《汉天师世家》

Volume One of the Hereditary Lineage of the Han Celestial Masters

Preface to the Hereditary Lineage of the Han Celestial Masters

Zhang Zhenren, the forty-second-generation Celestial Master of the Han lineage, asked the Shangqing Daoist Fu Tongxu to invite Jian Lian to write a preface for the Hereditary Lineage. Jian Lian observed that in antiquity, when ministers had distinguished families spanning generations, court historians recorded their genealogies, arranged their succession, and passed these accounts down to later generations. In this way, their origins could be traced and their achievements made known. Such records are especially indispensable for the lineages of the descendants of divine beings.

The Hereditary Lineage compiled here begins with Zhang Liang, Marquis Wencheng of Liu. Beyond him, there are no reliable accounts of the lineage. Jian Lian has therefore supplemented the record with information from clan genealogies and, following the general format of historical works, briefly outlined the succession of the family. Readers can thus grasp its broad outline at a glance; fuller details appear in the chapters that follow.

The preface states: The Zhang clan descends from the Ji surname. Hui, the fifth son of Qingyang, son of Xuanyuan (the Yellow Emperor), first made bows and arrows, then fashioned nets to catch birds and animals, and oversaw sacrifices to the Bow Star, a constellation associated with archery. His descendants held this office generation after generation and were therefore granted the surname Zhang.

During the reign of King Xuan of Zhou, there was a minister named Zhang Zhong. His descendants served as grandees in the state of Jin. Zhang Hou had a son, Zhang Lao; Zhang Lao had a son, Jun Wu; Jun Wu had a son, Zhang Qu; and Zhang Qu had a son, Zhang Ge. Zhang Ge’s grandson was named Zhang Yi. After the three great ministerial clans divided Jin, the Zhang clan served in the state of Han. Zhang Kaidi served as chancellor of Han, assisting Marquis Zhao of Han and King Xuanhui of Han. His son, Zhang Ping, also served as chancellor, assisting King Xi of Han and King Daohui of Han.

Zhang Ping had a son, Zhang Liang, whose courtesy name was Zifang. Zhang Liang served as Grand Tutor in the Han dynasty, was enfeoffed as Marquis Wencheng of Liu, and lived in Fengyi, Pei Commandery. He had two sons: Zhang Pijiang, who served as an Attendant-in-Waiting, and Zhang Buyi. Zhang Buyi inherited the marquisate and had two sons, Zhang Dian and Zhang Gao. Zhang Dian had a son, Zhang Mo; Zhang Mo had a son, Zhang Jin, who served as Grand Marshal; and Zhang Jin had a son, Zhang Qianqiu, Duke of Yangling. Zhang Qianqiu, whose courtesy name was Wannian, had a son, Zhang Song. Zhang Song had five sons: Zhang Zhuang, Zhang Zan, Zhang Peng, Zhang Mu, and Zhang Shu. Most of their descendants were recorded in biographies for their notable achievements.

By the Tang dynasty, members of this branch had been counted among forty-three prominent lineages in places including Anding, Fanyang, Taiyuan, Nanyang, Dunhuang, Xiuwu, Shanggu, Peiguo, Liangguo, Xingyang, Pingyuan, and Jingzhao. Seventeen of them became chief ministers. Their lineage ran as follows: Gao begot Tong, Tong begot Wuwang, Wuwang begot Liren, Liren begot Hao, Hao begot Gang, and Gang begot the Perfected One of Tongwu, Dashun. Dashun begot Zhang Daoling, the Celestial Master of the Han, who was revered as the founding patriarch of the Daoist religion. This branch’s lineage endured for a long time and grew more powerful than those of the prominent families mentioned earlier. Some people, without investigating carefully, saw that the fiefdom was abolished after the Marquis of Liu, Zhang Liang, died and assumed the Zhang family had no descendants. They did not know that his descendants had spread across the north and south and flourished to this extent.

Zhang Daoyuan, whose courtesy name was Fu, was born in the tenth year of Jianwu under the Han, at Mount Tianmu in Wu. As a young man, he studied widely the “drought writings” (the text uses this term, whose specific meaning is unclear), and more than a thousand people studied under him. Later, he became known for his integrity and outspokenness. Selected through the “forthright remonstrance” examination, which appointed candidates for candid advice, he served as magistrate of Jiangzhou in Ba Commandery. He resigned and lived in seclusion on Mount Yu, north of Luoyang, cultivating techniques for refining body and spirit. Emperor Zhang summoned him to serve as a court scholar, but he did not answer the summons. After Emperor He came to the throne, he was again summoned, this time to serve as Grand Tutor, and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Ji; he declined both offers.

Later, leaning on his staff, he traveled through the Huai region, entered Poyang, and then climbed Mount Longhu, where he refined the Nine Heavens Divine Elixir, a Daoist legendary elixir of immortality. At West Immortal Source, he discovered techniques for commanding the Five Sacred Mountains and summoning the myriad spirits, as well as the Secret Text of the Divine Tiger, esoteric talismanic writings associated with commanding spirits. These texts were kept in the Bilu Cave. Before long, he went to a stone chamber on Mount Song and obtained the Yellow Emperor’s Book of the Nine Tripods, a text said to be associated with alchemy.

After mastering Daoist methods, he heard that miasma in the Ba and Shu regions was endangering the people, and resolved to enter Shu. He first lived on Mount Yangping, then moved to Mount Heming. He received a revelation of the arrival of the Venerable Lord of Mysterious Origin, Laozi, who repeatedly taught him the methods of transmitting scriptures and registers, a Daoist system of cultivation involving the transmission of scriptures, talismans and registers, and ritual offices. He then manifested in multiple forms and established the Twenty-Four Governance Centers, adding four more to correspond to the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions, the twenty-eight sectors of the sky in the traditional Chinese stellar system. In consequence, demons, malign influences, and pestilences gradually subsided. He also accomplished many other things, such as bringing forth a salt spring and breaking into a city of ghosts, too many to record one by one.

In the second year of Yongshou, Zhang Daoling moved once more, to Quting Mountain. He took out two swords, one male and one female, called the Three-Fives Swords for Slaying Evil, along with the Yangping Zhidu Gong Seal, and passed them to his successor, the Celestial Master Zhang Heng, instructing that they be handed down from generation to generation. Then he rode the clouds up to Heaven. He was 123 years old.

Zhang Heng, whose courtesy name was Lingzhen, was exceptionally capable. The court summoned him to serve as Gentleman of the Yellow Gate, but he declined and lived in seclusion on Yangping Mountain. He vowed to guide the people through the way of loyalty and filial piety. The virtuous considered him to have carried on his ancestors’ work, established a lasting tradition, and led ordinary people toward the good.

Zhang Heng’s son was Zhang Lu, the Ritual Master, whose courtesy name was Gongqi. He continued his forebears’ work, teaching people through Daoist methods, and called himself “Lord Master.” Those who came seeking the Dao and accepted its teachings were called “Libationers” (a religious office within Daoist communities) if their faith was sincere. Zhang Lu taught them to be honest and trustworthy and never to deceive others. When someone fell ill, they were to acknowledge their own faults without being prompted.

Later, Zhang Lu established public granaries and stored relief grain there, allowing people to take enough to satisfy their hunger according to their needs. Taking more than they required brought misfortune. The number of people who came to join him grew day by day. Zhang Lu then settled in Hanzhong, where the court appointed him General Who Pacifies the People and concurrently Administrator of Hanning.

Later, Zhang Lu submitted to Wei Taizu and was enfeoffed as General Who Pacifies the South and Marquis of Wenzhong. All five of his sons were made marquises, and his daughter married Pengzu, a son of Wei Taizu. After Zhang Lu died, the court posthumously named him Marquis Yuan.

Zhang Lu’s son, Zhang Sheng, whose courtesy name was Yuanzong, was made Marquis of Duting by Wei Taizu, but declined the title. Later, Zhang Sheng returned from Hanzhong to Longhu Mountain and, on the Three Primordial Days—Daoist festivals held on the fifteenth day of the first, seventh, and tenth lunar months—ascended the altar to transmit Daoist registers. Zhang Sheng’s son was Zhang Zhaocheng, whose courtesy name was Daorong. Zhang Zhaocheng sat upright in a stone chamber; when tigers and leopards encountered him, they lay still on the ground. After he died, people saw him riding a crane through the air. When they opened his tomb, only his cap and shoes remained inside.

Zhang Zhaocheng’s son was Zhang Shujin. Emperor An of Jin summoned him, but he did not answer the call.

Hui gave rise to Jiong, and Jiong gave rise to Fu. Fu gave rise to Xiang, styled Linbo, who once served as a Commandant of Luoyang during the Sui dynasty. It is said that he could exhale his vital Qi, like an elixir, into his palm. Its radiance would light up a room, and then he would swallow it back.

Xiang gave rise to Tongxuan. When an epidemic was spreading, Tongxuan placed talismans—written Daoist symbols—in water. Everyone who drew and drank the water recovered. Tongxuan gave rise to Heng. When Emperor Gaozong of Tang asked how to govern the state, Heng replied, “If you can practice Wuwei (non-action), the realm will be well governed.” The emperor praised him highly.

Heng gave rise to Guang, Guang to Cizheng, and Cizheng to Shilong. Shilong once forgot his jade seal in a tavern in Chang’an. A young man strained with all his might but could not lift it. The next day, Shilong left, barking like a dog. Shilong gave rise to Yingshao. Yingshao gave rise to Yi, who gave rise to Shiyuan, styled Zhongliang. Shiyuan was thin and heavily bearded. He lived on Mount Yingtian for forty years. Tigers were plentiful in the mountains, and no one dared visit him. Whenever there was a fierce storm, people could see him from afar riding a black dragon among the peaks.

Shiyuan gave rise to Xiu, Xiu to Chen, and Chen to Bing, also known as Wenfu. His gaze was like lightning, and he could see clearly even at night. It is said that he once walked through the wilderness with a sword on his back and scolded an old tree; lightning immediately split it apart. He also killed two great pythons and more than a hundred small snakes.

Bing gave rise to Shan, and Shan to Jiwen. In the late Five Dynasties period, many people received talismanic documents from Jiwen, so he cast tens of thousands of iron tally tokens and continued to pass them on. Jiwen gave rise to Zhengsui. In the eighth year of the Dazhong Xiangfu era of the Song dynasty, Zhengsui was summoned to court and granted the title “Master of True Stillness.” The title “Master,” as used thereafter, was bestowed by the emperor. Wang Qinruo, Minister of Personnel, submitted a memorial on his behalf, and the court promptly established an Institute for the Conferment of Registers.

Zhengsui gave rise to Cheng. Cheng gave rise to Master Su, Qianyao; Qianyao gave rise to Master Xubai, Sizong; and Sizong gave rise to Xiangzhong, styled Gongchen. It is said that Xiangzhong could walk at three months old and speak at five months.

At the age of seven, he went to the capital to pay his respects to the emperor and was granted a purple robe. Bao Guang, the Master Dunfu of Xiangzhong, had no sons, so his nephew, Baozhen, the Master Jingduan, inherited his Dao lineage. Jingduan also had no sons, and the lineage therefore passed to his younger brother, Xujing, the Master Jixian.

Jixian, whose courtesy name was Jiawen, could not speak even at the age of five. One day, when he heard a cock crow, he suddenly spoke, then sighed and composed a poem. Everyone thought this extraordinary.

In the early Chongning era, floodwaters overwhelmed the ponds around Xiefang, and the court sent an emissary to summon Jixian. He wrote an iron talisman and cast it into the water. Thunder shook the area, and a flood dragon was struck down and died on the bank. One day, he accompanied the emperor into the bedchamber. The palace consorts eagerly held out fans and asked him to inscribe them. Jixian wrote phrases from the scriptures, and each inscription subtly matched the recipient’s thoughts. One consort raised a fan, bowed, and asked him to write on it. He inscribed: “May the state be blessed, and its fortune endure as long as Heaven.” The fan belonged to the emperor, who was impressed by Jixian’s remarkable abilities.

The emperor ordered Jixian to pray for rain. The rain stopped three days later. The court bestowed on him the title “Dafu of the Great Void,” but he declined it. The emperor issued an edict ordering the Jiangdong grain transport commissioner—the official responsible for grain transport in Jiangdong—to select a site in the mountains and rebuild the Shangqing Abbey, renaming it Shangqing Zhengyi Palace. Dozens, and sometimes more than a hundred, people regularly studied Daoist arts under Jixian.

In the early Jingkang era, the emperor summoned Jixian once more. At the time, Jin forces were invading Bianjing. Jixian went to Tianqing Abbey in Sizhou, asked for paper and a brush, and wrote a poem. He then leaned against an armrest and died. He was buried at the foot of Guishan. Sixteen years later, Sa Shoujian, a native of Xihe, was traveling on Mount Qingcheng when he encountered Jixian at the entrance to a gorge. Jixian gave him a letter and a red crow and asked him to deliver them to the Inheriting Celestial Master. The Celestial Master’s family was astonished and sent people to open the tomb at Guishan. Inside, only a crow remained.

Jixian had no descendants, so the lineage passed to Xiangzhong’s grandson, Shixiu. Shixiu said, “I am of his nephew’s generation. How can I inherit the lineage after him?” The others replied, “Who can refuse when the Dao lineage is to be passed on?” Shixiu then accepted it. Shixiu fathered Shouzhen, the Master Zhengying. Shouzhen was born after nineteen months in his mother’s womb. A demon attached itself to a tree in Piling and caused disturbances. Shouzhen issued an order for it to be investigated and subdued. In a single night, wind and thunder uprooted the tree.

Overnight, wind, rain, thunder, and lightning destroyed the existing dikes. Later, when the river rose again, it broke through the banks. Emperor Gaozong of Song granted him an ivory tablet—the court tablet made of ivory—a treasured sword, and two Daoist scriptures, the Scripture of Clarity and Stillness and the Scripture of the Hidden Tally.

Shouzhen had a son, Jingyuan, who in turn had a son, Qingxian. In Zhanggong Cave there was a deep well. Qingxian once playfully snapped off a leaf and tossed it into the well. Before long, waves churned below, and an old man emerged. Qingxian scolded and admonished him, and the old man departed.

Qingxian had no sons, so his nephew’s grandson, Master Guanmiao, Zhang Keda, succeeded him. Zhang Keda was Shouzhen’s great-grandson. His grandfather, Boli, and his father, Tianlin, had both acted on behalf of the religious community. Floodwaters surged across the Poyang region, inundating countless homes. Yuan Fushi, the investigating censor, asked Zhang Keda to go and bring the waters under control. After Zhang Keda killed a large white snake, the floods subsided. Later, during a drought, he prayed, and heavy rain fell from the sky, ending the drought.

Zhang Keda was appointed to oversee the talismans and registers of the Three Mountains, with responsibility for the Daoist affairs of the palaces and temples before the throne, and was placed in charge of Longxiang Palace. This was during the final years of the Song dynasty. Emperor Shizu of Yuan heard that Zhang Keda possessed extraordinary powers and secretly sent an envoy to question him. Zhang Keda transmitted Daoist methods to the envoy and said, “Serve your ruler well. In another twenty years, he will unite the realm.” In the thirteenth year of the Zhiyuan era, his words came true.

Zhang Keda had a son, Zhang Zongyan, whose courtesy name was Shichuan. Zhang Zongyan was exceptionally bright from childhood. After Emperor Shizu of Yuan conquered the Southern Song, he recalled that Zhang Keda’s prediction had come true. He therefore dispatched Wang Shiying, a vice director in the Ministry of War, and Xiao Yu, a vice director in the Ministry of Justice, with an imperial edict summoning Zhang Zongyan. The emperor granted him a jade crown and jade tablet, bestowed on him the title “Perfected One Who Expounds the Dao, Responds to the Numinous, and Embodies Harmony,” and gave him a silver seal of the third rank. He appointed him to oversee Daoist affairs in Jiangnan and allowed him to issue documents on his own authority to initiate people as Daoist priests.

Zhang Zongyan had a son, Zhang Yudi, whose courtesy name was Guohua. During Emperor Shizu’s reign, Zhang Yudi received the title “Great Perfected One Who Embodies the Mystery, Broadly Proclaims the Dao, and Spreads Its Teachings,” along with generous rewards. He later died in the capital. Since he had no sons, his younger brother Zhang Yucai succeeded him. Zhang Yucai’s courtesy name was Guoliang. Early in the Yuanzhen era, he entered the palace for an audience, and the Yuan court bestowed on him the title “Great Perfected One Who Embodies Primordial Purity, Gathers the Spirit, and Broadly Proclaims the Dao.”

