Chiang Kai-shek is a legendary figure in the Republic of China period, the evaluation of him has always been mixed, he was the supreme commander of the Chinese theater during World War II, but because of the poisonous political means and dictatorship was criticized, of course, many small friends who like to study the history of the Republic of China also have their own evaluations of him, but today we want to talk about not Chiang Kai-shek, but another "well-known figure" who has a lot of ties with Chiang Kai-shek.
This person's name was Zhang Enpu, and he was a well-known "Heavenly Master" at that time. And his name is not out of thin air, it was officially recognized by the Ming Dynasty, it was first handed down by the founders of the Zhengyi sect of Taoism, and the last generation was passed down to Zhang Enpu.
Zhang Enpu was very perceptive, and he quickly mastered some basic theories about Taoism, plus he was the eldest son of Zhang Yuanxu, the previous generation of Heavenly Master, so at the age of 20 he became a Heavenly Master without controversy, although it may not be qualified from the age point of view.
The name of Tianshi does not only represent popularity, but also symbolizes a certain status, after all, it has been officially certified in history, but in Zhang Enpu's generation, it has gradually been abolished.
At that time in China, the influence of Buddhism was far from being comparable to that of Taoism, and taoism at that time was far more than just the "Zhengyi school", but also a variety of other factions, not to mention that Zhang Enpu at that time had little political status.
Therefore, if Zhang Enpu wanted to restore the Zhengyi faction to its former glory, the first thing he had to do was to preach, so after he became a heavenly master, he used to preach Taoism in a populated area like Shanghai in the early years, but the more developed at that time, the less interested he was in this, so his missionary was not much effective.
During the Anti-Japanese War, because of the turmoil, he retired to Longhu Mountain. It was not until the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan that he began to carry out activities, and at this time, Zhang Enpu understood that if he wanted to be brilliant, it was useless for him to preach like this, but to keep pace with the times and keep up with the casting of ideas.
So in 1947, while developing religion, Zhang Enpu also proposed the "Plan for the Revival of Taoism", in which the spread of superstitious ideas was reduced, and the willingness to develop modern science and technology was strengthened, although this received a certain echo, but in 1947 China could no longer support these things, and it did not achieve much effect.
Fortunately, he gradually got closer to the Kuomintang, and the relationship with them was very good, and in the late 1940s, the strength of the Kuomintang was almost wiped out, and the Kuomintang government also gave Zhang Enpu the title of deputy commander of the Twentieth Army, but judging from the situation of the Kuomintang at that time, this title was only nominal.
After the end of the Liberation War in 1949, zhang Tianshi felt that the development of Taoism still had to follow the right people and have a backer. On the one hand, because he and the Kuomintang were somewhat close at that time, if he continued to stay on the mainland, I am afraid that there would be no good fruit to eat, and on the other hand, the mainland could not satisfy his demands.
At that time, there was also Confucius's descendant Kong Decheng, and as for why Chiang Kai-shek brought these two people, it must also be to prove his strength and status.
After arriving in Taiwan, Zhang Enpu did not idle, continued to plan the teaching affairs and began to preach again, and in 1950, he founded the Taiwan Provincial Taoist Church in Taipei, continuing to propagate the teachings.
During this period, due to political support, the spread of Zhang Enpu's Taoist ideas was also much easier, and it did not take long to spread throughout Taiwan, and he once counted the Taoist believers in Taiwan by registering them, and even reached nearly one million people, which is enough to see its influence.
In 1964, he also led his team to Malaysia, Singapore and other countries, where he spread Taoist ideas and increased the international influence of Taoism in China. He died in Taipei in December 1969.
Throughout his life, he has been committed to preaching, and in the early days there were many difficulties, but fortunately he was able to realize his dreams in his later years, and this result was also very good for him. However, he still had a big regret, that is, he had always missed Longhu Mountain very much, after all, this was his home, so his only wish was that the two sides of the motherland could be reunified at an early date, but this wish was not seen in his lifetime.