Way of the Li Family () was one of the oldest schools of religious Daoism and was popular throughout South China during the Six Dynasties (220–589). The school was founded by Li A. Since several Way of the Li Family practices resembled those of the Way of the Celestial Masters, such as healing with () amulets and holding expensive "Kitchen" feasts, the sect is associated with the Southern Celestial Masters. Mainstream Daoist schools denounced the Way of the Li Family as heterodox, particularly for its charlatan healers who claimed extraordinary longevity. For instance, Li Tuo () or Li Babai (, 'Li Eight-Hundred[-Years-Old]') and his disciple Li Hong () were executed in 324 for practicing sorcery and plotting rebellion.
Names The name () is a compound of three Chinese words: (), ), a common Chinese surname; (), 'residence, home; household, family; school of thought, lineage, tradition'; (), 'road, route, pathway; the Way, fundamental reality; method, practice; ideas and teachings'.
Two other names with the Classical Chinese grammatical possessive marker () were () and (, ).
The surname Li is associated with Daoism, for instance the ('master of methods') and alchemist Li Shaojun (), the astronomer and historian Li Chunfeng (602–670), and the philosopher Li Rong (fl. 658–663). Laozi's personal name is traditionally said to have been Li Er (), and the Li family claims to be patrilineally descended from him. The House of Li was the ruling family of the Western Liang (400–421) and Tang dynasty (618–907).
Translations () is variously translated as: 'doctrine of the Lis' 'Tao of the Li Family' 'religion of the adepts of Li' 'Way of the Li House' 'Way of the Li clan' 'Sect of the Li Adepts' 'Way of the Li Family' 'Way of the Li Lineage' Within this sample of English translations, only is consistently rendered. is translated as 'family', 'clan', 'lineage', and 'adepts' (see Chinese kin and Chinese lineage association). is generally interpreted as 'the Dao' or 'the Way', consistent with other Daoist schools of the first centuries CE, such as Way of the Five Pecks of Rice, Way of the Celestial Masters, Way of the Orthodox Unity, and Way of the Great Peace.
History The Way of the Li Family originated in the states of Shu (present-day Sichuan) and Eastern Wu (Jiangsu and part of Zhejiang) during a turbulent historical period when many northern Chinese families that practiced the Way of the Celestial Masters Daoism fled to the south. This diaspora began in 260 when Jin dynasty conquered the Cao Wei kingdom (location of Zhang Daoling's original Celestial Masters theocratic state), and in 311 when the Xiongnu and other non-Han ethnic groups sacked the Jin capital of Luoyang. Remnants of the Luoyang court and the Jin ruling house established the new Eastern Jin dynasty, with the capital city of Jiankang (Nanjing). The Way of the Li Family developed at the "fringe of the main Daoist movements" in the first centuries CE.
The Way of the Li Family's reputation was irreparably damaged by charlatans and diviners, and this Daoist school did not last long. Two egregious Daoists named Li led their followers to believe they were Li Babai (, 'Li Eight-Hundred'), Li Kuan () who died after failing to heal himself, and Li Tuo () who was executed in 324, along with his disciple Li Hong (), for practicing witchcraft and plotting rebellion.
Baopuzi
Ge Hong's 317 ('Master Who Embraces Simplicity') has the oldest extant references to the Way of the Li Family. They occur in a context (chapter 9, [] 'The Meaning of "the Way) where Ge argued against many ancient customs of Chinese folk religion, including shamanism and sacrifices. He explained his personal "conviction that ghosts and gods have no power" and dismissed all sacrifices to temple gods as useless.
Three consecutive passages discuss the Way of the Li Family. The first contrasts heterodox (, 'demonic cults') that sacrificed animals to gods believed to enjoy their blood with the Daoist that prepared profligate "Kitchen" communal banquets. The second passage traces the Way of the Li Family's origins to a diviner and healer named Li A (, ), originally from Shu (present-day Sichuan Province), whose extraordinary longevity earned him the epithet Li Babai (, 'Li Eight-Hundred[-Years-Old]'). In the lengthy third passage, Ge Hong describes a contemporary charlatan healer named Li Kuan (). Many people identified him as Li A, and he had over a thousand devoted followers, yet died while praying to heal himself from a plague.
The first passage about the Way of the Li Family praises the Daoist school for not practicing blood sacrifice but blames it for holding extravagant communal feasts:
There are more than a hundred bogus Ways (, ) that rely on slaughtering living things and feeding their blood [to ghosts and spirits]. Only the Way of the Li clan, with its nonparticipation [in such cults], is slightly different. But, although it does not butcher victims, whenever it holds its blessing feasts (, ) there are no limits; in the provisions they buy in the markets they strive for the most sumptuous, and they insist on buying the choicest and rarest items. Several dozen people sometimes do the kitchen work. The expenses are high. Such practices, too, are not quite purely disinterested, and they ought to be included among those which are forbidden.
It was the northern emigration and the establishment of the Eastern Jin that made it socially respectable for the southern aristocracy to take up the Way of the Celestial Master and make it their own. "The relatively low social status of the Celestial Masters in the south prior to 317 is enough to account for Ge Hong's apparent ignorance, or his misportrayal of them as the Way of the Li House [...] in fact, Ge may have been less ignorant of the Celestial Masters than is normally imagined."
