A biographical sketch of Ancestral Celestial Master Chang Tao-Ling
♦ Taoism extols the Yellow Emperor Huangdi as the First Ancestor of Humankind, venerates the author of the Tao Te Ching (Daode jing) - Laozi as the Most High Ancestor of the Tao, and pays respect to the founder of the first Taoist group - Chang Tao-Ling as the Ancestral Celestial Master. All three are revered as the "Three Ancestors of Taoism."
♦ Chang Tao-Ling (34-156 CE), courtesy name Fuhan, was born in Pei Fengyi (today's Feng County in Jiangsu province), and it is believed that he is a descendant of Zhang Liang, an important Chinese military strategist from early Western Han dynasty. Chang Tao-Ling was born in the tenth year of the Jianwu era during the reign of the Guangwu emperor from the Eastern Han dynasty (year 34 CE). Years after his death, he was revered as the Ancestral Celestial Master. Every eighteenth day of the fifth lunar month, we celebrate his birthday. Whenever Taoist priests are to call a religious assembly or perform a jiao ceremony, they must pay respects to the "Teacher" (the Ancestral Celestial Master) and the "Sage" (the Supreme Emperor of Mysterious Heaven, Xuantian Shangdi).
For more information about the Three Ancestors of Taoism, please download our special leaflets available below.