title: Wicked (musical)

text: "Wicked" officially opened on June 10, 2003 at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco, after previews began on May 28, in a pre-Broadway tryout presented by SHN. The cast included Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda, Idina Menzel as Elphaba, Robert Morse as the Wizard, Norbert Leo Butz as Fiyero, Michelle Federer as Nessarose, Carole Shelley as Madame Morrible, John Horton as Doctor Dillamond, and Kirk McDonald as Boq. Stephanie J. Block, who originally read the role of Elphaba in workshop development, was Menzel's standby during tryouts, but left before the show moved to Broadway to take a role in "The Boy from Oz" but she would then lead the 1st National Tour opposite Kendra Kassebaum as Glinda. The tryout closed on June 29, 2003, and after extensive retooling, the musical began previews on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre on October 8, 2003, and made its official premiere on October 30. Most of the original production team and cast members remained with the show. Principal casting changes included Joel Grey as the Wizard, William Youmans as Doctor Dillamond and Christopher Fitzgerald as Boq.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: On March 12, 2020, the show temporarily suspended production due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Performances resumed on September 14, 2021 with Lindsay Pearce as Elphaba and Ginna Claire Mason as Glinda. Chenoweth made a pre-curtain speech before the grand reopening of the show.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: In 2005, the first national tour of "Wicked" (called the "Emerald City Tour" by the producers) started in Toronto, Ontario, and went on to visit numerous cities throughout the United States and Canada. Previews began on March 8, and officially opened on March 31. The original touring cast included Kendra Kassebaum as Glinda, Stephanie J. Block as Elphaba, Derrick Williams as Fiyero, Jenna Leigh Green as Nessarose, Carol Kane as Madame Morrible, Timothy Britten Parker as Doctor Dillamond, Logan Lipton as Boq, and David Garrison as the Wizard. The tour concluded at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles on March 15, 2015 with Jennifer DiNoia as Elphaba and Chandra Lee Schwartz as Glinda


title: Wicked (musical)

text: Following a limited engagement of the first national tour from April 29 to June 12, 2005, a sit-down production opened at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago immediately following the tour as the original tour set was left in Chicago so the Chicago sit-down could happen. The cast included Ana Gasteyer as Elphaba, Kate Reinders as Glinda, Rondi Reed as Madame Morrible, Kristoffer Cusick as Fiyero, Telly Leung as Boq, Heidi Kettenring as Nessarose and Gene Weygandt as the Wizard. The production closed on January 25, 2009 with Dee Roscioli as Elphaba and Annaleigh Ashford as Glinda. Twice again, the tour returned to Chicago in 2010 and 2013.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: An open-ended production also appeared in Los Angeles, California, at the Pantages Theatre. Performances began on February 10, 2007, with an official opening on February 21. The cast included Megan Hilty as Glinda, Eden Espinosa as Elphaba, Carol Kane as Madame Morrible, Timothy Britten Parker as Doctor Dillamond, Jenna Leigh Green as Nessarose, Adam Wylie as Boq, Kristoffer Cusick as Fiyero, and John Rubinstein as the Wizard. The production closed on January 11, 2009 with Hilty and Espinosa, after 791 performances and 12 previews.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: A San Francisco production of "Wicked" officially opened February 6, 2009, at SHN's Orpheum Theatre, following previews from January 27. The cast included Teal Wicks as Elphaba, Kendra Kassebaum as Glinda, Nicolas Dromard as Fiyero, Carol Kane as Madame Morrible, David Garrison as the Wizard, Deedee Magno Hall as Nessarose, Tom Flynn as Doctor Dillamond, and Eddy Rioseco as Boq. The production closed on September 5, 2010 with Marcie Dodd as Elphaba and Alli Mauzey as Glinda, after 660 performances and 12 previews.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: The second national tour of "Wicked" (called the "Munchkinland Tour") began in 2009 with previews on March 7 and official opening night on March 12 at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall in Fort Myers, Florida. The original cast starred Marcie Dodd as Elphaba, Heléne Yorke as Glinda, Colin Donnell as Fiyero, and Tom McGowan as the Wizard. The production was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It resumed performances on August 3, 2021 with Talia Suskauer as Elphaba, Alison Bailey as Glinda and Curt Hanson as Fiyero. The production celebrated its 5,000th performance on July 30, 2022.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: A London production began previews at the Apollo Victoria Theatre from September 7, and with an opening night on September 27, 2006. It celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2016 with a special curtain call featuring former West End cast members. The production was tailored slightly for a British audience, including minor creative changes to dialogue, choreography and special effects. A majority of them were later incorporated into all productions of "Wicked", including the Broadway production and the two national tours.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: The West End production reunited the show's original creative team. Original London cast members included the return of Menzel as Elphaba, Helen Dallimore as Glinda, Miriam Margolyes as Madame Morrible, Adam Garcia as Fiyero, Martin Ball as Doctor Dillamond, James Gillan as Boq, Katie Rowley Jones as Nessarose and Nigel Planer as the Wizard. After her limited engagement, which ended on December 30, 2006, Menzel was succeeded on January 1, 2007 by Kerry Ellis, who became the first British woman to play Elphaba.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: The production suspended performances on March 16, 2020, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. It resumed performances on September 15, 2021, in time for the production's 15th anniversary. Sophie Evans, who was a maternity cover for Helen Woolf and Laura Pick, reopened the show and left when the cast changed on January 30, 2022. Helen Woolf returned from maternity leave and Lucie Jones took over as Elphaba.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: The show, which is already the 9th longest-running West End musical in history, celebrated its 6,000th performance on July 7, 2022.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: The show began its first UK/Ireland tour on September 12, 2013 at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, where it is played to November 16. It then toured the UK and Ireland before concluding in Salford on July 25, 2015.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: A second UK/Ireland tour began in December 2017 and ended in January 2019. The cast included Amy Ross as Elphaba, Helen Woolf as Glinda, and Aaron Sidwell as Fiyero.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: A third UK/Ireland tour begins on 7 December 2023 at the Edinburgh Playhouse, in Edinburgh where it's playing to 14 December. It then tours the UK and Ireland before flying into its final location at the Manchester Palace Theatre in Manchester on 3 December 2024 and concluding on 12 January 2025.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: "Wicked"'s international tour opened on July 13, 2016 at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford, England. Jacqueline Hughes starred as Elphaba, with Carly Anderson as Glinda and Bradley Jaden as Fiyero. Alongside them are Steven Pinder as the Wizard and Dillamond, Kim Ismay as Madame Morrible, Emily Shaw as Nessarose, and Iddon Jones as Boq.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: Renamed "Wicked: Die Hexen von Oz" ("Wicked: The Witches of Oz"), the German production of "Wicked" began previews on November 1, 2007 and opened on November 15, at the Palladium Theater in Stuttgart. Willemijn Verkaik played Elphaba, Lucy Scherer played Glinda. The production was produced by Stage Entertainment and closed on January 29, 2010, and transferred to Oberhausen where previews began at the Metronom Theater am CentrO on March 5, 2010, with an opening night of March 8. The show closed on September 2, 2011.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: On September 5, 2021 a brand new non-replica production opened at the Neue Flora Theatre in Hamburg, produced by Stage Entertainment, which previously had presented the show in Stuttgart, Oberhausen, and The Hague. Vajèn van den Bosch and Jeannine Wacker have been cast as Elphaba and Glinda respectively.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: An Australian production officially opened on July 12, 2008, with previews commencing June 27 at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: Amanda Harrison was originally cast as Elphaba, with Lucy Durack as Glinda. The original cast consisted of Rob Mills as Fiyero, Anthony Callea as Boq, Rob Guest as the Wizard, Maggie Kirkpatrick as Madame Morrible, Penny McNamee as Nessarose and Rodney Dobson as Doctor Dillamond. Guest unexpectedly died of a stroke months into the Melbourne season, with the role being taken up by Bert Newton.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: Closing in Melbourne August 9, 2009, the show transferred to Sydney's Capitol Theatre. Previews began on September 5, 2009, with the official opening on September 12. Shortly into the run, Harrison was forced to leave the role of Elphaba due to an illness, so current standby Jemma Rix and Australian theatre veteran Pippa Grandison began to share the role, each appearing in four shows per week. Eventually, it was confirmed that she would not be returning to the cast.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: Closing in Sydney September 26, 2010, the production embarked on a national Australian tour which began at the QPAC Lyric Theatre in Brisbane. After a two-week delay due to the Queensland floods, performances began January 25, 2011, and ran until April 2. Rix became the sole lead Elphaba with David Harris joining as the new Fiyero. The touring production then moved to the Festival Centre in Adelaide, running from April 14 until June 4, 2011, with the final leg of the tour playing the Burswood Theatre in Perth, from June 19 to September 11, 2011, wrapping up more than three years of performances in Australia.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: An Asian tour began at Singapore's Grand Theater in Marina Bay from December 6, 2011 with Suzie Mathers taking over as Glinda opposite Rix. After the Singapore engagement of the tour closed April 22, 2012, performances began in Seoul, Korea from May 31 through October 6, 2012. The show then made its premiere in New Zealand, with previews taking place on September 17, 2013, and the official opening night on September 21. The Auckland run concluded on November 24, 2013, where it played the Civic Theatre. The cast then moved on to the Main Theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines in Manila on a limited run from January 22 through March 9, 2014 after having been extended from its original closing date.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: At the time of the "Wicked"’s 10th Anniversary on Broadway, the show announced it would return to Australia for a commemorative national tour, beginning in Melbourne on May 10, 2014. Durack returned as Glinda, with Rix continuing as Elphaba. The final cast included Mathers (who had returned once Durack announced her pregnancy) as Glinda, Steve Danielsen as Fiyero, Simon Gallaher as the Wizard, Edward Grey as Boq, Emily Cascarino as Nessarose, Glen Hogstrom as Doctor Dillamond and original cast members Rix as Elphaba and Kirkpatrick as Madame Morrible. After seven years and close to 2,000 performances across 8 different cities internationally, "Wicked" closed indefinitely at the Burswood Theatre in Perth on June 28, 2015. At the time of the show's 20th anniversary on Broadway, Wicked will return to Australia in 2023 with an exclusive season in at the Sydney Lyric Theatre in August. Further information and casting are to be announced.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: A condensed thirty-minute version of the musical played at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, Japan. Rix was part of the original cast, alternating the role of Elphaba with Jillian Giaachi and Taylor Jordan. The show, which opened on July 12, 2006, featured the preliminary storyline of Act 1 but Fiyero, Madame Morrible, Boq, Nessarose and Doctor Dillamond were absent and there were considerable changes in sets and costumes. The final performance took place on January 11, 2011. A Japanese production by the Shiki Theatre Company opened in Tokyo, Japan, on June 17, 2007, and subsequently moved to Osaka, Fukoka and Nagoya, before closing in Sapporo on November 6, 2016.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: Another production, which was notable for not being a replica of the original Broadway staging, opened at the City Theatre in Helsinki, Finland on August 26, 2010 after a preview performance took place on August 24 of that year. Directed by Hans Berndtsson, the cast includes Maria Ylipää as Elphaba, with Tuukka Leppanen as Fiyero. The second non-replicated production ran in Copenhagen, Denmark from January 12 until May 29, 2011, and was presented by Det Ny Teater.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: A Dutch-language production began previews at the Circustheater in The Hague, The Netherlands on October 26, 2011 and was produced by Joop van den Ende Theaterproducties/Stage Entertainment. The official opening took place on November 6. Verkaik reprised her role of Elphaba from the German productions, becoming the first actress to play the role in two different languages. The first Spanish-language production opened in Mexico City, Mexico on October 17, 2013, following previews from October 10. Produced by OCESA Teatro, the replica production played at the Teatro Telcel. The first Korean-language production began performances in Seoul on November 22, 2013 and is an all-new replica production. This production, located at the Charlotte Theater in Seoul, ran from November 22, 2013, to October 5, 2014.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: In November 2015, the company "Time For Fun," a leading company in the entertainment market in Latin America, announced the adaptation of the musical in Brazil, that debuted in March 2016 at the Renault Theatre in São Paulo. It is the largest stage that the musical has been mounted on yet. Despite the production closing on December 18, 2016, on November 12, 2018 a Brazilian revival production of the show was announced, this time in Rio de Janeiro's entertainment center Cidade das Artes. Though it was expected to begin performances in mid 2019, after the announcement no news was released and the production was never realized.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: At the end of 2020, while all Wicked productions worldwide were halted due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus, a third Korean replica production of the show was announced on November 14. The show started previews in Seoul's Blue Square Theater 3 months later on February 12, 2021, which was the first Wicked performance after the Covid-19 shutdown. The production opened 4 days later on February 16, 2021, and played untill May 2, 2021. It then transferred to Busan's Dream Theater, where it ran from May 20, 2021 untill its closing date on June 27, 2021.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: On June 30, 2022, the Shiki Theatre Company announced that a Japanese revival of the show is scheduled to start performances in October, 2023. Not even half a year later, on October 7, it was announced that Wicked will return to Australia for an exclusive 20th anniversary run, with performances starting in August, 2023 at the Sydney Lyric Theatre. They will be the first replica sit-down productions to open after Wicked reopened its main three productions (Broadway, the North American Tour and West End) post-covid in 2021. Casts for both productions are yet to be announced.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: On October 19, 2022, it was announced that Wicked would get a revival on Brazil through a limited run, starting March 9, 2023, at the Santander Theater, in São Paulo. Lead actresses from the 2016 run Ruiz and Bang were announced reprising their roles as Elphaba and Glinda, respectively.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: The original Broadway production of "Wicked" was nominated for ten Tony Awards in 2004, including Best Musical, Book, Orchestrations, Original Score, Choreography, Costume Design, Lighting Design, Scenic Design while receiving two nominations for Best Actress – for Menzel and Chenoweth. Menzel won the Best Actress award, and the show also won the Tony Awards for Best Scenic Design and Best Costume Design, notably losing Best Book, Original Score and ultimately Best Musical to "Avenue Q". The same year, the show won 6 Drama Desk Awards out of 11 nominations, including Outstanding Musical, Book, Director, and Costume Design.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: Subsequent productions have received awards and nominations as well. The West End production received five Laurence Olivier Award nominations and later won the Audience Award for Most Popular Show at the 2010 award ceremony. The original Australian production received six Helpmann Awards out of 12 nominations, including Best Musical. "Wicked" was named the Best Musical of the Decade by "Entertainment Weekly" magazine and hailed "a cultural phenomenon" by "Variety" magazine. While not technically an "award," the character of Elphaba was named 79th on Entertainment Weekly's list of The 100 Greatest Characters of the Past 20 Years.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: In its out-of-town tryout in San Francisco, audience reaction was generally positive, and although critics tended to compliment the aesthetic and spectacle of the show, they disparaged the state of its book, score, and choreography. Dennis Harvey of "Variety" commented positively of the "sleekly directed," "snazzily designed," and "smartly cast" production, yet still disapproved of its "mediocre" book, "trite" lyrics, and "largely generic" music while Karen D'Souza of the "San Jose Mercury News" wrote that "Style over substance is the real theme in this Emerald City."


