The transmission
The Teachers
1,020 who carried the discovery — across Hermetic, Vedic, Sufi, mystic, scientific, and modern streams. Start with the essential few, or browse by family and tradition.
1,020 teachers · 42 traditions
11 teachers
Taoism (Daoism)
Confucius
Self-cultivation; ren (humaneness)
551-479 BCE
Taoism (Daoism)
Mencius
Innate goodness; the four sprouts
c.372-289 BCE
Taoism (Daoism)
Zhuangzi
Transformation of perspective
c.369-286 BCE
Taoism (Daoism)
Ge Hong
Internal alchemy for immortality
283-343
Taoism (Daoism)
Chen Tuan
Sleep / inner-alchemy cultivation
c.871-989
Taoism (Daoism)
Mantak Chia
Healing Tao; cultivating chi
1944-present
Taoism (Daoism)
Yang Jwing-Ming
Scholarly qigong and internal arts
1946-present
Taoism (Daoism)
Lee Holden
Modern accessible qigong
1972-present
Taoism (Daoism)
Laozi
Wu wei (effortless action)
traditionally 6th c. BCE (semi-legendary)
Taoism (Daoism)
Liezi (Lie Yukou)
Yielding to spontaneous flow
trad. attributed c.5th c. BCE; text compiled c.4th c. CE
Taoism (Daoism)
Zhang Sanfeng
Soft-internal energy circulation
semi-legendary; traditionally 12th-14th c.