After the Ming Dynasty was established, Taoism was divided into two major factions, Zhengyi and Quanzhen, following the old system of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and the official authorities issued different degrees. The Ming Dynasty royal family, in view of the influence of the descendants of Zhang Ling, who lived in Longhu Mountain, in Taoism, affirmed the status of the Zhengyi Taoist master in the Yuan Dynasty, but also abolished the title of “Tianshi” and changed it to Zhengyi Sijiao Zhenren. Among the Ming emperors, the one who particularly revered Taoism was the Ming emperor Shizong (Zhu Houzhen, reigned 1522–1566). He called himself the “Emperor of Longevity in the Realm of Xuan” and personally observed the vegetarian diet. Many Taoist priests were given the titles of “young guardian” and “minister of the Ministry of Rites” and participated in the administration of the state. The Ming Dynasty also set up the Daoist Department in the capital, the Daoist Department in each province, and the Daoist Department in each county, bringing Daoist affairs into the scope of the court's administrative management.

    The Zhengyi Daoist order had the highest political status among all the Daoist orders. As early as 1361, when Zhu Yuanzhang captured Nanchang, Zhang Zhengchang, the 42nd generation of the Zhengyi Daoist order, sent envoys to pay homage and secretly report the “fate of the Daoist order” to Zhu, thus establishing a relationship with the Zhu family. After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Zhengchang entered the court to congratulate the emperor in the first year of Hongwu (1368). The first emperor of the Ming Dynasty conferred on him the title of Zhengyi Siji Zhenren, gave him a silver seal, and ranked him second in the imperial court. In the fifth year of Hongwu, he was ordered to permanently manage the affairs of Taoism in the world. From then on, the Zhengyi Tianshi became the leader of all the Daoist sects, and his status was higher than that of the Zhengyi Tianshi of the Yuan Dynasty, who had led the Jiangnan Taoism. Zhang Zhengchang was famous for his skill in treating illnesses with talismans and died in 1377. After his son Zhang Yuchu succeeded him, he was also given the title of Great Daoist Immortal and was in charge of Taoism. Since then, all the Daoist immortals of the Ming Dynasty have been given the title of Great Daoist Immortal and have been in charge of Taoism. Zhang Yuchu was well-versed and wrote the Ten Rules of the Daoist Sect. The book incorporates the principles of the Quanzhen Daoist practice of cultivating both the body and the soul and the strict observance of the precepts and disciplines, and points out the 10 precepts that Daoist priests should follow, with the intention of promoting them to all sects of Taoism and rectifying Taoism. He also wrote a collection of poems and essays, “Xuanquan Ji,” which expounds on the principles and methods of Daoist thought and practice. Zhang Yuchu also once set up a sacrifice and built a temple by imperial decree to rebuild the Shangqing Palace on Longhushan.

     The Ming Emperor Tai Zu believed that Chan Buddhism and Quanzhen Taoism “cultivate one's character and nature for oneself alone” and are not conducive to moral education, so he valued Zhengyi and disparaged Quanzhen. As a result, the political status of Quanzhen Taoism declined in the Ming Dynasty, and the development of the sect was restricted, and its influence was far less than in the Jin and Yuan Dynasties.

     Since the Yuan Dynasty, the Qianzhen Sect has split into seven different branches, each of which was founded by one of the seven true men. The Longmen branch, founded by Qiu Chuji, was the most powerful. This branch was passed down to the Ming Dynasty, and the “Longmen Sect of Law” was established, which passed down the teachings in secret. The first generation of lawyers in this Sect was Zhao Daojian, a disciple of Qiu Chuji. Zhao passed down the teachings to Zhang Decun, who passed them down to Chen Tongwei, and Chen passed them down to Zhou Xuankong. Zhou Xuanku was the fourth generation of Longmen lawyers, and received the law from Hongwu Dingmao (1387). Zhou Xuanku later passed on to Zhang Jingding and Shen Jingyuan, and the Longmen Law Sect has since been divided into two branches: Zhang and Shen.

