Why is Taoism not as widespread in China as it is now?

You have to understand that when flowers bloom and fall, they will flourish and decline. The two religions of Buddhism and Taoism have always been the prosperity of the Tao and the decline of the Buddha, and the decline of the Buddha, which is a natural law. It's like a country that prospers and eventually declines.

Just like China's 5,000-year-old metaphysical society and today's scientific society. In addition to this, Taoism is based on "life", which pays attention to longevity and self-cultivation. Taoism is known as the 3,600 side doors and 800 left roads.

For modern people, it is difficult to accept or repulsive. Buddhism is based on "sexuality", focusing on epiphany, roundness, enlightenment, spiritual detachment, etc., for modern people, it is like finding spiritual attachment and spiritual sustenance. (Note:.)

Buddhism and Taoism are actually both dual cultivation, but their initial focus is different. In addition to the previous competition between Buddhism and Taoism, Taoism lost, and Buddhism flourished (in fact, Buddhism and Taoism have always been that today he won, tomorrow I won...) Patriarch Bai Yuchan said it well, they are all juniors, talking about right and wrong, arguing about high and low.

In fact, the sages of the three religions, they don't talk about these, they are all descendants fighting for life and death, and they have long been contrary to what the patriarchs of the three religions preached.

As far as I understand, because I have three years of experience in helping to build Taoist temples, I often communicate with Taoist leaders, and to sum up, there are several reasons:

1. Caused by the Taoist idea of "pure and non-action". Taoism emphasizes the spirit of "pure and non-action", which makes Taoist monks arrogant and arrogant, ignoring mundane affairs, and without the call and sense of responsibility to "revitalize Taoism", making missionaries scarce;

2. The guiding ideology of Taoism determines that the organization of Taoism is not strong, which also leads to the weak cohesion of Taoism, the lack of good organization and good team, even the places where Taoism has been inherited for thousands of years (such as Wudang Mountain, Longhu Mountain, etc.), are sparse and unformed.

3. Taoism lacks leading figures. This leading figure is not only profound, but also has strong appeal and great charm of "circle fans"; Counting the Buddhist world, there are many talents, while Taoism is very few, which makes people sigh.

4. Taoism is not strong in discipline and strict requirements, and it is recognized by the phenomenon of fake Taoist priests or abduction and deception under the banner of Taoism, and self-discipline is not strict, such as the Quanzhen Religion is not like the Quanzhen Religion, and the Zhengyi Religion has been undoubtedly with the rivers and lakes. Buddhism emphasizes "taking precepts as teachers", and there are many high-ranking monks in the world, although there are many fake monks, but Buddhism has always maintained and maintained its legal status;

5. The backbone of Taoism is not enough, and it does not take the initiative to occupy the position. As of 2014, there are only more than 8,000 Taoist temples and more than 50,000 Taoist priests in the country; Compared with the same period, there are more than 35,000 Buddhist monasteries and more than 400,000 monks.

6. Insufficient cooperation with **, but instead became a "hostage" kidnapped by enterprises, tourism agencies and other groups, and even the phenomenon of "professional Taoists" monopolizing Taoist temples.

Although Taoism and Buddhism are both traditional Chinese religious beliefs, in modern society, Buddhism is more prosperous than Taoism due to the following reasons:

1.External Transmission: Buddhism traditionally attaches great importance to external transmission and meditation, especially in overseas Chinese communities, where there are many temples and other Buddhist sites that are convenient for believers to study, worship and practice.

However, Taoism has traditionally been weaker than external transmission, and there is a lack of relevant institutions or channels for publicity and promotion.

In contrast, Taoism has a variety of belief objects, including immortals, Taoist ancestors, ancestors, etc., and it is difficult to form a unity.

First, a stable image.

3.Conceptual system: Compared with Buddhism, Taoism lacks an authoritative conceptual system, and different Taoist schools even have different cosmological views and philosophical thoughts. This makes it difficult for Taoism to form a stable and unified system.

1. Systematic religious system, which leads to its disadvantage in spreading and competition.

4.Social environment: The fast-paced, impetuous environment of modern society has become more and more vulgar and utilitarian. Buddhism, on the other hand, is centered on compassion, forbearance, and self-denial, which is more likely to meet the needs of modern society for spiritual comfort and a sense of self-meaning.

In general, the prosperity of Taoism and Buddhism in modern society is not only based on religious beliefs per se, but also influenced by many cultural, historical, social and other factors.

Taoism pays attention to "quiet and inaction", and has been very low-key since ancient times, and has never attached importance to preaching. If Taoism had been preached in the same way as European and American religions, Taoism would have been able to spread all over the world, after all, the Tao Te Ching was greater than the Bible.