This page groups religions by the rough size of their following, from faiths with a handful of adherents to the few traditions that dominate world population. Wikipedia notes that the four largest religious groups, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism, together "account for 5.8 billion people and 73% of the population." Browsing by size lets a visitor see how a small or newer movement compares in scale to a religion counted in the billions.
Facts
Overview
What Defines This GroupingChinese traditions built on a philosophical account of how the world works - the Dao, the interplay of yin and yang, the movement of qi - which developed alongside it a full religious apparatus of deities, liturgy, ordained priesthood and alchemical practice. 2 Status
Standing as a Comparative CategoryContested: the division of Daoism into a philosophical strand and a religious one is a later convention that specialists now largely reject as a way of splitting the tradition, which did not develop as two things. 3 Learn More
Chinese philosophical-religious tradition
This group gathers a Chinese tradition classed as philosophical-religious, one that began as a philosophy of the natural way and developed into an organised religion with deities, priesthood and liturgy. Taoism is the paradigm, spanning the classic texts of the Dao and the later temple religion alike.
The browser will find the tradition the atlas classes here. The entries describe it across both dimensions, philosophical and religious, which the tradition itself holds together.
Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. Daoism Handbook
Livia Kohn (ed.), Brill, 2000
3. The Encyclopedia of Taoism
Fabrizio Pregadio (ed.), Routledge, 2008s.v. Daojia; s.v. DaojiaoView the Source Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
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