In the second year of the Dade era under Emperor Chengzong of the Yuan dynasty, a great tide struck Haiguan and Guanguan prefectures. It eroded nearly all of the sandy shore, which stretched for a hundred li, and advanced toward the prefectural cities. Zhang Yucai cast an iron talisman into the water, but it leapt back out of the waves three times. Thunder and lightning followed, and the sky darkened. A monster with a fish’s head and a turtle’s body, more than one zhang long, was destroyed, and the embankment returned to its former state.

There was no snow in the winter of the fifth year of the Dade era. The emperor said, “If it does not snow in winter, might disaster befall the people?” Zhang Yucai established an altar and prayed. That night, the snow piled up to more than a chi deep. The emperor was delighted and ordered a close attendant to present Zhang Yucai with wine, saying, “You have truly reached the point where you can communicate with the spirits!”

In the eighth year of the Dade era, because Zhang Yucai had brought the tidal disaster under control, the court bestowed on him the title “Master of the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Teaching” and placed him in charge of the talismans and registers of the Three Mountains—that is, the transmission and administration of Daoist talismans and registers. He was given a silver seal and treated as an official of the second rank. In the ninth year of the Dade era, the sea embankment in Chongming prefecture collapsed. The court ordered one of his disciples to take a talisman there to quell the disaster. Local people dreamed that spirits were filling in the sea, after which the calamity subsided.

In the early years of the Zhida era, the court bestowed on Zhang Yucai a jeweled crown and gold garments, appointed him Grand Master for Splendid Happiness with the Golden and Purple Insignia, enfeoffed him as Duke of Liu, and gave him a silver seal with the honors of a first-rank official.

Zhang Yucai had a son, Taixuan Sichen. Sichen achieved success in cultivating the Dao and received praise and gifts from the court; his reputation was no less than his father’s. After Sichen’s death, his younger brother Side succeeded him. When Side died, his son Zhengyan succeeded him; after Zhengyan’s death, Taixuan’s son Zhengchang succeeded him. Zhengchang’s courtesy name was Zhongji, and he was the Celestial Master of that time.

After the founding of the Ming dynasty, Zhengchang made six visits to the capital to pay court. In the early Hongwu era, the court bestowed on him the title “Great Realized One Who Inherits the Teaching of Zhengyi, Protects the State, Proclaims the Ancestors, Communes with Sincerity, Honors the Dao, and Extends De.” It ordered him to oversee Daoist affairs, gave him a silver seal and the honors of a second-rank official, and presented him with silver and ceremonial robes edged in gold. His father, Taixuan, was posthumously given the title “Great Realized One Who Transforms Broadly, Shines with Sincerity, and Honors the Dao,” while his mother, Lady Hu, was made “Mysterious Lady of Reverent Kindness, Compassionate Compliance, and Pure Tranquility.”

He was also praised in glowing terms: his eyes were bright and quick as lightning, and his bearing was dignified and upright. People of that time regarded these qualities as an honor. According to a tradition passed down through the generations, someone with large, round eyes possessed “mysterious responsiveness,” a sign of being in accord with the subtle and mysterious. This is why the earlier passage mentioned “Yunlian.”

It is said that, when he was young, Lord Wencheng studied ritual propriety in Huaiyang. Carrying a calling card, he went to pay a visit to Lord Canghai, a Confucian scholar of an earlier age whom some identified as a sea deity. Later, Lord Wencheng encountered the mysterious Yellow Stone Elder at Yishang. Clearly, even before he rose to prominence, he was already able to commune with the spirits. In his later years, having achieved success and fame, he wished to practice grain avoidance—a method of cultivation that involved abstaining from the five grains—and roam with Chisongzi. This was truly his original aspiration, not an excuse for withdrawing from worldly affairs.

His ninth-generation descendant was the Han Celestial Master (Tianshi). Inspired by the aspirations of his ancestor, the Han Celestial Master began cultivating arts for lightening the body, ascending through flight, and prolonging life. He dispelled baleful and evil Qi, devoting himself to guiding the people through the good Dao. The Inheriting Master and the Lineage Master continued this work in turn, keeping it from declining. They were always concerned that people might suffer untimely deaths for no reason. At the time, the empire was in turmoil at the end of the Han dynasty, yet only the people of the Ba-Shu region lived in peace: travelers did not need to carry provisions, residents did not need to guard mountain passes, and the government was able to administer the region securely. This state of affairs lasted for nearly thirty years. Their achievements brought great benefit to the people and were truly remarkable.

For generations, members of the Zhang family served in office and helped guide the realm through moral teaching. What feudal state could surpass such an achievement? Was Heaven’s reward not plainly evident? Some attribute all this solely to the gathered numinous energy of famous mountains, which supposedly allowed the family to flourish for generations. Such an explanation is far too shallow. Alas, the descendants of Lord Wencheng spread throughout the lands to the north and south. Among those who rose through their achievements, some attained the rank of distinguished attendants, while others rose as high as chief ministers. There was no shortage of figures of striking distinction, yet before long some also fell into servitude.

Considering that the descendants of the Zhang family have carried on their lineage from generation to generation for more than twelve hundred years without interruption, what can account for this? Surely there must be a reason. Those who later inherit and prosper in the family enterprise should know to encourage themselves and never become complacent.

Written on the fifteenth day of the first month of the ninth year of Hongwu by Song Lian of Jinhua, Hanlin Academician Lecturer, Grand Master for Counsels of the Second Class, Director of Drafting Imperial Edicts, Co-Compiler of the History of the State, and concurrently Palace Attendant to the Heir Apparent.

Note: One character here is illegible in the base text.

Preface Two

After King Wu of Zhou conquered the Shang dynasty, he enfeoffed more than eight hundred feudal states. A study of the historical records shows that only a few can later be firmly documented, with clear, unbroken lines of descent: Song, Lu, Qi, Jin, Wu, Chu, Yan, Zhao, Chen, Qi, Guan, and Cai. Of these, only Yan and Qi maintained clan rites from one generation to the next as continuously as the Zhou royal house.

In the early years of the Han dynasty, many heroes rose in rebellion and followed Emperor Gaozu (Liu Bang, the founding emperor of Han) in campaigns across the Central Plains. Once the realm was pacified, Gaozu distributed lands to reward his meritorious followers: those of the highest rank were made kings, and those of the next rank were made marquises. In all, more than a hundred men received titles. By the first year of Emperor Wu’s reign, only fifty or sixty years after the founding of Han, fewer than one in ten of these fiefdoms still endured. Emperor Xuan sought out and appointed the descendants of these men; many had already fallen into hired labor. By the time of Emperor Cheng, even fewer lineages remained unbroken. How could the oath that “the Yellow River shall become as narrow as a sash and Mount Tai as worn as a whetstone; the fiefdoms shall then endure forever and pass to posterity” ever be fulfilled?

From this we can see that the lineage sustained over the longest span is that of the Kong family, followed by the Han Celestial Master (here referring to Zhang Daoling and his lineage). The year after Confucius died, a shrine was established in his former residence to offer him sacrifices. During the Wude era of the Tang, the Imperial College also had a Temple of Confucius; by the Kaiyuan era, temples to Confucius had been built in every prefecture and county, and his worship gradually spread throughout the realm. The court regularly appointed one of Confucius’s eldest direct-line descendants to inherit a title and oversee the sacrifices: in the Han, the title was Marquis of Praise and Achievement; in the Song, it was Duke of Propagation of the Sage. Later generations continued this practice. Some descendants from collateral branches remained in Qufu, while others settled in various places. Many entered government through the civil service examinations and attained high office and distinction; in every era, members of the family became widely known.

The lineage of the Han Celestial Master is said to descend from Marquis Wen Cheng of Liu (Zhang Liang, who was enfeoffed as Marquis of Liu in the early Han and received the posthumous title Wen Cheng). Marquis Wen Cheng was a descendant of Hui, the fifth son of the Xuanyuan clan. Several generations after Hui, the lineage reached Marquis Wen Cheng; nine generations after him, it reached the Han Celestial Master. From the time of the Han Celestial Master to the present, more than twelve hundred years have passed, and the lineage has never been broken.

More than 1,200 years have passed since the Han Celestial Master, and the Zhang lineage has continued through forty-three generations. Their descendants have carried on the work of their forebears, generation after generation, keeping the family’s name alive. They have all upheld their ancestors’ virtues, allowing the family’s prestige to flourish continuously. Rulers throughout the ages have honored and praised them. As descendants of the divine, the Zhang family has endured through the generations, seemingly without end.

Is the Zhang family not in some ways like the Kong family, the family of Confucius? Why are so many descendants of Confucius little known, while the Zhang family’s influence has grown with the passing of time? The reasons for this deserve to be understood.

After the Zhou dynasty declined, no wise rulers appeared. The feudal lords acted with lawless force, and tyrants like Jie inflicted suffering at will, bringing misery upon the people throughout the realm—harm more grievous than floods or wild beasts. Fortunately, Confucius was born. He cultivated and clarified Confucian teaching, expounded the Way of kingship, and set a troubled age back on course. Society could return to the right path, and people could support one another and live in peace. Confucius also set down in books the essential principles and laws for governing the world, establishing standards for later generations. In this way, the Way of Heaven was made clear, the order of the earth discerned, and the bonds and norms of human relations established. Only when Heaven, Earth, and humanity—the Three Powers—each took their proper place could all things come to fruition. The teachings of the Odes and Documents, and of benevolence and righteousness, spread their influence throughout the world without end. Thus the Kong family prospered under abundant blessings, as the saying goes: “A family of flourishing virtue will receive sacrifices for a hundred generations.” Was the Han Celestial Master not the same?

Though the Han Celestial Master and Confucius followed different Ways, both devoted themselves to refining the body and soul, harmonizing Yin-Yang, discerning the transformations of Heaven and Earth, communicating with the divine, and warding off great calamities and disasters. Through their work, demonic forces and ominous portents were quelled, disease and pestilence ceased, the people’s hardships were relieved and their lives made peaceful, and those who might have died young were granted longer lives. They may be said to have bestowed great benefits upon the people of the world.

Heaven’s protection and cultivation of the Zhang descendants, allowing them to inherit the blessings earned by their ancestors, is simply the principle that good deeds bring good rewards. One might also say that the Zhang family has been skilled, generation after generation, in carrying on and advancing the work of its forebears, with capable people always ready to shoulder the responsibility. Thus, even when natural disasters spread—as they inevitably do from age to age—there is no need for worry. The people will always have someone to rely upon.

Later Celestial Masters who succeed to the office should reflect on the achievements their forebears accumulated, just as Heaven has placed great hopes in them. If they can firmly shoulder this responsibility, what is there to worry about? The people will then always have someone to rely on.

If a successor makes it his duty to magnify the family legacy and carry on and promote his ancestors’ achievements, then worthy deeds to record will be ten or a hundred times more numerous than they are now.

This Genealogy of the Hereditary Line comprises one volume and records the lives of forty-two generations of Celestial Masters. The Celestial Master commissioned to compile it held the title “Great Perfected One Who Inherits the Teachings of Orthodox Unity, Protects the Realm, Expounds the Ancestors’ Legacy, Communes Sincerely with the Dao, and Exalts Virtue.” He ordered his disciples to compile the book. Accordingly, Master Song Lian, Hanlin Academician and Director, wrote its preface.

Now the Celestial Master Wuweizi considers that the book has circulated for a long time and its text is complete. He has therefore revised and polished it, and plans to have it reproduced and printed so that it may be passed down to later generations. He did not think me, Boheng, unworthy, and asked me to write an afterword. Seeing how much Wuweizi values this book, I suppose he has devoted all his effort to inheriting and advancing his ancestors’ achievements. Surely this is why he has earned the emperor’s favor, answered the hopes of the people, and further exalted the standing of Daoism.

I, Boheng, dare not presume to write a preface after Master Song. But Wuweizi and I have been close friends for many years, so, despite my presumption, I have written this preface.

In the fifth month, on the day Bing Shen, in the Gengwu year of the Hongwu reign, written by Su Boheng of Meishan, former official historian.

In former times, when I held office at Xuanya, I dreamed that Laozi spoke with me about the Dao. At the time, I thought of the tale of Chisongzi roaming the realms of the immortals, but did not know who would inherit the Daoist lineage. Now, setting out from Jinling, my sail followed the river beneath Mount Kuanglu, when suddenly I came upon the boat of Perfected Zhang drawing near. We moored for the night. We greeted each other with a bow, as though bound by an old affinity. I had thought of the tale of Chisongzi roaming the realms of the immortals, yet did not know who would inherit the Daoist lineage; now I had met Perfected Zhang, and we bowed to one another as if an affinity had long joined us.

Perfected Zhang brought out a copy of The Lineage of the Han Celestial Masters and showed it to me, saying, “I hope you will write a few words to bring honor to the achievements of my forebears.” I took it and read it, then sighed: “The writings of the Grand Historian of the Song are already immortal. What use would a few more words be?” Yet, since I could not refuse, I reflected that the Way by which Heaven and Earth move rests fundamentally on preserving the True One—the original, undivided Way as Daoists understand it. Even when changes such as darkness, eclipses, collapse, and exhaustion occur, they are only chance fluctuations in the currents of Qi. They do not destroy the underlying clarity and peace of Heaven and Earth.

The Most High Lord Lao received this Dao and governed through its teachings. The generations of Celestial Masters of the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) school received it in turn, carrying forward the work of the Most High Lord Lao. Thus the numinous Qi was entrusted to later successors, and its wondrous power continued for thousands of years, commanding the transformations of the mysterious as though it had never changed. Who can uncover the reason behind this? Some say that Fulu (talismans and registers) can command ghosts and spirits, ward off calamities, subdue demons, and render service to the state; therefore Heaven has allowed the Zhang family to flourish from generation to generation. Perhaps this is indeed so, though there may also be another reason.

It is easy to see that Master Zhang Xinzhan has carried forward the work of his forebears in accord with the Way of the True One. If the old tale should one day come true, and a prince passes by Dragon Mountain playing the flute, then my dream of speaking with Laozi about the Dao may serve as confirmation. Master Zhang will surely understand what I mean. Master Zhang said, “How could I fail to uphold your words and conduct from generation to generation? I, too, shall look up toward the purple Qi atop Dragon Mountain.”

Written by Wang Dexin, Master of the Luo Dong Retreat at Qingyuan, a presented scholar, former secretary to the Minister of the Three Boards, twice summoned to office by imperial edict.

Preface Four

When people speak of the great hereditary families of the realm, most esteem the Kong family. If the Han Celestial Master is placed alongside the Kong family, the Celestial Master lineage is fully their equal. The Han Celestial Master Daoling—that is, Zhang Daoling—was a descendant of Zhang Liang, the Marquis of Wencheng, known as the Marquis of Liu. Zhang Liang once received a book from the Yellow Stone Elder; later, he practiced fasting from grain and roamed with Red Pine Master. The Daoist tradition traces its origins to this lineage; it is not without foundation.

Across five generations, the Patriarch Daoling carried forward the intentions of the Supreme Old Lord, probing the mysteries of Heaven and Earth’s transformations. He cultivated the Dao on Mount Longhu, taking Dao and De as his foundation, divine powers as his support, clarity and stillness as his model, and Great Harmony as his companion. He summoned wind and clouds, strode across the Three Terraces, the name of a constellation, and set the cosmos in motion. With every breath, he seemed to command thunder and lightning; wielding a star-forged sword, he swept away the world’s murk.

The Celestial Master tradition, which arose in the Han dynasty, did not end with that dynasty. From the Tang and Song through the Ming, successive courts bestowed titles and imperial edicts upon its leaders, granting them illustrious favor. The Celestial Master bore the honorific “Zhengyi,” and held a rank comparable to that of a duke or marquis. To rival the Kong family—was this glory merely Zhang Daoling’s personal achievement? Even today, the lineage has reached its fiftieth generation, with descendants continuing in an unbroken succession and the transforming influence of the Dao spreading far and wide. This is a striking example of hereditary transmission.

Some say that the Celestial Master used Fulu, talismans and registers, and memorials to command ghosts and spirits, and that this is nothing but absurd superstition. Alas, such a view is shallow. To understand the Celestial Master, one must know that he absorbed the Six Qi and refined them into an elixir, encompassing the Three Powers—Heaven, Earth, and humanity—and thereby joining with the Dao of the Mysterious Origin. His Dao-body existed before Heaven and Earth, yet its beginning is unknown; it endures beyond Heaven and Earth, yet its end is unknown. Is his greatness merely a matter of hereditary lineage?

Fortune allowed me to visit this sacred place and obtain a copy of The Hereditary House of the Celestial Master. I felt I could not leave its splendor uncelebrated, and so composed this encomium as a preface.

Written in the second month of spring in the Dingyou year of the Wanli reign (1597), by Yu Wenwei of Yuzhang, a presented scholar, attendant at the imperial lectures, and Investigating Censor for the Yunnan Circuit.

