Buddhism and Taoism are the two major religious beliefs in China, Buddhism was transmitted from India, and Taoism was developed locally. But now it is clear that Buddhism has developed a little more. In fact, this has something to do with the fact that the last Taoist Zhang Tianshi was forced to follow Chiang Kai-shek to Taiwan.
In fact, Taoism flourished from the Sui and Tang dynasties to the Northern Song Dynasty, and it was even more prosperous than Buddhism. Taoism and Taoism are two concepts that we are talking about here, Taoism refers to religion, and Taoism refers to the doctrine of Lao Tzu.
Serious Taoism was born in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the founding patriarch was Zhang Daoling, that is, the first Zhang Tianshi. Up to now, Taoism is mainly divided into two major sects, the Quanzhen School and the Zhengyi School. Specifically, the Quanzhen faction is the Wudang Mountain faction, founded by Wang Chongyang;The Zhengyi faction is the Longhu Mountain and Maoshan faction, which was founded by the 38th generation of Zhang Tianshi Zhang Hecai.
Wudang Mountain. The general situation is like this, the specific details are too complicated, everyone has a general understanding. And the last Zhang Tianshi that will be mentioned in this article is the boss of the Zhengyi faction and the sixty-third Taoist Heavenly Master Zhang Enpu.
In the later stage of the Liberation War, Chiang Kai-shek had already anticipated the rout of the Kuomintang army, and he had already had the idea of retreating to Taiwan, so he made relatively adequate preparations. In addition to taking away his cronies and subordinates, Chiang Kai-shek also took away a large amount of gold and silver treasures, many of which are now in the Taipei Museum, which Chiang Kai-shek brought to Taiwan.
But in addition to this, Chiang Kai-shek also took with him 3 important religious figures in China at that time. The first is a direct descendant of Confucius, the seventy-seventh generation grandson Kong Decheng. The second Zhangjia Living Buddha is the most important living Buddha of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism, and he served as an emperor in the Qing Dynasty court, and his status is very high.
Dragon Tiger Mountain. The third is Zhang Enpu, the thirty-sixth Heavenly Master of Taoism and the last orthodox Heavenly Master of Taoism. These three people taken away by Chiang Kai-shek had a great influence on the cultural development of China in the future, especially on Confucianism and Taoism.
During the Anti-Japanese War, Zhang Enpu has been living in seclusion in the base camp of the Zhengyi faction, the Tianshi Mansion in Shangqing Town, Longhu Mountain, Jiangxi. After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, Zhang Enpu went to Shanghai to promote Taoism, and established the Shanghai Taoist Association with the support of the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau at that time, so he had a certain contact with the Kuomintang.
Zhang Enpu is a very ambitious person, hoping to expand the influence of Taoism with his own efforts and restore the past glory of Taoism. By mistake, when Chiang Kai-shek left Shanghai, he forcibly wanted to take Zhang Enpu away.
Zhang Enpu left in a hurry, and he didn't even have time to pack the package, and only some of his relatives and ** were by his side. In the panic, he also lost a lot of precious Taoist tokens handed down by his ancestors, and he regretted it in his heart.
Maoshan. Fortunately, after following Chiang Kai-shek to Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek treated Zhang Enpu very politely and preferentially, helped Zhang Enpu become a Taoist church in Taiwan, and also opened the door for Zhang Enpu to promote Taoism.
Although Zhang Enpu was forced to come to Taiwan, when he saw that Chiang Kai-shek treated him preferentially, he was at ease to develop Taoism in Taiwan. In the 60s, Taoism in Taiwan developed well, the number of believers greatly increased, and the influence of Taoism was also greatly enhanced.
But bad luck struck suddenly, Zhang Enpu's eldest son Zhang Yunxian had a heart attack and was sent to the hospital for rescue, but he died at a young age before he could be saved. Zhang Enpu sent the white-haired man to the black-haired man, and his heart was extremely painful. He has high expectations for this son, and has been cultivating him as an heir, spending a lot of effort.
Zhang Enpu was also old, and with the blow of his son's death, his body ran out of oil and dried up in a few years. In 1969, Zhang Enpu suddenly "passed away", due to the suddenness of the incident, Zhang Enpu did not leave any last words, and the next heir of the Heavenly Master became a big problem and annoying.
Zhang Enpu. Several other responsible persons of the Taoist Church in Taiwan were busy with Zhang Enpu's aftermath first, after all, it was the Heavenly Master's "immortal death", and there were many rules and exquisiteness in the aftermath. After finishing Zhang Enpu's funeral, the person in charge sat down together for a meeting to discuss the issue of the heir.
