TAOIST LITERATURE

PART I: THROUGH THE T'ANG DYNASTY

Stephen Bokenkamp

A. Introduction

THE literature of the Taoist religion displays a diversity in all respects commen

surate with that of Chinese letters as a whole. Within the pages of the Taoist

texts preserved for us in both canonical and extra-canonical sources can be found

examples of narrative, verse, commentary, technical and descriptive writing, song, and

even, in the form of liturgical performance, proto-drama. These writings stem from a

succession of organized religious movements, originating with the Way of the Celestial

Master of Chang Tao-ling, who received a revelation from the deified Laotzu, traditionally

in A.D. 142. Originally intended for transmission within a limitedcircle of initiates,

these texts, through the missionary impetus of the religion and the mechanisms of dissemination made possible by imperial sponsorship, became widely known and exercised

a profound influence on Chinese society and literature.

The very diversity of Taoist writings and of the social entities which produced them has led to a still unresolved controversy regarding the exact definition of Taoism. Attempts to firmly place the origins of Taoism have been confused by the tendency of Taoist writers to trace their ancestry not only to the mythological figures of China's past, but also to the shadowy magi of the Han known from such historical works as the Shih-chi* and the Han-shu (see Pan Ku). Rather than enter into this controversy, the definition proposed by Michel Strickmann (1979), who suggests that the word "Taoist" be restricted to the Celestial Masters and their lineal descendants, will be adopted here. This decision is dictated by the material to be covered, for it is in relation to the Celestial Master movement that the earliest unique texts of Taoism are found&emdash;those texts that survive only in the Ming Tao-tsang* (Taoist Canon) and others, like those found at Tun-huang (see Tun-huang wen-hsueh), which at one time were part of the Taoist canon. Thus, only brief mention will be accorded the pre-Han philosophical works found in the canon (see also ching).

Taoist literature will be treated here under five headings: (1) Revelation and Ritual, (2) Hagiography, (3) Historical and Topographical Monographs, (4) Philosophical and Alchemical Treatises, and (5) Exegeses and Encyclopedic Compilations. These general categories, it should be noted, by no means exhaust the variety of literary genres to be found in Taoist writings. Further, despite the proliferation of Taoist studies in the last decades, the enormity of the task&emdash;almost fifteen hundred titles are collected in the Tao-tsang alone&emdash;is such that Taoist studies may be said to be yet in its infancy. The present survey encompasses only a portion of the identified pre-Sung Taoist texts, selected both for their importance within the Taoist religion and for their influence on Chinese literature as a whole.

B. Revelation and Ritual

Taoism has been, from the beginning, a revealed religion. The scriptures of Taoism were generally viewed as "translations" into profane language of the powerful divine writs which inhere in the cosmos and are revealed to an elect few to aid them and their followers in attaining to their rightful positions in the immutable celestial order. Given this view of the written word as a central creative force everywhere immanent in the natural order of things, the authors of revealed literature spoke with the voice of divine authority, expressing themselves in a diversity of styles.

The prototypal Taoist revelation was that of the Wu-ch'ien wen (Five Thousand [character] Classic). Better known as the Tao-te-ching (see ching), this text was granted Yin Hsi, guardian of the passes, by Lao-tzu, deified in Taoism as the Most High Lord Lao. The Hsiang-erh chuan (Hsiang-erh Commentary), a Celestial Master commentary to the Tao-te-ching attributed to the grandson of Chang Tao-ling, Chang Lu, provides insight into the use of this text in the early church as a mystic manual of physical and moral cultivation (Jao, 1956). This was the first scripture bestowed on the aspiring Taoist novitiate.

Documentation is scant for the formative years of Taoism, and the few texts which seem to date from this period have not yet fully yielded up their secrets to modern scholarship. Controversy remains concerning the exact nature of the relationships be tween one of the earliest surviving texts of Taoism, the lengthy T'ai-p'ing ching (The Scripture of Great Peace, TT 746-755, HY 1093), the Way of Great Peace of Chang Chueh(fl. 180) in Eastern China, and the Way of the Celestial Master of Chang Tao-ling which began in Szechwan. The Scripture of Great Peace may pre serve elements of two earlier Han-dynasty T'ai-p'ing books, one presented to the throne by Kan Chung-k'e (c. 32-7 B.C.) and another revealed to Kan Chi and spon sored before the Emperor Shun of the Han (r. A.D. 125-144) by Kung Ch'ung. It contains additions made as late as the sixth century A.D. The earliest sections of the extant Scripture of Great Peace are written in the form of a colloquy between a divine emissary, the Celestial Master, and his disciples, the Six Perfected . The pron ouncements of the Celestial Master range over a variety of topics pertaining to the religious community he addresses, from the establishment of the perfect state based on cosmological principles to morals and techniques for long life.

No text has yet been identified as that bestowed on Chang Tao-ling by the "newly appeared" Lao-tzu, although later revelations sometimes claim that distinction. Indeed, the early church may not have been based on revelatory scripture as such. Taoist historical references to Lao-tzu's epiphany speak of Chang Tao-ling's investiture as Celestial Master rather than the transmission of a text. Scriptures which have been identified as including materials dating from the early years of the Celestial Master movement do not claim divine transmission, stemming rather from priests who speak with authority on the conditions and practices of the church. Such works regularly contain as their focus lists of lu(protective deities) which were bestowed on com municants in the church. It has been argued that the earliest documents of the Celestial Master movement were no more than this, charts and their accompanying registers bearing the name of deities and the twenty-four parish centers(Schipper, 1975). An abundance of such material can be found in a group of texts possibly stemming from the lost Cheng-i fa-wen (Ch'en Kuo-fu, 1963). One likely text, the Cheng-i fa-wen t'ien-shih-chiao chieh-k'e ching (Text of the Law of Right Unity; Scrip ture of the Teachings, Precepts, and Ordinances of the Celestial Master, TT 563, HY 788) written c. 250, primarily concerns itself with the metaphysical underpinnings of the "true Way", its importance to the welfare of the state, and priorities in the maintenance of ecclesiastical order. For the instruction of the laity, the text includes such easily memorized formulas as a set of five precepts and a "Teaching of the Celestial Master in seven-syllable verse reminiscent of the Huang-t'ing ching (Scripture of the Yellow Court, see below).

