The Bei Benheng 贝本恒

Bei Benheng (?–1758) was a native of Huaiyang (now part of Jiangsu Province) during the Qing Dynasty.

According to Volume 7 of A Textual Research on the Origin and Development of the Changchun Taoist School: Bei Benheng’s courtesy name was Changji. At the age of 17, he became a Taoist Priest by studying under Yuan Zhengyu from Wudang Mountain. Later, he sought out Wang Changyue and received the precepts for cultivating the true self (a core Taoist practice focusing on spiritual purification and moral refinement) from him.

In the 58th year of the Kangxi reign (1719), Bei built a thatched hut on Gaochi Mountain in Wukang. There, he engaged in the study of profound Taoist mysteries and quiet cultivation, and attained the "ancestral qi talismans" (a type of Taoist talisman believed to channel primordial vital energy). Many people came to him to pray for blessings, and he was respectfully called a "True Person" (a title for accomplished Taoist practitioners) by the people of his time.

In the 10th year of the Qianlong reign (1745), he took office as the abbot of Dongxiao Palace in Yuhang. In the 12th year of the Qianlong reign (1747), he successfully prayed for an end to the epidemic in Lin’an. Bei Benheng’s Taoist studies followed the tradition of True Person Hao Taigu. In his early years, he clarified the origin of the Dao of the I Ching (Book of Changes); in his later years, he reached the realm of immortals (a high state of Taoist cultivation). He wrote An Expository Study of the I Ching and The Essential Meaning of Huangdi and Laozi, which have been passed down to later generations.

Bei Benheng passed away in November of the 23rd year of the Qianlong reign (1758) at the age of 71. His disciple Chen Ren’en followed his teachings for 30 years and fully understood the essence of his doctrines.

(From Biography of Master Bei of Dongxiao Palace in The Collected Works of Pinluo Studio)