Zhang Daoling; Celestial Masters; CCWV.LIFE

In 142, by the church's account, the deified Laozi appeared to Zhang Daoling on Mount Heming and named him Celestial Master of a new covenant. The Way of the Celestial Masters that followed was the first organized Daoist church: parishes led by libationers, registers of households, healing by confession and talisman water, and a household levy of five pecks of rice that gave the movement its other name. Its priestly line, the Zhang family, continues today.

Tagged: Celestial Masters and Zhengyi Daoism

The Event

Date: 142 CE (traditional)
Also called: Zhang Tian Shi, the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice
Era: The Celestial Masters; Standard periodization of Daoist history
Location: Mount Heming, Sichuan; today Dayi, Sichuan, China
Traditions: Daoism
Streams: Celestial Masters and Zhengyi
Key figures: Zhang Daoling
Key texts: Xiang'er Commentary

How the Tradition Tells It

The 142 revelation on Mount Heming is the church's own account of its founding, held by the Celestial Masters line to this day. Historians can confirm the movement's existence and its rice levy within the following decades; the appearance of Lord Lao rests on the community's testimony, and the entry is marked traditional.

Primary Sources

The Xiang'er Commentary on the Daodejing.

Secondary Sources

Robinet, Isabelle. Taoism: Growth of a Religion. Translated by Phyllis Brooks, Stanford University Press, 1997.
Schipper, Kristofer. The Taoist Body. Translated by Karen C. Duval, University of California Press, 1993.

Provenance: HIST-0803; confidence 0.8; accessed 2026-10-28.