The Wang Zhixin 王志心

Wang Zhixin (? - 1273) was a native of Jintan (now part of Jiangsu Province) at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty.

From an early age, he left his family to become a Taoist priest and studied under Tang Yuanzai, the administrator of Yuanfu Palace.

For the Altar of the Shangqing Sect on Mao Mountain, since Liu Hunkang's time, those who presided over its rituals and doctrines had always been ranked in the order of "Jia" and "Yi" (the first two characters of the Heavenly Stems) according to established traditions.

During the Kaiqing era (1259), Dong Songchen, a eunuch, colluded with Zhu Zhichang, a Taoist priest from Wuzhou, and seized the ritual seal and precious sword kept in Chisong Palace. Wang Zhixin then went to the imperial court to present a memorial. An imperial edict was issued, ordering that things should be handled in accordance with the original system, and thus an imperial order was issued to retrieve the seal and sword and return them to Mao Mountain. The Taoist community then elected Wang Zhixin as their patriarch.

He passed away in September of the 9th year of the Xianchun era (1273) and was posthumously titled "Mr. Yikong Zhenmiao" (meaning "the True and Wondrous Gentleman of the Void").

Wang Zhixin was the 41st Patriarch of the Shangqing School of Mao Mountain.

(Source: Records of Mao Mountain, Volume 12; Records of Zhenjiang Prefecture)