The Pu Cha Daoyuan 蒲察道渊

Pu Cha Daoyuan (1152-1204) was a native of Shangjing in the Jin Dynasty, which is now Acheng County, Heilongjiang Province. His Taoist title was "Tongweizi" (Master of Penetrating Subtlety).

According to Biography of Reverend Pu Cha, the Tongwei Zhenren (Tongwei Zhenren Pu Cha Zunshi Zhuan): Daoyuan’s ancestors had rendered meritorious service in the founding of the Jin Dynasty and were granted the hereditary title of "Qianhu" (a military rank equivalent to a thousand-household leader). From childhood, Pu Cha Daoyuan had a unique natural disposition. After his parents passed away, he followed his uncle, who held an official post, and resided in Chang’an. In the 21st year of the Dading era (1181), while visiting Xingqing Pond, he met Liu Qiong, a female Taoist priest. Learning that Qiu Changchun (Qiu Chuji) was living in seclusion in Longshan Mountain, Daoyuan went to pay his respects and was initiated as a Taoist monk.

Qiu Chuji assigned him to perform labor such as fetching water and serving other Taoist companions. Daoyuan carried out his duties diligently, maintaining consistency year after year, and was repeatedly affirmed and praised by Qiu Chuji (referred to as "Dharma Master" here). In the 26th year of the Dading era (1186), Qiu Changchun descended Longshan Mountain in response to an imperial edict, took up residence at the Quanzhen ancestral court on Zhongnan Mountain, passed through Shimen in Hanyang, and built Quanzhen Hall. He appointed Pu Cha Daoyuan as the abbot of the hall. Local gentry and distinguished guests, admiring Daoyuan’s noble and unsullied character, all came to pay their respects.

In the 2nd year of the Mingchang era (1191), Yu Dongzhen from Ninghai arrived, sent by Qiu Changchun, to practice Taoism together with Daoyuan. The two became close friends in the Taoist community (lit. "friends beyond the mundane world"). In the 6th year of the Mingchang era (1195), the imperial court carried out a screening to regulate Taoist priests. Many recluses and hermits thus flocked to Longchuan and took refuge with Pu Cha Daoyuan, making his following quite large. In the 3rd year of the Cheng’an era (1198), local residents raised funds to obtain the official plaque of "Yuqing Guan" (Yuqing Taoist Temple) for Daoyuan’s Quanzhen Hall. From then on, grand Taoist temples were built on a large scale, and the propagation of Taoist teachings reached its peak.

Pu Cha Daoyuan passed away due to illness in the 4th year of the Taihe era (1204) at the age of 52. In the 10th year of the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Yuan Dynasty (1238), when Yu Dongzhen served as the abbot of Chongyang Palace on Zhongnan Mountain, he had Daoyuan reburied at Tianchi (Heavenly Pond) north of the palace. In the 1st year of the reign of Emperor Xianzong of the Yuan Dynasty (1251), Li Zhenchang (Li Zhichang) was ordered by the imperial court to posthumously confer on Daoyuan the title "Zhenren of Common Brightness, Universal Benefit, and Penetrating Subtlety" ("Tongming Puhui Tongwei Zhenren").