The Lingbao Sect is a Taoist school that emerged in the mid-Eastern Jin Dynasty, active in the regions south of the Yangtze River, with Gezao Mountain as its main mountain. It appeared roughly around the same time as the Shangqing Sect. This sect was formed by believing in and inheriting the Lingbao Scripture system, and it also got its name from mainly transmitting and practicing this scripture system.
The Lingbao Sect reveres Yuanshi Tianzun (Primeval Lord of Heaven) as the highest deity. It is generally believed in modern Taoism that Yuanshi Tianzun, one of the "Three Pure Ones and Four Sovereigns" (the most recognized supreme deities in Taoism), owes its status to the influence of this sect.
The main cultivation methods of the Lingbao Sect are talismanic rituals and teachings. Influenced by the Shangqing Sect, it also emphasizes practices such as preserving the spirit and reciting scriptures. Standing between the old and new Taoist schools of its time, it not only retained the traditions of Tianshi Dao but also incorporated new magical techniques from the Shangqing Sect, which allowed it to attract believers from more diverse backgrounds and walks of life than the Shangqing Sect.
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The Lingbao Sect attached great importance to collective religious activities, but these were different from the mass gatherings of Tianshi Dao. Its believers chanted scriptures and observed fasts together. Through ritual ceremonies, they used worship and other methods to restrain crimes such as killing, theft, and adultery; they purified "evil words" from their mouths by chanting scriptures; and they drove away greed and evil thoughts through the practice of preserving the spirit.
The Lingbao Sect advocated that those who practice Taoism should not only seek personal immortality but also help others do good deeds, attain the Dao, and save all sentient beings. By the Tang Dynasty, the Lingbao scriptures, rituals, and cultivation theories were gradually absorbed by the Shangqing Maoshan Sect.
During the Northern Song, Jin, and Yuan dynasties, the Lingbao Altar on Gezao Mountain, together with the Zhengyi Altar on Longhu Mountain in Jiangxi and the Shangqing Altar on Maoshan Mountain in Jiangsu, formed the "Three Mountains of Talismans". After the Yuan Dynasty, the Lingbao Sect was merged into Zhengyi Dao.