Another class of writings important to the early church were the lu (statutes) invoked in the Taoist's dealings with the unseen world both privately, in the meditation chamber, and in collective ritual. The canon contains the Hsuan-tu lu-wen (Text of the Statutes of the Mystical Capital, TT 78, HY 188), a list of regulations governing the living Taoist's moral and ritual conduct and the Nu-ch'ing kuei-li (The Demon Statutes of Nu-ch'ing, TT 563, HY 789) containing a list of unruly spirits and demons which may be controlled through knowledge of their appearance and "true names." The titles of these works are mentioned in early texts, though the date of our received versions has not been established with certainty.

A version of the Celestial Master rite of sexual and spiritual union, known as the ho ch'i (union of breaths), in which the spirit registers of male and female devotees were joined, is found in the Huang-shu kuo-tu i (The Yellow Writings&emdash;Ritual for Crossing Over, TT 1009, HY 1284). The theoretical foundations of this sexual rite are based on the Lo shu (Lo [River] Writings), cosmological speculations on the supposed movement of the sun through a magic square made up of the numbers from one to nine arranged in columns of three so that the sum of each column or row is always fifteen, and similar computations involving the eight trigrams of the l-ching (see ching). Further amplifications of this system, which coordinates the movements of the sexual partners with the intricate mechanisms of the cosmos, can be found in another work, the Tung-chen huang-shu (Yellow Writings of Cavern Perfection, TT 1031, HY 1332).

During the third and early fourth centuries, scores of new scriptures were written dealing with alchemy, herbalism, and new forms of meditation. These came to be called collectively the T'ai-ch'ing Ching (T'ai-ch'ing Scriptures) after the Heaven of Grand Clarityl to which the practitioners of their methods aspired. Among these texts is the Huang-t'ing [wai-ching ] ching (Scripture [on the Outer Phosphors] of the Yellow Court; Schipper, 1975), a rhymed meditation on the palaces and powers of the body which, through an elaborate system of correspondences, are co-extensive with those of the heavens. Such meditations, employing terms such as ts'un-ssu (retentive contemplation) and shou (preservation), were meant to strengthen such correspond ences through the absorption of lunar, solar, and stellar essences, sometimes visualized in the guise of deities, to recharge and vitalize the adept. These texts often employ alchemical imagery to describe the refining of the spiritual elements in the crucible of the body. Through such practice, the meditant becomes one with the incorruptible, eternal forces of the cosmos. This form of meditation, inherited from Hanfang-shih,* came to dominate Taoist practice. The Ling-pao wu-fu hsu (Five Talismans of the Numinous Treasure with Preface, TT 183, HY 388), in addition to further clar ifying such practices, is augmented with lists of corporeal deities drawn from the Han wei shu (weft texts, apocrypha appended to the Classics [ching* ] ) and contains detailed instructions for the preparation of herbal potions, procedures for harvesting divine mushrooms, and a lengthy account of a visit to a cavern-heaven within a holy mountain. The most convenient guide to these scriptures and at least some of the practices associated with them is the Pao p'u-tzu (The Master Who Embraces Sim plicity, TT 868-873, HY 1177, 1179) of Ko Hung* (283-343). Enough of the texts mentioned by Ko have survived to show that this marked the beginnings of a revolution in Taoism, prefiguring the remarkable southern revelations which were to follow.

The first fully documented Taoist revelations occurred in the Eastern Chin capital of Chien-k'ang (modern Nanking) and the nearby prefectural town of Chu-jung during the years 364-370. These were the Shang-ch'ing Revelations, granted to Yang Hsi (330-c. 386) by a group of Perfected from the Heaven of Upper Clarity . The Perfected appeared to Yang in midnight visions, dictating to him full-scale scriptures, biographies of the Perfected, and supplementary instruction. Some of the more earthly forces inspiring Yang may be gauged in the fact that these revealed materials included re-workings of both the Huang-t'ing ching&emdash;the Huang-t'ing nei-ching ching (Scripture on the Inner Phosphors of the Yellow Court; Schipper, 1975)&emdash;and the early Buddhist Erh-shih-ssu chang-ching (Sutra of the Twenty-four Stanzas). Yang was directed to pass these materials on to his patrons, Hsu Mi g(303-373) and his son Hsu Hui(341-c.370). The texts of the Shang-ch'ing Revelations in the hands of Yang Hsi and the Hsus were later collected and annotated by T'ao Hung-ching (456-536). T'ao arranged the miscellaneous portions of the transcripts in his Chen -kao (Declarations of the Perfected, TT 637-640, HY 1010). This is our primary source for the Shang-ch'ing Scriptures, many of which survive elsewhere in the canon (see Strickmann, 1981; Robinet, 1981).

The materials bestowed on Yang concern themselves primarily with visionary med itation practice and forms of meditative alchemy, all imbued with a vision of the stars as the incorruptible gem-palaces and physical embodiments of the celestial hierarchy&emdash; the ultimate goals of man's spiritual quest. Thus, for example, the Pa-su chen-ching (The Perfect Scripture of the Eight Immaculates, TT 194, HY 426) makes known a method for visualizing the divinities of the five planets and absorbing their luminous effluents. Mastery of such practices was of considerable urgency, for, according to such scriptures as the Hou-sheng lieh-chi (Annals of the Latter-day Sage, TT 198, HY 142), the apocalypse was close at hand and only a favored few would survive to be received by the Savior Li Hung. For the adept's survival in the chaotic last days, Lord Li himself had sanctioned a talisman and apotropaic incantations for warding off the demon armies of the six heavens, northern abode of earth-bound dead. These are preserved in the Shen-hu yin-wen (The Concealed Text of the Spirit Tiger, TT 1031, HY 1323). The adept, however, need not live through the destruction of the old order. The Tzu-wen (The Purple Text, TT 120, HY 255) and other scriptures of the Shang-ch'ing corpus describe deadly elixirs, products of both operative alchemy and meditative practice, which could ensure the practitioner's immediate transferral to the heavenly realms.

