YMWong

True Transmission is the establishment of a connection, just like when connecting wires to allow for electricity to flow YM

＂True transmission" only occurs when one is accepted as disciple in a certain school, which means he is "introduced" to the line of transmission of the ancestors from that specific school. Without this connection one can only go so far in his path, which will be one of "techniques" that may increase his skills/qualities similarly to any other training but nothing more than that. Transmission usually takes the form of an acceptance/introduction rite, different schools do that differently but the meaning is the same. It is very much like enrolling at a certain university: there are specific requirements and only if you get accepted and follow their curriculum you have the chance of learning with their teachers and getting their degree. YM

Leaving aside all "spiritual" considerations for a moment I would like to remind you that to live in a country (like China) you need a Visa, and since there is no "monk visa" that I know I guess you have to find a solution to that first of all YM

There are commercial schools, similar to those in the west, which you can find on the web or on various magazines but in most cases they are of poor quality and more about transmitting "techniques" instead of passing an original transmission One needs luck YM

Exorcist, as I am sure you know there is more than one "Pre-Celestial School" in Chinese history. The most common, especially in the west, is a derivation of Longmen School made popular by an early English translation of a book （Charles Luk - Taoist Yoga) originally by Master Liao Kong (Qianfeng). If I am not mistaken this is also the one connected with Eva Wong's teacher Master Moy, thou they have a reformed version from Hong Kong. The one you mention by masters of the likes of Huang Yuanji 黃元吉 is a different school with a separate origin and is commonly referred to as Central School 中派 Best YM

Most of the exchanges were made through a Daoist magazine which also had a "letter to the editor" sections, it was the beginning of modern Daoism YM

Well, to each their own YM

Liu Xun's book is perfectly accurate and trustable, and an excellent resource which I suggest to all friends here. Last century was a time of huge changes in many domains and those included some revolutionary changes to the Daoist Tradition in China, at least the official (public) side of it. Pratictioners like Chen HAD in fact various teachers but had new ideas in mind which brought them to specific choices that generated a new approach to the Tradition. On one side, people like Chen were instrumental to bring some Daoist practices to the general public and people from this board should be grateful because it is through the effort of those people that Daoism (or at least part of it) spread and was known overseas. At the same time, this "new" approach contributed to send other traditional lines underground where some of those school still remain. YM

The Daoist Association in 1956, Chen is 4th from left in the first row YM

As in the case of the Seven Disciples, a new sect is created when a master makes up a new set of standards and regulations different from those he received (often mixing teachings of different masters or through direct intervention of some immortals) and generates a completely new school. That school takes up a new name which is strictly linked to the new Founder who also generates a new lineal poem that will be used for the next generations. This will be obvious for any pratictioner initiated into a certain school as in deep meditation he might reconnect with the "golden chain" to the Founder of the SPECIFIC school. A school then can have many lineages i.e. many lines of transmission derived from the same Founder YM

I C YM

TM, the seven sects you mention are SCHOOLS/SECTS 派 and not lineages. In the Chinese tradition a lineage is a particular line of transmission of a certain school/sect, but when the school gets a new name as in the cases you mention we are talking about a new sect and NOT a lineage of the original sect (Quanzhen in this case). To be more precise, adherents of a LINEAGE of a school all use the same lineal poem and therefore are named with the same character at a specific point in the line. When a new sect is created, as in the case of the seven you mention, a new poem is generated and its adherents will be given a new set of lineal names. YM

Eva Wong's learned Pre-Celestial Way under Moy Lin Shin, who learned it in Hong Kong in a local offshoot of that school (actually very much reformed) YM

This terminology comes from last century Chinese novels. Books from Jin Yong (Louis Cha) and various others have been so popular among chinese that most (uneducated) people take them for history, thou they are are made up partially from historical data and mainly they are just a work of fiction. There is no "six schools of Daoism" and those mentioned by Verdesi are partially real and partially fictional, again from Chinese novels. YM

