Daoism embraces ecology in its teachings

The China Daoist Association has a new Eight Year Plan, harnessing its vast networks to promote ecological practice.

There are more than 1,500 Daoist temples in China today, and approximately 30,000 Daoist monks and nuns. Tens of millions of people in China follow Daoist practices, and millions more engage in pilgrimages and visits to Daoist sites every year. The China Daoist Association, based in the White Cloud Temple, Beijing, has approved an Eight Year Plan to harness the potential for education and influence that this vast network represents.

Targets include:

• ecological education projects to run in half of all Daoist temples in inland China by 2015
• all Daoist temples in inland China to have systematic ecological regulations by 2017
• summer camps to teach Daoist ecological wisdom to young people and students from China and abroad
• an Alliance of Daoist Healthcare to promote the correlations between ecologically friendly and healthy lifestyles.

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