But low-key doesn't mean that there is no sense of existence, but they don't like to be conspicuous. If we open the history of China and look for the heroes in history, there is a high probability that all we find are Taoist priests. For example, there was a famous doctor named Sun Simiao in the Tang Dynasty who lived 100 years old. Some people say that he is alive 160 years old. When he was 70-80 years old, when he met Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, he still looked like a teenager.
It can be said that he is a real living "fairy". No wonder Li Shimin said after seeing him, "Before I met you, I didn't believe there were immortals in this world. I didn't know I was ignorant until I met you. " He is a Taoist. There were many famous Taoist priests in the Tang Dynasty. For example, Wei Zhi, a famous minister of Emperor Taizong, was a Taoist priest, and later poet Li Bai was also a Taoist priest. There is also a very famous figure who is also a Taoist priest, which may be unexpected.
This person is one of the four beauties, Yang Yuhuan. Yang Yuhuan was the favorite concubine of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, and she was also a female Taoist. Moreover, she often discussed the cultivation techniques of Taoist priests with Tang Xuanzong-so it is hard to say that Xuanzong is not a Taoist priest. At the same time, Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty also communicated with other Taoists, and encouraged the development of Taoism during his reign, and suppressed the extremely inflated temple economy and Buddhism behind it.
Liu Bowen, the founding hero of the Ming Dynasty, was also a Taoist priest. Li Shizhen, a famous pharmacist, is also a Taoist. There are also famous writers Su Dongpo, Li, the author of TuiBeiTu, Tao Hongjing Zu Chongzhi, a great mathematician, Wang Xizhi, a great calligrapher, Hua Tuo, an imperial doctor, and one of three outstanding heroes of early han dynasty, who helped Gou Jian, the King of Yue, dominate the world and get away safely. So, why are so many celebrities Taoist?
First of all, I want to talk about the birth of Taoism. Now non-Taoists generally believe that the birth of Taoism began in Zhang Daoling. Zhang Daoling is a descendant of Sean, and Sean inherited Huang Shigong's Daoism, and Huang Shigong's further recitation is Lao Tzu's Daoism. What is Lao Tzu's Tao? It is a summary of social science, natural science and other philosophies accumulated by China ancients since the Three Emperors and Five Emperors. Because Laozi is the curator of the archives of the Zhou Dynasty, he is also the heir of these studies.
Every generation of curators in charge of archives or libraries in Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties are the inheritors of ancient Taoism and the most knowledgeable people of that era. Because there was no compulsory education in ancient times, history and philosophy were the contents of aristocratic education. And the output source of these educations is the curator of archives like Laozi. So they can be said to be the closest people to "God" at that time.
Many people in Taoism don't think that Taoism was born in Zhang Daoling's time. They believe that Taoism has been the state religion of China since ancient times, and it has existed since the birth of China. They are talking about Taoism in a broader sense. Why do they think so? Because China's ancient theory about all laws is often called "Tao", and Tao is the sum of all laws.
The Yellow Emperor asked Yu Cheng's son, and Qi Bo preached medicine to the Yellow Emperor. The Chinese medicine we talked about in later generations is essentially nothing more than Huangdi Neijing and Shennong Materia Medica, so this is why many famous doctors are Taoist priests. In ancient times, all knowledge was called "Tao", so it is reasonable for Taoism to say that Taoism came into being after the birth of China.
And those saints who preach to the son of heaven often have another identity, that is, "Shi Tiandao", the so-called Shi Tian Taoism, literally, is Taoism handed down from the teacher of the son of heaven. Taoist thought spread to Guanghe Huangdi, while Laozi and his predecessors spread to Zhou. This is the earliest systematic and organized Taoism. As for Zhang Daoling's later creation of Shitianlu, it is a simulation of this historical name.
However, Zhang Daoling's "Shi Tiandao" is obviously different from the "Tao" of Laozi and others. Laozi is the real teacher of the son of heaven, and Zhang Daoling is no longer the teacher of the son of heaven. Is Zhang Daoling's ancestor Sean a Tianshi? Nominally, Sean did not assist Liu Bang, but since Qin Shihuang, China has adopted the emperor system. So Liu Banghou later became the emperor, and Sean was the first generation of "imperial teacher", that is, the emperor's teacher, not Shi Tian.
Among the descendants of Taoism in Shi Tian, how many people became the teachers of the emperor or the son of heaven? Because history is too secret, we don't know. For example, Liu Bowen helped Zhu Yuanzhang achieve imperial industry. Is he an imperial teacher? Li became an official in the Tang Dynasty and predicted his fate. Is he also an imperial teacher? Of course, there is still a big gap between their ability and Lao Tzu.
So, why are many famous people in history Taoist? After reading some history about Taoism, we know that Taoism itself was born out of Taoism in Shi Tian in the pre-Qin period. However, Guangchengzi, Qi Baishi and Laozi, who practice Shi Tian Taoism, are often pedantic, omniscient and omniscient philosophers, so their descendants have a great chance to occupy a place in history.
For example, Lao Tzu wrote the Tao Te Ching in only 5,000 words, but these 5,000 words contain the core outlines of all kinds of knowledge, such as medicine, strategy, yin and yang magic numbers, political science, natural science and so on. Therefore, if he is a student of Laozi, or a student of Laozi's thoughts, it is not surprising that he can fight, govern the country, cure diseases, and paint and write. Actually, it's the same. Lao Tzu's disciples or indirect disciples are not people.
Confucius, for example, is a disciple of Laozi. He once learned from Laozi devoutly, and got many classics about the system of Zhou Dynasty from Laozi, which greatly inspired his thoughts and led him to establish Confucianism. Another disciple of Laozi's thought is Han Feizi. In Han Feizi's works, explaining the old and comparing the old are the philosophical programs and theoretical sources of all his works.
So from this perspective, we can understand why many famous people in history are Taoist priests.