Clergy and religious life
Priests and monastics in Daoism
Daoism has no single church or supreme head. Its clergy, the daoshi, are divided into two main traditions recognised today. The Zhengyi, or Orthodox Unity, tradition traces its origin to Zhang Daoling and the Way of the Celestial Masters founded in the second century CE. Its priests usually marry, live at home and serve local communities as ritual specialists, performing funerals, exorcisms and the great communal offerings known as jiao. The Quanzhen, or Complete Perfection, tradition was founded by Wang Chongyang in the twelfth century. Its monks and nuns are celibate, live in monasteries (guan), keep a vegetarian diet and devote themselves to meditation, inner alchemy (neidan) and liturgy. In mainland China both traditions are represented by the Chinese Taoist Association, founded in 1957, with its headquarters at the White Cloud Monastery (Baiyun Guan) in Beijing. Zhengyi ritual masters are especially prominent in Taiwan and among Chinese communities of Southeast Asia, while Hong Kong has active temples and lay Daoist associations of several lineages.
- Zhengyi ritual masters
- Quanzhen monastics
- Women in Daoism
Orders and states of life
Zhengyi ritual masters
Zhengyi priests receive their authority through transmission from a master and the conferral of a register (lu), a list of the spirit generals under their command. Many belong to families that have served as priests for generations. Rank depends on the register received and on ritual skill, and the senior priest of a ritual troupe acts as gaogong, the high officiant.
Quanzhen monastics
Quanzhen Daoists take vows of celibacy and enter monastic life under a master. After a period as novices they may receive formal ordination with precepts (chuanjie) at a major monastery such as Baiyun Guan in Beijing. They wear their hair long and tied in a topknot, and live by a common rule of daily liturgy, work and meditation.
Women in Daoism
Women have taken part in Daoism since its early centuries, as priests, adepts and teachers. Daoist women are called kundao, from kun, the trigram of earth, and men qiandao, from qian, heaven. One of the seven early disciples of Wang Chongyang was the woman master Sun Bu’er, and Quanzhen convents survive today.
Zhengyi ritual masters
High priest (Gaogong fashi)
gaogong fashi (Chinese, 高功法師)
Addressed as Daozhang (道長, Master of the Way) or Fashi
The gaogong, meaning high merit, is the chief officiant of a Daoist ritual, usually a senior Zhengyi priest. He leads the jiao, a festival of renewal lasting from one to several days, in which the community’s offerings and petitions are presented to the highest deities. Standing at the centre of the altar, he performs sacred steps, visualisations and written memorials, which are burned to send them to the celestial court. He is assisted by other priests, cantors and musicians. Quanzhen monasteries also appoint a gaogong for their liturgies.
What the figure wears
- Ritual vestment jiangyi (絳衣)
A large, nearly square vestment of red silk, richly embroidered in gold and colours with cranes, clouds, stars and the eight trigrams, worn for major rituals.
- Gold crown jinguan (金冠); lianhua guan (蓮花冠)
A small gilded crown in the form of a lotus or star, pinned upright on the topknot of the hair, worn only by the high officiant.
- Ritual tablet hu (笏) or chaoban (朝板)
A flat, narrow tablet held upright in both hands before the chest when addressing the deities, as officials once held it before the emperor.
- Outside services
- Outside ritual, Zhengyi priests usually wear ordinary clothes and live as householders. For lesser rites they wear a plainer robe (*daopao*), often in red, yellow or blue, without the full embroidered vestment.
- Insignia
- The jiangyi, the gold crown and the tablet mark the high officiant; authority rests on the register conferred at ordination.
Quanzhen monastics
Quanzhen priest (Daoshi)
daoshi (道士); daozhang (道長)
Addressed as Daozhang (Master of the Way); a monastery abbot is *fangzhang* (方丈)
The Quanzhen Daoist is a celibate monastic who lives in a monastery under a common rule. Days begin and end with liturgical recitation of scriptures in the main hall, and between these the monks study, work, receive visitors and practise meditation and inner alchemy, the cultivation of the body’s vital energies toward spiritual transformation. Senior monks take on posts in the monastery’s administration, and the abbot (fangzhang) transmits the precepts. Quanzhen monasteries such as Baiyun Guan in Beijing and those on Mount Wudang and Mount Hua are also places of pilgrimage.
