The Wang Changyue 王常月

Wang Changyue (1622-1680), also known by his literary name Kunyangzi, was a native of Changzhi County, Lu'an Prefecture, Shanxi.

He loved reading and dabbled in works such as Laozi, Zhuangzi, as well as Confucian classics and historical records. At the age of twenty, he went out to seek a teacher. He met Zhao Fuyang, the 6th Patriarch of the Longmen Sect, twice and received the "Heavenly Immortal Grand Precepts" from him. Later, he lived in seclusion on Huashan Mountain.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, he went to Beijing. Just as the war broke out, all Taoist priests of Baiyun Guan (Baiyun Temple) fled, but he resolutely stayed. Later, he was elected by other Taoists as the abbot of Baiyun Guan. In the 13th year of the Shunzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1656), he was conferred the title of "National Master" and awarded purple robes. He gave lectures on Taoist scriptures and presided over precept-giving ceremonies at Baiyun Guan three times under imperial orders, accepting more than a thousand Taoist disciples. He was the first person in the Quanzhen Sect to publicly pass on precepts within the sect.

Later, he went to Yinxian An (Yinxian Nunnery) in Nanjing, where he continued to pass on precepts and accept disciples in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions. He also traveled to Wudang Mountain to teach Taoist precepts. The precepts he passed down were divided into three categories: "Initial Truth", "Middle Purity", and "Heavenly Immortal", also known as the "Three Great Precepts". These precepts became the regulations for precept-giving in the Quanzhen Sect, reviving and developing the long-declining Longmen Sect of Quanzhen, which eventually became the largest sect in the Qing Dynasty.

In the 19th year of the Kangxi reign (1680), he passed on his mantle to his disciple Tan Shoucheng. It was said that he lived to be 159 years old. After his death, he was buried in the west courtyard of Baiyun Guan. In the 45th year of the Kangxi reign (1706), he was posthumously awarded the title of "Gaoshi of Embracing Unity" (Baoyi Gaoshi). A memorial hall was built over his tomb, and a statue of him was erected for Taoist disciples to worship. Within the Quanzhen Sect, he was revered as "Real Person Wang of Kunyang" (Kunyang Wang Zhenren).

His disciples Shao Shoushan and Zhan Shouchun recorded his oral teachings and compiled them into The Heart Method of the Longmen Sect (also known as The Altar Sutra of the Green Garden), which became popular in the world.