The Daozang is a collection of Taoist scriptures. It is a large Taoist series that has compiled many classics according to a certain compilation intention, scope of collection and organizational structure. It has been compiled since the early Tang Dynasty and has a history of nearly 1,300 years.

    During the Southern Song Dynasty, Lu Xiu Jing compiled a large collection of Taoist books and wrote the “Three Cave Canon Catalog,” which was the first catalog of Taoist scriptures in the history of Taoism. During the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong ordered the collection of Taoist scriptures from all over the world and compiled them into the “All Taoist Scriptures,” also known as the “Kaiyuan Taoist Canon,” which included 5,300 volumes of Taoist books. During the reign of Emperor Zhen of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhang Junfang was commissioned to edit and compile the “Song Dynasty Heavenly Palace Treasure,” which contained 5,481 volumes and was printed for the first time in Fuzhou, Min County. It was called the “Wanshou Daozang” or “Zhenghe Wanshou Daozang.” During the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of the Jin Dynasty, the “Dajin Xuandu Treasure” was compiled and printed, containing 6,455 volumes. In the early years of the Yuan Dynasty, the Quanzhen Taoist Song Defang presided over the compilation and engraving of the “Dazhen Xuandu Treasure” with a total of more than 7,800 volumes. The above-mentioned Taoist scriptures are now lost.

    The extant Daozang was compiled by Zhang Yuchu, the 43rd Tianshi, and his brother Zhang Yuqing in the fourth year of the Yongle reign of the Ming dynasty. In the ninth year of the Zhengtong reign of the Ming dynasty, the emperor ordered the Daozang to be revised and supplemented by the Tongmiao Zhenren Shao Yizheng. The printing of the plates was completed in the tenth year of the Zhengtong reign, with a total of 5,305 volumes. Later generations called the book the Zhengtong Daozang after the year of its publication. In the 35th year of the reign of the Ming Emperor Shenzong, the 50th generation of Tianshi Zhang Guoxiang was ordered to compile the “Xu Daozang”. The “Xu Daozang” included a total of 1,476 types of Daoist books, 5,485 volumes, and 512 bindings, each numbered according to the order of the “Thousand Character Classic”, and 121,589 boards. The various classics in the Daozang are arranged according to the classification method of “three caves, four assistants, and twelve categories.”

    Since 1996, the Chinese Taoist Association has been compiling the Chinese Taoist Canon under the auspices of Zhang Jiyu, the vice president of the association. The basic framework of the three caves and four supplements is maintained, and the scriptures outside the three caves and four supplements are classified according to their content. The scriptures in each category are arranged in order of the origin of the Taoist sect and the order of the times. After many years of hard work and the dedication of a large amount of human and material resources, the Chinese Taoist Canon was finally published in 2004.

  道藏是道教经籍的总集，是按照一定的编纂意图、收集范围和组织结构，将许多经典编排起来的大型道教丛书。从唐朝初年开始编纂，至今已有近1300多年的历史。

  南朝刘宋时，陆修静广集道书，编写《三洞经书目录》，共一千二百二十八卷，为道教史上的第一部经书目录。至唐代开元年间，唐玄宗下令搜访天下道经，汇编成《一切道经》，即《开元道藏》，共收入道书五千三百卷。北宋真宗时，张君房奉命主编修了《大宋天宫宝藏》，共五千四百八十一卷，并首次在福州闽县刻板印刷，称作《万寿道藏》或《政和万寿道藏》。金朝章宗时，编刻《大金玄都宝藏》，共六千四百五十五卷。元朝初年，全真道士宋德方主持编刻《大元玄都宝藏》共计七千八百余卷。上述道藏现均亡佚。

  现存之《道藏》是由明成祖永乐四年，第四十三代天师张宇初及其弟张宇清奉诏主持编修。英宗正统九年又诏通妙真人邵以正校正增补，于正统十年刊板事竣，共计五千三百零五卷。后世以刊板年号称其书为《正统道藏》。明神宗万历三十五年，又命第五十代天师张国祥主编成《续道藏》。正续《道藏》共收入各类道书一千四百七十六种，五千四百八十五卷，分装成五百一十二函，每函依《千字文》顺序编号，经板十二万一千五百八十九块。《道藏》中的各种典籍，都按“三洞四辅十二类”的分类方法编排。

    1996年起，由中国道教协会副会长张继禹道长主持编修《中华道藏》，是以明代正、续《道藏》为底本，保持三洞四辅的基本框架。对三洞四辅以外的经书又根据不同的内容进行了相应的归类，共分七大部类，各部类所收经书，按道派源流和时代先后编排次序。集大量的人力和物力，历经数载，终于在2004年正式出版发行。