The Han Celestial Masters inherited their office from generation to generation, enduring from the Tang and Song dynasties through the Ming. They also held authority over Daoism across successive generations and earned the respect of people throughout the realm. Yet Buddhists’ disdain and Confucians’ criticisms are often encountered. Could our dynasty’s Founding Emperor, Gaozu (the Hongwu Emperor), so divinely powerful and wise, have acted against the ideal of great unity set out in the Spring and Autumn Annals? He nevertheless posthumously ennobled twenty Celestial Masters of earlier generations, rewarded and appointed their descendants, and honored them with distinction. From the Han dynasty to the present, the Celestial Master lineage has flourished to such an extent that it can be compared with the Kong family. Could this be dismissed recklessly as the product of cleverness and power? No family in the world has ever failed to establish its standing over the course of a thousand years.

Some disparage the Dao of the Celestial Masters as a minor art that uses Fulu (talismans and registers) to command ghosts and spirits. This is mistaken. When Fulu are put into practice, they are said to stop the mischief of ghosts and spirits. Things with form and trace seem to exist, yet are hard to grasp; a gust of wind seems to make them vanish. Those who cling to form and trace take them all to be ghosts and spirits; those who do not cling to form and trace can apprehend the Dao within them. To claim, then, that Fulu cannot command ghosts and spirits is false. Yet anyone can draw talismans and use registers. Although Kou Qianzhi and Du Guangting once brought the art of Fulu to prominence, neither managed to pass it down for long. The Celestial Master lineage has prospered through fifty generations, with a future that seems boundless. Its Great Dao extends far into the distance, and must contain things beyond the full knowledge of ordinary people. Otherwise, even though Liu Bang, the Han Emperor Gaozu, and Emperor Wenzong of Tang achieved great deeds, how many of their descendants can now be traced?

Thus, the baseless slanders in Xuanguang’s Admonition on Discerning Delusion and Li Ying’s Record of Shu are not enough to damage the Celestial Masters’ standing. Nor can the Scripture on Laozi’s Conversion of the Barbarians, attributed to Fuhan, elevate Laozi. Such claims are false. What I value is the flourishing of the Celestial Master lineage, which has come to stand alongside the sacred descendants of Confucius. Could this be mere chance?

The Genealogy of the Celestial Masters had once been revised. During the Hongwu reign, the forty-second Celestial Master asked the Grand Historian Mr. Song Jinyao to write a preface and arrange the related accounts; the record was, in general, quite detailed. More than two hundred years later, I met the fiftieth Celestial Master in the capital, and we felt an immediate affinity. Later, when he came to court for an audience, he often visited me as he passed through Daohuang Gate. He was refined and learned, generous in manner, and possessed the bearing of a Daoist. Before long, he sent me a letter from a thousand miles away, asking me to write a preface to this book. The accounts span eight generations of Celestial Masters, from the Hongwu reign through the Jiajing reign. I am old and fond of the Dao, and I believe in it deeply; still, I dare not favor one school while attacking another. Do Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism not follow different paths to the same destination?

In the autumn of the gui-si year of the Wanli reign (1593), written by Zhou Tianqiu of Wu Commandery.

Genealogy of the Celestial Masters of the Han Dynasty, Volume One.

Genealogy of the Celestial Masters of the Han Dynasty, Volume Two.

Revised and collated by Zhang Tie of Anren, who had attained the degree of Presented Scholar and held the rank of Grand Master for Consultation and Deliberation and the post of Left Vice Minister of Works.

Preface to the Generations of the Celestial Masters

The title “Celestial Master” appears in the Suwen and the Zhuangzi. It was likely an honorific for a person who had attained the Dao. Laozi expounded the Daode Jing in the Zhou dynasty and was honored as a Celestial Master; Zhang, the Celestial Master, founded the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) tradition in the Han dynasty. The Zhang family’s line of Celestial Masters has now reached its forty-eighth generation, and its genealogy is recorded with clarity and detail. This is truly rare.

Over the past fifteen hundred years, worldly affairs have risen and declined, flourished and fallen in turn. Yet few lineages of a single surname have endured as long as the Zhang family or shown such remarkable spiritual efficacy. Could this be because they gathered the numinous beauty of mountains and rivers and accorded with the Way of Heaven and humanity? The Zhang family has left blessings that benefit its descendants in generations to come, and these blessings may well be without end.

The ancestral Celestial Master, whose name was Zhang Daoling and whose courtesy name was Fuhan, was from Fengyi in Pei Commandery. His ninth-generation ancestor, Zhang Liang, once traveled to Xiapi, where he met the Yellow Stone Elder on a bridge and received a military text from him. Zhang Liang later helped Emperor Gaozu of Han conquer the realm and was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Liu for his service. He said to the emperor, “I wish to leave the dust of the world and cultivate the Dao with Master Red Pine.” After Zhang Liang died, he was given the posthumous title Marquis Wencheng. Thereafter, the Marquis of Liu title passed down through his descendants: Zhang Buyi was followed by Zhang Gao, Zhang Gao by Zhang Tong, Zhang Tong by Zhang Wuwang, and Zhang Wuwang by Zhang Liren. Zhang Liren’s son was Zhang Hou. Zhang Hou’s son, Zhang Hao, served as the Perfected of Tongxiang, and Zhang Hao’s son, Zhang Gang, was the father of the Celestial Master.

Zhang Gang’s wife once dreamed that a divine being descended to earth from the star of the Northern Dipper’s bowl. More than ten feet tall, he wore embroidered robes and handed her a sprig of fragrant plant, saying, “This is a rose.” When she awoke, she found that a strange fragrance lingered on her clothes and throughout the room; even after a month, it had not faded. She became pregnant as a result.

On the night of the fifteenth day of the first month in the tenth year of Jianwu, during the reign of Emperor Guangwu of Han, Zhang Daoling was born on Mount Tianmu in Hao. It is said that yellow clouds covered the house, purple Qi filled the courtyard, and the room shone as brightly as daylight. The same strange fragrance was also present. He stood nine feet and two inches tall, with thick eyebrows and a broad forehead. The crown of his head was red, his eyes blue-green, his nose high, and his chin square. His eyes were triangular, his beard exceptionally handsome, and when his arms hung at his sides, his hands reached below his knees. He sat and reclined like a dragon, walked like a tiger, and had a dignified bearing.

At the age of seven, Zhang Daoling read the Laozi and understood its principles. He mastered the hidden meanings of astronomy, geography, diagrams and texts, and the apocryphal traditions that interpreted Heaven’s mandate through signs and prophecies. He also studied the ancient classics widely. More than a thousand people came to study with him. He once lectured at a place thirty li south and eighty li northwest of Mount Tianmu; the Shenshan Temple in Lin’an and the Tongxian Temple in Yuhang are said to have been sites where he taught. Later, he traveled from Zhejiang to the Huai region, crossed the Yellow River and the Luo River, and entered the mountains of Shu. There he obtained texts on refining the body and joining Qi, and began to abstain from the five grains and sleep less.

In the second year of Yongping, at the age of twenty-five, he passed the examination in “direct remonstrance and urgent counsel” and was appointed magistrate of Jiangzhou. After resigning, he returned to Mount Yu in northern Luoyang to cultivate the Dao for three years. Once, a white tiger came to the place where he was seated, carrying a talisman in its mouth.

In the fifth year of Jianchu, Emperor Zhang summoned him to court, but he did not answer the summons. Early in Emperor He’s reign, he was summoned again to serve as Grand Tutor and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Ji County. Three edicts were issued, but he accepted none of them. He traveled through the Huai region and lived on Mount Taiping in Tongxiang, accompanied only by his disciple Wang Chang.

He and Wang Chang traveled from the Huai region into Poyang and climbed Mount Yuzi in Leping. The mountain spirit bowed to him beside the road, offered to obey his commands, and asked to be worshiped on the summit. There he refined elixirs. Grateful for his mastery of the Dao, the spirit sent two cranes to guide him in and out of the mountain. Later, he left and went to refine elixirs at the place of the Celestial Spirit Elixir. When the elixir was complete, dragons and tigers appeared, and the mountain was named after them.

By then, he was over sixty. During the Gongming era, he and his disciple traveled upstream from Heihu Yishui and entered Mount Yunjin to take elixirs, growing stronger and more robust. A divine being who called himself Zhao Yi came before him and said, “I wish to guard the elixir furnace for as long as I live.” He also visited the Western Immortal Source, where he obtained a proclamation granting authority over the Five Sacred Peaks, along with secret texts such as the Inner Writings of the Three Sovereigns. In the Bilu Cave, he summoned the myriad spirits and obtained the secret text of the divine tiger. Later, he went to a stone chamber on Mount Song and received the Yellow Emperor’s Book of the Nine Cauldrons Elixir and the Supreme Clarity Elixir Scripture.

He sighed, “In the past, Yu the Great governed the waters and the land and brought the floods under control. Now, too, we should go and remove the threats.” At first, he lived on Mount Yangping and taught the methods of longitude and latitude. Then he climbed Mount Xicheng, performed a ritual of announcement, and summoned the Five Emperors to descend. Someone told him, “A white tiger spirit on Mount Xicheng drinks human blood, and a huge serpent coils across the mountain. This place is now unsafe. If you can destroy them, your merit will endure for ten thousand generations.” He therefore drove out the evil spirits, causing the valleys to tremble and the springs to flow again.

Later, he lived on Mount Gezan and in northern Zhen Duo Ping, practicing the methods of the Nine Perfections and the art of lightening the body. Yet he felt that his attainment of the Dao was still incomplete. He heard that in Ba and Shu there was a kind of sand Qi that enabled people to enter and leave water and fire unharmed. He also heard of methods for nourishing the spirit and returning to the Dao, so he continued his cultivation.

It is said that Zhang Daoling heard that baleful forces were causing trouble in the Ba and Shu regions. He later obtained the secret of entering and leaving water and fire, and cultivated his spirit on Heming Mountain. On the Shangyuan Festival in the renwu year, the first year of the Han’an era, the Most High Lord Lao descended in a chariot drawn by five white dragons. Lord Lao said that he had once taught scripture and ritual methods to Yin Xi, and had also refined the “Nine Benefits” and burned away mountain demons. But some malevolent beings refused to heed instruction, so he built an altar, summoned them, and admonished them.

In Zizhou, a demon could blow a breath that stretched for several li; anyone it touched often suffered calamity. The mountains of Qinzhong, Changli, Li, Chougeng, Quting, and other places were also full of baleful spirits. The Most High Lord Lao said to Zhang Daoling, “I now command you to save beings far and wide. Here I will establish the Twenty-Four Administrations, early Daoist districts and institutions for managing worship, and assign celestial officials to oversee them. The sins and blessings, life and death of the people, as well as the offices that the Six Heavens—the baleful ghostly powers described in Daoism—have controlled through countless kalpas, must all be investigated. Those ghosts and spirits each occupy their own territory, causing humans and ghosts to intermingle and order to become confused. You must put things in order anew.”

Lord Lao then bestowed on Zhang Daoling the “Three-Five Chief Merit” and various scriptures and registers, talismanic documents that recorded Daoist status and conferred ritual ranks. He also gave him paired female and male swords for vanquishing evil, a jade seal, a fish-scale robe, a crown symbolizing the harmonious union of the Two Principles, and a jade tablet for communication with Heaven. They agreed to meet at Weiyuan a thousand days later. Zhang Daoling bowed in gratitude.

On the first day of the seventh month of the second year of the Han’an era, Zhang Daoling climbed Qingcheng Mountain. There stood a ghost city and ghost market, where multitudes of ghosts gathered in eight divisions. They harmed the people every day, and each division was led by a ghost commander. When Zhang Daoling arrived, the commanders led their forces out to confront him. He wrote in the air with a cinnabar brush, an implement for inscribing talismanic commands, and the ghosts fell to the ground, unable to rise. When he called to them, they stood again. At times he turned the wind around so that flames blew toward the ghosts; at times he lifted the sunlight and dispersed the dense fog. He restrained them with the force of Mount Tai and suppressed them beneath huge stones. The demons wailed and begged for mercy, asking to be brought under control.

Zhang Daoling then ordered them all to come to the foot of the Yellow Emperor’s Altar on Qingcheng Mountain. He arranged for people to dwell in the bright realm and ghosts in the shadowy realm, and made this vow: “From now on, when Heaven and Earth unite and the sun and moon meet, if you come out again to harm people, I will destroy you.”

Afterward, he established the Twenty-Four Administrations and added four more to correspond to the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions. Orthodox Qi could then circulate freely. According to the year of their birth in the sexagenary cycle, people were assigned to the appropriate administration. Each administration had celestial officials, underworld officials, libationers, and other officers, who managed affairs in successive ranks.

Those who are sincere and reverent, loyal and filial, and who accumulate merit have their good deeds recorded by the Immortal Officials. Those who are rebellious, deceitful, greedy, unrestrained, and violent have their misdeeds recorded by the Yin Officials, the officials in the underworld who keep records of offenses. Thus, the rewards and punishments for good and evil come swiftly, following one another like shadow and form, or echo answering sound. In this way, the Celestial Master brought the people of Shu to embrace his teaching. He established ranks for the thirty-six Jinglu—places for Daoist cultivation and worship—the seventy-two Blessed Lands, and the three hundred and sixty famous mountains, appointing divine offices to govern each.

The Celestial Master returned to Mount Yuntai and said to his disciple Wang Chang, “White vapor has appeared on Yang Mountain. It is a demon. Go and subdue it.” On the way, Wang Chang encountered twelve divine maidens and asked where Xianquan was. They said, “There is a deep pool ahead, with a venomous dragon lurking inside.” The Celestial Master cast a talisman into the water, and the demon shrieked in alarm and fled. He then thrust his sword beneath the water, and a salt well appeared there.

Each of the twelve maidens offered a jade ring, expressing her wish to uphold the talismans and registers. The Celestial Master joined the twelve rings into one and tossed it into the well, saying, “Whoever can retrieve this ring will have her wish granted.” The maidens all scrambled to dive into the well and get the ring. The Celestial Master then sealed the well’s mouth and swore, “You will serve as well spirits forever and must never harm the people.” He also warned the hunters he encountered along the way not to kill the maidens and taught them how to make salt by boiling brine. The people benefited from this, and so they built a temple to the Celestial Master there, calling it the Shrine of Lord Qinghe Prefecture. To this day, people still worship and pray there with reverence.

When the Celestial Master passed through Songjiang, he sensed a demon in the river. He carved seal-script characters into stone and made a stone casket to suppress and seal the demon within. From then on, the trouble caused by demons ceased. He once lived on Mount Zhubu, where a divine being presented him with a jade disk at night. He later lived on Mount Benzhu, where several Perfected Ones descended and transmitted the Lingbao Scripture to him. Afterward, he lived on Mount Mengqin, then moved to Mount Quting, and finally went to Mount Yuntai. Seeing that the peaches in a deep valley were ripe, the Celestial Master asked his disciples, “Who can climb down and pick them?” Zhao Sheng descended into the valley and brought peaches back to the Celestial Master; Zhang Chang followed him down as well. The Celestial Master then transmitted to Zhao Sheng and Zhang Chang the divine elixir and the mysterious secrets found in various scriptures.

Zhang Daoling lived on Mount Liyuan, where he taught the scriptures. Later, he lived on Mount Lutang and refined the Nine-Turn Divine Elixir. He then went to Mount Pinggai to refine the Great Medicine of Nine Blossoms. When he arrived in Chengdu, jade platforms emerged from the ground—an auspicious sign associated with Mount Yuju. He appeared once more and explained the essential teachings of the various scriptures.

In the second year of Yongshou, Zhang Daoling traveled to Mount Quting and received the Supreme One’s jade investiture, by which he was titled “Great Emperor of Boundless Height and Clarity in the Six Directions.” The Supreme One then urged him to serve as the sixth-generation descendant in the lineage of the Dao. The Youth Lord of the Eastern Sea served as his sponsor, while the Supreme One served as his initiatory master, transmitting the lineage and admitting him into the Dao. The Supreme One also invested Zhang Daoling as Celestial Master (Tianshi) and granted ritual offices to three hundred people. Only Zhang Shen, Wang Sheng, and Li Zhong received the lineage transmission and took charge of the community’s affairs on his behalf.

Zhang Daoling then handed the registers of scriptures, the seal, and the sword to his son Zhang Heng, and admonished him: “I once encountered the Supreme One, who personally transmitted the utmost Dao to me. These documents govern the Three-Five Steps and are the heart of Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity), an important Daoist lineage. They should be passed down through the generations to a single son, who will inherit my position. They must not be transmitted to anyone outside my own clan and descendants.”

