Lu Zhongyi

Summary

Lu Zhongyi (Chinese: 路中一; 18 May 1849 – 26 February 1925) was the seventeenth patriarch of Yiguandao. His religious titles were Tung Li Zu and Jin Gong Zu Shi (金公祖師; Golden Elder). Lu is, according to Yiguandao doctrine, the incarnation of Maitreya.

Lu Zhongyi
路中一
Portrait from the Fa Yi Chong De Branch temple
Title17th Taoist Patriarch
(Yiguandao)
Personal
Born(1895-10-16)16 October 1895
Died26 February 1925(1925-02-26) (aged 75)
ReligionTaoism
SectYiguandao
Other names
  • Tung Li Zu
  • Jin Gong Zu Shi
Senior posting
Period in office1905 – 1925
PredecessorLiu Qingxu
Successor
ReincarnationMaitreya
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese路中一
Simplified Chinese路中一

He was born on the 24th day of the 4th Lunar month in 1849, in Jining, in China's Shandong province. He was said to be illiterate, his father died when he was young, left with his mother and sister Lu Zhongjie. He joined the army at age 22 and became an officer in the Manzhou Dongbei (Manchuria) government.[clarification needed] In 1895, at the age of 46, he was said to have a dream from God instructing him to become the student of the 16th patriarch Liu Qingxu (Wang Jueyi's successor).

He became the 17th patriarch of Yiguandao in 1905, in Qingzhou. Yiguandao followers believe that he is the first leader of the "White Sun" Era, the last era of the Three Stages Final Kalpa, thus he is the incarnation of savior Maitreya or Hotei. In 1918, Lu brought Yiguandao to his hometown of Jining, within a few years, Lu managed to attract some 25 disciples, among them Zhang Tianran and Sun Suzhen.

Death edit

Lu died on the 2nd day of the 2nd lunar month in 1925. Thus, Lu's younger sister Lu Zhongjie (also known as Lao Gu Nai Nai, Mistress of the Old Cave) who was believed to be the incarnation of bodhisattva Guanyin, took over the leadership for six years.

Zhang and Sun became the successors through spirit writing by the Heavenly Mother. However, the other seven major disciples of Lu refused his succession. In 1930, Zhang officially was bestowed the leadership as the 18th patriarch of Yiguandao in Jinan.

See also edit

References edit

  • Thomas DuBois. 2005. The Sacred Village: Social Change and Religious Life in Rural North China. University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 0-8248-2837-2
  • David Jordan & Daniel Overmyer. 1985. The Flying Phoenix: Aspects of Chinese Sectarianism in Taiwan. Princeton University Press.
  • Soo Khin Wah. 1997. A Study of the Yiguan Dao (Unity Sect) and its Development in Peninsular Malaysia. Ph.D. dissertation, University of British Columbia.

External links edit

  • Patriarchs of I Kuan Tao
  • History of Lu Zhong Yi according to I Kuan Tao
  • Founding father of I Kuan Tao