First of all, Taoism polytheism has the most far-reaching influence among the people. Worship of gods has existed in people's lives since ancient times. People's wishes for various problems that are difficult to solve in real society, such as drought and flood, crop failure, war and displacement, natural disasters, sickness and death, and the pursuit of a long and peaceful life, success in fame, developed career, happy marriage and a full house of children and grandchildren, are all pinned on the help of the gods. Therefore, folk sacrificial activities have been very prosperous. Whether they are Taoist immortals, immortals, the old gentleman, the heavenly queen, the gods of the sun, the moon and the stars, the mountains and the earth, and the underworld, or foreign western buddhas, Nanhai Bodhisattvas, deities and Notre Dames, they are all regarded by the people of China as gods who can satisfy their secular wishes, and they all worship, pray and sacrifice. Some of the gods believed by ordinary people come from Buddhism and Taoism. In order to win believers, Buddhism and Taoism constantly absorb new gods from folk beliefs, incorporate them into their own immortal pedigree, and re-promote them to the people. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the gods worshipped by Taoism, such as Guandi, Xuan Di, Sanguan, Emperor Wenchang, Emperor Dongyue, Lv Zu, Tian Fei (Mazu), Huang Chengshen and Wang Lingguan, were the most worshipped among the people. Privately built gods, such as Dragon King, Medicine King, Leigong, Vulcan, Mountain God, God of Wealth, Grandpa Land, Goddess of Pine Nuts, can solve different problems. Pray for rain to worship the Dragon King, eliminate disasters and serve Guandi, beg the medicine king to cure diseases, invite Taoist priests to attend funerals, and seek wealth to worship the God of Wealth and children to serve the Empress. Scholars worship Wenchang for fame and fortune, and sailors worship Mazu for peace. On the fifteenth day of the first month, they served the people blessed by the gods in heaven, and at the end of the twelfth month, the king's people were exempted. Chenghuang Temple looks up to God, and Dongyue Temple visits temple fairs. Four seasons and eight festivals, five lines and eight works, each with its own gods and sacrificial activities. Therefore, the belief of Taoism transcends the scope of religion and is well integrated with the production activities and cultural entertainment of ordinary people, which has become an important part of people's living customs.
Taoist methods of cultivating immortals had influenced the people as early as the Southern Song Dynasty, and in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the practice of cultivating immortals was even more rampant. From court nobles to ordinary people, martial artists, Taoist priests and even literati, there are many people who are keen on this. The scholar guessed Hua Fu's examination questions, the people prayed for the immortal to treat the immortal, and the Taoist wrote the scriptures under the guise of Hua Fu. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, many new books were written by Lv Zu, Guandi, Wenchang and others under the guise of God's will. Some of these Taoist books tell the secrets of Inner alchemy, and more are popular books of exhortation and merits and demerits. At that time, in addition to the books published in the Southern Song Dynasty, there were many popular books to persuade the good. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were books such as The Book of the Holy Emperor, Wen Chang Di Yin Prose, Lv Zu's Merits, Wen Di Xiao Jing and Yu Cun. The contents of these good books are mostly teaching under the guise of Shinto, with the aim of helping to establish ethical education and persuading people to do good and eliminate evil. The book strongly advocates the idea of retribution for good and evil, and advocates that there are ghosts and gods everywhere in the world to supervise and observe the behavior of the world, reward good and punish evil. Those who do good will increase their blessings and prolong their lives. If they have many children and grandchildren, the disaster will be reduced, and the disaster will not invade people. Good luck will shine on people. Those who do evil will be punished and their lives will be deprived. Disasters will happen and their descendants will be affected. After death, you will be punished in hell, your soul will be tortured, and you will become poor and even an animal in the afterlife. The book also classifies and quantifies the retribution of good and evil, and lists it in tabular form for people to check their behavior. The list of good and evil is mainly based on Confucian ethical beliefs such as loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, courtesy, righteousness and shame. There are also some moral concepts that meet the requirements of the lower class, such as advising people not to insult the good by relying on power, not to bully the poor by relying on the rich, and "to be fair in the balance" and not to re-enter lightly. Because the words of good advice are easy to understand and easily accepted by the lower classes, they can promote feudal education better than abstruse Buddhist and Taoist classics, so they are valued by rulers, and princes and ministers and literati actively support their popularization. For example, Induction on Mount Tai was published by the imperial court in the Ming Dynasty, and was translated and published by civil servants in the early Qing Dynasty, with the emperor shunzhi as the preface himself. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, dozens of Confucian scholars such as Yang Qiyuan, Li Zhi, Mao Qizong, Hui Dong, Yu Yue, Yao Xueyuan, Yu and Huang prefaced or annotated it, and numerous local officials and gentry donated money to print and distribute it. Due to the active propaganda and promotion of the government, gentry and Taoism, all kinds of books on good advice flooded the bookstores, which deeply impressed the deified feudal ethics into the hearts of the general public.
