Lives of Quanzhen Founders at Zhongnan 终南山祖庭仙真内传

Written by Li Daoqian in the Yuan Dynasty.

Three volumes, included in the Biographies category of the Dongshen Section in the Daozang.

Lives of Quanzhen Founders at Zhongnan

The author was a Taoist priest of the Quanzhen School, who resided at the Quanzhen Ancestral Court on Zhongnan Mountain for more than fifty years. This book records the life stories of thirty-seven Quanzhen Taoists during the Jin and Yuan dynasties. It first describes He Yuchan and Li Lingyang, who built thatched huts and cultivated the Dao with Wang Chongyang in Liujiang Village at the same time, followed by Wang Chongyang’s disciples Ma Danyang and Qiu Changchun, as well as his second-generation disciple Yu Dongzhen and others.

From the book, we can see the doctrine of the Quanzhen Taoists advocating the harmony of the three religions and emphasizing the cultivation of morality, life and inner nature. It is important material for researching the early history of the Quanzhen School.