chinese character of Zhang's given name can be read as either "Jiao" or "Jue"...
- Zhongli QuanZhongli QuanZhongli Quan is one of the most ancient of the Eight Immortals and the leader of the group. He is also known as Zhongli of Han because he was said to be born during the Han Dynasty...
Modern
- Wes BentleyWes BentleyWesley Cook "Wes" Bentley is an American film actor known for his role of Ricky Fitts in American Beauty.-Early life:Bentley was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, the son of Cherie and David Bentley, who are United Methodist ministers....
- Alex AnatoleAlex AnatoleAlexander Anatole is an ordained Taoist priest who claims lineage to Lao Zi. He professes to teach original, unadulterated Taoism, but actually teaches "Religious Taoism" - A family of organized Chinese religious movements originating from the Celestial Masters movement during the late Han...
- Abbot Wang
- Alan WattsAlan WattsAlan Wilson Watts was a British philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience. Born in Chislehurst, he moved to the United States in 1938 and began Zen training in New York...
- Edward GoreyEdward GoreyEdward St. John Gorey was an American writer and artist noted for his macabre illustrated books.-Early life:...
- Ursula K. Le GuinUrsula K. Le GuinUrsula Kroeber Le Guin is an American author. She has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, notably in fantasy and science fiction...
- Benjamin HoffBenjamin HoffBenjamin Hoff is an author based in the United States. Two of his books on Taoism, The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet, were on best seller lists. Hoff grew up in Sylvan, Oregon, where he acquired a fondness of the natural world that has been highly influential in his writing.Hoff obtained a...
- Michael SasoMichael SasoMichael R. Saso is a Professor Emeritus of the Department of Religion at the University of Hawaii. He is a scholar of the religious practices of Japan and China, with a particular emphasis on Taoism....
- Zhang Tian RanZhang Tian RanZhang Tianran is the founder of I-Kuan Tao, a modern religious movement. He is usually referred to as the Father of I-Kuan Tao, or as Shi Zun , meaning the Honored Teacher.-Early life:...
- Wang Hao DeWang Hao DeWang Hao-te is the founder of the Maitreya Great Tao religion , which is based in Hsin Chu, Taiwan. This sect according to Taiwan's survey in 2004 has 100,000 members and 2000 temples. Wang was born in 1921, the 28th day of the 7th lunar month in a small village called Zhang Gu in Shandong...
- Raymond SmullyanRaymond SmullyanRaymond Merrill Smullyan is an American mathematician, concert pianist, logician, Taoist philosopher, and magician.Born in Far Rockaway, New York, his first career was stage magic. He then earned a BSc from the University of Chicago in 1955 and his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1959...
- Gia-Fu FengGia-Fu FengGia-Fu Feng was prominent as both an English translator of Taoist classics and a Taoist teacher in the United States, associated with Alan Watts, Jack Kerouac, The Beats and Abraham Maslow....
- Mantak ChiaMantak Chia.Mantak Chia is a Taoist Master. He is best known for his teaching Taoist practices under the names of Healing Tao, Tao Yoga, Universal Healing Tao System and Qigong. Throughout decades of teaching, he has run numerous workshops, written a series of books, and published a number of training videos...
- Bruce Kumar Frantzis
- Stephen RussellThe Barefoot DoctorStephen Russell, also known as the Barefoot Doctor, is a practitioner and teacher of Taoism, its medicine, philosophy, meditation practices and martial arts and "magic" system, or wu wei....
- Kristofer SchipperKristofer SchipperKristofer Marinus Schipper, 1934, Järnskog , Sweden. Schipper is also known as Rik Schipper, and is known in China as Professor Shi Zhouren. Schipper grew up near Edam in The Netherlands. After his retirement he and his wife Dr. Yuan Bingling moved to Fuzhou in China.Schipper is a member of the...
- Sun Lutang
- Wu Gongzao