The establishment of the Quanzhen Sect in the Jin and Yuan dynasties, after the rapid development in the Yuan Dynasty, has formed a double-peaked confrontation pattern of "Quanzhen in the north and one in the south" by the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, did not like Quanzhen Sect, he said, "Quanzhen Sect is the same as Zen Buddhism, Taoist priests only care about their own practice, which is not conducive to social moralization." Zhu Yuanzhang once became a monk and had a certain understanding of religion, and his opinion was quite unique. There are indeed similarities between Quanzhen Buddhism and Zen Buddhism. So is Quanzhen Religion, which is contaminated with the breath of Buddhism, still Taoism?
It should be noted that there are indeed many differences between Quanzhen and traditional Taoism. First of all, in terms of concept, the Quanzhen Religion emphasizes three religions and one family. Red lotus, white lotus root, green lotus leaf, the three religions were originally one family. The Quanzhen Sect regards the Buddhist Heart Sutra, the Confucian Filial Piety Sutra, and the Tao Te Ching as the three major classics, and introduces and absorbs many things from Confucianism and Buddhism. This is indeed very different from the previous Taoist sects.
In terms of organizational form, the Quanzhen Sect requires Taoist monks to become monks, which is also very different from the previous tradition. In the past, Taoist sects did not require monks to become monks. It's just that some clever Taoist priests have experienced the joy of cultivating the Tao, and since then they have become monks and have been practicing in the palace independently.
This is not the case in Quanzhen Buddhism, where severing the relationship with dust is a necessary requirement, which is similar to the organizational form of Buddhism. Therefore, compared with other sects, the Quanzhen Sect attaches great importance to the precepts, and its apprenticeship ceremony is called "releasing the precepts";Traditional Taoism attaches more importance to talismans, and the ritual of conferring disciples is called "releasing urns". There is a big difference between the two.
The bigger difference is in the pursuit of cultivation. The cultivation theories of the Quanzhen Sect include the Holy Path, the Transcendent Three Realms, the Method of Self-cultivation, and Leaving the Mortal World. It is believed that "the way to enter the holy world must be hard work for many years and accumulate achievements". It is required to achieve "living in a room, full of sex", "placed in the dust, and the heart is already clear outside the object".
Wang Chongyang, the patriarch of the Quanzhen Sect, proposed: "The mind forgets the mind and the mind is the transcendent realm of desire, the mind forgets the realms that transcend the realm of color, and the realm of non-emptiness is the transcendent colorless realm." Leaving the Three Realms, God dwells in the land of immortals and saints, and sex is in the realm of Yuqing!He also said, "Those who have a dharma body are also formless." It is not empty, there is no front, it is not high, it is not short or long, it is all-encompassing, and it is hidden without a trace. All these show the ideological tendency of the whole true path to merge with the Buddha and enter the path.
The traditional Taoist sect pursues the longevity of the physical body, and all the cultivation**, such as the cultivation of Waidan, revolves around this goal. However, Wang Chongyang clearly criticized this, saying: "Those who want to never die and leave the world today are foolish and unreasonable." The pursuit of immortality in the flesh is a "great fool". In fact, the Quanzhen Sect did abandon the ideal of physical immortality in favor of spiritual immortality.
Since the religious philosophy, organizational form, and cultivation goals are very different from the previous traditional Taoism, is Quanzhen Sect still Taoism?The answer is yes. This is because the pursuit of the Tao is completely consistent with other sects. All kinds of Taoist scriptures have also been inherited and promoted by the Quanzhen Sect.
Therefore, even Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang did not like the Quanzhen Sect, and when he merged and managed the Daomen of the world, he had to admit that the Quanzhen Sect was one of the two major sects of Taoism.