ABSTRACT
The Taoists seem to have appeared in the third century B.C. to stand against the Confucians. The Taoists insist that men should give up every artfulness and live according to the Tao, natural law. Natural law was considered central not only by the Taoists but also by other schools. In some cases, natural law is Heaven and in others, Law. A man who was free of death was called an Immortal or Perfected Man. It seems that ideas concerning the Immortals evolved in connection with Taoist thought. Chinese culture is said to be realistic in general and to have a peculiarity in point of pursuing human desires. The description in the Mo-tzu is directed primarily to Confucians. Confucians were never eager to refer to the existence of demons, considering rather the matter of the relation between the individual and society as well as the role of morality in society.
