By: Ethan Rogers
The New York Taoist Association was officially established in New York, USA, on October 15, 2025, with Ms. Wu Chengze serving as its inaugural President. The Association is dedicated to promoting the exchange of Taoist culture and the overseas dissemination of traditional Chinese culture, as well as facilitating cooperation in the field of intangible cultural heritage.
In May 2026, approximately six months after its establishment, President Wu Chengze led members of the Association, together with Vice President Taoist Master Liu Luocheng, on a cultural visit to the Linshui Palace Ancestral Temple in Gutian County, Fujian Province, China. The visit focused on cultural exchange and the study of traditional folk religious practices.
The Linshui Palace Ancestral Temple in Gutian is regarded as an important ancestral site of the Chen Jinggu folk belief system and one of the key origins of the Lüshan Taoist tradition. It holds significant influence within regional folk religious culture both in China and among overseas Chinese communities.
During the visit, the delegation participated in local cultural exchange activities and engaged in discussions with representatives of the ancestral temple and cultural inheritors on topics including the preservation of traditional culture and the transmission of intangible cultural heritage. The visit helped strengthen communication between overseas cultural organizations and traditional cultural institutions in China, while further promoting the understanding and dissemination of Chinese traditional culture abroad.
On May 5, 2026, the New York Taoist Association held an official appointment ceremony and conferred the title of Honorary President upon Taoist Master Huang Guanghui, a recognized national-level representative inheritor of intangible cultural heritage.
Huang Guanghui, male, Han ethnicity, born in 1966 in Gutian, Fujian Province, is a Taoist inheritor of the Lüshan tradition and a representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage project “Chen Jinggu Belief and Customs.” He currently serves as the Abbot of the Linshui Palace Ancestral Temple in Gutian.
He was officially recognized as a national-level representative inheritor of intangible cultural heritage in 2018. He has long been engaged in the preservation and transmission of the Chen Jinggu folk belief system and Lüshan Taoist ritual traditions.
As the abbot of Linshui Palace, he has continuously overseen traditional rituals such as the “receiving incense and fire” ceremonies, making the temple an important hub for folk belief and cultural exchange among overseas Chinese communities.
The appointment of Taoist Master Huang Guanghui will provide professional guidance and support for the New York Taoist Association in the preservation and development of traditional cultural practices, and help promote the standardized development of related cultural initiatives.
This cultural exchange visit and appointment ceremony further strengthened the institutional connection between the New York Taoist Association and traditional cultural institutions in China, laying a foundation for future cross-regional cultural exchange and cooperation.
