The Fan Taiqing 范太清

Fan Taiqing (1606–1748) was a native of Jiangfu in Huguang (a historical administrative region covering present-day parts of Hubei and Hunan provinces) during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and he styled himself Qingyunzi (Master of Azure Clouds).

According to Jingai Xindeng (The Lamp of the Heart under the Golden Canopy), in his youth, Fan Taiqing was a chivalrous man of heroic spirit. At that time, Ruan Dacheng, a prominent figure of the era, admired Fan’s reputation and fraudulently issued an imperial edict in the name of the Prince of Fu to summon him. Fan refused to answer the call; instead, he resolutely put on Taoist robes and wandered the land, concealing his whereabouts under the guise of a wanderer. In the first year of the Shunzhi reign (1644), he became a disciple of Sun Yuyang. Later, he went to Mount Mao, where he studied under Shen Taihe and obtained 110 Taoist metaphysical verses (xuanjie).

In the sixth year of the Kangxi reign (1667), Taoist Precept-Master Wang Kunyang came to visit Mount Jingai. Fan Taiqing went to pay his respects, and Wang taught him by bestowing five volumes of Bo Jian (The alms-bowl Mirror, a Taoist canonical text). Soon after, Fan traveled around the country and did not return until ten years later.

It was Sun Yuyang who gave him his current name "Taiqing" and performed the capping ceremony (a traditional coming-of-age ritual) for him; Sun also further imparted to him several chapters of the Jinji (The Brocade Record, a Taoist esoteric text). In the twelfth year of the Yongzheng reign (1734), Fan resided on Mount Tongbai in Tiantai. While digging there, he unearthed ancient stone statues of Bo Yi and Shu Qi (two revered figures in Chinese history known for their loyalty and integrity). At that time, the mountain was occupied by a local tyrant. Fan submitted a memorial to the imperial court to argue for the protection of the site, and the Yongzheng Emperor (Emperor Shizong of the Qing Dynasty) issued a special imperial decree to build the Chongdao Guan (Chongdao Temple) for the worship of Bo Yi, Shu Qi, and the Taoist immortal Zhang Ziyang. In the thirteenth year of the Yongzheng reign (1735), Fan compiled and wrote nine volumes of Xu Bo Jian (The Continuation of the alms-bowl Mirror). In terms of the precepts and doctrines of the Longmen School (a major branch of Quanzhen Taoism), he truly carried on the legacy of Qiu Chuji (founder of the Longmen School) and Wang Changyue, serving as the core inheritor and pivotal figure of the school’s teachings.

After the completion of Chongdao Guan, Fan Taiqing invited Taoist Master Dongli to serve as the chief lecturer there. From then on, he resumed his travels around the country, and in his later years, he returned to settle at Helin Taoist Abbey in Jingu Cave, Hangzhou.

Fan Taiqing alone inherited the doctrinal lineage of four generations of Taoist masters—Shen Dunkong, Wei Pingyang, Shen Taihe, and Sun Yuyang—and was recognized as the Ninth-Generation Grand Master of the Longmen School.