Abstract:

The Taiping Tao, as one of the original forms of Taoism was to create a "Taiping" (peaceful state) in the world. With the advent of its classic Taiping Scriptures, two distinct execution subjects that pursued this social ideal had evolved at different times, namely the "Qingling Taiping Tao" and the " Huangtian Taiping Tao". By combing the existing literature, we can see both two sects under the guidance of the core principles of the Taiping Scriptures were products of social existence, whether it is the "Qingling Taiping Tao" that supplemented the Han Dynasty's to help the country and the people, or the "Huangtian Taiping Tao" that tried to subvert the Dynasty. Both of them were repondings to the social reality full of suffering in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Although the two sects adopt different methods of practice, they are essentially pursuing the vision of the "Taiping"(peaceful state) in the world as expected in the Taiping Scriptures.

Key words:

Taiping Scriptures, Taiping Tao, Taoist Identity, Ideal Society