Traditions and Lineages
TraditionsSchools, lineages, and transmission systems. This directory lists public entries assigned to this category, organized by knowledge entity and page.
- Zhengyi tradition
- Quanzhen tradition
- Lineages and generation names
- Registers and ordination
- Local traditions
Traditions and Lineagesentries
Beidi Tradition
北帝派, Beidi School, Bei Di PaiThe Beidi tradition is a Daoist scriptural and register-based ritual lineage centred on the Northern Emperor, related scriptures, and divine marshals such as Tianpeng. Beidi scriptures have earlier roots, while later accounts place Deng Ziyang and the Mount Magu transmission at the centre of a more specific lineage. The formation of Beidi ritual traditions should not be collapsed into a single founding date for a Beidi school.
Northern Celestial Masters
北天師道, Northern Tianshi Dao, New Celestial MastersNorthern Celestial Masters is a scholarly designation for the northern reform tradition associated with Kou Qianzhi under the Northern Wei. It drew on the earlier Celestial Masters yet changed aspects of their institutions and ritual rules.
Northern School
北宗, Beizong, Northern BranchBeizong means Northern School or Northern Branch, but the label has different referents in Chan Buddhism, landscape-painting theory, and Daoist internal-alchemy history. In a Daoist setting it commonly distinguishes a Quanzhen-associated northern current from a southern current.
Bidong Lineage
碧洞宗, Bidong ZongThe Bidong lineage is a Qing-period branch of the Longmen tradition within Quanzhen Daoism. Its history is associated with Chen Qingjue and Daoist institutions in Sichuan.
Bo Family Daoist Tradition
帛家道, Bojiadao, Bo Family DaoismBojiadao was an early Daoist tradition traditionally linked to Bo He, also written Bai He. Sources associate it with popular worship and prayer and place adherents in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Its founder story and precise institutional form remain uncertain.
Chuan Du
傳度, Chuandu, Lineage AdmissionChuandu is a formal Daoist transmission through which a teacher receives a student into a line of training. It can establish teacher-disciple affiliation, a Daoist name or generational designation, precept obligations, and a course of study. In Zhengyi settings it may precede later reception of registers, but the sequence differs among traditions.
Donghua Lineage
東華派, Donghua Pai, Lingbao Donghua LineageThe Donghua lineage, also called Lingbao Donghua, was a Song-period Daoist transmission associated with Ning Quanzhen and later Lin Lingzhen. Its sources connect Lingbao liturgy with other teachings, including inner alchemy; the exact succession varies among records.
Ershisi Zhi
二十四職, Twenty-Four Daoist OfficesErshisi Zhi names twenty-four office categories in an early Daoist district organization. A preserved quotation associates them with male and female members.
Daoist Ritual Office
法職, Fazhi, Ritual OfficeFazhi denotes a Daoist religious title and responsibility received within a lineage and its liturgical system. In Zhengyi settings it is associated with transmission, registers, religious rank, and memorials. Its meaning depends on the specific tradition and is not a generic measure of personal ability.
Huang-Lao Dao
黃老道, Huanglao Dao, Huang-Lao ReligionHuang-Lao Dao is a name used for religious developments drawing on Huangdi and Laozi in the Han period. It links older Huang-Lao thought with beliefs about immortals, rites, and the deification of Laozi, but should not be treated as one uniformly organized early church.
Jingming Dao
淨明道, Jingming Tradition, Jingming SchoolJingming Dao, also called the Jingming Zhongxiao tradition, formed around the cult of Xu Xun at Xishan near Nanchang during the Song and Yuan periods. It joins clarity of mind and loyalty-filial ethics with registers and liturgy. Sources differ on the roles of He Zhengong and Liu Yu in its foundation.
Lingbao Tradition
靈寶派, Numinous Treasure Tradition, Lingbao SchoolLingbao is a Daoist scriptural and ritual tradition centered on Lingbao texts and communal rites. It took shape over the late Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties and continued to change thereafter. Stories of ancient transmission should not be mistaken for the dates when surviving texts were composed.
Longmen Lineage
龍門派, Dragon Gate Lineage, Longmen SchoolThe Longmen lineage is an important branch of Quanzhen Daoism that traditionally honors Qiu Chuji as its patriarch. Later Longmen accounts place particular emphasis on the transmission of precepts, while Wang Changyue's early Qing teachings were influential in shaping that tradition. A lineage's retrospective ancestry and the date of its institutional formation are different questions.
Louguan Dao
樓觀道, Louguan Tradition, Louguan SchoolLouguan Dao was a Daoist tradition centered on Louguan in the Guanzhong region and developed especially from the Northern Dynasties into early Tang. Its claimed origin with Yin Xi is a lineage narrative, not evidence that a Zhou-period organization already existed.
Louguan School
樓觀派, Louguan Pai, Louguan Daoist SchoolThe Louguan School was a Daoist tradition centered on Louguan near present-day Zhouzhi, Shaanxi. It became prominent in the Northern Dynasties and Sui periods and especially under the Tang, before later being incorporated into Quanzhen Daoism.
