The Tang Yongming 汤用明 — Maoshan Disciple & Master of Zuowang Stillness
Paul PengThere is a detail in Tang Yongming 汤用明's biography that is easy to overlook: when his clothes were tattered and his shoes worn out, he showed no sign of embarrassment in front of others. In the Daoist tradition, this is not a minor biographical note — it is a description of a specific inner condition: the condition of someone who has genuinely ceased to be governed by the opinions of others. Tang Yongming, courtesy name Huizhi (惠知), was a native of Zhongling (present-day Jiangxi Province) during the Northern Song Dynasty. He studied on Maoshan Mountain, built a hermitage in the hills, practiced zuowang and inner refinement, and died without illness — a life that was, by the tradition's measure, complete.
The biographical record describes Tang Yongming as "sharp-witted and outstanding, well-versed in classics and knowledgeable about various subjects." This establishes that his choice of the contemplative life was not made from ignorance of the alternatives. He was someone who could have pursued a conventional scholarly or official career, who had the intellectual equipment for it, and who chose instead to devote himself to inner refinement and the practice of zuowang.
The biographical record identifies two core practices: internal refinement (内炼, nèiliàn) and zuowang (坐忘 — "sitting in oblivion"). Of these two, zuowang is the more philosophically distinctive — and the more demanding.
In the early years of the Yuanyou era (1086–1091), upon hearing that "Mr. Liu from Maoshan was a man of noble virtue and profound Daoist attainments," Tang Yongming traveled to Maoshan Mountain to study under him, receiving Daoist scriptures and teachings. The "Mr. Liu" in question is likely connected to Liu Hunkang (刘混康) — the same master who appears in the biographies of Mao Fengrou (the 24th Maoshan patriarch) and Da Jingzhi (the 26th patriarch). If so, Tang Yongming was training within the same transmission current that produced two of the most significant Maoshan patriarchs of the era.
The biographical record also notes that Tang Yongming was friends with Lu Biqiang, Tang Daoyuan, Feng Yuedao, Master Bao, Wang Jingshan, and others — a community of practitioners who supported and challenged each other's practice. The Daoist tradition has always understood that genuine cultivation, while ultimately an individual undertaking, is supported by community.
Tang Yongming built a hermitage on Jijun Mountain (绩军山), cutting off contact with external worldly affairs. The biographical record's note that "even when his clothes were tattered and his shoes worn out, he showed no sign of embarrassment in front of others" is the most revealing detail in his biography.
In the early years of the Daguan era (c. 1107–1109 CE), Tang Yongming passed away without suffering from any illness. As with Cheng Yanzhao and Da Jingzhi before him, the biographical record's emphasis on the absence of illness carries specific meaning: a peaceful, illness-free death was understood as evidence of genuine cultivation — a body and spirit sufficiently refined to depart without struggle.
Tang Yongming left no texts, founded no school, held no patriarchal title. What he left was a life that the tradition recognized as genuine — a practitioner who sought the right teacher, received the transmission, built a hermitage, practiced zuowang with genuine commitment, and departed in the manner the tradition considers meaningful. The Daoist path asks for exactly this, and no more.
