The Shenxiao School 神霄派

A new talismanic school emerging at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty. Its founder was Wang Wenqing. The origin of its name is said to stem from the myth fabricated by Lin Lingsu.

At the end of the Zhenghe period (1111-1117), Lin Lingsu was summoned by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty. He reported: "There are nine heavens, and Shenxiao is the highest. Its realm is called a mansion. The Jade Pure King of Shenxiao, the eldest son of the Supreme God, rules the south and is titled the Emperor of Longevity, which is Your Majesty." (History of the Song Dynasty・Biography of Fang Ji)

Emperor Huizong was overjoyed and called himself "the Emperor, the Leader of Taoism". He ordered all prefectures across the country to build grand Shenxiao Jade Pure Temples of Longevity to worship the Great Emperor of Shenxiao.

Thus, the name "Shenxiao" became dazzling to people's eyes and ears, and the Taoists of this school adopted it as their school name. According to Zhang Yuchu's Xianquan Collection, Volume 1, Xuanwen and other sources, the Shenxiao School originated from the Jade Pure True King of Shenxiao, and True Lord Wang, the Fire Master, was the founder who propagated the teaching. The so-called Jade Pure True King of Shenxiao is undoubtedly fictional. Even the claim that True Lord Wang, the Fire Master (named Wang Zihua, with biographies in the Tang-dynasty Continuation of the Comprehensive Mirror of True Immortals Through the Ages Practicing Taoism and Records of Hengshan), propagated the teaching is hard to believe.

Based on relevant materials, the founder of this school should be Wang Wenqing. His contemporaries Lin Lingsu and Zhang Jixian also made contributions to the establishment of the school.

Wang Wenqing (1093-1153), styled Yudao (or Shudao) and known as Chonghezi, was from Nanfeng, Jiangxi.

He claimed that during the Xuanhe period, he met Lord Wang, the Fire Master, by the Yangtze River, who taught him the way to fly his spirit to pay homage to the Emperor; and later met an old woman (said to be the Thunder Mother) in a wild marsh, who gave him several volumes of thunder scriptures. "With these, he helped many people and became famous all over the rivers and lakes" (Yu Ji's Record of Wang Shichen, the True Lord of Spiritual Wisdom, Peace, and Marvelous Insight). Emperor Huizong heard of his fame, sent envoys to summon him, and appointed him as Taisu Daifu and a collator of the Ningshen Hall.

He was later promoted to Shichen, awarded the title of Jinyu Yake, and given the honorific "Mr. Chongxu Tongmiao". It was said that he could predict celestial phenomena and was skilled in praying for rain and subduing demons. In the late years of Emperor Huizong's reign, he repeatedly advised on matters of political reform and military training, but Emperor Huizong refused to accept his advice. So he flicked his sleeves and returned to Nanfeng. He died in the 23rd year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty (1153). The main feature of the Shenxiao School is the transmission and practice of the Shenxiao Thunder Method, namely the Five Thunder Method. This method takes talismans and incantations as its basic content, combines with inner alchemy, and focuses on inner alchemy cultivation with talismans and incantations as auxiliary.

Wang Wenqing said: "The method of beheading and examining the Five Thunders takes Tao (referring to inner cultivation) as the essence and Dharma (referring to talismans) as the function." With the foundation of inner cultivation, "by my original spirit, I summon the spirits of the void; by my own qi, I combine with the qi of the void, plus the steps of the gang, the secret formulas, the incantations, and the magic talismans, I can manipulate the mechanism of transformation, just like a perfect fit. I can move thunder in my palm, contain heaven and earth in my body, make wind when I say wind, make rain when I say rain, so the response is as fast as a shadow following a form." (Collection of Taoist Methods, Volume 6, The Great Method of Beheading and Examining the Five Thunders of the Supreme Shenxiao Jade Pivot)

Precisely because this school attached so much importance to inner alchemy, it was quite different from the old talismanic schools and could be called a new talismanic school. After Wang Wenqing's death, his disciples split into many branches and continued to spread in the vast area south of the Yangtze River. Collection of Taoist Methods, Volume 84, On Thunder Methods states: "The ancestor Shichen met True Lord Wang, the Fire Master, who taught him the secret essentials of thunder. After his ascension, it has been passed down to this day. However, within fifty or sixty years, different schools with the same name have emerged in a jumble, so that those who are interested cannot find the right path." Zhang Yuchu's Ten Rules of the Taoist Gate also says: "From True Lord Wang and the Supreme Master downwards in the Shenxiao School, there were various masters such as Zhang, Li, Bai, Sa, Pan, Yang, Tang, and Mo, who promoted it extensively. The texts of celestial thunder and Fengyue were taught among masters and disciples. Sometimes one general had several different schools, or different schools had different talismans, leading to many errors, distortions, and falsehoods concealing the truth, thus causing mutual slander and confusion."

