Religious Daoism

Though Religious Daosim had similar ideals and "way" as Philosophical Daoism, there were practices in Religious Daoism that loosely separates the two. One idea is Religious Daoism believes one can achieve "immortality" (xian), a even more perfected version of the "perfected person" (zhen ren). The idea of reaching the state of immortality gave Daoism the religious aspect as it is similar to reaching a god-like state for humans. 

To achieve immortality, one must harmonize with the Dao by practicing breathing exercises that cultivate "qi" within oneself and develop the "inner alchemy". Religious Daoism believed that these pseudo-science practices bring spiritual and physical health to one. Furthermore, cultivating the "inner alchemy" involved other practices such as not eating spicy food, fasting, nurturing the male essence, and more.

Through reading and understanding these Religious Daoist practices, I have realized why these practices have vanished in modern Chinese society today. Since, Religious Daoist practices were never proven scientifically, it certainly has a magical aspect to them. Hence, the Communist Party of China (CPC) saw them as a threat to society, though Daoism is a legal religion in China today. Considering the fact that China has a long history of traditions and people are generally superstitious about past traditions, imagine if the majority of Chinese society began to cultivate "qi" and believing that this could lead to immortality, what could possibly happen in society? It is important to understand that this is valid point of view since it is common among Chinese society to buy into certain practices or religion because it could potentially provide spiritual and health benefits. Furthermore, because these practices are not scientifically backed, the CPC will certainly view these practices can lead to insanity and psychological disorder among society. Hence, it is logical for the CPC to control and ban these activities. Therefore, this could bring out some similarities between Fa Lun Gong and certain Religious Daoist practices to the CPC.

On the other hand, one could also see that the CPC was in fear that these non-scientifical practices could lead to mass gatherings and people following the certain self-claimed Daoist leaders. This is detrimental to the CPC's power over society; hence, CPC initiated mass movements of banning these practices.