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Ingredients and types of food |
While there are many historical and modern schools ofTaoism with different teachings on the subject, manyTaoist priests[who?] regard their diet as extremely important to their physical, mental and spiritual health in one way or another, especially where the amount ofqi in the food is concerned.
Some early Taoist diets called forbigu (simplified Chinese:辟谷;traditional Chinese:辟穀;pinyin:bìgǔ;Wade–Giles:pi-ku;lit. 'avoiding grains'), based on the belief thatimmortality could be achieved in this way.[1] The ancient Taoist texts of theTaiping Jing suggest that individuals who attained the state of completeziran would not need food at all, but instead could sustain themselves by absorbing the cosmicqi.[2]
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Taoist religious orders often promote avegetarian diet in order to minimize harm to other sentient life.[3] Taoist levels of dietary restriction, however, are varied.
In legend,Han dynasty prince and Taoist adeptLiú Ān is credited for inventing the vegetarian foodtofu.[citation needed]
According to Ming Yi Wang, one version of the taoist diet includes bigu,veganism, as well as refraining from eating strong-smelling plants, traditionallyasafoetida,shallot, mountainleek, andAllium chinense or otheralliums, which together withgarlic are referred to aswǔ hūn (五葷, or 'Five Fetid and Strong-smelling Vegetables'). Additionally,nightshades are avoided.[4]
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