According to Yu Ji's Record of Wang Shichen, the only one who obtained Wang Wenqing's true transmission was Gao Ziyu from Xincheng. Gao Ziyu "taught it to Xu Ciju from Linjiang, then to Nie Tianxi from Jinxi. Later, the most prominent among those who received the transmission was Tan Wuzhen from Linchuan, so people did not dare to call him by his name but only 'Tan Five Thunders'." After entering the Yuan Dynasty, Tan Wuzhen was still alive, passing it to Luo Xuzhou from Luling, then to Xiao Yuxuan and Zhou Lili. Zhou intended to pass it to his son, while Xiao passed it to Hu Daoxuan, known as "the Wild Guest of Shenxiao", who practiced the method in areas such as Guanshan, Jingxiang, Jianghan, Huaihai, Min, and Zhe. While Wang Wenqing's disciples continued to pass on the teachings, there were also branches honoring Lin Lingsu and Zhang Jixian as ancestors spreading the school. Collection of Taoist Methods, Volume 98, The Great Method of Shenxiao Golden Fire Heavenly Ding has a postscript by Liu Yu: "The Celestial Master passed it to Lin Shichen, the Jade True Leader, who passed it to Zhang Ruhui, then to Chen Daoyi, then to Xue Dongzhen and Lu Junye, and then passed the Shenxiao school lineage to Xu Bida. Xu also did not obtain the texts. Lu Junye passed away by the Jian River, and before passing, he took out the books from under his pillow and gave them to Yu (Liu Yu referring to himself). The method was passed down by Lu Junye, and the lineage continued from Xu Junye."

In the same book, Volume 253, On the Remnants of the Earth Deities: "The method of the Earth Deities Department actually originated from Celestial Master Xu Jing (i.e., Zhang Jixian), then became prominent through True Official Wang Zongjing, the Lord of Tianbao Cave; True Official Wu Daoxian from Qingcheng; Immortal Official Liu Boqi from Qingzhou; and True Person Zhong Ming, the Wei Hui from Guozhou, who successively became masters.

