Zhang Liusun张留孙

Style & Daoist names

courtesy name Shihan, Grand Master of Xuanjiao, Kaifu Yitong Sansi, Senior Minister, Grand Master of the Mysterious Teaching who Assists in Perfection, Aids Transformation, and Preserves the Mandate (Fucheng Zanhua Baoyun Xuanjiao Dazongshi)

Period

Yuan

Dates

1248 — 1321

School

Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Daoism, Xuanjiao (Mysterious Teaching)

Role

Founder of Xuanjiao (Mysterious Teaching)Patriarch, Grand MasterPolitical Figure

Birthplace

Xinzhou Guixi (present-day Guixi, Jiangxi)

Places of activity

Mount Longhu (Dragon and Tiger Mountain)

Life

Zhang Liusun, a native of Guixi in Jiangxi, was the founder of Xuanjiao (the Mysterious Teaching) in the Yuan dynasty. In his youth he entered Mount Longhu to become a priest, and in the thirteenth year of the Zhiyuan era (1276) he accompanied the thirty-sixth-generation Celestial Master Zhang Zongyan to court; because his prayers for the recovery of Kublai Khan and the empress from illness proved efficacious, he was retained in service at the capital and granted the title "Minister and Grand Master of Xuanjiao," along with a silver seal, becoming one of the most important Daoist leaders at the Yuan court. He subsequently served through five reigns — those of Shizu (Kublai Khan), Chengzong, Wuzong, Renzong and Yingzong — rising in office to Kaifu Yitong Sansi and Overseer of the Academy of Assembled Worthies, with the additional title "Grand Master of Xuanjiao," his power far exceeding that of the Zhengyi Celestial Master himself. On the basis of the Zhengyi transmission of Mount Longhu, he built the Chongzhen Wanshou Palace in Dadu, forming a system of Xuanjiao composed of Zhengyi priests from Jiangnan attached to the court, which administered Daoism in Jiangnan. Zhang Liusun was skilled at handling political affairs and repeatedly secured advantages for Daoism, and also recommended Wu Quanjie and others for appointment at court. He died in 1321, and Xuanjiao was inherited by Wu Quanjie.

Contributions & Influence

• Founded Xuanjiao, becoming the representative of Jiangnan Daoism at the Yuan court
• Presided over Daoist affairs at the Yuan court as a Zhengyi priest for nearly fifty years
• Recommended and trained Wu Quanjie, Xia Wenyong and other masters of Xuanjiao