Qi Zhicheng祁志诚

Style & Daoist names

courtesy name Xinfu, sobriquet Dongmingzi, Perfected Dongming

Period

Yuan

Dates

1219 — 1293

School

Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoism

Role

Quanzhen Head of the Order

Birthplace

Yunzhong (present-day Datong, Shanxi)

Places of activity

White Cloud Temple (Baiyun Guan), Beijing

Life

Qi Zhicheng, a native of Datong in Shanxi, was the tenth-generation head of the Quanzhen order. In his youth he met Yu Daoxian and thereafter left home to enter the Quanzhen order, residing for a long time in Yunzhou (in present-day Shanxi) to cultivate the Dao; he became known for practicing medicine to help the people and for exhorting virtue, and was called "the Perfected Qi." He succeeded Wang Zhitan as head of the order in 1272 and held the position for more than twenty years, during the reign of Kublai Khan (Emperor Shizu of Yuan). He was generous and broad-minded by nature, and relations with Buddhism eased during his tenure; the Yuan court's restrictions on Quanzhen Daoism gradually relaxed, and the order began to recover. He retired to Yunzhou in 1287 and died in 1293. Among his disciples was Zhang Zhixian, who later became head of the order. Qi Zhicheng's tenure marked the transitional period in which Quanzhen Daoism moved from setback toward recovery. The Yuan-dynasty stele Stele of the Conduct of the Perfected Dongming records his activities in great detail, and is an important historical source for understanding the situation of Quanzhen Daoism during the reign of Kublai Khan.

Contributions & Influence

• Headed the order for more than twenty years, advancing the recovery of Quanzhen Daoism
• Improved the order's public image through medical practice and moral exhortation
• Trained Zhang Zhixian and other future heads of the order