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Daozang
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Quick Facts
Chinese:
“Canon of the Way”
Wade-Giles romanization:
Tao Tsang
Also called:
Daoist Canon
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Daozang

Daoist literature
Also known as: “Daoist Canon”, “Tao Tsang”
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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History

Daozang, a large, imperially sponsored collection of Daoist writings, very few of which have been translated into English. The original canon, printed by the Daoist emperors of the Song dynasty (960–1279 ce), comprised almost 5,000 volumes, but many of these were destroyed by imperial decree during the Yuan, or Mongol, dynasty (1279–1368). The present Daozang, numbering well over 1,000 volumes, contains a variety of texts including speculative philosophical writings and esoteric works on Daoist meditation, alchemy, and divine revelation.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Matt Stefon.