Zhang Qingye张清夜

Style & Daoist names

originally named Zun, courtesy name Zihuan, sobriquet Zimu Daoren (Self-Shepherding Wayfarer), Tenth Generation of the Longmen Lineage

Period

Qing

Dates

1676 — 1763

School

Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoism, Longmen (Dragon Gate) Lineage of Quanzhen

Role

Eminent Daoist of the Longmen LineageResident Head (Zhuchi)

Birthplace

Changzhou (present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu)

Places of activity

Qingyang Palace (Green Ram Temple), Chengdu

Life

Zhang Qingye, a native of Suzhou, Jiangsu, was a tenth-generation Daoist priest of the Longmen Lineage in the Qing, and the pioneer of Longmen Daoism in Sichuan. In his early years he traveled and studied, receiving transmission within the Longmen Lineage; he entered Sichuan at the end of the Kangxi era, and during the Yongzheng and Qianlong eras successively presided over the Temple of Marquis Wu and the Qingyang Palace in Chengdu, among other temples, restoring their buildings, promoting quiet cultivation and the observance of precepts, and taking on a great many disciples; Quanzhen Daoism in Chengdu and western Sichuan was thereby revived, and the lineage of his disciples came to be known as the Bidong (Emerald Grotto) branch of Longmen (descending from the line of Chen Qingjue, the Perfected of Bidong, of whom Zhang Qingye was one of the important transmitters). He wrote the Yinfu fami (Revealing the Secrets of the Yinfu Jing) and the Xuanmen jiebai (Plain Words on the Precepts of the Mysterious Gate), among other works, holding that the precepts were fundamental while also discussing internal alchemy. He died in 1763. His disciples and their own disciples later presided over the Qingyang Palace and the Erxian Nunnery, and the printing of the Daozang jiyao at the Erxian Nunnery during the Guangxu era was related to this very lineage; Quanzhen Daoism in Sichuan has been transmitted through this line down to the present.

Contributions & Influence

• Entered Sichuan to preside over the Temple of Marquis Wu and the Qingyang Palace, reviving Quanzhen Daoism in Sichuan
• Wrote the Yinfu fami and the Xuanmen jiebai, reaffirming the importance of the precepts
• Trained disciples who carried on the tradition at the Qingyang Palace and the Erxian Nunnery, laying the foundation for the Erxian Nunnery printing of the Daozang jiyao

Works

• Yinfu fami (阴符发秘, Revealing the Secrets of the Yinfu Jing)
• Xuanmen jiebai (玄门戒白, Announcement of Precepts of the Mysterious Gate)