title: Wicked (musical)

text: The Broadway production opened on October 30, 2003, to mixed reviews from theatre critics. However, Chenoweth and Menzel received widespread acclaim for their performances as Glinda and Elphaba, respectively. Both "USA Today" and "Time Magazine" gave the Broadway production of "Wicked" very positive reviews, with Richard Zoglin of "Time" saying, "If every musical had a brain, a heart and the courage of "Wicked", Broadway really would be a magical place." Elysa Gardner of "USA Today" described it as "the most complete, and completely satisfying, new musical I've come across in a long time." Conversely, Ben Brantley in the "New York Times" loved the production but panned the show itself, calling it a "sermon" that "so overplays its hand that it seriously dilutes its power," with a "generic" score. He noted that Glinda is such a showy role that the audience ends up rooting for her rather than the "surprisingly colorless" Elphaba, who is "nominally" the hero. Despite these mixed reviews, interest in "Wicked" spread quickly by word-of-mouth, leading to record-breaking success at the box office, as described below. Speaking to "The Arizona Republic" in 2006, Schwartz commented, "What can I say? Reviews are reviews... I know we divided the critics. We didn't divide the audience, and that's what counts."


title: Wicked (musical)

text: International productions have opened to different critical receptions. The West End production opened to a slightly more upbeat response. The majority of critics have appreciated the spectacle of the lavish production, and the "powerhouse" performances of actors in the roles of the two witches. However, contemporaries have characterized the production as overblown, occasionally preachy, and suffering from more hype than heart. Although Charles Spencer of "The Daily Telegraph" described it as "at times... a bit of a mess," he praised Holzman's script, described Kenneth Posner's lighting design as "magical" and lauded Menzel's Elphaba and Helen Dallimore's Glinda. Michael Billington of "The Guardian" gave it three out of five stars and remarked on the competence of all the lead actors; however, he complained that "Wicked" was "all too typical of the modern Broadway musical: efficient, knowing and highly professional but more like a piece of industrial product than something that genuinely touches the heart or mind." Paul Taylor of "The Independent" gave extremely negative remarks to his viewing of the London production, calling the attempt at topical political allegory "well-meaning but also melodramatic, incoherent and dreadfully superficial" while deploring the acting, songs and book, concluding that "the production manages to feel at once overblown and empty."


title: Wicked (musical)

text: The Japanese version of "Wicked" by the Shiki Theatre Company (劇団四季) has won high acclaim in Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, and Nagoya. The original "Wicked" has toured in China with great popularity. A Chinese review by Harvard scholar Hansong Li has appeared in the "Shanghai Review of Books".


title: Wicked (musical)

