Buddhism has the Buddha living Buddha, and Taoism also has the saying of a heavenly master. The "Celestial Master" was originally a figure in myths and legends, with boundless mana and ruling over many ghosts and gods in the world. Later, "Heavenly Master" became the honorific title of Zhang Daoling, the founder of Taoism, and his successors.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Daoling (also known as Zhang Ling) founded Taoism in Western Shu and was the first Celestial Master. After that, Taoism began in the Eastern Han Dynasty and continued for 1,900 years, during which he succeeded tianshi for a total of 63 generations.
The previous dozens of Celestial Masters were all valued by the emperors of various dynasties, especially during the Song Dynasty, Zhang Tianshi also became the guests of the Heavenly Son, and was awarded the title of "Sir" by the imperial court.
Zhang Enpu was the sixty-third Heavenly Master of Taoism, and by his generation, the development of Taoist Heavenly Masters had gone into decline. In the late 1970s, after Zhang Enpu's efforts and the development of Taoism improved slightly, he died of illness again, and because the next successor was not selected, it triggered a battle for many people to seize the throne.
Originally a Daoist Heavenly Master of the Immortal Wind Dao Bone, a High Wind and Bright Festival, he did not expect to be contaminated with the struggle for power and desire in the secular world.
Tianshi Zhang Enpu was forced to follow Lao Jiang to Taiwan, and when the incident was urgent, he was taken away by Lao Jiang's people before he could pack his packages. In the panic, those precious relics of Taoism were also accidentally lost.
After arriving in Taiwan, everything had to start from scratch. Zhang Enpu devoted himself to preaching Taoist teachings in Taiwan every day, and when he saw that he was about to become a great success, his eldest son Zhang Yunxian suddenly had a heart attack and died. Without the first heir, Zhang Enpu was seriously injured, and could only endure the grief in his heart to continue to preach the Heavenly Master's teachings.
In 1969, Zhang Enpu, who was struggling to support, also passed away. After his "immortal death," the heads of the various districts of the Taoist Church in Taiwan were busy with his aftermath, and they sat solemnly together and began to discuss and decide the successor of the next Heavenly Master.
It is reasonable to say that according to the rules set by Zhang Daoling's ancestors, this "Heavenly Master" must be inherited by the male heir of the previous term, preferably the eldest son. When succeeding to the throne, there must also be several Taoist magic tools as evidence, namely the "Yangping Zhidu Gong Seal", the Chuanzhen Sword, and the Rune. These two things are necessary to complete the succession ceremony of the sixty-fourth generation of heavenly masters.
But the problem was that those few magic weapons had long been lost, not even on the body of Heavenly Master Zhang Enpu himself. The magic weapon could not be found, and Zhang Yunxian, the originally selected heir of the Heavenly Master Zhang Enpu, also died. So everyone shifted their attention to Zhang Enpu's second son, the eldest son died, then the second son would succeed to the throne in order.
The crowd went to find Zhang Enpu's second son, but found that he was not interested in passing on The Taoist teachings, but only liked to study science and wanted to be a scientist. The crowd went up and tried to persuade them many times, but the people just didn't want to.
Just when everyone was at a loss, someone mentioned Zhang Yuanxian, saying that he had been entrusted by Zhang Tianshi to take over the Tianshi Sect and carry forward the teachings well. As soon as the crowd heard this, they went to find Zhang Yuanxian, and Zhang Yuanxian did not deny it, saying that there was indeed such a thing.
This Zhang Yuan was first Zhang Enpu's cousin, and since Zhang Enpu came to Taiwan to develop Taoism, he has followed Zhang Enpu to practice Taoism. He himself is very perceptive, and has a wise root, and he is very popular with Zhang Enpu.
Since the death of his eldest son, Zhang Enpu has been depressed for a while, and it is difficult for him to take care of the affairs in the church for a while, and sometimes he will entrust some important things to Zhang Yuan to deal with first. Many in the church know this.
Since the second son of the Heavenly Master was not willing to be the next Heavenly Master, it was also a good choice for Zhang Yuan, who was heavily weighted by Zhang Enpu, to be the first to be the heavenly master. Although several relics had been lost, at least Zhang Yuanxian still had the Heavenly Master's deathbed instructions.
Letting Zhang Yuan succeed to the throne is the best choice at present. Having said that, there are still some responsible persons in charge of the Dao sect who believe that the matter of succeeding the Heavenly Master is sloppy, and if there is a slight mistake, it is not a disorder of the inheritance of the Heavenly Master Sect. For a time, Zhang Yuanxian's supporters and opponents quarreled together.
One side believes that this great Taoism must always have a "Heavenly Master" to dominate the overall situation, and if the position of this "Heavenly Master" is fixed one day later, there will be one more hidden danger, and this consequence is not something that anyone can afford. Although this Zhang Yuanxian was not the son of the Heavenly Master, he was also cultivated by the Heavenly Master. Moreover, before his death, Tianshi also made a will, hoping that Zhang Yuan would succeed to the throne first.
