What is Southern Celestial Masters' Sect 南天师道?

Nantian Shi Dao (Southern Celestial Master Dao) refers to the Celestial Master Dao in the southern region during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. In the early period of the Southern Dynasties, the organization of Tianshi Dao was loose and its rules and disciplines were lax, which hindered its further development. Under such circumstances, the Taoist priest Lu Xiujing reformed the Tianshi Dao in the south. He rectified the organizational form of Taoism and further improved the system of the Three Assemblies.

Early Taoism used the system of the Three Assemblies to strengthen the subordination relationship between Taoist officials and Taoist believers. It stipulated that on the days of the Three Assemblies, all Taoist believers must go to the office of their master to participate in religious activities, such as reporting the household registration to their master, and Taoist officials preaching rules and precepts to Taoist believers. However, this important system gradually fell into disuse after the era of the Three Zhangs (Zhang Daoling, Zhang Heng, and Zhang Lu), leading to the laxity of the Taoist organization. Lu Xiujing reaffirmed this system to re-strengthen the Taoist organization.

In addition, Lu Xiujing rectified the chaotic situation of name registers, strengthened the system of household registration management, prohibited Taoist officials from appointing positions on their own, and improved the system of Taoist officials' promotion by rank. At the same time, he improved the Taoist rituals and precepts. Based on the Lingbao fasting methods and Shangqing fasting methods, he formulated Taoist fasting rituals, forming a relatively complete set of rules and rituals for fasting and offering sacrifices, which initially established a system for Taoist fasting and sacrificial ceremonies.

He also classified and sorted out Taoist classics, categorized the scriptures according to the "Three Grottoes" and compiled Catalogue of Scriptures of the Three Grottoes, which was the first catalog of Taoist scriptures in the history of Chinese Taoism. Later, the compilation and collection of Taoist scriptures all took the classification method of the Three Grottoes as the basic principle, supplemented by the "Four Supplements".

Lu Xiujing's rectification and reform of Taoism enabled Taoism to achieve further development in the south. The southern Taoism after Lu Xiujing's reform is usually called "Nantian Shi Dao".