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Updated Monday, February 4, 2008 0:00 am TWN, By Joe Hung, The China Post

Kou Qianzhi, Part 2

Kou Qianzhi (寇謙之) was able to attract a large following of faithful after he had spread the story of Cheng Kongxing (成公興) becoming an Immortal. The next step he took to start his promised career as the teacher of an emperor was to fabricate a mandate of Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism and the venerated Emperor of Mysterious Origin. So he declared the Emperor of Mysterious Origin himself would appear at Mount Song on the first day of the fourth moon of the second year of Shen-rui (: 神瑞 415 A.D.) during the reign of the Emperor Ming-yuan ti of the Northern Wei Dynasty to give him a mandate.

On that day, as the legend goes, the Emperor of Mysterious Origin arrived aboard his White Jade Carriage, accompanied by a huge retinue of Immortals and their pages. Kou knelt before the Emperor to receive the oral mandate. The Emperor said: “No one has appeared on earth to emulate Zhang Daoling since he departed this world. We have just received a report from our Immortal official at Mount Song that you are honest, upright and capable of doing the work Zhang Ling. So we hereby appoint you Tian-shi. Do your work well to promote the Way.” Zhang Daoling and Zhang Lin were the same founder of the Tian-shi-dao (天師道), or the Way of Celestial Master. It is commonly known as the Way of Five Pecks of Rice.

Armed with that mandate, the newly appointed celestial master left Mount Song for the Northern Wei capital of Pingcheng (平城) to teach the “barbarian” Emperor Tai-wu ti (太武帝 424-452) the Way to rule the country. The emperor, who was greatly interested in Taoism, granted him an audience but did not ask for instruction. Kou had to find a way to get into favor with the emperor.

Tai-wu ti had a favorite Han Chinese court minister, Cui Hao. The minister was a follower of Tian-shi-dao, too. So Kou arranged a meeting with him. At the meeting, Kou was able to persuade Cui to recommend to the emperor that he be appointed an imperial instructor. The emperor did not make that appointment right away. Instead he had a school set up in Pingcheng where Kou was able to preach Taoism.

One more push was necessary, and the opportunity presented itself. Tai-wu ti wished to attack the kingdom of Xia (夏), with its center in the Ordos, north of what is now Shansi. Its name was derived from the first of the traditional Chinese “dynasties,” for its ruler claimed descent from that house. But none of the emperor’s generals wanted to wage war on Xia. The emperor then asked for divination on a war he wanted to carry out. Kou divined a sure-fire victory. He told the emperor: “Nothing is going to stop your Majesty from unifying (north) China by force first and then ruling it by law as the True Ruler of Peace or Tai-ping zhen-jun

(太平真君).”

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