Lu Zhongyi

Lu Zhongyi (; 18 May 1849 – 26 February 1925) was the seventeenth patriarch of Yiguandao. His religious titles were Tung Li Zu and Jin Gong Zu Shi (金公祖師; Golden Elder). Lu is, according to Yiguandao doctrine, the incarnation of Maitreya.

Early life He was born on May 18, 1853 (the 24th day of the 4th Lunar month) in 1853, in Jining, in China's Shandong province. He was said to be illiterate, his father died when he was young, left with his mother and sister Lu Zhongjie (路中節). He joined the army at age 22 and became an officer in the Manzhou Dongbei (Manchuria) government. Since then he became the 17th patriarch of Yiguandao. Yiguandao followers believe that he is the first leader of the "White Sun" Era, the last era of the Three Stages Final Kalpa, thus he is the incarnation of savior Maitreya or Hotei.

At first he tried to spread the teachings in patriarch Liu's hometown of Qingzhou, but it did not go well as many people did not believe in his preaching. In 1919, after patriarch Liu died, Lu Zhongyi brought his teaching to his hometown, Jining, and succeeded in recruiting many followers. He established an altar there and used the “three talents” (三才) for spirit writing ritual to spread the teachings on the lower class of the people, resulting in the great development in the countryside. Within a few years, Lu had attracted several hundred followers, based around a small core of twenty-five disciples, some of whom went to the neighboring provinces of Henan, Hebei, and Shanxi to spread the teachings. Lu has 8 main disciples namely Hao Baoshan (郝寶山), Chu Jingfu (褚敬福), Liang Zhaogong (梁兆功), Zhao Huaizhong (趙懷中), Chen Liyue (陳禮月), Zheng Zhenchang (鄭振昌), Nie Xijun (聶錫鈞) and Zhang Tianran (張天然).

Death Lu died on February 26 (the 2nd day of the 2nd lunar month) in 1925. On March 3rd of the following year, Patriarch Lu's borrowed the body of a person named Yang Chun-Ling to chant the “True Sutra of Maitreya Buddha Saving from Suffering” (彌勒救苦真經). Thus, Lu's younger sister Lu Zhongjie (also known as Lao Gu Nai Nai, Mistress of the Old Cave) who was believed to be the incarnation of bodhisattva Guanyin (known by Yiguandao followers as Nan Hai Gu Fo (南海古佛), Ancient Buddha of the Southern Sea), temporarily took over the leadership for twelve years, but later reduced to six years by heavenly instruction.

Zhang and Sun became the successors through spirit writing by the Heavenly Mother. However, the other seven major disciples of Lu refused his succession. In 1930, Zhang officially was bestowed the leadership as the 18th patriarch of Yiguandao in Jinan.