Chen Kaiguo - Opening the Dragon Gate: The Making of a Modern Taoist Wizard

First paperback edition published in 1998 by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus
Editions (HK) Ltd., with editorial offices at 364 Innovation Drive, North Clarendon,
Vermont 05759 U. S. A. and at 61 Tai Seng Avenue, #02-12, Singapore 534167.

Copyright 1996 Thomas Cleary.
Original text entitled Da Dao Xing (in Chinese) copyright Chen Kaiguo and Zheng Shunchao.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Chen, Kaiguo.

Opening the Dragon Gate: the making of a modern Taoist wizard / by

Chen Kaiguo and Zheng Shunchao; translated from the original Chinese

by Thomas Cleary.

282 p. 23 cm.

ISBN 978-1-4629-0288-0

1. Wang, Liping. 2. TaoistsChinaBiography. 3. Taoism.

I. Zheng, Shunchao, 1966-. II. Cleary, Thomas F., 1949-. III. Title.

BL1940. W36C44 1996

ISBN 978-1-4629-0288-0

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Cover design by Kathryn Sky-Peck
Book design by Frances Kay
Printed in Singapore

TUTTLE PUBLISHING is a registered trademark of Tuttle Publishing, a division of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.

Contents

Translator's
Introduction

T his book is a translation of the authorized biography of Wang Liping, a living Taoist master, written by two of his longtime disciples. Wang Liping is an eighteenth-generation Transmitter of the Longmen or Dragon Gate branch of Taoism, which traces its spiritual lineage back over eight hundred years. In his childhood, Wang Liping was chosen for special training as a Transmitter by three elderly masters of Dragon Gate Taoism.

The practice of bringing up specially chosen individuals as holders and Transmitters of esoteric teachings is practiced by Tibetan Buddhists and Khajagan Sufis as well as Dragon Gate Taoists.

After being located by the elderly Dragon Gate masters, Wang Liping was subsequently educated and trained in Taoist practices for a period of fifteen years. Now he is himself a teacher. This is the story of his early life and esoteric training, based on his own recollections.

The Dragon Gate branch is a sect of the powerful Complete Reality school of Taoism, which integrated Buddhism and Confucianism into a comprehensive new form of Taoism. Complete Reality Taoism eventually spread all over China during the Middle Ages, and still continues in existence today. Numerous classics and texts of this school have been translated into English over the last ten years.

Complete Reality Taoism is generally divided into two main traditions, Southern and Northern. The somewhat older Southern tradition is rooted in the work of Zhang Boduan (Chang Po-tuan, 983-1082), whose masterpiece Understanding Reality is considered one of the classics of Taoist Spiritual alchemy and is also studied by Taoists of the Northern tradition. Another work on spiritual alchemy by this same master, Four Hundred Character Treatise on the Gold Elixir, is also widely esteemed and studied by Taoists of both Southern and Northern traditions.

The Northern tradition of Complete Reality Taoism is rooted in the work of Wang Chongyang (Wang Che, 1113-1171), particularly his Fifteen Statements on the Establishment of a Teaching. Wang is believed to have learned from Lu Dongbin (Lu Tung-pin n. d.), the great master known as Ancestor Lu. This Ancestor Lu is associated with the integration of Buddhism and Confucianism with ancient Taoism to produce the germ of the new spiritual alchemy of Complete Reality Taoism. Wang Chongyang is also believed to have studied from Lu's own teacher; later he himself taught a number of famous figures in Taoist tradition.

English versions of works by and about Ancestor Lu, Wang Chongyang, Zhang Boduan, and other adepts of Complete Reality Taoism can be found in Understanding Reality; Inner Teachings of Taoism; Vitality, Energy and Spirit; The Spirit of the Tao; Immortal Sisters; The Book of Balance and Harmony, and The Secret of the Golden Flower.

The Dragon Gate sect of Taoism, of which Wang Liping is an heir, was an offshoot of the Northern tradition of the Complete Reality school. Its spiritual descent is traced to the thirteenth-century master Chang-chun, who was one of the great disciples of Wang Chongyang. Chang-chun, the Master of Eternal Spring, was one of the sages who advised Genghis Khan to preserve the ancient civilization of China after the Mongolian conquest, over eight hundred years ago. Genghis Khan appointed Chang-chun overseer of religions in China, and the Dragon Gate sect thus played a critical role in the conservation of Chinese culture.

Taoists attribute to Chang-chun the core of the work known as Journey to the West, a symbolic story encapsulating Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian teachings. Journey to the West was popularized in drama during the Yuan dynasty (1277-1367) and later elaborated during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) into one of the most famous and most popular novels of Chinese literature. Comments on the interior spiritual significance of Journey to the West, written by Liu I-ming, an eleventh-generation master of the Dragon Gate sect, can be found translated into English in Vitality, Energy, Spirit.