Northern Celestial Master Dao
A branch of the Celestial Master Dao (Tianshi Dao).
During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the organization of Celestial Master Dao in northern China became lax, with its rituals and regulations neglected, and frequent uprisings led by folk Taoist groups occurred. In the second year of Shenrui (415 CE) during the reign of Emperor Mingyuan of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Kou Qianzhi, a Taoist on Mount Song, claimed that Taishang Laojun (the Supreme Venerable Lord) had conferred upon him the title of "Master" and bestowed upon him 20 volumes of The New Precepts of Chanting in the Clouds, ordering him to promulgate new regulations, rectify Taoism, eliminate the "false teachings" of the Three Zhangs (Zhang Ling, Zhang Heng, Zhang Lu)—including the collection of grain taxes, monetary levies, and sexual practices—and focus instead on ritual propriety, supplemented by alchemy and meditative cultivation.
By the eighth year of Taichang (423 CE) under Emperor Mingyuan, Kou Qianzhi further claimed that Li Pu (a divine figure) had descended on Mount Song, granting him over 60 volumes of The True Scripture of Registers and Charts to assist the "Northern Peaceful True Lord," subdue ghosts and spirits, and transmit teachings to disciples.
Kou Qianzhi’s reforms of traditional Taoism included:
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- Upholding "ritual propriety" as the standard and adhering to the principles of loyalty and filial piety. He opposed the use of Celestial Master Dao to rebel against authority and strongly condemned "treasonous" acts by Taoist followers who adopted titles like Li Hong or Liu Ju.
- Appointing Taoist officials (libationers) based on the Confucian principle of meritocracy, abolishing the practice of private appointment of Taoist positions by libationers and the old system of hereditary titles, thus reforming the tradition of the Three Zhangs’ descendants inheriting the title of Celestial Master.
- Abolishing the regional administrative titles ("Zhi") used in Sichuan during the Three Zhangs’ era, discontinuing their use.
- Eliminating the grain and monetary tax system and sexual practices of the Three Zhangs’ period. Instead, Taoist followers were required to pay only 30 sheets of paper, one writing brush, and one ink stick annually to support ritual ceremonies for salvation. He also added Taoist precepts and ritual observances based on Confucian ethical standards.
Kou Qianzhi’s reforms of Celestial Master Dao gained the support of Emperor Wudi of the Northern Wei Dynasty. "Thus, the Celestial Master was venerated, the new teachings were promoted, and they were proclaimed to the whole nation, making Taoism flourish greatly" (Weishu·Records of Buddhism and Taoism). The Northern Celestial Master Dao reformed by Kou Qianzhi is academically referred to as Northern Celestial Master Dao or New Celestial Master Dao.
