Sun Su Chen (孫素真) (16 October 1895 - 23 February 1975) was the 18th matriarch of

Yiguandao Yiguandao / I-Kuan Tao (),; ko, 일관도, Ilgwando; th, อนุตตรธรรม, . meaning the Consistent Way or Persistent Way, is a Chinese salvationist religious sect that emerged in the late 19th century, in Shandong, to become C ...

. She was the successor of

Zhang Tianran Zhang Tianran () (8 August 1889 – 29 September 1947) was the eighteenth patriarch as well as the founder of the I-Kuan Tao (Yiguandao) religious sect. He is usually referred to as the ''Father of I-Kuan Tao'', or as ''Shi Zun'' (), meaning th ...

, Yiguandao's contemporary founder. Sun was also known as ''Ming Shan'' (明善) or ''Hui Ming'' (慧明), her religious name. Sun was born in Shan County,

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

on the 28th day of the eighth lunar month in 1895. She was introduced to Yiguandao in 1908 and became the student of

Lu Zhongyi Lu Zhongyi (; 18 May 1849 – 26 February 1925) was the seventeenth patriarch of Yiguan Dao (I-Kuan Tao). His religious titles were ''Tung Li Zu'' and ''Jin Gong Zu Shi'' (金公祖師; Golden Elder). Lu is, according to Yiguan Dao doctrine, the ...

. All the incident which was believed to be Heaven's will and lifted her as the incarnation of the Yuehui "Moon Wisdom" Bodhisattva, the counterpart of

Ji Gong Ji Gong (, 22 December 1130 – 16 May 1209), born Li Xiuyuan and also known as "Chan Master Daoji" () was a Chan Buddhist monk who lived in the Southern Song. He purportedly possessed supernatural powers, which he used to help the poor and st ...

. Heaven's will regarded her to hold the seat of the 18th patriarch together with Zhang in 1930. After the death of Zhang in 1947, she took control of Yiguandao. Many of Zhang's followers followed her leadership. Only a small fraction stayed on with Madame Liu. When the communists took over China in 1949, Sun moved to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. She then went to

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

, Malaysia for a short period (1951–52) then returned to Hong Kong. In Hong Kong she was said to have left behind a large number of "heavenly mandates" (). To this day, there are a few elders in Hong Kong who are believed to be the keepers of these heavenly mandates. In 1954, she moved to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. Because Yiguandao was illegal in China under communism, she kept a low profile and was kept under seclusion. She was sick in the last years and under the care of a nun surnamed Zhou in

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Taiw ...

. Later she was under the care of Wang Hao De until her death. She died on the 23rd day of the second lunar month in 1975 (4 April 1975) one day before the death of

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

. She was buried in Daxi, Taoyuan. She was given the title ''Zhonghua Shengmu'' () (Holy Mother of the Chinese) by her followers.

References

* David Jordan & Daniel Overmyer. 1985. The Flying Phoenix: Aspects of Chinese Sectarianism in Taiwan. Princeton University Press. * Soo Khin Wah. 1997. A Study of the Yiguan Dao (Unity Sect) and its Development in Peninsular Malaysia. Ph.D. dissertation, University of British Columbia.

External links

History of Sun Su Zhen according to her followers

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sun, Suzhen 1895 births 1975 deaths I-Kuan Tao Patriarchs People from Heze Taiwanese people from Shandong Deified Taiwanese people