One of the more enduring aspects of these texts was the vast quantity of inspired verse which the Perfected dictated to Yang. Poetry had from the beginning occupied an important place in Taoist texts and ritual. Hymns, rhymed incantation, and esoteric verse are all to be found among the scriptures predating the Shang-ch'ing Revelations. Now, in the Shang-ch'ing Scriptures, verse was shown to be the chosen method of communication with and among the higher powers, and poetic excellence was a sure sign of divine inspiration. Elements, both thematic and stylistic, of Yang's poetry can be traced in generations of secular poets (Schafer, 1980).

Some thirty years after the last of Yang Hsi's visions, a new canon of revealed matter appeared in Chujung. This was the work of Ko Ch'ao-fu (fl. 400), a nephew of Ko Hung. Ko did not personally claim to be the beneficiary of a revelation, holding instead that the texts he revealed to a select group of disciples were the result of revelations granted his third-century ancestor Ko Hsuan. Drawing together ma terials from the Shang-ch'ing Scriptures, from texts of the T'ai-ch'ing tradition, and elements of certain Buddhist scriptures circulating in south China, Ko Ch'ao-fu con structed a compelling body of texts which even reproduced samples of the celestial script in which the scriptures had been written across the heavens at creation. In ad dition, the Ling-pao ching (Numinous Treasure Scriptures), as they were known, introduced a new Taoist cosmology, extensive communal liturgies for the salvation of the living and the dead, and a series of precepts and observances for the laity.

In the Ling-pao Scriptures the three classes of works revealed in the south&emdash;the T'ai-ch'ing, Shang-ch'ing, and Ling-pao scriptures&emdash;were classified as the Three Caverns_~. This tripartite division was to become the basic organi~ing principle of the first, and all subsequent, Taoist canons (see Tao-tsang ). This is not to say that the canon was closed; revelations continued and new scriptures were constantly being writ ten. In northern China, for instance, K'ou Ch'ien-chih (d. 448) became the recip ient of revelations from the Most High Lord Lao and his "great-great grandson" Li P'u-wen. K'ou appropriated the title Celestial Master and was so known at the court of the T'o-pa Wei, which briefly adopted Taoism as its official religion. K'ou's single surviving scripture is a reformational diatribe against the excesses of the Way of the Celestial Master&emdash;sexual rites, rice-levies for priests, and millenarianism.

Meanwhile, in southern China, apocalyptic concerns continued to be expressed in revelations dealing with salvation and survival in the final days, including such works as the early fifth-century Tung-yuan shen-chou ching (Scripture of Spirit-spells of the Cavernous Abyss, TT 170-173, HY 335). The first portion of this scripture (chuan l; the remaining chapters were written at least by the end of the T'ang) gives an account of plague, drought, and flood demons, and their control through incan tation. Subsequent revelations tended to associate themselves with one or more of the three traditions sanctioned in the Three Caverns of the canon. Texts listed as unrev ealed in the primary scriptures were duly revealed and new scriptures made known.

The sixth through the mid-seventh centuries saw the creation of a series of lengthy scriptures modeled closely on Buddhist sutras. These scriptures may be viewed as part of an overall Taoist strategy to annex Buddhism as but a foreign branch of China's indigenous faith. There are such oddities as the sage Hai-k'ung chih-tsang whose name renders into perfect Sanskrit&emdash;an epithet of the Buddha&emdash;and who sits beneath a tree in a strange land answering the questions of seekers of religious truths (TT 20 22, HY 9). The majority of these scriptures, such as the Pen-hsiang ching (Scripture of the Original Images, TT 764-765, HY 1123), and the Pen-chi ching (Scripture of the Original Junctures, TT 758, HY 1103), now survive only in fragmentary form in the canon. Fortunately, copies of these works also survive in manuscripts from Tun huang. Such texts, with their long discussions of "Tao-nature"(cf. Buddha-nature), karmic retribution, and other Buddhist ideological constructs, were at the center of Buddho-Taoist polemics. At some point, most likely in the latter half of the seventh century, they seem to have been systematically purged of Buddhist elements or dropped from the canon.

The initial burst of Taoist revelation, spanning over four hundred years, came to an end at about the same time&emdash;coinciding with Taoism's increasing prestige as the predominant faith of the ruling house during the T'ang. The T'ang may be called the great age of Taoist scholasticism, a tendency fostered by the court through the estab lishment of official exams on Taoist scriptures. Prolonged official sponsorship meant tighter controls on Scriptural production. It was not until after the T'ang that Taoism was again to enjoy an efflorescence of revelatory exuberance such as it had known during this formative period.

C. Hagiography

Taoist hagiography extends from what might more properly be called theogony down to simple factual stories of holy men. It is an integral part of a long tradition of narratives recounting the lives of sages, recluses, and transcendents. This tradition was by no means static. Augmented by both a continuing oral tradition and the imaginations of the "inspired," these tales were repeated and elaborated from text to text. The most fecund source of such elaborations was the Taoist tendency to invoke the authority of various sages of antiquity, often providing further information regarding their secret practices and other worldly careers to vouchsafe the authenticity of revealed scripture. Thus, Wang Tzu-ch'iao , who first appears as a hsien (transcendent) in the Han portions of the Ch'u-tz'u and is provided with a biography in the Lieh-hsien chuan ,* appeared in his exalted status to Yang Hsi as the Youth of Mount T'ung-po "capped in a lotus crown and dressed in vermilion garb with white pearls sewn into the hems." The more recent information concerning Wang's posthumous status and activities was supplemented in later scriptures and finally collected in an expanded work which must once have graced a temple wall together with the illustrations of its author, the Taoist priest and painter Ssu-ma Ch'eng-chen* (647-735).

