The Zhu Ziying 朱自英

The Zhu Ziying 朱自英

Paul Peng
Zhu Ziying (976-1029), styled Yinzhi, was a native of Zhuyangli in Juqu (now Jurong County, Jiangsu Province) during the Northern Song Dynasty.
At the age of nine, he could play the flute to attract cranes. His parents considered this unusual and inauspicious, so they sent him to study Taoism under Zhu Yuanji.

When he was twelve, he was initiated as a Taoist priest.
Later, he lived with Master Zhang on the top of Jijin Mountain, where he practiced bigu (a Taoist technique of abstaining from grain).
While traveling in Xiangyang, he met an extraordinary person named Chen Tiejiao, who took him to Qingcheng Mountain in Sichuan to collate the ancient Buddhist scriptures stored in Taiqing Palace.
In the first year of the Jingde era (1004), he succeeded to the leadership of the Taoist school.
In the fourth year of the Jingde era (1007), Emperor Zhenzong sent envoys to pray for an heir. In the fifth year (1008), Emperor Renzong was born.
By imperial order, he served as the abbot of Yuqing Zhaoying Palace. Imperial funds were also allocated to build Qianyuan Guan (Qianyuan Taoist Temple) and Tiansheng Guan (Tiansheng Taoist Temple) for him, and he was bestowed with the title "National Teacher of the Song Dynasty".
He transmitted the "Complete Methods of the Great Grotto" to Empress Dowager Mingsu, and was further granted the honorific title "Mr. Guanmiao" (Guanmiao meaning "Observing the Profound").
He passed away in the seventh year of the Tiansheng era (1029) at the age of 53. Posthumously, he was conferred the title "National Teacher of the Song Dynasty, Mr. Guanmiao". He was the 23rd patriarch of the Shangqing School of Taoism on Mao Mountain.


(From Volume 11 of Mao Shan Zhi (Records of Mao Mountain) and Volume 5 of Xuanpin Lu (Records of Profound Worthies))
Paul Peng — Zhengyi Taoist Priest, Longhu Mountain

About the Author

Paul Peng

Paul Peng is a Zhengyi Taoist priest from Longhu Mountain, Jiangxi — the ancestral home of the Celestial Masters' tradition. Ordained at 25 after a dream from the Celestial Master, he has practiced for 25 years under Master Zeng Guangliang. He is one of the curators of this store, which is officially authorized by Tianshi Fu. All items are consecrated at the temple by the resident priest team.

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