Taoism

**Taoism**, also known as **Daoism**, is a religious tradition of Chinese origin which emphasizes living in harmony with the *Tao* (, literally "Way", also romanized as *Dao*). The *Tao* is a fundamental idea in most Chinese philosophical schools; in Taoism, however, it denotes the principle that is both the source, pattern and substance of everything that exists. Taoism differs from Confucianism by not emphasizing rigid rituals and social order.

Taoist ethics vary depending on the particular school, but in general tend to emphasize *wu wei* (effortless action), "naturalness", simplicity, spontaneity, and the Three Treasures: "compassion", "frugality", and "humility". While the neutral religion is the most explicitly based on taoism, implying balance and practice as goals, chaos may also be inspired by it as well, with its conepts of spontaneity and naturalness. The tao te ching is the original writings of taoism proper, and is obtainable as a visionary item in SMTIs rerelease that gives more info about lao tsu as he appears in-game.

Taoism is considers itself to have been started by **Lao Tsu (Laozi)**, reportedly an ancient Chinese sage. He is known as the reputed author of the *Tao Te Ching.* Although he is dated to the 6th century bc, he is often considered by historians to be a legendary or composite figure, and taoism to have arisen as a collaborative effort. Beliefs on lao tsu differ in whether he was
simply an elevated human or an incarnation of a god. With many forms of taoism that came later considering him to have always been divine, even though his original depiction seems more like a regular human. **Taishang LaoJun** is one of several ways of referring to the deity (one of the pure ones) that lao tsu was supposedly the
incarnation of in Taoist belief. Taishang laojon, identified by name, appears as the main neutral rep in SMTI, appearing in the form of lao tsu. Since he is referred to as this in the game, it seems to be implicating that he was always a god, but having appeared in a human incarnation.

Taoism was also indirectly an inspiration on the phenomenology of heidegger through his reading of the book of tea. This has to do with how in the book of tea it describes taoism's emphasis on your being in the world, and how the taoist absolute is in essence manifested in the relative.

For a bullet point list highlighting many of the different reasons neutral is associated with taoism, visit the theism page.

## General Info

Taoism as a religion in game is
generally associated with neutral, though not always overtly. In
SMTI, lao
tsu, was obviously the
supernatural neutral representative. He even indirectly mentions the
tao on the ending, though he uses a vague description rather than mentioning it directly. And the neutral church in I was ambiguous, but
looked vaguely eastern, though was called and looked a little more
like a dojo than a church. Then in SMTII the neutral “church” of
repair garageism was still associated with taoism, having a yin yang
in it, and a bagua on the wall. Which makes a trend that persisted across multiple games.

The implication here is meant to be
obvious. The yin yang looks like a symbol that could be used to
represent balance between law and
chaos. Which makes it as an idea
the obvious choice. One aspect of taoist ethics is naturalness and
how people should be free to pursue natural virtue. It rejects large
structures trying to force it which it sees as unnatural. So from
that angle it could be seen as against law. And on the flipside, it
might see chaos as simply not having the required virtue. And so the
balance being between it. The games tend to overall on and off imply
a taoist relation to neutral, but also to reality at large with the
interplay between the sides.

The chinese word that corresponds to
taoism refers not to lay people who believe in it, but to taoist
priests. Because before the idea of organized religion was brought to
the east, lay people were kind of just more open ended, and the
boundaries between religions were not seen as strict. So while
buddhists and taoists and confucians would fight for more social
power, regular people weren't as directly involved in this, and would
often just be parts of whichever, based on what they wanted. Different religions were seen as more each being the correct metaphysics with the others being incorrect or misleading rather than totally distinct per say.

## Metaphysics

**Tao** is a word used in all of
chinese religion that translates to "way", but a more accurate
translation might be something more like “principle.' One of the
core aspects of tao in taoism is that while you can know it exists
through extrapolation, actually grasping what it is is beyond
possibility. It is considered a dynamic flow of the world that has to be experienced experientially, rather than by mere abstract intellectualism.

Although the tao is also to some extent considered a source of reality, it's true essence is not seen as transcendent, but as the immanent flow of reality itself, and it is seen as coming to fruition only in manifest reality. And so it has a kind of pantheistic tone.

While comparable to the western idea of logos, one of the
important parts to understand about tao is that it is not a static
order. It is described as flowing. Carrying reality forward. In SMTI, taijorokun appears on neutral to use the tao as a description of the overall structure of reality. Making it a basis of the big picture view of neutral spirituality.

