Lu Zhongyi (; 18 May 1849 – 26 February 1925) was the seventeenth patriarch of

Yiguandao Yiguandao / I-Kuan Tao (), meaning the Consistent Way or Persistent Way, is a Chinese salvationist religions, Chinese salvationist religious sect that emerged in the late 19th century, in Shandong, to become China's most important redemptive ...

. 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 Maitreya (Sanskrit) or Metteyya (Pali), is a bodhisattva who is regarded as the future Buddhahood, Buddha of this world in all schools of Buddhism, prophesied to become Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha.Williams, Paul. ''Mahayana Buddhism: Th ...

Early life

He was born on May 18, 1853 (the 24th day of the 4th Lunar month) in 1853, in

Jining Jining () is a former capital of Shandong. Is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Shandong province. It borders Heze to the southwest, Zaozhuang to the southeast, Tai'an to the northeast, and the provinces of Henan and Jiangsu to the no ...

, in China's

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

province. He was said to be illiterate, his father died when he was young, left with his mother and sister Lu Zhongjie (路中節). He joined the army at age 22 and became an officer in the Manzhou Dongbei (

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

) government.

Yiguandao leadership

In 1895, he was said to have a dream from the Heavenly Mother for three days continuously instructing him to become the student of the 16th patriarch Liu Qingxu (

Wang Jueyi Wang Jueyi (; 1821 – 1884), or Wang Yanghao (王养浩), born Wang Ximeng () or also referred to as Beihai Laoren (北海老人) was the founder of the sect “Religion for Final Salvation” / Mohou Yizhujiao (末后一着教) which later ...

's successor) and became Liu's household servant for several years. In 1905, in

Qingzhou Qingzhou () Wade–Giles: Tsing-chou, sometimes written as Ching-chow-fu, formerly Yidu County (Yitu) (), is a county-level city, which is located in the west of the prefecture-level city of Weifang, in the central part of Shandong Province, Chin ...

, there is instruction from the Heavenly Mother through spirit writing wrote that Lu Zhongyi was appointed to be the next patriarch and the " celestial mandate" was given to him in that year. Since then he became the 17th patriarch of Yiguandao. 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

Hotei Hotei may refer to: *Hotei Station, a Japanese train station *Tomoyasu Hotei, a Japanese musician *Budai, known as "Hotei" in Japanese, a semi-historical monk and deity *''Coralliophila hotei'', a species of sea snail *''School Judgement: Gakkyu H ...

. At first he tried to spread the teachings in patriarch Liu's hometown of Qingzhou, but it did not go well as many people did not believe in his preaching. In 1919, after patriarch Liu died, Lu Zhongyi brought his teaching to his hometown,

, and succeeded in recruiting many followers. He established an altar there and used the “three talents” (三才) for spirit writing ritual to spread the teachings on the lower class of the people, resulting in the great development in the countryside. Within a few years, Lu had attracted several hundred followers, based around a small core of twenty-five disciples, some of whom went to the neighboring provinces of

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

, and

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

to spread the teachings. Lu has 8 main disciples namely Hao Baoshan (郝寶山), Chu Jingfu (褚敬福), Liang Zhaogong (梁兆功), Zhao Huaizhong (趙懷中), Chen Liyue (陳禮月), Zheng Zhenchang (鄭振昌), Nie Xijun (聶錫鈞) and

Zhang Tianran Zhang Tianran ( zh, t=張天然; 8 August 1889 – 29 September 1947), born Kui Sheng ( zh, t=奎生), was the eighteenth patriarch of the Yiguandao religious sect. He is usually referred to as the ''Father of Yiguandao'', or as ''Shi Zun'' ...

(張天然).

Death

Lu died on February 26 (the 2nd day of the 2nd lunar month) in 1925. On March 3rd of the following year, Patriarch Lu's borrowed the body of a person named Yang Chun-Ling to chant the “True Sutra of Maitreya Buddha Saving from Suffering” (彌勒救苦真經). 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 Guanyin () is a common Chinese name of the bodhisattva associated with Karuṇā, compassion known as Avalokiteśvara (). Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " he One WhoPerceives the Sounds of the World". Originally regarded as m ...

(known by Yiguandao followers as ''Nan Hai Gu Fo'' (南海古佛), Ancient Buddha of the Southern Sea), temporarily took over the leadership for twelve years, but later reduced to six years by heavenly instruction. 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 Jinan is the capital of the province of Shandong in East China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is one of the largest cities in Shandong in terms of population. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of ...

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

Patriarchs of I Kuan Tao
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lu Zhongyi 1853 births 1925 deaths I-Kuan Tao Patriarchs People from Jining