That day, Zhang Daoling gave the elixir to Changsheng. He and his wife, Lady Yong, took the elixir together at the summit of Yuntai Peak, then rode the clouds up to heaven. Zhang Daoling lived to the age of 123 in the human world. Wang Chang and Zhao Sheng attended him. His daughters Wenji, Wenguang, Xianji, and Fangzhi also attained the Dao and ascended to heaven.

In the seventh year of Tianbao, the court issued an edict posthumously honoring Zhang Daoling, the Celestial Master of the Later Han, with the title Grand Preceptor. In the fourth year of Zhonghe under the Tang, he was titled “Great Master Who Supports and Teaches the Three Heavens.” During the Shaoning era of the Song, he was further honored as “Great Master Who Supports and Teaches the Three Heavens and Assists the Origin.”

Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang praised Zhang Daoling, saying: “In the distant age of the Flame Han, the order revealed by Heaven had fallen into disrepair. All things were withering, and the three vital energies of Heaven, Earth, and humanity had fallen into chaos. Only the Celestial Master appeared in response to the times, and his divine might quickly became manifest. He personally served Xuanyuan—the Venerable Lord Laozi—and received secret teachings directly from him. He dispelled demons and poisonous harms as clouds and mist disperse. His precious sword split towering mountains, and he spread Daoist teachings far and wide, clearing away every evil spirit. Through Wuwei (non-action), he renewed the world, and his teachings shone across the four directions for ages. Phoenixes and immortal cranes accompanied him on his distant journey; people painted his image, and his jade-like likeness has been handed down. His noble name has never faded.”

Another eulogy says: “How exalted this perfected immortal is, with a character lofty and austere…”

Evil spirits and malign Qi are scattered like clouds, while towering mountain ridges seem cleft by a sword. The Celestial Master widely proclaimed the teachings of Daoism and cleared away accumulated sins. With the Dao of Wuwei, he revived moral instruction and made an age of peace and purity endure. Phoenixes and immortal cranes flew away; people painted his likeness and raised solemn statues in his honor, and his good name was passed down through the generations.

Another hymn says: This True Immortal lived in a distant age, noble in conduct and outstanding among others. His power reached to the highest heavens, and he handed down the wondrous formulas of the Dao. His bearing was clear and serene, like the bright moon hanging high. He could destroy evil spirits and slay demons, driving away ghosts and leaving no place for wicked forces to hide. The Zhengwei teachings transmitted from the Han dynasty have never ceased.

Emperor Suzong of the Tang praised him: His De arose from stillness and emptiness, embodying the true meaning of the sacred teaching. At times he was hidden, at times manifest—plain and genuine. He dwelt in stillness on a jade terrace, burning incense and cultivating the Dao in a chamber of jade. His heart was wholly devoted to the Dao and never wavered: this is Zhengyi, Orthodox Unity.

The jade investiture text conferring a title by Emperor Huizong of the Song says: On the sixteenth day of the tenth month in the second year of Daguan (1108), the emperor respectfully bows twice and declares: The Great Dao has no fixed form and must be carried out through people. Its workings change along with the myriad things, yet are brought to fruition through human effort. In antiquity, those who truly attained the Dao used it to transform the world. Their merit extended to all things, and so they were honored as divine beings. Since their achievements are to be praised, how could they fail to receive reverent honor?

The Han Celestial Master, the True Person of Zhengyi, Great Master Who Supports the Three Heavens and Assists the Teachings and Primordial Source, comprehended the wondrous Dao and expounded its hidden principles, greatly benefiting all under Heaven. At the end of the Han under the Liu house, his deeds and achievements were especially notable. Riding a divine radiance, he ascended to the realm of immortals and transmitted true Daoist charts and registers to later generations. He dispelled calamities and sins and warded off ill fortune; he has secretly protected the people for a long time, and his renown has grown ever greater. Without granting him an exalted title, we could neither express our gratitude nor make his beneficence known. We therefore respectfully dispatch Liu Yan, Court Gentleman for Attending the Court and Military Prefect of Xinzhou, to present the title: “True Lord of Zhengyi and Serene Response.”

When the Great Dao is hidden, it lies concealed; when it appears, it shines forth in the world. Its effects may come swiftly or be close at hand—this is not something I alone can accomplish. May the Great Dao continue to move without cease, and may the True Lord witness this declaration.

We remain steadfast without interruption and reverently ask Heaven to look upon us with clear sight. May it continue to grant the remaining blessings, protect the state, and extend its grace to the people, so that boundless good fortune may grow ever greater and be passed down through the generations.

An imperial proclamation by Emperor Lizong of the Song states: “The Daoist tradition takes purity, stillness, and Wuwei (non-action) as its foundation. Talismans and registers, alchemical methods, breathing practices, and Zhaijiao (purification rituals) and sacrifices are the methods handed down within it. People follow these practices with sincere devotion, perhaps because they can guide them to repent and turn toward goodness; they truly aid moral instruction and the governance of the state. The Perfected Lord of Orthodox Unity, Jingying, Great Master Who Supports the Teaching of the Three Heavens and Assists the Origin”—an honorific title of Zhang the Celestial Master—“was commanded to travel through the heavens and was born during the Han dynasty. He cultivated his true nature and accumulated virtuous deeds in pursuing the Dao, later ascending to Heaven on a cloud. The Twenty-Four Governing Districts, the story of his casting down a brush at Mount Qingcheng and swearing to drive out demons, and the transformation of the earth into salty springs by the Three Mosquitoes all concern the land of Shu. These numinous traces should not be lightly dismissed. Mount Longhu in Shangrao is said to have been the Celestial Master’s former residence, and the jade seal and treasured sword have also been passed down through the generations.

“In recent times, the area around the capital has suffered drought, while the tides have caused further calamity. The court sincerely prayed and received a response, and there have been many instances of unseen protection. Some Confucian scholars avoid discussing this and seize upon a single line in an ancient book to disparage Daoism excessively. They do not understand that those skilled in helping others abandon no one. How does this differ from the Confucian compassion that is the beginning of benevolence and love? We therefore retain the old title and bestow additional auspicious honorifics, so that his spirit may move freely between the realms. We also hope that later generations will respectfully carry on his legacy. Accordingly, we confer the title ‘Perfected Lord of Orthodox Unity, Jingying, Manifestly Blessing, Great Master of the Great Method Who Supports the Teaching of the Three Heavens and Assists the Origin.’”

An imperial proclamation by Emperor Chengzong of the Yuan states: “Our dynasty takes benevolence and virtue as its foundation, and never forgets to honor and commend the worthy of earlier times. The achievements and numinous deeds of the Ancestral Celestial Master are all recorded and can be verified. After examining the institutions of antiquity, we specially confer upon him the honorific title ‘Perfected Lord of Orthodox Unity, Jingying, Manifestly Blessing, Great Master of the Great Method Who Supports the Teaching of the Three Heavens and Assists the Origin.’ He refined Qi and cultivated the Dao, dispelled evil and upheld the right, and has served as a model for the world for more than twelve hundred years. The jade seal and treasured sword have been passed down through a single line, and today have reached the thirty-seventh generation. His descendant and successor, Yudi, is able to carry on the orthodox teachings, while the lineage master Liusun has further advanced the work of his forebears. Though the Dao takes Wuwei as its foundation, remembering the kindness of one’s forebears is of the greatest importance. Now, at the fitting time, we honor him and record the deeds handed down from the past.”

The transmission of the scriptures and registers was granted in the early Yongshou era of Emperor Huan of Han. Now, in the Yuanzhen era, an honorific title is being conferred; it happens to be a Jiazi year as well, as though all this were ordained. May the line of Celestial Master Zhang continue to aid the world. He may be granted the title “True Lord of Orthodox Unity, Profound Mystery, Divine Transformation, Serene Response, and Manifest Blessing.” This was the First-Generation Celestial Master.

The Second-Generation Inheritor of the Teaching was named Heng, with the courtesy name Lingzhen. He devoted himself to cultivating the Great Dao and kept apart from worldly society. When the court summoned him to serve as Gentleman of the Yellow Gate, he declined. In the second year of Yongshou, he inherited the teachings and settled on Yangping Mountain. Each year, he transmitted the scriptures and registers to his disciples and spread the Zhengyi tradition. His words were concise and his reasoning clear; all who heard him were deeply moved.

In the first month of the Jiwei year of the Yuanhe era of Han, he handed the seal and sword to his son Lu and instructed him: “Your ancestors took Heaven and Earth as their hearts and held the people’s well-being in mind. They made sincerity, reverence, loyalty, and filial piety their foundation. They traveled throughout the land, eliminating demons that endangered the people, and thus had the good fortune to meet a sage master in person and establish the teachings of the Great Dao. Those who inherit my teaching cannot attain the Dao without sincerity, establish De without reverence, serve their ruler without loyalty, or serve their parents without filial piety. You must transmit this from generation to generation and uphold human relationships and your ancestors’ instructions for all time.”

Having spoken, he led his disciples in worship and said: “The founding master’s aspirations were great. He established a teaching through his family so that it might be passed down through the generations as a lineage. We are joined with the Dao and are heirs to its transmission. We inherit from those who came before and enlighten those who come after; our responsibility is weighty. How could we fail to be careful and diligent in spreading the subtle teachings?” When he had finished speaking, he and his wife, Lady Lu, ascended to Heaven in broad daylight from Yangping Mountain.

In the first year of the Zhida era of the Yuan dynasty, Emperor Wuzong issued an edict: “The wise and enlightened rulers of antiquity all took quietude and the peaceful governance of the people as their foundation. Gongsun once sought far and wide for the principles of governing the state, and Tang of Tao sought out worthy men by the Fen River. They did so to seek the highest principles and govern the world. I deeply admire them. The aims of the Celestial Master’s Zhengyi teaching are likely similar. Officials have now petitioned to establish a title for the Inheritor of the Teaching. He inherited the Dao’s transmission and its ritual implements, yet renounced worldly honors and departed beyond the world, caring little for titles. Still, he inherited the lineage and opened the way for the teaching, transforming worldly people and guiding them toward goodness. His achievements must be recognized. He should be granted an illustrious title to express the reverence of later generations. He may be posthumously granted the title ‘True Lord, Inheritor of the Orthodox Unity Teaching, Expounder of the Great Clarity, and Conveyer of the Dao.’”

The third Celestial Master, named Lu and styled Gongqi, was the eldest son of the Inheriting Master. From a young age, he received the teachings of his forebears. As the Han dynasty grew ever weaker, the Central Plain fell into turmoil, and his home region was affected by the fighting. He recruited men of good will to defend their communities and used Daoist teachings to guide the people. More and more followed him. He taught those who came to study to be sincere and reverent, and never to deceive. When someone fell ill, he had the patient admit their own faults. He established libationers, and those who recovered and were willing to follow his teachings were given scriptures and registers—documents and credentials conferred in Daoist practice—to wear, and led in doing good. In time, the people were gradually transformed by his influence.

The court appointed him to posts including Commandant of Agricultural Colonies and General Who Pacifies the People, and also made him Prefect of Hanan. Later, Liu Yan conquered Shu and, harboring thoughts of breaking away from the Han, asked the Celestial Master to serve as Director of Righteousness and Assistant Commander. The Celestial Master therefore withdrew to Hanzhong, where he amassed large stores of grain. The court then appointed him Prefect of Hanzhong and Nanzheng. Before long, armed uprisings broke out in the lands of Qin and Yong. The rebels wanted to proclaim the Celestial Master King of Hanzhong, but he firmly refused, and the matter was brought to an end. Later, as Wei forces drew near, he sealed the government stores and withdrew to Mount Nan.

Emperor Taizu of Wei led his troops into Nanzheng. Seeing that the government stores were well stocked, he concluded that the Celestial Master had harbored no ill will and held him in high regard. He sent an envoy to convey his greetings with courtesy, appointed the Celestial Master Governor of Liang and Yi Provinces, General Who Pacifies the South, and Marquis Within the Passes, among other titles, and granted him a fief of thirty thousand households. The Celestial Master firmly declined every offer. He said to the envoy, “I am a practitioner of the Dao. What people long for is transcendence and ascent; land and a marquis’s title are not what I desire. Please take the seals and ribbons back.”

One day, he summoned his adopted son, Zhang Sheng, and handed him the scriptures and registers, a sword, and a seal. He said, “At Longhu Mountain stands the Patriarch’s Xuantan, a Daoist altar enshrining the founder. There, the celestial patterns and earth’s energies converge; it is a dwelling place of immortals. The secret writings of the Elixir Ao are hidden in a cave. You should go there to spread my teachings, cultivate the Dao, and accumulate merit.” Having spoken, he ascended to heaven from the Northern Dipper Peak.

His younger brother Wei, styled Gongze, had once served as General Who Upholds Righteousness. He later abandoned office to study the Dao and ascended to heaven in broad daylight. Another younger brother, Kui, styled Gongren, was appointed Prefect of Nan Commandery and given the additional title of Commandant of the Imperial Sons-in-Law. He too later left office to study the Dao and ascended to heaven in broad daylight. He had five sons, among them Yan Pu, and they were all enfeoffed as marquises.

The titles Quanzhen, Daoism, and others were not accepted. Emperor Chengzong of the Yuan issued an edict: “I believe the Dao’s fundamental source comes from Heaven, while the work of the Dao is fulfilled by people. The Daoist lineage handed down by the Celestial Masters of the Han dynasty has a long history. If the descendants had not been able to carry it on, generation after generation, how could it have flourished further and helped people set out on the right path? Thus, outstanding figures have appeared in every age to assist in governing and educating the people. I have bestowed an additional title on the Inheriting Master. The Lineage Master—an ancestor of the Zhang family who carried on the Celestial Master tradition—was noble in conduct and pure in character; his numinous deeds deserve to be recorded in the histories. He cultivated himself with vigor and, having completed his work, claimed no credit. The Daode Jing says, ‘Those of highest De do not consider themselves to possess De, and so they truly have De.’ He may be posthumously named True Lord of Clear Transformation and Vast De of the Great Clarity, Lineage Master of Orthodox Unity.”

The fourth-generation Celestial Master, named Sheng, courtesy name Yuanzong, was the third son of the Lineage Master. He initially lived in Nanzheng, devoting himself to the cultivation of the Dao. His father ordered him to inherit the teachings. Emperor Shizu of Wei appointed him Commandant of Chariots, Gentleman Attendant of the Palace, and Marquis of Duting, but he accepted none of these titles. Carrying a sword, seal, scriptures, and registers of Fulu, he traveled from Hanzhong back to Poyang, entered Mount Longhu, and found the mysterious altar of the Ancestral Celestial Master—the place of worship and cultivation—as well as the old site of the Dan’ao. He settled there.

On each of the Three Yuan days—the Upper, Middle, and Lower Yuan festivals—he personally ascended the altar to transmit scriptures and registers, Daoist credentials of lineage and ritual texts, to those who came from various regions to study. There were often more than a thousand Dao cultivators. From then on, he began to explain and establish standards for liturgy, which people later followed in their practice. After handing the sword and seal to his son Zhaocheng, he passed away. Before a year had gone by, he appeared again in Hezhou, Guangxi, to perform a rite for King Guang. He once told someone, “I once cultivated the Dao at Mount Heming in Western Shu, and practiced it at Mount Longhu in Eastern Wu. Once my cultivation and work are complete, I will travel through the South again.” In the first year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan, he was posthumously named True Lord of Clear Tenuity, Manifest Teaching, and Vast De.

The seventh Celestial Master was named Hui, with the courtesy name Zhongchang. As soon as he could speak, he asked what the Dao (the Way) was. No one could answer him. He smiled ruefully and sighed. At the age of five, he wanted to study and receive the inherited scriptures and Fulu (talismans and registers), the texts and credentials passed down through the Daoist tradition. His father told him to begin by reading the Confucian classics. He replied, “If I don’t read the books handed down by my ancestors, why read any others?” At ten, he inherited the office and could practice fasting from the Five Grains, traveling hundreds of li in a day. Later, he entered Mount Qingcheng, after which his whereabouts became unknown. In 1353, during the Zhizheng era of the Yuan dynasty, the court posthumously bestowed on him the title “Perfected Lord of Jade Clarity, Assistant in Teaching and Broad Benefactor.”

The eighth Celestial Master was named Jiong, with the courtesy name Yanchao. He attained the Dao at an early age. Handsome in appearance, he seemed naturally endowed with virtue and composure; he was sincere, spiritually responsive, and able to teach and transform others. He gladly helped all who came to pray for his aid, whatever their social standing, and his responses were often efficacious. Emperor Taizu of Wei once summoned him to court and asked him about Daoist methods. He died at the age of ninety. That day, the entire room filled with an extraordinary fragrance, which lingered for a month. In 1353, the court posthumously bestowed on him the title “Perfected Lord of Jade Clarity, Responsive to Transformation and Serene in Transcendence.”

