The Da Jingzhi 笪净之 — 26th Patriarch of Maoshan Shangqing
Paul PengThere is a detail in Da Jingzhi 笪净之's biography that stays with you: as a child, when playing, he would draw images of Daoist practitioners on the ground. It is the kind of detail that hagiographers include because it points to something real — a disposition that was present before any formal training, a natural orientation toward the tradition that would define his life. Da Jingzhi (1068–1113), courtesy name Qingyuan (清源 — "Clear Source"), was a native of Jinling (present-day Nanjing) during the Northern Song Dynasty. He became the 26th patriarch of the Maoshan Shangqing school, renovated temples, compiled ritual codes, accompanied his master to an imperial audience, and died without illness at 46 — a life that was, by any measure, fully lived.
Da Jingzhi's father was himself fond of Daoist arts and was known by the courtesy title "Mr. Daweng" (大翁先生). Growing up in a household with this orientation, Da Jingzhi absorbed an interest in Daoism from his earliest years. The biographical record's note that he would draw images of Daoist practitioners on the ground while playing is not merely charming — it is evidence of the kind of early, spontaneous engagement with the tradition that the Daoist biographical tradition consistently identified as a sign of genuine vocation.
His father recognized this orientation and acted on it: he took Da Jingzhi to Maoshan Mountain, where the boy was placed under the instruction of Liu Hunkang (刘混康) — one of the most significant Daoist masters of the period, whose name also appears in the biography of Mao Fengrou (the 24th patriarch) as the transmitter of the complete Shangqing teaching. Da Jingzhi was thus entering the same lineage current that had shaped his predecessors, under the same teacher who had transmitted it to the generation before him.
Da Jingzhi's years of training under Liu Hunkang on Maoshan were the foundation of everything that followed. The Shangqing tradition's emphasis on interior visualization, scripture recitation, and direct engagement with the celestial hierarchy required sustained, disciplined formation — the kind that only a qualified teacher, over years of close contact, could provide.
After Liu Hunkang received the imperial edict to serve as abbot of Shangqing Chuxiang Palace, Da Jingzhi returned to Maoshan and took charge of the affairs of Yuanfu Palace (元符宫). This transition — from disciple accompanying his master to administrator managing a major temple complex — marks the moment when Da Jingzhi's own tenure as a Daoist leader effectively began.
The biographical record identifies two major contributions of Da Jingzhi's tenure: the renovation of temples and monasteries, and the compilation of Daoist ritual codes and ceremonies. These two activities — one physical, one textual — together represent the full scope of what institutional Daoist leadership required.
In the 4th year of the Chongning era (1105 CE), Da Jingzhi was bestowed the title "Dharma Master of Maintaining Quietude and Concentrating Harmony" (守静凝和法师 — Shǒujìng Nínghé Fǎshī) and concurrently oversaw Chongxi Temple (崇熙观). The title is a precise description of the inner condition that the Shangqing tradition aimed to cultivate:
In the 3rd year of the Zhenghe era (1113 CE), Da Jingzhi passed away without illness, at the age of 46. The biographical record's emphasis on the absence of illness — the same detail noted in Cheng Yanzhao's biography — carries the same significance: a peaceful, illness-free death was understood as evidence of genuine cultivation, a body and spirit that had been sufficiently refined to depart without struggle.
Emperor Huizong issued an imperial edict posthumously awarding Da Jingzhi the title "Mr. Chongyin" (崇隐先生 — "Gentleman of Venerable Seclusion") and officially conferring on him the full honorific "Dharma Master of Maintaining Quietude and Concentrating Harmony, Attendant of Ningshen Hall" (守静凝和法师宁神院侍辰). The posthumous recognition by one of the most Daoism-engaged emperors in Song history is a measure of the standing Da Jingzhi had achieved within the tradition's institutional hierarchy.
Da Jingzhi's position as the 26th patriarch of the Maoshan Shangqing school places him two generations after Mao Fengrou (the 24th patriarch) and four generations after Cheng Yanzhao (the 20th patriarch). The three biographies together trace the Maoshan Shangqing lineage across more than a century of Song history — from the early consolidation of the dynasty through the cultural flourishing of the Huizong era.
What the three biographies share is a common pattern: genuine cultivation, institutional service, careful transmission, and the kind of recognition — imperial titles, posthumous honors — that the Song court reserved for practitioners it considered authentically accomplished. The Maoshan Shangqing school's ability to produce such figures across multiple generations is itself evidence of the tradition's vitality during this period.