Something interesting to note is that taijorokun says that you are a part of it, but also all of it. This same language is used in last bible to refer to the great will. So it seems that in a sense, it is another perspective on the single absolute. This ties to how atlus says the true metaphysics of the games is like an integrated monotheism, where based on your values different things can be seen as an embodiment of the absolute. Which has an element of religious existentialism.

Note that unlike the western concept of logos which is more static, the tao is depicted as dynamic. Which is in keeping with how the east focuses on relationships and change more while the west focuses on objects and the static more. This difference is reflected somewhat in-game as well, with law which is more western themed being about preserving an ideal state, and so more related to preservation, whereas chaos is more eastern themed and focused on dynamic change. Although the tao is associated more with neutral. Though neutral's tone is also more eastern.

While the tao is seen as something that existed before reality, it is not merely transcendent, but emphasis is placed on its immanence as well. The book of tea says that the taoist absolute is the relative. It is in the manifestation of reality that it is truly complete. And to it the present is part of the moving infinity.

**Te** refers to the tao as understood
as it regards humans. Note that tao means way, and has both a human
and universal aspect. Te refers to the human aspect of tao. And
translates to virtue or power. Note that the tao in general is the
logic or flow of the universe. The implication here is that humans
are a microcosm of it. And so in some sense the same “logic” that
upholds the flow of reality in general, is the same type of thing
that upholds the logic of morality, and what it is for humans to be
properly moral. Explained simply, there is a flow to the universe
that pushes everything, including humans along it, like a river.
Morality then is acting properly in tune with this flow in a sense,
rather than moving against it. Moving in tune with it preserves flow
and order, whereas going against it causes strife and disorder. This
might even sound a little law about complying with a universal order.
But likewise, you can (and taoists did) tie it to acting naturally in
a way you can associate with a more balanced mentality. Arguably even
chaos. But in practice the game is associating it with neutral,
describing being in tune with the "common thread that binds all
that exists" a the end of Is neutral ending, which being said by
lao tsu is obviously meant to resemble the tao.

**Wuji, taiji,** Wuji and taiji refer to the ultimate taken in the sense of two different stages or focus. Wuji refers to the primordial universe, or the idea of all things as taken without distinction. And taiji refers to the summation of all things taken as a whole, and incorporating their distinct existence. Both aspects are part of the tao, which encompasses the entire process. The symbol often called the yin yang is known more formally as the taijitu, which shows how it is a big picture which includes the opposites within it. The term taiji does show up a few times in the games, such as with haru's axe.

**Yin** and **Yang** are representations of seemingly contradictory
forces being part of the unified whole. And these divide into even
more divisions, and into the “ten thousand things” which refers
to everything that exists. Yang translates to **sunny side**, and yin to
**shady side**. And the
symbol you
probably know is called the taijitu. Basically a representation of
all that exists, seen divided into yin and yang. The important thing to note is that yin and yang have multiple different uses as a concept. The point of them is not always to balance them, but rather that both inherently always exist. Yang is often considered "better" and the point of their balance is not that yin is as good but that you have to take the bad with the good. Whether yin is considered bad actively, or just slightly detrimental differs based on what you are talking about.

Obviously megaten directly wants you to associate yin and yang with chaos and order. Though it doesn't seem to specify which is which. Since yang is depicted as light, the light / law side might be yang. But that distinction doesn't matter much. Neutral obviously wants to focus on balance of these concepts. And often talks about how too much of one done badly can lead to an excess of the other, sometimes often done badly. A bad structure can lead to an exaggerated rebellion, or lack of one to creating one. Note that just because they are both equally in existence doesn't mean they are in tune. Neutral seems to imply that in the past there was sharp jagged distinctions causing suffering but that making them in tune will make this less so.

**The bagua** are eight trigrams used
in daoist cosmology to repreent
the fundamental principles of reality, seen as a range of eight
interrelated concepts. Each consists of three lines, each line either
"broken" or "unbroken," representing yin or yang,
respectively. Due to their tripartite structure, they are often
referred to as "trigrams" in English. In SMTII you see one
on the wall of the repair garage, furthering neutral's taoist
associations.

**Chi** or **Qi** is an important term,
since it refers to the substance or underlying life force of
everything that exists. The tao is not really a substance by itself,
but rather the flow or logic of the flow in general. Chi is the life
force of reality of which everything is built. Sometimes it is even
said that the physical universe has no independent existence, but is
a particular arrangement of chi. However, while the games do talk about spiritual energy it doesn't seem like the concept of chi is ever directly mentioned.

