Mao Ying (145 BC – ?) was a native of Xianyang (now in Shaanxi Province) in the Western Han Dynasty. His courtesy name was Shu Shen. The “Maushan Zhi” and “Taizhen Zhenren Dongyue Shangqing Sisheng Zhenjun Zhuan” record that he practiced Taoism in Hengshan when he was young, and had a different way of doing things. Later, he hid in the Jiuqu Mountains (now known as the Maushan Mountains, in southwestern Jiangsu Province). He practiced breathing exercises and fasting, and used his medical skills to heal the world. Later, his younger brothers Mao Gu and Mao Zhong followed him in his practice, and they were known as the Great, Middle and Little Mao Jun. Later generations called the three Mao brothers the “Three Mao Juns.” Mao Ying was appointed as the Supreme Lord of the East and was revered as the founder of the Shangqing sect on Mount Mao. The Taoist Maoshan sect mainly studied the Shangqing Jing, and also studied the Sanhuang Wen and the Lingbao Jing. They used talismans and incantations to summon ghosts and gods, and taught their disciples to take fasting and detoxification and smelt and refine pills. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, it became popular in Nanshan and became one of the three major Taoist talisman sects.

茅盈 （前 145－？）西汉咸阳（今属陕西）人，字叔申。《茅山志》、《太元真人东岳上卿司命真君传》记其少时修道于恒山，有异操，后隐于句曲山（今称茅山，在江苏西南部）。修炼服气、辟谷术，并以医术救治世人。后其弟茅固、茅衷从其修道，时人称大、中、小茅君。后世称茅氏三兄弟为“三茅真君”。茅盈证位司命真君东岳上卿，并奉为茅山上清派祖师。道教茅山派主修《上清经》，兼修《三皇文》、《灵宝经》，以符箓咒劾召鬼神，以戒传授弟子，服食辟谷、冶炼丹术，隋唐时盛行南山，成为道教三大符箓派之一。