Taoism has been inherited for thousands of years, and the ancestors have long left rules for the selection of heirs, and the problem lies in this "rule". Each session of the Celestial Master is generally inherited by the son of the previous Celestial Master, and if there is an eldest son, the eldest son will inherit it, and if there is no eldest son, it will be inherited in order.
In addition to the inheritance system, it is also stipulated that when each heavenly master succeeds to the throne, he needs to hand over the magic weapons handed down from the Taoist dynasties, which are the Yangping Zhidu Gong Seal, the Chuangong Sword and the Fu Gong.
The reality is that several magic weapons that have been handed down through the generations have been lost, and they will definitely not be able to find them for a while. Zhang Yunxian, the heir chosen by Zhang Enpu, also died, and now he can only find Zhang Enpu's second son to succeed him as the Heavenly Master in order.
Zhang Enpu's calligraphy.
A group of people from the Taoist church ran to find Zhang Enpu's second son, but they were disappointed when they saw people. Because he had an elder brother inheriting the family business in front of him, Zhang Enpu's second son was not interested in Taoism since he was a child, and Zhang Enpu rarely taught this son Taoism. Zhang Enpu also made it clear to everyone that he likes science and is studying science, and he is unwilling to succeed the Heavenly Master.
The people of the Taoist Church looked for Zhang Enpu's second son several times, but he rejected everyone's proposal, and everyone was at a loss. The position of the Heavenly Master has been vacant, and the Taoist Church met again to discuss, and someone proposed to let Zhang Yuan take over the position of the Heavenly Master first.
Zhang Yuan was Zhang Enpu's cousin first, and he learned Xi Taoist knowledge from Zhang Enpu since he was a child, Xi and cultivated Taoism, so that he could succeed him as the master of heaven is the best choice at the moment. Zhang Yuanxian was very fond of Zhang Enpu before, the young man was cheerful, smart and perceptive, and Zhang Enpu often handed over some affairs in the teaching to this nephew.
Zhang Enpu took a group photo with the Taoist chiefs.
Everyone went to Zhang Yuanxian, and Zhang Yuanxian said that Zhang Enpu had indeed entrusted him to handle the affairs of the church well, which was also a kind of recognition. But at this time, some people were not convinced, and the agreeing side and the opposing side quarreled.
Opponents believe that Zhang Yuanxian is not Zhang Enpu's immediate family, and the name of the successor Heavenly Master is not right. Moreover, Zhang Yuanxian did not have the three tokens needed to succeed the Heavenly Master in his hands, and he could not convince the public only by relying on the entrustment of Zhang Enpu, who could not be sure of the authenticity.
The agreeing party believes that Zhang Yuan is the most suitable candidate to succeed the Heavenly Master at the moment, and the position of the Heavenly Master has been vacant for a long time, and it is impossible to remain vacant. Zhang Yuan is familiar with the affairs of the sect and has learned the Tao well, which was cultivated by Zhang Enpu, and Zhang Enpu will definitely agree with this decision.
Everyone was noisy and shouting for a while, and they were not convinced by each other, and finally both sides took a step back and decided to let Zhang Yuan serve as the "** Heavenly Master" first. Since 1971, Zhang Yuanxian has become the top spokesperson of Taoism in Taiwan, managing Taoist affairs for more than 30 years.
Zhang Yuanxian is nominally the ** Heavenly Master, and he has never been able to hold a formal Heavenly Master succession ceremony, but in fact he already has the majesty and real power of the Heavenly Master.
Under the management of Zhang Yuanxian, Taoism in Taiwan has also developed well. After the relaxation of the strait, Zhang Yuanxian also came to the mainland to participate in religious activities on behalf of Taiwan Taoism many times, and contributed to the cultural exchanges of folk Taoism.
However, just when the development of Taoism in Taiwan was back on track again, another accident occurred in 2008, when a person claiming to be Zhang Meiliang jumped out and said that he was the son of Zhang Enpu Tianshi, and he still held the Taoist token Yangping Zhidu Gong Seal in his hand.
Taiwan's Taoism, which has been calm for more than 20 years, exploded again, and the people who originally opposed Zhang Yuanxian in the Taoist church jumped out to make trouble, saying that the orthodox heir of the Heavenly Master has returned, Zhang Yuanxian was originally the ** Heavenly Master, and now Zhang Meiliang should be rightfully succeeded as the sixty-fourth generation of the Heavenly Master.
