The Eternal Spring (長春子) was installed in the Tai-qi gong (大極宮) or the Temple of the Great Ultimate in Beijing, which the Mongols renamed Dadu (大都) or Great Capital. The temple was erected by the Emperor Xuan-zhong of the Tang Dynasty (唐玄宗713-756). It fell into disrepair during the Jurchen Tartar period (1145-1234). The Eternal Spring and his disciples had to raise funds to have the temple repaired in three years. Genghis Khan then granted the temple a new name of Zhang-chun gong (長春宮) or the Temple of the Eternal Spring. With the support of the Mongol conquerors, the Eternal Spring was able to erect more Taoist temples for his All True school, which reached the apex of its popularity among the people north of the Yangtze River.

The Yellow River caused a devastating deluge when the Eternal Spring was 81 years old. He knew his life was coming to an end. He gathered together his disciples and told them: “I heard Dan-yang zi (丹陽子) predict our All True school would grow to its height after his death. Look around us now. Ours is the most popularly accepted Taoist school. Dan-yang zi’s prediction has been borne out. It’s time for me to retire. I have no regrets.” Dan-yang zi or the Red Sun is Ma Yu (馬鈺), the rich merchant-turned apostle of Wang Chong-yan (王重陽). Upon telling his disciples his last word, the Eternal Spring passed away. His remains were kept at a small chapel in the Temple of the Eternal Spring. It fell into disrepair again at the end of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty (元朝). The chapel, Chu-shun tang (處順堂) or the Stay in Agreement Hall, was remodeled and expanded during the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It exists under the changed name of Bai-yun guan (白雲觀) or White cloud temple.

The title of the grand Taoist patriarch Genghis Khan granted the Eternal Spring was not passed over to his successors. The Mongol emperor’s grand son, the Kublai Khan (勿必烈1260-1295), sent a secret messenger to Zhang Da-ke (張大可), the Tian-shi (天師) or Taoist pope at Dragon-Tiger Mountain in Jiangxi to ask for a divination on the future of his campaign against the Southern Song. Zhang, the thirty-sixth descendant of Zhang Dao-ling, predicted that Kublai would unify China under his rule in 20 years. Kublai terminated the Southern Song and ascended the Chinese throne in 1280.

His Mongolian army invaded Japan twice in 1274 and 1281 but the army, together with the armada that carried it, were destroyed on both occasions by unusually strong typhoons the Japanese call kamikaze or divine winds. Marco Polo also visited Kublai Khan’s court in Beijing.

The Taoist pope after Zhang Da-ke was summoned to Kublai’s court in 1280. Zhang Zhong-yen (張宗道), the thirty-seventh lineal descendent of Zhang Dao-ling, was confirmed as the rightful Taoist pope.

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