Review On The Changeover Of Interpretation Work Of Taoist Teachings In Modern Times

Every religion has its own beliefs and teachings, which always vary to guard their unchangeable beliefs. So it is with Taoism. Facing new problems which appear in modern society, Taoists should offer their explanations to their believers according to their beliefs, which is the key to their development in the diversity of the world. So I chose this topic to review the work Taoists did in the field of explaining their beliefs.In my paper, what I tried to analyze is as follows. Firstly, I tried to list the factors which affected the development of the Taoists' explanation work before 1978, including social factors, political factors, thought factors and so on. Compared with the revival movement of Buddhism, Taoism seemed to have fallen behind a lot. Secondly, with the ending of political movements, the circle of religion, including Taoism, received a new life. Many intellectuals turned themselves to the study of religion, which helped Taoists to rebuild their confidence of beliefs. They began to hold a series of seminars whose subjects concentrated on how to explain traditional Taoist beliefs to serve the modern society. Thirdly, what I tried to conclude are the results Taoists have achieved. Fourthly, in spite of their achievements, there're some problems they haven't solved, which probably will hold back their work, such as lack of a theoretical paradigm and neglect of the interpretation work of Taoist classics. Last, I tried to express my view on the prospect of Taoists' interpretation work of their teachings in the future.