text: Since its opening in 2003, the original Broadway production of "Wicked" has broken the house record at the Gershwin Theatre twenty times. It regularly grosses in excess of $1.6 million each week, making it one of the most lucrative productions on Broadway. With a $14 million capitalization, the Broadway production took 15 months to break even, earning back its initial investment by December 21, 2004. In its first year, it grossed more than $56 million. In the week ending January 1, 2006, "Wicked" broke the record, previously held by the musical "The Producers", for the highest weekly box office gross in Broadway history, earning $1,610,934. It has gone on to break its own record numerous times, reaching $1,715,155 in November 2006, $1,839,950, during the 2007 Christmas week, $2,086,135 for the week ending November 29, 2009, $2,125,740 just a few weeks later for the eight performances ending January 3, 2010, and over $2.2 million in the week ending January 2, 2011. In the first week of 2012, the Broadway production broke a record again, earning $2.7 million. "Wicked" once again broke this record in the final week of 2012 when it grossed $2.9 million. In the final weekend of 2013, "Wicked" became the first musical to gross $3 million in one week.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: "Wicked's" productions across North America and abroad have been equally financially successful. The Los Angeles production took the local weekly gross record, again from a performance of "The Producers", bringing in $1,786,110 in the week ending March 4, 2007. The production joined its Broadway counterpart in setting a new record over Christmas 2007 with $1,949,968, with records also set in Chicago ($1,418,363), and St Louis ($2,291,608), to bring the collective gross of the seven worldwide productions to a world record-breaking $11.2 million. A new suite of records were set over Christmas 2010, with house records broken in San Francisco ($1,485,692), Providence ($1,793,764) and Schenectady ($1,657,139) as well as Broadway, bringing the musical's one-week gross in North America alone to $7,062,335.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: "Wicked" played to more than 2 million visitors in Chicago with a gross of over $200 million, making it the highest-grossing show in Chicago history by June 2007. With an opening-week gross of $1,400,000, it continually set records and became the longest-running Broadway musical in Chicago history. Producer David Stone told "Variety", "we thought it [the Chicago production] would run 18 months, then we'd spend a year in Los Angeles and six months in San Francisco... but sales stayed so strong that the producers created another road show and kept the show running in Chicago." In addition, over 2.2 million saw the touring production in its first two years, which grossed over $155 million The Los Angeles production grossed over $145 million and was seen by more than 1.8 million patrons. Over the 672 performances of the San Francisco production, "Wicked" sold over 1 million tickets with a cumulative gross of over $75 million. While the Broadway production of "Wicked" welcomed its 5 millionth audience member on September 29, 2010.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: International productions of "Wicked" have matched the extremely positive reception at the box-office. Although West End theatres do not publish audited weekly grosses, the West End production of "Wicked" claimed to take the record for highest one-week gross in December 2006, taking £761,000 in the week ending December 30. On June 23, 2008, the producers reported that over 1.4 million people had seen the London production since its opening, and grosses had topped £50 million; The same reports stated that the show has consistently been one of the two highest-grossing shows in the West End. For the week commencing December 27, 2010, the London production grossed £1,002,885, the highest single-week gross in West End theatre history, with over 20,000 theatregoers attending the nine performances of "Wicked" that week. The Melbourne production broke Australian box-office records, selling 24,750 tickets in three hours during pre-sales and grossing over $1.3 million on the first business day after its official opening. On April 27, 2009, the production passed the milestone of 500,000 patrons. When it transferred to Sydney, the production broke "all previous weekly box office records for a musical at the Capitol Theatre, grossing $1,473,775.70 in one week during October 2009.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: In the week ending October 17, 2010, "Wicked" became only the third musical in Broadway history to exceed $500 million in total gross. By seats sold on Broadway, it ranks tenth of all time. As of September 2011, "Wicked" North American and international companies have cumulatively grossed nearly $2.5 billion and have been seen by nearly 30 million people worldwide. The original production still runs today and currently stands as the fifth longest-running Broadway show in history. "Wicked" celebrated its 1,000th performance on Broadway on March 23, 2006. Several other productions have also reached the 1,000th performance milestone, including the first North American touring company on August 15, 2007, the Chicago company on November 14, 2007, the West End company on February 14, 2009, the Australian company on May 7, 2011 and the second North American touring company on August 4, 2011.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: The success of the Broadway production has led to the development of an auxiliary show for purposes of marketing and promotion titled "Behind the Emerald Curtain". It was created by Sean McCourt—an original Broadway production cast member who played the Witch's Father—and Anthony Galde, who was a long-running swing in the Broadway company from 2004 to 2012. The tour features a ninety-minute behind-the-scenes look at the props, masks, costumes and sets used in the show, and includes a question-and-answer session with the cast members. The Broadway tour is currently led by McCourt and long-running ensemble member, Lindsay K. Northen. The tour also featured in the Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago sit-down productions, and were each run by different long-serving cast members of the show. The tour provides a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into putting on the show every day. Participants get a first-hand account of what it is like to be a part of the massive production that "Wicked" is. To create Elphaba's green skin look, 40 pots a year of the commercially available MAC Chromacake landscape green make-up is used. It is water-based for easy removal. As of 2021, it costs $800,000 a week to run the Broadway Production of Wicked


title: Wicked (musical)

text: A film adaptation of "Wicked" had been discussed since 2004. In July 2010, it was reported that J. J. Abrams, James Mangold, Ryan Murphy, and Rob Marshall were under consideration to direct a potential film adaptation. By July 2012, Universal Studios was reported to be producing the film, with Stephen Daldry as director and Winnie Holzman, who wrote the musical's book, to pen the screenplay. Universal announced in 2016 that the film would be released in theaters on December 20, 2019, with Daldry still attached to direct, and the script to be co-written by the musical's creators, Holzman and Schwartz. In May 2017, Schwartz stated that the film would feature "at least two" new songs. On August 31, 2018, Universal put the film on hold, due to production scheduling, and gave the film adaptation of "Cats", which became a box office bomb, the release date formerly held by the film. On February 8, 2019, Universal announced a new release date of December 22, 2021, for the "Wicked" film. On April 1, 2020, Universal put the film on hold once again due to Universal shifting release dates amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, and gave "Sing 2" the 2021 release date. On October 20, 2020, it was announced that Daldry had left the production due to scheduling conflicts. In February 2021, "Deadline" reported that Jon M. Chu had signed on to direct the film adaptation. In July 2021, Schwartz stated that filming would begin in fall 2021 in Georgia, but filming was later postponed to March 2022 and again to June 2022. In November 2021, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were cast as Glinda and Elphaba respectively, with production originally set to begin in summer 2022 in the United Kingdom.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: In April 2022, it was announced the film would be released in two parts, on Christmas Day in 2024 and 2025. Jon M. Chu explained why:


title: Wicked (musical)

text: In June 2022, Stephen Schwartz added, while confirming that a new song will be written for one of the two films:


title: Wicked (musical)

text: On July 18, 2022, it was revealed that with the filming process settled at the newly-built Sky Studios in Elstree, England, rehearsals will begin in August with principal photography beginning in November. By September 2022, Jonathan Bailey was confirmed to have been cast as Fiyero. The following month, Jeff Goldblum was reported to be in final talks to play the Wizard.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: In November 2022, Schwartz revealed that Part 2 of the movie will include two new songs "to meet the demands of the storytelling." Then, on December 7, 2022, it was revealed that Ethan Slater will be playing Boq. On December 8, 2022, it was announced that Michelle Yeoh will be playing Madame Morrible, and Goldblum was confirmed to be playing the Wizard. On December 9, 2022, it was reported that Keala Settle, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Aaron Teoh, Colin Michael Carmichael, and Marissa Bode had also joined the cast as Miss Coddle, Pfannee, ShenShen, Avaric, Nikidik, and Nessarose, respectively. Bode's casting as Nessarose makes her the first wheelchair-assisted actor to play the part. On December 9, 2022, Chu confirmed on Twitter that filming had begun.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: In October 2018, an NBC broadcast, "A Very "Wicked" Halloween: Celebrating 15 Years on Broadway", was hosted by Menzel and Chenoweth and featured Ariana Grande, Pentatonix, Adam Lambert, Ledisi, the current Broadway company of the musical and others, singing many of the musical numbers from "Wicked" to a live studio audience at the Marquis Theatre in New York. The concert special was directed by Glenn Weiss.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: On August 29, 2021, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) network aired a "Wicked" concert special, which was also hosted by Chenoweth and Menzel and featured Rita Moreno, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana DeBose, Gavin Creel, Ali Stroker, Amber Riley, Mario Cantone, Jennifer Nettles, Stephanie Hsu, Alex Newell, Isaac Cole Powell and Gabrielle Ruiz performing many of the musical numbers.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: The success of "Wicked" has made several of the show's songs popular and has resulted in references to the show, characters, and songs in popular culture. The Broadway production has been featured in episodes of television programs, including "Brothers & Sisters" and "The War at Home". For filming purposes, the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles doubled for the Gershwin Theatre on Broadway in "Ugly Betty" in an episode titled "Something Wicked This Way Comes" in which Betty, the show's protagonist, goes to see "Wicked" on a date and accidentally stops the show. In the previous episode "Brothers," Betty gets tickets to see "Wicked" and discusses with a friend how much she relates to Elphaba's outcast status in a popularity and beauty-oriented environment.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: Entertainer John Barrowman sang a version of "The Wizard and I" (retitled "The Doctor and I") on his 2008 tour of the UK, with adapted lyrics referring to his "Doctor Who" and "Torchwood" character Jack showing affection for The Doctor. Kerry Ellis, who played Elphaba in the West End and on Broadway, recorded "I'm Not that Girl" for the fifth anniversary edition of the original Broadway cast recording. She also recorded her own rock version of "Defying Gravity." Both songs were produced by British musician Brian May and were featured on her extended play "Wicked in Rock" (2008) and debut album "Anthems" (2010). She performed her version of "Defying Gravity" at the 2008 "Royal Variety Performance", alongside May on guitar. A dance remix of her rock version of "Defying Gravity" was later released in 2011. Louise Dearman, who has played both Elphaba and Glinda in the West End, released an acoustic version of "Defying Gravity" for the "Wicked" edition of her album "Here Comes the Sun". Her former co-star and London Elphaba Rachel Tucker also covered "Defying Gravity" on her debut album "The Reason" (2013). Rapper Drake and singer Mika both sampled the musical's song in their songs "Popular" and "Popular Song" respectively.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: The closing song of Act I, "Defying Gravity", is featured in the Glee episode "Wheels", where Rachel (Lea Michele) and Kurt (Chris Colfer) sing it separately in a competition for the lead solo from the first season. It was featured again in the season five episode "100", the hundredth episode in the series, this time sung by the characters from the series, Rachel, Kurt and Mercedes (Amber Riley). Media as diverse as the anime series "Red Garden", the daytime drama "Passions" and the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" graphic novels have all parodied "Wicked" songs and characters.


title: Wicked (musical)

text: The end of the song "Killer Instinct" in "Bring It On the Musical" parodies the closing notes of "No One Mourns the Wicked." The Oscar-winning song "Let It Go" from the successful 2013 Disney computer-animated musical feature film "Frozen", that also won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, had been compared to "Defying Gravity" due to its similar theme and similar singing style, and was sung by the original Elphaba Idina Menzel. Willemijn Verkaik voiced the Dutch and German versions of the role of Elsa in "Frozen" and sang "Let It Go" in these two languages. This became another role originally played by Idina Menzel that Verkaik played, following her success in the German, Dutch and English language productions of "Wicked". When "Frozen" came to Broadway, the song "Monster" (sung by Caissie Levy, who also played Elphaba) was compared to "No Good Deed" In Lego Dimensions, when Unikitty interacts with the Wicked Witch, she says “If you spent more time singing, then maybe you wouldn't be so 'wicked,' witch."


title: David Goggins

text: David Goggins (born February 17, 1975) is an American ultramarathon runner, ultra-distance cyclist, triathlete, public speaker, and author. He is a retired United States Navy SEAL and former United States Air Force Tactical Air Control Party member who served in the Iraq War. His memoir, "Can't Hurt Me", was released in 2019.


title: David Goggins

text: David Goggins was born on February 17, 1975, to Trunnis and Jackie Goggins. In 1981, Goggins lived in Williamsville, New York, with his parents and brother, Trunnis Jr. As a six-year-old, Goggins was forced to work alongside his mother and brother at his father's skate rink. Goggins and other members of his family suffered constant and severe abuse from his alcoholic father before escaping from him along with his mother to Brazil, Indiana, something which he talks about in the book "Can't Hurt Me". In the gap between his discharge from the Air Force and enlisting in the Navy, Goggins worked as a pest control fumigator.


