What is Shangqing School 上清派?

The Shangqing School was founded in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In the second year of Xingning in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (364), Yang Xi, a Taoist, claimed that Lady Wei (referring to Wei Huacun, the late female libationer of the Tianshi Dao) and other immortals descended to grant him 31 volumes of the Shangqing scriptures, 52 records of true transmissions, and practices and other matters. The content was written in clerical script and passed to Xu Mi and his son Xu Hui in Jurong (now part of Jiangsu Province) for copying and practice. At the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wang Lingqi, a Taoist, rewrote and expanded it, making it widely popular in the world, thus forming a new Taoist school. Later, Tao Hongjing collected the handwriting of Yang Xi and Xu Mi, compiled Zhengao (True Declarations), which specifically recorded the early doctrines, techniques, and history of the Shangqing School, as well as more than 200 volumes of Taoist scriptures such as Dengzhen Yinjue (Secret Instructions for Ascending to Immortality) and Zhenling Weiye Tu (Chart of the Ranks and Positions of True Spirits), promoting the Shangqing scriptures and methods. Through decades of painstaking efforts by him and his disciples, the doctrines and organization of the Shangqing School gradually became complete. In fact, Maoshan had become the center of the Shangqing School of Taoism at that time, and later the Shangqing School was called the "Maoshan School".

Taoists of the Maoshan School are called "Shangqing disciples" or "San Dong disciples" within the Taoist community. They mainly practice in Taoist temples as monks and pay attention to cultural and religious moral cultivation. They study Taoist scriptures, abide by precepts, and perform rituals mostly in accordance with ancient methods. The Maoshan School has a relatively systematic doctrine and standardized religious rituals. Many Taoists are good at writing; even in the Song and Yuan dynasties, there were still figures like Du Daojian and Zhang Yu who were famous for their metaphysical poems and essays.

In the history of Chinese Taoism, the Maoshan School has an important position. It not only became the mainstream of Taoism during the Sui and Tang dynasties but also made great contributions to Taoist theory and cultivation techniques, with a relatively complete organizational system. Therefore, before the various amulet sects merged into the Zhengyi Dao, it stood side by side with the Longhu Sect and the Gezao Sect as one of the three amulet sects. After the merger, it could still be passed down as a small sect until modern times.