By Angela and Ella

In Taoism they believe in man’s close relationship with nature and the universe. The ultimate way of life in Taoism is the Tao, or Way. The Tao is the mysterious natural order of the universe. The best way to live is in harmony with the natural course of things (the Tao). A Taoist does not struggle and they do not go against the universe. Ch'i is a fundamental belief which means "air" or "breath," it refers to the energy flow or life force

4 festivals of Taoism January 29 Yuan Tan February 12 Teng Chieh April 5 Ch’ing Ming May Dragon Boat Festival 31

Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the New Year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the New Year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade

Teng Chieh, the Lantern Festival, occurs on the night of the full moon. It began as a religious ritual nearly 2,000 years ago. Since then, fireworks and riddle-guessing contests have been added to the celebrations. The lantern is a traditional symbol which represents the days of spring. They are in shapes of dragons, birds or other and are placed in parks, outside temples and around homes. The light of the lanterns is said to attract spirits from heaven. This festival includes fireworks, folk dancing, and performances such as the dragon parade and lion dance. The food that is eaten during this festival is yuanxiao, a round, stuffed dumpling made with sticky rice flour that symbolizes family unity, completeness and happiness

Traditionally takes place around the fifth day of the month. People visit family tombs, cleaning and Offerings of food and wine are made to the spirits of the dead. Ching Ming or Qingming, meaning clear and bright, is the day for mourning the dead, a day for Chinese families to visit our ancestors graves. It falls in early April every year and corresponds with the onset of warmer weather, the start of spring, and of family outings. This is a one-day holiday in Hong Kong for the descendants to "sweep the graves" of their ancestors. It is not a solemn occasion, but rather, a time for happy communion with the family members to show respect to their ancestors.

The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated by boat races in the shape of dragons. They compete in teams racing to reach the finish first and row their boats to a drumbeat. The boat races during the Dragon Boat Festival are traditional customs to attempts to rescue the poet Chu Yuan. Chu Yuan drowned in 277 B.C. Chinese citizens now throw bamboo leaves filled with cooked rice into the water. Therefore the fish could eat the rice rather than the poet. This later on turned into the custom of eating tzungtzu and rice dumplings.

Taoism was started by the Chinese philosopher Lao Tze,the Supreme master, in the 6th century BCE. Tao lived in the same time as another ancient Chinese philosopher, Confucius. It is said that one day Lao Tze left his job and rode off west on an ox. At a mountain pass the guardian asked him to write down his teachings. This is how the sacred book of Tao called the Doodejing came to be written. It is also why you see statues and figures of Lao Tze in an ox. Today Taoism is practiced by about five million people in China, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Viet Nam. It is not uncommon for Taoism to be combined with Confucianism and Buddhism.