title: David Goggins

text: Goggins initially applied to join the United States Air Force Pararescue, and was accepted into training after failing his ASVAB twice. During the training he had been diagnosed with sickle cell trait and was removed from training; he was given the option to restart the training upon his return but chose not to. He then completed United States Air Force Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) training, and worked as a TACP from 1994 until 1999, when he left the United States Air Force. After three attempts due to multiple injuries, Goggins succeeded in graduating from BUD/S training with BUD/S class 235 in 2001. Following SEAL Qualification Training (SQT) and completion of six month probationary period, he received the NEC 5326 as a Combatant Swimmer (SEAL), entitled to wear the Special Warfare insignia also known as "SEAL Trident". Goggins was assigned to SEAL Team 5. In his 20-year military career, Goggins served in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2004, Goggins graduated from Army Ranger School, and received the "Enlisted Honor Man" award.


title: David Goggins

text: After several of his friends died in Afghanistan in a helicopter crash in 2005 during Operation Red Wings, Goggins began long-distance running with the aim of raising money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. The Foundation gives college scholarships and grants to the children of fallen special operations soldiers. Competing in endurance challenges, including the Badwater Ultramarathon three times, has enabled Goggins to raise more than million for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.


title: David Goggins

text: Goggins attempted to enter the Badwater Ultramarathon as a fundraiser but was told by organizers that he needed to enter another ultramarathon first; as the Badwater is an invitational event. In 2005, Goggins entered the San Diego One Day, a 24-hour ultramarathon held at Hospitality Point in San Diego. He was able to run 101 miles in 19 hours and 6 minutes. He completed the Las Vegas Marathon in a time that qualified him for the Boston Marathon. In 2006, Goggins entered the Hurt-100 in Hawaii. Goggins was invited to the 2006 Badwater-135, where he finished 5th overall.


title: David Goggins

text: Three months after completing his first Badwater Ultramarathon in 2006, he competed in the Ultraman World Championships Triathlon in Hawaii. He placed second in the three-day, 320-mile race. He also participated in the Furnace Creek-508 (2009), an ultra-distance invitational Cycling Race.


title: David Goggins

text: In 2007, Goggins achieved his best finish at the Badwater-135 by placing 3rd overall. He competed in the Badwater-135 again in 2008 and did not finish the race. He competed in the Badwater-135 in 2013 and finished 18th, after a break from the event since 2008. He competed in the Badwater-135 again in 2014 and did not finish the race. Over the next two years, he competed in another 14 ultra-endurance races, with top-five finishes in nine of them. He set a course record at the 48-hour national championships, beating the previous record by 20 miles with a total distance traveled of 203.5 miles.


title: David Goggins

text: In 2008 he was named a "Hero of Running" by "Runner's World". In 2016, Goggins won the Infinitus 88k in 12 hours, almost twenty minutes ahead of the next finisher. In the same year, he also won the Music City Ultra 50k, and Strolling Jim 40 Miler. In 2020, Goggins ran the Moab 240 ultramarathon, placing 2nd in the 241 mile event with a time of 63 hours and 21 minutes, approximately 95 minutes behind race winner Michele Graglia.


title: David Goggins

text: Entrepreneur Jesse Itzler, upon seeing Goggins perform at a 24-hour ultramarathon, called and hired Goggins to live with him in his house for a month. Itzler wrote about his experience on a blog and later published the story as the book


title: David Goggins

text: His self-help memoir, "Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds", was released on December 4, 2018. In the book he refers to the 40% rule, his belief that most of us only tap into 40% of our capabilities.


title: Benicio del Toro

text: Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (born February 19, 1967) is a Puerto Rican actor and producer. He has garnered critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Silver Bear for his portrayal of the jaded but morally upright police officer Javier Rodriguez in the film "Traffic" (2000). Del Toro's performance as ex-con turned religious fanatic in despair Jack Jordan, in Alejandro González Iñárritu's "21 Grams" (2003), earned him a second nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.


title: Benicio del Toro

text: He is also known for his breakout role as the eccentric, unintelligible crook Fred Fenster in "The Usual Suspects" (1995); Benny Dalmau in "Basquiat" (1996), winning two consecutive Independent Spirit Awards for both films; Dr. Gonzo in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (1998); gambling addict Franky Four Fingers in "Snatch" (2000); the predatory, unhinged antagonist Jackie Boy in "Sin City" (2005); revolutionary Che Guevara in "Che" (2008), a performance that earned him the Best Actor award both at the Cannes Film Festival and at the Goya Awards; and as Alejandro, a mysterious, ruthless agent out to bring down a drug cartel in "Sicario" (2015), for which del Toro was nominated for several awards, including the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.


title: Benicio del Toro

text: His other roles include portrayals of the Collector in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; drug lord Pablo Escobar in "" (2014); Lawrence Talbot in the 2010 remake of "The Wolfman"; and the codebreaker in "" (2017). In 2018, he starred as Richard Matt in the Showtime miniseries "Escape at Dannemora", for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.


title: Benicio del Toro

text: Del Toro was born on February 19, 1967, in San Germán, Puerto Rico, to Gustavo Adolfo del Toro Bermúdez and Fausta Genoveva Sánchez Rivera (daughter of Benicio Sánchez Castaño and Lirio Belén Rivera), who were both lawyers. He has an older brother, Gustavo, who is the Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, New York. He had a Catalan paternal great-grandfather and a Basque maternal great-grandmother. Del Toro's great-grandfather was Rafael Rivera Esbrí, one of the heroes of the El Polvorin fire in Ponce, and who would also later become mayor of that city (1915-1917).


title: Benicio del Toro

text: He spent most of his infancy in Santurce, a barrio within San Juan. Del Toro, whose childhood nicknames were "Skinny Benny" and "Beno", was raised a Roman Catholic and attended Academia del Perpetuo Socorro (The Academy of Our Lady of Perpetual Help), a Roman Catholic school in Miramar, Puerto Rico. When del Toro was nine years old, his mother died of hepatitis. At age 15, he moved with his father and brother to Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, where he was enrolled at the Mercersburg Academy. He spent his adolescence and attended high school there. After graduation, del Toro followed the advice of his father and pursued a business degree at the University of California, San Diego. Success in an elective drama course encouraged him to drop out of college and study with noted acting teachers Stella Adler and Arthur Mendoza, in Los Angeles, as well as at the Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York City. PS: zalameh 3'anem


title: Benicio del Toro

text: Del Toro surfaced in small television roles during the late 1980s, playing mostly thugs and drug dealers on programs such as "Miami Vice" and the NBC miniseries "". He appeared in the 1987 music video for Madonna's song "La Isla Bonita" as a background character sitting on a car hood. Film roles followed, beginning with his debut in "Big Top Pee-wee" (1988) and as Dario in the James Bond film "Licence to Kill" (1989), in which 21-year-old del Toro held the distinction of being the youngest actor ever to play a main Bond henchman (besides Alison Doody who while 18 was not a primary henchwoman). Del Toro continued to appear in film including "The Indian Runner" (1991), "China Moon" (1994), "" (1992), "Money for Nothing" (1993), "Fearless" (1993) and "Swimming with Sharks" (1994).


title: Benicio del Toro

text: His career gained momentum in 1995 with his breakout performance in "The Usual Suspects", where he played the mumbling, wisecracking Fred Fenster. The role won him an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male and established him as a character actor. This led to stronger roles in independent and major studio films, including playing Gaspare in Abel Ferrara's "The Funeral" (1996) and winning a second consecutive Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his work as Benny Dalmau in "Basquiat" (1996), directed by his friend, film-maker and painter Julian Schnabel. Del Toro also shared the screen with Robert De Niro in the big-budget thriller "The Fan" (1996), in which he played Juan Primo, a charismatic Puerto Rican baseball star. He subsequently starred opposite Alicia Silverstone in "Excess Baggage" (1997), which Silverstone produced.


title: Benicio del Toro

text: For "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", the 1998 film adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's famous book, he gained more than 40 lbs. (about 18 kg) to play Dr. Gonzo (a.k.a. Oscar Zeta Acosta), Thompson's lawyer and drug-fiend cohort. The surrealistic film, directed by Terry Gilliam, has earned a cult following over the years.


title: Benicio del Toro

text: Del Toro's performances in four films in 2000 gained him a mainstream audience. First, the crime yarn "The Way of the Gun" reunited him with "The Usual Suspects" screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie. A few months later, he stood out among a first-rate ensemble cast in Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic", a complex dissection of the North American drug wars. As Javier Rodriguez — a Mexican border policeman struggling to remain honest amid the corruption and deception of illegal drug trafficking — del Toro, who spoke most of his lines in Spanish, gave a performance that dominated the film. His performance swept all of the major critics' awards in 2001. Del Toro won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, becoming the fourth living Oscar winner whose winning role was a character who speaks predominantly in a non-English language. Del Toro is also the third Puerto Rican actor to win an Oscar, after Jose Ferrer and Rita Moreno. The year he won his Oscar marked the first time that two actors born in Puerto Rico were nominated in the same category (the other actor was Joaquin Phoenix). In his acceptance speech, del Toro thanked the people of both Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora and dedicated his award to them. In addition to the Oscar, he also won the Golden Globe Award and the Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. "Traffic" was also a success at the box office. This was soon followed by a small role as the diamond thief Franky Four Fingers in Guy Ritchie's hip caper comedy "Snatch" and a role as a mentally challenged Native American man in "The Pledge", directed by his old friend Sean Penn.


title: Benicio del Toro

text: In 2003, del Toro appeared in two films: "The Hunted", co-starring Tommy Lee Jones and the drama "21 Grams", co-starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts. He went on to earn another Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his performance in the latter. He then appeared in the film adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel "Sin City", directed by Robert Rodriguez, and "Things We Lost in the Fire", the English-language debut of celebrated Danish director Susanne Bier.


