on practical ethics and self-cultivation in everyday life (rather than ritual or monasticism) made it very popular among the literati class. The Qing dynasty (1644–1912) mainly promoted Buddhism as well as Neo-Confucianism. Thus, during this period, the status and influence of Daoism declined. During the 18th century, the Qing imperial library excluded virtually all Daoist books. The Qing era also saw the birth of the Longmen ("Dragon Gate" ) school of Wang Kunyang (1552–1641), a branch of Quanzhen from southern China that became established at the White Cloud Temple. Longmen authors like Liu Yiming (1734–1821) and Min Yide (1758–1836) worked to promote and preserve Daoist inner alchemy practices through books like The Secret of the Golden Flower. The Longmen school synthesized the Quanzhen and neidan teachings with the Chan Buddhist and Neo-Confucian elements that the Jingming tradition had developed, making it widely appealing to the literati class. Early modern Daoism During the 19th and 20th centuries, Daoism suffered much destruction as a result of religious persecution and numerous wars and conflicts that beset China in the so called century of humiliation. This period of persecution was caused by numerous factors including Confucian prejudices, anti-traditional Chinese modernist ideologies, European and Japanese colonialism, and Christian missionization. By the 20th century, only one complete copy of the Daozang survived intact, stored at the White Cloud Monastery in Beijing. A key Daoist figure during this period was Chen Yingning (1880-1969). He was a key member of the early Chinese Daoist Association and wrote numerous books promoting Daoist practice During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), many Daoist priests were laicized and sent to work camps and many Daoist sites and temples were destroyed or converted to secular use. This period saw an exodus of Daoists out of China. They immigrated to Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and to Europe and North America. Thus, the communist repression had the consequence of making Daoism a world religion by disseminating Daoists throughout the world. The 20th century was also a creative period for Daoism despite its many setbacks. The Daoist influenced practice of Tai Chi developed during this time, led by figures like Yang Chengfu and Sun Lutang. Early proponents of Tai Chi Quan, like Sun Lutang, claimed that Tai Chi was a Daoist internal practice created by the Daoist immortal Zhang Sanfeng (though modern scholars note that this claim lacks credible historical evidence). Late modern Daoism Daoism began