Zhen Dadao (True Great Way)真大道

Also known as

Dadao Teaching, Zhen Dadao (True Great Way) Teaching, Liu Deren's Teaching

Type

Sects

Period

Jin and Yuan

Founded

Founded by Liu Deren at Yanshan, Cangzhou, Hebei, in the second year of Huangtong of Jin (1142)

Founder

Liu Deren

Region

Originating at Cangzhou, Hebei; expanded during the Yuan to Shandong, Henan, Yanjing, and Jiangnan

Status

Vanished — It died out at the end of the Yuan and the beginning of the Ming, its temples and followers mostly absorbed into Quanzhen Daoism; today only steles and historical records survive.

Overview

Zhen Dadao (True Great Way), originally named Dadao Jiao (Teaching of the Great Way), is a new Daoist order founded by Liu Deren (1122–1180) of Cangzhou, Hebei, in the early Jin dynasty, counted together with Quanzhen and Taiyi as one of the "Three Great New Daoist Teachings" of the Jin and Yuan in the north. Liu Deren claimed that in the second year of the Huangtong era (1142), he encountered an old man with white beard and brows (traditionally said to be Laozi), who transmitted to him the essential teachings of the Daodejing, whereupon he founded his order and set out "Nine Precepts": to regard others as oneself, to be loyal to one's sovereign and filial to one's parents, to be compassionate and not kill, to be clear and still and non-active, to avoid lust, to avoid litigation, to cast off evil, to be honest and not deceive, and to be content and not covetous. His followers were distinguished by supporting themselves through diligent farming rather than begging for alms, and the order opposed talismans, alchemy, and doctrines of immortality and longevity, advocating "seeing plainness and embracing simplicity, having few desires and little selfishness," with an emphasis on ethical cultivation and self-sufficiency through labor, which won it wide popularity among farmers and the common people of the north. In the seventh year of the Dading era of the Jin (1167), Emperor Shizong of Jin summoned Liu Deren for an audience and granted him the title "Master of the Eastern Peak." Liu Deren's teaching passed to Chen Shizheng, Zhang Xinzhen, and Mao Xicong; by the time of the fifth patriarch, Li Xicheng, the order received a title bestowed by the Yuan emperor Xianzong, and its name was changed to "Zhen Dadao"; successive Yuan emperors from Shizu onward likewise treated it with favor, and the order reached its greatest strength under the sixth patriarch Sun Defu, the seventh patriarch Li Dehe, and the eighth patriarch Yue Dewen, its temples spreading throughout the north and even into the south of the Yangzi, with Tianbao Palace in Yanjing as its central altar. From the end of the Yuan onward, Zhen Dadao gradually declined, and after the early Ming it disappears from the record, its followers and temples largely absorbed into Quanzhen Daoism. Zhen Dadao took ethical instruction and self-support through labor as its core, making it one of the rare Daoist orders in history that did not emphasize supernatural powers or ritual arts, and its "Nine Precepts" have points in common with the precepts of Quanzhen Daoism.

Core Doctrine

Takes the Daodejing as its foundation, advocating clarity, stillness, and non-action, few desires and little selfishness, loyalty, filiality, and compassion, and honesty without deception; it does not speak of ascension and becoming an immortal, does not use talismans or alchemy, and treats cultivating virtue, doing good, and supporting oneself through labor as its practice; it speaks of "silent prayer" to dispel illness, and opposes the excessive use of exorcistic rites. Zhen Dadao took "eating from one's own diligent farming, spending within one's means" as the spirit of its founding, standing in sharp contrast to the mendicant asceticism of Quanzhen Daoism and the talismanic exorcism of Taiyi Daoism.

Practice & Ritual

Observing the Nine Precepts; farming the land for self-support rather than begging for alms; either leaving the family to reside in a temple or observing the precepts as a lay believer; healing illness through silent prayer and simple zhai-jiao rites; leadership of the order passed on through successive "patriarchs" (zu), with its temples named "Tianbao Palace," "Dadao Temple," and the like. Zhen Dadao priests were likewise required to leave the family, eat a vegetarian diet, and labor diligently, with their temples self-sufficient; the succession of its leaders and the establishment of its temples are recorded in some detail in Yuan-dynasty steles.

Transmission

Liu Deren (First Patriarch) → Chen Shizheng → Zhang Xinzhen → Mao Xicong → Li Xicheng (renamed the order Zhen Dadao) → Sun Defu → Li Dehe → Yue Dewen → Zhang Qingzhi (Ninth Patriarch) → the record breaks off after the end of the Yuan. During the Yuan, Zhen Dadao once split into two branches (the line of Li Xicheng and the line of Li Xi'an), unified by Sun Defu in the mid-Yuan; the order gradually declined toward the end of the Yuan.

Key Scriptures

Key Figures