However, the other side believed that it was the will of the Heavenly Master, but no one present heard it with their own ears, and the will was full of doubts. Moreover, he had no relics in his hands, and it was difficult to convince the public with just one mouth.
The public says that the public is justified, and the mother says that the mother is reasonable. After the two sides quarreled and quarreled for a while, everyone took a step back and let Zhang Yuan first serve as the acting Heavenly Master of the Tianshi Mansion.
Since 1971, Zhang Yuanxian has been in the position of acting Heavenly Master for more than thirty years, and he is in charge of all major and minor affairs in the teaching every day, although there is no Heavenly Master's proper name, but he seems to have the real power of Heavenly Master.
Under his control, Taoism in Taiwan grew stronger. Sometimes, Zhang Yuanxian also represented Taoism to participate in activities on the mainland, contributing to the cross-strait folk religious exchanges.
After many years of peace and quiet. In 2008, someone suddenly jumped out and said that he was the candidate for the sixty-fourth generation of Heavenly Masters.
The person who jumped out was named Zhang Meiliang, and he said that he was the son of Zhang Enpu, the Heavenly Master. According to the rules set by the old ancestors, the next Heavenly Master must be succeeded by the son of the Sixty-third Generation Heavenly Master, and although Zhang Yuanxian is surnamed Zhang, his blood is not pure, so he is not qualified to occupy the position of Heavenly Master at all.
Upon hearing that it was the son of Heavenly Master Zhang Enpu, some people in the sect were immediately excited. From the very beginning, these people did not accept Zhang Yuanxian in their hearts, and always believed that Zhang Yuanxian's way of coming was not authentic. I didn't expect that Tianshi Zhang Enpu also had a son, which was good, and it was a legitimate choice for him to succeed to the throne.
As soon as Zhang Meiliang appeared, it immediately caused an uproar. Within Taoism, it was suddenly divided into two parts, one was the bloodline faction, which supported Zhang Meiliang's succession, and the other was the strength faction, which supported Zhang Yuanxian, who had more mature management skills.
The two sides come and go, and for a while neither of them can come up with ironclad evidence that can convince the other side. You say I don't have Taoist relics, I say you're not of pure blood. Although everyone is a cultivator, the fight of words is also spitting stars, which is breathtaking.
At this moment, Zhang Meiliang slowly and triumphantly took out a party seal. When everyone squinted their eyes and carefully identified the handwriting on the seal, they couldn't help but exclaim loudly, "It's 'Yangping Zhi Du Gong Seal', yes, it is 'Yang Ping Zhi Du Gong Yin'!" ”
As soon as the "Yangping Zhidu Gongyin" came out, Zhang Meiliang instantly gained a wave of supporters. Not only is he the son of the Heavenly Master Zhang Enpu, but he also has the relic "Yangping Zhidu Gong Seal" in his hand, which is no longer justified.
The other person who supported Zhang Yuanxian suddenly stopped, but the biggest reason was not the appearance of the "Yang Ping Zhi Du Gong Seal", but Zhang Yuanxian's body was gradually deteriorating. In October 2008, Zhang Yuanxian "feathered Dengxian" at home at the age of 78.
At this point, the question of the heavenly master's heir seems to have no more controversy. That beautiful bloodline relic was occupied by both sides, and it was indeed impossible to say anything against it. Allowing the son of Heavenly Master Zhang Enpu to succeed to the throne is also a complete thing.
Just when Zhang Meiliang was full of pride and preparing to succeed him as the sixty-fourth Heavenly Master of Taoism, someone stepped forward and revealed his old bottom.
The name of the person who stood out this time was Zhang Daozhen, the real Zhang family. As soon as he stood up, he uttered a message that stunned everyone. It turned out that this Zhang Meiliang was nominally indeed the son of Tianshi Zhang Enpu, but in fact, he was only the stepson of Tianshi Zhang Enpu.
It turned out that after the Heavenly Master Zhang Enpu came to Taiwan, he married another wife, and this wife also had a son with her ex-husband before marrying him. After she married Zhang Enpu, her son stayed in the first husband's house. Therefore, there is no blood relationship between this Zhang Meiliang and the Heavenly Master Zhang Enpu at all.
In addition, Zhang Daozhen also pointed out that Zhang Meiliang, who had bad intentions, pretended to be the son of Tianshi and did not say anything, but also changed his surname without authorization. He was originally named Hu with his biological father, Hu Meiliang. However, in order to pretend to be the son of the Heavenly Master, he changed the surname of "Zhang" on his own initiative, in a vain attempt to conceal the heavens and cross the sea, and the cholera tianshifu bloodline.
Hearing Zhang Daozhen say this, everyone suddenly woke up. Well, if the Celestial Master really had a son who was willing to pass on the Dao Fa, he would be chosen as the heir at that time, so why should he be left out. It's dangerous, everyone almost got cheated.
Zhang Mei,whose true identity had been revealed, was a little flustered in his conscience, but he still calmed down and tried his best to defend himself, saying that what Zhang Daozhen said was false, otherwise, how could he have the "Yangping Zhidu Gong Seal" in his hand.
This Daozhen also came prepared, saying that your Hu Meiliang's seal was stolen from the Heavenly Master by your mother, in order to let his own son succeed to the Tianshi Mansion.
