 Taoism has had a profound influence on Chinese culture in the course of the centuries , and clerics of institutionalised Taoism ( Chinese : <unk> ; pinyin : <unk> ) usually take care to note distinction between their ritual tradition and the customs and practices found in Chinese folk religion as these distinctions sometimes appear blurred . Chinese alchemy ( especially <unk> ) , Chinese astrology , Chan ( Zen ) Buddhism , several martial arts , traditional Chinese medicine , feng shui , and many styles of qigong have been intertwined with Taoism throughout history . Beyond China , Taoism also had influence on surrounding societies in Asia . 
