Zhang Daoling张陵

Style & Daoist names

Zhang Daoling, Zhang Fuhan, Ancestral Celestial Master, Perfected of Orthodox Unity, Ritual Master of the Three Heavens, Supreme Chancellor of Great Mystery

Period

Eastern Han

Dates

34 — 156

School

Way of the Celestial Masters (Tianshi Dao), Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Daoism

Role

FounderFirst-generation Celestial Master

Birthplace

Feng, Pei Kingdom (present-day Feng County, Jiangsu)

Places of activity

Mount Heming (Crane-Call Mountain), Mount Qingcheng, Mount Longhu (Dragon and Tiger Mountain)

Life

Zhang Ling, courtesy name Fuhan, known to later generations as Zhang Daoling, was a native of Feng in the state of Pei in the Eastern Han, and the founder of the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice (the Way of the Celestial Masters), revered by Daoism as the "Ancestral Celestial Master." According to the "Biography of Zhang Lu" in the Records of the Three Kingdoms, he sojourned in Shu during the reign of Emperor Shun, "studying the Dao in Mount Heming, composing Daoist texts to delude the common people; those who received the Dao from him contributed five pecks of rice, and so the age called them 'rice bandits.'" Daoist scriptures record that in the first year of the Han'an era (142) he received the "Way of Orthodox Unity and Covenant with the Powers" (Zhengyi mengwei zhi dao) from Taishang Laojun at Mount Heming, established twenty-four parishes, cured illness through talisman water and confession of faults, and venerated the Daodejing as the principal scripture (the Xiang'er Commentary on the Laozi is traditionally attributed to Zhang Ling or Zhang Lu). His traditional dates of birth and death are the tenth year of the Jianwu era (34) to the second year of the Yongshou era (156), and he is said to have ascended to immortality at Mount Qingcheng, though this account derives from Daoist scripture and cannot be fully trusted. The religious community founded by Zhang Ling was passed down through Zhang Heng and Zhang Lu, marking the beginning of an organized religious community in Chinese Daoism; his descendants inherited the title "Celestial Master" generation after generation, and from the Tang and Song took Mount Longhu as their ancestral seat, forming Zhengyi Daoism.

Contributions & Influence

• Founded the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice (the Way of Orthodox Unity and Covenant with the Powers), the beginning of an organized Daoist religious community in China
• Established the twenty-four parishes and the system of libationers (jijiu)
• Made the Daodejing the scripture recited and studied by adherents, establishing the Daoist tradition of venerating Laozi
• Founding ancestor of the Celestial Master lineage, the basis of the Zhengyi Daoism of Mount Longhu

Works

• Xiang'er Commentary on the Laozi (attributed; some say authored by Zhang Lu)
• Scripture of Great Peace and Ultimate Cavern (attributed; lost)

Legends

According to legend, Taishang Laojun descended at Mount Heming to bestow upon him the Way of Orthodox Unity and Covenant with the Powers, the Jade Seal of the Merit of the Three-Five, and a pair of male and female swords; he subdued the eight ghost commanders and six great demon kings of Shu; he refined the Divine Elixir of the Nine Heavens at Mount Longhu, and when the elixir was complete a dragon and tiger appeared; and at the age of one hundred and twenty-three he ascended to Heaven in broad daylight at Mount Qingcheng. All of the above derives from Daoist scriptural biography and is religious legend.