What are the required tasks for a senior Taoist priest?

Truly profound Taoist priests advocate tranquility and non-action. These people often practice in deep mountains and secluded valleys and do not leave a great reputation in history. The Taoist priests known to people are those favored by emperors and high officials. They are by no means the most profound Taoist priests, but they do have some abilities. These Taoist priests, such as Ye Fashan in the Tang Dynasty and Tao Zhongwen in the Ming Dynasty, are regarded as "successful" Taoist priests in the eyes of the world. These "successful" Taoist priests all share three common skills.

The first skill is alchemy. Greed knows no bounds. Many emperors sitting on the dragon throne are interested in longevity. This tradition can be traced back to King Zhao of Yan and King Wei of Qi in the Warring States Period and was carried forward by Qin Shihuang and Emperor Wu of Han. Later emperors repeated the same mistakes from time to time. Qin Shihuang and Emperor Wu of Han were looking for the "elixir of immortality". Later Taoist priests learned alchemy and were spared the hard labor of going far to the East Sea to look for immortal mountains.

Alchemy is the orthodox practice of Taoism, and Taoist priests attach great importance to this skill. The raw materials for external alchemy are mostly mercury and lead agents, which do have certain medicinal effects, but more often they are easy to cause poisoning. Therefore, emperors who like to take external alchemy not only fail to achieve longevity but instead die prematurely due to poisoning from taking elixirs.

Even so, there are still many emperors who are addicted to it. Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty once asked Taoist priest Tao Zhongwen to make elixirs for him. The formula for Tao Zhongwen's elixir is extremely despicable: it is made of red lead refined from the menstruation of young palace maids. In order to obtain "superior" raw materials, these palace maids are often not allowed to eat but can only eat mulberry leaves and drink dew. In order to increase the raw materials for alchemy, they are even forced to take drugs to induce menstruation. Later, the palace maids could not bear it anymore and rose up in rebellion and almost strangled Emperor Jiajing to death.

The second skill is Taoist cultivation methods. In the early stage, this kind of cultivation method mainly includes illusions and taking things from a distance. For example, the Taoist priest Zuo Ci in the Three Kingdoms fished out Songjiang perch in a copper basin at Cao Cao's banquet; and then traveled spiritually to Shu and bought ginger there.

Later, the most famous Taoist cultivation method is the Five Thunders Orthodox Method. In Qing Dynasty notebook novels, it is common to see stories of Zhang Tianshi using the Five Thunders Method to destroy evil spirits. In "Water Margin", the real person Luo Zhenren instructed his disciple Gongsun Sheng to go down the mountain to save Song Jiang and "act on behalf of heaven, protect the country and the people." He also taught Gongsun Sheng the "Five Thunders Celestial Orthodox Method". The Thunder Method is a kind of Taoist cultivation method that is claimed to be able to summon wind and thunder, subdue demons and evil spirits, pray for sunny weather and rain, and stop floods and droughts. Its function is rumored to be miraculous and is an essential skill that later successful Taoist priests must master.

The third skill is fasting and sacrificial rites. The most common fasting and sacrificial rite for Taoist priests is praying for rain. China is an agricultural country and attaches great importance to climate. Once there is no rain for a long time, it will affect national stability. To be successful, praying for rain is naturally an indispensable skill. In the Ming Dynasty, there was a long drought and no rain. The abbot of Wudang Mountain, Real Person Zhang Shouqing, was summoned by imperial decree to enter the capital to pray for rain. Sure enough, the effect was miraculous.

In fact, praying for rain is only a small ritual in Taoism. The grand Taoist fasting and sacrificial rites are divided into three fasts and seven assemblies. The three fasts refer to the Jade Lu Fast, the Golden Lu Fast, and the Yellow Lu Fast. The Jade Lu Fast and the Golden Lu Fast are specifically for the country and the emperor, and the Yellow Lu Fast is for the general public. In ancient times, the emperor usually appointed favored Taoist priests to preside over the national-level Jade Lu Fast. And folk people also often hold Yellow Lu Fast Dharma assemblies. The Yellow Lu Fast is a place for saving the dead and transcending souls. Yellow is the master of all colors, and Lu is the symbol of all true beings. Regarding the Yellow Lu, it is said in "The Sayings of Bai Zhenren of Haiqiong": "In yellow, there is the principle of qi that commands all true beings. Entering the dark and emerging into the light, it saves lives and transcends death. Lu also means recording. It records the registers of ghosts and spirits. Yellow also means presiding. It presides over matters of ghosts and spirits. That is, the ghosts and spirits in the netherworld are dominated and recorded by it." This shows the extraordinariness of fasting and sacrificial rites. To be successful, Taoist priests must also master these skills.

In ancient times, successful Taoist priests all mastered the above three skills. However, Liu Xie, a famous writer in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, said, "According to the Taoist laws, there are three grades: the highest marks Laozi, then describes immortals, and finally follows Zhang Ling." The most profound Taoist priests only need to comprehend the five thousand wonderful meanings of the "Tao Te Ching". The interest in this is really not something that worldly "success" can understand!