Daoism has a native root. Like Confucianism, Daoism also reflects the national spirit of the Chinese people. Lu Xun proclaimed that “in order to have a deep understanding of the Chinese history and culture, one must understand Daoism and first understand the historical development of Daoism”.
Daoism evolved from the religious beliefs in the ancient Chinese society, featuring the ideology and beliefs of the Han nationality. It originated from sorcery and worship of gods and spirits in the Shan (Yin) Dynasty and from the search for elixir by the alchemists in the Warring States and the Qin-Han Dynasties. In the course of its evolution, it assimilated the yin-yang and five-element Doctrine, Master Lao’s Doctrine and Confucianism, and incorporated and worship of gods and spirits, alchemy and ancient Chinese philosophies. Thus its beliefs became more theoretic, forming a theology with complex contents. During the reign of Emperor Shun of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Ling from Feng County in Pei Prefecture was respectfully referred to as Zhang Daoling. Zhang Daoling set up the organized religion of Daoism. “Dao” (way) is its paramount belief, and it is also called the “abstruse religion” or the “way to immortality”. Daoism reveres Master Lao as its founder, calling him the “Most Exalted Lord Lao”. It regards “Dao” (way) as the origin of all things in the universe, and considers that all things in the universe evolved from “Dao”.
　　Daoism aims at immortality, and believes that by practicing Daoism the human can be carefree and live forever. An eternal life combined with “Dao” (way) forms the goal of Daoism. It stresses that “Keep one living on is the way to immortality “and that “My life depends on myself, not on the nature”. The key to practicing Daoism lies in cultivating both one’s nature and one’s life. Cultivating one’ nature is to cultivate one’s morality. Cultivating one’s life is to keep living on.　
　　Daoism reveres the Yellow Emperor (Huang-di). It inherits the tradition of the Chinese nation of worshipping gods and ancestors. The gods worshipped in Daoism include the heavenly deities, the deities of mountain and rivers, the early ancestors, the sages, the men of virtue, and the persons who attained immortality.
　　Toward the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the organized religion of Daoism was founded. It developed on the basis of alchemy and Huang-Lao Doctrine (in the names of the Yellow Emperor Huang-di and Master Lao), and propagated widely among the populace. With the official support of rulers in the Wei-Jin dynasties and the later dynasties, it elbowed its way into the upper strata of the society; From the Sui-Tang Dynasties to the Northern Song Dynasty, the religion was in its heyday. Its status rose highly, and its temples spread to all parts of the country .Many Daoist scholars came up and a mammoth library of Daoist scriptures was compiled and treasured. From the Southern Song Dynasty to the mid-Ming Dynasty , Daoism continued to develop with the support of the rulers . However , due to the sharp national contradictions , in the Jin and Yuan Dynasties various sects within Daoism emerged . Since the mid-Ming period, the rules, harassed by internal and external trouble, were not able to continue to support Daoism financially. After the Manchus entered China, the new rulers were not interested in Daoism. As it lost the political support, Daoism transferred itself from the upper class society to the populace, and gradually became secret religious groups.
　　From the Eastern Han Dynasty down to the present day, there has been accumulated an enormous amount of Daoist literature. The “Daoist Canon”, (a collection of Daoist Scriptures) is one of the treasures of the Chinese culture. Its contents included Daoist commandments, scientific apparatuses, magic pictures, psycho-cultivation, physical exercises, medicine, alchemy and the principal works of some scholars.