What the figure wears
- Monastic robe daopao (道袍)
A long dark blue robe with very wide sleeves and a crossed front, with a white inner collar showing at the neck; the colour of Daoist monastic dress.
- Topknot and cap hunyuan jin (混元巾); zan (簪)
Uncut hair gathered into a topknot on the crown, held by a wooden or jade hairpin and covered by a small round black cap.
- Leggings and shoes baiwa (白襪), yunxie (雲鞋)
White cloth leggings wrapped to below the knee and simple cloth shoes, part of the traditional dress of Daoist monastics.
- Fly-whisk fuchen (拂塵)
A whisk of long white horsehair on a wooden handle, carried over the arm; it stands for sweeping away worldly dust and distraction.
- Outside services
- The blue robe, topknot and cap are everyday dress within the monastery. For major rituals priests put on embroidered vestments, and for work some wear a shorter jacket of the same blue.
- Insignia
- The topknot and cap mark the Daoist; seniority shows through monastic office and ordination rather than distinctive dress.
Women in Daoism
Daoist nun (Kundao)
kundao (坤道); nüguan (女冠), daogu (道姑)
Addressed as Daozhang (Master of the Way), as for men
A kundao is a Daoist woman who has entered religious life. In the Quanzhen tradition nuns live in convents or in separate quarters of a monastery, follow the same rule and precepts as monks and are ordained in the same ceremonies. They lead liturgies, care for temples, teach and practise meditation and the forms of inner alchemy developed for women (nüdan). Historical texts preserve the writings and biographies of many women adepts, and today Quanzhen nuns serve at temples across China, including in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Hubei.
What the figure wears
- Monastic robe daopao (道袍)
A long dark blue or grey robe with very wide sleeves and a crossed front, the same monastic dress worn by men.
- Topknot and cap hunyuan jin (混元巾); zan (簪)
Long hair gathered into a topknot held by a hairpin and covered with a small round black cap, as for male monastics.
- Gourd hulu (葫芦)
A small bottle gourd on a red cord, the traditional vessel of Daoist wanderers and immortals, a sign of the elixir and of a life apart.
- Outside services
- Nuns wear the robe and topknot daily in the convent; outside they may wear a shorter Daoist jacket. Diet is vegetarian, and the day follows the morning and evening liturgy.
- Insignia
- None distinct from monks; the topknot, cap and robe mark every Quanzhen monastic.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between Zhengyi and Quanzhen Daoism?
Zhengyi priests usually marry, live with their families and earn their living by performing rituals for local communities, from funerals to temple festivals. Their tradition descends from the Celestial Masters of the second century. Quanzhen Daoists, a tradition founded in the twelfth century, are celibate monastics who live in monasteries and emphasise meditation, inner alchemy and moral discipline. Both recite scriptures and perform liturgy, and both are recognised by the Chinese Taoist Association.
What is a jiao?
A *jiao* is a great Daoist offering ritual, held to renew the bond between a community and the celestial powers, for example when a temple is rebuilt or at fixed intervals of years. It can last from one day to a week or more. Priests purify the altar, invite the deities, present written memorials and offerings, and end with a public feast. In Taiwan large jiao are major local events organised by temple committees.
Why do Daoist priests wear their hair in a topknot?
Daoists keep their hair uncut and gather it into a topknot on the crown of the head, following the style of men in pre-modern China. When Qing rulers required men to shave the forehead and wear a queue from the seventeenth century, Daoist clergy, like Buddhist monks, were among those exempt, and the topknot became a mark of the Daoist. The cap and hairpin are part of formal monastic dress.
How does one become a Daoist priest?
In the Zhengyi tradition a candidate studies ritual, music and texts with a master, often a relative, and is then ordained by receiving a register (*lu*). In the Quanzhen tradition a candidate joins a monastery, serves as a novice and is later ordained with precepts in a formal ceremony. In mainland China ordinations are organised under the Chinese Taoist Association, and priests are registered with it.
Sources and further reading
- The Taoist Body – Kristofer Schipper (University of California Press, 1993)
- Daoism and Chinese Culture – Livia Kohn (Three Pines Press, 2001)
- Daoism Handbook – Livia Kohn (ed.) (Brill, 2000)
- Taoism: The Enduring Tradition – Russell Kirkland (Routledge, 2004)
- The Daoist Tradition: An Introduction – Louis Komjathy (Bloomsbury, 2013)