title: Benicio del Toro

text: In 2008, del Toro was awarded the Prix d'interpretation masculine (or Best Actor Award) at the Cannes Film Festival for his portrayal of Che Guevara in the biographical films "The Argentine" and "Guerrilla" (together known as "Che"). During his acceptance speech, del Toro dedicated his award "to the man himself, Che Guevara" along with director Steven Soderbergh. Del Toro was also awarded the 2009 Goya Award as the Best Actor for his portrayal of Guevara. Sean Penn, who won the 2009 Best Actor Oscar for his performance in "Milk", remarked that he was surprised and disappointed that "Che" and del Toro were not also up for any Academy Award nominations. During his acceptance speech for the Best Actor award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Penn expressed his dismay stating, "The fact that there aren't crowns on Soderbergh's and del Toro's heads right now, I don't understand... that is such a sensational movie, "Che"." For the final portions of the film (shown here), del Toro shed 35 pounds to show how ill Guevara had become near the end of his life in the jungles of Bolivia.


title: Benicio del Toro

text: In 2010, del Toro starred in and produced the remake of Lon Chaney Jr.'s classic cult film "The Wolf Man" (1941). He was chosen to be the face of the 2011 Campari calendar, becoming the first male model to be featured in the Italian liquor company's calendar. Del Toro played The Collector in a mid-credits scene of Marvel Studios' superhero film "" (2013) and later reprised his role in "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014) and "" (2018).


title: Benicio del Toro

text: In September 2015, del Toro played Alejandro Gillick in the critically acclaimed "Sicario", about a principled FBI agent who is enlisted by a government task force to bring down the leader of a powerful and brutal Mexican drug cartel. Film critics widely praised his performance. Del Toro reprised his role in the sequel "" (2018). In 2016, del Toro appeared in a Heineken television advertisement in its "More Behind the Star" series. The gag in the spot is that fans frequently mistake him for fellow actor Antonio Banderas, much to del Toro's chagrin. In 2017, he played DJ (an abbreviation for "Don't Join", as DJ viewed the Resistance and the First Order as equally corrupt), a supporting antagonist in "", who betrayed Rose and Finn to save himself when they were apprehended on the First Order's flagship.


title: Benicio del Toro

text: In 2021, del Toro starred in the Wes Anderson film "The French Dispatch" as Moses Rosenthaler, a mentally disturbed artist.


title: Benicio del Toro

text: On April 11, 2011, del Toro's publicist announced that del Toro and Kimberly Stewart, daughter of British singer Rod Stewart were expecting a child, although they were not in a relationship. Stewart gave birth to a daughter, Delilah Stewart, on August 21, 2011. They had their daughter baptized in Puerto Rico.


title: Benicio del Toro

text: On November 4, 2011, he acquired Spanish citizenship, along with fellow Puerto Rican Ricky Martin. The request was granted by the Spanish government in recognition of his artistic talents and for his Spanish ancestry (he has family in Barcelona).


title: Benicio del Toro

text: In March 2012, he was granted an honorary degree by the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico for his impact on the cinema enterprise, during the celebration of the institution's centenary.


title: Benicio del Toro

text: In 2003, Benicio del Toro became the spokesman of the educational campaign "Yo Limpio a Puerto Rico", an environmental organization founded in 1997 by Ignacio Barsottelli, whose mission is to educate and mobilize Puerto Ricans in favor of recycling and the protection of the environment.


title: Benicio del Toro

text: Del Toro narrated the public service announcement entitled "Coral Reef", joining the "Artists to the rescue of the environment" campaign.


title: Taoism

text: Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; "daojia") or to a religion (道教; "daojiao"), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the "Tao" (, 'Thoroughfare'); the "Tao" is generally defined as the source of everything and the ultimate principle underlying reality. The "Tao Te Ching", a book containing teachings attributed to Laozi (), together with the later writings of Zhuangzi, are both widely considered the keystone works of Taoism.


title: Taoism

text: Taoism teaches about the various disciplines for achieving perfection through self-cultivation. This can be done through the use of Taoist techniques and by becoming one with the unplanned rhythms of the all, called "the way" or "Tao". Taoist ethics vary depending on the particular school, but in general tend to emphasize "wu wei" (action without intention), naturalness, simplicity, spontaneity and the Three Treasures: , compassion, , frugality and , humility.


title: Taoism

text: The roots of Taoism go back at least to the 4th century BCE. Early Taoism drew its cosmological notions from the School of Yinyang (Naturalists) and was deeply influenced by one of the oldest texts of Chinese culture, the "I Ching", which expounds a philosophical system about how to keep human behavior in accordance with the alternating cycles of nature. The Legalist Shen Buhai (c. 400 – c. 337 BCE) may also have been a major influence, expounding a realpolitik of "wu wei", or qualified inaction.


title: Taoism

text: Taoism has had a profound influence on Chinese culture in the course of the centuries and Taoists (, "masters of the Tao"), a title traditionally attributed only to the clergy and not to their lay followers, usually take care to note the distinction between their ritual tradition and the practices of Chinese folk religion and non-Taoist vernacular ritual orders, which are often mistakenly identified as pertaining to Taoism. Chinese alchemy (especially neidan), Chinese astrology, Chan (Zen) Buddhism, several martial arts including kung fu, traditional Chinese medicine, feng shui and many styles of qigong have been intertwined with Taoism throughout history.


title: Taoism

text: Today, the Taoist religion is one of the five religious doctrines officially recognized by the People's Republic of China (PRC), including in its special administrative regions (SARs) of Hong Kong and Macau. It is also a major religion in Taiwan and has a significant number of adherents in a number of other societies throughout East and Southeast Asia, particularly in Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.


title: Taoism

text: Since the introduction of the Pinyin system for romanizing Mandarin Chinese, there have been those who have felt that "Taoism" would be more appropriately spelled as "Daoism". The Mandarin Chinese pronunciation for the word (way, path) is spelled as "tao" in the older Wade–Giles romanization system (from which the spelling 'Taoism' is derived), while it is spelled as "dào" in the newer Pinyin romanization system (from which the spelling "Daoism" is derived). The Wade–Giles "tao" and the Pinyin "dào" are pronounced identically in Mandarin Chinese (like the unaspirated 't' in 'stop'); despite this, "Taoism" and "Daoism" are often pronounced differently in English vernacular.


title: Taoism

text: The word "Taoism" is used to translate different Chinese terms which refer to two semantically distinct fields:


title: Taoism

text: In ancient China, the use of the term Taoist to narrowly describe a school of thought, rather than a set of religious teachings, has been recorded as early as 100 BCE and such usage precedes the emergence of the earliest Taoist religious sects such as the Celestial Masters by at least 300 years.


title: Taoism

text: The distinction between Taoist philosophy (道家) and religion (道教) has been maintained by modern pioneers of Chinese philosophy Feng Youlan (馮友蘭; 1895-1990) and Wing-tsit Chan (陳榮捷; 1901–1994). The distinction as advocated by outstanding philosophers such as Feng and Chan, however, is rejected by the majority of Western and Japanese scholars. It is contested by hermeneutic (interpretive) difficulties in the categorization of the different Taoist schools, sects and movements.


title: Taoism

text: Taoism does not fall under an umbrella or a definition of a single organized religion like the Abrahamic traditions; nor can it be studied as a mere variant of Chinese folk religion, as although the two share some similar concepts, much of Chinese folk religion is separate from the tenets and core teachings of Taoism. The sinologists Isabelle Robinet and Livia Kohn agree that "Taoism has never been a unified religion, and has constantly consisted of a combination of teachings based on a variety of original revelations."


title: Taoism

text: The philosopher Chung-ying Cheng views Taoism as a religion that has been embedded into Chinese history and tradition. "Whether Confucianism, Taoism, or later Chinese Buddhism, they all fall into this pattern of thinking and organizing and in this sense remain religious, even though individually and intellectually they also assume forms of philosophy and practical wisdom." Chung-ying Cheng also noted that the Taoist view of heaven flows mainly from "observation and meditation, [though] the teaching of the way ("Tao") can also include the way of heaven independently of human nature". In Chinese history, the three religions of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism stand on their own independent views, and yet are "involved in a process of attempting to find harmonization and convergence among themselves, so that we can speak of a 'unity of three religious teachings' ().


title: Taoism

text: Traditionally, the Chinese language does not have terms defining lay people adhering to the doctrines or the practices of Taoism, who fall instead within the field of folk religion. Taoist, in Western sinology, is traditionally used to translate "daoshi" (, "master of the Tao"), thus strictly defining the priests of Taoism, ordained clergymen of a Taoist institution who "represent Taoist culture on a professional basis", are experts of Taoist liturgy, and therefore can employ this knowledge and ritual skills for the benefit of a community.


title: Taoism

text: This role of Taoist priests reflects the definition of Taoism as a "liturgical framework for the development of local cults", in other words a scheme or structure for Chinese religion, proposed first by the scholar and Taoist initiate Kristofer Schipper in "The Taoist Body" (1986). "Daoshi" are comparable to the non-Taoist "fashi" (, "ritual masters") of vernacular traditions (the so-called "Faism") within Chinese religion.


title: Taoism

text: The term (), with the meaning of "Taoist" as "lay member or believer of Taoism", is a modern invention that goes back to the introduction of the Western category of "organized religion" in China in the 20th century, but it has no significance for most of Chinese society in which Taoism continues to be an "order" of the larger body of Chinese religion.


title: Taoism

text: Laozi is traditionally regarded as one of the founders of Taoism and is closely associated in this context with original or primordial Taoism. Whether he actually existed is disputed; however, the work attributed to him—the "Tao Te Ching"—is dated to the late 4th century BCE.


title: Taoism

text: Taoism draws its cosmological foundations from the School of Naturalists (in the form of its main elements—yin and yang and the Five Phases), which developed during the Warring States period (4th to 3rd centuries BCE).


title: Taoism

text: 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.


title: Taoism

text: The first organized form of religious Taoism, the Way of the Celestial Masters's school (later known as Zhengyi school), developed from the Five Pecks of Rice movement at the end of the 2nd century CE; the latter had been founded by Zhang Taoling, who said that Laozi appeared to him in the year 142. The Way of the Celestial Masters school was officially recognized by ruler Cao Cao in 215, legitimizing Cao Cao's rise to power in return. Laozi received imperial recognition as a divinity in the mid-2nd century BCE.


