The book by Candidate of Historical Sciences E. A. Torchinov is dedicated to the first monographic description of Taoism in Russian science, one of the leading directions of religious and philosophical thought in traditional China. The author examines such problems as the unity of the Taoist tradition, the connection between the religious and philosophical levels of Taoism, analyzes the main provisions of Taoist cosmogony and cosmology, and dwells in detail on the most important of the Taoist arts of “gaining immortality” - alchemy. The main part of the book is an outline of the history of the Taoist religion from its formation in ancient China to the present day. The author describes and analyzes little-known facts of the history of Taoism and puts forward his own concept of the laws of development of Taoism. The publication is intended for specialists in oriental studies, historians of religion, cultural experts and everyone interested in the spiritual culture of the East.