Liu Hunkang刘混康

Style & Daoist names

Zhitong, Master Dongyuan Tongmiao, Master Baozhen Guanmiao Chonghe

Period

Northern Song

Dates

1035 — 1108

School

Shangqing (Highest Clarity) School

Role

Shangqing Patriarch

Birthplace

Jinling (present-day Changzhou, Jiangsu)

Places of activity

Mount Mao (Maoshan)

Life

Liu Hunkang, styled Zhitong, was the twenty-fifth-generation patriarch of the Shangqing school of Mount Mao in the Northern Song. He entered the Daoist order in his youth, receiving the Shangqing Great Cavern scriptures and registers from Mao Fengrou of Mount Mao, and dwelt on Jijin Mountain (Jijin Peak, Mount Mao). During the Shaosheng era of Emperor Zhezong (1094–1098) he cured an illness of Empress Meng (some say the Empress Dowager) with talisman water, and was granted the title "Master of Penetrating Marvels through the Cavern of Origin"; the Yuanfu Temple (later renamed the Yuanfu Wanning Palace) was built for him by imperial order on Mount Mao, and he was granted an imperial autograph as well as the jade seal, jade tablet and Hazhou inkstone of the "Lord of the Nine Elders' Immortal Capital," from which come the "Four Treasures of Mount Mao." After Emperor Huizong's accession he was given the additional title "Master Who Preserves the Perfected, Contemplates the Marvelous, and Harmonizes with the Profound," and was repeatedly summoned to the capital, where he dwelt at the Shangqing Chuxiang Palace; he was one of the most favored priests during the early period of Huizong's devotion to Daoism, and his memorials and admonitions influenced Huizong's early Daoist policy. He died in the second year of the Daguan era (1108) and was granted the posthumous title Grand Master of Remonstrance. During Liu Hunkang's time, the Shangqing altar of Mount Mao reached its height of standing at court in the Song, ranked alongside Mount Longhu and Mount Gezao as the "Three Mountains of Registers."

Contributions & Influence

• Received the favor of Emperors Zhezong and Huizong as patriarch of Mount Mao, leading to the construction of the Yuanfu Palace there
• Patriarch of the Shangqing school of Mount Mao at its height in the Northern Song, establishing the configuration of the Three Mountains of Registers

Legends

Legend holds that he cured, with talisman water, an empress who had accidentally swallowed a needle, and that Emperor Huizong dreamed of him transforming into a crane at the moment of his death.