New Religious Movement Timeline

Start of Yiguandao

1870

Began around the late 19th century and focuses on the worship of the Infinite Mother (Wujimu), also known as the Eternal Venerable Mother which is part of Chinese folklore.

19th Century origins continued #1

1883

The Shandong native Wang Jueyi who watched over other branches of Yiguandao. He was also the leader of the group Xiantiandao which was formed around the 17th century, one of the earliest known origins of the religon Yiguandao. He was in 1883 because the Qing suspected that the sect intended to organize a rebellion which then forced him into hiding until his death.

19th Century origins #2

1905

Liu Qingxu succeeded the leadership becoming the 16th patriarch. In 1905, borrowing a Confucius saying that "the way that I follow is the one that unifies all" (wudao yiyiguanzhi), he gave the religion the name Yiguandao ("Unity Way").

Zhang Tianran's leadership #1

1915

Zhang Tianran, whose non-religious name was Zhang Guangbi, was born in 1889 in Jining. In 1915, he was initiated into Yiguandao by Lu Zhongyi, the 17th patriarch of the sect.

19th Century origins #3

1919

Under Liu the Yiguandao remained small. Things changed after Lu Zhongyi became the 17th patriarch in 1919. Claiming to be the incarnation of Maitreya, Lu gathered thousands of members in Shandong.

19th Century origins #4

1925

When Lu died in 1925 one group of the followers he left was led by Zhang Tianran, the man who became the 18th patriarch in the upcoming years.

Zhang Tianran's leadership #2

1930

In 1930, Zhang Tianran became the 18th patriarch of Yiguandao. He then later took and married Sun Suzhen as his partner and said that their marriage was a message from the Eternal Mother, and that he was the incarnation of Jigong, a deified miracle monk that lived between the late 12th and the 13th century.

Zhang Tianran's leadership #3

1931

Following their marriage, few members welcomed the new claims; many challenged the validity of the revelation and left the group. For this reason, Zhang Tianran and his wife moved to Jinan in 1931. There, different religious groups were competing with each other, and Zhang Tianran began preaching Yiguandao himself.

Zhang Tianran's leadership #4

1934

Zhang Tianran recruited hundreds of followers, and Jinan became the main base of Yiguandao. From 1934 Yiguandao missionaries were sent to Tianjin and Qingdao. To facilitate the spread Zhang Tianran restructured Yiguandao, that since then had preserved the nine-levels structure (jiupin liantai) of Xiantiandao.

Fuji, shanshu and rituals #1 continued

1938

Yiguandao also spread and gathered financial support through the performance of "rituals of salvation of the ancestors". Rules and practices for the followers were also systematized. Zhang Tianran also gave much importance to aggressive missionary work, contrasting with the Chinese tradition of peaceful coexistence.In 1938 he held missionary workshops named "stove meetings" (lu hui) to train missionaries in Tianjin.

Fuji, shanshu and rituals #1

1938

With its centralized authority and highly degree of organization, Yiguandao had an extraordinary power of mobilization. Fuji was introduced into Yiguandao despite Wang Jueyi, the 15th patriarch of the lineage, discouraging it, Divinely inspired writing was later rejected by some branches of Yiguandao, as new scriptures produced new schisms, and gradually declined within the religion as a whole.

Zhang Tianran's leadership #5

1945

Between the late years of the Qing dynasty and 1945, China went through a period of crisis, civil unrest and foreign invasion. Then later in the republican China between 1912 and 1949 folk religious sects mushroomed and expanded rapidly.

Suppresion in China after 1949

1949

With the rise of the Chinese Communist Party in 1949, Yiguandao was suppressed, being viewed as the biggest reactionary huidaomen. In December 1950 The People's Daily published the editorial "Firmly Banning Yiguandao" in which the article claimed that Yiguandao members were traitors collaborating with the Japanese invaders, Kuomintang spies, and reactionary landlords.

Spread to Other Regions and returning back to the Mainland

1981

Yiguandao was officially outlawed in 1952 and driven underground. The Buddhist circles of Taiwan denounced it as heterodox "White Lotus" and called for its suppression, and succeeded in opposing the government when there was a proposal for lifting the ban in 1981. The effort to legalize Yiguandao came from Chou Lien-hua and Chu Hai-yuan of the Institute of Ethnology at Academia Sinica, who lobbied on its behalf.

Spread to other regions and return to the mainland

1990

Yiguandao spread its influence by entering business and industrial development. Many members became important businessmen, for instance Chang Yung-fa, the founder of the Evergreen Marine Corporation, was the chief initiator of a Yiguandao subdivision and in the 1990s almost all the managers of his corporation were Yiguandao members.

(Final)

2005

Through the years of the ban Yiguandao persisted as an underground phenomenon. In 1963 it was reported that the religion had about fifty thousand members, and grew rapidly through the 1970s and the 1980s, counting more than 324,000 members in 1984.

(Final #2)

2005

Five years later in 1989 Yiguandao had 443,000 members or 2.2% of Taiwan's population. Recognizing the social power of the religion, the Kuomintang officially gave Yiguandao legal status on 13 January 1987. As of 2005 Yiguandao has 810,000 members in Taiwan (3.5% of the population) and tens of thousands of worship halls. Its members operate many of Taiwan's vegetarian restaurants.
The Republic of China I-Kuan Tao Association was formed in 1988 bringing together the majority of lineages.