"Zhang" Mei Liang was immediately embarrassed and angry.
With this stubble, the sect members no longer dared to listen to partiality, so they sent someone to grope the bottom of "Zhang" Meiliang. Sure enough, as Zhang Daozhen said, this "Zhang" Meiliang was originally Hu Meiliang, just the stepson of the Heavenly Master.
Everyone was disappointed at the same time, but also a little happy, this day the Master's House's obedience almost made some young people get infected. Without the inheritance of blood lineage, everyone set their eyes on this "Yang Ping Zhi Du Gong Seal". I heard that there was one on the mainland, but no one had ever seen it, and I didn't dare to judge whether it was true or false for a while.
As for the theft mentioned in Zhang Daozhen's mouth, it is most likely a fictitious thing. When Tianshi Zhang Enpu came to Taiwan, he did not bring the "Yangping Zhidu Gong Seal", which is something that everyone knows. There is no one around the Celestial Master, and there is no such thing as stealing.
Just when everyone was hesitating, Zhang Daozhen took the opportunity to say that he was the authentic Zhang family, and now it was up to him to succeed to the Tianshi Mansion.
As soon as he opened his mouth, someone immediately raised an objection. Zhang Daozhen is indeed a member of the Zhang family, and according to the generational division, he is still the uncle of the Heavenly Master. But his relationship with the Heavenly Master, seven turns and eight turns, has long been out of the five clothes, even if there is a bloodline. It is simply a fantasy to let him succeed to the throne.
But Zhang Daozhen did not care, in 2009, he held a succession ceremony on his own and became his "Zhang Tianshi". However, Zhang Daozhen, the "Zhang Tianshi", was not recognized by the people.
However, at this time, it was no longer meaningful to dwell on bloodlines, and the position of the Heavenly Master had become a piece of fat. The complexity of the entanglement of interests behind it has long surpassed the heir itself. Other people who are not surnamed Zhang also want to take the opportunity to support their own people to ascend to the throne at this time in order to achieve their own goals.
Everyone has been pulling for many years, and in the end there is no conclusion. At first, it was only three people surnamed Zhang pulling, and then more than one appeared one after another. Regardless of whether their surname is Zhang or not, they all go around building and collecting disciples under the name of "Zhang Tianshi", and even some people use this name to swindle and deceive and wantonly amass wealth.
The five sects, which were originally orderly, were suddenly caught up in the dispute over the selection of heirs. Each sect beat its own little nine-nine, trying to push its own people to the top.
Before, during the period of everyone's pulling, there was still an acting Heavenly Master Zhang Yuan to temporarily manage the affairs of the sect, and there was not much going on. However, after Zhang Yuanxian's death, the internal management of Taoism became more and more chaotic, and everyone wanted to mix it up.
Because Zhang Enpu has no successor, the problem of succession has never been solved. In Taoism, the "Celestial Master" is a vane of dominance. Without the heir of authority and orthodoxy, the entire Taoism was naturally chaotic and slowly dispersed.
No matter how they competed with the zhang surname, in the eyes of the outside world, the orthodoxy of the Heavenly Master Dao, which had lasted for more than 1,900 years, ended here with the sixty-third generation of Heavenly Master Zhang Enpu.
The I Ching has sixty-four trigrams, while the Heavenly Master Dao has passed on sixty-three, which sounds like a sense of doomed deficiency. However, like the system of the Zhangjia Tianshi Dao relying on blood to pass on, it is sooner or later to break the generation. It is also possible that this system can last for 1,900 years.
The leader of a religion can arouse the covetousness of so many people. It seems that the roads in Taoism are not as pure as outsiders think. Sometimes, the shell of religious spread is stripped away, revealing naked humanity.
To put it bluntly, the struggle for the heir of the Taoist Heavenly Master has not escaped the blood of the dog in the world. It seems to be no different from the struggle for the throne of various dynasties and generations in history.
Some of the so-called "high-ranking people" are just a bunch of flesh and blood who are vying for fame and profit.
Believing in religion, it has nothing to do with materialism and materialism, superstition is not superstitious, and religion is only a kind of sustenance and yearning for people's spirit. You believe in Taoism, I believe in Buddhism, there is no distinction between good and bad, high or low.
The Tianshi Taoism founded by Zhang Daoling can last for thousands of years, and it has its own unique places, as long as everyone has a fair and objective attitude. However, if someone goes around under the banner of "Zhang Tianshi" and arbitrarily amasses wealth, it is an act that cannot be tolerated by a society governed by the rule of law.
Zhang Tianshi has ended since the end of the 1970s, and if you see someone using the name of "Tianshi" in your life, you can report it at will so as not to be deceived.
"National Art": The Legend of Zhang Tianshi and the Story of Buddha Bunsen
"Knowledge of Literature and History": "Zhang Tianshi on the Dragon and Tiger Mountain"
"Studies in Religious Studies": "Ji Qianjiu Hundred Years of Zhengyi Dharma Lineage, Commentary on the Sixty-third Generation of Heavenly Master Family"