years, impersonatedOn behalf of the Heavenly Master, show the token
One day in 1949, a ship bound for Taiwan was loaded with people fleeing the mainland. Among this group of people, a special person dressed in Taoist robes attracted everyone's attention, he was Zhang Enpu, the 63rd generation Heavenly Master of Longhu Mountain Zhengyi.
He looked at the continent that was gradually moving away, and realized that he would not be able to return to his Heavenly Master's Mansion in this life, and the future of Zhengyi was also shrouded in clouds. This scene can't help but remind people of a ballad that has been circulating in Jiangxi for more than ten years at that time, and the ballad sings: "Never end, never extinguish, there is a break in the sixty-three generations."
Surprisingly, the prophecy of the ballad came true, because the next person to inherit the position of Heavenly Master was not Zhang Enpu's bloodline, nor was it recognized by believers everywhere.
If we want to understand the origins of Zhang Enpu and that ballad, we must explore the history of Taoism in China. Since Lao Tzu pioneered Taoism, Taoism has gradually formed its own philosophical system.
In the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, wars continued, and many refugees fled to the Bashu region. The social turmoil at that time made religion the main spiritual pillar of the people. It was in this context that Zhang Daoling entered Shu and founded Zhengyi, becoming the first generation of Heavenly Master Zhengyi.
With the joint efforts of Zhang Daoling and his **, Zhengyi has gradually become an influential sect in the Sichuan and Shu regions.
When Cao Cao conquered Guanzhong, he canonized the third-generation Heavenly Master Zhang Lu as the general of Zhennan. With the support of the Cao Wei regime, Zhengyi began to develop throughout the country, thus establishing itself as an authentic Taoist sect.
After Zhang Lu's death, his son Zhang Sheng, in accordance with his father's wishes, politely refused the official position and Yulu of the Cao Wei regime, and brought Zhengyi's career back to Longhu Mountain, Jiangxi. Longhu Mountain officially became the birthplace of Zhengyi, and it has continued to this day.
Some people may wonder why Zhang Daoling, although he founded a sect in Sichuan and passed it on for three generations, said that he returned to Longhu Mountain? In fact, Zhang Daoling was a young man who practiced alchemy in Longhu Mountain, and after the success of alchemy, he suddenly appeared in Longhu Mountain, so he named this mountain Longhu Mountain, and believers also regarded Longhu Mountain as a place of enlightenment.
The family is full of talents, helping to leap to the top together. After the vicissitudes of the world, Zhengyi is still moving forward steadily and has become the most rapidly developing sect of Taoism in the south. In order to consolidate their rule, successive monarchs have given them all the right ones.
It is true that the glory of Zhengyi is inseparable from official recognition, but the key to the Zhang family's position in the millennium of changes lies in the talent in the family. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhang Jixian, the 30th generation of Heavenly Master, promoted the influence of Heavenly Master Dao to reach new heights and go down in history.
Zhang Jixian has been smart since he was a child, and he has mastered the Tao at a young age. When he was twelve years old, he went to Beijing to ask the emperor for peace. Song Huizong saw that he was smart and clever, so he asked him a clever question: "You live in Longhu Mountain, have you ever seen a dragon and a tiger?" ”
This is a question full of pitfalls, because the ancient dragon represents the Son of Heaven, and if you answer that you have seen a dragon, you may offend the imperial power, and if you answer that you have not seen it, the reputation of Dragon and Tiger Mountain will be questioned.
Faced with this question, Zhang Jixian replied calmly: "Living in the mountains, I often see tigers, but I only saw the appearance of dragons today." Song Huizong listened to his witty answer, couldn't help laughing, and asked him a few more Taoist questions, and Zhang Jixian answered them one by one.
Song Huizong felt that Zhang Jixian was indeed a manufacturable material, so he set up a banquet to entertain him.
Zhang Jixian's outstanding performance caused him to cause widespread heated discussions at that time, and even spread to the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. Many ** have borrowed his image, for example, the beginning of "Water Margin" describes the story of "Zhang Tianshi prayed for the plague, and Hong Taiwei mistakenly walked away from the demons", and Zhang Tianshi here is Zhang Jixian himself.
