High Priestess of the Tao
Shawn Cartwright and Yinong Chong, July 2008
Li was a beautiful young girl who fled to the sanctuary of Wudang Mountain in order to escape an arranged marriage. Only 8 or 9 years old at the time, she took readily to the training and soon became a Taoist priestess at the age of 10. Li eventually went on to become High Priestess of the Wudang Longmen School and the 24th generation inheritor of its internal alchemy tradition. Grandmaster Li devoted her entire life to preserving, developing and promoting Taoist wisdom, healing arts and internal practice.
Grandmaster Li’s commitment to the Taoist path was so strong that she refused to leave the mountain when the Red Guards closed the temples during the Cultural Revolution. They dragged her for miles away from the temple, yet she crawled back every time. Although the experience severely injured her back, she continued her cultivation and healing work throughout her life. Even in the last few years of time with us, she still did healing on 200-300 people per day. National Geographic’s Special on Wudang Mountain has featured her in the documentary, including how her hair turned black from gray in her later years.
She was born in 1872 and passed away in 2002. During her 130 years with us, she was well known by her Daoist name Cheng Yu – Pure Jade. Those who have known her regard her as a living manifestation of determination and compassion.
TCCII directors Dr. Yinong Chong and Mr. Shawn Cartwright are both 26th generation indoor disciples of the Wudang Longmen School, trained in Grandmaster Li’s lineage by Master Chen, the 25th generation inheritor of Wudang’s alchemy, Qigong, and Tai Chi systems.
Follow this link for a National Geographic special that features Grandmaster Li.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=faVE_ebNsg8
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_6ksfSY0oxw&feature=related
These are parts 3 and 4 of a 5-part video. Grandmaster Li is featured toward the end of part 3, beginning of part 4 and also in other parts of the video. (Note, the show mistakenly reports her age as 103 instead of 130)