## **Gods**

**Shen** and **kuei** in traditional
chinese religion are often used to refer to spirits acting as good or
bad spirits in general. Often tied to yang and yin. And mean
literally **expansion** and **contraction**. Though shen also has
other meanings relating to leadership and the mind of the individual,
thus meaning something closer to spirit in general. Basically, the
words sometimes changed meanings, but shen basically means noble or
good spirit, and kuei means unnoble or evil spirit. There's no strict
division between human spirits and gods. Humans have spirit, and on
death become one or the other, which is one of the reasons ancestor
worship is so important. Karma was stolen from buddhism to explain
how later on. And an important thing to note here is that it is
sometimes said that the tao is nothing but the multiplicity of
spirits. Which puts into greater context demons in universe, as well
as lucifer's relation to “god.” Lucifer, saying he was a part of
god that god discarded in 1 can be implying simply that he is part of
the yin side of the tao, but the ordered yang parts reject them.
Although yin spirits are seen as more harmful its noted that they
may have to exist or exist in some sense as part of the ebb and flow of the tao.

Note that humans and gods being continuous shows up in game as well, with mayn important historical figures showing up as demons. An interesting side note here for taoism is that humans who
have large effects on society were seen as more important shen. So
the equivalent to sainthood here is not necessarily about personal
virtue, but in that a human spirit's in life effect on earth shapes
the world as a large part of tao, and this relates to their overall
state in reality. Likewise, this is one reason why worshiping
ancestors is important, since you came from them in the flow of the
tao, and the “reality” of this is still over you. This leads to people like masakado becoming guardian figures of tokyo who in tokyo have great power in the games. While a lot of beings from chinese myths show up in the games, this will only show some of the more obvious examples.

**The three pure ones** are a higher
level of god in some more obscure forms of taoism that were seen as a
more secret belief for certain people only. They are the Taoist Trinity, the three highest Gods in the Taoist pantheon. They are regarded as pure manifestation of the Tao and the origin of all sentient beings. The highest of the three
pure ones is an archaic deity, seen as the source of all that exists,
and somewhat equivalent to the tao.

The first Pure One is universal or heavenly chi. The second Pure One
is human plane chi, and the third Pure One is earth chi. Heavenly chi
includes the chi or energy of all the planets, stars and constellations
as well as the energy of God (the force of creation and universal love).
 Human plane chi is the energy that exists on the surface of our planet
and sustains human life, and the earth force includes all of the forces
inside the planet as well as the five elemental forces.
As the Three Pure Ones are manifestation of Primordial Celestial
Energy, they are formless. But to illustrate their role in Creation,
they are often portrayed as elderly deities robed in the three basic
colours from which all colours originated: Red, Blue and Yellow (or
Green). Sometimes not even necessarily seen as
entities as such, so much as forces.

The three wise men from strange journey are likely meant to be the three pure ones. They describe themselves as one with the earth, and mem aleph saying they betrayed her implies not being meant to be abrahamic figures, despite law's abrahamic tone meaning they appear using abrahamic terminology. The fact that they are above the army of law gods implies being archaic deities of some kind. And the three pure ones are also referred to as the three divine teachers, which is a similar term as wisemen. Since the three pure ones are also depicted as one with the flow of the tao, the parallel is very strong.

Lao tsu is also implied to be an incarnation of one of the pure ones in some taoist lore, and in-game he is referred to as such. Note that this doesn't rule out the wisemen being them since different beings can have multiple interpretations in one world, and be different beings in different worlds. Since lao tsu is referred to as **Taishang LaoJun**, who is the third pure one. He is also said in an interview to be in a sense an embodiment of nature, which makes him presumably one of neutral's highest gods. Note how the pure ones are seen as in a sense an embodiment of the tao, which would make him similar to figures like yhvh or mem aleph, who represent embodiments of a universal aspect of reality.

The use of taishang laojun in this way likely ties to how while in most taoism the jade emperor is seen as the highest deity, certain branches consider it a higher teaching to venerate the three pure ones. So in the context of smti, his presence may be presenting yhvh like a jade emperor-like figure who he is taking a role of presenting himself as higher than. Interestingly, this read on it would be giving it a kind of gnostic theme, where he takes a role akin to sophia. This also ties to how the pure ones are not seen as rulers, but teachers, and in smti, he passes himself off as a guide who explicitly isn't acting as a ruler. Gnostic aeons likewise don't act as rulers, but rather guides you can seek to raise yourself to.

**Xi wangmu** is sometimes considered
the wife of the jade emperor, or sometimes some other relation. She generally in myth
guards the peaches of immortality, relating to when in
IV
she was the demon kaga sacrificed herself to fight.

