The Mo Yueding 莫月鼎

Mo Yueding (1223-1291) was a native of Huzhou in western Zhejiang during the late Song and early Yuan dynasties. His original name was Qiyan; he also went by the names Dongyi and the literary name Yueding. People of his time often referred to him as Mo Yueding or Mo Zhengguan (Zhengguan, a respectful title for accomplished Taoists).

In his youth, he studied Confucian classics. Later, he became fascinated by Taoist doctrines and traveled to Qingcheng Mountain, where he studied under Xu Wuji and learned the Five-Thunder Method (a core ritual technique in Taoism for invoking thunder deities to exorcise evil and bless people).

He also went to Jiangxi Province together with Shen Zhenlei, a fellow townsman, and served as a disciple of Zhenren Zou Tiebi from Nanfeng. From Zou, he received the scriptural texts on the Thunder-Subduing and Investigation Method passed down by Imperial Attendant Wang (Wang Wenqing).

In the late Song Dynasty, he practiced Taoist rituals in eastern Zhejiang, and his practices were often efficacious.

In the year of Jichou during the Zhiyuan reign period of Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty (1289; some records also date it to the year of Jimao), the emperor sent envoys to summon him to the inner hall of the Luanjing Palace (the Yuan Dynasty’s northern capital). After Mo Yueding demonstrated his Taoist arts and proved their efficacy, the emperor ordered him to take charge of Taoist affairs. However, Mo declined on account of his old age, so the emperor provided him with an official post carriage to return to the south.

He used Taoist talismans and sacred water to treat people’s illnesses, and all patients were cured immediately.

Mo Yueding was a renowned master of the Shenxiao School (a major Taoist school focusing on thunder rituals) during the transition from the Song to the Yuan Dynasty. He propagated Taoist teachings in eastern Zhejiang and Jiangxi, and had many disciples—among whom only Wang Jihua and Pan Wuya inherited his true teachings.

Detailed accounts of his life can be found in The Stele Biography of Mo Yueding by Song Lian and Volume 5 of Continued Mirror of the Dao: Biographies of Immortal Practitioners Through the Ages.