Ning Quanzhen宁全真

Style & Daoist names

given name Benli, styled Daoli, self-styled Quanzhen and Tongmiao, granted the title 'Eminent Scholar Dongwei'

Period

Southern Song

Dates

1101 — 1181

School

Lingbao (Numinous Treasure) School, Donghua (Eastern Florescence) School

Role

Ritual MasterPatriarch of the Donghua School

Birthplace

Kaifeng

Places of activity

Mount Tiantai

Life

Ning Quanzhen, personal name Benli, courtesy name Daoli, a native of Kaifeng, Henan, was the actual founder of the Southern Song Lingbao Donghua School. As a youth he fled the wars of the north to the south, settling at Shaoxing, and studied under Tian Lingxu (Tian Sizhen), a disciple of Wang Gu, thereby inheriting the "Donghua Lingbao" line; he later also received the secret transmission of Wang Gu at Yuanfu Palace. Ning Quanzhen was expert in Lingbao retreat and offering rites, excelling especially in the Yellow Register Retreat, and had many disciples. His teachings were later organized by his disciples Wang Qizhen and Lin Lingzhen into the two great systems of the Great Rites of Shangqing Lingbao and the Golden Book of Salvation according to the Lingbao Tradition. During the Chunxi era he was summoned to Lin'an and given the title "Lofty Scholar of Cavernous Subtlety." The Donghua School honors him as the "Highest Minister of Donghua," and along with Tianxin Zhengfa, Qingwei and Shenxiao is counted among the new Daoist ritual traditions of the Southern Song. He combined internal-alchemical cultivation with Lingbao ritual, holding that "the essence of retreat ritual lies in the practitioner's inner refinement," and was a key figure in the inward turn of Lingbao retreat ritual.

Contributions & Influence

• Founded the Lingbao Donghua School, reorganizing Southern Song Lingbao retreat ritual
• Integrated internal-alchemical practice into retreat and offering ritual
• Trained Wang Qizhen, Lin Lingzhen and others, giving rise to the systems of the Great Rites of Shangqing Lingbao and the Golden Book of Salvation

Works

• Great Rites of Shangqing Lingbao (compiled by Wang Qizhen, expounding the teaching of Master Ning)
• Golden Book of Salvation according to the Lingbao Tradition (attributed to the teaching of Ning Quanzhen, compiled by Lin Lingzhen)