Zhang Sicheng张嗣成

Style & Daoist names

courtesy name Ciwang, sobriquet Taixuanzi, 39th-Generation Celestial Master, Yiyuan Chongde, Patriarch of Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity)

Period

Yuan

Dates

? — 1344

School

Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Daoism

Role

Celestial MasterPatriarch of ZhengyiPainterScripture Commentator

Birthplace

Xinzhou Guixi (present-day Guixi, Jiangxi)

Places of activity

Mount Longhu (Dragon and Tiger Mountain)

Life

Zhang Sicheng, the thirty-ninth Celestial Master of Mount Longhu, was the eldest son of Zhang Yucai. He succeeded to the office in 1317 and was granted the additional title "Head of the Zhengyi Order Who Assists the Primordial and Reveres Virtue" (Yiyuan Chongde Zhengyi Jiaozhu), and administered Daoist affairs at the Jixian Yuan. He headed the order for nearly thirty years, repeatedly conducting prayers and offering rites (jiao) for the Yuan court, and the power of Zhengyi Daoism reached its height in Jiangnan under him. Zhang Sicheng was also skilled in painting, calligraphy, and letters, especially noted for his paintings of dragons and bamboo, and he wrote a commentary on the Daodejing entitled Daode zhenjing zhangju xunsong (Instructive Verses on the Chapters and Sentences of the True Scripture of the Dao and Virtue), elucidating the study of Laozi from the standpoint of a Celestial Master of Zhengyi. He died in 1344 and was succeeded by his younger brother Zhang Side. He was on close terms with Wu Quanjie, Yu Ji, and others; in his era, the Celestial Master's Mansion at Mount Longhu and the Xuanjiao establishment in Dadu operated in parallel, together representing the height of Zhengyi Daoism in the Yuan. He also repeatedly performed rain-prayers and disaster-averting rites for local communities.

Contributions & Influence

• Headed Zhengyi Daoism for nearly thirty years, sustaining Daoism in Jiangnan
• Wrote a commentary on the Daodejing, engaging in the study of Laozi in his capacity as Celestial Master
• One of the representative Daoist painters of the Yuan

Works

• Sentence-by-Sentence Commentary and Eulogies on the Daodejing (Daode Zhenjing Zhangju Xunsong)