Qiu Chuji

Qiu Chuji, styled Tongmi and styled Changchunzi (Master Changchun), was a native of Qixia County, Dengzhou Prefecture. He studied under Wang Chongyang and became one of the Seven Perfected Masters of Quanzhen Daoism. Both the Jin dynasty and the Southern Song dynasty successively sent envoys to invite him to serve at court, but he declined each time. When Genghis Khan dispatched envoys to summon him, however, he accepted without hesitation—despite being over seventy years old—and led a group of disciples on a ten-thousand-li journey westward to meet the Mongol ruler at his mountain encampment. There, Qiu expounded Daoist principles, emphasizing reverence for Heaven and compassion for the people as fundamental, and advocating mental purity and moderation of desire as essential. His counsel persuaded Genghis Khan to curtail military massacres, thereby sparing countless lives—an achievement later hailed as 'stopping slaughter with a single word.' Genghis Khan honoured him as a xianshen (transcendent immortal), appointed him head of all Daoist affairs throughout the empire, and installed him at the Changchun Palace in Yanjing (present-day Beijing), now known as Baiyunguan. His disciples established the Longmen Sect, which grew into the largest lineage within Quanzhen Daoism. The 19th day of the 1st lunar month—the Yanjiu Festival—is observed annually to commemorate his birth.