**The jade emperor** is the head god of
taoism. He is the head god, but different stories imply differences
in whether he was always god, or came to power. An interesting tie in
with yhvh here is that similar things are said about him in game.
There's different stories. And like in taoism, in the end it seems to
not necessarily matter, so much as what his role is now. The gods in
taoism are seen as roles more than they are necessarily entities.
Each role corresponds to a part of the tao that an “immortal” can
fulfill. And likewise they can give up their role. So the thing to
note is that while beliefs can differ, the important thing is noting
that he is the head god “now.” Missionaries and later syncretic
religions like cao dai even tried to say he was meant to be the same
entity as the christian god, so tying him to yhvh is not a bad in
universe idea.

In one legend, heaven was weak and unable to stave off
demons. So he trained for hundreds of millions of years in taoist
arts to become the most powerful being in creation to unite it.
Likewise an evil demon trained for almost as long, hoping to take
over heaven itself. But the jade emperor won, and was declared the strongest and
wisest and so most qualified to lead, and unified heaven.
You can
argue that this uniting and creation of such things as angels could be similar to the backstory of yhvh. Note that one reason that heads gods like zeus and the jade emperor do not show up personally is because in game yhvh is kind of treated as a stand in for many of them at once.

**Hokuto Seikun** is the Japanese name for Beiji Xian Weng also known
 as Bei Dou Xing Jun or its full name, Beifang Beiji Zhong Tian
Zi Wei Dadi. He is a deity in Taoism who administers the
life and death of a person, and judges their actions in life which he
then use to decide whether one goes to heaven or hell. Also known as the
 Lord of the Northern Hemisphere, Wise Man of the North Star or the Big
Dipper. In other verses, he appears as a strict old man wrapped in icy
robes, and is the opposite of Nan Dou Xing Jun, a mild-mannered youth wrapped in fiery robes.

He shows up in many games as a chaotically aligned demon of the fury race. Because while the games associate taoism primarily with neutral, it has some chaotic aspects as well.

**Nanto Seikun** is the Japanese name for Nan Dou Xing Jun, the Six
Longevity Lords of the Southern Hemisphere in Taoism. An opposite to Hokuto Seikun,
 Nanto Seikun is attributed to the element of fire, appearing as a
youthful person in fiery robes. Prayers to Nanto Seikun allow a person
to prolong their life, averting any disasters that can lead to death and
 change their luck or fortune.

Notive how his design is drawn to contrast Hokuto seikun, being currounded by fire instead of ice. Nanto seikun is shown as neutral deity race. He is also seen wearing taoist symbols, though showing up with a blue and red yin yang rather than black and white. Unlike hokuto saikun, nanto saikun is actually depicted as neutral aligned, despite the more intimidating fire based appearance.

**Yama** also shows up again in chinese religion in general as the judge of hell. generally has his face on it, which is money you burn to send to
ghosts. Yama is the judge of the dead in many eastern religions, originating in dharmic ones. In SMTI he is a chaos aligned character, possibly due to his association with hell. in Devil survivor, he represents and enforces keisuke's out of control demands for judgement applied haphazardly.

Yama is portrayed as a large man with a scowling red face, bulging eyes,
 and a long beard. He wears traditional robes and a judge's cap or a
crown which bears the character for "king." Yama is not only the ruler but also the judge of the underworld
 and passes judgment on all the dead. He always appears in a male form,
and his minions include a judge who holds in his hands a brush and a
book listing every soul and the allotted death date for every life. Ox-Head and Horse-Face,
 the fearsome guardians of hell, bring the newly dead, one by one,
before Yama for judgement. Men or women with merit will be rewarded good
future lives or even revival in their previous life.
 The spirits of the dead, on being judged by Yan, are supposed to
either pass through a term of enjoyment in a region midway between the
earth and the heaven of the gods or to undergo their measure of punishment in the nether world. Neither location is permanent and after a time, they return to Earth in new bodies.
"Yama" was sometimes considered to be a position in the celestial hierarchy, rather than an individual.
There were said to be cases in which an honest mortal was rewarded the post of Yan and served as the judge and ruler of the underworld.

**Zhong kui**. In Taoism, Zhong Kui was a man who desired to be the emperor's
personal physician. He was said to be unpleasant to look at and had a
disfigured face. Despite exceling in the imperial exams, the emperor of
China refused to grant Zhong Kui the position of physician because of
his appearance. Distraught, Zhong Kui committed suicide by bashing his
head repeatedly at the imperial gates.

