Schools of Taoism and God: My Sixth Understanding of Taoism

The sects of Taoism are very complicated.

As far as practice is concerned, Taoism is mainly divided into two schools-Fu You School and Dante School. The former advocates the use of spells and other methods to treat diseases and exorcise ghosts; The latter advocates refining elixir and seeking longevity, which is different from elixir and Neidan. In addition, there are wonderful truths about both.

Generally speaking, the spread of Taoism began in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. There are five influential schools in the history of Taoism:

1, Righteousness Road: Righteousness Road was Wudoumi Road in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and was later renamed Shitian Road. It was founded by Zhang Daoling, the ancestor of Taoism in Shi Tian, and is the author of Old Xiangzi Jules, which is Shi Tian's genealogy. Its Taoist priests can practice at home and get married and have children without giving up animal production. Its Taoist temple is generally called "descendants temple". There are Lingbao School, Justice School, Jingming School, Yin Qing School and Maoshan School under the road of justice.

2. Quanzhen religion: Quanzhen religion flourished in the Jin and Yuan Dynasties and was the largest and most important sect in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. Representative figures are Wang Zhongyang and Qiu Chuji. Quanzhen religion emphasizes cultivation, and its Taoist must become a vegetarian. Its Taoist temple is generally called "the ten-square jungle". Quanzhen Taoism can be divided into South Sect and North Sect. There are also many tribes, such as the Dragon School, the Encounter Fairy School, the Namo School, the Suishan School, the Lushan School, the Huashan School and the Static School.

3. True Taoism: The Jin Dynasty was founded by Liu Deren in Leling, Cangzhou, and had a great influence in Shandong, Hebei and Kyoto. After the Yuan Dynasty, it gradually declined, and later it merged into Quanzhen religion.

4. Taiyi Road: It was founded by Zhen Bao, a native of Weihui, Henan Province in the Jin Dynasty, and gradually declined after the end of the Yuan Dynasty and merged into Quanzhen Road.

5. Jingmingdao: Also known as Jingmingzhongxiaodao, it was founded by Liu Yu, a Taoist priest in the Western Hills of the Southern Song Dynasty, and declined after the Ming Dynasty.

After the Ming dynasty, Taoism was divided into orthodox school and quanzhen school, and all other schools were under these two schools. In Baiyun Temple in Beijing, there is a collection of sects, which lists 86 Taoist sects.

Taoism is a polytheistic religion.

The immortals that Taoism believes in are as diverse as their ideological sources. There are many sects in the development of Taoism, so different sects worship different immortals. According to records, there are as many as 400 immortals who believe in Taoism. Taoist gods come from three systems: ancient gods, secular gods and ghosts, so these gods include characters in ancient myths and secular gods worshipped by the people. After the Song Dynasty, the Taoist immortal system was basically stereotyped, and there were three categories:

One is divided into Taoist gods, secular gods and immortals. Worship of God is the most worshipped God in Taoism. Common gods are the gods worshipped by the people; Immortals are immortals, which is also the ultimate goal pursued by Taoism.

The second is divided into innate truth, post-innocence and local gods. The innate true saint is a fairy who existed before heaven and earth were divided; The queen fairy is really a fairy who cultivates in the secular world; The land god refers to the god who has made contributions to the country and is worshipped by the people.

The third kind is divided into gods, secular gods, ghosts and immortals. God lives in heaven and is the most worshipped god in Taoism. The earthly branches are gods who are in charge of the earth, mountains and rivers, yin and yang, such as Huang Cheng, wuyue and Hayes. Ghost refers to the heroes and heroines that have been passed down in history and later regarded as gods by Taoism. For example, Guan Yu is regarded as Guan Shengdi. Immortals really refer to Taoist figures who can become immortals and heroes in folk myths.

According to the first classification, what are Taoist gods, secular gods and immortals?

1. The worship system includes Sanqing, Yusi, Wulao, Tiandi, Sun, Moon, Stars, Gods of the Four Sides, Sanguan Emperor and so on.

"Sanqing" is the highest god of Taoist belief. It refers to: Jade Qing Holy Land, Qingtian Yuanshi Buddha, Upper halal Land, Yutian Lingbao Buddha, Taiqing Wonderland, and Daqitian Moral Buddha. Among them, the moral god, also known as Taishang Laojun, is the earliest supreme god worshipped by Taoism, which was formed by Lao Zi Brandon. In the Yuan Dynasty, some Taoist deities in the Jin Dynasty were honored by Heaven, also known as the virtual emperor Daojun or Jade Qing Emperor. Lingbao Tianzun, some supreme gods in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, is also called Taishang Daojun or Shangqing Emperor. In fact, in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Taoism had called the Yuanshi Tianzun, Taishang Laojun and Taishang Laojun "Sanqing", all of which were the supreme gods of Taoism.