The best-known hagiographies dealing with Taoist figures are those which were always more or less in the public domain; works such as the Lieh-hsien chuan, Shen-hsien chuan,* Sou-shen chi,* and the Sou-shen hou-chi (see Sou-shen chi ). These collections do not treat exclusively of Taoist figures, drawing their material from local and Buddhist traditions as well, but they make use of Taoist sources and were in turn often quoted in Taoist works. Frequently studied, they are often mistakenly seen as the only sources for glossing literary references to Taoist figures. The case of Wang Tzu-ch'iao, outlined above, suggests at once that this is not the case. Further, it is in Taoist scriptures that there is a greater richness of narrative detail and closer portrayal of particulars of aspect and costume, for intimate knowledge of a celestial being betokened scriptural authenticity and a close familiarity with physical appearance allowed the adept to recognize the figures of his visions. The influence that the prose stylizations resulting from these concerns wrought on subsequent poetry, the fictional ch'uan-ch'i,* and painting remains to be fully assessed.

The paramount figure of Taoist hagiography is Lao-tzu. Numerous hagiographical notices of this deity can be found in the texts of all lineages, and many separate scriptures are attributed to him. Three works stand out. The earliest of these, the late second century Lao-tzu pien-hua ching (Scripture of the Transformations of Lao-tzu), surviving only in a Tun-huang manuscript, presents Lao-tzu as a personified supreme principle who manifested himself under diflering names to the sage-kings of antiquity, culminating in five appearances between A.D. 132 and 155 in the Ch'eng-tu area (Of uchi, 1978). This text was produced by a messianic movement that operated in the same area and contemporaneously with the early Way of the Celestial Masters, but was apparently unrelated. The Lao-tzu hua-hu ching (Scripture of Lao-tzu's Con version of the Western Barbarians), written by Wang Fou in the late third or early fourth century, related the already circulating tale of Lao-tzu's appearance to the bar barians as the Buddha to expound the tenets of Taoism in a fashion they could un derstand. This highly controversial text underwent a number of recensions, including Buddhist versions, and was repeatedly invoked in Buddho-Taoist polemic over such matters as imperial patronage, the authenticity of Taoist versions of Buddhist scripture, etc. The fragments of this text surviving in Tun-huang manuscript seem to stem from the T'ang ten-chuan recension and include such later additions as Lao-tzu's transfor mation into Mani (216-274), the eponymous Persian founder of the Manichaean religion which reached China early in the eighth century. The Lao-chun pien-hua wu-chi ching (Scripture of the Illimitable Transformations of Lord Lao [-tzu], TT 875, HY 1186) was composed during the Liu-Sung dynasty. This scripture portrays Lao-tzu not as a revolutionary messiah but as a legitimizer of kings whose appearance was to inaugurate an era of Grand Peace for the Sung restoration of Han rule. Lao-tzu was to manifest himself once again in this guise, more successfully, at the founding of the T'ang.

In addition to information on the careers of a variety of transcendents and magi, now found scattered in the Chen-kao (TT 637-640, HY 1010) along with T'ao Hung ching's copious annotations, Yang Hsi received from the Perfected six complete bio graphies of more exalted personages. Unfortunately, the only biographies from Yang's hand to survive intact are the P'ei-chun chuan (Tradition of Lord P'ei&emdash;found in the Yun-ch'i ch'i-chien* (TT 677-702, HY 1026, ch. 105) and the Hou-sheng lieh-chi. A rewritten T'ang version of another, the Wei fu -jen chuan (Tradition of Lady Wei) is collected in the T'ai-p'ing kuang-chi.* Stylistically, these works are simply scriptures in which biographical information figures somewhat more prominently than technical matters. The didactic intent of these works can be seen in their emphasis on the texts and practices favored by their subjects, and the appended oral instructions meant to aid the recipient of the text. Later works in this style include the Tzu-yang chen jen nei chuan (Inner Traditions of the Perfected of Tzu-yang, TT 152, HY 303), a fuller account dating from the late fourth century of one of the Perfected present in the Yang Hsi revelations, and the Han Wu-ti nei chuan.* T'ang contributions to the genre include Tu Kuang-t'ing's* Yung-ch'eng chi-hsien lu (Records of the As sembled Transcendents of Yung-ch'eng, TT 560-561, HY 782), a collective biography of the female divinities of Taoism beginning with yet another transformation of Lao tzu&emdash;as his own mother, the Primal Sovereign Mother of the Sage &emdash;as well as the Queen Mother of the West and the Perfected of her retinue. This work, like Ssu ma Ch'eng-chen's biography of Wang Tzu-ch'iao, draws on earlier scriptural materials and is primarily concerned with the iconology and attributes of the divinities themselves rather than the practices they sponsored.

Hagiographical sections of the Ling-pao Scriptures are of a different sort, being more heavily influenced by the Buddhist avadana literature which was widely translated in the third and fourth centuries. Ko Ch'ao-fu's account of the previous lives of Ko Hsuan found in the Ling-pao pen-hsing yinyuan ching (Numinous Treasure Scripture of the Original Activities and Causalities [of the Transcendents], TT 758, HY 1107) is particularly interesting in that it contains perhaps the earliest popular reference to the Buddhist belief in rebirth as an animal. Such accounts of a sage or deity's repeated appearances in history can be traced back to tales of the Five Emperors in the Han weft texts and accounts of the deified Lao-tzu's transformations.

