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Chapter 697: The Heavenly Master Arrives
At the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, the Forbidden City welcomed a rather special guest, Zhang Xianyong, the 51st Heavenly Master of the Zhengyi Sect, who came all the way from Longhu Mountain in Guangxin Prefecture, Jiangxi Province, to Beijing to meet the Emperor.

Why did Hong Tao issue an edict to summon him to Beijing from Jiangxi? This has to do with last year's campaign to investigate Buddhist temples and the plan to send Taoists to Luzon to preach.

Whether it is to suppress Buddhism or to better rule the natives of Luzon, Hong Tao must find a religion that can replace Buddhism and is more proactive than Buddhism. The first choice is of course Taoism.

But Hong Tao knew very little about Taoism, and he didn't have any talent of this kind at hand, and he didn't want to rely on others. What should he do? After thinking about it, he unexpectedly found the answer in the palace, specifically the Queen Mother of Renshou Palace.

Ever since the treason case in the Yangxin Palace, Queen Mother Wang no longer dared to secretly interfere in state affairs. She took the initiative to move to the Renshou Palace and refused to show up in front of the Emperor unless it was a particularly important day or during the holidays.

Like all elderly people in later generations who feel lonely because their children are not around, the Queen Mother could not stay in Renshou Palace playing mahjong and Monopoly all day. She had to find spiritual sustenance, so she followed the example of the late Empress Dowager and studied religion.

This contact also helped her find her goal, to practice Taoism and become an immortal, and the specific method was to refine elixirs. But this thing is really not something that ordinary people can learn by themselves, and must be taught by a master.

However, there was no talent in this area in the Forbidden City, so he had to make a small request to the emperor, hoping to summon a Taoist priest named Gao Yanyuan from Huashan, Shaanxi to the palace for face-to-face advice.

Why did it have to be Gao Yanyuan? When Hong Tao first heard about it, he immediately became alert, fearing that this woman's ambitions were stirring again. But after asking Wang An, he felt relieved. Gao Yanyuan was not a stranger, and it was even possible that they had met before, but he was still young at that time and had no impression of her.

Gao Yanyuan, whose original name was Gao Yuanhe and whose pseudonym was Huanxuzi, was from Shanyin. When he was young, he practiced Taoism in Xuanzhen Temple in Lingbao County, Henan Province. He claimed that an immortal taught him a method in his dream, which allowed him to travel around the world in his dreams.

Later he moved to Mount Hua and wanted to collect ancient Taoist classics, so he came to the capital to look for them. His main purpose was to meet the emperor and petition his request, and to borrow books from the royal collection.

It is said that on the day he arrived in Beijing, the Wanli Emperor's biological mother, Empress Dowager Li, had a dream that a Taoist priest from Mount Hua would come to ask for something outside the Zhengyang Gate. She sent someone out to inquire, and hey, they found Gao Yanyuan, who actually looked similar to the Taoist priest in Empress Dowager Li's dream.

Didn't this come true? Empress Dowager Li immediately told her son, Emperor Wanli, to give a portion of the Taoist books in the palace collection to Gao Yanyuan as per the Taoist's request, and all of them were stamped with the seal of Empress Dowager Cisi Xuanwensu.

But just giving him so many precious books was not enough. Gao Yanyuan lived in a thatched cottage on Mount Huashan, without even a Taoist temple, which did not meet the standards for collecting royal books.

As the saying goes, help people to the end and send Buddha to the west, so Empress Dowager Li asked her son to pay for the construction of Taixu Temple on Mount Huashan, and gave it to Gao Yanyuan along with the surrounding land.

For a period of time before Taixu Temple was completed, Gao Yanyuan often went in and out of the Forbidden City to interpret the empress dowager's dreams. He also appeared at royal celebrations. It is very likely that he had met Hong Tao, who was then the eldest prince.

With this relationship, as long as Gao Yanyuan was still alive, he would definitely not be able to avoid the Jinyiwei's visit to convey the emperor's order. In fact, he would not hide, and the emperor's summons was probably a good thing.

When Gao Yanyuan went to Beijing to meet the emperor, he realized that it was not only a good thing, but also a great thing. The emperor wanted to support the development of Taoism, but he didn't know where to start, so he wanted to ask him in person.

