Shangqing and Maoshan
Explore Shangqing through its early revelation communities, Tao Hongjing's preservation of their teachings and the sacred landscape of Maoshan. These connections explain why a mountain and a religious tradition share a name without having identical histories.
Key terms: Shangqing · Highest Clarity · Maoshan · Mount Mao · Tao Hongjing · Yang Xi · Xu Mi · Wei Huacun · Sima Chengzhen · Li HanguangLearning path
- Begin with Wei Huacun to understand sacred ancestry, then follow Yang Xi and Xu Mi into fourth-century Shangqing revelation communities.
- Follow Tao Hongjing's collection and interpretation of earlier manuscripts, distinguishing his work from the tradition's beginnings.
- Follow Sima Chengzhen and Li Hanguang into Tang-period transmission and court relationships, distinguishing them from the fourth-century beginnings.
- Explore Mount Mao as a sacred landscape and a center of transmission, including its later Zhengyi and Quanzhen affiliations.
Core entries
8 entriesTraditions and Lineages
1 entryPeople and History
6 entriesTao Hongjing
Tao Hongjing (456–536), courtesy name Tongming, was a Daoist scholar of the Southern Qi and Liang dynasties. Based at Mount Mao, he edited Shangqing scriptures and divine hierarchies, studied materia medica, and wrote on alchemy and other fields. His retirement did not end his contact with the Liang court.
Read entry →Wei Huacun
Wei Huacun (about 252–334) was a woman associated with early Daoism in the Jin period. Later Shangqing sources call her Lady Wei of the Southern Sacred Peak and Zixu Yuanjun, placing her at the beginning of a scripture-transmission lineage. Biography and later revelation stories require different readings.
Read entry →Yang Xi
Yang Xi was an Eastern Jin figure associated with the early Shangqing revelations and the religious community around Jurong and Mount Mao. Later lineage accounts honour him as a patriarch, while his importance also lies in the recording and transmission of teachings.
Read entry →Xu Mi
Xu Mi (305–376) was an Eastern Jin official and Daoist associated with Yang Xi and the early Shangqing tradition. He is honored in that tradition as its third patriarch.
Read entry →Sima Chengzhen
Sima Chengzhen (647–735) was a Tang Daoist scholar of the Shangqing tradition, associated with Mount Tiantai, Mount Wangwu, and the imperial court. Writings attributed to him discuss restraint of the mind and zuowang, or sitting in forgetfulness. His life, textual attributions, and later influence require separate evidence.
Read entry →Li Hanguang
Li Hanguang (682 or 683–769) was a Tang Daoist, a disciple of Sima Chengzhen and an important figure in the Shangqing tradition, which honors him as its thirteenth patriarch.
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