The Lin Shoum Mu 林守木

Lin Shoum Mu was a native of Xianju, Zhejiang Province, during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, with his ancestral home in Fujian Province. His literary name was Maoyang.

Lin Shoum Mu was born intelligent and eloquent, gifted with persuasive speech. In the second year of the Kangxi reign (1663), he went to Jingai Mountain, visited Tao Jing'an, and stayed there for over a month. In the fifth year of the Kangxi reign (1666), he traveled to Dade Guan (Dade Taoist Temple), paid his respects to Wang Changyue, and presented a jiyu (a short poetic verse used in Taoism to convey philosophical insights or spiritual guidance) to him.

Later, he went to Yuhang County, where he met Chiyangzi. Chiyangzi took him back to Hangzhou, imparted to him the Dadong Zhenjing (The Great Cavern True Scripture—a foundational Taoist scripture), and instructed him to travel to sacred sites such as Tianmu Mountain, Huangshan Mountain, and Putuo Mountain. Through these journeys, Lin Shoum Mu’s once vigorous and ambitious aspirations faded away; he became gentle in demeanor and unassuming in speech, no longer relying on forced self-restraint, and ultimately achieved complete perfection in his Taoist practice.

In the eleventh year of the Kangxi reign (1672), he returned to Hangzhou and paid ritual respect to Chiyangzi. He then presented the handwritten scroll by Wang Changyue (as a token of his spiritual inheritance). Chiyangzi performed the Taoist coronation ritual for him, gave him the current name "Shoum Mu," and successively bestowed upon him the Chuzhen Precepts (Initial Truth Precepts), Zhongji Precepts (Middle Ultimate Precepts), and Tianxian Dajie (Great Precepts of Heavenly Immortals). Later, Lin Shoum Mu resided at Jingu Cave and lived to the age of 94. He was the 8th-generation Daoshi Lüshi (Taoist Precept Master) of the Longmen (Dragon Gate) School.

Details of his life story can be found in Jingai Xindeng (The Lamp of the Heart at Golden Canopy).