Taoist religious concepts, myths and legends and inner alchemy also penetrated into a large number of popular literary works in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Few popular novels, operas, drum words and other popular literature in Ming and Qing dynasties do not involve Buddhism and Taoism. At the beginning of the water margin, he went to Longhu Mountain to beg Zhang Tianshi to let the demons go under the guise of Hong Taiwei, which led to the story of "one hundred and eight generals". The Romance of the Three Kingdoms first talked about the opening angle yellow turban insurrectionary uprising, which led to Liu Guan and Zhang Taoyuan becoming sworn brothers. The description of Zhuge Liang in the book is similar to that of Taoist warlocks. There are more than ten discussions about Taoism in Jin Ping Mei. The book describes a Taoist nun who treated the fetus for a rich woman and died in a disaster. The description of Dojo equipment is extremely detailed, reflecting the truth of social life in the late Ming Dynasty. A Dream of Red Mansions uses a monk to connect the stories together, and the ideological style of Songs of Twelve Women in Jinling is very close to the missionary songs of Quanzhen religion. Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio often writes lonely fairy stories, praising love freedom and lashing evil forces through ghosts and foxes. Works with Taoist stories as their themes, such as Travels to the East, Biography of Seven True Immortals, The Wizard of Oz, etc. , with Neidan cultivation as the theme. There are many stories about Buddhism and Taoism in Ming and Qing novels. In The Journey to the West, the Monkey King defeated Dao Xian many times. "Romance of the Gods" tells the story of the victory of Yuan gods and Taoist immortals against the left-wing side door of Catholicism. This creative technique of describing the struggle between ghosts and gods and evil spirits is still common in modern martial arts novels. Taoist religious thoughts have penetrated into social and cultural life more deeply through the propaganda of these secular literature.
Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, due to complex social reasons such as the corruption and decline of orthodox Buddhism and Taoism, various folk secret religious groups have flourished. During the more than 400 years from the emergence of Luo Zu in the middle of Ming Dynasty to the end of Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, hundreds of sects and secret societies appeared one after another, and their living areas spread all over the country, forming a powerful dissident force against the feudal regime. Although the rise of folk religion took away many followers of Buddhism and Taoism, it accelerated the decline of orthodox religion. However, its beliefs, teachings and methods often absorb Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism and are deeply influenced by orthodox religion. In particular, Taoism has a greater influence on folk sects than Buddhism and Confucianism. The folk sects most influenced by Taoism are Huangtian, Sanyi, Hunyuan, Hongyang, Bagua, then and Huangya. Each Sect has its own founder, and each Sect has written a scripture called Baojuan. Its cultivation methods mostly draw lessons from Taoist Neidan for health preservation, and various formulas and spells are circulated in teaching to help Neidan qigong practice. Its internal alchemy method is varied and varied. Hongyang and Bagua religions set up altars for fasting, such as chanting, which were influenced by Fu You School of Taoism. Taoist family boxing, the combination of internal training and martial arts, is also widely circulated. In folk religion, some sects (such as Masataka Shimizu) are integrated with Wushu Association, combining Neidan Qigong with boxing martial arts, and taking Shenshui, chanting and taking medicine to lower spirits, thus forming magical and grotesque cultivation spells. Folk religions are very attractive among the lower classes, and they publicize the improved religious concepts of Buddhism and Taoism in a popular form.
In short, from the perspective of the social status and doctrine development of cults, Taoism entered a period of decline in Ming and Qing Dynasties, but from the perspective of the downward movement and diffusion of Taoist culture, it further broadened the social foundation and penetrated into all fields of social life.