The ninth Celestial Master was named Fu, with the courtesy name Dexin. He was dignified and serious, yet discerning and reasonable. He could recite from memory any scripture, biography, philosophical writing, or historical work he had read. The scriptures and registers remained widely transmitted in his time, and people throughout the region revered him. He died at the age of ninety-three. In 1353, the court posthumously bestowed on him the title “Perfected Lord of Jade Clarity, Praised for Transformation and Exalted in Mystical Marvels.”

The tenth-generation Celestial Master was named Zixiang, with the courtesy name Linbo. He once served as a Commandant of Luoyang in the Sui dynasty, but later gave up his post to carry on the Daoist tradition, taking elixirs and practicing cultivation. He could spit an elixir from his mouth and set it in his palm. Its light shone beyond the door; before long, he swallowed it again.

He once traveled through the Hedong and Luoyang region and climbed to a stone chamber on the central peak of Mount Song, where he delighted in the quiet and seclusion. One night, he suddenly heard the sound of soldiers and horses passing by. Two divine officials paid their respects to the Lord of Eastern Peak, the deity in charge of its affairs. As they passed, they also came to pay their respects to the Celestial Master. The Lord of Eastern Peak said, “I once paid my respects to the Sage Master at Qingcheng. More than four hundred years have passed since then. Since the Wei and Jin dynasties, wars and displacement have continued without end. The people have suffered, and their karmic burdens are so deep that they cannot free themselves. Now the offices of the Sacred Peak are fortunate to encounter the Sage Master once more. We hope you will widely teach Fulu (talismans and registers), so that people may be delivered and their burdens resolved.” With that, he took his leave.

The Celestial Master returned to the mountain and sent his disciples to various places to spread the teachings, thereby accumulating hidden merit. He died at the age of 120. In the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan dynasty, the court posthumously bestowed upon him the title “True Lord of Supreme Clarity, Profound Mystery, and Great Emptiness.”

The eleventh-generation Celestial Master was named Tongxuan, with the courtesy name Zhongda. By nature, he was quiet and reserved. He often sat alone in a room and would not go out until the proper time; even those close to him rarely saw him. During a year of severe plague, he placed a talisman used to make talisman water into the water, and everyone who drank it recovered. When someone brought silk as thanks, he declined, saying, “My ancestors made helping the people their guiding purpose. How could I accept a gift in return?” Those who came to seek talismans gathered without pause, and the number of people receiving scriptures and registers continued to grow. He died at the age of 97. In the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan dynasty, the court posthumously bestowed upon him the title “True Lord of Supreme Clarity, Profound Response, and Harmonious Peace.”

The twelfth-generation Celestial Master was named Heng, with the courtesy name Derun. He could remember every scripture and historical text he had read. Emperor Gaozong of the Tang sent an emissary to summon him and asked how to govern the state and bring peace to the people. He replied, “If one can practice Wuwei (non-action), one can follow the course of Heaven…”

The twelfth Celestial Master was named Heng, with the courtesy name Derun. He read widely in the classics and histories, and could remember a text after reading it only once. Emperor Gaozong of the Tang sent an envoy to summon him and asked how best to govern the state and bring peace to the people. Heng replied, “The best way is to govern through Wuwei (non-action).” The Celestial Master regarded himself as the cleverest and most perceptive of the immortals. One day, he secretly left the palace. When he returned home, he sighed, “I nearly fell into the snares of the mundane world.”

Heng cultivated the Dao at home. He once hid wine and meat in a jar in the house, while eating vegetarian food and drinking wine in front of his wife and children. When he opened the jar that night, the wine and meat had turned into porcelain vessels. They remained there for a full day without spoiling. He died at the age of ninety-eight. In the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan dynasty (1353), the court posthumously bestowed on him the honorific title “Perfected Lord of Supreme Clarity, Profound Virtue, and Great Harmony.”

The thirteenth Celestial Master was named Guang, with the courtesy name Deshao. He devoted himself to cultivating the Dao and practiced in a stone chamber for nearly thirty years. Only after inheriting the position of Celestial Master did he return home. He transmitted scriptures and Fulu (talismans and registers), and usually ate vegetarian food. Later, he became able to practice bigu (abstaining from the five grains), a Daoist method of cultivation. He died at the age of one hundred and four. In the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era, the court posthumously bestowed on him the honorific title “Perfected Lord of Great Mystery, Utmost Virtue, and Vast Wonder.”

His youngest son was named Wu, with the courtesy name Junming. He cultivated from childhood, could practice bigu, and was also able to fly from place to place. Later, no one knew where he went.

The fourteenth Celestial Master was named Cizheng, with the courtesy name Ziming. Clever and perceptive, he often taught others through the principles of the Yi, and many people studied under him. Whenever he had surplus wealth, he used it to help the poor. Later, he left his wife and went into the mountains to cultivate the Dao. He climbed Shengjing Mountain, built a thatched hut, and lived there alone. Only on the Three Yuan days—the festivals of the Upper, Middle, and Lower Yuan—did he come down from the mountain to transmit scriptures and Fulu. The court summoned him many times, but he never answered the summons.

More than a hundred years after Cizheng’s death, celestial music sounded in the sky, as though heavenly musicians had descended to welcome him. Shengjing Mountain is now also called Zhengjun Mountain, and the stream there is called Zhengjun Ravine. In the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era, the court posthumously bestowed on him the honorific title “Perfected Lord of Great Mystery, Supreme Virtue, and Purple Void.”

The fifteenth Celestial Master’s personal name was Gao, and his courtesy name was Shilong. He was broad-minded and easygoing, and enjoyed drinking. It is said that he could drink a shi of wine without getting drunk. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang summoned him and ordered him to establish an altar in the capital and transmit the teachings of the Celestial Masters. The emperor bestowed gold and silk on him, exempted him from taxes, and conferred on him the title “Celestial Master of the Han Ancestors.” Emperor Suzong of the Tang once presented him with incense and other offerings for a ritual held in the mountains, and personally inscribed words praising an image of the Celestial Master.

Once, the Celestial Master left his jade seal at a wine shop in Chang’an. A young man tried to lift it but could not move it at all. The next day, the Celestial Master came to the shop, picked up the jade seal with a smile, and took it away. He lived to the age of ninety-three. After his death, in the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan dynasty (1353), he was posthumously honored as “Perfected Lord of Profound Mystery, Venerable Virtue, and Mysterious Transformation.”

The sixteenth Celestial Master’s personal name was Yingshao, and his courtesy name was Zhifeng. After inheriting the lineage of the teachings, he handed his sword and seal to his son, then withdrew to live above Dragon-whisker Well on the southern slope of the mountain. He farmed the land himself and took pleasure in a simple life. He often sat on a rock beside the well and played an iron flute, whose sound carried for several miles. One day, he sat suspended above the deep well, passed away upright, and was buried beside it. A burial site known locally to this day as “Immortal’s Tomb” stands there, with a structure shaped like an ao and a tree gate nearby. The place where he farmed is called “Yellow Sand Hollow.” In the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era, he was posthumously honored as “Perfected Lord of the Empty Grotto, Expounder of the Dao, and Pure and Untroubled.”

The seventeenth Celestial Master’s personal name was Shun, and his courtesy name was Zhongfu. He was exceptionally devoted to his parents. When his mother was ill for more than ten days, he stayed by her side without once loosening his belt. He often told people, “Someone who is neither loyal nor filial, yet hopes to study the Dao and become an immortal, is like giving up boat and oars and trying to cross a great river on foot.” He first served as a commandant in Guishui, but later resigned to inherit the lineage of the teachings. He built a thatched hut in the mountains, where he lived with his wife and children. He lived to the age of eighty-seven. After his death, in the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan dynasty, he was posthumously honored as “Perfected Lord of the Empty Grotto, Expounder of the Teachings, and Benefactor of the Faithful.”

The eighteenth Celestial Master, named Siyuan and styled Zhongliang, was slender, with a thick beard. He lived on Mount Yingtian for forty years. Tigers were common in the mountains, and no one dared visit him. Only on the three Yuan festivals—the Upper, Middle, and Lower Yuan—did he descend the mountain to teach Fulu (talismans and registers). During great storms, people sometimes saw him wearing a dark hat and riding a black tiger among the peaks; they knew this must be the Celestial Master. Today, the Alchemical Dwelling on the mountain’s southern side, and the Sutra-Turning Stone, Black Dragon Well, and Jade Lotus Pond on its northern side, are all traces he left behind. He lived to the age of ninety-two. In 1353, during the Zhizheng era of the Yuan dynasty, he was posthumously honored as the Perfected Lord of the Empty Grotto, Bright Dao, and Aid to Fortune.

The nineteenth Celestial Master, named Xiu and styled Dezhen, was gentle and unpretentious, and worked the fields with his own hands. When people came seeking help with an illness, he would draw a talisman on a leaf, and they would recover at once. Whenever he received something in return for transmitting Fulu, he would immediately give it to someone else.

Liu Qian, a wealthy merchant from Jiangxi, had once received Fulu. One day, he died in Jinling, but came back to life two days later. He said that he had been seized by the underworld bureau that governed life and death, and had met an immortal official on the way. The official told him, “Although your appointed time has come, your observance of the registers and rites has earned you another two cycles of life”—that is, twenty-four more years, since each cycle lasted twelve years. Liu then entered the mountains and became the Celestial Master’s disciple. One day, the Celestial Master summoned his disciples and said, “I will die on a certain day.” When that day came, he bathed, changed his clothes, sat upright, and passed away at the age of eighty-five. In 1353, he was posthumously honored as the Perfected Lord of the Deep Mystery, Transformation, and Auspicious Celebration.

The twentieth Celestial Master was named Chen, with the courtesy name Zijian. In the xinyou year of the Huichang era under the Tang, Emperor Wuzong summoned him and bestowed on him a plaque inscribed “Temple of the True Immortals.” The emperor intended to appoint him to an official post, but Chen declined and returned to the mountain without accepting it. During the Xiantong era under the Tang, Emperor Yizong ordered a grand Golden Thread Great Offering, a large Daoist Zhaijiao purification ritual, and presented him with gold. Chen then returned to the mountain. One day, he died while deeply intoxicated, having lived to more than a hundred years. In the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era under the Yuan, the court posthumously honored him as the Perfected Lord of Mysterious Depths, the Cavern of Truth, and Faithful Virtue.

The twenty-first Celestial Master was named Bingyi, with the courtesy name Wenfu. His mother once dreamed during a daytime nap that a divine being descended, standing on a golden tortoise. When she awoke, she was pregnant, and gave birth to him fifteen months later. As he grew up, his eyes shone brightly, and he could see clearly even at night. He often carried a sword as he traveled through mountains, forests, rivers, and marshes. Once, he rebuked an old tree, and lightning immediately split it apart. He also killed two giant pythons and more than a hundred smaller snakes.

The Prince of Qi of the Southern Tang dreamed that he had fallen into a well and was pulled out by a Daoist with blue eyes and a long beard, dressed in red. A dream interpreter said that this Daoist was the Han Celestial Master. The prince then went to Mount Longhu, built a shrine in his honor, and granted him irrigated fields. Before the Celestial Master died, he said, “I am about to depart. The ground should shake.” After he died, people prepared his body for burial, and soon an earthquake did indeed occur. They therefore waited seven days before formally placing him in the coffin. His body remained warm and as lustrous as jade. He lived to the age of ninety-two. In the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era under the Yuan, the court posthumously honored him as the Perfected Lord Who Preserves the Mysterious, the Purple Ultimate, and the Luminous Transformation.

The twenty-second Celestial Master was named Shan, with the courtesy name Yuanchang. As a child, he refused to eat meat. When he was somewhat older, he traveled widely among famous mountains and returned only after more than thirty years. Thereafter, he was quiet and reserved, devoting himself to cultivation and avoiding contact with the outside world. He lived to the age of eighty-seven. In the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era under the Yuan, the court posthumously honored him as the Perfected Lord of Pure Emptiness, Revered Response, and Faithful Benevolence.

The twenty-third Celestial Master was named Ji Wen, with the courtesy name Zhonggui. In the late Five Dynasties period, many people received his ordination registers—the certificates conferring Daoist ritual rank and authority to transmit talismans and registers—so he had iron tallies made as credentials of transmission. In the early Song dynasty, the transmission of iron tallies and ordination registers flourished especially. He lived to the age of eighty-seven. In the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan dynasty, he was posthumously honored as “Perfected Lord Who Assists the State through the Wondrous Dao of Clarity and Emptiness.”

The twenty-fourth Celestial Master was named Zheng Sui, with the courtesy name Baoshen. He was upright and kindhearted by nature and kept apart from worldly society. In the eighth year of the Dazhong Xiangfu era of the Song dynasty (the Yimao year), the court summoned him to the capital. After Wang Qinruo, Minister of Personnel, submitted a memorial, the court immediately appointed him to the office of Registrar of the Daoist Academy and, by imperial order, renamed the Monastery of the Immortals the Monastery of Highest Clarity. He died at the age of eighty-seven.

Emperor Zhenzong of the Song issued an edict that said: “I have inherited the foundations laid by my ancestors and honor the Way of Heaven. I have received auspicious signs from Heaven and Earth, as well as prophetic signs from the Yellow River and the Luo River. I hope to explore the mysteries of the Dao together with those who have attained it. Your ancestors received wondrous scriptures and teachings from the Golden Palace in Heaven and passed the lineage down to their descendants. You are a direct-line grandson who has inherited extraordinary learning. Now you reveal the secrets of the precelestial realm to guide later generations who have yet to awaken. May Heaven look upon you and bring peace to the world and long life to the people. Therefore, I bestow upon you an honored title to spread the wondrous Dao: ‘Master of True Stillness.’”

In the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan dynasty, he was also posthumously honored as “Perfected Lord Who Spreads the Teachings and Brings Wondrous Aid through Clarity and Emptiness.”

The twenty-fifth Celestial Master, Qianyao, courtesy name Yuanguang, was dignified and reserved in temperament. He spoke little and devoted himself wholeheartedly to self-cultivation.

In the eighth year of the Tiansheng era of the Song dynasty, Emperor Renzong summoned him to court and asked about ascending to immortality. Qianyao replied, “Such matters cannot help in governing the state or teaching the people. If Your Majesty can return to simplicity and govern with clarity and ease, the realm will be at peace. Why cling to ascending to immortality?” Renzong praised him and bestowed on him the title “Master of Purity and Simplicity.”

Renzong then asked how many sons he had. Qianyao replied, “My eldest son inherits the Dao; my second son studies Confucian learning.” His second son, Jiansu, was consequently recommended for office and appointed registrar of the district’s administrative bureau. Though Jiansu entered government service, he continued to admire Daoism. Later, while serving as assistant director of the Guard Command, he resigned and lived in seclusion by East Lake in Poyang. His descendants still live there today.

Qianyao lived to the age of eighty-five and died at Caojiayuan, Zhangbu, in Renfu Township. In an edict, Emperor Renzong of Song said: “Since ascending the throne, I have devoted myself to seeking the Great Dao. When the Yellow Emperor governed the realm, he practiced Wuwei (non-action) to care for the people and harmonize Yin-Yang. He personally sought instruction from Guangchengzi on Mount Kongtong for the sake of the people. Qianyao traveled a thousand li to the capital, and a few words from him enabled me to grasp the essentials of nurturing life and governing the people. He should be granted an honorable title in recognition of his virtue, and I hope he will continue to spread Daoist teachings, so that the renown of Guangchengzi does not remain unmatched by later generations.” He accordingly bestowed on Qianyao the title “Master of Purity and Simplicity.”

In the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan dynasty, Qianyao was posthumously honored as “Perfected Lord of Revered Mystery, Universal Aid, Profound Stillness.”

The twenty-sixth Celestial Master was named Zhang Sizong, with the courtesy name Rongzu. At birth, he already bore a mark on the palm of his left hand. After inheriting the teachings of the Celestial Masters, he displayed many extraordinary signs. In 1055, the second year of the Zhihe era under Emperor Renzong of the Song, the emperor summoned him to court to pray. His prayers were answered, and the emperor ordered the construction of the Shangqing Abbey on the southern side of the mountain.

When Zhang Sizong was seventy-eight, his appearance was still as youthful as a child’s. The emperor bestowed on him the title “Master of Empty Clarity.” He died at the age of eighty-one. According to accounts, he was seated upright, with a sword beside his seat, and his mouth seemed to move. (The wording “seated, sword, moving mouth” in the original may be corrupt; this rendering follows the meaning of the text as it survives.)

