I-Kuan Tao - Structure and Schisms

Structure and Schisms

I-Kuan Tao does not have a single organization. This is because after the death of Zhang and the escape from China following the end of the Civil War and the Cultural Revolution, many of the followers found their own way to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United States. They established their own groups, mainly following their ancestral temples' names from China, spreading the teachings of I-Kuan Tao. There is a consensus from the followers of Zhang Tianran and Sun to form the I-Kuan Tao headquarters, recognizing the so-called "eighteen groups".

Apart from these eighteen, there is an independent group started by the wife and the son of Zhang Tianran, Madame Liu and Mr. Zhang Yingyu, which does not have many followers. A large splinter group, also recognized by the government of Taiwan but not acknowledged by I-Kuan Tao, is that founded by Wang Hao De, former aide to Sun, who established his own sect called the "Great Tao of Maitreya".