Taoism (or Daoism) refers to a variety of related philosophical and religious traditions that have influenced Eastern Asia for more than two millennia, and have had a notable influence on the western world since the 19th century.

There is debate over how, and whether, Taoism should be subdivided. Livia Kohn divided it into the following three categories:

   1. "Philosophical Taoism" (Daojia 道家) - A philosophical school based on the texts Dao De Jing (道德經) and Zhuangzi (莊子);
   2. "Religious Taoism" (Daojiao 道敎) - A family of organized Chinese religious movements originating from the Celestial Masters movement during the late Han Dynasty and later including the "Orthodox" (Zhengyi 正一) and "Complete Reality" (Quanzhen 全眞) sects, which claim lineages going back to Lao Zi (老子) or Zhang Daoling in the late Han Dynasty;
   3. "Folk Taoism" - The Chinese folk religion.

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