title: Taoism

text: By the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), the various sources of Taoism had coalesced into a coherent tradition of religious organizations and orders of ritualists in the state of Shu (modern Sichuan). In earlier ancient China, Taoists were thought of as hermits or recluses who did not participate in political life. Zhuangzi was the best known of these, and it is significant that he lived in the south, where he was part of local Chinese shamanic traditions.


title: Taoism

text: Female shamans played an important role in this tradition, which was particularly strong in the southern state of Chu. Early Taoist movements developed their own institution in contrast to shamanism but absorbed basic shamanic elements. Shamans revealed basic texts of Taoism from early times down to at least the 20th century. Institutional orders of Taoism evolved in various strains that in more recent times are conventionally grouped into two main branches: Quanzhen Taoism and Zhengyi Taoism. After Laozi and Zhuangzi, the literature of Taoism grew steadily and was compiled in form of a canon—the Tao Tsang—which was published at the behest of the emperor. Throughout Chinese history, Taoism was nominated several times as a state religion. After the 17th century, it fell from favor.


title: Taoism

text: Taoism, in form of the Shangqing school, gained official status in China again during the Tang dynasty (618–907), whose emperors claimed Laozi as their relative. The Shangqing movement had developed much earlier, in the 4th century, on the basis of a series of revelations by gods and spirits to a certain Yang Xi in the years between 364 and 370.


title: Taoism

text: Between 397 and 402, Ge Chaofu compiled a series of scriptures which later served as the foundation of the Lingbao school, which unfolded its greatest influence during the Song dynasty (960–1279). Several Song emperors, most notably Huizong, were active in promoting Taoism, collecting Taoist texts and publishing editions of the "Daozang."


title: Taoism

text: In the 12th century, the Quanzhen School was founded in Shandong. It flourished during the 13th and 14th centuries and during the Yuan dynasty became the largest and most important Taoist school in Northern China. The school's most revered master, Qiu Chuji, met with Genghis Khan in 1222 and was successful in influencing the Khan towards exerting more restraint during his brutal conquests. By the Khan's decree, the school also was exempt from taxation.


title: Taoism

text: Aspects of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism were consciously synthesized in the Neo-Confucian school, which eventually became Imperial orthodoxy for state bureaucratic purposes under the Ming (1368–1644).


title: Taoism

text: During the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), however, due to discouragements of the government, many people favored Confucian and Buddhist classics over Taoist works.


title: Taoism

text: During the 18th century, the imperial library was constituted, but excluded virtually all Taoist books. By the beginning of the 20th century, Taoism went through many catastrophic events. (As a result, only one complete copy of the Tao Tsang still remained, at the White Cloud Monastery in Beijing).


title: Taoism

text: Today, Taoism is one of five official recognized religions in the People's Republic of China. The government regulates its activities through the Chinese Taoist Association. However, Taoism is practiced without government involvement in Taiwan, where it claims millions of adherents.


title: Taoism

text: World Heritage Sites Mount Qingcheng and Mount Longhu are thought to be among the birthplaces of Taoism.


title: Taoism

text: Taoism tends to emphasize various themes of the "Tao Te Ching" and "Zhuangzi", such as naturalness, spontaneity, simplicity, detachment from desires, and most important of all, wu wei. The concepts of those keystone texts cannot be equated with Taoism as a whole.


title: Taoism

text: "Tao" () literally means "way", but can also be interpreted as road, channel, path, doctrine, or line. In Taoism, it is "the One, which is natural, spontaneous, eternal, nameless, and indescribable. It is at once the beginning of all things and the way in which all things pursue their course." It has variously been denoted as the "flow of the universe", a "conceptually necessary ontological ground", or a demonstration of nature. The Tao also is something that individuals can find immanent in themselves.


title: Taoism

text: The active expression of Tao is called "De" (; also spelled—"Te" or "Teh"; often translated with Virtue or Power), in a sense that De results from an individual living and cultivating the Tao.


title: Taoism

text: The polysemous term "wu-wei" or "wuwei" () constitutes the leading ethical concept in Taoism. "Wei" refers to any intentional or deliberated action, while "wu" carries the meaning of "there is no ..." or "lacking, without". Common translations are nonaction, effortless action, or action without intent. The meaning is sometimes emphasized by using the paradoxical expression "wei wu wei": action without action.


title: Taoism

text: In ancient Taoist texts, wu-wei is associated with water through its yielding nature. Taoist philosophy, in accordance with the "I Ching", proposes that the universe works harmoniously according to its own ways. When someone exerts their will against the world in a manner that is out of rhythm with the cycles of change, they may disrupt that harmony and unintended consequences may more likely result rather than the willed outcome. Taoism does not identify one's will as the root problem. Rather, it asserts that one must place their will in harmony with the natural universe. Thus, a potentially harmful interference may be avoided, and in this way, goals can be achieved effortlessly. "By wu-wei, the sage seeks to come into harmony with the great Tao, which itself accomplishes by nonaction."


title: Taoism

text: "Ziran" (; lit. "self-so", "self-organization") is regarded as a central value in Taoism. It describes the "primordial state" of all things as well as a basic character of the Tao, and is usually associated with spontaneity and creativity. To attain naturalness, one has to identify with the Tao; this involves freeing oneself from selfishness and desire, and appreciating simplicity.


title: Taoism

text: An often cited metaphor for naturalness is "pu" (; lit. "uncut wood"), the "uncarved block", which represents the "original nature... prior to the imprint of culture" of an individual. It is usually referred to as a state one returns to.


title: Taoism

text: The Taoist "Three Treasures" or "Three Jewels" () comprise the basic virtues of "ci" (, usually translated as "compassion"), "jian" (, usually translated as "moderation"), and "bugan wei tianxia xian" (, literally "not daring to act as first under the heavens", but usually translated as "humility").


title: Taoism

text: As the practical, political side of Taoist philosophy, Arthur Waley translated them as "abstention from aggressive war and capital punishment", "absolute simplicity of living", and "refusal to assert active authority".


title: Taoism

text: The Three Treasures can also refer to jing, qi and shen (; jing is usually translated as "essence," qi as "life force", and shen as "spirit"). These terms are elements of the traditional Chinese concept of the human body, which shares its cosmological foundation—Yinyangism or the Naturalists—with Taoism. Within this framework, they play an important role in neidan ("Taoist Inner Alchemy").


title: Taoism

text: Taoist cosmology is cyclic—the universe is seen as being in a constant process of re-creating itself. Evolution and 'extremes meet' are main characters. Taoist cosmology shares similar views with the School of Naturalists (Yinyang) which was headed by Zou Yan (305–240 BCE). The school's tenets harmonized the concepts of the Wu Xing (Five Elements) and "yin and yang". In this spirit, the universe is seen as being in a constant process of re-creating itself, as everything that exists is a mere aspect of "qi", which "condensed, becomes life; diluted, it is indefinite potential". Qi is in a perpetual transformation between its condensed and diluted state. These two different states of qi, on the other hand, are embodiments of the abstract entities of yin and yang, two complementary extremes that constantly play against and with each other and one cannot exist without the other.


title: Taoism

text: Human beings are seen as a microcosm of the universe, and for example comprise the Wu Xing in form of the zang-fu organs. As a consequence, it is believed that a deeper understanding of the universe can be achieved by understanding oneself.


title: Taoism

text: Taoist theology can be defined as apophatic, given its philosophical emphasis on the formlessness and unknowable nature of the Tao, and the primacy of the "Way" rather than anthropomorphic concepts of God. This is one of the core beliefs that nearly all the sects share.


title: Taoism

text: Taoist orders usually present the Three Pure Ones at the top of the pantheon of deities, visualizing the hierarchy emanating from the Tao. Laozi is considered the incarnation of one of the Three Purities and worshiped as the ancestor of the philosophical doctrine.


title: Taoism

text: Different branches of Taoism often have differing pantheons of lesser deities, where these deities reflect different notions of cosmology. Lesser deities also may be promoted or demoted for their activity. Some varieties of popular Chinese religion incorporate the Jade Emperor (pinyin: (Yü-Huang) or (Yü-Di)), derived from the main of the Three Purities, as a representation of the most high God.


title: Taoism

text: Persons from the history of Taoism, and people who are considered to have become immortals ("xian"), are venerated as well by both clergy and laypeople.


title: Taoism

text: Despite these hierarchies of deities, traditional conceptions of Tao should not be confused with the Western theism. Being one with the Tao does not necessarily indicate a union with an eternal spirit in, for example, the Hindu sense.


title: Taoism

text: The "Tao Te Ching" or "Daodejing" is widely considered the most influential Taoist text. According to legend, it was written by Laozi, and often the book is simply referred to as the "Laozi". Authorship, precise date of origin, and even unity of the text are still subject of debate, and will probably never be known with certainty. The earliest texts of the "Tao Te Ching" that have been excavated (written on bamboo tablets) date back to the late 4th century BCE. Throughout the history of religious Taoism, the "Tao Te Ching" has been used as a ritual text.


title: Taoism

text: There is significant, at times acrimonious, debate regarding which English translation of the Tao Te Ching is preferable, and which particular translation methodology is best. The "Tao Te Ching" is not thematically ordered. The main themes of the text are repeatedly expressed using variant formulations, often with only a slight difference.


title: Taoism

text: The leading themes revolve around the nature of Tao and how to attain it. Tao is said to be ineffable and accomplishes great things through small means. Ancient commentaries on the "Tao Te Ching" are important texts in their own right. Perhaps the oldest one, the "Heshang Gong" commentary, was most likely written in the 2nd century CE. Other important commentaries include the one from Wang Bi and the Xiang'er.


title: Taoism

text: The "Zhuangzi" or "Chuang Tzu" (), named after its traditional author Zhuangzi, is a composite of writings from various sources, and is generally considered the most important of all Taoist writings. The commentator Guo Xiang (c. CE 300) helped establish the text as an important source for Taoist thought. The traditional view is that Zhuangzi himself wrote the first seven chapters (the "inner chapters") and his students and related thinkers were responsible for the other parts (the outer and miscellaneous chapters). The work uses anecdotes, parables and dialogues to express one of its main themes, that is aligning oneself to the laws of the natural world and "the way" of the elements.


title: Taoism

text: The "I Ching" or "Yijing" was originally a divination system that had its origins around 1150 BCE. Although it predates the first mentions of Tao as an organized system of philosophy and religious practice, this text later became of philosophical importance to Taoism and Confucianism.


