The Li Zhifang 李志方

Li Zhifang (1185-1260) was a native of Anyang, Xiangzhou (present-day Anyang City, Henan Province) during the Jin and Yuan dynasties. His original given name was Yi, his courtesy name was Youzhi, and his Taoist title was Chongxuanzi.

As recorded in The Epitaph of Li Chongxuanzi on His Return to Truth by Gao Ming, during the Da'an and Chongqing eras (1209-1213), Emperor Xuanzong of the Jin Dynasty, then Prince Feng, came to govern Zhangde Prefecture. Li Zhifang was recommended by prominent local families (literally "families with substantial wealth") and selected to serve as a gongcao yuan (a low-ranking official in charge of administrative affairs such as personnel and documents).

He was known for his integrity and fairness, and was particularly proficient in arithmetic.

In the first year of the Zhining era (1213), Emperor Xuanzong ascended to the throne.

In the second year (1214), when the emperor traveled to Bianliang (present-day Kaifeng, Henan Province) (a royal tour referred to as "xing" in ancient China), Li Zhifang accompanied him as part of the imperial retinue and was later appointed as a clerk in the Ministry of Revenue. Later, he met a senior disciple of Ma Danyang (one of the "Seven Real Persons" of the Quanzhen School) surnamed Lu, and thus became a Quanzhen Taoist monk. In the second year of the Yuanguang era (1224), when Qiu Chuji (also known as Real Person Changchun, the founder of the Longmen Sect of Quanzhen Taoism) returned to the capital, Li Zhifang followed Lu to the capital to pay his respects to Qiu.

Qiu Chuji renamed him Zhifang and bestowed upon him the Taoist title "Chongxuanzi".

After returning to Zhangde, Zhao Deyong, the governor-general, invited him to serve as the abbot of Yingxiang Taoist Temple; in the seventh year of the Zhengda era (1230), Xiao Zhongtong, the supreme commander, 奉旨 (by imperial order) invited him to preside over Tianqing Taoist Temple.

In the seventh year of the reign of Emperor Xianzong of the Yuan Dynasty (1257), a royal prince admired Li Zhifang’s lofty Taoist virtues and deeds, so he sent envoys to present Li with a golden crown and a feather robe woven with cloud patterns, and conferred upon him the additional title "Real Person Chongxuan".

Li Zhifang passed away due to illness in the first year of the Zhongtong era at the age of seventy-six. He authored several volumes of The Classic of Earth and Origin (Diyuan Jing), which were circulated in the world.

Accounts of his life can also be found in The Stele of Qixia Taoist Temple and Volume 6 of Ganshui Xianyuan Lu (Records of Immortal Origins by the Sweet Water).