Names and variants
- Simplified
- 钟离权
- Traditional
- 鍾離權
- Other names
- Zhong Li Quan, Han Zhongli, Chung-li Ch'uan, Zhengyangzi, Zhongli Yunfang
- Pinyin
- Zhōng lí quán
- English
- Zhongli Quan
Overview
His sacred biography connects him with Xianyang, an encounter with a divine teacher and withdrawal to pursue cultivation. Accounts place him across very long periods, so the familiar name Han Zhongli should not by itself be treated as proof of a securely dated Han-dynasty life.
Quanzhen honours him as Zhengyang Patriarch and places him among its ancestral teachers. This is a statement of remembered spiritual authority, distinct from a claim that he founded the later Quanzhen institutions in their historical form.
Within the Eight Immortals group, he is commonly recognized by a fan. The collective stories emphasize his interaction with other immortals, whereas patriarchal traditions emphasize teaching and transmission. These settings explain different aspects of the same revered figure.
Reading Zhongli Quan alongside Lü Dongbin and Quanzhen Dao therefore requires two perspectives: the popular group of immortals and the religious lineage through which teachers claim continuity. Neither perspective should be used to erase the other.
References
- [1]Dictionary of Daoism