Abnormal psychology were thought to be possessed by evil spirits that had to be exercised through religious rituals. If exorcism failed, some authorities advocated steps such as confinement, beating, and other types of torture to make the body uninhabitable by witches, demons, and spirits. The belief that witches, demons, and spirits are responsible for the abnormal behavior continued into the 15th century. Swiss alchemist, astrologer, and physician Paracelsus (1493–1541), on the other hand, rejected the idea that abnormal behaviors were caused by witches, demons, and spirits and suggested that people's mind and behaviors were influenced by the movements of the moon and
Way of the Celestial Masters in the view of the Heavenly Masters. The Shangqing syncretized the Heavenly Masters with fangshi. Buddhism, Fangshi, and Heavenly Masters were synchronized in Lingbao. The 180 precepts of the Celestial Masters were rules on morality. Stocking up riches was banned by Daoism. A 173 AD Sichuan stele provides physical proof for the Celestial Masters existence at its oldest. China's southeastern area may have seen the spraed of Celestial Masters in the Six Dynasties. At the start of their existence a large amount of religious text canon was already written by the Celestial Masters. Celestial Masters used an 精室 "essential chamber"