The frequent appearance of new scriptures claiming a lineal descent extending to this or that sage or deity and substantiated by new and sometimes contradictory accounts of his life seems to have led to the rapid obsolescence of Taoist hagiographical works. Only one of the collective biographies written through the T'ang period has come down to us intact. Collective biographies, which can be reconstructed in part from later collections, were of basically two types. The first dealt with a single master-discipline lineage, such as the Lou-kuan hsien-shih pen-ch'i nei-chuan (Inner Tradi tions of the Origins and Activities of the Former Masters of the Storied Observatory&emdash; on Mount Chung-nan, near Ch'ang-an). The first chapter of this work was pur portedly revealed to Liang Ch'en in 305, the second added during the Northern Chou by Wei Chieh, and the third by Yin Wen-ts'ao (d. 688). The second type, exemplified by Ma Shu's (522-581) comprehensive Tao-hsiueh chuan (Traditions of Students of the Tao; citations collected in Ch'en,1963), was comprehensive in scope. The single surviving biographical collection, Tu Kuang-t'ing's Shen-hsien kan-yu chuan (Traditions of Meetings with the Divine Transcendents, TT 328, HY 592), falls into this category. Tu's work is a collection of tales concerning little-known figures, mostly of the T'ang period, who shared the distinction of having come into contact with transcendents, either through their Taoist practice or by virtue of their character. Here the Taoist hagiographical tradition merges with T'ang ch'uan-ch'i* literature and the Buddhist miracle tale. Some of Tu's tales are known from other sources, for many became the subject of subsequent literary productions.

D. Historical and Topographical Monographs

While quasi-historical accounts of Taoist lineages survive in many scriptures, only a handful of separate pre-Sung historical monographs have come down to us. Avowedly partisan in nature, these few works provide a needed corrective to the skewed view of Taoism presented in the official histories. The earliest monograph dealing with the religion as a whole was the San-t'ien nei chieh ching (Scripture of the Inner Explanations of the Three Heavens, TT 876, HY 1196), composed during the Liu-Sung dynasty by a Taoist surnamed Hsu. The first chapter of this work outlines the history of Taoism from the golden age of antiquity through its "re-establishment" by Chang Tao-ling down to the present dynasty which "abounds in men of the Tao." Hsu was primarily concerned with establishing the primacy of Taoism over Buddhism and his account provides little information concerning the development of the various lineages seen in the scriptural legacy. A more cautious and carefully documented treatment of the Shang-ch'ing tradition and the diffusion of the Yang Hsi revelations forms chuan 19 and 20 of T'ao Hung-ching's Chen-kao. Unfortunately, this sort of careful scholarship was not elsewhere emulated.

The most prolific recorder of the Taoist heritage was Tu Kuang-t'ing. Working at the end of the T'ang period, Tu was responsible for collecting vast quantities of Taoist scriptural and epigraphic material, most probably for collection in the library of the Former Shu kingdom, which he served late in his life. Only a few works from his voluminous writings will be mentioned here. The most patently historical of Tu's writings is the Li-tai ch'ung-tao chi (Record of the Veneration of the Tao Through the Ages, TT 329, HY 593~ which records chronologically Taoist epiphanies, portents, and the honors bestowed on the religion under various emperors through the ages. The greater part of these records relate to the T'ang, with special attention to the divine favors shown to Li Lung-chi (T'ang Hsuan-tsung), preeminent among the T'ang emperors who supported Taoism. Epigraphic records inform Tu's Tao-chiao ling yan chi (TT 325-326, HY 590), a collection of marvels, which prefigures the T'ai-p'ing kuang chi in its categorical organization (see Tu Kuang-t'ing ).

From the beginning Taoist texts have been concerned with the sacred geography of the Central Kingdom. As in popular religion and the state cult, the focus of this interest was the holy mountain, abode of saints and transcendents, and provider of numinous herbs and healing waters. For the Taoist, the rugged exterior of certain mountains masked a grander mystery&emdash;cavern-heavens within. Access to the five sacred marchmounts was provided through mere possession of the talismanic Wuyueh chen hsing t'u (Charts of the True Form of the Five Holy Mountains), another early text which knew many recensions. An interlocking system of thirty-six cavern-heavens and ten major ones was detailed in the materials bestowed on Yang-hsi (see the Chen kao). This system formed the basis of Tu Kuang-t'ing's spare listing of the cavern heavens and sacred places of China, the Tung-t'ien fu-ti yueh-tu ming-shan chi (Record of Cavern-heavens, Blessed Spots, Holy Mountains, Conduits and Mountains of Renown, TT 331, HY 599). Tu was not the only Taoist impelled by the destruction of the Huang Ch'ao rebellion and the disorders presaging the end of the T'ang into collecting information pertaining to Taoism. Li Ch'ung-chao, visiting the southern marchmount, Mount Heng, was dismayed at the loss of records fol lowing the disorders. In 902, Li composed his Nan-yueh hsiao-lu (TT 201, HY 453), a record of the temples, peaks, and cavern-heavens of the mountain drawn from epigraphic records and scripture.

E. Philosophical and Alchemical Treatises

Philosophical works collected in the Taoist canon include the traditional classics of Chinese thought as well as later, doctrinal works. Such early philosophical works as the Chuang-tzu and Lieh-tzu were admitted to the canon under Li Lung-chi, Emperor Hsuan-tsung of the T'ang, who instituted a separate civil-service examination on these texts, and himself wrote a commentary to the Lao-tzu (TT 677, HY 355). The preem inent importance of Taoist-inspired commentaries to many of these texts is indicative of the influence wrought by Taoist scholarship on Chinese intellectual currents, for, since the T'ang, many of these classics have been viewed as somehow inherently "Taoist." While these texts clearly did not emanate from a single pre-Han Taoist school, modern understanding of them has been largely conditioned by a very real school of Taoist scholarship.

