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Daoshi

Daoshi refers to a Taoist priest. There are two main orders of Taoist priests - Quanzhen and Zhengyi. Quanzhen priests are monastic, celibate, vegetarian, and live in monasteries similar to Buddhist monks. Zhengyi priests can marry, eat meat, live at home, and manage their own temples or serve in folk religion temples part-time while holding other jobs.

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58 views2 pages

Daoshi

Daoshi refers to a Taoist priest. There are two main orders of Taoist priests - Quanzhen and Zhengyi. Quanzhen priests are monastic, celibate, vegetarian, and live in monasteries similar to Buddhist monks. Zhengyi priests can marry, eat meat, live at home, and manage their own temples or serve in folk religion temples part-time while holding other jobs.

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Jiwen Salim
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Daoshi

Daoshi ( "master of the Tao"), or Taoist, refers to a priest in Taoism. Some orders
are monastic (Quanzhen orders), while the majority are not (Zhengyi orders).
Some of the monastic orders are hermitic, and their members practice seclusion
and ascetic lifestyles in the mountains, with the aim of becoming xian, or immortal beings. Non-
monastic priests live among the populace and manage and serve their own temples or popular
temples.
The activities of the Taoists tend to be informed by materials which may be found in
the Daozang, or Daoist Canon; however, Taoists generally choose, or inherit, specific texts which
have been passed down for generations from teacher to student, rather than consulting
published versions of these works.

Taoist monk

Soothsayer outside of Changchun Temple, Wuhan.

Orders[edit]
Taoist orders are conventionally categorised into two main branches: Quanzhen and Zhengyi.

Quanzhen Taoism[edit]
Quanzhen Taoism, which is present almost exclusively in the north of China, includes all Taoist
orders which have a monastic institution. Their lifestyle is comparable to that of the Buddhist
monks in that they are celibate, vegetarian, and live in monasteries. The White Cloud
Temple in Beijing is the main monastery of the Longmen school of Quanzhen, and is also the
main headquarters of mainland China's official Taoist Church.

Zhengyi Taoism[edit]
The other main priesthood is Zhengyi Taoism, in which the priests can marry, eat meat, live in
their own homes, and found and manage their own temples or serve in folk religious temples.
They are mostly priests part-time and can hold other jobs. Their lineages are transmitted through
training and ordination by another priest, although historically they received a formal confirmation
in their role by the Celestial Master, the highest priest. Fragmentation of the lineage of the
Celestial Masters has made Zhengyi priests more independent. In mainland China the Taoist
Church has in theory taken over the power to regulate them (although only a minority of them are
registered with the Church). Zhengyi orders are present all over China, although with different
names according to the local lineages. For example, in northern China there are
the yinyang masters of the Lingbao sub-tradition.[1]

References[edit]
1. Jump up^ Jones, 2007. p. 5

Sources[edit]
Jones, Stephen. 2007. Ritual and Music of North China: Shawm Bands in Shanxi.
Ashgate. ISBN 0754661636

See also[edit]
Altar
Taoism
Han Chinese clothing
Li Bai
Sifu

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