Origin from 1222
In 1220, at the invitation of Genghis Khan, the seventy three year old Quanzhen Taoist master Qiu Chuji left Shandong with eighteen disciples on a journey of more than five thousand kilometers across war torn northern China, the Mongolian steppe and Central Asia. In 1222 he reached the Khan's camp near the Hindu Kush, south of the Amu Darya river, in what is now Afghanistan. Genghis Khan, who addressed Qiu as an immortal, asked whether an elixir of eternal life existed; Qiu answered that there were only ways of nourishing life, no such elixir. Over the following months the Khan met Qiu several more times, asking about Taoist methods of governance and health, and Qiu counseled him that Heaven treasures life and disapproves of killing, and that honoring Heaven and loving the people are the foundation of ruling well. Persuaded, Genghis Khan exempted the Quanzhen school from all taxes and forced labor and later placed Qiu in charge of religious affairs across the empire, political protection that let Quanzhen Taoism spread rapidly through northern China in the following decades, well after the Tang dynasty had elevated Taoism as its ancestral faith in 618 already recorded here and well before the Ming dynasty completed the Zhengtong Daozang in 1445 also already recorded here.
Facts
Dates
StatusDominant marks the tax exemption and religious authority Genghis Khan granted Qiu Chuji's Quanzhen school after this meeting, letting it spread rapidly through northern China, a specific dated institutional milestone between the Tang dynasty elevating Taoism as its ancestral faith in 618 already recorded here and the Ming dynasty completing the Zhengtong Daozang in 1445 also already recorded here. Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Central Asia directly: "China, the Mongolian steppe and Central Asia."
This source names Qiu Chuji directly: "three year old Quanzhen Taoist master Qiu Chuji left Shandong with eighteen disciples on a journey of more than five thousand kilometers across war torn northern China, the Mongolian steppe and..."
Occurred In
Spread Event Of
Adds a specific, dated institutional milestone between the Tang dynasty elevating Taoism as its ancestral faith in 618 and the Ming dynasty completing the Zhengtong Daozang in 1445, both already recorded here: Genghis Khan meeting the Quanzhen Taoist master Qiu Chuji near the Hindu Kush in 1222 and, persuaded by his counsel against killing, exempting his school from taxes and forced labor and placing him in charge of religious affairs across the empire.
Sources
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
Choose a year to see this entry's facts and connections as the atlas records them at that moment: what it held then, what it held instead, and what it had not yet adopted. Choose Present for the current record.