Lives of Taoist masters through the ages: Yin Xi, Sima Chengzhen, Sun Simiao, Zhang Sanfeng, Wang Changyue, Chen Yingning and others.
A profile of Zhao Daojian, first-generation great precept master of the Quanzhen Longmen lineage, who studied under Cui Yangtou and Ma Danyang, became Qiu Chuji's trusted disciple, died in Central Asia on the journey west to Genghis Khan, and was posthumously honored as a Perfected.
A profile of Li Chunfeng, the Tang astronomer and mathematician who served as Grand Astrologer, wrote the Linde Calendar and the Yisi Zhan, predicted a solar eclipse, improved the armillary sphere, first graded wind force, annotated the Ten Mathematical Classics, and in legend co-wrote the Tuibei Tu with Yuan Tiangang.
An interview with Master Meng Zhiling: turned away by temple after temple until he was accepted at the Temple of the Central Peak, he left the China Taoist Academy to practice “refining nature through hardship” in the Northeast, spent New Year's Eve alone bound for Mohe, and speaks on gathering the mind and nourishing the spirit.
A profile of Sima Chengzhen, the Tang-dynasty patriarch of the Shangqing school who studied under Pan Shizheng, lived on Mount Tiantai, was summoned by three rulers, conferred registers on Emperor Xuanzong, and taught the Five Gradual Gates and Seven Stages in works such as the Zuowang Lun.
Marking the centenary of Master Fu Yuantian: his path from disciple of Zhang Yongping to leader of Mount Qingcheng, his restoration of temples and self-support, and his years heading the China Taoist Association and Academy, reviving Quanzhen ordination and Zhengyi register conferral and fostering exchange.
A profile of Sun Simiao, the Tang-dynasty Taoist priest and physician who mastered Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Buddhist texts, lived and practiced medicine in the Zhongnan Mountains, declined imperial office, joined Taoist health cultivation with medicine, and wrote the Qianjin Yaofang.
A profile of the modern Taoist scholar Chen Yingning, who turned to the Tao through illness, read the entire Taoist Canon, championed the “study of immortality” to save the nation, recast it as Taoist health cultivation, wrote a plan for reviving Taoism, and led the China Taoist Association.
A profile of the Tang-dynasty Taoist master Ye Fashan, heir to five generations of Taoist priests, who sought out many teachers, served five emperors from Gaozong to Xuanzong, dissuaded the court from alchemical gold-making, was made Duke of Yue, and was honored by Song Huizong as Perfected Lingxu Jiansu.
A portrait of Zhang Sanfeng, the hidden immortal of Wudang, drawing on the History of Ming for his appearance, travels, and prophecy of Wudang's rise, and retelling the legends of Zhenwu teaching him boxing in a dream and of the bird-and-snake fight that inspired internal martial arts.
The story of Yin Xi, Keeper of the Hangu Pass, who saw the purple qi, welcomed Laozi, and asked him to write the five-thousand-character Tao Te Ching; author of the Guanyinzi, patriarch of the Louguan school, and in legend a recluse of the Wudang Mountains.
A profile of Master Chen Liansheng (1917–2008), an eminent Zhengyi Taoist priest who long served as abbot of the Shanghai City God Temple and led the China Taoist Association and the Shanghai Taoist Association, reviving the temple, preserving Shanghai Taoist music, training talent, and fostering exchange abroad.
A profile of Wang Yuanzhi, the Sui–Tang master of the Shangqing school who studied under Tao Hongjing and Zang Jin, lived as a recluse on Mount Mao, was honored by Emperor Yang of Sui, conferred the Three Caverns scriptures on Emperor Taizong of Tang, and was posthumously titled Master Shengxuan.
A profile of Wang Changyue, seventh-generation precept master of the Quanzhen Longmen lineage in the early Qing, who received the precepts from Zhao Fuyang, led White Cloud Temple in Beijing, held great ordinations north and south, and taught the twenty essentials and the “formless dharma gate.”
A profile of Wang Wenqing, the real founder of the Shenxiao school and great synthesizer of Taoist thunder rites: taught by the Fire Master Wang, favored by Emperor Huizong for bringing rain yet retiring in time, he taught that thunder rites are the method of the mind; with his works, legacy, and sacred proclamation.
Master Zhang Yuanzhen recounts his path to the Tao: roaming the Northwest as a fortune-teller's apprentice, leaving home under Gou Yuantong, begging alms to the Baxian Temple in Xi'an, practicing grain avoidance near Louguantai, working as a village doctor, and returning to Louguantai after retiring.