What is Daoism and what is its fundamental belief?
Daoism means to learn, to cultivate, and to practice Dao. It originated from the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan as the native religion of the Chinese people. The fundamental belief is in Dao and that is why it is called Daoism. Daoism reveres the book Laozi, also known as the Book of Dao and its Virtue, which is used as the most important Daoist scripture. Daoism thinks that Dao is "the system of the Void, the foundation of creation, the source of the gods and deities, and the origin of heaven and earth", so that everything is produced by it and the five elements are formed owing to it. In other words, the universe, Yin and Yang, and everything in the universe is transformed by Dao. Daoism considers that in the universe, apart from the world in which human beings live, there are places like the Ten Great Grottoes, the Thirty-Six Small Grottoes, and the Seventy-Two Blissful Realms where the Immortals live.
Dao is transformed into the three qi (vital breaths), and then transformed further into the three spirits: they are the Primeval Lord of Heaven, the Heavenly Lord of the Numinous Treasure, and the Heavenly Lord of Dao and its Virtue. They are the Three Pure Ones. highest divinity in Daoism.
In addition to the spirits and deities mentioned above, there are many other spirits and gods worshiped by Daoism. Moreover, Daoism has a large system of spirits and immortals. For instance, the Three Heavenly Officials, the Four Heavenly Ministers, the Officials on Duty, the Spirits of the Six Ding Days and Six Jia Days, the Thirty-Six Spirits of the Big Dipper, the Seventy-Two Spirits of the Earth, the Great Jade Emperor, the Auntie Queen Mother, the Great Perfect Warrior Emperor, the Great Emperor of the Sacred Mountain of the East, the Primordial Lady of the Emerald Cloud, the Primordial Sovereign of the Big Dipper, the Grandma of Mt. Lishan, Imperial Sovereign Guan, the City God, the Earth Spirit, the Door Spirit, and so on.
Daoist believers also think that human beings can enjoy eternal life and become Immortals. Daoism believes that the Dao possesses eternal life. The man who is able to obtain and keep the Dao can achieve longevity, which is called "virtue". In Daoist opinions, virtue refers to obtaining or achieving the Dao. Daoism values life very much and pursues longevity, and Daoists believe that human beings can obtain the Dao through praying to spirits and cultivation, so that they could enjoy not only happiness in this world, but also return to the ultimate source and origin of the universe, share the same body with the Dao, enjoy the eternal physical life, ascend to heaven in the daytime, and stay in the immortal world forever.