Zhengyi Dao - History

History

By the beginning of the Tang Dynasty in 618, the term 'Celestial Master' had lost the potency it had in earlier movements such as the Five Pecks of Rice, and any prominent Daoist could be accorded the title. Emperor Xuanzong (712-756), canonized the first Celestial Master Zhang Daoling during his reign. This did not benefit the original territory of his followers in Sichuan, but rather benefited a temple in the Jiangnan area of Jiangxi province. This temple, located at Longhu Shan, claimed to be the spot where Zhang Daoling had obtained the Tao, and where his descendants still lived. Recognized by the emperor as the legitimate descendants of Zhang Daoling, these new Celestial Masters established a new patriarchy at their base of Longhu Shan.

The importance of the Zhengyi school grew during the Song Dynasty, with the Celestial masters frequently receiving imperial appointments. In 1239, the Southern Song Emperor Lizong commanded the thirty-fifth Celestial Master Zhang Keda to the united Lingbao School, the Shangqing School and Zhengyi Dao. The new school was to retain the Zhengyi name and remain based at Longhu Shan. Shortly after the schools were united, Kubilai Khan conquered the Southern Song Dynasty to usher in the Yuan Dynasty. He accepted the claim that the Celestial Master of Longhu Shan was descended from Zhang Daoling and granted the school the right to control affairs relating to Daoism in the Jiangnan area. In 1304, as a result of Zhengyi Dao’s increased importance under the Mongols, all of the Daoist schools, with the exception of the Quanzhen School, were united under the banner of the Zhengyi School, with the thirty-eighth Celestial Master, Zhang Yucai as leader.

The foundation of the Ming dynasty in 1368 marked the beginning of a long decline in the power of the Zhengyi Daoism. The first emperor of the Ming the Hongwu Emperor (1368–98) suppressed the use of the title of 'Celestial Master' among the Zhengyi School, and the fiftieth Celestial Master Zhang Guoxiang had his title stripped by the Longqing Emperor (1567–72). By the Daoguang (1821–50) period of the Qing Dynasty, relations between the court and the Celestial Masters came to an end. The school's activities became localized to regions in which the school was particularly important. Despite ending association with the court, the Celestial Master himself still retained a great deal of prestige and importance among Daoists throughout China. This prestige, which arose from the belief that he was descended from Zhang Daoling, was evident when the Celestial Master traveled and attracted crowds of people wherever he went.