Way of the Five Pecks of Rice

Higher ranked people had more divine generals at their command, which could be used to fight demons that caused bad luck or disease.

Few texts written by the Hanzhong Celestial Masters survive, with the most important being the Xiang'er commentary to the Dao De Jing.

While the Hanzhong state lasted for only twenty-five years, their beliefs influenced all subsequent Daoist movements.

In 142 CE Zhang Daoling announced that Laozi had appeared to him and commanded him to rid the world of decadence and establish a new state consisting only of the 'chosen people.'

Zhang became the first Celestial Master, and began to spread his newly founded movement throughout the province of Sichuan.

[3] The Zhangs were able to convert many groups to their cause, such as the Bandun Man (belonging to the Ba people), which strengthened their movement.

After this point there are few historical sources until 255 CE, when a text indicates that the Celestial Master community was fragmenting as a result of the political turmoil within the Wei Kingdom[10][11] The collapse of the Kingdom of Wei in 260 CE, along with the fall of Northern China to the Huns in 317, further scattered adherents to the Celestial Master.

[13] The only significant Celestial Master text that survives from the Hanzhong period is the Xiang'er commentary to the Dao De Jing.

This text gives insight into the Celestial Masters' physiological beliefs, meditation practices and rituals.

In addition, the commentary reinterprets the Dao De Jing to have all of humanity as its intended audience, instead of only a sage.

[15] A later text written in 255 CE, known as the Commands and Admonitions for the Families of the Great Dao was composed to a divided Celestial Master community after the dispersal of the Hanzhong population.

Those that failed to harmonize their internal spirits prior to death would be reborn in the underground earth-prisons, where they would be subject to eternal torment and toil.

Repentance could be accomplished by spending time in a 'Chamber of Silence,' and reflecting on one's sins, or by beating one's breasts and kowtowing to heaven.

[26] Eating very little was also of extreme importance, and an ideal diet would consist of no food at all, but only of non-corporeal things such as air, which the person could absorb through meditation.

[29] The Celestial Masters frowned upon the practice of heqi ( 'The Union of the Breaths') or Huanjing bunao ("returning the semen/essence to replenish the brain"), and advocated non-ejaculation simply as a way to avoid losing qi.

Each of the 24 regions was administered by 24 officials, who had under their command 240 armies of spirits, composed of 2400 generals, 2400 officers and 240000 soldiers.

Neophytes were instructed by a catechism similar to that found in the Xiang'er that was likely a type of proto-meditation that later became widespread in movements such as the Shangqing School of Daoism.

These instructors handled religious and administrative duties, receiving taxes, and set up road-side inns for travellers.

The feasts also took place when a birth or death occurred, or in order to bring happiness and prevent evil.

The participants in such a feast were organized based on their religious standing, with merit and seniority being the determining factors.

No longer was Daoism a philosophical pastime for the literate and wealthy; it was now promoted to all classes of society, including the illiterate and the non-Chinese.

In addition, the Celestial Masters were the first Daoist group to form an organized priesthood that helped spread their beliefs.