Liu Deren刘德仁

Style & Daoist names

sobriquet Wuyouzi, Perfected of the Eastern Peak (title bestowed by the Jin), Wuyou Puji Kaiwei Dongming Zhenjun (title conferred by the Yuan)

Period

Jin

Dates

1122 — 1180

School

Zhen Dadao (True Great Way)

Role

FounderPatriarch of Zhen Dadao (True Great Way)

Birthplace

Cangzhou Leling (present-day Leling, Shandong)

Life

Liu Deren, a native of Le Ling in Cangzhou, was the founder of Zhen Dadao (originally named Dadao jiao, "the Teaching of the Great Way") in the Jin dynasty. According to tradition, in the second year of the Huangtong era (1142) he encountered a white-bearded old man (later held to have been a manifestation of Laozi), who transmitted to him the essential meaning of the Daodejing, and he thereupon founded the teaching, laying down nine precepts as its rules, including "regard things as oneself, and give rise to no thought of harming or injuring others," "be loyal to the ruler, filial to one's parents, and sincere toward others," and "eat by one's own labor in the fields, and beg from no one." He advocated self-sufficiency, did not practice talismans, registers or the cultivation of elixirs, and did not speak of ascension or transformation, treating the summoning of spirits, exorcism of ghosts, and rites of prayer and expiation as secondary matters; he emphasized ethics and diligent labor, making his the branch of the New Daoism of the Jin and Yuan that placed the greatest weight on practical ethics. In the seventh year of the Dading era of Emperor Shizong of Jin (1167), he was summoned to Yanjing and granted the title "Perfected of the Eastern Marchmount." Liu Deren died in 1180; his teaching spread in Hebei and Shandong, split into northern and southern branches in the Yuan, and gradually declined by the middle Yuan.

Contributions & Influence

• Founded Zhen Dadao and established nine precepts rooted in ethics and diligent labor
• Pioneered a new Daoist path that de-emphasized talismans and elixir cultivation in favor of the practice of human ethics
• Received the favor of Emperor Shizong of Jin, gaining official recognition for Zhen Dadao

Legends

The account of "encountering an old man who transmitted the Dao" is found in Yuan-dynasty stele inscriptions, and is legendary material.