The main difference between Buddhism and Taoism is the attitude towards life and death. It can be said that the two are completely different. The goal pursued by Buddhism is "Nirvana", escape from the cycle of life and death. Buddhism believes that life is suffering. Life is suffering, death is suffering. And this kind of suffering has no end and is in a cycle of life and death that never ends. Only by achieving Nirvana can one escape the cycle of life and death.
Buddhism and Taoism have similarities. Buddhism entered China thanks to the introduction of Taoism. The sinicization of Buddhist teachings and the further development of Taoism and Taoist theory are the result of the competition and integration of Buddhism and Taoism. The "emptiness" of Buddhism borrows from Laozi's "nothing" to interpret the "emptiness" of Buddhism.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, Laozi gathered the great wisdom of ancient sages. It summarizes the essence of ancient Taoist thought and forms the theory of Taoist completion system, marking that Taoist thought has officially taken shape. It has a profound impact on Chinese philosophy, literature, science and technology, art, music, health, religion, etc.
Joseph Needham said: "Many of the most attractive factors in Chinese character originate from Taoist thought. Without Taoist thought, China would be like a big tree with rotten roots." Taoist thought is the foundation of Chinese science and technology" and "is of paramount importance to the history of Chinese science."
Taoism takes "Tao" as its core, believes that the Tao is inaction, advocates that Tao follows nature, and proposes Political, economic, state-governing, and military strategies such as Tao generating law, using females to protect males, and combining hardness and softness, have simple dialectical thinking, and are an extremely important philosophical school among the "hundred schools of thought".