Tiandiism is a group of Chinese salvationist sects, namely the Holy Church of the Heavenly Virtue and the Lord of Universe Church, which emerged respectively from the teachings of Xiao Changming and Li Yujie, disseminated in the early 20th century.Vermander, 1999. The Lord of Universe Church is actually a later development of the former, established in the 1980s. These religions focus on the worship of the "Heavenly Deity" or "Heavenly Emperor" (''Tiāndì'' 天帝), on health through the proper cultivation of qi, and teach a style of

qigong Qigong ()) is a system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation said to be useful for the purposes of health, spirituality, and martial arts training. With roots in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chinese medicine, Chin ...

named ''Tianren qigong''. According to scholars, the doctrines of Li Yujie are traceable to the

Taoist Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ...

tradition of Huashan, where he studied for eight years. The Lord of Universe Church is active both in Taiwan and mainland China, where it has high-level links.

Tiandiist bodies

Holy Church of the Heavenly Virtue

The origins of the Holy Church of the Heavenly Virtue (天德聖教 ''Tiāndé shèngjiào'') go back to

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

in 1899, with the alleged resurrection of a young boy named Xiao Changming (蕭昌明, 1896-1943) who had apparently died three days earlier. After his revival, he declared that he had received Heaven's mandate (''tianming'') to save humanity from suffering. He embarked on a successful religious career and attracted a large following. In 1937 he established his headquarters on Mount Huang in southern

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

province where he died in 1943. Like other sects, Xiao Changming's movement was suppressed in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

after 1949, but survives in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. In Taiwan, one of Xiao's disciples, Li Yujie, eventually decided to walk his own path and founded a new group called the Lord of Universe Church in 1978, which diverges doctrinally in several aspects from the mother group, yet also sees itself in the tradition of Xiao Changming's teachings. Currently, there exist two regional organizations for this religion. Its

headquarters is located at Castle Peak in the New Territories. In

the religion's situation is characterized by disunity, with several separate organizations claiming to continue original Xiao's teachings.

Lord of Universe Church

The Lord of Universe Church (天帝教 ''Tiāndì jiāo'') is based in

and is devoted to the Tiandiist beliefs as proclaimed by Li Yujie. It is an offshoot of the Holy Church of the Heavenly Virtue and it emphasizes chanting, traditional medicine, and a form of meditation which it calls "quiet sitting" in English. Li Yujie (1901–1994) was born in

Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...

. He worked in the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

but left in 1958 to ensure political independence for his fledgling newspaper. In 1980 he claimed he was given permission by God to retransmit the message of the Heavenly Deity, which emphasize

nuclear disarmament Nuclear disarmament is the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons. Its end state can also be a nuclear-weapons-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated. The term ''denuclearization'' is also used to describe the pro ...

and

Chinese unification Chinese unification, also known as Cross-Strait unification or Chinese reunification, is the potential unification of territories currently controlled, or claimed, by the People's Republic of China ("China" or "Mainland China") and the Repub ...

. His book, ''The Ultimate Realm'', was translated into Japanese and English under his guidance.Ownby, 2020.

Bibliography

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Footnotes

References

{{reflist

External links

;Tiande Church
Holy Church of the Heavenly Virtue

Holy Church of the Heavenly Virtue Report
;Tiandi Church
Li Yujie's Heavenly Deity teachings

Lord of Universe Church

Taiwan's Lord of Universe Church

"Tenteikyo" - Japan's Lord of Universe Church
Chinese salvationist religions Religion in Taiwan