Zhang Yuanxian. But Zhang Yuanxian has managed the affairs of the Taoist Church for many years, and he has worked hard without merit, and there are many people in the Taoist Church who support him, but as a result, there is a quarrel within the Taoist Church. Sometimes, people argue with each other for the sake of competing interests, which is the image of a shrew scolding the street, and a group of respected Taoist leaders quarrel with each other.
Don't look at the Taoist elders who usually don't talk much, they are always unfathomable images, in fact, they are all cultural people, and their cultural literacy is very high.
After arguing for a long time, Zhang Meiliang suddenly took out a square seal, and the eyes of several old people in the church widened, and it seemed to look very much like the Taoist token Yangping Zhidu Gong Seal. Everyone gathered around to carefully observe the seal, and saw that there were really a few small words on the seal, 'Yangping Zhidu Gong Seal'.
This seal has rarely been seen, and it looks like it is real, but no one is sure. Even so, this seal was taken out, and it still won the support of some people for Zhang Meiliang. Zhang Yuanxian's health has not been very good in recent years, and the matter has not yet come to a conclusion, and in October 2008, he "passed away" at home.
Zhang Yuanxian. Now he had to change to a new Heavenly Master, and Zhang Meiliang naturally became the best candidate for the new Heavenly Master. Just when Zhang Meiliang was preparing to participate in the succession ceremony of the 46th Heavenly Master of Taoism, Zhang Daozhen, an old man of the Zhang family, stood up and revealed Zhang Meiliang's true identity.
Zhang Meiliang is not Zhang Enpu's biological son at all, but a stepson. Zhang Enpu's original wife failed to come to Taiwan, so Zhang Enpu remarried a woman in Taiwan. This woman is married for the second time, and she had a son before she married Zhang Enpu, and this son is called Hu Meiliang.
Hu Meiliang coveted the status and identity of the Taoist Heavenly Master, so he changed his name to Zhang Meiliang and pretended to be Zhang Enpu's biological son. Zhang Meiliang did not repent, saying that Zhang Daozhen was talking nonsense, and he had the merit seal of Yangping Zhidu in his hands, which was Zhang Enpu's exiled son.
Zhang Daozhen and Zhang Meiliang quarreled again, and no one in the Taoist Church believed it anymore, so they sent someone to investigate the experience and identity of the two people. It took a lot of effort to finally get things straight.
Yangping Zhidu Gong Yin.
Zhang Daozhen is indeed the Zhang family of Zhang Enpu's lineage, and according to the seniority, Zhang Daozhen can still be called Zhang Enpu's uncle. It's just that Zhang Daozhen and Zhang Enpu's kinship has long been out of Wufu and belongs to distant relatives.
And Zhang Daozhen is also telling the truth, Zhang Meiliang's original name is indeed Hu Meiliang, not Zhang Enpu's parent, just Zhang Enpu's stepson, without any blood relationship. As for the Gongyin of Yangping Zhidu, no one has seen the authenticity, and it is impossible to determine whether it is true or false. According to common sense, the seal should have been lost in the mainland, not in Taiwan.
The matter of Hu Meiliang's identity has been decided, and the question of the succession of the Heavenly Master has become a major annoyance. Zhang Daozhen said unashamedly: "I am the authentic Zhang family, and now I should succeed the Heavenly Master." ”
But most of the Taoist churches in Taiwan did not approve of it, and everyone broke up without discussing any results. Zhang Daozhen ignored it, and held a ceremony to succeed the Heavenly Master in the Taoist temple, but in fact, few people recognized his identity.
Taoist activities in Taiwan.
Since then, Taoism in Taiwan has also completely declined, and many people have built Taoist temples and collected ** in the name of "Zhang Tianshi", fooling ordinary people to collect money. Taoism has also lost its original pursuit of being close to nature and strengthening the body.
In the eyes of outsiders, Taoism, which lasted for more than 1,900 years, was completely ended by the sixty-third generation of Heavenly Master Zhang Enpu. Perhaps from the time Zhang Enpu was forcibly brought to Taiwan by Chiang Kai-shek, the development of Taoism took a detour.
Interestingly, the Book of Changes has sixty-four hexagrams, and Taoism also pays attention to divination, and the Taoist Heavenly Master ends with the sixty-third, probably because people are not as good as heaven. The future development of Taoism depends on the mainland, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Taoism has undergone many new changes.
Although Zhang Enpu, the 63rd generation of Zhang Tianshi, was brought to Taiwan by Chiang Kai-shek, the development of Taoism in the mainland did not stop.
In 1938, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was hot, and in June, ** led the New Fourth Army into Maoshan and created the Maoshan Anti-Japanese Base Area. The Taoist priests on Maoshan were very enthusiastic, and invited the Taoist temple Qianyuan Temple, which set up the headquarters and the political department in Maoshan, and many Taoist priests actively contributed to the resistance against Japan.