The canon also includes such minor philosophical works as the Kuei-ku-tzu (TT 671, HY 1019) and the Kuanyin-tzu (TT 347, HY 667). The attribution of such texts to figures already celebrated in Taoist scripture leads one to suspect that Taoist scholars were not content with merely culling the existing classics for passages in support of the antiquity of their religion. For instance, the pastiche-text K'ang-sang-tzu (TT 348, HY 669), attributed to a disciple of Lao-tzu known from the Chuang-tzu, was "restored" by Wang Shih-yuan and, under his patronage, briefly granted canonical status in 742 under the exalted title Perfected Scripture oS the Penetrating Numina.

Equally informative on the philosophical underpinnings of the religion are the essays of individual Taoists. While there are bibliographic references to a number of such works, only a handful survive. Li Lung-chi's patronage of Taoism was particularly productive of such essays, several of which are known to have been formally presented to the throne. Wu Yun's (d. 778) Hsuan-kang lun (Treatise on the Mystic Main stay, TT 727, HY 1046), together with his letter of presentation and the emperor's grateful acknowledgment of receipt, is extant. Wu Yun is known primarily as an influ ential Taoist poet and close friend of Li Po,* but his collected works (TT 726-727, HY 1045) contain, in addition, other essays on the pursuit of the Tao.

Perhaps more influential by virtue of his high station were the treatises of Ssu-ma Ch'eng-chen, twelfth patriarch in the established lineage of Shang-ch'ing. Among his works preserved in the canon is the Shang-ch'ing han-hsiang chien-chien t'u (Diagrams of the Upper Clarity Swords and Mirrors Bearing Simulacra, TT 196, HY 431), is a text which accompanied his presentation of spiritually potent Taoist swords and mirrors to the throne. This detailed discussion is perhaps the best source on the iconography of such apotropaic treasures. Another of Ssu-ma's works, the Tso-wang lun (Treatise on Sitting in Forgetfulness, TT 104, HY 1030), is, in its discussion of Taoist transcendence, a close cognate to T'ang Ch'an treatises.

Although often employed as an encyclopedic work for its extensive citation of Taoist scripture, the early seventh-century Tao-chiao i-shu (The Pivot of Meaning of Taoism, TT 762-763, HY 1121) of Meng An-pai is in fact an expository work on Taoist doctrine and practice. Originally organized under thirty-seven terms (one and one-half of its ten chuan are now lost), it provides first the meaning of the heading and then a long analysis. This work is particular!y valuable in that it preserves quotations from earlier Taoist essays as well as scriptural citations.

While they are not strictly treatises, another sort of expository writing deserves mention here&emdash;written transcripts of a master's teachings. Foremost of such works is the Tao-men ching-fa (Initiatory Scriptures and Doctrine, TT 762, HY 1120), which purports to record Master P'an Shih-cheng's (585-682) instructional dia logue with Li Chih (Kao-tsung, r.649-683) in 679. Parts of this text are in dialogue; the remainder contains a list of brief explanations of Taoist concepts and terminology such as might have been offered to a Taoist novitiate&emdash;even one of imperial status.

Another element of traditional Chinese cosmological investigation which played a part in the formation of Taoism was the art of alchemy. As noted already, the recondite and allusive language of alchemy suffused Taoist ritual and meditation texts beginning at least with the T'ai-ch'ing scriptures.

The earliest known alchemical work, and by far the most influential, is the Chou i ts'an-t'ung-ch'i (TT 621-629, HY 996-1005), written in the mid-second century and attributed to Wei Po-yang . This text gives an explanation, in verse and prose, of the process by which the cyclically transformed elixir may be produced in stages derived from the hexagrams of the I ching . It is not, however, a laboratory manual. The arcane terminology used here to describe the accelerated cosmic merging of yin and yang has been exploited in countless Taoist meditational and ritual texts such as that explaining the Celestial Master rite of sexual union.

Ko Hung's Pao-p'u-tzu, a defense of the possibility of attaining transcendence di rected at Ko's contemporaries in the upper-class southern society of the Six Dynasties, contains two chuan on operative alchemy culled from early alchemical texts. These books were bestowed on Ko by his master Cheng Yin . While Ko himself states that he possessed insufficient funds to test the elixirs himself, the information he records preserves much that was subsequently lost in the esoteric lines of alchemical transmis sion.

Among the highest of the Shang-ch'ing elixirs was the elixir formula originally appended to the biography of Lord Mao revealed to Yang Hsi, now surviving in the canon as a separate work, the T'ai-chi chen jen chiu-chuan huan-tan yao-chueh (TT 586, HY 888). According to the T'ang Taoist Chia Sung's biography of T'ao Hung-ching (TT 151, HY 300), T'ao himself attempted to prepare this elixir for Liang Wu-ti between 504 and 506. Still, aside from Ko Hung's meager collection, the only pre-Sung landmark collection of alchemical recipes discovered to date is the Tan-chingyao-chiueh (TT 677-702, HY 1026, ch. 71) attributed to Sun Ssu mo (c. 650), author of the important medical text, the Pei-chi ch'ien-chin fang (TT 799, HY 1154).

F. Exegeses and Encyclopedic Compilations

Throughout the history of the Taoist religion, the auricular transmission of knowl edge from master to disciple has been stressed. Texts were bestowed on disciples in a formal ceremony, accompanied by secret oral instructions in the meaning and use of scripture. Scriptural revelations were conceived of as occurring in a similar manner, with the deity becoming in effect the master of his human disciple. Due to the impor tance accorded them, oral instructions were often recorded in writing and, somewhat paradoxically, became an important literary genre. The majority of early Taoist textual exegesis, then, is divinely inspired. Not surprisingly, even divine commentators seem to have owed a debt to the methodology of Han scholarship, employing, for instance, paronomastic glosses worthy of Hsu Shen. Like divinely inspired commentary, the work of Taoist scholars was generally intended for lineal transmission.