Under his leadership, Zhengyi was not only not suppressed by the Quanzhen Sect, but was supported by the rulers. Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty, also built the Han Heavenly Master's Mansion for Longhu Mountain, making the name of the Heavenly Master officially recognized.
The prophecy of a Taoist reveals an unchangeable truth: no country can last forever, and no family can prosper forever. In the ** period, the warlords were fighting, and in order to protect themselves in the chaos, the 63rd generation of the heavenly master Zhang Enpu chose to live in seclusion and hardly had contact with any political figures.
His decision is also for the sake of the family's future. Because at that time, an ancient ballad had already spread, and the spread of this ballad can be traced back to a story when Zhang Enpu was born.
On the fifth day of the ninth month of the thirtieth year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1904), the 62nd Heavenly Master Zhang Yuanxu ushered in the birth of his eldest son Zhang Enpu. Soon after, a Taoist appeared outside the door of the Heavenly Master's Mansion.
Zhang Yuanxu went out to greet him, and saw that this Taoist seemed to have learned about the happy events of the Heavenly Master's Mansion, and as soon as he entered the house, he asked, "Why don't you take a look at the son?" ”
Zhang Enpu was carried to the Taoist, who observed the boy intently, and then immersed himself in his own world and chanted: "The spirit rune is one and all kinds of affection, the fish and the dragon are intertwined, the sun and the moon are intertwined, the same root and the same origin, but it is difficult to belong, seven or nine pass on the Yin, and share the peace."
After the Taoist finished singing, he handed Zhang Enpu to Zhang Yuanxu, and then hurriedly went out of the door, and disappeared from sight soon after. After the outside world learned of this, someone soon composed the lyrics of "There is a break in the sixty-third generation" based on the chant of the Taoist.
And the singing of the Taoist people shrouded the sky above Longhu Mountain like a dark cloud.
In Taiwan, Zhengyi's development encountered many difficulties, but Zhang Enpu, a low-key Taoist, survived the war and chaos. However, Chiang Kai-shek's coercion left Zhang Enpu with nowhere to escape.
After the Battle of Huaihai, Chiang Kai-shek realized that the rule of the Kuomintang on the mainland was coming to an end, so he ordered a large number of *** and cultural relics to be shipped to Taiwan, and at the same time, many well-known figures were also forcibly relocated to Taiwan.
As a representative figure of Taoism in China, Zhang Enpu is naturally on the list of people who have been relocated to Taiwan. In the face of Chiang Kai-shek's request, Zhang Enpu did not choose to cooperate.
But Chiang Kai-shek always took harsh measures against those who were unwilling to cooperate in going to Taiwan, either forcing them to go to Taiwan or destroying them.
For the safety of his family, Zhang Enpu reluctantly agreed to leave the mainland. However, just before he set off, the People's Liberation Army had already launched a campaign to cross the river. In order to escape the fierce offensive of the People's Liberation Army, Zhang Enpu didn't even have time to bring the three tokens of the Heavenly Master in a hurry, and only took the Yangping Zhidu Gong Seal and embarked on the journey.
Zhang Enpu, the celestial master who left the mainland and lost his ancestral court, although he founded the Taiwan Taoist Association and the Chinese Taoist Association, and held important positions in them, with the progress of society, the influence of Taoism has been greatly reduced.
However, Chiang Kai-shek saw that Zhengyi was already in decline, so he began to snub Zhang Enpu and leave him to fend for himself.
The continued development of Zhengyi is plagued by the problem of heirs. In order to expand the influence of Zhengyi, Zhang Enpu intensified his Dharma transmission activities and often led teams to Southeast Asia to teach the Fa.
After 20 years of hard work, Zhengyi has gained a certain influence among believers in Taiwan and overseas. Although Zhang Enpu is running around for Zhengyi, the heir problem still exists, which has become a major crisis for Zhengyi.
