Wang Daoyi 王道义

Wang Daoyi was a native of Bingzhou (now Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province) during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386–534).

From a young age, he studied Confucian teachings and read extensively, acquiring broad knowledge. In his youth, he left secular life to become a Taoist monk. Later, upon hearing that Louguantai on Zhongnan Mountain was the cultivation site of the Perfected Yin (a revered Taoist immortal), he moved to Louguantai during the Taihe era (477–499). There, he worked with Niu Wenhou, Yin Lingjian, and other Taoist practitioners to promote and spread Taoist doctrines and spiritual culture.

According to records in Stele of the Biographies of Louguan’s Founding Masters and Stele Inscription of True Immortals, Wang Daoyi had an upright and noble character, and devoted his days to reading Taoist classics and practicing spiritual cultivation. He collected Taoist scriptures and classics, and spent his days studying, reciting, and upholding these texts together with his disciples. He passed away due to illness in the third year of the Yongping era of the Northern Wei Dynasty.