Hou Baoyuan侯宝垣

Style & Daoist names

Daoist Master Hou Baoyuan, Daoist name Baoyuan

Period

Republican Era–Present

Dates

1914 — 1999

School

Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoism, Longmen (Dragon Gate) Lineage of Quanzhen

Role

Founder of Ching Chung KoonPresident of the Hong Kong Taoist Association

Birthplace

Nanhai (present-day Nanhai, Foshan, Guangdong)

Places of activity

Ching Chung Koon

Life

Hou Baoyuan, a native of Nanhai, Guangdong, was a Daoist priest of the Longmen lineage of Quanzhen and the founder of Ching Chung Koon in Hong Kong. He entered the priesthood at the Zhibao Tai in Guangzhou in the 1940s, moved to Hong Kong after 1949, and in 1950 co-founded the Ching Chung Sin Kwoon (today's Ching Chung Koon) with fellow Daoists, venerating Patriarch Lü; in 1960 the temple relocated to Tuen Mun, gradually developing into one of Hong Kong's largest Daoist organizations, also running an old people's home, schools, clinics and other social services. Together with Tang Kwok-wah, Luo Zhiguang and others, he took part in founding the Hong Kong Taoist Association in 1961 and served as its chairman (president) for many years, promoting unity among Hong Kong's Daoist organizations and exchange with the Daoist community on the mainland; from the 1980s he funded the restoration of numerous temples on the mainland, and established branch temples of Ching Chung Koon in Australia, Canada and elsewhere, spreading Quanzhen Daoism overseas. He died in Hong Kong in 1999.

Contributions & Influence

• Founded Ching Chung Koon in Hong Kong, developing Daoist social services
• Chaired the Hong Kong Taoist Association for many years
• Funded the restoration of mainland temples and established Daoist temples overseas