The Zhengyi Heavenly Master has always only passed on to the son-in-law, and the son-in-law must hold three tokens, including the sword of suppressing evil spirits, the talisman, and the seal of Yangping Zhidu, in order to become a heavenly master.
Zhang Enpu's eldest son, Zhang Yunxian, has passed away, while his second son, Zhang Yunkang, studied in Germany in his early years and was passionate about science, but not religious affairs. Zhang Enpu tried to persuade Zhang Yunkang many times, but Zhang Yunkang insisted on his position, and he wrote in his reply: The way of the Heavenly Master pursued by his father all his life is nothing but feudal superstition, and science is the real way to save the country.
Since then, many elders have taken turns to fight, hoping to persuade Zhang Yunkang to become the 64th generation of Heavenly Master. However, Zhang Yunkang, who loves science, was troubled by this, and he chose to close the door to the elders.
Zhang Enpu was extremely disappointed because of his son's attitude, and there was never a clear candidate, which laid the groundwork for the later chaos. Chang died in Taipei in 1969.
Although Zhengyi's power is not as strong as before, its influence is unrivaled, and Zhengyi's industrial income is still very considerable, so the title of Heavenly Master still attracts the attention of many people.
Zhengyi Sect members are facing the problem of heirs, and the forced succession of the Heavenly Master has caused controversy. The search for a suitable successor has been followed by a decades-long battle for the throne.
The first to announce the succession to the position of Heavenly Master was Zhang Enpu's nephew Zhang Yuanxian. He is close to Zhang Enpu by blood, has always been by Zhang Enpu's side, and has contributed to the development of Zhengyi in Taiwan, which is recognized by believers and elders.
However, this has also sparked arguments and disagreements among all parties.
Zhang Yuan first claimed that Zhang Enpu had verbally passed on the position of Heavenly Master to him on his deathbed, so he intended to take over this role and become the 64th Heavenly Master. However, his remarks raised questions among the elders and followers of the church.
First, his blood does not meet the requirements of fitness; secondly, there was no testimony to the oral will; Moreover, he did not receive Zhang Enpu's Yangping Zhidu Seal, because it was regarded as a token passed on by the previous Heavenly Master to the next generation.
Although Zhang Yuanxian's qualifications were lacking, the struggle for power among the various factions at that time had affected the normal development of Zhengyi. In order to safeguard the overall interests, the elders decided to let Zhang Yuan serve as the ** Heavenly Master temporarily.
Zhang Yuanxian was not satisfied with just being a ** Heavenly Master, after the situation stabilized, he had already grasped great power, so he gathered famous experts and believers and held a grand ceremony to announce that he would officially assume the position of the 64th Heavenly Master.
After the meeting, he reported this decision to the Kuomintang authorities, hoping for official approval. However, his action angered many believers, and many elders in the church also considered him unqualified for the position.
In the midst of strong opposition, the Kuomintang authorities, who had already abandoned Zhengyi, directly stated that they would no longer recognize Zhengyi's status. Although there was no official recognition, in October 1970, Zhang Yuanxian was still consecrated at the Temple of Heaven in Tainan City, claiming to be the 64th Heavenly Master.
However, since he was not recognized by the majority of the congregation, his self-proclaimed Celestial Master has been highly controversial.
At a meeting, a middle-aged man who claimed to be Zhang Enpu's son suddenly broke in, saying that 78-year-old Zhang Yuanxian was not the son of a heavenly master, but an impostor. The news took everyone present by surprise.
However, the man then showed the token of the Yang Ping Zhidu Gong Seal, leaving everyone speechless. Although people did not immediately refute the man because of the token, they were also in disbelief at the news.
After the meeting was dismissed, the Taoist Association sent people to visit Zhang Meiliang in order to investigate Zhang Meiliang's information. After many days of investigation, they found that Zhang Enpu did have a wife in Taiwan, and this wife was Zhang Meiliang's mother.
In the same year, Zhang Yuanxian died at home, and according to the rules, Zhang Meiliang, who had both blood and tokens, naturally became the next Heavenly Master, which was also acceptable to the believers.