An edict of Emperor Renzong of the Song states: “The ancient rites of offering sacrifices to mountains and rivers and praying to the spirits were the beginning of prayer and sacrifice. The ceremonies held at court cannot be compared with the work of shamans and court scribes. If sincerity can reach the spirits, it can also help govern worldly affairs. Zhang Sizong, a sixteenth-generation descendant of the Han Celestial Masters, inherited his family’s teachings and greatly resembles his ancestors. He submitted his petition in good time, seeking Heaven’s protection, and soon dispelled calamity, turning danger into good fortune. If his heart were not devoted to the Dao and his sincerity unable to move the spirits, how could he have accomplished this? Clarity arose within the void, and auspicious peace descended; these signs have all been fulfilled in you. I therefore bestow on you the title ‘Master of Empty Clarity.’”

In 1353, the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era under the Yuan, Zhang Sizong was posthumously honored as “Perfected Lord Chongzhen Puhua Miaowu.”

The twenty-seventh Celestial Master was named Zhang Xiangzhong, with the courtesy name Gongchen. He could walk at three months old and speak at five months. At the age of seven, he was summoned to the imperial court, given a purple robe—the ceremonial garment bestowed on Daoist priests—and ordered to inherit the teachings of the Celestial Masters. The emperor gave him a seat and discussed the principles of the Dao with him, was highly pleased with his replies, and personally inscribed words for him. Later, Zhang returned to Wuzhutang on Zhengjun Mountain and built a simple dwelling there. After attaining the Dao, he ascended and departed. Sites associated with him, including Qixingdun and Baihewou, remain in the area to this day. In 1353, he was posthumously honored as “Perfected Lord Chongzhen Tonghui Zixuan.”

For the twenty-eighth Celestial Master, the original text repeats the preceding account of building a simple dwelling, attaining the Dao and ascending, and receiving the posthumous honor “Perfected Lord Chongzhen Tonghui Zixuan.”

The twenty-eighth Celestial Master was named Dunfu, with the courtesy name Yanzhi. Naturally intelligent and exceptionally learned, he had a voice that rang like a bell and was held in high esteem by scholars. During the Xining era of the Song dynasty, Emperor Shenzong summoned him to court and ordered him to preside over a Zhaijiao rite in an inner palace hall—a Daoist ceremony for praying for blessings and making offerings to the gods. The emperor bestowed on him the title “Master Who Preserves the Light.” He died at the age of fifty-three and was buried at Dengjiawu.

An imperial edict by Emperor Shenzong of Song stated: “I have received Heaven’s favor and rely on the foundations laid by my ancestors. Thus the realm is at peace and the people are prosperous. I hope to promote the way of purity and stillness, so that all under Heaven may share in the peace of governance through Wuwei. Zhang Dunfu, the twenty-eighth-generation successor of the Han Celestial Masters, inherited the ancestral seal through his family line and understood the true meaning of cultivating the Dao from an early age. Sadly, he soon returned to the realm of the immortals, leaving me no chance to summon him to court. His deeds should be entered into the official records to honor his immortal bearing and character. I bestow on him the title ‘Master Who Preserves the Light.’” In the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan dynasty, he was posthumously granted the title “True Lord of Taiji and Wuwei, Who Expounds the Dao.”

The Hereditary Lineage of the Han Celestial Masters, Volume Two

The Hereditary Lineage of the Han Celestial Masters, Volume Three

The twenty-ninth Celestial Master was named Jingduan, with the courtesy name Ziren. He was a nephew of Dunfu. Tranquil and unassuming by nature, he had no craving for sensual pleasures, did not contend with others, and devoted himself to studying the mysteries. In the second year of the Daguan era, the court posthumously granted him the title “Master Who Preserves the Truth.” He died at the age of fifty-two.

An imperial edict by Emperor Huizong of Song stated: “In my view, warding off calamities and dispelling misfortune are the foremost purposes of sacrificial rites. Honoring the virtuous and rewarding those who have rendered service are upheld by the sages. Earlier, Master Xujing, Zhang Jixian, dispelled the strange malign influences at the Salt Lake and also presided over a Zhaijiao rite at Jinting. After he presented the sacrificial memorial, a response came swiftly, and his service was considerable. Tracing this achievement to its source, one can see that it arose from the learning passed down in his family. I find your former title unsuitable, and therefore specially grant you the posthumous title ‘Master Who Preserves the Truth.’” In the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan dynasty, he was posthumously granted the title “True Lord of Taiji, Clarity, Emptiness, and Compassionate Wonder.”

The thirtieth Celestial Master, Zhang Jixian, was named Jixian and styled Jiawen; he also used the style Daozheng and the title Touranzi. He was the great-grandson of the twenty-seventh Celestial Master. His grandfather was Zhang Dunxin, and his father, Zhang Churen, once served the Song dynasty as magistrate of Linchuan County. Zhang Jixian was born on the twentieth day of the tenth month of the ren-shen year, the seventh year of the Yuanyou era (1092), at Menggu Hermitage.

At the age of five, he still could not speak. One day, hearing a rooster crow, he suddenly laughed and composed a poem: “The spirited parrot has five virtues; its comb and spurs are always with it. At the fifth watch it opens its beak wide, waking those who dream.” The next day, he sat upright on a green lotus flower. People found this astonishing and called him a true immortal. A pool still remains at the present-day Yuxian Temple.

At the age of nine, he inherited the office of Celestial Master. In the second year of the Chongning era (1103), officials in Xiezhou reported to the throne that the waters of the salt lake were overflowing. The emperor consulted the Daoist Xu Shenweng, who replied that a jiao-dragon was causing the trouble and that Zhang the Celestial Master should be summoned. The emperor therefore ordered the relevant officials to invite Zhang Jixian with due ceremony. The following year, Zhang was summoned to the capital for an audience. The emperor asked, “You live on Dragon-Tiger Mountain. Have you ever seen a dragon or tiger?” He replied, “Living in the mountains, I often see tigers. Only today have I seen Your Majesty’s dragon countenance.” The emperor was delighted and asked him to draw and present a talisman.

After looking at it, the emperor smiled and asked, “Where does its efficacy come from?” Zhang Jixian replied, “Where spirits dwell, efficacy follows naturally.” The emperor asked whether he could write. Zhang said that he had once copied the Dao De Jing, and brought it out to present to him. The emperor then asked about methods for cultivating the internal elixir. Zhang Jixian answered, “That is a matter for people of the mountains and wilds, not something a ruler should be keenly concerned with. Your Majesty need only remain tranquil and practice Wuwei (non-action), taking Emperors Yao and Shun as models.” The emperor was pleased and had him enter the sleeping quarters to attend him.

People throughout the palace crowded around, each holding out a fan and asking him to inscribe it. He wrote sayings from the Dao De Jing on the fans, choosing words that suited each person’s wishes. One person held up a fan, bowed, and asked for an inscription. Zhang wrote, “May the state be blessed with lasting peace, enduring as long as Heaven.” The fan belonged to the emperor and was one he used every day. Afterward, the emperor hosted a banquet in his honor, and only then did Zhang leave.

On the fifteenth day of the twelfth month, the emperor summoned Yu for an audience. “The pond has overflowed and flooded the surrounding area, harming the people,” he said. “I have summoned you to bring it under control.” At the command, Yu wrote a talisman on iron. He sent his disciple Zhu Yongyou and a eunuch to cast it where the pond bank had collapsed. Before long, thunder and lightning struck together, and darkness fell in broad daylight. A flood dragon and crabs were found dead beside the water.

The emperor asked, “What technique did you use to control the flood dragon before? Can you show it to me again?” Yu replied, “I commanded Guan Yu. I should be able to summon him here.” Holding a precious sword, he called to Guan Yu from the left side of the hall. Guan Yu appeared at once. Startled, the emperor tossed him a Chongning coin and said, “Take this as your reward.” In time, people began to worship Guan Yu on this account and honored him as the Perfected Lord Chongning.

In the third month of the following year, Yu reported that salt tax revenues had returned to normal. In the fifth month, the emperor summoned him, offered him a seat, and asked how the Dao and its methods differed. Yu replied, “The foundation of the Dao is Wuwei (non-action), yet nothing is beyond what it can do. The substance of the Dao is the Dao; its function is its method. Substance and function come from the same source, and in themselves have no difference. To call them ‘one’ is already to set them apart. To call them ‘two’ is only to force names upon them. What difference can there be?” The emperor said, “Just so. To divide them further into sameness and difference would make three claims.”

Yu then presented the Thunder Methods of the Heavenly Heart for Dispersing Evil and Suppressing Violence, Daoist techniques that use thunder to drive out evil and quell violence. The emperor performed the sacrifice himself. In the seventh month, Yu established an altar and transmitted scriptures and Fulu (talismans and registers), performed ritual methods, and spoke of the wonders of the Dao. Those who came to pay their respects filled the hall, and each left having gained some understanding.

At the Tianxiang Hall, the emperor calmly asked Yu about principle and affairs of state. Yu replied, “The ministers of the Yuanyou era once enjoyed the esteem of the whole realm. I ask Your Majesty to treat them with leniency.” The emperor listened solemnly and said, “What could I possibly be unwilling to forgive?” Yu added, “Your Majesty upholds the imperial Way, acts fairly without favoritism, and keeps the people of the realm in mind. This is a blessing for the state.” Yu repeatedly asked to return to the mountains. The emperor commended him and granted his request, offering him gold and silks, which Yu declined. The emperor then ordered his close attendants to give him a ceremonial farewell outside the capital gates.

In the fourth year, the court summoned Zhang Jixian once again. He conducted a Zhaijiao (purification ritual) at the palace and secretly reported an omen of the Red Horse and Red Goat—traditionally a warning that calamities might occur in the bingwu and dingwei years—urging the emperor to cultivate his virtue.

Emperor Huizong of the Song issued an edict: “Zhang Jixian, the thirtieth-generation descendant of the Han dynasty Celestial Master, comes from a line whose Celestial Master was renowned in the Han for his wondrous achievements. As his descendant, you have not allowed your ancestor’s work to decline. You have carried on the ancestral teachings and used talisman water to help people. Your nature is tranquil and composed, and your Daoist practice is pure and noble. You should be rewarded, to make clear the court’s esteem for the true Dao.” The emperor therefore bestowed on him the title “Master Xujing” and presented him with gold statues of the Lord Lao and the Han Celestial Master.

Zhang Jixian repeatedly asked to return to the mountain, but the emperor would not allow it. When asked what else he wanted, he replied, “What I seek is this: Shangqing Temple is old and remote. Everyone wants to move and rebuild it elsewhere, but we lack the means.” The emperor ordered officials responsible for water transport to choose a site in the mountains and relocate the temple, and granted fields to support the Daoist community. He also had a hermitage built north of the mountain as a place for Zhang Jixian to cultivate, named it Jing Tong Hermitage, and inscribed its plaque in his own hand. Nearby, the Pavilion of Serene Cultivation, Lingbao Temple, Yunjin Temple, and Zhenyi Temple were also built. The ancestral shrine was renamed Yanfa Temple, and a jade investiture tablet was presented, honoring the ancestral master posthumously as a Perfected Lord.

In the twelfth month, Zhang Jixian returned to the mountain. His father, elder brother, and other family members also received titles and honors according to their ranks. Those who came from all directions to study under him numbered in the hundreds and even thousands.

In the dinghai year of the Daguan era, the emperor sent an envoy to the mountain to conduct a Zhaijiao and summoned Zhang Jixian to court. At the time, Xu Shenweng was staying with him at the same lodging. Before long, Xu Shenweng said, “The affairs of the world are in turmoil. Better to go back and rest.” Zhang Jixian replied, “If you want to go back, then go. Why give it another thought?” Xu Shenweng then sat upright and passed away.

On the Dragon Boat Festival, the emperor summoned Zhang Jixian to the palace and said, “There seems to be a demon in the palace. You should drive it out.” Zhang Jixian replied, “I have heard that evil Qi cannot trouble upright Qi, and demons cannot overcome virtue. Your Majesty should cultivate virtue, and the demon will naturally disappear.” An attendant then reported that there was indeed a demon at Renji Pavilion. Before long, the demon possessed a young boy. The boy clutched his head, wept, and bowed to Zhang Jixian. Zhang Jixian said, “It is because your own mind was clouded that you fell onto a misguided path.”

Zhang Daoling said, “Return to your original form. You should quickly transform away.” The man stopped weeping, fell to the ground, and lay there for a long time before waking.

The emperor then ordered several dozen large urns to be prepared and filled with water around the capital. Talismans were cast into the water, which was given to the sick to drink; all who drank it recovered. The emperor sent an envoy to ask about the essentials of cultivating the Dao, saying that the Way of the immortals could be learned and that long life without death could be attained through cultivation. Zhang Daoling then composed the “Song of the Great Dao” and gave it to the envoy to present to the emperor.

That year, a severe drought struck. The emperor ordered him to pray for rain, and rain fell for three days. The emperor bestowed on him the official title “Grand Master of the Great Void,” but he declined it. The emperor also personally wrote him a poem. In the second year of Daguan (1108), Zhang returned to the mountains. The emperor presented him with gold and silk, but he declined repeatedly, saying, “I am only a commoner from the mountains and countryside. It is enough for me to remain without seeking anything or making use of anything.” Court ministers and officials saw him off on both sides of the road. He cupped his hands in farewell and said, “Coming together and parting are ordinary matters; there is no fixed term for entering office or withdrawing into seclusion. Life is brief. Take good care of yourselves.”

After returning to the mountains, he said to his disciples, “From the Jiang and Xiang regions, there are twenty-eight administrative centers on the route into Shu”—that is, Daoist organizational and cultivation sites. He then returned from Qin-chuan to the mountains and built a hut at Xiyuan, naming it “Primordial Chaos.” To the north of Qionglin Terrace in Yiyang, someone who admired Xiyuan wrote five quatrains.

At that time, Shi Zifang came from Poyang and became his companion. One day, they discussed the transformations of life and death. Shi Zifang said, “I can follow my nature to its completion, neither clinging to life nor abhorring death. How, then, could death move me?” He replied, “That is not so. You say you follow your nature to its completion; then what is there for Heaven to preserve? When the true ruler of all things does not manifest, human nature and consciousness flare up in confusion. Once the one true nature appears, all kalpas return to emptiness, and Heaven has nothing left to preserve.” Shi Zifang heard this and came to some understanding.

In the second year of Zhenghe (1112), the emperor again sent an envoy to summon him. He declined, citing illness, and asked his disciple Wang Daojian to convey his thanks and tell the emperor that he should cultivate his De to dispel calamities. The emperor converted the Shangqing Abbey into a palace, bestowed on Wang Daojian the official title “Grand Master of Great Simplicity,” appointed him registrar at the Hall of Concentrated Spirit, and ordered him to take part in rites to pray away calamities threatening the state. Afterward, he returned to Yujiang.

Wang Wenqing and the others became well known at court for their mastery of Daoist arts. After returning to the mountains, they continued to visit one another often, living at ease. Sometimes, at dawn or by moonlight, they would venture deep into quiet, rugged places, wandering and chanting verses, and often felt content.

One day, he wrote a poem on the wall of Tranquil-Yet-Secret Pavilion: “The Red Emperor, deity of Fire Virtue, rides forth on a dragon, yet the turmoil has not subsided; Chang’e divides the moon as she travels, entering the mountain to explore.” None of them could fathom its meaning. He had once visited Mount Magu and, while resting at Qiyun Pavilion, exclaimed, “In the blink of an eye, the immortal realm of Penglai—will the blue sea become mulberry fields once more?” Only after the Jingkang Catastrophe, when Jin forces captured Bianjing, did people believe his words had come true.

In the Bingwu year, Jin forces advanced on Bianjing. The emperor and the retired emperor recalled the Celestial Master’s earlier prophecy and urgently sent a messenger to summon him. He arrived at Tianqing Temple in Sizhou, took up a brush, and wrote this hymn:

“One face of a bronze mirror, several layers of jade-green mountains;

Suddenly, the night glows red; I step into a grotto-heaven.

Fragrant clouds gather in the jeweled hall; all things are still, and no one is there;

Beneath the western mountain, the red sun sinks, and rain and mist fall in streams.”

When he had finished writing, he ascended to immortality and departed. It was the twenty-third day of the eleventh month in the Bingwu year of Jingkang. The capital fell that same day. His kinsman, Grand Martial Merit Officer Zhang Xian, happened to be in the area and led the local people in burying him at the foot of Turtle Mountain.

Earlier, when the Celestial Master was in the capital, the Imperial Academy students Chen Shu and Yi Guan had asked him to read their fortunes. The Celestial Master said, “Chen Shu will become a loyal subject, his name enduring through the ages; Yi Guan will serve as a county magistrate and die a natural death.” Later, when Emperor Gaozong moved south, Chen Shu submitted a memorial calling for the dismissal of Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan, and was therefore executed. Yi Guan later served as magistrate of Taihe County. His family was poor, and he eventually died a natural death.

