Daoism in China Today, 1980–2002

Drawing on Daoist Association sources, fieldwork and interviews, this article analyses some major aspects of Daoism in China today. It first presents the revival of destroyed Daoist temples, the return of liturgical activities in Daoist temples and the establishment of training classes for young Daoists. It also discusses the restoration of ordinations of Daoists at the Quanzhen monastery Baiyun guan and the Halls of Zhengyi Tianshi at Longhu shan. Based upon the National Daoist Association's statistics from 1996, there were about 20,000 “Daoist priests who live at home,” called sanju daoshi, who perform Daoist ritual outside monasteries in local communities across China. Despite the state's policy of controlling sanju daoshi, the revival of Daoist ritual tradition in village temples in China today reveals that Daoism is still very much alive in Chinese communities.