A little about me

I didn't plan to be a Taoist priest. Or maybe I did — I just didn't know it yet.

I grew up on Longhu Mountain. Not visiting. Living there. The mountain where Zhang Daoling founded our tradition nearly two thousand years ago, where Tianshi Fu — the Celestial Masters' Temple — still stands today. For me it was just home. The rituals happening in the halls nearby, the priests I passed on the paths, the incense in the morning air — all of it was ordinary. I didn't realize how unusual it was until I left.

After university I went into international trade. I traveled. I met people from Europe, the US, Southeast Asia. And I started to notice that the questions people asked me about Taoism — what it actually is, how it actually works, whether it has anything to offer a person living a modern life — were questions I genuinely wanted to answer. Not from a textbook. From experience.

That was twenty-five years ago. I'm fifty now. And I still think the dream was the most practical thing that ever happened to me.

Where the talismans come from

My grandfather never intended to become a Taoist. He was a university professor — a man of books and science, careful and rational. Then the Cultural Revolution happened, and he was sent to Tianshi Fu for labor reform.

He was there for years. And in that strange, difficult circumstance — surrounded by Taoist masters who were also navigating those same hard times — he fell quietly and completely in love with the tradition. Specifically with Fu, the talismanic writing. The sacred script that practitioners use to draw down divine energy into the physical world.

He learned from the masters there. He practiced. He got very good. By the time he came home, many of the priests at Tianshi Fu were coming to him to learn.

I think about him every time I draw a talisman. The lines I make carry something of his hands, and the hands of the masters who taught him, and the tradition stretching all the way back to the First Celestial Master. That's what lineage really means — not a title on paper. A living thread from person to person, across time.

What I do now

I practice. I teach. I write — you'll find me on this blog trying to explain concepts that took me years to understand, in plain English, for people who are genuinely curious.

I'm also the curator of this store. Longhu Mountain Store is officially authorized by Tianshi Fu — the Celestial Masters' Temple — and everything we offer comes through a team of practicing Taoist priests based on the mountain. The consecration ceremonies for our talismans and amulets are performed at Tianshi Fu itself, by the priests there, following the orthodox Zhengyi ritual tradition. This isn't a formality. It's the same process that has been carried out at that temple for nearly two thousand years.

My role is to bridge that world and yours — to make sure what reaches you is genuinely authentic, and to help you understand what you're actually holding when it arrives.

My teacher is Master Zeng Guangliang, the senior High Priest of Tianshi Fu and Executive Vice President of the Jiangxi Taoist Association. I've studied under him for my entire ordained life. I'm also a director of both the Longhu Mountain Taoist Research Association and the Jiangxi Provincial Taoist Research Association — though I'll be honest, I care more about the practice than the titles.

The main reason I started this store — and this blog — is simple. I spent years in international trade, and I saw how many people outside China were genuinely searching for something real. Not tourist souvenirs. Not mysticism for its own sake. Actual practice, from an actual lineage, consecrated at the source, explained honestly. That's what I'm trying to offer.

Say hello

I read every message myself. Whether you have a question about a product, want to understand a concept better, or just want to share something — I'm genuinely glad to hear from you.