Although Taoism is a native religion in China, it is probably the least famous religion in China. Our impression of Taoist priests is that only in rare cases can we see one or two embarrassing characters on TV, appearing awkwardly and then leaving awkwardly. Taoist priests in reality are also relatively low-key. They are often thin and live in deep mountains and old forests or often travel to and from deep mountains and old forests.
But being low-key doesn’t mean that they don’t have a sense of presence, it’s just that they don’t like to stand out. If we look at the history of China and look for the heroes in history, there is a high probability that all we will find are Taoist priests. For example, there was a very famous doctor in the Tang Dynasty named Sun Simiao. He lived for more than 100 years, and some people say that he lived for more than 160 years. When he was 70-80 years old, he looked like a young man when he met Tang Taizong Li Shimin.
It can be said that he is a real living "god". No wonder Li Shimin said after meeting him: "Before I met you, I didn't believe there were gods in this world. After meeting you, I I know I am ignorant. "He is a Taoist priest. There were many famous Taoist priests in the Tang Dynasty. For example, Wei Zheng, a famous minister of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, was a Taoist priest, and the later poet Li Bai was also a Taoist priest. There is also a very famous figure who is also a Taoist priest, which you may not expect.
This person is one of the four beauties, Yang Yuhuan. Yang Yuhuan was Tang Xuanzong's most beloved concubine. She was also a female Taoist priest, and she often explored Taoist cultivation techniques with Tang Xuanzong - so it is difficult to say that Tang Xuanzong was not a Taoist priest. At the same time, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty also communicated with other Taoists and encouraged the development of Taoism during his reign, suppressing the extremely expanded temple economy at that time and the Buddhism behind the temple economy.
Liu Bowen, the founding hero of the Ming Dynasty, was also a Taoist priest. The famous pharmacologist, Li Shizhen, was also a Taoist priest. There are also the famous literary giant Su Dongpo, Li Chunfeng, the author of "Tui Bei Tu", Tao Hongjing, known as the Prime Minister of the Mountains, the great mathematician Zu Chongzhi, the great calligrapher Wang Xizhi, the miracle doctor Hua Tuo, Zhang Liang, one of the three heroes of the early Han Dynasty, and Fan Li assisted King Gou Jian of Yue to dominate the world and escape safely. So why are so many celebrities Taoist priests?
First of all, we want to talk about the birth of Taoism. Nowadays, most non-Taoist people believe that the birth of Taoism began with Zhang Daoling. Zhang Daoling is a descendant of Zhang Liang, and Zhang Liang inherited Huang Shigong's Taoism. Huang Shigong further traced it back to Laozi's Taoism. What is Lao Tzu's way? It is a collection of ancient Chinese social sciences, natural sciences and other philosophies accumulated since the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Because Laozi was the director of the archives of the Zhou Dynasty, he was also the heir to these learnings.
Each generation of librarians in charge of archives or libraries during the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties were inheritors of ancient Taoism and were also the most knowledgeable people of that era. Because there was no compulsory education in ancient times, history and philosophy were part of aristocratic education. The source of the output of these educations is archives directors like Laozi. So they can be said to be the people closest to "gods" in that era.
For people within Taoism, many of them do not believe that Taoism was born during the Zhang Daoling period. They believe that Taoism has been the state religion of China since ancient times. Taoism has been born since the birth of China. Their statement is a Taoism in a broader sense. Why do they think so? Because ancient Chinese theories about all laws are often called "Tao", and Tao is the sum of all laws.
The Yellow Emperor asked Guangchengzi, and Qibo passed on the medical knowledge to the Yellow Emperor. What we later call traditional Chinese medicine is essentially nothing more than the "Huangdi Neijing" and "Shen Nong's Materia Medica", so This is why many famous doctors are Taoist priests. Because all knowledge in ancient times was called "Tao", it is reasonable to say that Taoism has been produced since the birth of China.
And those saints who preach to the emperor often have another identity, that is, the "Tianshi Dao". The so-called Tianshi Tao, literally speaking, is the Taoism passed down by the emperor's teachers. Xiang Guangchengzi taught Taoism to Huangdi, and Laozi and his predecessors taught Taoism to Emperor Zhou. This can be regarded as the earliest systematic and organized Taoism. As for Zhang Daoling's later founding of Tianshi Dao, it was a simulation of the name of this period of history.
But Zhang Daoling's "Tianshi Tao" is obviously very different from the Tianshi Tao of Laozi and others. Laozi is the real teacher of the emperor, but Zhang Daoling is no longer the teacher of the emperor. Zhang Daoling's ancestor Zhang Liang, is he a heavenly master? It doesn't count in name, Zhang Liang assisted Liu Bang, but starting from Qin Shihuang, China adopted the emperor system. So Liu Banghou later became the emperor, and Zhang Liang was the first generation of "imperial master", that is, the emperor's teacher, not the heavenly master.
As for the later successors of Tianshi Dao, how many of them became the emperor or the emperor’s teachers? Because history is too secretive, we don’t know. For example, someone like Liu Bowen assisted Zhu Yuanzhang in achieving his imperial career. So, is he considered an imperial master? Li Chunfeng served as an official in the Tang Dynasty and predicted the fate of the Tang Dynasty for Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Is he also considered an emperor's teacher? Of course, there is still a big gap between their abilities and me.
So, why are many celebrities in history Taoist priests? We have seen some related history of Taoism and we know that Taoism itself was born out of the Tianshi Tao in the pre-Qin period. Guangchengzi, Qibo, and Laozi who practiced the Way of Heavenly Masters were often great philosophers who studied heavenly matters, were involved in everything, and knew everything. Therefore, the successors of their knowledge have a high probability of occupying their own place in history. a place.
For example, Lao Tzu wrote a "Tao Te Ching" of only 5,000 words, but these 5,000 words contain various knowledge such as medicine, strategy, yin and yang, politics, natural science, etc. core outline. Therefore, if you are a student of Lao Tzu, or a student of his ideas, it is not surprising that he can fight, govern the country, cure diseases, paint, and calligraphy. In fact, this is also the case. None of Lao Tzu's disciples or indirect disciples are unknown.
For example, Confucius was a disciple of Lao Tzu. He once studied devoutly from Laozi and obtained many classics about the Zhou Dynasty system from Laozi, which greatly inspired his thoughts and allowed him to create Confucianism. Another disciple of Laozi's thoughts was called Han Feizi. Among Han Feizi's works, "Jie Lao" and "Yu Lao" are the philosophical program and theoretical source of all his works.
So, from this perspective, we can understand why many celebrities in history were Taoist priests.