192 Field Notes Taoist Tai Chi Society & Fung Loy Kok Temple ELIJAH SIEGLER Master Moy Lin‑Shin, a Cantonese immigrant, founded the Taoist Tai Chi Society (TTCS) in 1970 and the Fung Loy Kok Temple a decade later. They collectively make up the largest Daoist group in the Western hemi‑ sphere, yet it remains largely unknown to both scholars of Asian Relig‑ ion in America and to North American Daoist practitioners, perhaps be‑ cause it is based in Canada, a country that people in the United States often know little about. TTCS was founded in Toronto and maintains its headquarters there. There are centers in most Canadian cities and several in the United States, notably in Tallahassee, Florida and Boulder, Colorado. The Society has a growing presence in Europe and the Caribbean. Its founder and spiritual leader was born in Guangdong (Canton) in southern China in 1931. He moved to Hong Kong in 1948 to escape the revolution. There he trained at the Yuen Yuen Institute, established by Longmen monks from Canton. Moy immigrated to Canada in 1970, both to teach martial arts and as a Daoist missionary. He modified standard Yang style taiji quan and coined the term “Taoist taiji.” As Moy’s original students left Toronto, Taoist taiji quan clubs sprang up around Canada and later in the U.S. Moy’s teachings attracted a graduate student from Hong Kong, Eva Wong, who became the organi‑ zation’s in‑house intellectual until she broke with Moy in the 1990s. She Siegler, “Taoist Tai Chi Society” / 193 continues to write popular books about Daoism published by Shambhala Press. Today the TTCS has centers in “more than 25 countries around the world” and claims to have some 10,000 dues paying members world‑ wide.11 The Fung Loy Kok Temple, dedicated in 1981, is the religious branch of the organization. Temple spaces, which vary in size, are lo‑ cated upstairs or in adjoining rooms to the taiji quan studios. The Temple “observes the unified teachings of the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.”2These are represented by the central triad of the temple altar as the Jade Emperor, Guanyin (Goon Yam in Cantonese), and Lü Dongbin respectively. Today, after Master Moy retired from official leadership in 1995 and died in 1998. the Society is registered as a charitable organization, led by a board of directors. Religious activities occur regularly at the headquar‑ ters in Toronto. They are performed by lay members who seem to be di‑ vided equally into white Canadians and Cantonese immigrants (mainly elderly women). Chanting is performed in Cantonese, which is translit‑ erated phonetically for non‑Chinese members. The TTCS also owns and operates an international retreat center in Orangeville, an hour’s drive north of Toronto. In September 2007, the group opened a “Quiet Cultivation Centre” there, its architecture in‑ spired by traditional Daoist monasteries. The Centre is the largest Daoist building outside Asia.3 The TTCS raises awareness by emphasizing the health benefits of practicing taiji quan and the service aspect of belonging to the Society. It runs a facility for seniors and a soup kitchen. Beginning students of taiji quan may be given the opportunity to practice chanting and worship, but most of them do not engage in these activities regularly. Unlike other 1 International Taoist Tai Chi Society website: http://www.taoist.org/content/ standard. asp?name=AboutUs. Accessed 3/21/2008. 2 See their website:http://www.taoist.org/content/standard.asp?name=Fung LoyKok. Accessed 3/21/2008. 3 See “How The West Was Won Over,” by Stuart Laidlaw, The Toronto Star, August 4, 2007. Found on http://www.thestar.com/article/242972. Accessed 3/21/2008. 194 / Journal of Daoist Studies 1 (2008) Western Daoist‑inspired groups, moreover, the group does not empha‑ size philosophy, mysticism, or “spirituality.” Both organizations are a goldmine of research opportunities for scholars interested in Daoism in the West. For example, other than offi‑ cial biographies (usually hagiographic), little has been written about the life of Moy Lin‑Shin, who certainly is among the pioneers of Daoism in the West. Even less is known about Mui Ming‑do, the Daoist priest from the Yuen Yuen...