How versatile can a Taoist priest be? Just look at Ge Hong and you'll know

Taoism enables people to concentrate their spirit, act in harmony with the intangible, and provide for all things. Those who succeed in cultivating the Tao usually master many skills and achieve great accomplishments in various aspects. Don't believe it? Let's take a look at the achievements of Ge Hong, a famous Taoist priest in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Ge Hong was a renowned Taoist priest in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and a well-known alchemist and medical scientist. He came from a Taoist family in Jurong, Danyang. His granduncle was Ge Xuan, one of the Four Celestial Masters of the Tongming Hall and the Left Immortal of Taiji. Ge Xuan was also the founding master of the Lingbao School of Taoism and made outstanding contributions to the development of Taoism.

Compared to his granduncle, Ge Hong's contributions to Taoism were no less significant. Ge Hong was also an important master of the Lingbao School. Because he cultivated the Tao at Luofu Mountain, the Nan Maoshan School in Lingnan regarded him as their founding ancestor. However, these are not enough to reflect Ge Hong's excellence. In the history of Taoism, he was an all-round Taoist priest.

During Ge Hong's time, Taoism attracted a large number of believers with its outstanding organizational and cohesive power. These believers could surely practice together, but they were also easily exploited to overthrow the imperial rule. For instance, among the two early Taoist sects, the Taiping Sect launched the Yellow Turban Uprising, and the Five Pecks of Rice Sect also actively responded in Sichuan.

The eminent Buddhist monk Dao'an once said, "Without relying on the sovereign of the state, the Dharma has no basis." This statement revealed the secret of religious development. When Taoism launched uprisings, it naturally provoked a counterattack from the imperial court, and the development of Taoism was thus restricted. Therefore, Ge Hong inherited and transformed the immortal theory of early Taoism. These theories are all in his work "Inner Chapters of Bao Pu Zi". The theory of immortal Taoism was proposed to meet the needs of the rulers.
Ge Hong combined the immortal arts and techniques with the Confucian ethical code and moral teachings, emphasizing that those who seek immortality should base themselves on loyalty, filial piety, harmony, kindness, and trustworthiness. If one does not cultivate moral conduct but only focuses on techniques, one cannot achieve longevity. He also integrated this ethical code and moral teachings with the commandments of Taoism, requiring believers to strictly abide by them. This eliminated the rebellion factor of Taoism and smoothly gained the support of the rulers.

Not only did he require Taoists not to rebel, Ge Hong even participated in suppressing rebellions. This brings us to Ge Hong's military capabilities. In 303 AD, the Western Jin Dynasty was tottering. Zhang Chang and Shi Bing, the leaders of the Yiyang Man people, launched an uprising in Yangzhou, which swept through Jingzhou in no time. Gu Mi, the governor of Wuxing, appointed Ge Hong as the General of the Military Command and he participated in suppressing the rebel army. Ge Hong played an important role and was promoted to General Fubo. However, after the matter was settled, Ge Hong laid down his weapons and armor and didn't care about his military achievements at all. After the establishment of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Ge Hong was conferred the title of Marquis within the Pass due to this military merit.

Stopping war with force is for the people. Another thing that made Ge Hong renowned throughout history is also a cause for the people: traditional Chinese medicine. Ge Hong was proficient in medicine and pharmacology and advocated that Taoist priests also study medical skills. He said, "In ancient times, those who began to cultivate the Tao all studied medical skills concurrently to save themselves from immediate disasters." This was also forced by the reality. Ancient Taoist priests often practiced in the mountains. If they did not concurrently study medical skills, once they fell ill and found no one around and lacked medicine, their lives could be in danger. Therefore, most ancient Taoist priests were good doctors.

The medical classic "Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergencies" written by Ge Hong preserved many early Chinese medical classics and recorded many commonly used prescriptions for treating diseases among the people. It was an emergency handbook carried at all times in ancient times. The record of smallpox disease in this book is the earliest existing scientific literature in medical history. The understanding of tuberculous infectious diseases was over a thousand years earlier than abroad. Ms. Tu Youyou's Nobel Prize was also inspired by this book.

Taoist priest, scholar, general, and medical scientist - so many seemingly contradictory identities were miraculously combined in Ge Hong. This is the merit of cultivating the Tao. In fact, Ge Hong is not the only all-round Taoist priest. Don't these real cases precisely illustrate the benefits of cultivating the Tao? Regarding the essence of traditional culture, we should learn instead of abusing; we should promote instead of discarding. Only by knowing where we come from can we know where we are going.