ABSTRACT
The question of whether Celestial Master Zhang Ling who was active at the end of the Eastern Han, and who was sometimes called Zhang Daoling, was a historical figure is rarely raised. He appears in all the general histories and textbooks, but it is in the traditional histories such as the Hou Hanshu, Sanguo zhi and Huayang guozhi that evidence that Zhang was a real historical figure is found.1 Apart from these standard and unofficial histories, Zhang naturally appears in Daoist literature. There he is a towering figure and many biographies of him exist.2 These biographies are generally hagiographical in nature, and blend a limited amount of historical data with a large amount of embellishment. If we consider them as literary creations or as ‘scriptures’ that are grounded in belief rather than historical evidence, then their value as historical texts is clear and we need not spill ink over them. However, if such a text is to be regarded as a useful historical source, then a coherent argument with supporting evidence should be provided. When working with hagiographies it is best to arrange all available accounts into chronological order as a genealogical relationship between them is usually clear. Later hagiographies, for example, often appear to make claims that are baseless when checked against the standard histories when in fact they are based on earlier hagiographic accounts. For instance, the Lishi zhenxian tidao tongjian compiled by Zhao Daoyi during the thirteenth century includes an entry for Celestial Master Zhang that occupies an entire chapter and is the most detailed biography available. It states that ‘he was recommended in both the “Capable, Good, Sincere and Upright” category and that of “Spoke Frankly and Admonished Unflinchingly” ’, and that ‘When Emperor He assumed the throne, he summoned [Zhang] with the third rank seal of office and a four-horse chariot to become Grand Mentor, and later enfeoffed him as Marquis of Ji County.’3
