Níng Quánzhēn 寧全真 (zì 道立 Dàolì, míng 本立 Běnlì; honorific titles 賛化先生, 洞微高士; posthumous appellation 開光救苦真人; born 18 vii 1101 = the 辛巳 day of 建中靖國; died on the zhōngyuán festival = 15 vii 1181, aged 81) was a Southern-Sòng Daoist fǎshī and the zǔshī of the Dōnghuá 東華 transmission of the Língbǎo dàfǎ 靈寶大法. A native of Kāifēng, he was raised in the household of the Péi 裴 family and bore the surname Péi until middle age. Erudite in zhūzǐ, medicine, divination, and astronomy, he was employed as a clerical assistant in the Ministry of Personnel under Shàngshū Wáng Gǔ 王古, who recognised his calibre. Through Wáng Gǔ he was introduced to Tián Língxū 田靈虛 (himself an heir of Lù Xiūjìng’s tradition via Lúshān), who recognised Níng’s xiānfèn 仙分 and conferred on him the Língbǎo high transmission. After the Jìngkāng disaster Níng accompanied his mother south and settled in the Wúyuè region.
His prestige under the Southern-Sòng court rested on a series of efficacious ritual interventions: in 1146 he was reported to have secured clear weather for Gāozōng’s southern-suburb sacrifice; in 1161, during Wánnyàn Liàng’s 完顏亮 (逆亮) campaign across the Huái, he transmitted an oracle declaring “Heaven shall destroy this hú” 天亡此胡, which was confirmed by Liàng’s death three days later. He was honoured with the titles Dòngwēi gāoshì 洞微高士 and Zànhuà xiānshēng 賛化先生.
Later he was framed by the rival fǎshī Liú Néngzhēn 劉能真 and his court patrons during the failed campaign of Zhāng Jùn 張浚 (1163), receiving the qíng 黥 (facial tattoo) punishment and military exile. After his rehabilitation he withdrew to teach at Hé Chúnzhēn’s 何淳真 villa in Wùzhōu Lánxī 蘭溪; he is said to have lost his sight in old age. He died on the zhōngyuán festival of 1181 and was buried at Tóngshān 同山 in Yǒngkāng.
The Língbǎo lǐngjiào jìdù jīnshū (KR5b0150, 321 juàn) is the great liturgical compendium passed down within his lineage and finally redacted by his Dōnghuá successor 林靈真. CBDB has no entry under either Níng Běnlì or Níng Quánzhēn. Principal hagiographic source: the Sìjiào lù 嗣教錄 prefixed to KR5b0150.
Cf. Schipper & Verellen, Taoist Canon 2: 1027–1029; Judith M. Boltz, A Survey of Taoist Literature (1987), pp. 47–50; Edward L. Davis, Society and the Supernatural in Song China (2001).