The Nanwu Sect 南无派

A branch of Quanzhen Dao, which reveres Tan Chuduan, one of the Seven Northern Perfect Ones, as its founding patriarch. Tan Chuduan, styled Tongzheng and known by the Taoist name Changzhenzi, was a disciple of Wang Chongyang, the founder of Quanzhen Dao. He passed away in the 25th year of the Dading era of the Jin Dynasty (1185). In the 6th year of the Zhiyuan era of Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty (1269), he was posthumously awarded the title "Changzhen Yunshui Yunde Zhenren"; in the 3rd year of the Zhida era of Emperor Wuzong (1310), he was further granted the title "Changzhen Ningshen Xuanjing Yunde Zhenjun".

According to Genealogy of the Nanwu Taoist Sect, Tan Chuduan was regarded as the first-generation patriarch. The lineage was passed down to the fifth-generation patriarch Yang Lixin by the early Ming Dynasty, and then through Hu Xuanzong, Ma Weishan, Liu Zhidong, Zhou Miaochao, Chen Xianhou, and Zhu Ligang to the twelfth-generation patriarch Xu Quqian by the late Ming Dynasty. Later, starting from the thirteenth-generation patriarch Kong Yunfeng in the early Qing Dynasty, it was passed down through Luo Xiaoyuan, Zheng Shangcheng, Xing Gongguang, Gao Chengyue, Zeng Bixian, and Zhen Youxu to the twentieth-generation patriarch Liu Mingrui. Liu Mingrui (1839–1931), known by the Taoist name Panchanzi, lived in seclusion at Taoyuan Guan in the capital (Beijing) and wrote works such as Daoyuan Jingwei Ge (Song of the Essence of the Source of Dao), Luoxi Yi Kao (Study of the Luo River Diagrams and Changes), Qiaojiao Dongzhang (Chapters of the Knocking Cave), and Qingjing Jing Tuzhu (Illustrated Annotations on the Scripture of Purity and Tranquility). These works expounded on inner alchemy and were compiled into Panchanzi Daoshu Sanzhong (Three Taoist Books by Panchanzi), which was published. He was the only patriarch of the sect whose works have survived to this day. Liu Mingrui claimed that he "disseminated the Dharma in the Longmen Sect and received the Dharma in the Nanwu Sect", suggesting that he had also received teachings from the Longmen Sect. The followers of this sect were active in North China and Northeast China, but their influence and power were far less than those of the Longmen Sect.