Monks in Wu Can can be traced back to the Han Dynasty. The Monument in Volume 9 of Wu Junzhi records that there is a Maogong altar in Dongting Mountain, which is the place where Liu Gen, a Han Chinese, cultivates immortals. Ge Hong's Biography of Immortals was manned with "Learning Taoism in Shu", and then he presided over three volumes of wuyue Life and Death Field. Tao Hongjing's True Letters Patent (Volume 12) and Ji Shen Shu Er (Book 2) contain Wu's Siming in the East Qing Dynasty, saying that he was born in the city and studied under the "wuyue gods". Volume 14 "Ji Shen Shu Si" contains Lang Zong, a native of Anqiu, Beihai (now Anqiu City, Shandong Province), and served as the county magistrate of Wuxian County. He is "proficient in Taoism" and can predict disasters.
At the end of the Han Dynasty, the Central Plains suffered repeated wars and defeats, while Emperor Wu was isolated in the southeast, far from the political center and rarely affected by the war. Many Zhongyuan people moved south, and early Taoism was introduced to Emperor Wu. From the end of the Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms and the Jin Dynasty, Daoism and Bojia Daoism of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Lijiadao, Qingshuidao and Duzigong Daotuan of Wudoumi Daoism were first introduced into Jiangdong. In addition, there are a large number of peasant uprising organizations called "demon thieves" active in Jiangnan area. "
After the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wudi Taoism was dominated by Wudi Daoism, but in the Three Kingdoms at the end of Han Dynasty, Jundao was the most influential. Yu Ji had a great influence when he was in Liang Wudi. Once in Sun Ce, when Yu Ji appeared in front of everyone, "two-thirds of the guests went downstairs to meet them, and guests were forbidden to stay."
This scene made Sun Ce deeply afraid. He is worried that Yu Ji will have too much influence on his Ministry and will easily call people to revolt. So, he ordered the arrest of Yu Ji, and regardless of the entreaties of the generals and his mother, he resolutely put Yu Ji to death and hung his head in the city. After Yu Ji's death, "everything is immortal, but it comes back from the dead, offering sacrifices to seek happiness", which shows that early Taoism was all the rage in Jiangdong.
The Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties is an important development stage in the history of Taoism in Suzhou. Taoism is widely spread in Wu, but the disadvantages of loose organization and lax discipline in early Taoism are increasingly prominent. More seriously, early Taoism often became a tool for the lower class to launch an uprising. Thus, just as Kou of the Northern Wei Dynasty rectified Taoism in the north, Ge Hong, Lu and Tao Hongjing of the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties also reformed Taoism in Wu. Taoism gradually matured in Wu.
In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Dingding was located in the southeast, and Wudoumi Road was renamed Shitian Road, which gradually became the mainstream of Taoism in Emperor Wu. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, "Qingxu county and county were actually missionary areas of Taoism", and many aristocratic families believed in Wudou Taoism, such as Gu, Lu, Zhang and (descendants of Sun Wu) in the county.
Most of these gentry who joined Taoism have no worries about food and clothing, and their cultural quality is relatively high. What they like and value most is all kinds of early Taoist magic, such as taking the bait to keep fit, strengthening the body, expanding their descendants, and even living forever. As for those simple magic rituals mixed with primitive witchcraft, it is easy to arouse their disgust. What worries the gentry in particular is that the paternalistic organizational system of serving the people with wine and the doctrine of paying attention to equality and helping the poor in the early stage of Wudou Rice Road can easily become an ideological weapon to mobilize the lower class against the imperial rulers. For example, the Sun En Uprising in the Eastern Jin Dynasty lasted 13 years, and there were more than 10 million people belonging to Wudoumi Road, which had an important relationship with the Sun Shi family.
In this context, Taoist theorists represented by Ge Hong, Lu and Tao Hongjing in the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties began to comprehensively reform Taoist teachings, eliminate ideas that were contrary to Confucianism, and at the same time rectify the Taoist organizational system, establish a palace view system, and improve the discipline system. Taoism, which may conflict with the imperial power, has been largely deleted, "becoming a part of the mainstream ideology and ethics recognized by the imperial power", and Daoism of Emperor Wu mainly spread to the grassroots society.
Since the 10th year of Qi Yongming (482), Tao Hongjing and his disciples have lived in Maoshan in southern Jiangsu for several decades, and started a Taoist sacrifice group on Maoshan. Maoshan became the activity center of Shangqing School, which was therefore called "Maoshan School" and became an important school of Taoism with Maoshan as the center and widely spread throughout the south of the Yangtze River.