title: Taoism

text: The "I Ching" itself, shorn of its commentaries, consists of 64 combinations of 8 trigrams (called "hexagrams"), traditionally chosen by throwing coins or yarrow sticks, to give the diviner some idea of the situation at hand and, through reading of the "changing lines", some idea of what is developing.


title: Taoism

text: The 64 original notations of the hexagrams in the "IChing" can also be read as a meditation on how change occurs, so it assists Taoists with managing yin and yang cycles as Laozi advocated in the "Tao Te Ching" (the oldest known version of this text was dated to 400 BCE). More recently as recorded in the 18th century, the Taoist master Liu Yiming continued to advocate this usage.


title: Taoism

text: The Taoist Canon (, "Treasury of Tao") is also referred to as the "Daozang". It was originally compiled during the Jin, Tang, and Song dynasties. The extant version was published during the Ming Dynasty. The Ming "Daozang" includes almost 1500 texts. Following the example of the Buddhist Tripiṭaka, it is divided into three "dong" (, "caves", "grottoes"). They are arranged from "highest" to "lowest":


title: Taoism

text: "Taoist" generally do not consult published versions of the Daozang, but individually choose, or inherit, texts included in the Daozang. These texts have been passed down for generations from teacher to student.


title: Taoism

text: The Shangqing School has a tradition of approaching Taoism through scriptural study. It is believed that by reciting certain texts often enough one will be rewarded with immortality.


title: Taoism

text: While the Tao Te Ching is most well-known, there are many other important texts in traditional Taoism. "Taishang Ganying Pian" ("Treatise of the Exalted One on Response and Retribution") discusses sin and ethics, and has become a popular morality tract in the last few centuries. It asserts that those in harmony with Tao will live long and fruitful lives. The wicked, and their descendants, will suffer and have shortened lives.


title: Taoism

text: The "taijitu" (; commonly known as the "yin and yang symbol" or simply the "yin yang") and the "Bagua" ("Eight Trigrams") have importance in Taoist symbolism. In this cosmology, the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of material energy, organized into the cycles of Yin and Yang and formed into objects and lives. Yin is the receptive and Yang is the active principle, seen in all forms of change and difference such as the annual season cycles, the natural landscape, the formation of both men and women as characters, and sociopolitical history. While almost all Taoist organizations make use of it, its principles have influenced Confucian, Neo-Confucian or pan-Chinese theory. One can see this symbol as a decorative element on Taoist organization flags and logos, temple floors, or stitched into clerical robes. According to Song dynasty sources, it originated around the 10th century CE. Previously, a tiger and a dragon had symbolized yin and yang.


title: Taoism

text: Taoist temples may fly square or triangular flags. They typically feature mystical writing or diagrams and are intended to fulfill various functions including providing guidance for the spirits of the dead, bringing good fortune, increasing life span, etc. Other flags and banners may be those of the gods or immortals themselves.


title: Taoism

text: A zigzag with seven stars is sometimes displayed, representing the Big Dipper (or the Bushel, the Chinese equivalent). In the Shang Dynasty of the 2nd millennium BCE, Chinese thought regarded the Big Dipper as a deity, while during the Han Dynasty, it was considered a "qi" path of the circumpolar god, "Taiyi".


title: Taoism

text: Taoist temples in southern China and Taiwan may often be identified by their roofs, which feature dragons and phoenixes made from multicolored ceramic tiles. They also stand for the harmony of yin and yang (with the phoenix representing yin). A related symbol is the flaming pearl, which may be seen on such roofs between two dragons, as well as on the hairpin of a Celestial Master. In general though, Chinese Taoist architecture lacks universal features that distinguish it from other structures.


title: Taoism

text: In ancient times, before the Taoism religion was founded, food would sometimes be set out as a sacrifice to the spirits of the deceased or the gods. This could include slaughtered animals, such as pigs and ducks, or fruit. The Taoist Celestial Master Zhang Daoling rejected food and animal sacrifices to the Gods. He tore apart temples, which demanded animal sacrifice and drove away its priests. This rejection of sacrifices has continued into the modern day, as Taoism Temples are not allowed to use animal sacrifices (with the exception of folk temples or local tradition.) Another form of sacrifice involves the burning of joss paper, or hell money, on the assumption that images thus consumed by the fire will reappear—not as a mere image, but as the actual item—in the spirit world, making them available for revered ancestors and departed loved ones. The joss paper is mostly used when memorializing ancestors, such as done during the Qingming festival.


title: Taoism

text: Also on particular holidays, street parades take place. These are lively affairs that involve firecrackers and flower-covered floats broadcasting traditional music. They also variously include lion dances and dragon dances; human-occupied puppets (often of the "Seventh Lord" and "Eighth Lord"), Kungfu-practicing and palanquins carrying god-images. The various participants are not considered performers, but rather possessed by the gods and spirits in question.


title: Taoism

text: Fortune-telling—including astrology, I Ching, and other forms of divination—has long been considered a traditional Taoist pursuit. Mediumship is also widely encountered in some sects. There is an academic and social distinction between martial forms of mediumship (such as "tongji") and the spirit-writing that is typically practiced through planchette writing.


title: Taoism

text: A recurrent and important element of Taoism are rituals, exercises and substances aiming at aligning oneself spiritually with cosmic forces, at undertaking ecstatic spiritual journeys, or at improving physical health and thereby extending one's life, ideally to the point of immortality. Enlightened and immortal beings are referred to as xian.


title: Taoism

text: A characteristic method aiming for longevity is Taoist alchemy. Already in very early Taoist scriptures—like the "Taiping Jing" and the "Baopuzi"—alchemical formulas for achieving immortality were outlined.


title: Taoism

text: A number of martial arts traditions, particularly the ones falling under the category of Neijia (like T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Pa Kwa Chang and Xing Yi Quan) embody Taoist principles to a significant extent, and some practitioners consider their art a means of practicing Taoism.


title: Taoism

text: The number of Taoists is difficult to estimate, due to a variety of factors including defining Taoism. According to a survey of religion in China in the year 2010, the number of people practicing some form of Chinese folk religion is near to 950 million (70% of the Chinese). Among these, 173 million (13%) claim an affiliation with Taoist practices. Furthermore, 12 million people stated that they were "Taoists", a term traditionally used exclusively for initiates, priests and experts of Taoist rituals and methods.


title: Taoism

text: Most Chinese people and many others have been influenced in some way by Taoist traditions. Since the creation of the People's Republic of China, the government has encouraged a revival of Taoist traditions in codified settings. In 1956, the Chinese Taoist Association was formed to administer the activities of all registered Taoist orders, and received official approval in 1957. It was disbanded during the Cultural Revolution under Mao Zedong, but was reestablished in 1980. The headquarters of the association are at the "Baiyunguan", or White Cloud Temple of Beijing, belonging to the Longmen branch of Quanzhen Taoism. Since 1980, many Taoist monasteries and temples have been reopened or rebuilt, both belonging to the Zhengyi or Quanzhen schools, and clergy ordination has been resumed.


title: Taoism

text: Taoist literature and art has influenced the cultures of Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Organized Taoism seems not to have attracted a large non-Chinese following until modern times. In Taiwan, 7.5 million people (33% of the population) identify themselves as Taoists. Data collected in 2010 for religious demographics of Hong Kong and Singapore show that, respectively, 14% and 11% of the people of these cities identify as Taoists.


title: Taoism

text: Followers of Taoism are also present in Chinese émigré communities outside Asia. In addition, it has attracted followers with no Chinese heritage. For example, in Brazil there are Taoist temples in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro which are affiliated with the Taoist Society of China. Membership of these temples is entirely of non-Chinese ancestry.


title: Taoism

text: Throughout Chinese history, there have been many examples of art being influenced by Taoist thought. Notable painters influenced by Taoism include Wu Wei, Huang Gongwang, Mi Fu, Muqi Fachang, Shitao, Ni Zan, Tang Mi, and Wang Zengzu. Taoist arts represents the diverse regions, dialects, and time spans that are commonly associated with Taoism. Ancient Taoist art was commissioned by the aristocracy; however, scholars masters and adepts also directly engaged in the art themselves.


title: Taoism

text: Taoism never had a unified political theory. While Huang-Lao's positions justified a strong emperor as the legitimate ruler, the "primitivists" (like in the chapters 8-11 of the Zhuangzi) argued strongly for a radical anarchism. A more moderate position is presented in the Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi in which the political life is presented with disdain and some kind of pluralism or perspectivism is preferred. The syncretist position in texts like the Huainanzi and some Outer Chapters of the Zhuangzi blended some Taoist positions with Confucian ones.


title: Taoism

text: Many scholars believe Taoism arose as a countermovement to Confucianism. The philosophical terms "Tao" and "De" are indeed shared by both Taoism and Confucianism. Zhuangzi explicitly criticized Confucian and Mohist tenets in his work. In general, Taoism rejects the Confucian emphasis on rituals, hierarchical social order, and conventional morality, and favors "naturalness", spontaneity, and individualism instead.


title: Taoism

text: The entry of Buddhism into China was marked by significant interaction and syncretism with Taoism. Originally seen as a kind of "foreign Taoism", Buddhism's scriptures were translated into Chinese using the Taoist vocabulary. Representatives of early Chinese Buddhism, like Sengzhao and Tao Sheng, knew and were deeply influenced by the Taoist keystone texts.


title: Taoism

text: Taoism especially shaped the development of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, introducing elements like the concept of "naturalness", distrust of scripture and text, and emphasis on embracing "this life" and living in the "every-moment".


title: Taoism

text: On the other hand, Taoism also incorporated Buddhist elements during the Tang dynasty. Examples of such influence include monasteries, vegetarianism, prohibition of alcohol, the doctrine of emptiness, and collecting scripture in tripartite organization in certain sects.


title: Taoism

text: Ideological and political rivals for centuries, Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism deeply influenced one another. For example, Wang Bi, one of the most influential philosophical commentators on Laozi (and the "I Ching"), was a Confucian. The three rivals also share some similar values, with all three embracing a humanist philosophy emphasizing moral behavior and human perfection. In time, most Chinese people identified to some extent with all three traditions simultaneously. This became institutionalized when aspects of the three schools were synthesized in the Neo-Confucian school.