Sixteen years after the Celestial Master’s ascension, in the Xinyou year of the Shaoxing era, Sa Shoujian of the Western River was traveling through Qingcheng when he met him at the entrance to a gorge. The Celestial Master taught Sa Shoujian talisman methods and a verse in the tune “Water Melody,” then gave him a letter and a shoe, instructing him to deliver them to the succeeding Celestial Master.

After arriving at the mountain, the Inherited Celestial Master opened the letter and found its contents strange. He sent people to Sizhou to open the coffin and inspect it. They found that only one shoe remained inside, and then understood that the man had departed through “corpse liberation,” the Daoist means of leaving the physical body to become an immortal. Later, people also reported encountering him on Mount Wuyi and Mount Luofu.

Emperor Wuzong of the Yuan issued an edict: “I believe that Guangchengzi once spoke on Mount Kongtong about the mysteries of the union of body and spirit, while Sang Chu of the Tang dynasty lived on Mount Weilei and was honored with offerings. Master Xujing inherited and spread the true Dao, and rightly deserves an exalted title in this age. Master Xujing, the thirtieth Celestial Master of the Han lineage, devoted himself to purity, stillness, and detachment; his nature was sincere, generous, and harmonious. With a heart of emptiness and stillness, he understood the wondrous Great Dao, and his daily conduct accorded with its principles as he calmly held to what is constant. When the Song emperor questioned him in a moment of leisure, he fully explained Laozi’s teaching of purity, stillness, and Wuwei (non-action). Through the Dao, Shen (spirit) becomes efficacious, and prayers and offerings often receive a response. When the myriad things return to their root, they become still; only by preserving Jing and Qi over time can life be sustained. We hereby raise his rank among the immortals and grant him an honored name in the register of ancestral masters. He seems to have ascended as an immortal and bathed in the valley of the sun. It is not merely that his noble character inspires admiration; it is as though he rides the white clouds back to his homeland, carrying on the charge entrusted to him by his forebears.” He was therefore posthumously titled “Perfected Lord of Mysterious Stillness, Profound Communication, and Vast Awakening.”

The thirty-first Celestial Master was named Shixiu, with the courtesy name Chaoying. He was the grandson of Xiang, the twenty-seventh Celestial Master, and the son of Dunzhi. Master Xujing never married and had no children. His younger brother Yuanzong became a Daoist, and Xujing had originally intended for him to inherit the religious lineage and thereby further the teaching of purity and stillness. While traveling in Sizhou, Xujing gave Chaoying the Celestial Master’s seal, ritual sword, and scriptural registers—documents recording Daoist membership and lineage transmission. The community therefore selected Chaoying to inherit the lineage. He declined, saying, “By seniority, my nephew should inherit it. How can I take precedence over him?” They replied, “What matters is who is entrusted with the transmission of the ritual lineage.” Chaoying then took up the leadership. He was calm and unassuming, had no desire for fame or rank, and devoted himself to cultivation. He died at the age of sixty-one. In the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era under the Yuan, the court posthumously honored him as “Perfected Lord of Orthodox Unity, Vast Transformation, Clear Understanding, and Awakening.”

The thirty-second Celestial Master was named Shouzhen, with the courtesy name Zunyi. His mother’s surname was Hao. He was born after a gestation of nineteen months. In 1140, the tenth year of the Shaoxing era of the Song dynasty, Shouzhen inherited the leadership of the Celestial Masters’ tradition. In 1170, during the sixth year of the Qiandao era, demonic forces attached themselves to a tree in Biling (in the area of present-day Changzhou, Jiangsu). The emperor issued an edict ordering him to deal with them. After he set out, lightning struck down the tree that night.

Shouzhen was summoned to court and given the title “Master Zhengying.” Emperor Gaozong received him and asked him about the Daoist arts. During Emperor Xiaozong’s reign, the river rose and overflowed, destroying its banks. The emperor ordered Shouzhen to conduct a Jiao purification and prayer ritual in the palace to avert disaster. The rite produced a remarkable response. The emperor bestowed on him an ivory tablet, a precious sword, and the two scriptures Qingjing and Yinfu, and granted him the title “Master Zhengying.”

On the thirtieth day of the tenth month of 1176, the third year of the Chunxi era, Shouzhen told his disciples, “Not long ago, I received a letter from my elder brother Xujing, inviting me to meet him at Qingcheng. Now it is time for me to go.” After saying this, he died. His remains were buried west of the Yanfa Temple.

During the Yuan dynasty, Emperor Xiaozong issued an edict: “Shouzhen, the thirty-second-generation descendant of the Han Celestial Masters, you have carried on your ancestors’ work, passing it down through dozens of generations without interruption. This is truly remarkable. The court previously bestowed on you an honored title. In accordance with precedent, we hereby grant you the title ‘Master Zhengying’ and posthumously confer the title ‘True Lord Chongxu Guangmiao Zhengying.’”

The thirty-third Celestial Master was named Jingyuan. The account here continues with the edict posthumously honoring Shouzhen: he had carried on his ancestors’ work, passing it down through dozens of generations without interruption. The court had previously granted him the title “Master Zhengying” and later posthumously conferred on him the title “True Lord Chongxu Guangmiao Zhengying.”

The thirty-third Celestial Master (Tianshi), named Jingyuan and styled Deying, was originally called Bojing. During the Qiandao era, he accompanied his father to court. Emperor Gaozong found him extraordinary and gave him the name he bore thereafter. Jingyuan once performed a Zhaijiao rite in the palace and received a powerful response. When the emperor’s son, Prince Wei, fell ill while guarding Mingzhou, he set up an altar and prayed for help. After Jingyuan arrived, he chanted an incantation over water and had Prince Wei drink it. The prince recovered, and sent Jingyuan away with especially lavish honors.

One day, Prince Wei sent another messenger to invite him. As the messenger arrived at the gate, Jingyuan suddenly gathered his disciples and said, “I must not miss the appointed time for my ascent to immortality.” He then leaned against a desk and died. Later, a rite in which a sword was used to summon divine power was performed at Jiajia Yuan in Shangqing. In the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan dynasty, Jingyuan was posthumously granted the honorific title “Perfected Lord of Revered Truth, Primordial Simplicity, and the Way of Transcendence.”

The acting Celestial Master (the person who temporarily held the office of Celestial Master) was named Sixian and styled Guangzu. In the guisi year of the Qiandao era, his elder brother Jingyuan had adopted him as a son. At nineteen, Sixian inherited the religious office. During the Chongning era, he was summoned to court for an audience. The Crown Prince Jingxian inscribed the words “Hidden Woodcutter” and bestowed them on him. After Sixian had led the community for eleven years, senior members of the clan discussed the matter and concluded that since Jingyuan had a son, the office should pass to him. Sixian therefore handed the seal and ritual sword to his nephew Qingxian, then withdrew to practice quietly until the end of his life.

The thirty-fourth Celestial Master, Qingxian, whose courtesy name was Shaozu, was the son of Deying. Before Qingxian was born, Deying had raised his younger brother Sixian, who temporarily took over the Celestial Master’s teaching office. Qingxian inherited the office in the xinyou year of the Jiatai era. Kindhearted and frugal by nature, he often helped the poor. During his generation, Jinglu—documents recording divine and ritual offices and qualifications for transmission—circulated even more widely. He could drink a great deal of wine, yet remain sober after several dou.

Qingxian once visited Zhanggong Cave. Seeing a deep well inside, he playfully tossed a leaf into it. Before long, waves surged in the well, and an old man emerged, bowed to him, and made a request. The old man then warned him not to fish in the well during a drought and departed.

On the twenty-second day of the tenth month in the second year of the Jiading era, a Daoist came to pay his respects, showing Qingxian great reverence. After the Daoist left, Qingxian told his disciples, “He and I share a profound bond.” Seven days later, at dawn, Qingxian rose and sat quietly, then passed away. In the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era under the Yuan, he was posthumously granted the title “Perfected Lord of Faithful and Unfailing Truth, Wondrous Radiance, and Transformation.”

Zhang Keda was the thirty-fifth Celestial Master. His personal name was Keda, and his courtesy name was Zixian. He was the grandson of Boshan, younger brother of Zhang Shouzhen, the thirty-second Celestial Master.

At first, after Jingyuan died, Boli often took charge of religious affairs on his behalf. When Qingxian died, his legitimate son Chengda was still young, so Zhang Keda’s grandfather Tianlin took over the management of religious affairs. Emperor Ningzong of the Song summoned Tianlin and bestowed on him the title “Master of Benevolence and Stillness.” Before long, Chengda died young, and Zhang Keda was chosen to succeed Qingxian. In 1230, Master of Benevolence and Stillness died. Zhang Keda was only twelve years old when he succeeded him as the thirty-fifth Celestial Master.

At the time, floodwaters rose in Poyang Lake and destroyed the people’s homes. Yuan Fu, an investigating censor, asked Zhang Keda to find a way to control the waters. Zhang cast a talisman into the river. Thunder shook the air, driving a great white snake to its death, and the floodwaters immediately receded. Yuan Fu wrote him a poem in gratitude. During the Duanping era, the court summoned Zhang Keda to the palace several times and bestowed scriptures and gifts on him.

In 1239, the tide of the Qiantang River surged over Genshan Gate, flooding all the people’s homes. The court issued an edict ordering Zhang Keda to deal with it. He cast an iron talisman into a pool, and the tide receded. Later, drought and locusts struck. The court ordered him to perform a Zhaijiao rite at the Taiyi Palace to pray for relief from calamity and blessings from the spirits. Rain then fell, and the locusts were wiped out.

In the seventh month, the emperor summoned Zhang Keda, bestowed on him the title “Master Who Observes the Wondrous,” and appointed him to oversee the Fulu of the Three Mountains—that is, to administer Daoist talisman affairs at Longhu, Gezao, and Maoshan—as well as the religious affairs of the imperial temples and monasteries. He was also placed in charge of Longxiang Palace. He rebuilt Zhenyi Abbey and received several qing of land, exempt from rent and taxes. The emperor personally inscribed plaques reading “Hall of the True Wind,” “Pavilion of Purple Tenuity,” and “Zhenyi Abbey.” He also issued an edict conferring titles on the founding masters, the two marshals Guan and Shi, and the spirits of Longjing and other places.

Emperor Shizu of the Yuan sent an envoy to ask Zhang Keda about Daoist methods. Zhang imparted a spiritual teaching to him and spoke of an earlier occasion when a secret envoy sent by a former Song emperor had come seeking instruction. In April 1263, Zhang Keda handed his seals and sword to his second son, Zhang Zongyan. After submitting a memorial to decline his duties, he died. Chancellor Jiang Wanli composed his commemorative inscription, and the sword was placed at Ruiqing Abbey.

An edict from Emperor Shizu of the Yuan declared: “The Dao is the constant principle of Heaven and Earth, and its subtle workings can take part in creation and transformation. Titles are a form of praise recognized throughout past and present, so we hereby honor him especially. Zhang Keda, the thirty-fifth hereditary Celestial Master of the Han, Master Who Observes the Wondrous, received and bore the Three Profound Fulu. His reputation spread far and wide; through long accumulation of merit, he grasped the hidden and subtle principles. His deeds in praying for rain and turning back the tide were only a part of his achievements.

“Before the late emperor ascended the throne, he once sent a secret envoy to Longhu Mountain. There he learned that the Mandate of Heaven had found its rightful bearer. The spiritual teaching was then quietly imparted, along with a prophecy that a wise and enlightened ruler would unify the realm. Twenty years later, the prediction came true. Zhang Keda understood the ways of the spirits and foresaw the future; he also brought distant people to submit and those nearby to rejoice, fulfilling what had been said then. Now, as we reflect on his journey through the immortal realms, he deserves a special favor. His hereditary successor, Zhang Zongyan, can carry on the tradition of the lineage, while the patriarch Liusun oversees the Profound Teachings.” The edict further bestowed on Zhang Keda the title “True Lord of Penetrating Mystery, Responsive Transformation, and Observing the Wondrous.”

The thirty-sixth Celestial Master, named Zongyan, had the courtesy name Shichuan and the sobriquet Jianqi. He was quiet by nature, clever and quick-witted from a young age, and inherited the Celestial Master lineage at nineteen.

During the Xianchun era of the Song dynasty, a severe drought struck Shangrao in Xinzhou. The local official, Tang Zhen, asked him to pray for rain. He performed the rain-prayer ritual at the appointed time, and rain duly came. After Kublai Khan, Emperor Shizu of the Yuan, had pacified the Southern Song, he sent an envoy to invite the Celestial Master to court with courtesy. He ordered ministers to welcome him outside the city and received him as an honored guest. When the Celestial Master entered the palace for an audience, the emperor asked for his counsel twice. In June of that year, he performed a Zhaijiao ritual in the palace—a Daoist rite seeking blessings from the gods and averting calamity. The following year, he held another Zhaijiao at Changchun Palace. He was granted the title “Perfected One Who Expounds the Dao, Responds to the Numinous, and Is Harmonious and Mysterious,” a silver seal of the second rank, and authority over Daoist affairs in Jiangnan.

He was permitted to issue ordination certificates on his own, allowing people to receive ordination as Daoist priests. Daoist registration offices were established in each circuit, Daoist supervisory offices in each prefecture, and ritual offices in each county, all under his authority. The court decreed that Daoist temples in Jiangnan be exempt from taxes and labor service. It also established the Chongzhen Wanshou Palace in the capital and appointed his disciple Zhang Liusun to oversee it. The emperor summoned him to court twice more, each time receiving him with greater honor.

One day, a Daoist came to pay him a visit and spoke to him of the “White Rabbit appointment.” In the eleventh month of the Xinyou year of the Zhiyuan era, on the eleventh day, someone presented him with a white rabbit. He said to his disciples, “I once agreed to be born tomorrow; now I will also depart tomorrow.” He then wrote a verse and passed away peacefully. He was buried at Xietianyuan. Later, he was posthumously honored as the “True Lord Who Expounds the Dao, Responds to the Numinous, and Is Harmonious, Mysterious, and Serene.”

Emperor Shizu of the Yuan issued an edict declaring: “Let Zhang, the Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain, be informed: your ancestor Daoling devoted himself to cultivating the Dao and obtained the orthodox transmission of the registers and talismans, whose efficacy has been clearly demonstrated and whose teachings have been passed down to the present day. His descendants have inherited the lineage generation after generation for dozens of generations, over more than two thousand years.”

I have often heard of your reputation. Because the southern and northern states were cut off from one another, I have long been unable to invite you here. Recently, the ruler of the Song court failed to reckon with his own virtue and strength, and detained our envoys, refusing for a long time to release them. I therefore ordered the Left Chancellor of the Secretariat, Bo Wan, to lead troops on a southern campaign. Thanks to Heaven’s favor, the Yangtze now belongs to me, and north and south will soon become one. I now dispatch the General of Martial Strategy and Vice Minister of War Wang Shiying, and the General of Martial Strategy and Vice Minister of Punishments Xiao Yu, bearing an edict to summon you. Do not let the change of ruler give rise to doubts. Since the Eastern Han, your ancestors have served through fifteen dynasties, always holding to impartiality and never obstinately siding with one faction. Heaven has no favorites, and the Mandate of Heaven is never fixed forever. You are a man who understands reason—how could you be confused about this? You should promptly prepare your carriage and come, without making too many excuses. This edict is hereby issued; you should take heed. By imperial command.

Emperor Shizu of the Yuan dynasty issued an edict: Zhang Zongyan, Thirty-Sixth Celestial Master (Tianshi), you hold the lineage of the teachings in your heart and are pure in nature. You promote Daoist liturgies such as the Yellow Court and Great Cavern scriptures, and uphold the Zhengyi Alliance and Awe registers, the talismanic registers transmitted in the Zhengyi tradition. You maintain composure and purity, and are faithful and steadfast. With a three-foot green serpent—the Daoist ritual sword—you command ghosts and spirits in the netherworld; with Bright Water, the purified water used in Daoist rites, you cleanse calamities far and near. You have already widely bestowed your efforts to save the world and deserve praise and honor. I hereby confer upon you the title “Perfected One Who Expounds the Way, Responds to the Sacred, and Is Harmonious in Transcendence.”

Emperor Chengzong of the Yuan dynasty issued an edict: When summoned in the Han dynasty, Lord Gai did not decline an invitation from across the sea; the Sima clan in the Tang dynasty, too, once answered a summons and went to Tiantai to accept an appointment. Looking back at accomplished people of antiquity, most made their homes among famous mountains. Yet whether one enters public service or withdraws should depend on the times, and one’s conduct is best when it is measured and fitting. The current Thirty-Sixth Celestial Master (Tianshi), the Perfected One Who Expounds the Way, Responds to the Sacred, and Is Harmonious in Transcendence, oversees Daoist affairs throughout the various circuits of Jiangnan.

