Page 103 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

OV E RVI E W

scriptures were composed. Yuanshi tianzun remained the supreme deity until
the Song dynasty, when Zhenzong (r. 997- I022) made *Yuhuang, the Jade Sov-
ereign, supreme god by imperial decree, and Huizong (r. IIOO- II25) bestowed
upon him the title of Haotian Yuhuang shangdi ~ J( 3£ £ L * (Jade Sovereign
of the Vast Heaven, Highest Emperor). At the same time, divine or semidivine
beings originally related to Buddhism and Confucianism were accepted into
ranks of Taoist deities, a further demonstration of the ever-changing nature
of the Taoist pantheon.
YAMADA Toshiaki

W Chan A. K. L. I990; Ishii Masako I983a; Kubo Noritada I986; Lagerwey
I98Ib, 9I-I02; Little 2000b, 227-3II; Ma Shutian I996; Maspero I98I, 75- I96,
364-72, and 43I-4I; Robinet I997b, I8-I9, 67-70, and I58-62; Shahar and Weller
I996; Stevens I997; Stevens 2001; Verellen I994; Yamada Toshiaki I995a
* H ELL; OTHERWORLDLY BUREAUCRACY; TAOISM AND CHINESE MYTHOLOGY; for
other related entries see the Synoptic Table of Contents, sec. II.6 ("Deities")

Demons and spirits

Chinese demonology and related beliefs and practices became involved with
the Taoist religion in at least three ways. Taoism incorporated a number of
late Zhou and Han ideas and techniques concerning demons and spirits. The
demonization of deities of local, popular cults gave Taoists a way of distin-
guishing themselves from popular religion. Taoists' reincorporation of those
same demons / popular gods allowed Taoism to draw upon the energies of the
"shamanic substrate" or "popular complex" of Chinese religion.

Incorporation of early ideas and techniques. Ancient, pre-Taoist ideas about the
invisible world did not sharply divide its inhabitants into good and evil ones.
The natures of various guishen .!i.:fEll, "demons and sundry spirits," ranged from
the entirely malevolent to the potentially helpful. The early demonological
tradition was devoted to identifying such spirits, figuring out the likelihood
of their being harmful or helpful and, thus, whether one should seek to drive
them off or obtain their aid (Harper I985, 459- 60 and n. I).
The vitality of early demonography is attested in legends surrounding the
sage king Yu's ~ nine cauldrons, which, by depicting the "hundred [spirit]
creatures" (baiwu 810/1), allowed the people to know the forms of harmful
spirits; extant texts such as the Shanhai jing ill fflI: *~ (Scripture of Mountains
and Seas; see Kiang Chao-yuan I937); and the numerous lost books on identi-