The Jiang Zongying 蒋宗瑛

Jiang Zongying, whose courtesy name was Dayu and literary name was "Yuhai Xianren" (Immortal of the Jade Sea), was a native of Pilin (now part of Jiangsu Province) during the late Song and early Yuan dynasties.

In his childhood, he studied the classics required for the imperial civil service examinations. When he grew up, he traveled extensively across the country and later resided on Jinting Mountain in the Yue region (ancient name for the area covering present-day Zhejiang and parts of Jiangsu). He discovered the Dengzhen Yinjue (Esoteric Instructions for Ascending to Immortality) on a stone wall, and later received ordination as a Taoist priest under Tang Zhidao.

During the reign of Emperor Lizong of the Southern Song Dynasty, there was a prolonged period of rain that would not stop. Jiang Zongying was summoned to the imperial capital to perform prayers for clear weather, and soon after, the rain ceased completely. The emperor personally wrote three plaques, inscribed with "Shangqing Zongtan" (Supreme Clarity Ancestral Altar), "Shengde Renyou Dian" (Hall of Sage Virtue and Benevolent Blessing), and "Jingfu Wannian Dian" (Hall of Eternal Blessed Prosperity), and bestowed them upon him. Later, Jiang Zongying submitted a memorial requesting to return to the mountain, but the emperor refused. Thus, he feigned illness to leave the capital and resumed his travels across mountains and rivers.

The emperor then issued an imperial order appointing the virtuous scholar Jing Yuanfan to act as the Grand Master and Dharma Leader in his stead. In the 18th year of the Zhiyuan era of the Yuan Dynasty (1281), Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty (Kublai Khan) issued a special imperial edict summoning Jiang Zongying, who could not decline. When he finally arrived in Yandu (the Yuan capital, present-day Beijing), he passed away without illness in the sixth month. He was posthumously titled "Mr. Chongmiao" (meaning "the gentleman of Tranquil Subtlety").

Jiang Zongying was the 38th Grand Master of the Shangqing Sect of Mount Maoshan.

(From Records of Mount Maoshan, Volume 12)