During the 1,800 years of its development, Chinese Taoism has, in addition to revering the pre-Qin Taoist classics “Laozi,” “Zhuangzi,” “Wenzi,” and “Liezi,” as well as the later “Kang Zang Zi” and “Guan Yin Zi,” as the classics for recitation, accumulated a variety of experiences in doctrines, rules and precepts, cultivation methods, rituals and ceremonies, and preaching, etc., have accumulated a wealth of experience; and after several generations of hard work, these have been written down in books, forming a vast collection of scriptures.

    The creation and compilation of Taoist scriptures and writings has a historical development process. During the founding of the Zhengyi Mengwei Dao, in addition to the “Laozi” 5,000 texts as the ancestral scriptures, and annotations for them (such as “Laozi Xiang'er Annotations”), which were used as textbooks for the faithful to recite, the only newly created scriptures were the “Taiping Jing” and several Taoist books written by Zhang Daoling. After that, the number of scriptures increased day by day. By the early Eastern Jin Dynasty, Ge Hong's Baopuzi Xialan recorded 670 volumes of Taoist scriptures and more than 500 volumes of Taoist books, totaling more than 1,200 volumes. In the middle and late periods of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, under the influence of the widespread dissemination of Buddhist scriptures, the scale of Taoist scripture production continued to expand, and several volumes of the two major categories of scriptures, Shangqing and Lingbao, were created. In addition, the scriptures of the Three Emperor System and the scriptures of the Zhengyi sect were also created, and the number of volumes was already quite impressive. Therefore, it was necessary to compile them into volumes for widespread dissemination. Therefore, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, a number of Taoist priests successively collected and organized the scattered Taoist scriptures of the time. However, due to the limitations of manpower, material resources and means of dissemination, it was impossible to copy and disseminate the collected scriptures in large quantities, and only the catalogs of scriptures could be passed down. The main catalogs of the scriptures that were compiled successively were: Lu Xiu Jing's “Catalog of the Three Cave Scriptures” from the Southern Song Dynasty, Meng Fashi's “Catalog of the Seven Jades” from the Qi and Liang Dynasties, Tao Hongjing's “Catalog of the Taoist Hermit,” “Catalog of the Supreme Scriptures,” “Catalog of the Thirty-Six Venerable Scriptures,” “Catalog of the Xuandu Scriptures” from the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and Wang Yan's “Three Cave Pearl Bag.” None of these catalogs still exist today. According to the “Laughing at the World” by Zhen Luan of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Lu Xiu Jing's “Catalog of the Three Cave Sutras” recorded 1,228 volumes of Taoist books (1,090 volumes actually existed), and the “Catalog of the Xuan-tu Sutras” recorded more than 6,000 volumes of Taoist books (2,040 volumes actually existed). It can be seen that by the end of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the number of Taoist sutras had increased significantly compared to the time of Ge Hong of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

    In the process of organizing and cataloging the scriptures, the Taoist priests created and gradually perfected a unique classification system for Taoist scriptures, namely the three-hole, four-support, twelve-category classification system. The various catalogs of scriptures mentioned above were classified according to this system, and the subsequent Taoist collections were also classified in this way, which has remained unchanged for more than a thousand years.

    The official compilation of Taoist books into “Taoist collections” began during the Tang Dynasty (713-741). Emperor Xuanzong ordered the search for Taoist books throughout the land, which were then compiled and classified according to the three-hole, four-support, twelve-category system, and finally became the first Taoist Canon in China, named the Kaiyuan Taoist Canon, with the title of the Three-Hole Qionggang, a total of 3,744 volumes, or 5,700 volumes, which were ordered to be copied and distributed. After the chaos of the Five Dynasties, this Taoist Canon was lost due to the destruction of the war. During the Song Dynasty, from the reign of Emperor Taizong to Emperor Huizong, the Daozang was revised several times and compiled into the Baowen Tonglu (Compendium of the Treasure of the Written Word) in the early years of Emperor Zhenzong's reign (1008-1016), the Dashengong Baozang (Treasure of the Heavenly Palace of the Great Song Dynasty) in the third year of Emperor Zhenzong's reign (1019), and the Zhenghe Wanshou Daozang (Zhenghe Longevity Daozang) printed on wood blocks during Emperor Huizong's reign (1111-1118). In the Jin and Yuan dynasties, on the basis of the remaining plates of the “Zhenghe Wanshou Daozang,” the “Dajin Xuandu Baozang” was successively completed in the first year of the Mingchang period (1190), and the “Xuandu Baozang” was completed in the third year of the Yuan Naima Zhenhou (1244). The last Daozang was the Zhengtong Daozang, which was completed in the ninth year of the Zhengtong reign (1444), and its sequel, the Wanli Xudazang (completed in the 35th year of the Wanli reign). The two Daozang collections contained a total of 1,476 Daoist books, with a total of 5,485 volumes. It is a large collection of Daoist literature and one of the treasuries of traditional Chinese culture.

