Whereas in the old days, a typical Daoist student in China would strive to be admitted to a single school and learn exclusively from a single Master. This was a difficult process with no certainty of success – as Daoist Masters (in pre-modern times) invariably focused their efforts of transmitting their lineage to only one dedicated disciple at a time – with quite often only one such student ever being taught in the Master’s lifetime. Daoism continued like this into the early 20th century until Zhao Bichen radically changed this with the permission of his two Ch’an Buddhist Masters.
Adrian