One night when the emperor was gravely ill, he had a dream in
where he saw two Mo Guai (demons). The bigger demon, who was wearing an
official's hat, ripped out the smaller demon's eye and ate it. The
bigger demon then introduced himself as Zhong Kui. He said that he had
sworn to rid the empire of evil. When the emperor awoke, he was cured of
 his illness. His worship eventually spread to Japan. In iva he shows up as one of the figures working for the divine powers. Ironic, due to being a transcended human.

**Sun Wukong,** also known as the
Monkey King, is a main character in the Chinese classical novel
Journey to the West. Sun Wukong is also found in many later stories
and adaptations. In the novel, he is a monkey born from a stone who
acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices. He makes problems for heaven until the jade emperor brings him there to hope he will become more manageable. But sun wukong believed he would be given a high rank only to be given the rank of watching the stables. He rebels and proclaims himself the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven and sets the Cloud Horses free in vengeance.

Sun Wukong later single-handedly defeats the Army of Heaven's 10,000 celestial warriors, all 28 constellations, four heavenly kings, and Nezha, and proves himself equal to the best of Heaven's generals, Erlang Shen.
 Eventually, through the teamwork of Taoist and Buddhist forces,
including the efforts from some of the greatest deities, and then
finally by the Bodhisattva of mercy, Guanyin, Sun Wukong is captured.

The Jade Emperor and the authorities of Heaven appeal to the Buddha,
 who arrives from his temple in the West. The Buddha bets that Sun
Wukong cannot escape from Buddha's palm. Sun Wukong smugly accepts the
bet. He leaps and flies to the end of the world. Seeing nothing but five
 pillars, Wukong believes he has reached the ends of Heaven. To prove
his trail, he marks the pillars with a phrase declaring himself the
great sage equal to heaven. He leaps back and lands in the Buddha's palm. He is
surprised to find that the five "pillars" he found are in fact the
fingers of the Buddha's hand. When Wukong tries to escape, the Buddha
turns his hand into a mountain. Before Wukong can lift it off, the
Buddha seals him there using a paper talisman bearing the mantra *Om Mani Padme Hum* in gold letters. Sun Wukong remains imprisoned for five hundred years.

He later after being freed accompanies the monk Xuanzang on a journey to retrieve Buddhist sutras from India. He shows up working for the chaos side in sj. Fitting due to his lore about rebelling against heaven and being punished by it.

**Zhu Yin**, also known as Zhulong (*Illuminating Dragon*) and Shokuin (*Shokuin*)?
 in Japanese, is a Chinese light and weather dragon deity that lives on
Mount Zhōng, one of Heaven's gates to the North, - it appears as a 300
mile long dragon, with an elderly human male face instead of a draconic
one. The earliest legend of China attributes daybreak to Zhulong opening
 his eyes, and nightfall to Zhulong closing his eyes - its cold breath
brought about the winter season, while its warm breath brought about
summer. It lives at the foot of its mountain and did not have a need to
eat, drink or rest. The rain and wind are at its beck and call, along
with his illumination being so great, it even pierces the depths of the
Underworld.

In strange journey it shows up as one of the figures working on the chaos side.

**Qing niugai** It's believed that Qing Niuguai is the demonization of Qing Niu, the ox ridden by Lao tsu. It shows up in game as an ox riding a cloud surrounded by taoist symbols. While not necessarily a major figure in and of itself, if one contextualizes lao tsu as an incarnation of Taishang LaoJun in the games, and look at its appearance as a divine beast, then it could be meant to represent a divine mount of his. In-game it shows up as a duplicated servant of xi wangmu however.

In-game its described as the immortal cow of Tai
Shang Lao Jun that descended to earth and caused many disasters. When
Tai Shang Lao Jun was away, he posed as the emperor and ruled the
kingdom, but when the real emperor was found, he rampaged and caused
many deaths. Thanks to Xuan Nu and Xu Jia, Tai Shang Lao Jun's pupil,

Qing Niuguai was brought back to his master.

**Hua po**. According to scripture Zi-bu-yu in Qing dynasty, Hua Po is a kind of
tree spirit said to be formed from the disembodied souls of dead humans
when three or more people hang themselves from the same tree. They
appear as beautiful young girls that are dressed in white clothes but
are much smaller than the average human. Although they cannot speak, it
is said that they make sounds that are as beautiful as those of
songbirds. It shows up as a neutral demon in many games.

**Hsing-Hsing** Also known as Shōjō, Hsing-Hsing is a sea spirit from Chinese lore. He
has a red face, hair and a fondness for alcohol. One story has them
giving a boy the sake that can heal his father, with a neighbor stealing
 some of it and being poisoned since he wasn't pure of heart. Its name
is another word for *orangutan*. It appears as a monkey, and is neutral aligned.

