Zhang Ling

Zhang Daoling

Zhang Daoling (34-156), originally named Zhang Ling, was born in Fengxian County, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. The founder of Taoism. Because of its original creation of wudoumi Dao, also known as Tianshi Dao, it is also known as Tianshi Zhang.

Life of the characters

It is said that he was the eighth grandson of Zhang Liang, the founder of the Western Han Dynasty. He was born in Afang village, Fengxian County on the 15th of the first month of the 10th year of the reign of Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty. Zhang Daoling's father is Zhang Dashun, who is good at the art of immortals. He calls himself "immortal Tongbai". He gave birth to a son, which is named "Ling". He hopes to follow his ancestors, stay away from the world and become an immortal in the future. Zhang Daoling was very intelligent when he was a child, and he read Tao Te Ching at the age of seven. When he was a scholar of Taixue, he was familiar with the five classics, astronomy, geography and Heluo divination, and had more than 1000 scholars. But Chang sighed that the book he read could not solve the problem of life and death, so he abandoned Confucianism and studied the way of longevity. When Zhang Daoling was 26 years old, he was an official of Jiangzhou (today's Chongqing), but he soon resigned and lived in seclusion in Beimang mountain of Luoyang (today's north of Luoyang, Henan). Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty and Emperor he of the Han Dynasty successively called him as Taifu and Marquis of Jixian County. After that, Zhang Daoling began to travel around famous mountains and rivers, visiting Taoism and seeking immortals. First, he traveled south to Huaihe River and lived in Taiping mountain of Tongbai. Then he crossed the river with his disciples Wang Chang and Zhao Sheng and went south to Yunjin mountain of Guixi County, Jiangxi Province. Yunjin mountain has beautiful scenery and is the habitat of ancient immortals. Zhang Daoling lives on the mountain and builds altars for alchemy. It is said that three years later, the dragon and tiger appeared, so this mountain is also called Dragon and tiger mountain. Zhang Daoling was 60 years old at that time. Hearing that Shu people were pure and easy to be educated, he moved to Heming mountain, Sichuan Province.

It is said that on the 15th of the first month of the first year of Han'an (142), Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty, the emperor came to Shu to teach Zhang Daoling "the way of Zhengyi alliance" and asked him to sweep away demons and rescue the people. Zhang Daoling founded Taoism, respecting Laozi as the ancestor and taking "Tao" as the highest belief. In the second year of Yongshou (156), he was promoted to immortal and died at the age of 123. In 748, the seventh year of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, Zhang Daoling was given the title of "Taishi" because of Laozi. In the fourth year of Xizong Zhonghe (884), he was granted the title of "master of three-day supporting religion". In 1108, the second year of song Huizong's grand view, the book was given to "zhengyijing yingzhenjun", and LiZong was given the title of "three days to assist the Grand Master of Yuan Dynasty, zhengyijing yingyouzhenjun". Emperor Chengzong of the Yuan Dynasty added the title of "Zhengyi Chongxuan, Shenhua, Jingying, Xianyou Zhenjun". Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty presented "Liuhe infinite God". Zhengyi school is called zutianshi, taixuan Shangxiang, great sage subdues demons and protects daotianzun.

The founding of Tianshi Taoism

The reasons for Zhang Daoling's coming to Sichuan are as follows: first, he wanted to use fu and Dan to cure people's diseases. After entering Sichuan, he first lived in Yangping mountain, and then in Heming mountain. He also went to Xicheng mountain, gekui mountain, Qinzhong mountain, Changli mountain, Yongquan mountain, zhendu mountain, Beiping mountain, Qingcheng Mountain, and refined his mind. In the sixth year of Yonghe (141), Zhang Daoling wrote 24 Taoist books, claiming to be "the Xuanyuan of Taiqing". He recruited disciples to set up Taoism and established a basic organization of Taoism. Those who follow the Tao must accept wudoumi, which is called wudoumi Dao.

In the first year of emperor Han'an (142), Zhang Daoling asked the emperor to surrender himself, and gave him the "three-day Dharma" and ordered him to be the "master of heaven"; in the same year, Zhang Daoling also gave him the "key points of Zhengyi science and technology", "Zhengyi Lianwei Miaojing", and ordered him to be the "three-day master Zhengyi real man". In the second year of emperor an of Han Dynasty, Emperor Taishang Laojun was appointed to the second year of emperor an of Han Dynasty as the regional organization of Buhua Road: the eighth rule of upper, the eighth rule of middle, and the eighth rule of lower. He also asked his heavenly Master Zhang Daoling to pursue Buhua. Therefore, Zhang Daoling set up 24 religious centers in Bashu area, namely, 24 Zhi, and then set up sacrificial ceremony and wine, which was like a butcher. From then on, Taoism began to have a regular organization "Zhengyi alliance Wei Dao", also known as "Tianshi Dao" in later generations.

