Luo Menghong was born in 1442 in the area of
Jimo, in
Shandong province. His religious titles were Luo Qing (Luo the Clear), Luo Jing (Luo the Quiet) and the Inactive Hermit (). He died at the age of eighty-five in 1527. The religious group he founded was called "Wuweiism", a name that has been continued by the purest branches of the movement in later history.
Early direct transmissions As long as Patriarch Luo was alive, his personality guaranteed the unity of the movement. While some of his disciples may have established separate communities, they didn't contest Luo's position as teacher and leader of Wuweiism. Then, when Luo died, apparently without having chosen a successor to the leadership, the Wuwei teaching started to split into different branches all claiming to continue Luo's tradition. Little more than half a century after the death of Luo, the activities of Luoist sects began to raise the suspicion of state officials. Just after 1584 several warnings were presented to the throne, against the influence of Luoism linking it to the earlier
White Lotus movement, a label which by that time had become a derogatory designation used by official historians to demonise religious groups considered
heretical by the established orthodoxy. At the end of the 16th century there were religious groups which influenced and in turn were influenced by the Luoists, Hongyangism ( "Red Sun") and the
Huangtiandao ("Way of the Yellow Sky"), both identifying as
Taoist branches. Documents produced by the
Buddhist establishment condemning Luoists testify the activity in the late 16th century of the branches known as Great Vehicles ( or ) and Timeless ( or ) Luoism. The sources show that at the end of the 16th century, Luoist sects had spread widely in northern China, and they were known by different names.
Luo family transmission Also the Luo family contributed to the transmission of Luo's teaching. Within the original movement, Luo's wife and two children, Fozheng and Foguang, occupied relevant positions. Successively, Luo's wife continued the teaching according to the original tradition. She founded a branch named Sudden Stillness ( or ) which by the late
Ming dynasty no longer claimed connection to Luo's wife. Fozheng continued the male line of the Luo family. His grandson Wenju is mentioned in the imprint of the 1615 edition of the , printed in
Nanjing. Luo Congshan, the fourth generation patriarch, lived at the beginning of the 17th century. A century later, official records testify that there were still male descendants of Luo active as sect leaders. The centre of the family was in
Miyun, where the tomb of Luo Menghong still existed. It was destroyed on official order in 1768.
Grand Canal transmission In the early 18th century Luoist sects spread along the
Grand Canal from
Hebei to
Zhejiang and
Fujian; boatmen belonging to Luoist sects recognised the eighth generation descendant Luo Mingzhong as the head of the religion. Records of the late 18th century testify the contribution of three persons surnamed Qiang, Wen and Pan, to the diffusion of the religion in southeast China. They founded three different lines, which congregation halls () also functioned as social relief institutions. After the ninth patriarch the line of hereditary leadership came to an end. An investigation of 1816 testifies that the male descendants of Luo no longer practiced the religion of the forefather.
Yin Ji'nan and Yaoism Meanwhile, in the 16th century Yin Ji'nan (1527-1582) from Zhejiang originated an independent line that successfully spread throughout their native province, Fujian,
Jiangxi and surrounding southern provinces. He became the leader of a Luoist group and reformed it into the
Venerable Officials' teaching of fasting (), which in later centuries gave rise to the
Xiantiandao. Yin Ji'nan organised his movement into a hierarchy and integrated the belief of
Maitreyanism, the and the
Three Suns eschatology within the original Luoist doctrines through the influence of a Hunyuan sect. Years after Yin's death, Yao Wenyu (1578-1646) rose as the leader of the religion with strong opposition from other influential members, although he greatly expanded the sect's empire. By the time of Yao's successors in the late 17th century the sect was known as the Numinous Mountain (; school name ) Yaoism later gave rise to the Dragon Flower ( or ) sect and other branches. Wu Zixiang's branch, the Great Vehicle (Dacheng) or Third Vehicle ( or ) introduced his scripture entitled the "Book of the Great Precepts of the Great Vehicle" ().
Zhenkongdao and other branches Another important indirect branching is that started by Sun Zhenkong, claiming to be the fourth patriarch after Qin Dongshan and Master Zhao, a disciple of Luo who founded and independent group called . Patriarch Sun incorporated the theology of Maitreya and Wusheng Laomu just half a century after the death of Luo and called his group the . The Namodao later developed into different currents. A disciple of Yi Ji'nan's school, Pushen, formulated a
Chan interpretation of Luo's writings that excluded the Maitreya
eschatology. (; also ) founded in Anhui in the 1860s, is another Luoist branch promoting sitting meditation, healing, and scriptures recitation. The group expanded to Fujian in the late 19th century, and from there throughout southern China and
Southeast Asian
Chinese ethnic groups. It is possibly a continuation of Patriarch Sun's branch. ==Luo Menghong's life and mysticism==