Page 148 - Ming_China_Courts_and_Contacts_1400_1450 Craig lunas

Plate 15.5a–b Frontispiece to the Scripture of the Jade Emperor (left and right), dated 1424. Accordion-bound woodblock printed book.
Collection of Lee Hsien-kuang

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九天應元雷聲普化天尊玉樞寶經集註; hereafter Collected (register). Lu is a list of spirits given to Daoists for them to
Glosses) in the British Library. The Collected Glosses was summon and deploy during rituals. Poul Andersen has
compiled in 1333 as an annotated edition of the Precious Book convincingly shown that the lu in the Collected Glosses is
of the Jade Pivot (Yushu baojing 玉樞寶經), the core scripture of composed of two large categories of gods, namely masters
the supreme Daoist god of thunder completed around the and guardians (Pls 15.7–8), where the latter are
12th century. The British Library edition was printed from subordinate to the former. Designated as the Patriarch of
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woodblocks made in the 15th century. This edition was Myriad Methods (Wanfa jiaozhu 萬法教主), Zhenwu heads
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widely circulated and reproduced in prints and manuscripts, the procession (see Pl. 15.7). He is identified here as the chief
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in both China and Korea. It contains the images of 45 of all masters and guardians from different thunder-ritual
Daoist deities that are not found in the edition collected in traditions. His superior position is crucial for giving him the
the Daoist Canon of the Zhengtong Reign (Zhengtong Daozang 正統 authority to subdue and mobilise thunder marshals if they
道藏, hereafter Ming Daoist Canon), and demonstrates how became unruly during the ritual process. According to the
Zhenwu was related to the thunder marshals. This series of Secret Methods of Divine Fire of Pure Tenuity (Qingwei shenlie bifa
portraits was a Daoist ritual document called lu 籙 清微神烈祕法), composed in the late 13th century, a Daoist

Plate 15.6 Guardian figures on the
last page of the Scripture of the Jade
Emperor, dated 1424. Accordion-
bound woodblock printed book.
Collection of Lee Hsien-kuang

138 | Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400–1450