Zhang Yuanxian张源先

Style & Daoist names

Sixty-fourth-generation Celestial Master (Taiwan)

Period

Modern

Dates

1930 — 2008

School

Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Daoism

Role

Celestial Master (Taiwan successor line)Leader of Zhengyi Daoism

Birthplace

Guixi (present-day Guixi, Jiangxi)

Life

Zhang Yuanxian, a native of Guixi in Jiangxi and a cousin's son of Zhang Enpu, went to Taiwan with the army in 1949. After Zhang Enpu's death in 1969, he was put forward by clan members and recognized by the Taoist association as the successor "64th-generation Celestial Master," establishing a Celestial Master's Mansion in Nantou and elsewhere in Taiwan, and presiding for nearly forty years over the conferral of registers, ordination transmission, and offering rituals for peace and blessing; he became the symbolic figure of Zhengyi Daoism in Taiwan, and traveled repeatedly to Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Macau to confer registers. He died in Taiwan in 2008. His succession was disputed both within the Celestial Master lineage and by the mainland side; after his death, Zhang Daozhen (said by some to be a grandson of Zhang Enpu) and Zhang Yijiang, among others, competed in Taiwan for the succession, resulting in a situation in which multiple claimants to the Celestial Master lineage coexisted. During his tenure he worked to standardize the organization of Zhengyi Daoism in Taiwan, and restored contact with Mount Longhu on the mainland, traveling there in the 1990s to venerate his ancestors.

Contributions & Influence

• Continued the Zhengyi Celestial Master lineage and the institution of conferring registers in Taiwan
• Advanced the organization of Zhengyi Daoism in Taiwan and its international connections
• Restored contact with Mount Longhu on the mainland and traveled there to venerate his ancestors