**Fuxi** is a legendary bird is said to inhabit Mount Tai (Taishan) in China. Whenever
 it appears war follows. It has the face of fierce man and the body of a
 cock and cries its own name. Legend has it that it was spotted right
before the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War. It is a dark law demon in many games.

**Gozuki** is A mythological creature from China, it is an ox-headed being tasked with
 keeping spirits in the underworld from escaping before their penance is
 finished. It shows up neutral aligned in many games, and looks like a blue minotaur.

**Mezuki** is A horse-headed demon from Chinese Buddhist lore. Along with Gozuki, he works in the underworld under King Enma.

**Bai Suzhen**, also known as **Bai Niang Zi**, was a snake demon who sought to become a goddess in the Chinese *Legend of the White Snake*.
 She fell in love with a human man and sought to marry him, but was
sealed away in a deep well at the Leifang Pagoda. Her appearance and
demeanor varies from monstrous and savage to kind and gentle in various
retellings of the story. She often shows up as a chaos demon in the games.

She shows up in SMTIV in a challenge quest where she is looking for her ex lover saying that he had betrayed her, in keeping with the similarities to her story.

**Guan Di** is the title given to
General Guan Yu who was active during the Three Kingdoms Era of
China. He was deified because of his accomplishments and loyalty
towards his lord. He is held in high regards in Confucianism and is
also worshiped as an indigenous Chinese deity, a bodhisattva in the
Chinese Buddhist tradition and as a guardian deity in Taoism. He was
widely popularized by the Chinese historical novel Romance of the
Three Kingdoms. And is an example of deification of important
figures.

In Western culture, he is often
mistaken as the Taoist God of War when in fact Guan Yu does not bless
those who go in to battle, but those who take an Oath of Brotherhood
and stand up for righteousness. Oddly, he is worshiped by both the
Chinese Police force (for standing up for righteousness) and also by
the Triads (who place high emphasis on loyalty and brotherhood). In
Chinese Buddhism, he is known as Sangharama and is often paired with
Skanda. He is charged with guarding the Buddhist faith and dharma. He
is a boss in devil summoner, and shows up as a demon in other games.

## Ethics and Practices

**Ethics**. Taoism of course like any
religion had a set of precepts in accord with the times. There is
little reason to list them all here, but as far as standard fare,
they tended to not be too far to extremes of law or chaos in terms of
ideals. So the neutral assumptions are standard fare. One point made
in games is that eastern religions tended not to have the binary
heaven / hell, good / sin thinking of western logic. And so its more
balance type thinking is something the games associate with neutral in
general.

That being said, taoism is not just about balance, which
would be a rather limited way to describe it. In practice yang is
considered better than yin, even if they are bound together. Their
balance is sometimes seen as something one must understand the flow
of to move toward the better, understanding the worse as connected to
it. Not just a balance in general.
Taoism thought that humans should live
in tune with nature. Which they thought meant a few things. First,
that human society was ultimately ephemereal, and that trying to
build it up was in some ways a futile endeavor. And so living off the
land without lofty goals was ideal. And they even idealized animals
for being able to do this ideally. Likewise, they believed that
imperial chinese emphasis on its own importance was arrogant and
trying to create an image of permanence where there was none. To
them, the government should be somewhat invisible, providing some
order, but not in a pushy or overbearing way. Forcing ideals to a
high degree was seen as unproductive, since virtue only mattered or
could be cultivated properly if self grown.

Likewise, they thought that people were
naturally oriented to the good, and it was often human society and
culture and relations that causes them problems. So they wished to
break free from being bound to other people's whims in this sense and
return to their own true inner natural state. The game seems to be interpreting this also as neutral, since neutral is about humans remaining as the natural humans are, and working in that paradigm rather than trying to radically transform humanity. As a metaphor they refer
to unchopped wood, saying that it is best left unchopped, and culture
and ordered lawful states was people attempting to chop it. However,
despite calling to mind a relation to nature and animals, this not meant to be seen in a darwinistic light like much
of mainline chaos. So despite those tones, there's a reason they
consider it able to be associated with neutral. Modern taoists of
course don't assume that it inherently means they have to reject
society and live in nature. Nor even did earlier ones at the time
think that that was something all should try. But rather that human
society should itself see its place within the cycle of nature and
its ephemereality, rather than outside of it. Being naturally
oriented to the good does not change that it is within people to act
unnaturally. Since naturalness in this context had normative
definitions about being within a natural flow, not a statement just
of how people were.

