Taoism began rising in about the second century. It practices an elaborate array of religious rituals, including the daily chanting of Taoist sutras, sacrificial ceremonies dedicated to various gods, goddess and immortals, and rites performed to save the souls of the dead or beg

Heaven for blessing to believers. Taoism is an indigenous religion, and Taoist structures are, in the main, traditional in architectural style and ground plan. Despite that, Taoist structures are unique in many ways, relative to palace structures and Buddhist shrines.

    Taoisls believe that a person could become immortal through practice of austerities and that immortal dwell in places of seclusion with surpassing natural beauty, deep in mountains or on islands on high seas. For this reason, Taoist temples are found mostly in mountains noted for scenic beauty, in order that followers can put their trust in nature and thus transcend the worldly. As a matter of fact, some of the most beautiful mountains, such as Mr. Qingcheng in Sichuan and Mr. Wudang in Hubei, are at the same time the best-known Taoist shrines.

    Taoists also believe that immortals like to live in high-rise buildings in order to be close to the Heavenly Palace. That may explain why Taoist structures are mostly multistory structures. The Chinese for a Taoist temple of the normal size is (pronounced as "guan"), meaning "pavilion" or "multistory building" when used as a noun and "look upward" when used as a verb. Larger Taoist temples are called  (pronounced as ~gong"), meaning "palace", and smaller Taoist temples,

(pronounced as "dao yuan"), meaning "Taoist courtyard". Whether a "palace" or a simple courtyard, a Taoist shrine invariably features buildings dedicated to immortals. Here are some of the most common names for such buildings -- Pavilion for Welcoming Immortals, Pavilion for Gathering Immortals, and Pavilion of Ten Thousand Immortals.

    Taoists attribute the founding of their religion to Lao Zi, a philosopher who was active about 2,500 years ago, and take his Scripture of Ethics (Dao De Jing), as the central text of the Taoist doctrines. Meanwhile, Taoism is a polytheist religion, and it worships countless gods, goddesses and deities, each supposedly performing a specific function or duty to the benefit of the mortal world. The Dragon King, for example, can be counted on for rain while punishing people with flooding when he is angry.

    One may go to Lord Guan for protection from disasters and misfortunes. The God of Medicine is supposedly to have the magic power to make patients recover. If you want to get rich, well, beg the God of Wealth for blessing. The Ma Zu Goddess, the protector of sailors and travelers sailing the turbulent seas, has been worshipped not only by people in China's coastal regions but also by overseas Chinese in practically all parts of the world. In a Taoist temple we may find numerous gods, goddess and deities being worshipped. In most case, Taoist temples follow the same ground plan as traditional compounds, the principal hall sitting astride the axis of the compound while less