Zhang Sanfeng张三丰

Style & Daoist names

given name Quanyi, also named Junbao, Styled Sanfeng, Xuanxuan Zi, "Sloppy Daoist" (popular nickname), Perfected of Penetrating the Subtle and Manifest Transformation (title granted by Emperor Yingzong of Ming), Perfected Immortal Who Conceals His Light and Cherishes His Aspiration (title granted by Emperor Xianzong of Ming), Perfected Lord of Clarity, Emptiness and Primordial Wonder (title granted by Emperor Shizong of Ming)

Period

Late Yuan–Early Ming

Dates

c. 1247 (alternatively 1314) — ?

School

Sanfeng Lineage, Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoism

Role

Internal Alchemy MastersPatriarch of the Sanfeng LineageFounder of Wudang DaoismLegendary figure

Birthplace

Yizhou, Liaodong (present-day Fuxin, Liaoning; one account)

Places of activity

Wudang Mountains, Mount Qingcheng

Life

Zhang Sanfeng was a celebrated Daoist priest of the late Yuan and early Ming, whose deeds are difficult to distinguish from legend. According to the "Biographies of Technical Masters" (Fangji zhuan) chapter of the History of Ming, his name was Quanyi, also given as Junbao, and he was a native of Yizhou in Liaodong; of imposing stature and careless of his appearance, he was known as "Slovenly Zhang" (Zhang Lata). He is said to have lived on the Wudang Mountains and predicted that "this mountain will one day flourish greatly"; Emperor Hongwu and the Yongle Emperor of the Ming repeatedly sent envoys to seek him out, but without success. The Yongle Emperor's massive construction of Daoist temples on Wudang is directly connected to legends about him. Zhang Sanfeng's actual influence on the history of Daoism lies chiefly in the Ming and Qing: first, he was venerated as the patriarch of Wudang Daoism and of the Sanfeng Lineage; second, alchemical works attributed to him, collected in the Complete Works of Zhang Sanfeng (edited by Li Xiyue in the Qing), circulated widely among practitioners of internal alchemy and gave rise to the genealogy of the Yinxian (Hidden Immortals) Lineage; and third, he was later credited by tradition as the founder of Taijiquan, a claim with no documentary basis before the Ming. Most scholars hold that such a person probably existed, but that the bulk of his biography and the works attributed to him accumulated through later layers of legend.

Contributions & Influence

• Became the symbolic figure behind the flourishing of Wudang Daoism, associated with the Yongle Emperor's construction projects on Wudang
• Patriarch of the Sanfeng Lineage and the Yinxian Lineage of internal alchemy; works attributed to him shaped Ming and Qing internal-alchemy learning
• Folk legend made him one of the most famous immortal figures in Daoism

Works

• Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng (compiled by Li Xiyue of the Qing; much of it pseudepigraphal)
• Treatise on the Great Dao
• Direct Discourse on the Mysterious Pivot
• The Rootless Tree (Wugen shu)

Legends

"Going months without eating," "traveling a thousand li in a day," "dying and returning to life," and founding Taijiquan are all legendary claims, most of which cannot be verified.