Note how this focus on naturalness in some ways can be an inspiration for neutral, in that it emphasizes people being as they are, which has to do with neutral's focus on not radically seeking to be far deviated from human existence.

**Wu Wei**. Which translates to **non action**, but in practice means something closer to **Action without effort** and **naturalness** are envisioned by them as the highest
ideals of practice. (Though do not inherently have connotations of
positive morality, since evil beings can likewise learn this).
Basically, again calling to mind animals, they saw it as people
simply acting without having to stop and think about it. And the mark
of a true sage. In the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu explains that beings (or
phenomena) that are wholly in harmony with the Tao behave in a
completely natural, uncontrived way. The goal of spiritual practice
for the human being is, according to Lao Tzu, the attainment of this
purely natural way of behaving, as when the planets revolve around
the sun. The planets effortlessly do this revolving without any sort
of control, force, or attempt to revolve themselves, instead engaging
in effortless and spontaneous movement. Like how sailing downstream
has the water do most of the action for you. But one could try to
sail upstream only to realize nothing is accomplished by it.

This is one reason behind the strong
tie between taoism and neutrality. This action without action has
connotations of being a lite or subtle action. One encourages virtue
not by trying to put it into practice without rest, which is seen as
unnatural, but by having it implicitly in a subtle way. It criticizes
those who go out of their way to do good in an aggrandized way,
saying that the foolish try to be good, but the wise do not even
recognize their own goodness, since it is natural to them. It says a
good man does little yet much is done, yet a foolish one does much
but little is accomplished. And when a disciplinarian does something
and no one responds, he rolls up his sleeves in an attempt to enforce
order. The connotations here that are being interpreted as heavily
neutral are just that. It values virtue, but accuses law of doing it
in an unnatural far reaching way, and being the disciplinarian in
this context. And instead neutral values a more subtle virtue. In
contrast, compare with the new testament implication of people giving
all the money they have and transforming society radically. Which
ties into christianity's law associations.

Note that in SMTI lao tsu the founder of taoism pushes neutral in an indirect rather than a direct way. Which might be meant to call to mind this idea of action without action, leading the world towards neutral without directly fighting for it.

Though on the surface this concept of
naturalness could sound potentially impulsive, this was not quite the
intent that was meant by it, since impulses can likewise come off
very distinct from what they saw as a natural flow. This flow can
involve learned behavior in some ways as well. One example given is
someone so skilled at a practice that they can simply do it without
even thinking about it as if it was as natural to them as walking
around. With the parts being left behind being the human doubt and
anxiety. Being natural in some ways can be interpreted in a neutral way, being in tune with normal human existence. But at the same time, chaos is considered eastern themed, and so this naturalness, being in tune with nature may relate to chaos' animalistic side.

The language they used though it might
seem ambiguous to a modern eye was defined that way due to the
perspective they had on nature at the time. They thought people were
naturally good, and so if left alone to some degree, they would
develop more natural goodness, and trying to build up big plans was
impeding it. So its not that they were trying to emphasize
selfishness,
but simply had a few dubious ideas about how idealistic they were
about people acting reasonable in a free for all.

A few aspects should be mentioned of
aspects of its ethics that lean law or chaos though. Taoism talks
about how heaven is impartial, willing to harm individuals for the
good of the whole. And that sages likewise can do this. Which leans
towards law. Likewise, it also mentions that in some aspects some
knowledge is better kept from people. Though in this context
knowledge refers to enticing them with things they will lust for
causing problems. Which calls to mind the lawful aspect that without
demonic knowledge which translates to self lusts and egoism that
people will be better. On the flipside, its idolizing of how beasts
in nature live, and this naturalness and acceptance of ephemereality
come off a bit chaotic. Its idea of a hands off government that
mostly lets people alone can in theory, but in practice despite
professing it chaos is not really this in practice. But even neutral
is willing to do these things at times. So its obvious to see why the
games interpret it as a balance. Chaos is depicted as eastern in tone, and so liekly draws from a more aggressive interpretation of living naturally.

**Sages** were then simply those who
mastered the arts. They were both wise and powerful, and would by
many interpretations become immortal. Often they were assumed to live
in mountains simply because they no longer had need for regular
society. And would not need to eat food either. Again, note however
that masters of taoist practices were not inherently seen as properly
embodying its virtues. Evil beings could likewise become very
powerful through them.

