12 Facts About Zhang Daoling

Zhang Daoling is the grandfather of the warlord Zhang Lu.

Zhang Daoling is known as Zhang Daoling, Celestial Master Zhang, Ancestral Celestial Master or Zhengyi Zhenren to Taoists.

The details of the life of the historical figure Zhang Daoling Ling are obscure; most of the information about him comes from later scripture and hagiography.

Zhang Daoling was born in the tenth year of the Jianwu era during the reign of Emperor Guangwu of Han.

Zhang Daoling started reading the Tao Te Ching at a young age and studied in the Taixue before.

Zhang Daoling served as a magistrate in Jiangzhou, Ba Commandery during the reign of Emperor Ming of Han.

Zhang Daoling later retired and led a reclusive life at Mount Beimang, where he practiced taoist methods of achieving longevity.

Zhang Daoling founded a theocratic state in Sichuan organized into 24 parishes, later 28, which outsiders called the Way of Five Pecks of Rice, after a tax of that amount levied on followers.

Zhang Daoling is said to have died on Mount Qingcheng in 156 during the reign of Emperor Huan of Han at the purported age of 123.

However, it is said that Zhang Daoling did not die but ascended in broad daylight.

Zhang Daoling reportedly disappeared on the day of his death, leaving nothing behind but his clothes.

Zhang Daoling's descendants have held the title of Celestial Masters up to the present day, with the most recent claimants of the title currently residing in Mainland China and Taiwan.