Zhang Zhengchang张正常

Style & Daoist names

Style name Zhongji, self-styled Chongxuzi, Forty-second-generation Celestial Master, Great Perfected Person Who Protects the State, Elucidates the Ancestors, Penetrates Sincerity, Reveres the Dao and Broadens Virtue

Period

Late Yuan–Early Ming

Dates

1335 — 1378

School

Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Daoism

Role

Celestial MasterLeader of Zhengyi Daoism

Birthplace

Xinzhou Guixi (present-day Guixi, Jiangxi)

Places of activity

Mount Longhu (Dragon and Tiger Mountain)

Life

Zhang Zhengchang, the forty-second-generation Celestial Master of Mount Longhu, succeeded to the office during the Zhizheng era of the Yuan. When Emperor Hongwu of Ming raised his army, Zhang Zhengchang was among the first to submit to him, and after Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor in the first year of Hongwu (1368), Zhang went to court for an audience. The emperor, on the grounds that "how could Heaven have a Teacher," changed the title "Celestial Master" to "Perfected Being," conferring on him the title "Great Perfected Being Who Continues the Teaching of Orthodox Unity, Protects the State, Elucidates the Ancestors, Communicates Sincerity, Reveres the Dao, and Spreads Virtue," with a rank of Upper Second Grade, and charged him with overseeing Daoist affairs throughout the empire — thereby establishing the system by which the Mount Longhu lineage headed Daoism through the Ming. Zhang Zhengchang also directed the compilation of the Genealogy of the Han Celestial Masters, setting out the succession of the Celestial Masters. He was summoned to the capital in the tenth year of Hongwu (1377) and died the following year. His son Zhang Yuchu succeeded him. Having been honored by regional lords at the end of the Yuan, Zhang Zhengchang was able to win the trust of the new regime quickly amid the change of dynasties, laying the foundation for the standing that Mount Longhu maintained for three centuries under the Ming.

Contributions & Influence

• Submitted to Emperor Hongwu of Ming, establishing the Ming-dynasty system of the "Great Perfected Being" of Mount Longhu
• Oversaw Daoist affairs throughout the empire, with Zhengyi Daoism ranked above Quanzhen
• Compiled the Genealogy of the Han Celestial Masters

Works

• Genealogy of the Han Celestial Masters (chief editor)