Wang Chongyang


Wang Chongyang was a Chinese philosopher and poet. He was a Taoist and one of the founders of the Quanzhen School in the 12th century during the Jin dynasty. He was one of the Five Northern Patriarchs of Quanzhen. He also appears as a character in works of wuxia fiction.

Name

Wang was born with his birth name as "Zhongfu" in a wealthy family in 1113. He was educated in Chinese classics and martial arts.
Wang intended to start a rebellion against the Jurchen Jin dynasty, which conquered northern China in the Jin–Song Wars. According to tradition, in the summer of 1159 when he was 48, he met three Taoist immortals in a tavern, Zhongli Quan, Lü Dongbin, and Liu Haichan. They trained him in secret forms of Taoism. He changed his name to "Zhe" and adopted the Taoist name "Chongyang".
In 1160, Wang met one of the immortals again and was provided with a set of written instructions called "Ganshui Xianyuan Lu". Those written instructions included the names of two men who would later become his disciples. Wang built a tomb for himself near Mount Zhongnan and called it "Tomb of the Living Dead". He lived in it for three years.
At the end of the three years, Wang filled the tomb with earth and built a hut on top of it and called it "Complete Perfection Hut". He spent the next four years in the hut studying Taoism and imparting his knowledge to others. During that time, he met Tan Chuduan, who became his disciple after he cured Tan from illness. Qiu Chuji and Tan traveled around the local towns and villages with Wang and founded five Taoist congregations. Wang's teachings were referred to the "Teachings of the Complete Perfection" and his branch of Taoism became known as the Quanzhen School.
In 1167, Wang burnt down the hut and travelled east to Shandong, where he met Ma Yu and Ma's wife, Sun Bu'er. They became his disciples as well. He accepted a total of seven disciples who later became known as "Seven Masters of Quanzhen" or "Seven Elders of Quanzhen". They are also called the "Seven Immortals" or "Seven Perfected Beings".
In 1187, Emperor Shizong of Jin summoned Wang's disciple Wang Chuyi to preach in his inner palace. Later, he requested the presence of Wang Chuyi at his deathbed. Shizong's successor, Emperor Zhangzong, banned the teaching of Quanzhen Taoism. He considered them as causing heretical and detrimental to society;He converted to Quanzhen's teachings later and let Wang Chuyi stay in Yanjing for a year. Shizong's grandson Wanyan Shou later wrote a biography for Wang Chongyang.
He was immortalized in the Longmen Grottoes.

Writings

Wang was the author of many poems of Taoist instruction. According to legend, Liu Chuxuan became a follower of Wang after reading one of Wang's poems.
Wang's writings include:
The most notable ones among Wang's seven disciples were Sun Bu'er and Qiu Chuji. Sun's husband, Ma Yu, was one of the seven, while she became an important role model for female Taoists. Ma Yu later succeeded Wang as the leader of the Quanzhen School.
Qiu Chuji gained the favour of Genghis Khan and founded the White Cloud Monastery in Beijing. Genghis Khan granted tax-exempt status to all Quanzhen schools and placed Qiu in charge of all religions in China.
Each of the seven disciples founded his or her own lineage of Quanzhen Taoism. They are as follows:
  1. Ma Yu founded the Yuxian lineage
  2. Tan Chuduan founded the Nanwu lineage
  3. Liu Chuxuan founded the Suishan lineage
  4. Qiu Chuji founded the Longmen lineage
  5. Wang Chuyi founded the Yushan lineage
  6. Hao Datong founded the Huashan lineage
  7. Sun Bu'er founded the Qingjing lineage

    In fiction

Condor Trilogy

Wang is mentioned by name in the wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes and its sequel The Return of the Condor Heroes, by Jin Yong. He was depicted as a patriotic martial artist, and one of the top five champions of the Mount Hua martial arts contest. After his death, his seven apprentices, known as the "Seven Immortals of Quanzhen", inherit his legacy and promote Quanzhen to become one of the leading orthodox sects in the jianghu. In The Return of the Condor Heroes, Wang had a romantic relationship with Lin Chaoying, the founder of the Ancient Tomb Sect, in his early life. He lost to Lin in a martial arts contest and had to keep his promise to hand over his base of operations to her and become a Taoist.

Other appearances

In the manhua series Oriental Heroes by Hong Kong artist Wong Yuk-long, Wang Chongyang is noted as the creator of the 'Nine Solar Art'.