 Some elements of Taoism may be traced to prehistoric folk religions in China that later coalesced into a Taoist tradition . In particular , many Taoist practices drew from the Warring @-@ States @-@ era phenomena of the wu ( connected to the shamanic culture of northern China ) and the fangshi ( which probably derived from the " archivist @-@ soothsayers of antiquity , one of whom supposedly was Laozi himself " ) , even though later Taoists insisted that this was not the case . Both terms were used to designate individuals dedicated to " ... magic , medicine , divination , ... methods of longevity and to ecstatic wanderings " as well as exorcism ; in the case of the wu , " shamans " or " sorcerers " is often used as a translation . The fangshi were philosophically close to the School of Naturalists , and relied much on astrological and calendrical speculations in their divinatory activities . 