Later, there were countless successors in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, etc. How many of their names are well-known... Later, there were the Su Daoji School, the Wenzhou Orthodox School, the Li Pengtou School, the Yu Yaoqing School, the Xuanling Continuation School, and so on, too many to count." Chen Nan and Bai Yuchan of the Southern School of the Golden Elixir School also concurrently transmitted the Shenxiao Thunder Method, and Bai Yuchan even wrote many works on thunder methods. Bai Yuchan passed it to his disciple Peng Si, who passed it to Lin Boqian, forming another branch of Shenxiao. In the Yuan Dynasty, the most famous successor of the Shenxiao School was Mo Yueding. There are different records in various books about his name, style, native place, and birth and death years. According to Song Lian's Stele Inscription of Mo Yueding in the Yuan Dynasty, Mo Yueding, whose original name was Qiyan, changed his name to Zhanyi after becoming a Taoist, and called himself Yueding. He was from Huzhou. In his youth, he studied for the imperial examinations but failed, so he left home to become a Taoist. Later, he entered Zhangren Temple in Qingcheng Mountain, Sichuan, and received the Five Thunder Method from Xu Wuji. Then he heard that Zou Tiebi (or Zou Tiebi) from Nanfeng, Jiangxi, had obtained Wang Wenqing's thunder book on beheading and examining, which he kept secret and would not pass on. So Mo Yueding served Zou as a servant, and finally obtained the book. Thus, he could summon thunder and rain, subdue ghosts and demons, and his actions were in harmony with heaven. In the year of Wuwu in the Baoyou period of the Song Dynasty (1258), he was invited to pray for rain in eastern Zhejiang, and the rain came immediately. In the year of Jichou in the Zhiyuan period of Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty (1289), he was summoned to take an examination on magic arts in the inner palace of Luanjing, and after the magic worked, he was generously rewarded. He refused to take the position of managing Taoist affairs, citing old age. Later, he was given a post horse to return south and practiced the method in the rivers and lakes. The secret books he obtained were not easily passed on to others. Those who received his transmission were only Wang Jihua and Pan Wuya. Later, Wang Jihua passed it to Zhang Shanyuan, who passed it to Bu Zonghao, who passed it to Zhou Xuanzhen. Zhou Xuanzhen was famous between the Yuan and Ming dynasties. In addition, Mo Yueding also passed it to Jin Shanxin (1273-1331) and Wang Weiyi (? - 1326). Wang Weiyi once wrote The Heart Transmission of Taoist Methods to expound the theory of thunder methods, emphasizing that practicing the method must be based on inner cultivation, and that thunder, wind, and clouds are only the external manifestations of essence, qi, and spirit, and one should not abandon the root to pursue the branches. The disciples of Mo Yueding generally spread the method in areas such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Hubei, Shaanxi, and Sichuan. According to Collection of Taoist Methods, Volume 147, The Great Method of the Cave Mysterious Jade Pivot Thunder, Xue Shichun recorded: "Master Bai, the master, was from Haiqiong... Master Bai obtained the method from Chen Niwan, who obtained it from Lord Xintian, all through gatherings of immortals, not by chance. Those who inherited his method included the daughter of Mr. Ma from Quanzhou... (his daughter) taught the method to Mr. Weng Leishi, the descendant of the top scholar Weng Danyuan. His family lived in Jianning. In the 16th year of Zhiyuan (1279)... Pu Xiang saw that he had a pure and beautiful natural disposition, took him under his wing, and after he obtained the method, he returned to his former residence.... At that time, there were more than a hundred disciples inheriting the method. In Jiangdong, there was Zhao Jucun, who was then the instructor of Confucian studies in Jianning.... Shichun served Master Weng for more than three years. Whenever scholars asked for prayers and exorcisms, he was ordered to accompany... In the year of Yiwei (1295), I revisited Jianning, and that year Master Weng passed away... There were more than five hundred disciples inheriting the method under Shichun's altar." It was signed that "Xue Shichun, a disciple inheriting the method, respectfully recorded the facts in the year of Bingshen (the second year of Yuanzhen, 1296)". After the Ming and Qing dynasties, the school declined but continued to be passed down. During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a Taoist Zhou Side in the capital who claimed to have obtained the magic arts of Wang Lingguan, the heavenly general of the Jade Pivot Fire Mansion. It was said that Wang Lingguan first obtained the Shenxiao method from Zhang Jixian and Lin Lingsu during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, and then learned talisman techniques from Sa Shoujian, a man from Sichuan. Therefore, he requested the court to build a temple for the heavenly general in the west of the capital. During the Xuande period, the temple was renamed Dade Temple. Both Sa and Wang were granted the title of True Lord and were continuously worshipped. According to Gu Yuan's Records of Xuanmiao Temple in the Qing Dynasty, Suzhou Xuanmiao Temple had been a stronghold for the activities of the Shenxiao School 历代 since the Song Dynasty. Many famous Shenxiao Taoists such as Wang Wenqing, Mo Yueding, Zhang Shanyuan, and Zhou Xuanzhen had lived there. In the Qing Dynasty, there was a lineage of Shi Daoyuan living there and continuing the transmission. Shi Daoyuan (? - 1578), styled Liangsheng, also known as Tiezhu Daoren, was from Wuxian. He became a Taoist at Chaozhen Temple in his childhood and met a strange person Zhang Xinfu who taught him the formula of the elixir. At the age of 19, he received the Five Thunder Method from Xu Yanzhen of Longhu Mountain, and could command various gods, exorcise evil spirits, and cure diseases. He first built a hut at Yaofeng, then lived in Qionglong Mountain. In the year of Wuxu in the Shunzhi period (1658), the 53rd Celestial Master Zhang Hongren requested the court to grant the title "Shangzhen Temple" to his residence and awarded him the title "Master of Cultivating the Origin, Embracing Unity, Propagating Teachings, and Transforming". When the Xuanmiao Temple in the prefecture was in ruins, he was invited to manage its affairs. In his later years, he traveled to Fujian and Guangdong, and died in the 17th year of the Kangxi period (1678). He had a disciple Hu Deguo, who passed it to Pan Yuangui, who passed it to Hui Yuanmo, who passed it to Zhang Zili and Shi Shen'an, which lasted until the Jiaqing period. General Register of Various True Schools also records several Taoist schools honoring Sa Shoujian as their ancestor: the Tianshan School, the Sa Zhenjun Xihe School, the Sa Ancestor School, etc., which were all Shenxiao branches 流传 during the Ming, Qing, and Republic of China periods.