Perhaps the most meticulous commentator on the Taoist scriptural records of the pre-Sung period was T'ao Hung-ching, best known outside Taoist circles for his Shen nung pen-ts'ao ching chi-chu . T'ao's annotated collection of Yang-Hsu man uscript remains, the Chen-kao , has already been noted. In addition, T'ao copied a se lection of these manuscripts most suited to the instruction of the practicing Taoist together with oral instruction originally appended to the biographies of the Perfected into his Teng-chenyin-chueh (TT 193, HY 421). The commentary to this work, now surviving only in part, is even more detailed that that found in the Chen-koa . Detached portions of the Teng-chen yin-chueh still survive in the canon. The auricular instructions from the biographies of Lord Mao and Lord Wang are found together with T'ao's annotations in the Shang-ch'ing ming-t'ang yuan-chen ching-chueh (TT 194, HY 424), and his reconstruction of the Shang-ch'ing pantheon, edited by Lu-ch'iu Fang-yuan I~ (ninth century), may be found under the title Chen-ling wei-yeh t'u (TT 73, HY 167).

The T'ang Taoist dispensations were also productive of scriptural exegesis. In 822, it was decreed that Taoist ordinations would be granted by the state to those who showed proficiency in the Lao-tzu and either the Tujen ching (TT 1, HY 1, ch. 1) of the original Ling-pao corpus of Ko Ch'ao-fu or the Huang-t'ing ching of the Shang ch'ing corpus. Several T'ang commentaries on these central scriptures are extant. The Yuan-shih wu-liang tujen shang-p'in miao-ching ssu-chu (TT 38-39, HY 87), compiled in 1067 by Ch'en Ching-yuan preserves portions of the com mentaries of Yen Tung ( fl. 480) of the Northern Ch'i as well as those of Hsueh Yu hsi (fl. 750), Li Shao-wei, and Ch'eng Hsuan-ying (fl. 630) of the T'ang. These commentaries are based primarily on the oral instructions of the T'ien-chen huang jen found in another of the original Ling-pao scriptures, the Chu-t'ien nei-yin tzu jan yu-tzu (Inner Sounds of the Several Heavens in Self-generatedJade Graphs, TT 49, HY 97). The most influential commentary to the Huang-t'ing ching, both the inner and outer books, is that of Liang-ch'iu-tzu (Pai Lu-chung fl.722) which may be found in chuan 55-60 of the Hsiu-chen shih-shu (Ten Books for the Cultivation of Perfection, TT 122-131, HY 263). His commentary to the inner book also survives as a separate work (TT 190, HY 402). Part of an earlier commentary, attributed to Wu Ch'eng-tzu, is collected in the Sung Yu-ch'i ch'i-chien* (TT 677 702, HY 1026, ch. 11-12), although only that portion through stanzas three of the inner scripture commentary is the work of Wu Ch'eng-tzu; the remainder is by Liang Ch'iu-tzu. These works are particularly valuable in explicating the numberous T'ang literary references to these scriptures.

The most important Taoist scholarly works for the modern researcher are the encyclopedic collections contained in the canon. The first comprehensive Taoist en cyclopedia was the Wu-shang pi-yao (Secret Essentials of the Most High, TT 768-

779, HY 1130), begun under imperial auspices in 574. This massive work was com missioned by Emperor Wu of the Chou as part of the Confucian and Taoist ideological synthesis which 0was to underlie his proposed reunification of the empire. The encyclopedia, now lacking over 30 of its original 100 chuan, was organized under 288 categories and encompassed all aspects of Taoism, from ritual procedure and im plements to the palaces and heavens of the Perfected. The normative influence of such imperially sponsored collections of Taoist texts can best be seen in the fact that almost all of the scriptures cited in this text still exist as separate works in the canon (Lagerway, 1981).

A similar organizational principle was adopted by Wang Hsuan-ho, writing in the first half of the seventh century, in his San-tung chu-nang ( Jewelled Satchel of the Three Caverns, TT 780-782, HY 1131). This ten-chuan work seems to have been intended as a manual of Taoist practice, for its forty-three sections include abun dant scriptural citations on purgations and meditation as well as on heavens, hells, and celestial powers&emdash;the addressees of demonifuge spell and petition. Wang's Shang-ch'ing tao-lei shih-hsiang (Categorical Entries on Upper Clarity Taoism, TT 765, HY 1124) is even more specialized in subject matter. This work is a collection of scriptural references to both celestial and earthly observatories, pagodas, temples, and other religious structures. Particularly valuable are the portions of the work, drawn principally from the now lost Tao-hsueh chuan, on historical Taoist edifices.

