The Zhao Zhiyuan 赵志渊

Zhao Zhiyuan (1167–1243) was a native of Shanzhou (now part of Shandong Province) during the Jin and Yuan dynasties.

His literary name was Qingpingzi. He first studied under Taoist Master Ma, also known as Lingzhenzi, and then became a Taoist priest. Within a few years, he traveled as a wandering Taoist to Ninghai, where he studied under the Perfected Person Yuyang (a revered Taoist master).

During the Da’an and Chongqing eras (of the Jin Dynasty), Zhao Zhiyuan took refuge in Wangwu Mountain to avoid the chaos of war, and he never ceased his Taoist cultivation.

In the second year of Yuanguang (1223), he went to Yanshan (ancient name for the area around present-day Beijing) to pay his respects to the revered Taoist master Qiu Changchun, and resided at Xiuzhen Guan (Cultivating Truth Taoist Temple). Every day, he listened to Qiu Changchun expound on Taoist doctrines and practices. After several years, he deeply comprehended the "Nine Revolutions and Seven Returns" (a core concept in Taoist inner alchemy) and the Quanzhen School’s alchemy methods, and he had no doubts left regarding the true essence of inner alchemy (Neidan).

The officials and common people of Mingzhou held him in high esteem. They submitted a petition requesting that he serve as the abbot of Shenxiao Wanshou Gong (Divine Heaven Longevity Palace). From then on, a large number of people in areas such as Daming Prefecture, Cizhou, and Xiangzhou followed Zhao Zhiyuan to study Taoism.

Zhao Zhiyuan vigorously promoted and propagated Taoism: he established more than ten Taoist hermitages and temples, and initiated hundreds of disciples into Taoism. In the seventh year of the Taizong era of the Yuan Dynasty (1235), he was appointed as "Tiju" (an administrative supervisor) of the ancestral court of the Quanzhen School on Zhongnan Mountain.

In the ninth year (1237), he took up the post of "Tidian" (a supervisory official for Taoist affairs) of Huaqing Palace on Lishan Mountain, and was also responsible for the restoration and expansion of the palace. The emperor issued an imperial edict conferring on him the title of "Qingxu Dashi" (Great Master of Pure Emptiness). In the same year, he also raised funds to build Yuxian Guan (Encountering Immortals Taoist Temple) in Caicun Village on Zhongnan Mountain.

Zhao Zhiyuan passed away in the fifteenth year of the Taizong era of the Yuan Dynasty (1243) at the age of seventy-seven.