    During the reign of Emperor Ming Shizong, there was a fourth-generation disciple of Longmen, Sun Xuanqing (1517-1569), who received the teachings of Li Xiantao of Laoshan in Shandong, Tongyuanzi of Tiechashan, and Zhang the Immortal of Doupeng. In the 37th year of the Jiajing reign (1558), he went to the White Cloud Temple in the capital to practice meditation in a bowl, and his prayers for rain were answered. He was given the title “Ziyang Immortal.” Sun Xuanqing's disciples formed the “Jinshan Sect,” also known as the Laoshan Sect, which is a branch of the Longmen Sect.

    Other famous Daoist priests of the Ming Dynasty include Zhang Sanfeng, Shao Yuanjie, and Lu Xixing. The most famous of these was Zhang Sanfeng. His date of birth and death are unknown, but he practiced Taoism in Hubei Province at Wudang Mountain (also known as Taihe Mountain) before retiring to a hermitage there. The first two Ming emperors, Zhu Di and Zhu Di, sent envoys to search for him, but they failed to find him, so they built a temple on Wudang Mountain. Taoism thus has the Wudang Tao of the Southern Sect. According to the “General Book of the True Sect of All,” the Wudang Tao Sect has natural Sects and Sanfeng Sects that have spread in modern times. In the third year of the Tianyun reign of the Ming Emperor Yingzong (1459), Zhang Sanfeng was named “the true man who has revealed the subtle and manifested.”

   Shao Yuanjie (1459-1539), courtesy name Zhongkang, style name Xueya, was from Guixi (or Anren, now Yujiang) in Jiangxi. He lived in the Shangqing Palace on Longhu Mountain. He studied under Fan Wentai, Li Bofang, and Huang Taichu. He did not respond to the call of Zhu Chenhao, Prince Ning, and wandered around the rivers and lakes. In the third year of the Jiajing reign (1524), he was summoned to the capital and received by the emperor in the palace. Although Shao Yuanjie was a high-ranking official, he was cautious and rarely interfered in politics, devoting himself to prayer and worship. He is the author of the Taihe Collection of Works.

    Lu Xixing (1520-1606) was the founder of the Neidan Sect of the Ming Dynasty. His courtesy name was Changgeng and his pseudonym was Qianxuzi. He was from Xinghua in Yangzhou (now in Jiangsu Province). He was good at writing and was also skilled at painting and calligraphy. After failing the imperial examinations several times, he abandoned Confucianism and entered the Daoist order, living in seclusion in the mountains. He claimed to have received the true teachings of Lü Dongbin, wrote books and established theories to expound the principles of internal alchemy, and thus opened the Neidan Sect, which was revered by later Taoist priests as the ancestor of the Neidan Sect. He wrote eight volumes of “Fanghu Waishi,” including classic commentaries and 15 types of alchemy, and eight volumes of “Nanhua Fumo.” According to the research of some modern scholars, the original author of the famous supernatural novel “The Investiture of the Gods” was actually Lu Xixing.

    In the Ming Dynasty, it is also worth mentioning that in the fourth year of the Yongle reign (1406), the Ming Emperor ordered Zhang Yuchu, the 43rd generation of Tianshi, to compile the Daozang. In the ninth year of the Zhengtong reign (1444), the Yongle Emperor inherited the will of the Ming Emperor and ordered the Tungmiao Zhenren Shao Yizheng to supervise the compilation of the Daozang. The following year (1445), it was compiled into the Zhengtong Daozang, which consisted of 5305 volumes and 480 volumes. In the 35th year of the Wanli reign (1607), the 50th generation of Tianshi Zhang Guoxiang was ordered to continue the compilation of the Daozang, which consisted of 32 volumes and 180 juan, and was named the Wanli Xuzhuzang. Together with the Zhengtong Daozang, it has a total of 5485 juan and 512 volumes, which is the existing Ming edition of the Daozang. It has become the most complete and important collection of scriptures in the history of Taoism.