Zhang Daoling treated people with Fu Shui and mantra. He also taught the people how to get salt, and later called it "Lingjing" (boiling salt with salty well water). The common people benefited from it and regarded it as the teacher of heaven, with tens of thousands of disciples. Meanwhile, the system was established so that the disciples could flow out the rice and silk implements and firewood along with the events; without penalty, they could govern people with good ways. The crime committed by the Secretary of a sick person since he was born is written by hand to plunge into the water and unite with the gods. He is not allowed to commit a crime again and is bound by life and death.

Zhang Daoling respected Lao Tzu as the founder of Taoism, regarded "Lao Tzu 5000 Wen" as the highest classic, and compiled "Lao Tzu Xiang Er Zhu" to give full play to Lao Tzu's Taoism. Taking "Tao" as the highest belief, this paper compares "Tao" with Lao Tzu, claiming that "Tao" is "one", "one disperses as Qi, and the other gathers as the supreme Lao Tzu".

Notes on Laozi thinking of you

It is said that the annotated version of Tao Te Ching written by Zhang Daoling is a classic work of philosophy and alchemy written by the early Taoist sect Zhengyi Lianwei Dao. The ideological content of Xiang Er Zhu mainly includes three parts: one is about keeping the Tao and commandments. "Xiang Er Zhu" holds that "Tao" is single-minded, sincere, quiet and natural, and good at life and happiness. As long as people keep the Tao commandments, they can prolong their life and get rid of disasters. The second is about the method of longevity. Xiangerzhu holds that if you are good at preserving the essence and Qi, you can achieve immortality and longevity. It advocates the Qi of the five zang organs and five elements, that is, "harmony will produce each other, and war will conquer each other.". This paper expounds the essentials of fangzhongshu: "if you want to make the spirit immortal, you should make the essence self-defense". It is believed that if you get this essentials, you can live forever. In order to be self-defense, it is necessary to have no desire to think, no action, no fame, no lust for honor, no competition, no evil. The third is about the way of emperors. According to Xiang Er Zhu, Tao is not only a matter of Taoists, but also a matter of emperors. It means that the king is the one who values one person and controls no two monarchs. The king is always the one who practices Tao, and then the officials and people. It is not only feasible for Taoists, but also for kings to give up. Moreover, the sages and kings are all masters of the way, and they are used to educate the world, so they can realize the rule of peace. The later emperors gradually lose their way, and the kings and ministers walk the way. The world of peace can be realized, and the people are in peace. The "Tao" here refers to the way of life, that is, the way of being quiet and lustless, being happy and good at life; and war is killing, so "war is not the way". Emperors should keep the way of life and avoid wars.

Related Legends

It is said that one night in the reign of Emperor Shun of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the emperor came to the place where Zhang Daoling lived, and gave him male and female swords and many talismans, asking him to kill the six evil kings and eight ghost Marshals in Sichuan. Zhang Daoling refined for thousands of days and became a variety of magic arts to subdue demons. Before long, the eight ghost commanders led hundreds of millions of ghost soldiers, who brought all kinds of pestilence and diseases and harmed all living beings. Zhang Daoling set up a Taoist altar on Qingcheng Mountain, ringing the bell and ringing the chime, calling the wind and the rain, commanding the magic soldiers to fight against these evil spirits. He stood on the glass seat. As soon as any sword or arrow approached, he immediately became a lotus. The ghosts set fire again. Zhang Daoling pointed with his hand, and the fire burned back. When the ghost commander was angry, he was surrounded by thousands of troops. Unexpectedly, Zhang Daoling painted with a red pen, and all the ghost soldiers and eight ghost scholars kowtowed to beg for mercy. But they didn't agree. When they went back, they invited six demon kings to lead a million ghost soldiers to besiege Qingcheng Mountain. Zhang Daoling was calm and unmoved. With only a little Dan pen, all the ghosts died. Only six evil kings fell on the ground and could not get up, so he had to kowtow for mercy. With a stroke of his pen, Zhang Daoling divided a mountain into two parts and trapped six demons in it, so he had to promise never to harm the world again.

Inheritance of Heavenly Master

Zhang Daoling is the first generation of Tianshi school, so he is respected as the ancestral Tianshi in Taoism. The succession of the position of Tianshi adopted the hereditary system of Heijiao. After the ancestral Tianshi was removed, his son Zhang Heng took over the position, which was called the heitianshi in history. After Zhang Henghua left, his son Zhang Lu took over the post as the teacher of heaven. When Zhang Sheng, the fourth generation grandson, returned and moved to Longhushan, Yingtan, Jiangxi Province. His descendants passed on his career from generation to generation.

Chinese PinYin : Zhang Ling