ABSTRACT
In a sense it is inappropriate to treat the two totally separate phenomena of the title under the single rubric of Taoism. Philosophical and religious Taoism share the use of the word tao and not very much else—most of Lao-tzu’s recommendations were and still are blatantly ignored by followers of religious Taoism. The latter term itself has come to be used as a blanket title denoting everything recognisably ‘religious’ in China which was not obviously Confucian or Buddhist, when it is perhaps best defined in antithesis to China’s age-old indigenous ‘popular’ religion. To counter the insidious influence of the latter was the prime concern of the early followers of the Way of the Heavenly Masters.
