Lü Dongbin Cult and Lüzu Altars吕祖信仰与吕祖道坛

Also known as

Cult of Patriarch Chunyang (Lü Dongbin), Lüzu Altar, Chunyang School (related), Cult of Fuyou Dijun (Lü Dongbin)

Type

Folk Daoist Ritual Traditions

Period

Song–Yuan to the Present

Founded

From the Northern Song onward, legends of Lü Dongbin flourished; in the Jin and Yuan, Quanzhen venerated him as one of the Five Northern Patriarchs; during the Ming and Qing, spirit-writing at Lüzu altars spread throughout north and south

Founder

Lü Dongbin

Region

Widespread throughout north and south China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and Chinese communities in Southeast Asia and North America

Ancestral seat

Yongle Palace (Palace of Eternal Joy), Chunyang Palace, Taiyuan, Zhinan Temple, Taipei

Status

Extant — Lü Dongbin is widely worshipped in Daoist temples in China and overseas; incense and worship flourish at Yongle Gong (a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level, with its Yuan-dynasty murals), Chunyang Palace in Taiyuan, Zhinan Temple in Taipei, and various Daoist halls in Hong Kong; the birthday rites for Lü Dongbin and related temple fairs have in many places been listed as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Overview

The Lü Dongbin cult refers to the worship and ritual tradition centered on Lü Dongbin (given name Yan, courtesy name Dongbin, style Chunyangzi), the most widely disseminated and socially deep-rooted of all deity cults in Daoism. Lü Dongbin was a Daoist priest of the late Tang and Five Dynasties whose life had already become highly legendary by the Northern Song, as recorded in works such as the "Biography of Chen Tuan" in the History of Song and the Record of the Local Customs of Yueyang. From the end of the Northern Song, Lü Dongbin was incorporated into the Internal Alchemy lineage, paired with Zhongli Quan as "Zhong-Lü," the founders of the Zhong-Lü Golden Elixir tradition; the Quanzhen Daoism of the Jin and Yuan honored him as one of the Five Northern Patriarchs, and Kublai Khan, in the sixth year of the Zhiyuan era (1269), conferred on him the title "Perfected Lord Chunyang Who Manifests the Correct and Admonishes and Transforms," further augmented in the third year of the Zhida era of Emperor Wuzong of Yuan (1310) to "Sovereign Lord Chunyang Who Manifests the Correct, Admonishes and Transforms, and Grants Blessings," giving rise to the honorific title "Sovereign Lord Fuyou." Yongle Gong (the Great Chunyang Palace of Ten Thousand Blessings) in Ruicheng, Shanxi, was built in the Yuan dynasty precisely to venerate Lü Dongbin, and the Chart of the Divine Roamings and Manifestations of Sovereign Lord Chunyang in its Chunyang Hall is a comprehensive pictorial record of the Lü Dongbin legends. From the Ming and Qing onward, the Lü Dongbin cult expanded along two paths: one through the temple system, with Chunyang palaces, Lüzu temples, and Lüzu pavilions built everywhere, such as the Lüzu Palace in Beijing, Chunyang Palace in Taiyuan, Chunyang Temple in Guangzhou, Zhinan Temple in Taipei, and Pung Loi Long Yuen in Hong Kong; the other through spirit-writing, with literati and pious believers setting up altars to invite Lü Dongbin to descend and write, producing a great body of spirit-written instructions and morality books, crystallized in works such as the Complete Works of Patriarch Lü compiled by Jiang Yupu and others in the Qing; many Daoist halls, charitable halls, and phoenix halls of the late Qing and Republican era also honored Lü Dongbin as the presiding deity of their altars. The image of Lü Dongbin combines multiple facets — sword-wielding immortal, patriarch of alchemy, deity of moral exhortation, and deity of efficacious response — and the fourteenth day of the fourth lunar month, his birthday, is the customary festival day. This site separately includes entries for the Zhong-Lü Internal Alchemy Tradition (zhonglv) and for the figure of Lü Dongbin; this entry focuses on the cult and its Daoist-hall forms.

Core Doctrine

It holds Lü Dongbin to be a compassionate immortal who "will not himself ascend until all sentient beings are saved," combining the dual identities of patriarch of Internal Alchemy and deity who saves from suffering. In its alchemical aspect it advocates the dual cultivation of nature and life, with nature cultivated before life, and reveres alchemical instructions attributed to him such as the Hundred-Character Stele and The Secret of the Golden Flower; in its moral-exhortation aspect it advocates loyalty, filial piety, integrity, and righteousness, and aiding others and benefiting all beings, holding that "cultivating virtue comes before cultivating the Dao." The spirit-writing tradition treats Lü Dongbin's descended writings as the source of doctrine, producing a large body of scriptures and instructions attributed to him.

Practice & Ritual

Rites and worship for Lü Dongbin's birthday (the fourteenth of the fourth month); recitation of the Precious Litany of Patriarch Lü's Limitless Salvation and the Hundred-Character Stele; spirit-writing to seek instructions, and the compiling and printing of morality books; the establishment of Chunyang halls and Lüzu pavilions within temples; Daoist halls in Hong Kong, Macau, and Southeast Asia mostly honor Lü Dongbin as their principal deity, and also carry out charitable work such as providing free medicine, distributing coffins, and paying for burials. The spirit-writing altars devoted to Lü Dongbin since the Qing dynasty have also been an important channel through which knowledge of Internal Alchemy circulated among the literati class.

Transmission

Lü Dongbin of the late Tang and Five Dynasties → legendary elaboration in the Northern Song and the formation of the Zhong-Lü alchemical genealogy → honored as one of the Five Northern Patriarchs by Quanzhen Daoism of the Jin and Yuan, twice further titled by the Yuan court → Yongle Gong built in the Yuan, Chunyang temples and palaces spreading everywhere in the Ming and Qing → the flourishing of Qing-dynasty spirit-writing altars devoted to Lü Dongbin, compiled into the Complete Works of Patriarch Lü → in modern times, Daoist halls in Hong Kong, Macau, and Southeast Asia (such as Ching Chung Koon and Fung Ying Seen Koon) mostly honor Lü Dongbin as their principal deity. The Lü Dongbin cult does not constitute a single religious body, but rather a shared layer of belief running across Quanzhen, Zhengyi, and popular Daoist halls.

Key Scriptures

Key Figures

Principal Temples