INNER DEITY HYGIENE SCHOOL A movement within religious Taoism (tao-chiao) which allocated deities (shen) to the various parts and organs of the human body. By means of right nourishment, appropriate invocations, and meditation practices these deities were induced to protect the body and grant the practitioner immortality. The inner deities are identical with the deities inhabiting the Taoist heavens. The basic philosophical tract of this movement, which flourished between the 2d and 6th century C.E., is the Huang-t’ing ching. The inner pantheon —like the outer— consists of 36,000 deities. The most important of these reside in the three vital centers of the body, i.e., the three cinnabar fields (tan-t’ien). They are the three ones (san-i) who are ruled by the Supreme One (Tai-i). A further important inner deity is Ssu-ming, the Ruler of Fate. The allocation of deities to the various organs of the body is not uniform and varies from one text to the next; in the course of time more and more deities were admitted to the pantheon. Each practitioner has a special relationship with one of these deities and is capable of establishing direct contact with it; the higher this deity is placed in the overall hierarchy of the shen the greater the benefit the practitioner can derive from his association with it. The followers of the Inner Deity Hygiene School consider the presence of these 36,000 deities within the body of a prerequisite for life: if the deities leave the body, the person in question dies. Taoist adepts employ various methods to prevent the deities from leaving the body. A practitioner may try to visualize the deities (­nei-kuan) and keep a specific diet: he will neither eat meat nor drink wine, because the deities are said to dislike the smell of both. In addition, he may abstain from eating grain (pi-ku), which is said to serve as nourishment for the three worms, the enemies of the deities (san-ch’ung). However, all these practices are of no avail if the practitioner leads an immoral life, in which case the deities will withhold their support. In this way good deeds and charitable works, such as the construction of roads and bridges, the establishment of orphanages, and similar projects became a very important aspect of religious practice. During the 6th century C.E. the Inner Deity Hygiene School was displaced by the School of the Magic Jewel (ling-pao p’ai, Ling-pao ching) and the consequent externalization of the inner deities.

Tao-Chiao Schools

Tao-chiao Chin., religious Taoism; one of the two streams of Taoism, the other being philosophical Taoism (tao-chia). The tao-chiao embraces all Taoist schools and movements whose aim consists in the attainment of immortality (ch’ang-sheng pu-ssu).

The most important of these are:

A) The Inner Deity Hygiene School;

B) Five-Pecks-of-Rice Taoism (wu-tou-mi tao);

C) The Way of Supreme Peace (t’ai-p’ing tao);

D) The School of the Magic Jewel (ling-pao p’ai);

E) The Way of Right Unity (cheng-i tao), and

F) The Way of the Realization of Truth (ch’üan-chen tao).

The methods employed to attain immortality range from meditation to alchemical practices, physical exercises, breathing exercises, and sexual practices.

Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.

Books on Tao-chiao

External links: Taoism / Tao-chia / Tao-chiao / ch’ang-shen pu-ssu / wu-toumi-tao / t’ai-p’ing tao / Ling-pao p’ai / cheng-i tao / Ch’üan-chen tao