Zhang Daoling or any more religious practice of the Tao, are originators of the major concepts of Taoism.
In studying Taoism, it seems to contain elements that reflect a Buddhist influence, or at least the crossfertilization that occurred during the medieval period. Like Hinduism, it seems to have been syncretic, integrating many different elements from both high philosophy and popular practice into one, loose system of suggestive thoughts, metaphors, fables, and poems about the divine harmony of the universe, or the Tao.
One of the things that does clearly distinguish Taoism from other major world religions like Christianity, Judaism, and Islam is its emphasis on physical practices. Like Hinduism, with its hatha yoga practice, Taoism has prescribed physical practices that are designed to help the adept become more in harmony with the universal flow. One of the practices that is connected to Taoism is that of qi gong (variously spelled in the references as qigong, ch'i gong, ch'i kung), which involves work with the breath, body posture, mind, and selfmassage (Wang and Liu, 1994).
This practice has a long history in China, beginning approximately 3,000 years ago (Wang and Liu, 1994). It is described as a martial art, but its primary purpose is certainly not either attack nor defense. Instead, its primary purpose seems to be the location and balancing of the inner qi. The concept of qi is a fundamental one in both Taoism and qi gong, but difficult to explain precisely in Western terms.
It is difficult to define precisely in the same way that Tao itself is difficult to define. In some respects, it might be seen as similar to the distinction between Brahman and shakti in Hinduism. Brahman, like Tao, is the allinall and the eternal. Qi, like shakti, is the vital energy or the motive force in all of existence. Without qi there is no flow, no life, no change. It is the constant flow of being itself and practitioners ...