Taoist architecture mainly refers to the Taoist temple buildings, which basically consist of the divine hall, the alter, the room for reading sculptures and practicing asceticism, the living room, the reception room for pilgrims, and the park where visitors can have a rest. The general layout adopts the form of Chinese traditional courtyard, with the divine hall on the mean axis and the reception room and Taoists’ living room, etc., on both sides. Together with a park cleverly built on the basis of the architectural complex, a kind of fairyland thus comes into being.
Taoist temple buildings also clearly reflect Taoists’ strong will in the pursuit of happiness, longevity and immortality.
The existing Taoist architectures were mostly built in the periods of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911). Some important buildings have been listed as the national or provincial key cultural relics under special protection. As a kind of precious inheritance, their design, layout and craftsmanship are still worthy of borrowing in modern architecture.

A major aspect of Taoist influence on Chinese culture is its martial arts. Chinese martial arts of all sorts have a long history and a great diversity of methods and styles. Generally speaking, they are divided into two big schools: the south school and the north school.
The north school originated from Shaolin Temple of Songshan Mountain, the Holy Land of Buddhism, and is called the Shaolin Sect, with its boxing called asWaijiaquan. The south school originated fromWudangMountain, the Holy Land of Taoism, and is called the Wudang Sect, with its boxing called asNeijiaquan. Thus Wudang and Shaolin are considered as the two main sects of Chinese martial arts.
Wudang martial arts are a great contribution of Wudang Taoism, which is a famous branch of Chinese Taoism.
It is said that the father of WudangNeijiaquanis Zhang Sanfeng, an outstanding Taoist. When practising asceticism at Wudang, he saw a fight between a pied magpie and a snake, which enlightened him a lot. Based on the postures of the two animals, he eventually created the unique Wudang boxing. It has been developed and enriched successively by the great masters over the generations, and has now grown into one of numerous schools and varieties with rich contents. Wudang boxing includes boxing varieties such asTaiji(shadowboxing),Xingyi(shadow boxing that imitates the movements of animals or birds of various kinds and integrates physical motions with concentration of the mind), andBagua(eight-trigram boxing), weapon arts such asTaijiqiang(Taiji spear) andTaijijian(Taijisword),Qinggong(light skill),Yinggong(mastery skill), stunt, and variousQigong(a system of deep breathing exercises) for health.

The daily etiquettes of Taoism were gradually formed and finalized during its historical development process. These etiquettes exist among not only the internal followers but also the common believers. The form of the series of etiquettes approximately came into being in the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
The common etiquette of Taoists is to make a bow with hands folded in front (i.e. left hand naturally clenches fist over the right hand). Sometimes, the four fingers of left hand clench the four fingers of right hand, and the left thumb inserts into the part of the right hand between the thumb and the index finger, while its tip is against the palm center of right hand, and the right thumb is naturally under the left thumb, thus aTaijisymbol (diagram of cosmological scheme) is formed. This etiquette interestingly combines the connotation of Taoism. But in some more formal and ceremonious occasions, people shall greet in theDali(the most solemn manner). In theDali, the greeting person shall worship on bended knees as in many ancient occasions of China. The worship on bended knees of tutors was more formal even in ancient China, was quite like that of the antediluvian times. So it was called asGuli(ancient solemn manner) in the Song Dynasty. The famous Chinese ancient ideologist Zhu Xi once talked about it with emotions. He said that the current pattern of Taoists to salute was quite like that of our ancient ancestors,bending both knees on the ground. In other words, younger generations should kowtow to the elders. It was more complicated when they went to worship a deitybecause it was necessary to install altar, ignite incense, burn paper, walk around the altar, kowtow for three times and bow in salute for nine times, etc.

The rite of taking part in Taoism refers to a range of observances that the disciple who just takes part in Taoism must go through. The common rites of Taoism are as follows: if a disciple enters into Taoism from childhood, a boy is formally recruited when he is 7 years old, while a girl is formally recruited when she is 10 years old. After the recruitment, the boy is called asLushengdisciple, the girl is called asNanshengdisciple, and he/she begins to formally apprentice to a Taoist to learn Taoism. When the child gradually understands the basic dogmata and etiquettes as he/she grows up, a rite calledSanjie(three precepts) orWujie(five precepts) is held for him/her, symbolizing the disciple has formally become a Taoist. After that, he/she is forbidden to eat meat or fish and shall swear not to marry in the lifetime. As to those married, male disciples are called asQingzhendisciples, and the female disciples are called asQingxindisciples.
The rite of taking part in Taoism also influences the dresses and personal ornaments of disciples. The disciples who go through the precept acceptance rite can only wearEryiguanhat, and the clothing and shoes are of the most common style. After the disciple has finished studying a certain number of Taoist canons, the precept acceptance rite of higher level, called as theChuzhen 81 Preceptsrite, shall be held, and the disciple shall be called asTaishang Chuzhendisciple orBaijianTaoist. After the rite, the dresses and personal ornaments of these Taoists will also change accordingly; he/she shall wearQizhenguanhat, and the garments are better too. After a period of time, if the Taoist has the status ofZhengyilu, he can preside over some religious rites for other persons and take part in some religious or sacred activities held by the national government.

Due to its main aim at longevity, Chinese Taoism has paid a special attention to medicine. Taoist medicine covers various aspects such as methods to keep in good health, therapeutics, materia medica and medical knowledge. Regretfully, it has witchcraft elements such as spell and conjuration.
In order to get longevity, Taoists have done a comprehensive research on medicine. They tried to prolong their lives by taking more medicine than food. The raw materials they used for medical purpose consist of plants, metals and minerals, etc. They processed them into pills or powder (they called it asSan), and took them with honey or wine. Prescriptions of the kind have been found and classified into several grades in many of ancient Taoist works. Frequently, they use deadly poisonous elements such as mercuric sulfide as raw materials. The misapplication of such materials may cause death to people who take it. Examples are not rare in history, and it was reported that as many as seven emperors died from this misapplication just in the Tang Dynasty alone. However, modern chemistry has benefited a lot from it.
In Taoist medicine, the most valuable aspect is its methods to build up the health. According to their own theory, Taoists have created a kind of gym, i.e. theTaijiboxing (traditional Chinese shadowboxing). It has spread all over the world as a very famous boxing.

San Qing(Taoist Trinity) refers to three supreme Gods respected by Taoism, including Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure and Celestial Worthy of the Tao and its Power.
Worship for the Taoist Trinity dates back to the 4th century. In fact, it is an avatar of philosophic idea, and the reflection of the cosmism supported by Taoism.
In Taoism’s opinion, the Taoist Trinity lives in a far and mysterious fairyland, and governs countless other Gods while supervising the social life of human beings. Among them, the Celestial Worthy of the Primordial Beginning has the highest status, which is the creator of the whole world, like Chinese Lord. As for the Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure, he is fit for the demand of lower-class people. The Celestial Worthy of the Tao and its Power is mostly regarded as the primogenitor of Taoism, Lao Zi.
Common Taoist temples all have their statues placed. The temples specially built for them are called Palace or the Hall of Taoist Trinity. Usually the Celestial Worthy of the Primordial Beginning is placed in the middle, symbolizing the original state of the world. On his left side is the Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure, who holds a hermaphrodite mirror, symbolizing the world that has just come out of the muddleheaded status. On the right side is Celestial Worthy of the Tao and its Power, who holds a fan that is painted with a hermaphrodite mirror, symbolizing the beginning status when the world was first created. In the Taoist art, the content about the status and paintings of Taoist Trinity is abundant. Today, a lot of excellent works are kept.