[Fedora]

Very interesting info. On a related note, I have read that in the late Han period a branch of Taoism descended from one Chang Liang was influenced by the Persian religion Manicheism, which was meanwhile spreading west into the Roman Empire. Related Persian-centered movements called Nestorianism and Mazdaism also influenced Taoism starting in the 7th century.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #69

Daoism you refer to is quite different from Daoism of Lao-tze and Chiang-tze. The former has the definite concept of heaven and god while the latter is devoted to the ever-elusive way of nature, Dao. No deities, nor heaven nor hell.

I did not know that it was inspired by Manicheism.

There is also a religious idea spread in both directions, this time, from India. The concept of vampire was said to have originated in India. It spread to the West, resulting in all these familiar Balkan vampire myths. It also spread to the East. Chinese folklores feature a "walking dead", pale as a corpse and with blood dripping from its mouth, never allowed to die and take the final rest.