Sanyi (Three-in-One) Teaching三一教（附）

Also known as

Sanyi (Three-in-One) Teaching, Xiajiao (Xia Teaching), Lin Zhao'en's Teaching, Teaching of the Unity of the Three Teachings (Sanjiao Heyi)

Type

Folk Daoist Ritual Traditions

Period

Ming dynasty to the present

Founded

Founded around the thirtieth year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming (1551) by Lin Zhao'en (1517–1598) in Putian, Fujian

Founder

Lin Zhao'en

Region

Putian and Xianyou in Fujian, and Xinghua-descended communities in Taiwan and Southeast Asia

Status

Extant — Not a Daoist organization, but still active with numerous halls in Putian and Xianyou and among Xinghua (Putian) communities in Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia; included here as an appendix for reference and comparison.

Overview

The Sanyi Teaching is a religion founded by Lin Zhao'en of Putian, Fujian, in the Ming dynasty, teaching the unity of the Three Teachings; it does not itself belong to Daoism, but is included here as an appendix because it absorbed a great deal from Daoist internal alchemy and ritual observances (zhaijiao), and is frequently discussed alongside Daoism in the study of Daoist history and popular religion. Lin Zhao'en, style name Maoxun, sobriquet Longjiang, came from a scholarly family of Putian; after repeatedly failing the examinations he abandoned the pursuit of an official career and advocated the "unity of the Three Teachings," taking Confucianism as the foundation, Daoism as the gateway, and Buddhism as the ultimate goal, styling himself "Master of the Three Teachings." He created the "Genbei method" (a method of the mind, drawn from the Gen hexagram of the Yijing and the Daoist principle of guarding the center, used for healing illness and self-cultivation); during the Jiajing-era Japanese pirate raids (wokou), he collected and buried corpses and gave relief to disaster victims, winning great popular support, and his followers spread throughout Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Guangdong; his disciples Lu Wenhui, Zhang Hongdu, Zhu Fengshi, and others built shrines to him in various places. Lin Zhao'en's writings were collected as the Linzi sanjiao zhengzong tonglun (Comprehensive Discourse on the Orthodox Tradition of the Three Teachings by Master Lin). His teaching was banned and suppressed by the Qing court at the end of the Ming and the beginning of the Qing, but it continued in the Putian-Xianyou region under the names "Sanyi Jiao" (Three-in-One Teaching) and "Xia Jiao" (Xia Teaching); its shrines are called "tang" (halls) or "ci" (shrines), enshrining images of Lin Longjiang and the sages of the Three Teachings, and its followers observe strict regulations for initiation, transmission of the teaching, and periods of fasting, while also performing Daoist-style liturgies, worship of the Dipper, and rites of salvation for the dead. From the Qing dynasty onward it spread with Putian-Xianyou emigrants to Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia (as in the Sanjiao Tang of Singapore and the Sanyi Jiao Tang of Malaysia). Today there are over a thousand Sanyi Jiao halls in Putian and Xianyou, making it the most influential popular religious movement in central Fujian; scholars regard it as a representative case of the institutionalization of the "unity of the Three Teachings" movement, and it is also an important subject for the study of the interaction between Daoism and popular religion.

Core Doctrine

The Sanyi Teaching holds that Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism converge into one, taking Confucius, Laozi, and Sakyamuni as the "Sages of the Three Teachings" while venerating Lin Zhao'en as the "Lord of the Three-in-One Teaching"; it takes the cardinal relationships of Confucianism as the foundation, Daoist cultivation as the gateway, and the Buddhist realization of one's true nature as the ultimate goal. It advocates the practice of the "method of the mind" (Genbei) and the "Nine-Stage Method of the Mind," and emphasizes loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, and righteousness together with doing good in the world. This system represents the institutionalized form of the popular movement for the unity of the Three Teachings.

Practice & Ritual

Practices include quiet sitting according to the Genbei method and the Nine-Stage Method of the Mind; recitation of the Linzi sanjiao zhengzong tonglun and penitential liturgies; worship of the Sages of the Three Teachings and of Lin Longjiang; rites such as retreats and offerings (zhaijiao), worship of the Dipper, and salvation for the dead (mostly in Daoist liturgical form); followers observe periods of fasting and perform charitable deeds; halls are administered by a "Head of the Teaching" and "Officers in Charge." The Sanyi Teaching also has a "Nine-Stage" sequence of cultivation and strict rites for the transmission of the teaching, with followers divided into inner and outer circles, and hall gatherings follow a fixed program of scripture recitation, worship, and preaching.

Transmission

Lin Zhao'en → disciples Lu Wenhui, Zhang Hongdu, Zhu Fengshi, and others (late Ming) → halls established throughout the Putian-Xianyou region in the Qing → halls of Xinghua (Putian) emigrants in Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia → the present-day Sanyi Jiao Associations of Putian and Xianyou. The Sanyi Teaching formed a complete network of halls and administrative organization in the Putian-Xianyou region; the present-day Putian Sanyi Jiao Association is its representative body, and branch halls also exist overseas.

Key Figures