▁w u ▁we i ▁( eff ort less ▁action ), ▁z ir an ▁( natural ness ), ▁pu ▁( simp licity ), ▁and ▁sp ont ane ity ▁while ▁placing ▁less ▁emphas is ▁on ▁norm s ▁and ▁rit ual ▁( as ▁opposed ▁to ▁Conf u cian ism ). ▁The ▁att ain ment ▁of ▁imm ort ality ▁through ▁external ▁al ch emy ▁( wa idan ) ▁and ▁internal ▁al ch emy ▁( ne idan ) ▁was ▁an ▁important ▁goal ▁for ▁many ▁t ao ists ▁histor ically . ▁ ▁Early ▁forms ▁of ▁T ao ism ▁developed ▁in ▁the ▁ 4 th ▁century ▁B CE , ▁influenced ▁by ▁the ▁cosm ological ▁theories ▁of ▁the ▁School ▁of ▁Natural ists ▁and ▁the ▁I ▁Ch ing . ▁The ▁School ▁of ▁Natural ists ▁or ▁Y in - y ang ▁was ▁another ▁philosoph ical ▁school ▁that ▁synth es ized ▁the ▁concepts ▁of ▁y in - y ang ▁and ▁the ▁Five ▁Element s ; ▁Z ou ▁Yan ▁is ▁considered ▁the ▁founder . ▁ ▁The ▁D ao ▁De ▁J ing ▁( T ao - Te - Ch ing , ▁c . ▁ 4 th ▁century ▁B CE ), ▁tradition ally ▁attributed ▁to ▁La oz i , ▁and ▁the ▁Nan ▁H ua ▁J ing ▁( Z hu ang ▁Z i ) ▁are ▁considered ▁the ▁key ▁texts ▁of ▁the ▁tradition . ▁The ▁first ▁organized ▁form ▁of ▁T ao ism , ▁the ▁T ians hi ▁( C el est ial ▁Masters ') ▁school ▁arose ▁in ▁the ▁ 2 nd ▁century ▁CE . ▁X uan x ue ▁("