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World's largest Taoism forum to open Sunday

Xinhua, October 23, 2011

• An international Taoism forum that will attract 500 scholars from 21 countries or regions will open at Hengshan Mountain of central Hunan Province on Sunday, said organizers at a press conference Saturday.

  Bawa Jain, Secretary General of World Council of Religious Leaders, Martin Palmer, head of the Alliance of Religions and Conservation and Ren Farong, head of the Chinese Taoist Association will attend the 3-day forum, organizers said.

  The forum will focus on how to integrate Taoism philosophy with social reality and highlight Taoists' concerns about the present world and their desire to help society solve existing problems with Taoist wisdom, Zhang Jiyu, vice president of the China Taoist Association, said in a September's press conference.

  The forum will be open between Oct. 23 and 25 and is co-sponsored by China Taoist Association and China Religious Culture Communication Association.

  Taoism, a philosophical and religious tradition that originated in China, seeks to establish harmony between human beings and the principle of the universe, which is called Tao.

  The emblem of Taoism is the Taiji symbol, which is a circle with an S-shaped line dividing the white (yang) and black (yin) halves.

  Hengshan Mountain, 1,300 meters above sea level, is a scenic site renowned for Taoist and Buddhist culture.

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