Zhang Zhishun张至顺

Style & Daoist names

Daoist name Zhishun, styled Mi Jingzi

Period

Modern

Dates

1912 — 2015

School

Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoism, Longmen (Dragon Gate) Lineage of Quanzhen

Role

Daoist priest of the Longmen LineageHealth-Preservation Specialist

Birthplace

Shenqiu (present-day Shenqiu, Henan)

Places of activity

Eight Immortals Palace, Xi'an, Louguantai (Louguan Terrace)

Life

Zhang Zhishun, a native of Shenqiu in Henan, was a twenty-first-generation priest of the Quanzhen Longmen Lineage, with the Daoist name Mijingzi. He left home to become a priest in his youth because of poverty, and for a long time cultivated the Dao, farmed and practiced medicine at the Eight Immortals Palace in Shaanxi, Louguantai and other sites; he was displaced during the Cultural Revolution, and after the reform and opening-up period he took part in the restoration of the Eight Immortals Palace. In his later years he lived in Ding'an, Hainan and elsewhere, becoming known for teaching daoyin health-cultivation methods such as the "Vajra Longevity Exercise" (Jingang Changshou Gong) and the "Eight-Section Vajra Exercise" (Babu Jingang Gong); his disciples compiled and published his oral accounts as Mijingzi's Beneficial Prescriptions for Saving the World (Mijingzi jishi liangfang) and The Origin and Development of the Qi Body (Qiti yuanliu). He died in 2015 at the age of 104. He was one of the best-known Quanzhen priests among the contemporary mainland public, his image representing the traditional life of the plain, ascetic Daoist priest. He never held a prominent position in the church hierarchy, yet drew wide attention for his longevity, simplicity, and self-narrated oral history.

Contributions & Influence

• Taught daoyin health-cultivation methods such as the Eight-Section Vajra Exercise
• Took part in the restoration of the Eight Immortals Palace, representing the contemporary ascetic Quanzhen priest
• Left behind oral historical material on the life of a contemporary Quanzhen priest

Works

• Qiti yuanliu (炁体源流, The Origin and Flow of the Qi-Body) (oral transmission)
• Mi Jingzi jishi liangfang (米晶子济世良方, Mi Jingzi's Beneficial Prescriptions for Saving the World) (oral transmission)