Yiguan Dao/I-Kuan Tao 一貫道
Creators: name: Chen, Yong
Publisher: name: Database of Religious History (DRH)
Year: 2022

description: Yiguan Dao/I-Kuan Tao 一貫道is a salvationist and syncretic religion that originated in the late 19th century in Shandong Province and soon spread throughout other provinces of China. Today it claims to have millions of followers across from Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and many other regions in the world, as well as mainland China where it cannot operate openly. The name Yiguan Dao, meaning the Consistent Way, comes from a phrase by Confucius in the Analects, 4:15, “My way has been consistent 吾道一以貫之.” Yiguan Dao has demonstrated its effort to evangelize the sanjiao tradition, namely, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, although it is usually poised as the ultimate inheritor of the Five Teachings/Religions (the sanjiao plus Christianity and Islam). The origin of Yiguan Dao can be traced back to Luo Jiao, a sectarian religion created by Luo Qing (1442-1527) during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), which in turn attributed its ancestry to Taiping Dao, a Daoist sect involved in the rebellion of the Yellow Turbans at the end of the Later Han dynasty (25—220). Luo Jiao later evolved into several sects, and one of them was Xiantian Dao, which was suppressed by the Qing government in the early 19th century. In the 1870’s, Xiantian Dao further split into several independent sects, one of which later developed into Yiguan Dao (originally named “mohou yizhujiao”—religion for final salvation). The founding of Yiguan Dao with its modern look is generally attributed to Wang Jueyi (1821-1886), who extensively reformed its teachings and rituals in the late 19th century and who is venerated as the 15th patriarch of the tradition. Under the leadership of Zhang Tianran (1889-1947), its 18th patriarch, Yiguan Dao enjoyed rapid growth during the 1930s and 1940s and spread to many provinces of the country. With the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, Yiguan Dao was proscribed an illegal secret society and heretical cult and was eradicated from society as part of the antireligious campaign. At the meantime, however, it grew steadily in Taiwan for decades in spite of the persecution of the Kuomingtang government, a policy that was not abolished until 1987. Yiguan Dao embraces an eschatological and soteriological philosophy and presents itself as the only way to salvation. The highest deity worshipped by the followers of Yiguan Dao is called Wusheng Laomu, or the Eternal Venerable Mother, and its worship hall is usually highlighted by the statue of Maitreya Buddha flanked by the statues of the monk Ji Gong and Avalokitesvara (Guan Yin). According to the eschatology and soteriology of Yiguan Dao, human history is divided into three eras: Qingyang Qi or Green Yang Era, Hongyang Qi or Red Yang Era, and Baiyang Qi or White Yang Era. While Dipankara Buddha and Gautama Buddha presided over salvation in the Green Yang Era and the Red Yang Era, respectively, Maitreya Buddha presides over the third period of salvation, the White Yang Era (from 1912 onward). Yiguan Dao practitioners regard the initiation ceremony, called Qiu Dao (seeking the Dao), as the most important ritual, which involves the "offering of the Three Treasures"—the saving grace from the Eternal Venerable Mother. The initiation ceremony articulates the exclusiveness of the membership of Yiguan Dao and only through this ritual can a new member be accepted into the congregation. The members of Yiguan Dao maintain a clear self-identification and call each other Dao Qin (fellows of Dao). Yiguan Dao followers generally believe that the corruption of humanity and natural disasters are associated with the end of the White Yang Era, which ushers in a final salvation. Thus, they emphasize the cultivation of Dao as the opportunity for repentance and purification. This moralizing doctrine paves the way for what scholars have called the “confucianization” of Yiguan Dao, as is clearly seen in its guiding principle: “Respect Heaven and Earth, hold courtesy toward deities; be patriotic to nation and faithful in engagements, cultivate morality and uphold rites; be filial to parents, honor teachers and masters, be trustworthy to friends, be in harmony with neighbors; rectify evil and approach good; be clear with five cardinal relationships and eight virtues.” In recent years, Yiguan Dao increasingly draws on Confucian notions to recruit young followers, and the Classics-Recitation Movement (Dujing Yundong) that has swept Taiwan and mainland China in recent decades is largely attributable to the campaign of Yiguan Dao.