The Huang Shouzheng 黄守正

Huang Shouzheng was a native of Changzhou, Jiangsu Province (now part of Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province) during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

His courtesy name was Deyi, and his literary name was Xutangzi.

As recorded in Jingai Xindeng (The Lamp of the Heart at Golden Canopy): "His family had been engaged in Confucian scholarship for generations. In his youth, he was a Confucian scholar. Later, when he traveled to Lingyan Mountain, he met an extraordinary person (a hermit or spiritual adept), who told him that he was destined to renounce secular life, become a 'sanren' (a free-spirited hermit unbound by worldly obligations), and take the lead in guiding spiritual practice on a mountain. From then on, he harbored the aspiration to become a Taoist Priest.

In the 16th year of the Chongzhen reign (1643), he traveled to Maoshan Mountain and later returned to Tiantaishan Mountain, where he became friends with Lü Yunyin.

Subsequently, he went to Baiyun Guan (White Cloud Taoist Temple) in Yanjing (an ancient name for Beijing) and studied under Wang Changyue, from whom he received the Chuzhen Precepts (Initial Truth Precepts). Later, he established Taiwei Lüyuan (Taiwei Precept Academy) in Huguan.

In the 3rd year of the Kangxi reign (1664), he further received the Zhongji Precepts (Middle Ultimate Precepts) at Zongyang Palace in Wulin (an ancient name for Hangzhou). Soon after, he received the Tianxian Dajie (Great Precepts of Heavenly Immortals) as well.

At that time, Lü Yunyin also established a Precept Academy on Guanshan Mountain. The two academies stood alongside each other, and Huang and Lü jointly promoted and expounded Taoist doctrines and precepts.

As a result, the Taoist Lü Sect (Precept Sect) flourished greatly, and both of them were honored as the 8th-generation Lüshi (Taoist Precept Masters)."