title: Taoism

text: Comparisons between Taoism and Epicureanism have focused on the absence of a creator or gods controlling the forces of nature in both. Lucretius' poem De rerum natura describes a naturalist cosmology where there are only atoms and void (a primal duality which mirrors Ying/Yang in its dance of assertion/yielding), and where nature takes its course with no gods or masters. Other parallels include the similarities between Taoist "wu wei" (effortless action) and Epicurean "lathe biosas" (live unknown), focus on naturalness (ziran) as opposed to conventional virtues, and the prominence of the Epicurus-like Chinese sage Yang Chu in the foundational Taoist writings.


title: Taoism

text: Some authors have undertaken comparative studies of Taoism and Christianity. This has been of interest for students of the history of religion such as J. J. M. de Groot, among others. A comparison of the teachings of Laozi and Jesus of Nazareth has been made by several authors, such as Martin Aronson, and Toropov & Hansen (2002), who believe that there are parallels that should not be ignored. In the opinion of J. Isamu Yamamoto, the main difference is that Christianity preaches a personal God while Taoism does not. Yet, a number of authors, including Lin Yutang, have argued that some moral and ethical tenets of the religions are similar. In neighboring Vietnam, Taoist values have been shown to adapt to social norms and formed emerging sociocultural beliefs together with Confucianism.


title: Pedophilia

text: Pedophilia (alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty at age 10 or 11, and boys at age 11 or 12, criteria for pedophilia extend the cut-off point for prepubescence to age 13. A person must be at least 16 years old, and at least five years older than the prepubescent child, for the attraction to be diagnosed as pedophilia.


title: Pedophilia

text: Pedophilia is termed pedophilic disorder in the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM-5) and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). The DSM-5 defines it as a paraphilia involving intense and recurrent sexual urges towards and fantasies about prepubescent children that have either been acted upon or which cause the person with the attraction distress or interpersonal difficulty. The ICD-11 defines it as a "sustained, focused, and intense pattern of sexual arousal—as manifested by persistent sexual thoughts, fantasies, urges, or behaviours—involving pre-pubertal children."


title: Pedophilia

text: In popular usage, the word "pedophilia" is often applied to any sexual interest in children or the act of child sexual abuse, including any sexual interest in minors below the local age of consent, regardless of their level of physical or mental development. This use conflates the sexual attraction to prepubescent children with the act of child sexual abuse and fails to distinguish between attraction to prepubescent and pubescent or post-pubescent minors. Researchers recommend that these imprecise uses be avoided, because although some people who commit child sexual abuse are pedophiles, child sexual abuse offenders are not pedophiles unless they have a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children, and some pedophiles do not molest children.


title: Pedophilia

text: Pedophilia was first formally recognized and named in the late 19th century. A significant amount of research in the area has taken place since the 1980s. Although mostly documented in men, there are also women who exhibit the disorder, and researchers assume available estimates underrepresent the true number of female pedophiles. No cure for pedophilia has been developed, but there are therapies that can reduce the incidence of a person committing child sexual abuse. The exact causes of pedophilia have not been conclusively established. Some studies of pedophilia in child sex offenders have correlated it with various neurological abnormalities and psychological pathologies. In the United States, following "Kansas v. Hendricks" in 1997, sex offenders who are diagnosed with certain mental disorders, particularly pedophilia, can be subject to indefinite involuntary commitment.


title: Pedophilia

text: The word "pedophilia" comes from the Greek παῖς, παιδός ("paîs, paidós"), meaning "child", and φιλία ("philía"), "friendly love" or "friendship". "Pedophilia" is used for individuals with a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children aged 13 or younger. "Infantophilia" is a sub-type of pedophilia; it is used to refer to a sexual preference for children under the age of 5 (especially infants and toddlers). This is sometimes referred to as "nepiophilia" (from the ("népios") meaning "infant" or "child," which in turn derives from "ne-" and "epos" meaning "not speaking"), though this term is rarely used in academic sources. "Hebephilia" is defined as individuals with a primary or exclusive sexual interest in 11- to 14-year-old pubescents. The DSM-5 does not list hebephilia among the diagnoses. While evidence suggests that hebephilia is separate from pedophilia, the ICD-10 includes early pubertal age (an aspect of hebephilia) in its pedophilia definition, covering the physical development overlap between the two philias. In addition to "hebephilia", some clinicians have proposed other categories that are somewhat or completely distinguished from pedophilia; these include "pedohebephilia" (a combination of pedophilia and hebephilia) and "ephebophilia" (though ephebophilia is not considered pathological).


title: Pedophilia

text: Pedophilia emerges before or during puberty, and is stable over time. It is self-discovered, not chosen. For these reasons, pedophilia has been described as a disorder of sexual preference, phenomenologically similar to a heterosexual or homosexual orientation. These observations, however, do not exclude pedophilia from being classified as a mental disorder since pedophilic acts cause harm, and mental health professionals can sometimes help pedophiles to refrain from harming children.


title: Pedophilia

text: In response to misinterpretations that the American Psychiatric Association considers pedophilia a sexual orientation because of wording in its printed DSM-5 manual, which distinguishes between paraphilia and what it calls "paraphilic disorder", subsequently forming a division of "pedophilia" and "pedophilic disorder", the association commented: "'[S]exual orientation' is not a term used in the diagnostic criteria for pedophilic disorder and its use in the DSM-5 text discussion is an error and should read 'sexual interest.'" They added, "In fact, APA considers pedophilic disorder a 'paraphilia,' not a 'sexual orientation.' This error will be corrected in the electronic version of DSM-5 and the next printing of the manual." They said they strongly support efforts to criminally prosecute those who sexually abuse and exploit children and adolescents, and "also support continued efforts to develop treatments for those with pedophilic disorder with the goal of preventing future acts of abuse."


title: Pedophilia

text: Studies of pedophilia in child sex offenders often report that it co-occurs with other psychopathologies, such as low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and personality problems. It is not clear whether these are features of the disorder itself, artifacts of sampling bias, or consequences of being identified as a sex offender. One review of the literature concluded that research on personality correlates and psychopathology in pedophiles is rarely methodologically correct, in part owing to confusion between pedophiles and child sex offenders, as well as the difficulty of obtaining a representative, community sample of pedophiles. Seto (2004) points out that pedophiles who are available from a clinical setting are likely there because of distress over their sexual preference or pressure from others. This increases the likelihood that they will show psychological problems. Similarly, pedophiles recruited from a correctional setting have been convicted of a crime, making it more likely that they will show anti-social characteristics.


title: Pedophilia

text: Impaired self-concept and interpersonal functioning were reported in a sample of child sex offenders who met the diagnostic criteria for pedophilia by Cohen et al. (2002), which the authors suggested could contribute to motivation for pedophilic acts. The pedophilic offenders in the study had elevated psychopathy and cognitive distortions compared to healthy community controls. This was interpreted as underlying their failure to inhibit their criminal behavior. Studies in 2009 and 2012 found that non-pedophilic child sex offenders exhibited psychopathy, but pedophiles did not.


title: Pedophilia

text: Wilson and Cox (1983) studied the characteristics of a group of pedophile club members. The most marked differences between pedophiles and controls were on the introversion scale, with pedophiles showing elevated shyness, sensitivity and depression. The pedophiles scored higher on neuroticism and psychoticism, but not enough to be considered pathological as a group. The authors caution that "there is a difficulty in untangling cause and effect. We cannot tell whether paedophiles gravitate towards children because, being highly introverted, they find the company of children less threatening than that of adults, or whether the social withdrawal implied by their introversion is a result of the isolation engendered by their preference i.e., awareness of the social [dis]approbation and hostility that it evokes" (p. 324). In a non-clinical survey, 46% of pedophiles reported that they had seriously considered suicide for reasons related to their sexual interest, 32% planned to carry it out, and 13% had already attempted it.


title: Pedophilia

text: A review of qualitative research studies published between 1982 and 2001 concluded that child sexual abusers use cognitive distortions to meet personal needs, justifying abuse by making excuses, redefining their actions as love and mutuality, and exploiting the power imbalance inherent in all adult–child relationships. Other cognitive distortions include the idea of "children as sexual beings", uncontrollability of sexual behavior, and "sexual entitlement-bias".


title: Pedophilia

text: Consumption of child pornography is a more reliable indicator of pedophilia than molesting a child, although some non-pedophiles also view child pornography. Child pornography may be used for a variety of purposes, ranging from private sexual gratification or trading with other collectors, to preparing children for sexual abuse as part of the child grooming process.


title: Pedophilia

text: Pedophilic viewers of child pornography are often obsessive about collecting, organizing, categorizing, and labeling their child pornography collection according to age, gender, sex act and fantasy. According to FBI agent Ken Lanning, "collecting" pornography does not mean that they merely view pornography, but that they save it, and "it comes to define, fuel, and validate their most cherished sexual fantasies". Lanning states that the collection is the single best indicator of what the offender wants to do, but not necessarily of what has been or will be done. Researchers Taylor and Quayle reported that pedophilic collectors of child pornography are often involved in anonymous internet communities dedicated to extending their collections.


title: Pedophilia

text: Although what causes pedophilia is not yet known, researchers began reporting a series of findings linking pedophilia with brain structure and function, beginning in 2002. Testing individuals from a variety of referral sources inside and outside the criminal justice system as well as controls, these studies found associations between pedophilia and lower IQs, poorer scores on memory tests, greater rates of non-right-handedness, greater rates of school grade failure over and above the IQ differences, being below average height, greater probability of having had childhood head injuries resulting in unconsciousness, and several differences in MRI-detected brain structures.


title: Pedophilia

text: Such studies suggest that there are one or more neurological characteristics present at birth that cause or increase the likelihood of being pedophilic. Some studies have found that pedophiles are less cognitively impaired than non-pedophilic child molesters. A 2011 study reported that pedophilic child molesters had deficits in response inhibition, but no deficits in memory or cognitive flexibility. Evidence of familial transmittability "suggests, but does not prove that genetic factors are responsible" for the development of pedophilia. A 2015 study indicated that pedophilic offenders have a normal IQ.