Taoist Ritual Tradition
of the Zhengyi School

Zhengyi and Quanzhen are the two mainstream schools in the Taoist system. The Taoist Ritual Tradition of the Zhengyi School in Hong Kong was in the same lineage as that of the Pearl River Delta during the Qing dynasty; and in Hong Kong, there are two ritual systems practised separately in the New Territories and in the urban areas. The Taoist Ritual Tradition of the Zhengyi school in the New Territories has mainly come from the Zhengyi of Dongguan and Xin'an region. Common rituals and almsgiving services include the jiao festivals, installation of altar figures, consecration of ancestral halls and temples, reopening of temples after renovation, and storing tallies. The Zhengyi in the urban area have inherited the rites and rituals of Zhengyi Taoist altars in the Guangzhou area. It can be categorised into two types, qingtan ("red" occasions) and huangtan ("white" occasions). The former is for celebratory functions, while the latter is for funerals and burials.

 

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