Suzhou area is close to Maoshan Mountain, which is naturally closely related to and influenced by Shangqing School. Although most Taoist priests practicing in Maoshan are Jurong and Danyang people, many of them are Wu soldiers. Yang, a Wu native who moved to Jurong, was honored as the second generation master by the Shangqing school. When he was in Liang Wudi, Zhang Yi, a soldier of the Wu Dynasty, learned to be an apprentice and often discussed and explained the theory of the second child with Tao Hongjing, who appreciated him.
In Maoshan, Zhang Yi is the owner of the pavilion and Taoist Zheng, and the tablet of San Mao Jun, a real person in Jiuxi, which Liang Pingchang made in three years, was erected by him. For details, please refer to the Records of Maoshan, Volume 20, The Story of the Stone. Volume 20 of Mao Shan Zhi also contains a man worthy of the name-the monument of Xu Changshi Museum. Eight Maoshan disciples attended the monument, including two from Wu Jun. Wei Jingzhao, the first14th generation master of Maoshan School, studied under Li Hanguang, who taught Suzhou Longxing to grow taller before the first year of Zhenyuan in Tang Dezong, indicating that Maoshan Shangqing School was inherited in Suzhou.
The Tang Dynasty respected Laozi as the ancestor, so it respected Taoism. Qian's family in the Five Dynasties and Zhao's family in the Song Dynasty also favored Taoism, and dignitaries competed to become good Taoists. Suzhou Taoism has also ushered in a period of prosperity and development. When Tang Gaozong was in Suzhou, Shi Deyi, a Taoist priest, lived in the scenic Tiger Hill, only a few miles away from Suzhou City, and often "rode an ox and took a gourd ladle, and went in and out of the wild". His reputation is abroad, "Gao Zong heard his name and called it". "Peaceful Magnolia" added that Shi Deyi said that the illness had returned to the east, and all the "officials" in Luoyang wrote poems to bid farewell. Benevolence and righteousness also leave poems, and their texts are beautiful. "It can be seen that during his stay in Luoyang, Shi Deyi often interacted with officials and bureaucrats and had a harmonious relationship.
Another reason why officials attach importance to Taoism is to try to give full play to its religious function of seeking rain and avoiding disasters and stabilizing people's hearts. In March of the third year of Bao Zheng (928), 77-year-old Qian Liu personally threw the Dragon Ball into Suzhou Taihu Lake. Qian claimed to be "a disciple of the Avenue, a marshal of the world, a father-worshipper, and Qian Liu, the king of Wu Yue", saying that the people of Wu Yue were well-off and "looked up to the vast expanse and the Avenue was kind". Therefore, he "made a special visit to the famous mountain in Dongfu, and the president made a brief visit, thanking Chen Xie and answering Xuan En".
Taoism believes that there are dragons, dragons or jade inscriptions, which were quite popular in Suzhou in the Tang and Song Dynasties, all for praying for blessings and eliminating disasters. Eight golden dragons, three jade silks and three gold buttons were unearthed in Lingwu Cave, a Taoist resort in Suzhou. In the second year of Tianxi (10 18), Song Zhenzong also threw jade slips and gold buttons in Linwu Cave. "the dragon relics in linwu cave are
With the official support, most Taoist temples in Suzhou have been repaired and expanded. There is also the Song Dynasty, which is one of the most prosperous periods of Suzhou Palace. For example, the mysterious temple was called Zhenqing Daoyuan in the Western Jin Dynasty and Zhendao Daoyuan in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In the second year of Kaiyuan in Tang Dynasty (7 14), it was upgraded to a palace, called Kaiyuan Palace, with a spectacular scale, which basically laid the foundation for later generations.
During the period of Song Taiping's rejuvenating the country, Kaiyuan Palace was expanded to Taiyi Palace, and Song Zhenzong Dazhong was blessed for five years (10 12). It was renamed Tianqing and given to the Great Temple. In the seventh year of Xuanhe (1 125), Song Huizong sealed 50 hectares of fertile land in Kunshan County as "Tian Xiang Qing Huo Tian", and Tian Guanqing became one of the most famous Taoist temples in the south of the Yangtze River.
Yuan Palace in Liang Dynasty was originally built in Yushan, Changshu, which was in disrepair for a long time, with abandoned buildings and hazel grass lost. Li Ze, a Taoist priest, lived in Yushan during the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Qing Dynasty. He saved people with medical skills, accumulated money, and built 24 temples and other temples. Later, under the sponsorship of Cao Zhongyan, a local official, the Sanqing icon was rebuilt and the North Hall was built. A few years later,