Lord of the three in one

by Kenneth Dean

Lin Zhao'en (1517-1598) set out to popularize Confucianism by combining Confucian studies with Daoist inner alchemical techniques and Buddhist Chan philosophy into something he called the Three in One Teachings. Despite periods of clandestine activity since its inception, the Three in One cult has undergone a remarkable revival in post-Mao China: Today Lin is worshipped throughout Southeast China and Southeast Asia as Lord of the Three in One in over a thousand temples by tens of thousands of cult initiates. Dean explores the organization and transmission of the Three in One's unique cultural vision, the reception of this vision, and the construction of subjectivity within a vibrant ritual tradition. Outlining such features as inner alchemical meditation, scripture and iconography, ritual practice, and spirit mediumism, he demonstrates the cult's transformative potential as well as its contemporaneity and dynamism.