The Zhengyi Dao 正一道

Also known as Zhengyi Jiao or Zhengyi Pai, it is a major Taoist school of talismans formed in the later period of Taoism by integrating various talismanic schools with the Longhu Sect as the mainstay.

Its formation date is marked by the 8th year of the Dade era of Emperor Chengzong of the Yuan Dynasty (1304), when Emperor Chengzong granted Zhang Yucai, the 38th Celestial Master, the title of "Leader of Zhengyi Dao, in charge of the talismans of the Three Mountains".

The Taoist schools merged into it mainly include: Longhu Sect, Maoshan Sect, Gezao Sect, Shenxiao Sect, Qingwei Sect, Donghua Sect, Tianxin Sect, Jingming Dao, Taiyi Dao, etc.

This school took shape in the 8th year of the Dade era. Starting from the 14th year of the Zhiyuan era (1277), the descendants of Zhang Ling were successively appointed as Celestial Masters by imperial edict and were entrusted with managing Taoist affairs in the Jiangnan region. The major educational and religious policies of all Taoist schools in the south had to obey the Celestial Master (including the Southern branch of Quanzhen Dao), or the Celestial Master would request instructions from the imperial court (such as the conferral of titles on Taoists). This gradually made the Celestial Masters of successive generations the common leaders of all talismanic schools in the south, laying the leadership foundation for the formation of Zhengyi Dao.

On the other hand, due to the special respect shown to the Celestial Masters of successive generations, the Longhu Sect under their leadership naturally obtained favorable conditions for development, especially the unprecedented growth of its branch, the Xuanjiao. This prepared the organizational conditions for the formation of Zhengyi Dao. On the basis of the above, various talismanic schools gradually strengthened their exchanges and integration, and their centripetal force towards the Longhu Sect of the Celestial Masters continued to grow. Therefore, with Zhang Yucai being appointed as "Leader of Zhengyi Dao, in charge of the talismans of the Three Mountains" in the 8th year of the Dade era as the symbol, Zhengyi Dao came into being.

Since then, all Taoism in the country has been divided into two major schools: Zhengyi and Quanzhen, and the governments of the Ming and Qing dynasties only recognized these two schools. Zhengyi Dao, which integrated various talismanic schools, took the descendants of Zhang Ling (Celestial Masters of successive generations) as leaders, regarded Zhengyi Jing (The Scripture of Zhengyi) as the main classic, and took talisman rituals, offering sacrifices, summoning gods, and exorcising ghosts as the main religious activities.

Taoists of this school are allowed to have families, do not have to become monks, do not have to live in Taoist temples, and the rules and precepts are not very strict.

After the original small talismanic schools merged into Zhengyi Dao, due to various reasons, some small schools gradually merged with others and became extinct, such as Gezao Sect and Taiyi Dao. However, some small schools retained their original inheritance under the recognition of the Zhengyi as the major sect.

Examples include Longhu Sect, Maoshan Sect, Wudang Dao, Jingming Sect, and Qingwei Sect. They have continued their inheritance from the Ming and Qing dynasties to the Republic of China. However, after the mid-Ming Dynasty, most of them declined because they could not obtain strong support from the imperial court.