What chinese language were original taoist texts written in?

[Bloodywarrior]

Is it mandarin?

[Protector]

You are so weird

[ChiDragon]

Is it mandarin?

 

Yes, they were speaking Mandarin at the time.....

[Rainy_Day]

The most important Daoist texts are written in Classical Chinese.

 

The Mien people, for instance, are Daoists. Even though they don't speak Chinese in everyday life, when they perform Daoist rituals, they still have to learn Chinese characters to work the invocations.

 

There are probably some texts written in Vietnamese, Japanese, and Korean. Today, of course, there are many introductions to Daoism in Western languages, but generally speaking, if you want to progress in Daoism, you will have to pick up a lot of Chinese vocabulary relating to Daoism along the way.

 

Personally, I feel one of the most important tasks facing Daoists today is to translate the most important texts of the Daoist Canon into English. This way, all nations will have a chance to share in the Daoist heritage.

[Lao Tzu]

Is it mandarin?

It is Classical Chinese, a ancient way to speak and write in chinese.

Not same as Mandarin. Mandarin is a modern chinese.

For sure, It is traditional, not simplified.

[dawei]

As to 'written', one is referring to 'characters'. As to 'mandarin', on is referring to pronunciation of characters.

 

http://www.chineseetymology.org/mandarin.aspx

 

http://www.chineseetymology.org/why_study.aspx