Yuán-dynasty Daoist master of the southern Quánzhēn 全真 stream, zì 字 Tàisù 太素, hào 號 Shí’ān 實庵; active in the early fourteenth century, with signed works dated 1324. He also signed himself Jīnlán zǐyī Xuányī gāoshì 金幱紫衣玄一髙士 (“Gold-embroidered Purple-robed High Gentleman of the Xuányī”) in the colophon of DZ 651.
Miáo was the principal disciple of Lǐ Dàochún 李道純 (zì Yuánsù 元素, hào Qīng’ān Yíngchánzǐ 清庵瑩蟾子, fl. late 13th c.), teaching at his master’s Zhōnghé jīngshè 中和精舍 in Jīnlíng 金陵 (Nánjīng), where he held the office of zhītáng 知堂 (see DZ 1060 Qīng’ān Yíngchánzǐ yǔlù 3.1a). In the intellectual topography of late-Yuán Daoism, Miáo belongs with Lǐ Dàochún, Chén Zhìxū 陳致虛 (hào Shàngyángzǐ 上陽子), and Wáng Jiē 王玠 to the “southern” syncretic-nèidān stream that combined a Nánzōng 南宗 pedagogical heritage with Quánzhēn affiliation — “these authors produced some of the most remarkable premodern Taoist literature, and eventually became regarded as authorities in modern Quánzhēn” (Schipper & Verellen, TC 2:1179).
Works:
- Xuánjiào dà gōng’àn 玄教大公案 (DZ 1065), 2 juàn, with preface by Wáng Zhìdào 王致道 (zì Chéng’ān 誠安), Miáo’s own disciple, dated 1324; the colophon at 5b reveals Miáo’s compositional scheme — sixty-four “zé” 則 (“rules”) aligned with the sixty-four hexagrams of the Yìjīng 易經, plus three supplementary paragraphs on the sānjí 三極 (“three poles”). Miáo is said by Wáng Cóngyì’s 王從益 preface (3b–4a) also to have written supplementary notes to complement Chéng Yí’s 程頤 (1033–1107) Yìzhuàn 易傳, and a Yìwàng jiěhuò 易妄解惑 (not extant).
- Chúnyáng dìjūn shénhuà miàotōng jì 純陽帝君神化妙通記 (DZ 305), 7 juàn — a major hagiographic compendium on Lǚ Dòngbīn 呂洞賓 (Chúnyángdìjūn), dated 1324. This is the most influential Yuán-period hagiographic source on the Lǚ Dòngbīn cult and figures prominently in Paul Katz’s study of the Yǒnglègōng 永樂宮 murals.
- Tàishàng dòngshén sānyuán miàoběn fúshòu zhēnjīng 太上洞神三元妙本福壽真經 (DZ 651) — redaction of an older Sānyuán sānguān 三元三官 liturgical scripture. The colophon dated Tàidìng jiǎzǐ yángzhì 泰定甲子陽至 = winter solstice 1324 records that Miáo “received the ancient text, corrected it, and divided it into zhāng 章 so that the dàoxīn 道心 might be made clear,” and that the layman Wáng Zhòngān 王仲庵 (“Zhòngān Wáng jūshì 仲庵王居士”) commissioned the printing.
Miáo’s triple-signed corpus from 1324 documents a single productive year of editorial and doctrinal activity at Zhōnghé jīngshè following his master Lǐ Dàochún’s death, and his signing of himself as Xuányī gāoshì establishes a Daoist ordination rank (the gāoshì 高士 — “High Gentleman” — title, associated with a Zǐyī 紫衣 “purple-robe” rank) characteristic of the late-Yuán southern Quánzhēn establishment.
No CBDB entry; lifedates not securely attested. His productive peak 1324; by extension, birth c. 1270–1280 and death probably post-1324, within the Tàidìng 泰定 reign (1324–1328) or slightly after.