Liang Xingyang practices Qigong at the Temple of the Golden Immortal in Shaanxi Province on July 3. Photo: Xu Ming/GT

It was raining the day I left for the Temple of the Golden Immortal located on the rocky cliff faces of the Zhongnan Mountains in Shaanxi Province. As the car slowly wound up the hillside, everything outside the window grew misty and unclear. The temple stood amid the clouds far up in the mountains, appearing like an heavenly world far above the land of mortals.

In this unearthly temple, however, lives the earthly Taoist priest Liang Xingyang. From opening online shops, maintaining a cute public image and staying active online to commenting on current affairs, Liang's active participation in secular life has broken many people's image of Taoist priests as a secluded group only interested in reciting thousand-year-old scriptures.

"What I do is in line with Taoism, which also includes attending to secular life and stresses keeping up with changes," Liang told the Global Times. "I don't think of myself as exotic. If I didn't use these convenient channels, people wouldn't have the chance to know us."

Exploring a new path

Liang has been quite busy recently with his new book, Kou Dao Xin, and meeting with visitors, mostly media people, after he rose to fame for his counterblast of Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel's feng shui comments and his criticism of Philippine President Aquino III's comments about China.

"Actually we've been busy exploring ways to let ordinary people get to know more about Taoism. If this fame leads more people to come and understand traditional culture better that will make things more convenient," explained Liang.

With nearly 130,000 followers on Sina Weibo, Liang is probably the most popular Taoist priest in China at the moment. He maintains a strong online presence by writing articles discussing current affairs, from issues concerning the South China Sea to environment protection and the rising popularity of traditional Han dress.

He also posts articles sharing knowledge about Taoism, answers questions about the religion and writes amusing posts in a humorous style that has won him the title of "Most Lovable Taoist." All this makes him one of the most active Taoist priests in secular affairs.

"How do you convert to Taoism?" "What do you study in the temple?" Most of the questions he gets asked are related to Taoism, but some netizens also want him to solve practical problems like "Should I admire classmates getting high grades?" "I'm a 40-year-old loser, what should I do?"

Liang explained that he does all this in order to get more people to learn about Taoism. "We should exploit the changes that life has brought. The Internet and the popularity of novels about 'immortals' have greatly enhanced the spread of Taoism. Though there have been misunderstandings, but what's important is that people are growing an interest. From this, they can gradually get to know the religion better," Liang said.

Liang has worked hard in this regard. Starting from 2010, he and the other Taoist priests at the temple have registered a Weibo account, opened online stores and printed Taoist scriptures. Some of these moves have aroused controversy, with some calling him a black sheep among Taoists.

"I'm not sure if the path I have chosen will prove to be right or wrong in the long run, but at present I feel it is the correct path, so I'll persist. If I eventually turn out to be wrong, it will at least serve as a warning for those that follow."

Repairing a bad name

Speaking of Taoist priests, the first thing that comes to most people's minds would be things like fortune-telling, feng shui and incantations. What's worse, some immediately think of charlatans that use Taoist rituals to swindle money from people. This reputation is one of the things that Liang is trying to repair.

He shared that whenever he wears his robes in public people while always approach him and ask for their fortune to be read. He explained that while Taoism does include things like fortune-telling these are not the core of the religion. "The core is philosophical Taoism, which is the essence of traditional Chinese culture."

 "I emphasize that people should not blindly believe in anything, including Taoism," he noted. However, he encountered a lot of pressure from other Taoists when he put forward this concept five years ago, as most temples normally take advantage of people's faith in the religion (or their superstitions) to earn their bread. "They called me crazy. Now they are gradually coming to accept it, realizing that they have ignored the essence of Taoism in the past."

Although he is a pioneer trying to rebuild the image of Taoism in the Chinese mainland, Liang actually became a Taoist priest quite by mistake. Majoring in chemistry at Yunnan University, Liang engaged in the jade trade along the border with Myanmar after graduation and lived a rather idyllic life. "My friends joked that I was more Taoist than real Taoist priests, living a simple life despite my money. 'Why don't you be a Taoist priest?' they joked."

In 2009 he went to Temple of the Golden Immortal with several friends to become laymen, which would mean he could still live life outside the temple. However, he accidently put on robes meant for a priest and was mistaken for another young man that was supposed to become a priest that day. "The next day I realized I had become a priest and it wasn't until the following year that my master realized I was the wrong guy," Liang laughed.

Everyone's problem

Liang has noted that many Chinese lack confidence in their own culture and nation, to include a lack of religious beliefs. He feels that this has led to a number of issues such as a prevalent lack of morality in society.

However, he feels these moral issues are not a problem of a single group but of everyone in society.

"In forming society, no one is innocent and everyone is an accessory," remarked Liang, adding that while many criticize privilege, they would be more than happy to use it themselves if they had the chance.

Liang explained that if people want justice in Chinese society it will be very important to call upon religion to help strike a balance between human nature and the rule of law.

"Human nature needs guidance from religion and belief. It will help people to think about the consequences of their actions."