Maoshan School
茅山宗, Maoshan Tradition, Maoshan Branch of ShangqingThe Maoshan School is the Daoist tradition centered on Mount Mao and closely associated with the Shangqing scriptures. Tao Hongjing's work there in the Southern Dynasties made the mountain a major Shangqing center; calling him its founder simplifies an earlier textual and lineage history.
Manichaeism
摩尼教, MonijiaoManichaeism is a religion founded by Mani in the third century in the Persian world. Chinese sources called it Monijiao and used several other names; it is not a school of Daoism.
Qizhen (Seven Perfected in Multiple Contexts)
七真, Seven Perfected, Seven Realized OnesQizhen, or Seven Perfected, can name different groups in Daoist writing. The Northern Seven of Quanzhen are a familiar example, but Southern-lineage, Maoshan, and Northern Dipper contexts use the same expression differently.
Qingwei Fa
清微法, Qingwei MethodsQingwei Fa is the body of Daoist methods and teachings associated with the Qingwei tradition, prominent in Song and Yuan sources. It shares thunder-rite language with Shenxiao, yet Qingwei's own lineage narratives and theoretical writings cannot be collapsed into a mere alternate name.
Qingwei Tradition
清微派, Qingwei School, Qing Wei PaiQingwei was a Daoist ritual lineage prominent in the Song and Yuan periods. Its writings join inner cultivation with talismans, thunder rites, fasting liturgy, and accounts of master succession. Sacred genealogies trace its origin to primordial deities, while its better documented historical spread is associated with masters such as Nan Bidao and Huang Shunshen.
Quanzhen
全真, Complete Perfection, Preserving the TrueQuanzhen has two connected but distinct meanings: preserving one's authentic nature in Daoist thought, and the name of the Quanzhen Daoist tradition associated with Wang Chongyang in the Jin period. The general expression should not always be read as the institutional lineage.
Quanzhen Dao
全真道, Quanzhen tradition, Complete PerfectionQuanzhen Dao is a major Daoist tradition that took shape in northern China under the Jin, founded by Wang Chongyang and developed by disciples including Ma Yu and Qiu Chuji. It combines cultivation, precepts, sacred learning, and communal religious life, with many lineages and an extensive temple network.
Rujiao (Confucian Religious Tradition)
儒教, Confucian Religion, RujiaoRujiao can mean the Confucian teaching or a proposed Confucian religious tradition. Whether imperial state rites and Confucian learning together constitute a religion is debated; the term should not make that scholarly question seem settled.
Sanfeng Lineages
三豐派, Sanfeng Pai, Zhang Sanfeng LineagesSanfeng lineages are Daoist traditions that honor Zhang Sanfeng as a founding figure, especially in accounts connected with Wudang and inner alchemy. His dates, writings, and the connections among named branches remain contested.
Sanshi (Three Masters)
三師, Three Masters, Three Teachers in Daoist TransmissionSanshi, or three masters, is not a fixed group in Daoist writings. It may name three generations in the Zhang tradition, three teachers with scriptural and initiation roles, or offices in a particular transmission or ritual setting.
Shangqing Ritual and Cultivation Methods
上清法, Shangqing Fa, Maoshan MethodsShangqing fa refers to methods and ritual traditions associated with the Shangqing school, sometimes called Maoshan methods. Accounts of the tradition emphasize visualization alongside scriptures, talismans, and later ritual developments.
Shangqing Tradition
上清派, Highest Clarity, Shangqing SchoolShangqing is a Daoist scriptural tradition rooted in fourth-century revelations and their transmission. It values texts such as Shangqing dadong zhenjing, visualization of inner deities, and recitation. Yang Xi, the Xu family, and Tao Hongjing were important to the formation and editing of its writings; the term Shangqing school is partly a later historical shorthand.
Shenxiao Methods (Shenxiao Fa)
神霄法, Shenxiao Ritual MethodsShenxiao fa denotes methods associated with Shenxiao traditions. Thunder ritual is prominent, but the surviving materials include talismanic, cultivation, and pantheon themes across multiple lines.
Shenxiao Tradition
神霄派, Shenxiao School, Shenxiao PaiThe Shenxiao school is a Daoist thunder-rite tradition that took shape in the late Northern Song and spread widely from the Southern Song onward. Usually associated with Zhengyi transmission, it traces a sacred origin to Yuqing Zhenwang while its historical lineages involve Wang Wenqing and other masters. These sacred and historical accounts describe different layers of the tradition.
Receiving Registers
受籙, Shoulu, Reception of Daoist RegistersShoulu, receiving registers, describes a recipient's place in the transmission of a Daoist register. The written terms 受箓 and 授箓 describe reception and conferral from different sides; neither is a blanket synonym for taking refuge or entering a lineage.
Reception of Registers
授籙, shoulu, receiving the registersShoulu, the reception of registers, is an important Daoist transmission, particularly in Zhengyi traditions. A teacher confers appropriate registers to establish lineage, rank, discipline, and ritual responsibilities. The register connects a recipient with teachings, divine offices, and religious obligations.
