Perpetuation of the Taoist Ritual Tradition of the Zhengyi School

There are two ways in which the Taoist Ritual Tradition of the Zhengyi school is transmitted: one is the yinsheng (hereditary transmission), primarily from father to son within individual families, and the other is through jingsheng (master-disciple teaching). In the past, most of the Zhengyi Taoist priests belonged to the latter category, and were introduced to the profession by relatives or friends. Usually a master would only pick a disciple he found worthy by virtue of character and earnestness in learning. He would bestow on him a daohao (Taoist name) to seal a formal master-disciple relationship between them. Training was on the job and experience was gleaned through practice. It was not unusual that a Zhengyi Taoist priest would have more than one master in order to learn different types of rituals.

In recent years, with the expansion of urban development, changes in the economy and lifestyle of the people, some of the Zhengyi ritual practices in the urban areas have to be trimmed and made simpler. Those in the New Territories are also facing the problem of perpetuating their tradition as other Taoist organisations have been taking up Jiao rituals in the villages.

In summary, the Taoist ritual tradition of the Zhengyi school in Hong Kong is an indispensable part of traditional festivities and rituals for funerals and burials. Residents of communities would hire Zhengyi Taoist priests to conduct rituals pertaining to religion-related activities, such as celebrating birthdays of deities, holding Jiao rituals, consecrations etc., or on a more personal level, for births and deaths. Through this, the Taoist ritual tradition of the Zhengyi school has become a folk custom, and is therefore able to continue to exist and develop in Hong Kong.