     Although there was no major collection of Taoist scriptures after the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty, smaller Taoist collections were compiled from time to time. The most important of these was the Taoist Canon Compendium (later reissued as the Taoist Canon Compendium Reissued) compiled by Peng Dingqiu in the early Qing Dynasty. In addition to the books selected from the Zhengxu Taoist Canon, it also included 110 works from the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. In addition, during the Ming, Qing and Republican periods, compilations such as the Essentials of the Taoist Canon, the Taoist Canon Supplement and individual Taoist collections were compiled, such as the History of Fanghu, Twelve Taoist Books, Ancient Books from the Yinlou Collection and Seventeen Taoist Books. Other Taoist books can be found in the Dunhuang manuscripts, the silk manuscripts from the Han Dynasty tombs at Mawangdui in Changsha and the Yongle Encyclopedia. If the above-mentioned scattered Taoist books that have been collected and those that have not been collected are collected and organized, the number will certainly be very impressive. The Bashu Book Society has begun to compile them into “Taoist Books Outside the Collection.” Although the newly compiled “Zhonghua Daozang” by the China Taoist Association is based on the Ming “Taoist Collection,” it also adds a number of Taoist books.

  中国道教在一千八百多年的发展过程中，除了尊奉先秦道家典籍《老子》《庄子》《文子》《列子》以及后出的《亢仓子》《关尹子》为诵习的经典外，经过长期的宗教实践活动，在教理教义、教规教戒，修炼方术、斋醮科仪以及传教等方面，积累了种种经验；又经若干代的努力，将这些笔之于书，形成了卷帙浩繁的经籍书文。

  道教经籍书文的造作与结集，有一个历史发展过程。正一盟威道创建时期，除以《老子》五千文为祖经，并为之作注释（如《老子想尔注》），以为教徒诵习之课本外，新创作的经书只有先出的《太平经》和张道陵天师所写的道书若干篇。此后，经书日有增益，至东晋初，葛洪《抱朴子·遐览》即著录道书六百七十卷，符书五百余卷，共一千二百余卷。东晋中后期，上清、灵宝派出，在佛经广为传播的影响下，道书造作的规模日益扩大，创作了上清、灵宝两大部类经书各若干卷，加上三皇经系统的经书、正一派的经书，篇卷已甚为可观。因而要求结集成帙，以广传播。所以在南北朝时期，相继有一些道士对当时零散的道书进行搜集与整理。但因受人力、物力和传播手段的限制，无法将结集的经书进行大量抄写传播，仅能辑录经书目录传世。相继编成的经书目录，主要的有：南朝宋陆修静《三洞经书目录》，齐梁孟法师《玉纬七部经书目》、梁陶弘景《陶隐居经目》《太上众经目》《三十六部尊经目》、北周玄都观《玄都经目》、王延《三洞珠囊》等。这些经目现皆已不存。据北周甄鸾《笑道论》称，陆修静《三洞经书目录》已著录道书一千二百二十八卷（实有者一千零九十卷），《玄都经目》则著录道书六千余卷（实有者二千零四十卷）。可见至南北朝末，道教经书较东晋葛洪时有了较大增加。

  道士们在整理经书、编制经书目录的过程中，创造并逐步完善了道教独特的经书分类法，即三洞四辅十二类分类法。上述各种经书目录按此法分类，以后的各部道藏亦以此法分类，沿用千余年未作改变。

  道书之正式结集成“藏”，始于唐开元（713～741）时。玄宗诏令天下搜访道书，经过整理，按三洞四辅十二类分类法进行编纂，最后成中国第一部“道藏”，名《开元道藏》，目曰《三洞琼纲》，共三千七百四十四卷，或曰五千七百卷，诏令传写，以广流布。后经五代之乱，这部道藏因遭兵燹而散失不全。至宋代，从太宗至徽宗间，几经修“藏”，编成传写者有宋真宗大中祥符（1008～1016）初之《宝文统录》，真宗天禧三年（1019）的《大宋天宫宝藏》，徽宗政和（1111—1118）间的木板刻印《政和万寿道藏》。至金元，在《政和万寿道藏》残板基础上，又相继于金明昌元年（1190）修成《大金玄都宝藏》，元乃马真后三年（1244）修成《玄都宝藏》。最后一部道藏是明正统九年（1444）刊竣之《正统道藏》及其续书《万历续道藏》（刊成于万历三十五年）。正、续两部道藏共收道书一千四百七十六种，合五千四百八十五卷。它是道教文献的大集成，也是祖国传统文化的宝库之一。

   明万历之后，虽无道藏之大结集，但规模较小的道教丛书，却时有编纂。最重要的有清初彭定求所编之《道藏辑要》（后经增补再刊为《重刊道藏辑要》），它除选收正续《道藏》之书外，又增收明末清初著作一百一十种。此外，明、清、民国间，又相继编成《道藏精华录》《道藏续编》以及道士个人专集，如《方壶外史》《道书十二种》《古书隐楼藏书》《道书十七种》等。其他如敦煌遗书、长沙马王堆西汉墓帛书，及《永乐大典》等中，还有不少散见道书。如果将上述已经小结集和尚未结集的分散道书加以收集整理，数量一定十分可观。巴蜀书社已着手将它们编纂成《藏外道书》。中国道教协会新近编成的《中华道藏》，虽以明《道藏》为底本，但也补充了若干道书。