Quick Answer
Tianshi Dao (天师道, Tiānshī Dào), the Way of the Celestial Masters, was an early organized Daoist movement in China. Its founding tradition dates a revelation to Zhang Daoling (张道陵, Zhāng Dàolíng) to 142 CE. His grandson Zhang Lu (张鲁, Zhāng Lǔ) led a community with political autonomy in Hanzhong (汉中, Hànzhōng) until 215. Records of that community and a manuscript found at Dunhuang (敦煌, Dūnhuáng) show how early followers organized worship and read the Laozi.[1][2][3][4]
- The founding tradition: The deified Lord Lao (太上老君, Tàishàng Lǎojūn) is said to have made a covenant with Zhang Daoling.[1][2]
- The community: Religious officers oversaw local groups. Registers kept track of households and recorded individual ranks.[1][2][3]
- The text: The Xiang’er Commentary (老子想尔注, Lǎozǐ Xiǎng’ěr Zhù) reads the Laozi through the concerns of the early movement.[4][5]
The covenant belongs to Daoist sacred history. Zhang Lu’s biography, surviving manuscripts and later lineage accounts offer different evidence about the institutions associated with the Celestial Masters.[1][2][3][4]
In accounts of Zhang Lu’s community, a traveler could stop at a lodging for food, and community records followed a household through births, marriages and deaths. Together they show how religious authority could shape ordinary life in Hanzhong.[1][3]
How the Founding Story and Hanzhong Record Fit Together
In the traditional account, Lord Lao appeared to Zhang Daoling in 142 and authorized him as Celestial Master. The covenant expresses what followers understood as the source of Zhang’s authority. A later historical record, the Records of the Three Kingdoms (三国志, Sānguó Zhì), tells how teachings passed in the family and how Zhang Lu came to control Hanzhong.[1][2][3]
The biography was written from outside the movement and at times uses hostile language. It also describes religious officers known as libationers (祭酒, jìjiǔ) overseeing groups and setting out rice and meat at lodgings where travelers could eat. This is evidence of community administration as well as religious rank.[2][3]
What Registers and Petitions Did
Fabrizio Pregadio distinguishes two types of register (箓, lù). Household records tracked births, marriages and deaths. Individual registers recorded religious rank and listed spirits placed under the recipient’s authority within the tradition. A household record tells us who belonged to the community. An individual register tells us what religious rank and duties a person held.[1]
Written petitions also linked individuals to the divine administration. In early sources priests submitted statements that confessed a fault and sought aid from the Three Officials (三官, Sānguān) of Heaven, Earth and Water. These documents show how the community framed illness and misfortune in terms of spiritual and moral responsibilities.[1]
What the Xiang’er Commentary and Later History Preserve
The Xiang’er Commentary gives the Laozi a religious reading closely associated with the Celestial Masters. The surviving manuscript, found at the Mogao Caves (莫高窟, Mògāo Kū) near Dunhuang, is incomplete. It starts partway through what is now chapter 3 and ends with chapter 37. The International Dunhuang Programme dates the British Library’s copy to the sixth century. The commentary itself is earlier, and its attribution to either Zhang Daoling or Zhang Lu remains uncertain.[4][5]
Zhang Lu’s political autonomy ended in 215, after his surrender to Cao Cao (曹操, Cáo Cāo). The movement spread as followers moved to other regions. In later centuries, priests served local communities in new settings, and a hereditary institution developed at Mount Longhu (龙虎山, Lónghǔ Shān). The early Hanzhong community and that later center represent different stages of <a href="/zh_hk/”https://www.chinaculturepro.com/religious-daoism/”/">religious Daoism</a>.[1][2][3]
FAQs About the Celestial Masters
Did Zhang Lu found the Way of the Celestial Masters?
The founding tradition credits Zhang Daoling. Zhang Lu, his grandson, is the leader documented in Hanzhong near the end of the Han dynasty.[1][2][3]
Why is 142 CE given as the founding date?
It is the traditional date of Lord Lao’s revelation to Zhang Daoling. It identifies the movement’s account of its origins.[1][2]
Does the Dunhuang manuscript preserve the whole Xiang’er Commentary?
The surviving copy is incomplete. It covers part of the text from chapter 3 through chapter 37 in the usual modern numbering of the Laozi.[4][5]
資料來源
[1] Fabrizio Pregadio. Religious Daoism, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
[2] Vincent Goossaert. Heavenly Masters: Two Thousand Years of the Daoist State, introduction
[3] Chen Shou. Records of the Three Kingdoms, volume 8, Zhang Lu’s biography
[4] Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Laozi, the Xiang’er Commentary
[5] International Dunhuang Programme. British Library manuscript Or.8210/S.6825