Genealogy of the Han Celestial Masters汉天师世家
- Also known as
- Genealogy of the Han Celestial Masters
- Author / transmission
- Zhang Zhengchang, Zhang Yuchu
- Period
- Ming · Compiled by the forty-second-generation Celestial Master Zhang Zhengchang (1335–1378) of the Ming, collated and prefaced by the forty-third-generation Celestial Master Zhang Yuchu (during the Hongwu and Yongle reigns); in four fascicles, recording the lineage from the first generation, Zhang Daoling, to the forty-ninth-generation Celestial Master.
- Canon division
- Dongshen Section, Genealogies and Records category
- Collected in
- Zhengtong Daozang, Dongshen Section, Pulu category.
- Category
- Immortal Biographies
- Fascicles
- Four fascicles
Synopsis
The Genealogy of the Han Celestial Masters is the official lineage record of the Zhengyi Celestial Masters of Mount Longhu. Beginning with the first-generation Celestial Master Zhang Daoling, it records, generation by generation, each master's name, courtesy name, dates of birth and death, the month and year of succession to the office, imperial titles conferred, and principal deeds, down to the Ming dynasty. The work is the textual expression of the Zhengyi order's institution of 'hereditary succession to the teaching': unlike the Quanzhen order, which transmits from master to disciple, the Zhengyi Celestial Masters followed hereditary blood succession, so the completeness of the genealogy and its official recognition were of the utmost importance; the text copies out a great many imperial edicts and conferrals of title across the dynasties, effectively serving as an archival compilation establishing the legitimacy of ecclesiastical authority. As a historical source, the records of the earliest generations of Celestial Masters are largely legendary, but from the Song and Yuan onward they can be corroborated against official histories, local gazetteers and stele inscriptions, making the work a core document for studying the relationship between the Mount Longhu order and the state. The Daoist Canon edition runs to the forty-ninth generation; later editions continued to add to it (a Qing-dynasty printed edition already recorded more than sixty generations), and the present-day Celestial Master's Mansion at Mount Longhu still bases its lineage of succession on this genealogy.
Key Ideas
- The hereditary genealogy of the Celestial Masters of Mount Longhu
- Copies out imperial edicts and conferrals of title across the dynasties
- The textualization of the Zhengyi order's institution of hereditary blood succession
- Early legend coexisting with historical fact from the Song and Yuan onward
- An archival compilation establishing the legitimacy of ecclesiastical authority
Structure
Four fascicles, each generation given a biography, with imperial edicts and proclamations appended.
Editions
- Zhengtong Daozang edition
- Qing-dynasty continuation and reprinting
- Zhonghua Daozang edition
Full Text & Online Resources
Related scriptures
Gazetteer of Mount Longhu, Scripture of the Dignified Observances of Orthodox UnityRelated figures
Zhang Daoling, Zhang Heng (Second Celestial Master), Zhang Lu, Zhang Jixian, Zhang Zhengchang, Zhang Yuchu, Zhang Guoxiang- 任继愈主编《道藏提要》
- Schipper & Verellen, The Taoist Canon, 2004
- 《明史·方伎传》
- 维基百科「张天师」条