"Four Emperors" refer to the four heavenly emperors, namely, the supreme jade emperor of Heaven and Golden Que, the Arctic emperor of Zhongtian Wei Zi, the emperor of Gouchen's palace and the earth emperor Judy. Among them, the jade emperor is in charge of the gods in the sky; The arctic emperor assisted the jade emperor in charge of latitude, sun, moon and stars, and the climate of the four seasons; The emperor assisted the Jade Emperor in charge of the three talents of the North and South Poles, Heaven and Earth, and ruled the stars and the world. After the local emperor only cared about the education of Yin and Yang, the beauty of everything and the beauty of mountains and rivers was the goddess. The so-called "six emperors" refers to the "four emperors", in addition to the East Pole Taiyi to save the suffering Buddha, the South Pole immortal emperor.

"Five Elders" refers to five elders and five elders, that is, the Oriental Green Spirit began as the King of Heaven, also known as Di Qing; South Dan Ling is really a heavenly monarch, also known as Chi Di; West Ling Hao Huang Tianjun, also known as Bai Di; Northern Wuling Tian Xuanjun, also known as Hei Di; In addition, Tai Tianjun, a veteran of Central Yuanling, is also known as the Yellow Emperor. These five gods recorded the merits and demerits of man and heaven.

The sun, moon and stars are also regarded as gods by Taoism.

The gods of the Quartet refer to East Qinglong, South Suzaku, West White Tiger and North Xuanwu.

Sanguandi is the earliest deity worshipped by Taoism, namely the Heavenly Palace, the Underground Palace and the Water Palace.

In addition, the gods worshipped by Taoism include Antarctic real people and dharma gods.

2. The common gods in Taoism refer to the gods that were first spread among the people, sacrificed by people, and then absorbed and worshipped by Taoism. For example, Lei Gong, Fengbo, Door God, God of Wealth, Kitchen God, Town God, Medicine King, Silkworm God, Sorrow God, Wenchang (Wenquxing), Guandi, Yu Wang, Mazu (patron saint of navigation) and so on.

3. Immortals in Taoism. Here refers to all the immortal or immortal people in the world, including the characters in ancient myths. This kind of immortal is divided into real people and immortals. A real person refers to a fairy who was sealed by the emperor. Then there are immortals, immortals, immortals and ghost immortals.

There are four kinds of real people: South China real people refer to Zhuang Zhou, a Taoist scholar in the pre-Qin period; Xu Chong is a real person, and Taoism in the pre-Qin Dynasty is listed in the Imperial Pavilion; Xuan Tong is a real person, Wen Zi, a Taoist scholar in the pre-Qin period, whose name is Xin Shuo; Dongling is a real person, Kang Cangzi, a Taoist scholar in the pre-Qin period. Taoism lists these four real people as the four disciples of the old gentleman (Laozi), and their works are respected as the true classics.

The immortals mainly include Akamatsu, Ning Fengzi, Guang Chengzi, Hong Jing, Rong Chenggong (Lao Zi style), Peng Zu, Jiutian Xuan Nv, Queen Mother of the West, An Qisheng and so on.

San Mao Zhen Jun refers to three brothers, Mao Ying, Mao Gu and Mao Zhong. They are all immortals and are regarded as the founders of Maoshan School.

Yin Changsheng refers to the great-great grandfather of the Empress and Emperor of the Han Dynasty, and his knowledge soared.

Xu Zhenjun refers to Xu Xun, a Taoist priest in Jin Dynasty. Abandoning the official and becoming immortal, he was named as "the magical power to help the true king."

The Eight Immortals are the Eight Immortals of Taoism: Tie Guai Li, Han Zhongli, Lv Dongbin, Zhang, Cao Guojiu, Han Xiangzi, Lan Caihe and He Xiangu.

The five ancestors of the Northern Sect refer to the five founders of the Northern Sect, namely, Wang, Han Zhongli, Liu Haichan and Liu Haichan.

Nanwuzu is the five founders of Nanzong revered by Quanzhen Daoism, namely Ziyang real person Zhang Boduan, Cuixuan real person Shitai, Zixian real person Shi Xue, Cuixu real person Chen Nan and Purple Muslim Bai Yuchan.

Beiqi is seven disciples of Wang Zhongyang, the founder of Quanzhen Taoism, namely Ma Yu, Tan Chuduan, Liu Chuxuan, Qiu Chuji, Wang Chuyi, Hao Datong and Sun Buer. Seven of them were named as real people by Kublai Khan in Yuan Shizu and honored as founders by Quanzhen Taoist priests.