**Fulu** is a term for Daoist incantations and magic symbols, written or painted as talisman or **Lingfu** by Daoist practitioners. These practitioners are also called Fulu Pai or the Fulu sect, an informal group made up of priests from different schools of Daoism. These charms and amulets are also not confined strictly to Daoism as they have been incorporated in to several forms of Chinese Buddhism, and have descendants such as the Ofuda of Japanese Buddhism and Shinto. The latter of which shows up in the games with onmyoji and the exorcism skills.

**Neidan**, or **internal alchemy** is an array of esoteric doctrines and physical, mental, and spiritual practices that Taoist initiates use to prolong life and create an immortal spiritual body that would survive after death. Also known as **Jindan**, or golden elixir inner alchemy combines theories derived from external alchemy (waidan), correlative cosmology (including the Five Phases), the emblems of the Yijing, and medical theory, with techniques of Daoist meditation, daoyin gymnastics, and sexual practices.

**Chinese alchemy** is an ancient Chinese scientific and technological approach to alchemy, a part of the larger tradition of Taoist / Daoist body-spirit cultivation developed from the traditional Chinese understanding of medicine and the body. According to original texts such as the Cantong qi, the body is understood as the focus of cosmological processes summarized in the five agents of change, or Wuxing, the observation and cultivation of which leads the practitioner into alignment and harmony with the Tao. Therefore, the traditional view in China is that alchemy focuses mainly on longevity and the purification of one's spirit, mind and body, providing, health, longevity and wisdom, through the practice of Qigong, wuxingheqidao. The consumption and use of various concoctions known as alchemical medicines or elixirs, each of which having different purposes but largely were concerned with immortality.

Daoism had two distinct parts, the classical Daojia (Tao chia), which was mystical and stemmed primarily from Laozi and Zhuangzi, and the more popular Daojiao (Tao chiao), which was the popular, magical and alchemical side of Daoism. In general, classical Daojia was more austere, whereas Daojiao was more practiced by the general populace.

## Afterlife

**The afterlife** was ironically never
a big part of taoism until it came in contact with buddhism. They
said people died and became spirits, but the details past that were
vague. And their goal was in fact to never die. Sages were seen as
immortal. And would be able to visit the gods and other immortals
without dying. And this was a goal they should strive for. Which
ironically may be a misunderstanding of early taoist texts which may
have been talking about how nothing can harm true sages, even the
reality of their death. Some early taoist texts saw death as a
natural part of the ebb and flow of the tao. But many later ones were
obsessed with immortality and beoming an immortal powerful sage. And
used various practices to try to get this. Such as practicing the
taoist virtues. And alchemy (some of which involved drinking
dangerous potions that killed them young). And
sex
practies that were based on chi and the flow of yin and yang energies
that they thought if done right could prolong life.

One of these
practices being to have sex without orgasming, because this
apparently generates life energy without releasing it. Unsurprisingly
these manuals were all written for males, with some veering into sketchy territory by saying that one generates better life energy with younger partners. But
these practices were not the only thing done, and they were warned
that a sex obsession could also hurt life. And of course monks were
often forbidden from sex. These practices were not infinitely common
however and have to be understood in the context of the times.

Taoists were originally skeptical of
buddhism when it tried to come in to china, seeing nirvana as strange
and self contradictory. Since you had to want not to want anything.
That meant that in order to achieve Nirvana, one had to cease to want
to achieve it. This argument informs the Mahayana notion of a
Boddhisattva, who qualifies for Nirvana but voluntarily stays behind
in the cycle of rebirth to help the rest of humanity. The Mahayana
wing of Buddhism was the more successful in China because this
implicit egalitarianism—everyone could be Buddha, just as everyone
can be a Daoist or Confucian Sage. Whereas theravada buddhism was
more clear about how only certain people will ever be enlightened.

Obviously, note that taoism's lack of
focus on an afterlife is another reason it can be associated with
neutral. Which focuses on human existence. Obviously in practice
taoism was not by any means secular, but many religions were simply
more focused on this world than whatever came after. Note how neutral
is not necessarily against gods per say, but merely against them
radically trying to transform the world. (or in the case of dagda,
among others shows that even that is not true for all neutral
figures. His transformation being rather large, but seen as neutral
since it is still in a balanced way). Taoism's lack of focus on an
afterlife then can be conflated with neutral in that it has no
particular eschatology, and so its gods don't necessarily have to be
interpreted as having any particular plan to transform the world, but
will merely protect it. In contrast with something like christianity
that obviously has a concept of a point where history ends and leads
into the afterlife. (In game afterlives are of course also conflated
with radical transformations. Another thing taoism's subtlety is
seemingly against).