Liu Yu刘玉

Style & Daoist names

courtesy name Yizhen, sobriquet Yuzhenzi

Period

Late Southern Song–early Yuan

Dates

1257 — 1308

School

Jingming (Pure and Bright) Daoism

Role

Founder of Jingming DaoismDaoist Reformer

Birthplace

Nanchang (present-day Nanchang, Jiangxi)

Places of activity

Wanshou Palace of Xishan (Yulong Wanshou Palace), Wanshou Palace of Xishan (Yulong Wanshou Palace)

Life

Liu Yu, courtesy name Yizhen, a native of Nanchang, Jiangxi, was the actual founder of Jingming Daoism in the Yuan dynasty. In his youth he studied the Confucian classics, then entered the Daoist priesthood at the Yulong Wanshou Palace on Mount Xi, claiming repeated revelations from Xu Xun and Hu Huichao, from whom he received the "Great Rites of Jingming Loyalty and Filiality." Around the twentieth year of Zhiyuan (1283) he began to teach, reorganizing the "Jingming Loyalty and Filiality" teaching descended from He Zhengong of the Southern Song, simplifying its complexities, and taking "loyalty, filiality, integrity and prudence, an upright heart and sincere intentions" as the guiding principles of his teaching, holding that "Jingming is nothing but an upright heart and sincere intentions, and loyalty and filiality are nothing but the upholding of the cardinal bonds," thereby unifying Confucian ethics with Daoist cultivation and forming a new Daoist school with a distinctly literati character. His disciple Huang Yuanji compiled his sayings and deeds into the Complete Book of Jingming Loyalty and Filiality. Liu Yu's teaching had considerable influence among the literati of Jiangxi in the Yuan dynasty, and was ranked alongside Quanzhen and Zhengyi.

Contributions & Influence

• Reestablished Jingming Daoism, formulating the doctrine of "Jingming Loyalty and Filiality"
• Transformed Daoist cultivation through Confucian ethics, fusing the Three Teachings
• Trained Huang Yuanji, Xu Hui and others, giving Jingming Daoism an orderly transmission

Works

• Complete Book of Pure Brightness, Loyalty and Filial Piety (compiled by disciples)
• Recorded Sayings of Master Yuzhen (included in the Complete Book)

Legends

He claimed to have received repeated revelations from Xu Xun and Hu Huichao — this belongs to the legendary lore of Jingming Daoism.