Taoist diet

While there are many historical and modern schools of Taoism, with different teachings on the subject, it is safe to say that many Taoists regard their diet as extremely important to their physical, mental and spiritual health in one way or another, especially where the amount of qi in the food is concerned.

History
Some early Taoist diets called for bigu, based on the belief that immortality could be achieved in this way. The ancient Taoist texts of the Taiping Jing suggest that individuals who attained the state of complete ziran would not need food at all, but instead could sustain themselves by absorbing the cosmic qi.

Present day
Many Taoist religious orders require monks and nuns to be vegetarian. Taoist levels of dietary restriction, however, are varied.