Descriptions of practices here are historical and educational, not personal instruction or health advice.
Life
Wang Zhe, known as Chongyang, was born in Xianyang under the Jin dynasty. After a mid-life turn to the Dao he lived as an ascetic, then moved to Shandong and took seven disciples later called the Seven Perfected of Quanzhen. He stressed reading the Confucian, Buddhist and Daoist classics together, sitting meditation, and reducing desire, rather than elaborate outer ritual. Short texts such as the Chongyang lijiao shiwu lun (Fifteen Discourses on Establishing the Teaching) set out a plain monastic rule. After his death Quanzhen became one of the two main Daoist orders in north China.
The system
- Unity of the Three Teachings as the Quanzhen path.
- Ascetic discipline: sitting, fasting of desire, plain living.
- A short rule for communal life (Fifteen Discourses).
Key works
- Chongyang lijiao shiwu lun (Fifteen Discourses)
- Chongyang quanzhen ji (poetry and sayings, compiled)
Where to start
- Start with the Fifteen Discourses; then a modern history of Quanzhen.
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