The Azure Grotto Lineage

A branch of The Dragon Gate Sect of The Complete Perfection Tradition, the Azure Grotto Lineage was founded during the reign of the Qing dynasty emperor Kangxi by Cheng Qingjue, a Dragon Gate Daoist from Wuchang city in Hubei. Cheng Qingjue had followed Zhan Tailin, a Complete Perfection Daoist, as a disciple at Prince Hill on Mt. Wudang, and then gone to Sichuan, preaching on Mt. Qingcheng. He was summoned to the imperial court by emperor Kangxi and granted the title "Perfect Man of the Azure Grotto", dragon and tiger seals, as well as a horizontal board bearing the inscription "Elixir Platform of the Azure Grotto". Consequently, the Azure Grotto Lineage of the Dragon Gate emerged and had a great influence on Daoism in Sichuan. Nowadays, the Daoists on Mt. Qincheng and at Black Sheep Temple belong to the Azure Grotto Lineage. Yi Xinyun, the modern Daoist scholar of Mt. Qincheng, was the 22nd inheritor of the Lineage.