Tianxin Zhengfa (Correct Method of the Celestial Heart)天心正法派

Also known as

Tianxin Branch, Tianxin Zhengfa (Correct Method of the Celestial Heart), Rites of the Northern Culmen Bureau for Expelling Evil, Rao Dongtian Branch

Type

Daoist Schools

Period

Northern Song to Yuan

Founded

In the fifth year of Chunhua of Emperor Taizong of the Northern Song (994), Rao Dongtian unearthed a celestial text on Mount Huagai (according to the preface to the Correct Rites of the Celestial Heart of Shangqing)

Founder

Rao Dongtian, Tan Zixiao

Derived from

Way of the Celestial Masters (Tianshi Dao)

Region

The area of Fuzhou and Nanfeng, Jiangxi; spread during the Song to Fujian and Jiangnan

Status

Absorbed into Other Lineages — After the Yuan it merged into Zhengyi Daoism and various local ritual traditions, and disappeared as an independent Daoist school; elements of its talismanic method can still be identified in Zhengyi liturgy and in folk ritual traditions such as Lüshan and Pu'an.

Overview

The Tianxin Zhengfa (Correct Method of the Celestial Heart) is a talismanic Daoist tradition that arose in Jiangxi at the beginning of the Northern Song, the earliest of the Song-dynasty 'new talismanic schools.' According to the preface of the Yuan-dynasty Deng Yougong's Shangqing tianxin zhengfa, in the fifth year of the Chunhua era (994), a divine being instructed Rao Dongtian of Jiangxi in a dream, and a golden casket containing the celestial writ 'Correct Method of the Celestial Heart Scripture' was unearthed on Mount Huagai; the tradition was later established when Tan Zixiao encountered him and received the talismanic method. Tan Zixiao of Nanfeng (originally a Daoist priest of the state of Min) claimed to have received the Correct Method of the Celestial Heart transmitted by Zhang Ling, so the school honors Zhang Ling as its distant ancestor and Rao Dongtian as its immediate patriarch, and is affiliated with the Celestial Masters system. At the end of the Northern Song, Yuan Miaozong (in the Taishang zhuguo jiumin zongzhen miyao, 1116) and Lu Shizhong (in the Wushang xuanyuan santian yutang dafa, around 1120) each organized the Tianxin Zhengfa and made it systematic, and it became representative of exorcistic and healing techniques in the Song. Tianxin Zhengfa took the Northern Culmen Bureau for Exorcising Evil as its ritual office, taking the true qi of the three lights (sun, moon and stars) and the three talismans (the Talisman of the Three Lights, the Tiangang Talisman, and the Heisha Talisman) as its core, worshipping the Great Emperor of Purple Tenuity of the Northern Culmen and Marshal Tianpeng, among others; its ritual masters styled themselves officials of the Bureau for Exorcising Evil, investigating and summoning ghosts and spirits and treating malign afflictions, and were widely used by scholar-officials, local officials and ordinary people, and are recorded frequently in Song-dynasty tales of the strange (such as Hong Mai's Yijian zhi). After the Southern Song, Tianxin Zhengfa increasingly interpenetrated with the Shenxiao and Qingwei Thunder Rites; in the Yuan, Deng Yougong compiled the seven-juan Shangqing tianxin zhengfa, after which it merged into Zhengyi Daoism, its talismanic methods surviving in the Daofa huiyuan and in later ritual practice. The Tianxin Zhengfa marks the shift of Daoist ritual technique from transmission through a religious order's conferral of registers toward a method (fa) system centered on the individual ritual master, and had a far-reaching influence on the folk ritual traditions of the Song and Yuan onward, such as Lüshan and Pu'an.

Core Doctrine

Venerates the Great Emperor of Purple Tenuity of the Northern Culmen as the lord of the 'Celestial Heart,' using 'correct method' to counter malign spirits; holds that the ritual master must perform his rites with correct qi and a correct heart-mind, commanding divine generals such as Tianpeng and Heisha through the true qi of the three lights; follows the lineage of the Zhengyi covenant of the Celestial Masters, advocating that talismanic method should save the people, exorcise evil, cure illness, and aid the transformation wrought by the sovereign. Tianxin Zhengfa also emphasizes the ritual master's authorization and system of ritual office; a ritual master must undergo ordination, take oaths, and wear talismans before he may practise, his status as 'ritual official' resembling that of a local official.

Practice & Ritual

Writing the Talisman of the Three Lights, the Tiangang Talisman, and the Heisha Talisman; forming hand seals, pacing the Dipper, investigating and summoning possessing ghosts and spirits; establishing the ritual altar of the Northern Culmen Bureau for Exorcising Evil, with ritual masters practising under titles such as 'Commissioner of the Bureau for Exorcising Evil'; curing illness, expelling malign influences, pacifying homes, and subduing evil; in the Song this was often practised jointly by local literati and Daoist priests. Tianxin Zhengfa also centers on visualization of the Tiangang and the Three Lights; before performing rites the ritual master must visualize himself transformed into a divine general or the Great Emperor of the Northern Culmen, reflecting the Song-dynasty ritual approach of 'inner refinement, outer application.'

Transmission

Traced back to Zhang Ling; Tan Zixiao (Southern Tang, Min) → Rao Dongtian (994) → Zhu Jian, Yao Chong and others → Yuan Miaozong and Lu Shizhong each organize the tradition at the end of the Northern Song → Lei Shizhong of the Southern Song (the Hunyuan Liutian method, which also incorporates Tianxin) → Deng Yougong of the Yuan → merges into Zhengyi Daoism. After the Southern Song, Tianxin Zhengfa circulated mainly as a ritual-technique system among Daoist priests and local literati across the country, and its system of ritual offices directly influenced folk ritual traditions such as Lüshan and Pu'an.

Key Scriptures

Key Figures

Principal Temples