Zhang Yuqing张宇清

Style & Daoist names

Style name Yanji, Styled Xibi, Forty-fourth-generation Celestial Master

Period

Ming

Dates

1364 — 1427

School

Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Daoism

Role

Celestial MasterCompiler of the Daoist Canon

Birthplace

Xinzhou Guixi (present-day Guixi, Jiangxi)

Places of activity

Mount Longhu (Dragon and Tiger Mountain)

Life

Zhang Yuqing, the forty-fourth-generation Celestial Master of Mount Longhu and younger brother of Zhang Yuchu, succeeded to the office in the eighth year of Yongle (1410). He continued the unfinished work of his elder brother, directing the ongoing compilation of the Daoist Canon, and was summoned to the capital on numerous occasions to conduct prayers and rites of offering. Zhang Yuqing was also well versed in the classics and histories, exchanging poems with court officials, and wrote the Xibi wenji (西壁文集, Collected Writings of Xibi). He died in the capital in the second year of Xuande (1427). The compilation of the Daoist Canon was completed and printed in the ninth year of Zhengtong (1444) as the Daoist Canon of the Zhengtong Era. His era coincided with the Yongle Emperor's massive construction on the Wudang Mountains, when the Zhengyi Daoism of Mount Longhu and the cult of Zhenwu (the Perfected Warrior) at Wudang were both exalted by the court, and the standing of Zhengyi Daoism achieved stability in the early Ming. The succession of the two brothers as heads of the order marks an important period for the Celestial Masters' lineage in the early Ming.

Contributions & Influence

• Continued Zhang Yuchu's direction of the compilation of the Daoist Canon
• Conducted rites of offering for the Yongle, Hongxi, and Xuande courts on numerous occasions
• Wrote the Xibi wenji, exchanging poems with court officials

Works

• Collected Writings of Xibi