This question made Hong Tao roughly understand the current state of Taoism. Although there are joys and sorrows, the overall development plan is still promising. According to Gao Yanyuan, Taoism originated from the Five Pecks of Rice Sect in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Here we need to focus on a concept that is easily confused. Taoism is Taoism, and Taoism is Taoism. Although there is only one difference, and they sound similar, they are definitely not the same thing.

Taoism existed in the Spring and Autumn Period as a school of philosophical thought. Taoism was first established in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. It is a religious belief based on Huang-Lao thought and integrated with ancient culture such as witchcraft.

By the Yuan Dynasty, Taoism had evolved from the original Five Pecks of Rice Sect into many sects, some of which disappeared in the long river of history, while others are still growing and developing.

When the Ming Dynasty was established, Zhu Yuanzhang was relatively supportive of Taoism, or in other words, he adopted an attitude of making use of the three ideologies or beliefs of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, with Confucianism as the main one and Buddhism and Taoism as the supplementary ones.

At the same time, management was not relaxed. In the 15th year of Hongwu, the Daoluosi was officially established under the Ministry of Rites to manage Taoism throughout the country, and Taoism was officially divided into two sects: Zhengyi and Quanzhen.

From then on, almost all Ming emperors promoted Taoism, which reached its peak during the reign of Emperor Jiajing. Of course, it was only promoted within the royal family, and Buddhism was still more common among the people.

However, since Quanzhen originated in the Jin Dynasty and had an unclear relationship with the Yuan Dynasty, starting from Zhu Yuanzhang, successive emperors have appointed the head of the Zhengyi sect as the Heavenly Master, who is in charge of all things Taoist, and intentionally or unintentionally suppressed Quanzhen Taoism. Even though there are branches of Quanzhen such as the Wudang Sect, Zhengyi Taoism still dominates overall.

For example, Gao Yanyuan's Huashan Sect is a branch of the Quanzhen Sect. Although it is not as strong as the Zhengyi Sect, it is still believed by Empress Dowager Li. Generally speaking, there are more Quanzhen Sects in the north, while the Zhengyi Sect is the world in the south.

Gao Yanyuan was quite self-aware of the emperor's expectations and did not dare to take on the responsibility of promoting Taoism. In view of the urgent need to develop Luzon Island in Southeast Asia, he recommended Zhang Xianyong, the Taoist priest of Zhengyi.

Zhang Xianyong was given the title of the successor of the Zhengyi Sect, the Great True Man Qingsu, who was in charge of the Daoist affairs of the world. This was his official title and status. With this status, he could legitimately manage the Daoist affairs of the Ming Dynasty, including the succession of the leaders of other sects, and he had considerable power.

But this identity also brings great constraints, which is equivalent to entering the government system and being a regular employee. As the saying goes, one must be loyal to the emperor and obey the government. Otherwise, it would be considered disloyal and unfilial.

Even so, Hong Tao did not act too bossy. He wrote a letter himself to state his intentions, and then in a negotiating tone asked the Taoist priest to come to Beijing for a meeting as soon as possible.

Although Zhang Xianyong is only the nominal head of Taoism, the Zhang family of Longhu Mountain is a large family with a long history. There is a saying among the people that there are Zhangs in the south and Kongs in the north. The Zhangs in the south refer to the Zhang family of Yingtan, which has served as the Heavenly Master of the Zhengyi Sect, and the Kongs in the north are naturally the Kong family of Shandong. These two families are not only famous, but also have a very long history.

I won't say much about the Kong family. Zhang Daoling, the founder of the Five Pecks of Rice Sect, was the first Heavenly Master of the Zhengyi Sect. By the time of Zhang Xianyong, it was the 51st generation. The incense has never been broken for 1,500 years, and it has been passed down from generation to generation. Its influence on the local people and even in the south cannot be underestimated.

Zhang family has been passed down for fifty generations? That's right, it's basically passed down from father to son. Does that mean Taoist priests can get married and have children? That's right, Taoist priests of the Zhengyi sect can not only get married and have children, but also drink alcohol and eat meat, do not wear Taoist robes and do not grow hair and beards to practice at home. But the Quanzhen sect is not allowed, it is relatively more focused on form and the rules are stricter.

(End of this chapter)