No, your point is "wrong" not "simple" You don't "know", you have "heard from him" which is a very different thing You cannot possibly ask people to disprove your point, when you make an assumption you are the one who has to back it up with external validations. If your only validation is "David said so" I am afraid you should stop yelling at the wind YM

http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/asia/story/chinese-band-thunderbolt-craziness-performs-electrifying-music-20121119 YM

No problem Veritas What I am saying basically is that Daoism as well as daoist meditation is a highly specialized kind of science. There is no way in heaven that you can alone, or reading books which are usually written by people who "know things" because they read them in some other books, get anywhere. And this includes the basics, which are in fact even more important than so-called advanced practice. If you don't have a teacher but insist you want to learn then find one. If one is not available do something else, as you would be wasting your time at best. It would be like forest man from the Amazon who has been told about the "amazing iPhone" who wants, alone in the forest, build one. iPhone is the result of generations of evolution, from electricity to phones to the iPhone, which cannot be replicated no matter one wants to without "transmission" (science evolution throu time and people). What would the amazon forest guy do with an iPhone manual? Best of luck anyway YM

For a total illiterate a book is only good if its paper is soft and possibly 3ply YM

If you don't have a teacher to guide you you are not "accumulating yang qi into your dantian" but you are just wasting your time on wishful thinking. I suggest you throw away books and look for a teacher, who will tell you and explain you why to stay on the floor or not. YM PS: needless to say, if you had a teacher you would not be asking this kinds of questions here

YM

I was commenting on your description of the hotel as: where you are trying to pass the hotel as some kind of Waldorf Astoria when in fact it ranks 15 on a simple search by price of Huangshan hotels on Tripadvisor http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g303685-Huangshan_Anhui-Hotels.html (the most expensive at 140* up, your Waldorf at 70* up). So Jiang works or worked at an average hotel "treating" customers, that is ok there is no shame on that, no need to make it sounds like the personal physician of the elite. If you had travelled around China in the years of its opening, the early 80s, you would have met plenty of "gigong *doctors*" at every possible hotel performing all kinds of "feats": breaking stuff, burning steel chains and then holding them, eating all kind of un edible material and of course "projecting qi". Needless to say, they all had some miraculous potions to sell after the demo. Now for some reasons, they usually charge 500 RMB (80 USD) to the locals and 4,000 USD to the foreigners. A story I have heard just too many times ... Of course, Grady, of course YM

My friend, leaving aside for a moment the fact that I was roaming China when you probably had not yet idea of where the country was I suggest you to check the website that I posted. You will be surprised to learn that beds there start at RMB 170/night, a price your millionaire "VIP" pays for ONE GLASS of imported water. I don't need to tell you that 170 RMB/night is very, very cheap ... I am sure Wen Jiabao and Hu Jintao shared this room in their last visit YM

LOL, you are really totally blind! The article says that he basically felt tricked by the fact that he and his wife were invited to a "free treatment" and then Jiang managed to scare them about their health and ask for 500 RMB to fix their (non existent) problems. You are another funny man YM

For those less google-minded JF was working at this Hotel in 2009 http://www.paiyunlou.com/ Ironically, the only two articles about him on the web are complains of having been tricked. One is the taiwanese already posted, the second is this one http://bbs.travel.163.com/bbs/jiangnan/136945213,1.html YM

http://cpc.people.co...36/2569304.html "邓小平1985年10月23日会见美国时代公司组织的美国高级企业家代表团时说 我们的政策是让一部分人、一部分地区先富起来，以带动和帮助落后的地区，先进地区帮助落后地区是一个义务。 邓小平1986年3月28日在会见新西兰总理朗伊时说 我的一贯主张是，让一部分人、一部分地区先富起来，大原则是共同富裕。一部分地区发展快一点，带动大部分地区，这是加速发展、达到共同富裕的捷径。" YM