Finally, the extensive resources available for the study of the Taoist liturgical tradition deserve mention. In addition to the ritual sections of the works cited above, evidence of the earliest codification of Taoist ritual texts by Lu Hsiu-ching (406 477) remains. Lu was responsible for collecting, in the earliest Taoist catalogue, the texts of the Ling-pao Revelations. In addition, he himself wrote scripts composed pri marily of quotations and formulae drawn from the Ling-pao Scriptures, for several liturgies. The surviving copy of Lu's Huang-lu chai (Purgation of the Yellow Reg ister), a rite for the salvation of the souls of the dead, is now collected in Wu-shang huang-lu-chai li-ch'eng i (Rites for the Accomplishment of the Most High Purgation of the Yellow Register, TT 278-290, HY 508) collected by Chiang Shu-yu (1156-1217). This work also contains remnants of the work of the T'ang ritual masters Chang Wan-fu and Li Ching-ch'i. Lu Hsiu-ching's Wu-kan wen (Text on the Five [Heaven] Resonators, TT 1004, HY 1268), a text perhaps prepared for imperial perusal, provides a brief description of two Shang-ch'ing and nine Ling pao purgations. Lu Hsiu-ching's works detail as well various aspects of ritual procedure and paraphernalia. His Tung-hsulan ling-pao chai-shuo kuang-chu chieh-fa teng-chou yuan-i (A Description of the Ling-pao Purgations: Rites Concerning Shining Candles, Precepts, Fines, Lamps, Incantations, and Vows, TT 293, HY 524) provides a description of the lamps and censers used in Ling-pao ritual and details the duties of various ritual celebrants, while his Chung-chien wen (TT 191, HY 410) contains the earliest and most detailed account of the memorial tablets used in sup plicatory rites and to seal celestial covenants. Another important work on the ac coutrements used in Taoist ritual is found among the ritual texts of Chang Wan-fu. This is theg San-tun fa-fu k'o-chieh wen (Text of Ordinances and Pre cepts Concerning the Garments of the Law of the Three Caverns, TT 563, HY 787), a text on the celestial origins of Taoist ritual garb, its symbolism, and the procedures associated with it. While Chang worked primarily in the Celestial Master tradition, his texts exemplify the T'ang codification of Taoist ritual which drew from all of the major pre-T'ang lineages.

Tu Kuang-t'ing stood in a unique position to sum up Taoist developments through the T'ang. Tu's two great ritual compendiums are a fifty-eight chuan collection of texts on the Purgation of the Yellow Register (TT 270-277, HY 507) and an eighty-seven chuan compilation of various rites to be conducted for the welfare of the state, including the Purgation of the Golden Register , a Ling-pao rite no longer found in separate form (TT 976-983, HY 1215). Numerous shorter works on Taoist rites attributed to Tu may also be found in the canon. Thanks to such scholarly e~orts as Tu's, as much primary source material on early Taoism exists in datable collections as outside them.

EDITIONS:

Cheng-t'ung tao-tsang . 1976. Shanghai,

1924; rpt. Taipei. (Individual works may be

located by reference to Weng Tu-chien

, Combined Indices to the Authors and Titles of Books in Two Collections of Taoist Literature, Peking, 1975, Harvard-Yenching Institute Sin

ological Index Series, No. 25, rpt. Taipei, 1966.) The extant Taoist patrology, com missioned during the Ming and printed in 1444 or 1447. Also included in the modern printed edition is the Wan-li period supple ment, originally printed in 1607.

Ofuchi, Ninji. 1978. Tonko dokyo

modurokuhen . Tokyo. An in

ventory of the Taoist works from Tun-huang,

including all textual variants.

&emdash;&emdash;&emdash;. 1980. Tonko dokyo Zorokuhen

. Tokyo. Facsimile reproductions of the

Taoist manuscripts from Tun-huang.

Tao-tsang chi-yao . 1971. Ch'eng-tu,

1096; rpt. Taipei. Of the 187 rare editions

collected in this work, 114 are not found in

the Cheng-t'ung tao-tsang. These are listed in

Weng's work above.

STUDIES:

Beck, B. J. Mansvelt. 1980. "The Date of the

Taiping jing, " TP, 66, 150- 182. Bokenkamp, Stephen R. 1983. "Sources of the

Ling-pao Scriptures," in Tantric and Taoist

Studies in Honour of R. A. Stein; Melanges chinois

et bouddhiques, Michel Strickmann, ed., Brus

sels, v. 2, pp. 435-487.

Ch'en, Kuo-fu. 1963. Tao-tsangyuan-liu

k'ao.. 2v. 2nd ed., Peking.

"Current Perspectives in the Study of Chinese

Religions," 1978. History of Religions, 17, 3-4.

Dokyo kenky . Etudes taoistes. 1968,1971.

Yoshioka Yoshitoyo and Michel Soymie, eds.

V. 3. Tokyo. V. 4. Tokyo.

Facets of Taoism. 1979. Holmes Welch and Anna

Seidel, eds. New Haven.

Fukui, Koiun.1957. Dokyo no kisoteki

kenkyu . Tokyo.

Fu, Ch'in-chia .1957. Chung-kuo tao-chiao

shih. Shanghai.

Huang, Yung-wu . 1980. "Tao-chia san

p'ien" , in Chung-kuo shih-hsueh, Ssu

hsiang p'ien . Taipei, pp. 163

201

Jao, Tsung-i . 1956. Lao-tzu hsiang-erh-chu chiao-chien. Hong Kong.

Kroll, Paul W. 1981. "Notes on Three Taoist

Figures of the T'ang Dynasty," Society for the

Study of Chinese Religions Bulletin, 9, 19-41.

Lagerway, John. 1981. Wu-shang pi-yao: Somme

taoiste du Vie siecles. Paris, 1981.

Maspero, Henri. 1971. Le Taoisme et les religions

chinoises. Rpt. Paris.

Ofuchi, Ninji. 1964. Dokyo shi no kenkyu

. Okayama.

Robinet, Isabelle. 1976. "Randonnees exta

tiques des Taoistes dans les astres," MS, 32,

159-273.

&emdash;&emdash;&emdash;.1981. "La revelation du shang-qing dans

l'histoire du taoisme." Unpublished Ph.D.

dissertation, University of Paris.

Schafer, Edward H. 1980. Mao Shan in T'ang

Times. Society for the Study of Chinese Re

ligions, Monograph No. 1.

&emdash;&emdash;&emdash;. 1977. Pacing the Void: T'ang Approaches

to the Stars. Berkeley.

Schipper, Kristofer. 1969. L'empereur Wou des

Han dans la legende taoiste. Paris, 1969.

&emdash;&emdash;&emdash;. 1975. Concordance du Houang-T'ing King.

Paris.

&emdash;&emdash;&emdash;. 1982. Le corps taoiste. Paris. Seidel, Anna. 1969. La divinisation de Lao-tseu

dans le taoisme des Han. Paris.

148