Zhenren in the context of Chinese language

In Christian belief, a saint, also known as a hallow, is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term saint depends on the context and denomination. Official ecclesiastical recognition, and veneration, is conferred on some denominational saints through the process of canonization in the Catholic Church or glorification in the Eastern Orthodox Church after their approval. The saints are honored in the liturgical calendars of Evangelical Lutheranism and Anglicanism. In other nonconformist denominations, such as the Plymouth Brethren, and following from Pauline usage, saint refers broadly to any holy Christian without special recognition or selection.

While the English word saint (deriving from the Latin sanctus) originated in Christianity, historians of religion tend to use the appellation "in a more general way to refer to the state of special holiness that many religions attribute to certain people", referring to the Hindu rishi, Sikh bhagat or guru, the Shintoist kami, the Taoist immortal or zhenren, the Jewish tzadik, the Islamic walī/fakir, and the Buddhist arhat or bodhisattva also as saints. Depending on the religion, saints are recognized either by official declaration, as in Roman Catholicism, Oriental Orthodoxy or Eastern Orthodoxy, or by popular acclamation (see folk saint).

A daoshi (Chinese: 道士; pinyin: Dàoshì; Wade–Giles: tao shih; lit. 'scholar of the Tao') or Taoshih, translated as Taoist priest, Taoist monk, or Taoist professional is a priest in Taoism. The courtesy title of a senior daoshi is daozhang (道長, meaning "Tao master"), and a highly accomplished and revered daoshi is often called a zhenren (真人; "perfected person").

Along with Han Chinese priests, there are also many practicing ethnic minority priests in China. Some orders are monastic (Quanzhen orders), while the majority are not (Zhengyi orders). Some of the monastic orders are hermitic, and their members practice seclusion and ascetic lifestyles in the mountains, with the aim of becoming xian, or immortal beings. Nonmonastic priests live among the populace and manage and serve their own temples or popular temples.

Zhang Daoling (張道陵, traditionally February 22, 34 – October 10, 156), birth name Zhang Ling (張陵), courtesy name Fuhan (輔漢), was a Chinese Taoist religious leader who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty. He founded the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice millenarian movement, and established a theocratic state. The Way of the Celestial Masters grew out of those beginnings, and so Zhang is considered the founder of religious Taoism by scholars and is venerated as such by followers of Zhengyi Dao.

His son Zhang Heng (張衡) and grandson Zhang Lu inherited leadership of the movement and state. Also known as Celestial Master Zhang (張天師), Ancestral Celestial Master (祖天師) or Zhengyi Zhenren (正一真人), Zhang is sometimes pictured riding on a tiger. In some Taoist sects, Zhang, along with Ge Xuan, Xu Xun (許遜) and Sa Shoujian (薩守堅), are called the "Four Celestial Masters" (四大天師).