Zhang Zongyan continued the lineage of the immortals and spirits, and studied deeply the methods of stillness and meditative cultivation. When Kublai Khan led his army to Ezhou (in the area of present-day Wuchang, Hubei), he admired the wondrous Daoist teachings Zhang had transmitted. The emperor, Shizu of the Yuan dynasty, issued edicts adorned with sacred fungus patterns, cloud script (Daoist talismanic writing), and phoenix script, and had them promulgated throughout Jiangnan. He also bestowed robes of gold and jade crowns on Zhang three times, and welcomed him with an imperial carriage decorated with cranes. These honors further enhanced the prestige of the Celestial Master lineage and brought greater luster to Daoism.

In remembrance of Zhang’s deeds after his passing, he should receive consolation and praise. His title was therefore elevated, and the posthumous title Jiehui was bestowed upon him. Alas, Perfected Lord Jingyang once subdued a flood dragon through his magical arts, leaving his good name to worthy descendants; in the place where he lived, plagues and disasters did not spread. Now this grace should be extended to the people, and Zhang Zongyan should be posthumously titled “Perfected Lord of Expansive Dao, Numinous Efficacy, Balanced Harmony, and Mysterious Stillness.”

The thirty-seventh Celestial Master was named Yudi, styled Guohua, and known as Master Xiweizi. He was quiet and reserved, and well versed in Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. When he wrote poetry and prose, he could fill thousands of characters with ease. At the age of twenty, he accompanied his father to court…

The thirty-seventh Celestial Master (Tianshi), Zhang Yudi, had the courtesy name Guohua and the religious name Xiweizi. Quiet and reserved, he had a deep command of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. When he composed poetry or prose, he could write several thousand characters in a short time. As a young adult, he accompanied his father to court. His manner was gentle and dignified, and his replies were quick and perceptive. The emperor praised him several times as an exceptional person.

In the xīnmǎo year of the Zhiyuan era (1291), Zhang Yudi inherited the position of Celestial Master. When summoned to court, he was given a seat and received warm commendation and encouragement. The emperor bestowed on him the title “Perfected One Who Embodies the Mysterious, Broadens the Dao, and Spreads Its Teaching,” and appointed him to oversee Daoist affairs throughout the circuits of Jiangnan. After Emperor Chengzong took the throne, he summoned Zhang again and ordered him to perform a Zhaijiao (purification ritual) at the Round Hall and Changchun Palace. He also ordered that this liturgy be observed throughout the realm and renamed the Tianqing Temples in all the circuits of the empire the Xuanmiao Temples.

One day, Zhang suddenly said to his disciples, “I have always been indifferent to worldly life. I have now been in the capital for a long time, against my wishes.” He asked earnestly to return to the mountains, but permission was not granted. A month later, he died at Chongzhen Palace. The court sent officials to escort his coffin back to the mountains and ordered court ministers to hold a funeral offering at the capital gates for his journey home to be laid to rest. He was later buried at Yutian.

Emperor Shizu of the Yuan once issued an edict permitting Zhang Yudi to inherit his father’s title, “Perfected One Who Expounds the Dao, Responds to the Numinous, and Embodies Harmony,” so that he could continue the lineage and promote Daoism. Another edict praised Zhang’s family as rooted in an established tradition and his teaching as suited to the times. It bestowed on him the title “Perfected One Who Embodies the Mysterious, Broadens the Dao, and Spreads Its Teaching,” and appointed him to oversee Daoist affairs throughout the circuits of Jiangnan.

An edict from Emperor Wuzong of the Yuan stated that Zhang Yudi had inherited his ancestors’ tradition of the mysterious gate and followed their example. The court’s favor and commendation, it said, also accorded with the wishes of the time. The edict further recorded that Feng Shuzhen was invested with the title “Immortal Lady of Serene Clarity and Pure Simplicity.” Born into a distinguished family, she was graceful in appearance and steadfast and tranquil in character, and was therefore granted this honorific title.

The thirty-eighth Celestial Master, whose personal name was Yucai and whose courtesy name was Guoliang, was known as Master Guangweizi. He was Zongyan’s second son. Naturally kind and generous, he could compose poetry and prose with great speed, and his calligraphy was exceptionally accomplished. In the thirty-first year of the Zhiyuan era, he inherited the position of Celestial Master and took charge of Daoist affairs. The emperor sent an envoy to present him with ceremonial robes and a jade pendant, charged him with overseeing religious affairs, and later summoned him to court.

The following year, the reign era was changed to Yuanzhen. Yucai entered the palace and paid his respects to the emperor in the Daming Hall. A year later, the court bestowed on him the title “Perfected Person of Great Simplicity, Spirit-Congealing, and Broad Dao,” and ordered him to oversee Daoist affairs as well. His mother was posthumously honored as “Immortal Lady of Mysterious Truth and Wondrous Response.” He was permitted to issue ordination certificates and ordain Daoist priests on his own authority. Monasteries and temples were exempted from corvée labor and levies for the protection of the Dao, as well as from the labor of transporting supplies over long distances.

In the second year of the Dade era, officials in the coastal county of Haiyan reported that a sudden rise in the tide had flooded land a hundred li inland. The sandy shore had been scoured away, and the water was nearly at the city walls. The court issued an edict ordering Yucai to go there and pray for the calamity to be dispelled. After arriving in Hangzhou, he conducted a Zhaijiao purification ritual at the Youcheng Temple and cast an iron talisman into the place where the riverbank had collapsed. The talisman leapt out of the water three times. Then, in broad daylight, thunder and lightning broke out as the sky darkened. A dead water monster appeared by the shore, with a fishlike head and a tortoise-like body, more than a zhang long. Afterward, the embankment returned to its former condition.

In the fifth year of Dade, Yucai was summoned to the capital again. The chancellor, Talahun, asked him to pray for rain. The Celestial Master said, “If sincerity can reach Heaven, Heaven will surely respond.” The next day, rain fell as predicted. The emperor then asked whether the people might suffer because the winter was warm and snowless, and ordered Yucai to establish an altar and pray. That night, snow fell to a depth of one chi.

In the sixth year of Dade, Yucai took leave to return home. The emperor held a farewell banquet for him in the Willow Grove and also ordered him to accompany the court in offering sacrifices. He was accorded great honors and given incense to use in prayers at famous mountains, temples, and monasteries along the way. After returning to the Shangqing Zhengyi Palace, he conducted a Zhaijiao ritual. The court presented him with a silver seal, accorded him the honors of a first-rank official, and granted him the titles Grand Master of the Golden and Purple Radiance, Duke of Liuguo, and Head of the Zhengyi school, with oversight of the talismans and registers of the Three Mountains. His second-generation hereditary preceptor and third-generation lineage preceptor were also posthumously honored as Perfected Lords. His mother, Lady Zhou, was given the title “Primordial Lady of Mysterious Truth, Wondrous Response, Profound Virtue, and Compassionate Aid.”

At the time, the Empress Dowager resided at Xingsheng Palace and Emperor Renzong at the Eastern Palace; both treated Yucai with exceptional favor. That summer, there was heavy rain. Hesan, the minister overseeing the capital, sent Wang Yue, Minister of Rites, to ask Yucai to pray for relief.

Three days later, the weather cleared. After Emperor Renzong ascended the throne, Celestial Master Zhang was summoned to court again and received at Jiaxi Hall. Renzong issued an edict to Qu Churuo, Grand Guardian of the Heir, saying, “I approve of the Celestial Master’s Dao. No one can compare with the lineage of Celestial Master Zhang.” He also bestowed on Zhang a jeweled crown and golden robes.

In the fourth month of the second year of Renzong’s reign, the emperor sent an envoy to Mount Longhu with this message: “There was no snow last winter, and now the rain is late again, leaving the fields impossible to sow. I cannot bear to see the people suffer as a result. Please pray at the Shangqing Palace.” After the prayers, their efficacy was seen in a timely way throughout the surrounding regions.

Every year, many people came to receive Fulu (talismans and registers, credentials granting Daoist rank). Others sought help because of floods, droughts, strange calamities, or epidemics. There were scarcely any days without visitors, and Celestial Master Zhang found ways to aid them all. He also donated grain to establish a charity granary for the poor. Skilled people of every kind gathered at his gate each day, and each was given work suited to their wishes.

In the autumn of the second year of the Yuanyou era of the Yuan dynasty, he and his disciples traveled throughout the mountain caves. Sometimes he composed poems; at other times he depicted the scenery. His works all carried a sense of admonition that others could not decipher. On New Year’s Eve, he inscribed a eulogy on his own portrait, including the line “The east wind blows snow.” One day in the first month of the following year, he spontaneously composed a parting verse and then died. He instructed that he be buried at Wuyang in Jinxian County and that a shrine be built there, called the Xuandu Monastery.

In the second year of the Yuanzhen era, Emperor Chengzong of the Yuan issued an edict: “Zhang Yucai, the thirty-eighth-generation Celestial Master, you have appeared as an auspicious sign, like a rainbow and a numinous fungus. You are noble in character and outstanding in ability; your learning probes the mysteries of all things, and you propagate the orthodox teaching of the Three Origins—the Daoist Three Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water. Your grandfather and father have both received illustrious titles, and you are their equal in distinction, sustaining the spread of Daoism’s pure and upright tradition. We bestow this favor upon you to express Our regard. We hope you will make the cultivation of the Dao your life’s work and carry on the lineage of the sacred mountain. By revering De, pray for Heaven’s protection and the enduring peace of the state. We are now honoring the liturgies of Daoist temples and monasteries. We grant you the title ‘Perfected One of Great Dao, with Spirit Gathered in Great Purity’ and appoint you to oversee Daoist affairs across the circuits of Jiangnan.”

In the eighth year of the Dade era of the Yuan dynasty, Chengzong issued another edict, reaffirming the title “Perfected One of Great Dao, with Spirit Gathered in Great Purity” for Zhang Yucai and appointing him to oversee Daoist affairs across the circuits of Jiangnan.

In the eighth year of the Dade era of the Yuan dynasty (1304), Emperor Chengzong issued an edict declaring: “Since ancient times, there have been people able to rid the state of calamities. The founding patriarch of the Zhengyi tradition once subdued a demon in a well in Shu, and Master Guan Miao once relieved Hangzhou of the disasters caused by the Xutao—the flooding tides of the Qiantang River. During the three years you have held the ritual seal, the sea has eroded the coastlines of two prefectures. Using ritual objects such as iron talismans and cinnabar inscriptions, along with ritual implements shaped like a fish’s head and a tortoise, and talismans and registers, you reinforced the embankments and spared the people from flooding. The Jiang-Zhe Branch Secretariat previously reported this matter to the court. Having accepted the advice of the patriarch of the Xuanjiao tradition, We find that your sincere devotion has moved the spirits and that you should be advanced in the celestial ranks. You uphold purity and stillness and practice Wuwei (non-action), and therefore deserve honor. We hereby grant you the title ‘Zhengyi Religious Leader’ and appoint you concurrently to oversee the talismans and registers of the Three Mountains; all other matters shall remain as before.”

In the first year of the Zhida era of the Yuan dynasty (1308), Emperor Chengzong issued another edict: “Punishing evil and supporting the right greatly benefits the moral instruction of the world; honoring virtue and rewarding merit are institutions a state must uphold. The founding sage has always revered the Great Dao, and the late emperor repeatedly paid respect to the exemplary conduct of perfected beings. Now that We have just inherited the throne, how could We put off the granting of honors? Zhang Yucai, as Zhengyi Religious Leader and the thirty-eighth-generation successor of the Han dynasty Celestial Masters, bears the title Perfected Being of Great Simplicity, Spiritually Focused and Broadly Aligned with the Dao. He oversees Daoist affairs throughout the circuits of Jiangnan and holds authority over the talismans and registers of the Three Mountains. His character is upright and his reputation distinguished; his learning is broad and his understanding of principle profound. His mind is expansive, he excels at bringing things together, and he adapts his conduct while remaining true to reason. In governing the people and carrying out rites to pray for blessings and avert calamities, he often achieves results. When submitting memorials to the spirits to make petitions, he gives precedence to sincerity and rigor. Prayers for blessings are often answered swiftly; his precepts and ritual forms embody humility and reverence, while his conduct is dignified and free of ostentation. How could achievements such as these be adequately honored with an official seal and sash? We therefore issue this edict to bestow fitting recognition.”

The “ritual seal,” “iron talismans and cinnabar inscriptions,” and “talismans and registers of the Three Mountains” mentioned in the text were credentials or talismans used in Daoist rites. “Submitting a memorial” refers to a ritual in which Daoist priests present petitions and prayers to the spirits.

After the rites for praying for blessings had been completed, the assembly proceeded according to the remaining ritual precepts and respectfully invited the pure, serene, and dignified deities. During the solemn ceremonies, the traces of the deities were difficult to perceive; human effort alone, even when accompanied by official robes and seals, could not compel them to serve. An imperial edict was therefore specially issued to govern and bestow honors. In accordance with ritual precedent, conferring the title Duke of Liu was sufficient. This was intended to augment the fine traditions of the Han imperial house, receive Heaven’s protection and approval, and ensure that the Yuan dynasty’s blessings would endure. Zhang Yucai should bring peace to the people, accept the imperial favor, and thereby honor his ancestors. He is additionally granted the title Orthodox Unity Religious Leader, Thirty-Eighth Celestial Master (Tianshi) in the Han lineage, Great Perfected One of Great Simplicity, Spirit-Concentrating, Broadly Following the Dao, and Illuminating Virtue; he is also appointed to oversee Daoist affairs throughout the circuits south of the Yangtze. He is awarded the rank of Grand Master for Glorious Happiness with the Golden and Purple Insignia, and enfeoffed as Duke of Liu. All other privileges remain as before.

In the second year of Yuanzhen, Emperor Chengzong issued an edict: “The workings of the Great Dao must be made manifest through people. When the roots of virtue run deep, and a gentleman’s learning has come to fruition, his virtue will grow more abundant. In Fujian there is Zhang Yucai, the Great Perfected One of Great Simplicity, Spirit-Concentrating, and Broadly Following the Dao, and the Thirty-Eighth Celestial Master in the Han lineage. His mother, Lady Zhou, is generous and respectful in virtue, serene in disposition, and upright in conduct. Her family has inherited its lineage through generations, repeatedly recorded among the ranks of the immortals, like a tree of pearls and jade whose branches join one another and whose fragrance passes from one generation to the next. Brothers carrying on their ancestors’ legacy is a matter still worthy of praise today, and was rare in the past. We therefore bestow this special and generous favor to comfort her sincere devotion to filial duty, and to enable later generations to further enhance the prestige of the Orthodox Unity tradition, so that people near and far may continue their morning and evening incense offerings for years to come.” She is granted the title Immortal Lady of Mysterious Truth and Wondrous Response.

In the first year of Zhida, Emperor Wuzong issued an edict: “We consider that the Daoist Classic, the Daode Jing, also takes filial devotion and compassion as its foundation. The Queen Mother of the West holds a place among the immortals, and her immortal register is sufficient to make her a source of benevolence and longevity. Now, in order to honor parents by fostering good customs and educating the people, We especially elevate her status and bestow Our favor. Lady Zhou, the Immortal Lady of Mysterious Truth and Wondrous Response, is the mother of Zhang Yucai, Orthodox Unity Religious Leader, Thirty-Eighth Celestial Master in the Han lineage, and Great Perfected One of Great Simplicity, Spirit-Concentrating, and Broadly Following the Dao. She is dignified and chaste, gentle in temperament, and virtuous enough to match a distinguished family; she has also fulfilled the precepts of teaching her children well. Her descendants have received blessings and celebration, and the Daoist lineage has flourished all the more. An imperial edict written in five-colored script should therefore be issued, expressing gratitude for a mother’s kindness, as deep as the warmth of the spring sun.”

How many times have the waters of Penglai changed from deep to shallow? When the lotus flowers in the Pool of the Queen Mother of the West were in bloom, he dwelt on Mount Gugong. He could protect all things in the world from pestilence, bring the crops to a good harvest, and help spread the teachings of the Orthodox Way. May he enjoy a long and enduring life. He was granted an edict adorned with five floral patterns, repaying his kindness as a blade of grass repays the spring sun.

How many times have the waters of Penglai changed from deep to shallow? When the lotus flowers in the Pool of the Queen Mother of the West were in bloom, he dwelt on Mount Gugong. He could protect all things in the world from pestilence, bring the crops to a good harvest, and help spread the teachings of the Orthodox Way. May he enjoy a long and enduring life, and may he be granted the title “Profound Truth, Wondrous Response, Abyssal …” .