Home›Chinese (Philosophical-Religious)›DenominationsBrowse ByDenominationsThis page groups religions by how many internal denominations or branches they have split into over time. Wikipedia notes that Protestantism alone, having separated from the Catholic Church in the Reformation, "is split into thousands of denominations." Browsing this way lets a visitor see which traditions have stayed largely unified and which have fragmented into many distinct bodies.FactsLearn MoreDenominationsSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedChinese 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. 2StatusStanding as a Comparative CategoryWell-attestedContested: 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. 3DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedReligions 1Learn MoreChinese 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.DenominationsFilter Results4 entriesDefining Doctrinal PositionAllAuthority through registers, talismans and liturgy (1)Neidan: the refinement of body and spirit as the path (1)Neidan: the refinement of body and spirit as the path (1)Revealed scriptures and inner visualisation (1)GovernanceAllAuthority through monastic ordination lineage and its seats (2)No central authority (1)Priestly office passing by descent (1)Liturgical LanguageAllClassical Chinese (read in Sino-Japanese where used in Japan) (4)Membership Over TimeAllno count isolating this lineage exists (1)OrdinationAllCelibacy required of the ordained (1)Married clergy permitted (1)Office passes by descent (1)Open to women and men (1)Ordination is into a monastic order, not to a congregation (2)Origin Period End YearAll370 (1)1170 (1)1300 (1)Origin Period Start YearAll142 (1)364 (1)1167 (1)1200 (1)Status TodayAllHistorical; not practised continuously (1)Living tradition, practised today (4)Show ResultsBrowseCompareDragon GateDenominations1 entryQuanzhen (Complete Reality)Denominations1 entryShangqing (Highest Clarity)Denominations1 entryZhengyi (Orthodox Unity)Denominations1 entrySources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. Daoism Handbooktier 1Livia Kohn (ed.), Brill, 20003. The Encyclopedia of Taoismtier 1Fabrizio Pregadio (ed.), Routledge, 2008s.v. Daojia; s.v. DaojiaoView the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.