Li Yu is the chief of the channel.
Li Yuhang was in his early 20s, and worshiped Geng Yunqing, the head of the Shangqing sect in Maoshan Mountain, as his master and practiced Xi Taoism. Because he was smart and hardworking, he quickly became a "good student" in the Taoist temple, and he was very liked by the Taoist elders.
* As soon as he entered Maoshan with the New Fourth Army, Li Yuhang volunteered to become a grain keeper of the New Fourth Army. In October 1938, Li Yuhang's father was killed by the Japanese army, Qianyuanguan was swept by the Japanese army, several houses were burned, and many Taoist chiefs were killed. In the face of national hatred and family hatred, Li Yuhang has since embarked more firmly on the road of resisting Japan.
Originally, the ranks of the New Fourth Army were very mixed, and there were all kinds of people, such as blacksmiths who made iron, farmers who farmed land, and monks and Taoists. Li Yuhang is not special among them, he is mainly responsible for intelligence work, and the identity of a Taoist priest can provide him with some convenience and cover.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Li Yuhang returned to his old profession and went to Beijing to serve as the deputy secretary general of the China Taoist Association, and was elected president of the China Taoist Association in 1980. Although he began to learn Xi Taoism at a young age, he was very open-minded and mainly promoted practical Taoist content such as traditional Chinese medicine, massage, massage, qigong, and tai chi.
China Taoist College.
In 1990, China established the Taoist College, with Li Yuhang as the president, and cultivated many Taoist talents for the country. In 2002, Li Yuhang "passed away" in Beijing, and in order to commemorate his contribution to the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the development of Taoism, the state held a farewell ceremony for his body at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery.
Zhang Jintao, the Taoist of Longhu Mountain, has some kinship with Zhang Enpu, the sixty-third generation of Heavenly Master, according to our general family relationship, Zhang Enpu is Zhang Jintao's grandfather. Zhang Enpu has a daughter Zhang Daoxiang who lives in Jiangxi, and Zhang Jintao is Zhang Daoxiang's son.
Zhang Jintao took his mother's surname, and his family originally had a Taoist tradition, so he began to come into contact with various Taoist cultures at a very young age. He was a high-achieving student with good reading results, and later Li Yuhang recommended him to study Xi at Taoist College.
After graduating, the China Taoist Association asked him to work in Beijing, but Zhang Jintao refused and returned to the Heavenly Master's Mansion in Longhu Mountain to work in Taoism. After all, many people in their family are in Longhu Mountain and belong to the ancestral foundation, so they were elected as the president of the Longhu Mountain Dao Association within a few years.
Zhang Jintao is the head of the road.
The story of Zhang Jintao's development of Taoism is very inspiring, because the orthodox heavenly master went to Taiwan, and the years of domestic war had a great impact on cultural development. Therefore, the development of Taoism in Longhu Mountain has also entered a bottleneck period, and the Heavenly Master's Mansion on the mountain is even more dilapidated.
After unremitting efforts, Zhang Jintao organized and raised a part of the funds to renovate and build the main building of the Heavenly Master's Mansion. The Heavenly Master Mansion of Longhu Mountain was reborn at this time, and gradually regained some of its former prosperity.
After the economic conditions improved, Zhang Jintao also organized many exchange groups to visit Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States and other countries and regions to exchange Taoist culture. Zhang Jintao's greatest contribution is the development of Taoism in Longhu Mountain. He has been learning Taoism from the Master since he was a child, and he is very good at reciting Taoist scriptures.
Later, according to the Taoist dialect, the Taoist orchestra was created, and now if you travel to Longhu Mountain, you can meet some Taoist temples to perform Taoist music for tourists. Taoist Zhang Jintao has made great contributions to the development of Taoism.
Zhang Jintao is the head of the road.
Actually, it doesn't matter if you believe in religion or not, but I personally have some reverence for Buddhist culture and Taoist culture. We don't have to regard these as superstitions, and there are new developments in religion in the new era, so it's good to regard this kind of religious culture as a kind of spiritual sustenance.
Usually, I occasionally ask for a peace charm, a transfer charm, or something like that, but it's just for spiritual comfort, and I won't get too entangled in these. When I went home for the Chinese New Year, the seven aunts and eight aunts in the family chatted together, and occasionally talked about topics such as whose family asked the Taoist chief to name the child.
Many times it is just to spend a small amount of money to buy peace of mind and comfort, but it still reminds everyone to do what they can and beware of people using religious culture to deceive.