Zaili teaching

Zailiism (在理教, the "Way of the Abiding Principle") or Liism (理教), also known as the Baiyidao (白衣道 "White-Clad Way") or Bafangdao (八方道 "Octagonal Way"), is a Chinese folk religious sect of north China, founded in the 17th century by Yang Zai. It claims a Taoist identity and is centered on the worship of Guanyin as the incarnation of the principle of the universe, the "Only God of the Unlimited" (无极只神 Wújí Zhīshén). Zailiism was founded during the waning years of the Ming dynasty by Yang Zai (1621-1754; alias Yang Chengqing or Yang Rulai), a holder of the jinshi degree from Jimo, Shandong. Although anxious to take up an official position, Yang remained in Jimo to care for his aged mother. After her death he became a religious leader, and there are different accounts about how this happened. Some sources attribute this to a vision or encounter with Guanyin. He certainly migrated to the mountains of Ji County in Tianjin. Here he remained for ten years in meditation in the Lanshui Cave, he purified himself and formulated his philosophical teachings revolving around the Eight Proscriptions (ba jie). At the age of eighty he took ten disciples, who were sent in different directions to spread the teaching. Yang, thanks to his techniques of meditation and refinement, reputedly died at the age of 133. The religion was formally established in Tianjin, and by the mid 18th century it had spread throughout north China. Mass following was founded on the work of Yin Ruo (1729-1806; alias Yin Laifeng and Yin Zhongshan), the second great patriarch in the history of the sect. In 1766, Yin founded the first common house (gong suo) in the suburbs of Tianjin; common houses became the basic and characteristic organisation units of Zailiism. They are both temples and meeting houses, and early common houses were rooms in private homes and village temples. By the early republican period some of them had evolved into elaborate complexes of buildings and courtyards. Common houses were run by two layers of leadership: ritual and administrative.