Writing Miracles and Denominational Establishment: On the Belief Narratives of Quanzhen Daoism

Writing Miracles and Denominational Establishment: On the Belief Narratives of Quanzhen Daoism

This article focuses on the image of the ancestor of Quanzhen Daoism from a narrative perspective and also evaluates the influence of this image on the development of Quanzhen Daoism in terms of belief, genealogy, and the compilation of sacred history. Quanzhen Daoism has a rich tradition of narrating andwriting its history. In fact, narrating history is actually a form of constructing history. From the recounting of events such as the birth of the founder of the religion, Wang Chongyang (王重陽, 1112-1170), his conversion to Daoism, his practice and preaching, and his 'ascent to immortality' in Quanzhen historical hagiographies, readers can observe the recording of miracles as a narrative feature. The narratives of religious texts differ from ordinary historical narratives in that the former maintain the core concern of simultaneously promoting belief in miracles and strengthening the religious lineage of the respective tradition. Therefore, exploring the relationship between the narrative of the image of the ancestor and the development of the Quanzhen Sect, along with the establishment of beliefs, is the starting point of this article.