Qizhen (Seven Perfected in Multiple Contexts)

The account calls Zhang Ziyang, Shi Xinglin, Daoguang, Chen Nan, Bai Yuchan, Liu Yongnian, and Peng Henian a Southern Seven linked there to Liu Haichan. It separately lists Qiu Chuji, Ma Yu, Liu Changsheng, Tan Chuduan, Hao Datong, Wang Chuyi, and Sun Buer as a northern group associated with Wang Chongyang. The Southern names and the exact line of transmission require verification in individual lineage sources; they should not be silently substituted for the better-known northern Quanzhen list.

A note attributed to Lu Guimeng's Fuli Ji uses the term for a different seven associated with Maoshan: three Mao figures, Mao Ying, Mao Meng, and Mao Gu; two Xu figures, Xu Mi and Xu Hui; Yang Xi; and Guo Pu. The note's three-two-one-one count explains the label in that poetic and local-memory setting. It does not make those people members of either the Southern or Northern group described above.

A further sense in the source concerns seven Northern Dipper stars, named Tanlang, Jumen, Lucun, Wenqu, Lianzhen, Wuqu, and Pojun. The same passage then mentions auxiliary and other celestial figures, so its extended divine list should not be mistaken for a clean roster of only seven names. Scriptural petitions there ask for protection, long life, and relief from misfortune. They report religious hopes, not assured results.

Qizhen means Seven Perfected, but the expression identifies different groups in different Daoist settings. The familiar Quanzhen group of Wang Chongyang's seven disciples is one important use, not the only meaning of the term.

In the northern Quanzhen tradition, the seven are Ma Yu, Tan Chuduan, Liu Chuxuan, Qiu Chuji, Wang Chuyi, Hao Datong and Sun Bu'er. Many accounts use their religious names instead: Danyang, Changzhen, Changsheng, Changchun, Yuyang, Guangning and Qingjing. Recognizing these pairs prevents one group from appearing to be two different lists.

The expression also occurs in Maoshan and southern alchemical contexts. The Maoshan grouping combines the three Mao brothers with Yang Xi, two members of the Xu family and Guo Chongzhen. The southern grouping includes Zhang Boduan and other teachers. These lists express different ancestral affiliations rather than additions to the seven northern disciples.

In astral religious language, Qizhen can refer to the seven stellar lords of the Northern Dipper. A reader should therefore identify the setting before interpreting the name: a Quanzhen lineage passage, a Maoshan account and a reference to the Dipper do not necessarily name the same figures. Zhenren explains the language of perfection, while the surrounding context identifies the group.