"If three people walk together, there must be a teacher for me. Choose those who are good and follow them, and those who are not good and change them."
This is the world famous The Analects of Confucius in a sentence, although only a few words, but contains a profound philosophy of life, for our students, is undoubtedly a valuable asset.
When you think of the Analects of Confucius, you will inevitably think of the mastermind of the Analects--Confucius.
Confucianism, as advocated by Confucius, continued to flourish during this period, giving rise to a consistent orthodox Chinese culture since the Han Dynasty.
Confucianism is a powerful, even world-famous culture. However, in Chinese history, it is not the only one, there is another hereditary family, from ancient times to the present day continued for more than 2,000 years, the family's prosperity, enough to be called with the Confucian family.
The Confucius family has a strong reputation
China is the only country in the world where traditional culture continues to this day, and it enjoys a strong reputation on the world stage.
Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, China has entered a period of great intellectual prosperity due to specific historical circumstances.
This period, various scholars and schools of thought, racked their brains for their own country made this the most chaotic and turbulent era in history, but became the most prosperous era of China's thinking.
And Confucianism, which we use to this day, comes from this period.
Because its representative, Confucius, advocated the way of life of "benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, and trust", and emphasized "benevolence, love, virtue, and righteousness". In Confucius' view, all things should respect the law and propriety, and be neutral and moderate. This system of thought for legalism, Taoism and other systems of thought, is indeed a bit conservative, stereotypes, but is very suitable for our country for more than 2,000 years of the ancient feudal social system, so from the Han Dynasty Confucianism has become the orthodox thought of the whole society of China.
During the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, in 1055 A.D., a son of Confucius was honored as the "Duke of Diffractive Sage".
And because the Confucius school was concerned with the transmission of the feudal code of conduct that had governed the Chinese for thousands of years, the family tree was very prosperous.
Till today, the descendants of the Confucius family are still in strict accordance with the genealogy of the rituals, offerings and other activities, so much so that the descendants will be praised as "the world's first family". maintain continuity for thousands of years without interruption.
This is the only family
However, faced with such a powerful and unshakeable position in China's Kong family, but there is really someone can be compared with it, that is, Zhang's - "Tianshi family ".
Toward the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Daoling (张道陵), who had his roots in Taoism, began to establish the Way of the Heavenly Masters (天师道)in the area of Mount Heming in Shu County (蜀郡鹤鸣山) in the northern part of the present-day Dianyi County of Chengdu, Sichuan Province.
Because Zhang Daoling stipulated that anyone who wished to join the sect had to pay a donation of five dongs of rice, the sect was nicknamed the "Five-Double-Meter Sect" by the old people.
Zhang Daoling advocated the ideas of Taoism and morality, natural inaction, weakness and non-competition, and longevity, and used these ideas as his teachings, and all his disciples were required to familiarize themselves with Lao Zi's Tao Te Ching, in order to learn its essentials.
Additionally, primitive sorcery was prevalent in Ba Shu, and many people resorted to sorcery in the folklore, taking advantage of the world of divination and benefiting the people.
In order to save the local people from the fire, Zhang Daoling led his disciples to debunk the witchcraft and drove them out of the city, which won the local people's unanimous praise, and and some skillful artists, but also adapted the incident into a catchy "Zhang Tianshi! The event was also adapted into a catchy folktale, "Zhang Tianshi's Great Destruction of the Ghost Soldiers", which laid a solid foundation for the spread of Tianshidao.
In the Tianshidao sect, much attention is paid to the lineage of the sect, and there are strict conditions for it.
No matter what generation of heirs, they must meet the two mandatory conditions of Zhang's direct lineage, as well as the transmission of male but not female, for example, when a certain generation of Tianshi does not have a male heir, Tianshi one will be passed on to the lineage of the uncles, and their daughters, nephews, etc. are not entitled to inherit.
And usually, in addition to the bloodline inheritance, its headmaster will also stipulate a unique token as a voucher to ensure the identity of the successor.
The strict conditions of succession, while limiting the possibilities of their leaders, also allow for a strict and orthodox family lineage for their sects.
During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Tianshidao was divided between the North and South, each holding a different view due to the separate reforms of Kou Qianzhi and Lu Xiujing.
Until the Tang Dynasty, the North-South split was ended and the name was changed to Cheng Yi Dao (正一教).
The "True Unity Sect" was very much respected by the royal family during the Tang Dynasty, and its status was consolidated and elevated. From Song Zhenzong onwards, Zhengyi Sect was not only recognized by the rulers, but also the 24th and 25th Tianshi Sect received the title of Emperor.
During the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai gave Zhengyi the official status, and in 1325, the 39th Tianshi was named "Yiyuan Chongde Zhengyi", and other sects were required to follow its orders, from then on, Zhengyi ushered in the peak of its development, and was highly valued by successive rulers.
Since then, the religion has seen its peak development, and has been highly valued by the rulers.
Today, Zhengyi Sect has reached its 65th generation, and because of its founding ancestor Zhang Daoling's strict limitations on successors, The 65th Tianshi Zhang Jintao is still a direct descendant of the Zhang family.
This also means that from the Eastern Han Dynasty, when the religion was founded, to the contemporary society, for more than 2,000 years, no matter whether the development of Zhengyi religion is prosperous or decadent, its lineage has been inherited without interruption, and its descendants are mindful of the ancestor's teachings and hold the activities of clan worship, dissemination of doctrines, and inheritance of tokens on time, which makes the Zhengyi religion as a famous religion of passing on, and also have a good reputation. At the same time, it has also become a thousand-year-old family that can compete with the Kong family.
China's golden age is yet to come
Cultural heritage and continuity has always been one of the highlights of our country in comparison with other countries, which not only allows us to have a traditional history and culture that is ancient and rich in flavor, but also allows our country to look back on its history when it is lost and at a loss, so that we can avoid repeating the mistakes of the past in order to quickly find its own development path.