The second passage describes the founder of the Way of the Li Family, the diviner Li A, who came from the western state of Shu (Sichuan Province).
Someone asked when this Way of the Li clan began. I replied: During the reign of the Grand Emperor of Wu [Sun Quan, reigned 229–252], there was a certain Li A in Shu. He lived in a cave and did not eat. Successive generations saw him, so they styled him the Eight-Hundred-Year-Old Sire [Babaisui gong]. People often came to him to consult him on affairs, but Li A would say nothing. But they had only to divine by his facial expression: if he wore a pleased expression, affairs would all be auspicious; if he wore a troubled look, then affairs would all be inauspicious. If he smiled, it meant there would be a great felicity, and if he sighed, it meant deep trouble was near. They watched him for these signs, and the signs never missed. Later, he suddenly departed one day, no one knew where to.
James R. Ware translates as 'ways for dealing with demons', as 'good-luck food", and as 'Sir Eight Hundred'.
In the third and longest passage about the Way of the Li Family, Ge Hong describes a popular charlatan faith healer and self-styled Daoist (, 'transcendent, immortal') named Li Kuan (), who like Li A also came from Shu and became popular in Wu.
People "flocked to his door in droves", and Li Kuan had almost a thousand disciples, whom he instructed in simple practices such as using holy water and magic amulets, calisthenics (), and (, 'breath circulation'), but not the esoteric techniques of fasting and Daoist alchemical elixirs necessary for achieving longevity and transcendence. Ge Hong said he was "personally acquainted with many" witnesses who attended his healing rituals, and they were "unanimous in saying that he was weak with old age and emaciated", was frail and toothless, had bad eyesight and hearing, and becoming senile. "He was no different from the ordinary run of men. People kept saying, however, that he deliberately acted normally in order to deceive others, but that could hardly be so." In the early fourth century, there was a severe plague in south China with more than fifty percent mortality. Li Kuan contracted the epidemic disease, and announced that he would enter his (; 'hut, Daoist meditation room') in order to fast and purify himself, whereupon he died. His followers, repeatedly claimed that he had transformed into a transcendent" by means of (; 'release as a corpse') and had not truly died. Ge Hong says Daoist transcendents differ from ordinary people in the value placed upon not growing old and not dying. However, "Li Kuan was adjudged old, so he did become old; he was seen dead, so he did die. It is thus quite easy to see that he did not have the divine process. How can there be any doubt?" Ge concludes by explaining:
I have taken the trouble to discuss Li Kuan at length because his pupils are maintaining his tradition, their teachings filling the land south of the Yangtze. Normally, roughly a thousand persons, not realizing that Li Kuan's methods are too shallow to be followed, do accept and observe them in the hope of attaining [Daoist transcendence]. Accordingly, I merely wish people to be conscious of this and to be aware how stagnant and beguiling it is. There is really no limit to the number of doctrines in the world similar to that of Li Kuan, though they are not his. I shall now mention them briefly in order to inform future generations who may not see through them.; Wade-Giles changed to Pinyin romanization.
Retreat to a chamber "is what we would expect of a Celestial Master adherent confronted with epidemic; the movement is well known to have counseled its members to retreat to 'chambers of quietness', confess their sins, and perform acts of penitence when taken ill, because illness was understood as a sign of prior transgression". Celestial Master practitioners also entered these chambers to send petitions to the celestial gods, which Li Kuan may have been doing on behalf of the plague-stricken people.
The subsequent context gives several stories about (, 'excessive cults') worshipping popular but illegitimate gods, borrowed word-for-word from the 195 . For instance, there was a cult that sacrificed to a plum tree. Zhang Zhu (張助) was a farmer from Runan Commandery (present-day Henan) who found a plum pit while working in his field, decided to plant it at home later, and placed it in the hollow of a mulberry tree, but forgot to take it with him. While Zhang was on a long trip, a fellow villager was surprised to see a plum tree sprouting out of a mulberry tree, and concluded it was a miracle. One day, a man with an eye disease was sitting in the shade under the tree and prayed to Lord Plum (, ), promising that if his disease was healed, he would sacrifice a suckling pig. Since his eyes happened to get better, the man killed a young pig and offered it in worship. Rumors spread that the tree could even restore sight to the blind, and many sick people came to be healed. The place became crowded with horses and carriages, and many people offered wines and meats to Lord Plum. This had been going on for several years when Zhang Zhu returned from his travels, saw the busy shrine and exclaimed: "This is only the plum tree I placed here long ago. There's no god!" Then he chopped it down, and all the activity ceased.
Ge Hong's descriptions do not mention the Way of the Celestial Masters, but the common ties of Li A (alias Li Babai) and Li Kuan to Shu, and the large communal meals and avoidance of blood offerings characterizing the Way of the Li clan suggest that what "Ge may have heard about was some form of Celestial Master practice (or at least a body of practice that had adopted some features of the Celestial Master religion and emanated from Shu)".
Shenxian Zhuan