The Daozang is a large canon of Taoist writings, consisting of around 1,500 texts that were seen as continuing traditions first embodied by the Daodejing, Zhuangzi, and Liezi. The canon was assembled by monks c. 400 CE in an attempt to bring together these disparate yet consonant teachings, and it included commentaries and expositions from various masters on material found in the aforementioned core texts of Taoism. The anthology consisted of three divisions (known as grottoes) based on what were seen at that time in Southern China as Taoism's primary focuses: meditation, ritual, and exorcism. These three grottoes were ranked by skill level—with exorcism being the lowest and meditation the highest—and used for the initiation of Taoist masters. In addition to the Three Grottoes, there were the "Four Supplements" that were added to the canon c. 500 CE. Three were primarily sourced from the older core texts, with the other taken from a separate, established philosophical tradition known as Tianshi Dao. Unlike many spiritual and religious canons, the Daozang is not considered to be highly organized. Although at present the core divisions have been preserved, substantial forks in the ordering and arrangement of the constituent texts have arisen due to the later addition of commentaries, revelations and texts further elaborating upon earlier iterations.

Timeline

Many new Daozang were published.

Constituent parts

Three Grottoes (sandong) 三洞 400

Each of the Three Grottoes contains the following 12 chapters

Four Supplements 500