However, just as Zhang Meiliang was preparing to succeed to the throne, a major event occurred that shocked the believers. At the end of 2008, when the Taoist Association was discussing Chang Meiliang's succession in Taipei, another elder of the Zhang family, Zhang Daozhen, stood up and expressed his opposition to Chang's succession at the meeting, claiming that Zhang Meiliang was not Chang's child.
Although Zhang Daozhen is younger than Zhang Enpu, he is Zhang Enpu's cousin according to his seniority, and theoretically he can compete with Zhang Yuanxian for the position of Heavenly Master. However, because his prestige in the sect was not as high as that of Zhang Yuanxian, he chose to give up.
Although he once had the idea of competing for the position of Heavenly Master, when Zhang Yuanxian was alive, he had already arranged to win over the elders in the sect to prepare for taking over the position of Heavenly Master. However, Zhang Meiliang's appearance disrupted his plans.
Revealing the truth, the mystery of the inheritance of the Heavenly Master is still unsolved, Zhang Daozhen has always been suspicious of Zhang Meiliang's identity, thinking that he only recognized his relatives at the age of fifty, which is really strange. After an in-depth investigation by him and his subordinates, it was found that Zhang Enpu's second wife also had a marriage.
Before marrying Zhang Enpu, she had a son with her ex-husband surnamed Hu, and the boy was the same year as Zhang Meiliang. The token was a relic left by Zhang Enpu to his wife, and Zhang Meiliang learned about it from his biological mother when he became an adult, and obtained the token and changed his surname to Zhang, trying to obtain the position of Heavenly Master.
Zhang Daozhen did not immediately make it public, but chose to reveal Zhang Meiliang's true face at the conference. He not only prepared photos and other evidence in advance, but also showed them at the meeting, putting Zhang Meiliang in an embarrassing situation.
Before the meeting ended, Zhang Meiliang had already left.
Zhang Daozhen forcibly succeeded to the throne despite opposition, intending to replace Zhang Meiliang. He thought that he had merit, so he proposed to succeed him as the Heavenly Master. However, his proposal aroused opposition from the elders and the faithful, and the meeting hall was thrown into chaos.
In desperation, Zhang Daozhen could only announce the dismissal of the meeting. Since then, the descendants of the Zhang family have stood up, hoping to take over as the Heavenly Master. Among them, Zhang Yuanxian's daughter Zhang Yifeng tried to run for election, but was opposed by believers and elders.
After that, although there were other descendants who hoped to run, the believers only accepted the descendants of the 63rd generation of Heavenly Master Zhang Enpu.
After hundreds of years, his position as a celestial master has always been vacant. Zhang Daozhen reappeared on this stage, he imitated Zhang Yuanxian's method, bribed many elders and sectarians with money, and in 2009 he was enshrined at the Temple of Heaven in Tainan, thus claiming to be the 65th generation of Heavenly Master.
However, due to a series of events caused by Zhang Yuanxian, Zhang Daozhen and others, Zhengyi's influence gradually weakened. In Zhengyi's ancestral Longhu Mountain, the host of Zhengyi is not the Zhang family's bloodline, but Zhang Enpu's grandson Lu Jintao.
Lu Jintao changed his name to Zhang Jintao in the eighties, and after graduating from university, he returned to Longhu Mountain and became the presiding officer of the Heavenly Master Mansion of the Han Dynasty.
Although the policy did not give the title to the Longhu Mountain Heavenly Master Mansion, in the Longhu Mountain area, people's recognition of Zhang Jintao is quite high. Zhang Jintao's behavior in charge of the Heavenly Master's Mansion made Zhang Yuanxian, Zhang Daozhen and others angry.
Taiwan's Zhengyi has always regarded Chang Jintao as an "outsider" and has repeatedly emphasized his status as an "impostor," but the two sides have not had a large-scale dispute over the issue of orthodoxy.
Taoism is an important part of traditional Chinese culture, and some of these outdated ideas have been gradually abandoned. Without reform, some denominations are likely to decline.
Any theory or religion that does not adapt to the development of the times may eventually be eliminated by history.