Taiping Dao
太平道, Tai Ping Dao, Way of Great PeaceTaiping Dao was an early Daoist religious movement led by Zhang Jue in the late Eastern Han. It organized adherents around a vision of Great Peace, confession, healing rites, and regional units called fang. In 184 its uprising became known as the Yellow Turban Rebellion. The movement, the uprising, and the Taiping jing tradition are related but not identical.
Taiyi Dao
太一道, Taiyi JiaoTaiyi Dao is another name for the Jin-Yuan Daoist movement also called Taiyi Jiao, traditionally founded by Xiao Baozhen in Weizhou. Its institutional history should not be conflated with the Taiyi deity or Taiyi divination.
Taiyi Jiao
太一教, Taiyi DaoTaiyi Jiao, also called Taiyi Dao, was a northern Daoist tradition founded by Xiao Baozhen in Jin-period Weizhou. Its talismanic registers, liturgies, successive patriarchs, and ties with the Jin and Yuan courts shaped its history.
Tianshi (Celestial Master)
天師, Celestial Master, Heavenly MasterTianshi, or Celestial Master, began as an honorific for a person of exceptional insight. In Daoist history it is closely associated with Zhang Daoling and his successors, but the title has also been applied to other figures. Its meaning depends on the period and the text.
Celestial Master Daoism
天師道, Tianshi Dao, Way of the Celestial MastersCelestial Master Daoism is a name for the early Daoist tradition associated with Zhang Daoling and the Five Pecks of Rice movement. Its institutions and later southern and northern branches changed over time; the term does not denote a single unaltered organization across all periods.
Tianxin Tradition
天心派, Tianxin School, Tian Xin PaiThe Tianxin tradition transmitted the Tianxin Zhengfa, a Song-period current of Daoist talismanic rites often linked genealogically to Zhengyi. Its sources invoke northern divine systems and later emphasize inner cultivation. Founders, lineages, and rites must be described by particular textual witnesses rather than as one unchanging organization.
Wudang Daoist Traditions
武當道, Wudang Dao, Wudang SchoolWudang Dao names Daoist traditions associated with Mount Wudang in Hubei. The mountain has hosted several lineages; the label does not always identify one continuous school founded by a single person.
Way of the Five Pecks of Rice
五斗米道, Wudoumi Dao, Five Pecks of Rice traditionThe Five Pecks of Rice movement was an early Daoist tradition that formed during the Eastern Han. It is associated with Zhang Daoling and his successors Zhang Heng and Zhang Lu, and is known for regional zhi units, jijiu officers, precepts, rites, and community institutions. The name is common in historical writing but should not be confused without qualification with later Celestial Masters or Zhengyi organizations.
Wu-Liu Tradition
伍柳派, Wuliu Pai, Wu Shouyang–Liu Huayang TraditionThe Wu-Liu tradition is a later designation for neidan writings and teachings associated with Wu Shouyang and Liu Huayang. It emphasizes quiet cultivation and uses both Daoist and Buddhist language, while its relation to Longmen and Quanzhen requires source-specific study.
Xuanjiao
玄教, Teaching of the Mystery, Xuanjiao LineageXuanjiao can be a literary designation for Daoism or, in a narrower sense, a Yuan-dynasty lineage and administrative circle associated with Zhang Liusun. Earlier sources also use the expression for lofty teaching or for Buddhism, so its referent must be established from context.
Yunyou
雲遊, Daoist ItinerancyYunyou can mean wandering generally, but in Daoist life often refers to travel away from a home temple to seek teachers and learning. Quanzhen writers especially assess the traveler's purpose.
Zhengyi Ritual Traditions
正一法, Zhengyi FaZhengyi fa refers to the ritual traditions associated with Zhengyi Daoism. Its scope changed over time: the name can point to early Celestial Master practices or to the wider talismanic traditions brought under Zhengyi leadership in later centuries.
Zhengyi Registers
正一法籙, Zhengyi Falu, Registers of Orthodox UnityZhengyi Registers are a family of Daoist registers and associated institutions in Zhengyi and Celestial Masters traditions. They link transmission, affiliation, and ritual office. Their grades and forms changed over time; early lists cannot stand for every later practice.
Zhengyi Pai
正乙派, Zhengyi Branch of Longhu ShanZhengyi Pai is written 正乙派 in the heading of this source and designates a Qing Longhu Shan sub-lineage associated with Lou Jinyuan's unification of three branches through generation characters. The unusual written form should not be silently equated with the broader Zhengyi tradition.
Zhengyi Dao
正一道, Zhengyi tradition, Orthodox UnityZhengyi Dao is a major Daoist tradition distinguished by Celestial Master transmission, talismans, registers, and liturgy. Its name derives from the early Zhengyi Mengwei Dao tradition; from the Yuan and Ming onward it became a broader framework connecting southern ritual traditions.