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90 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM VOL. I
rite-to release spirits of dead kin (who have returned to afflict the living with
illness and other misfortunes) from sufferings in the underworld.
Peter NICKERSON
m Bokenkamp 1989; Bokenkamp 1990; Boltz J. M. 1983; de Bruyn 1999;
Campany 1990; Campany 2002, 47-60; Graham 1978; Harper 1994; Loewe 1982;
Nickerson 1996b; Robinet 1979b; Seidel I987a; Seidel 1987C; Seidel I987e; Yii
Ying-shih 1987
* shijie; BIRTH; OTHERWORLDLY BUREAUCRACY; REBIRTH; TRANSCENDENCE
AND IMMORTALITY
Rebirth
Rebirth is not an issue in early Taoist texts, where the end of human life is
seen as a transformation, either into an ancestor or into other forms of life.
It first appears under Buddhist influence in the fifth century, especially in
the *Lingbao school, in two forms: on this earth as another human being or
animal; and in heaven as an immortal.
The first case is closely linked with the doctrine of karma and retribution,
according to which one's moral behavior during this life determines one's fate
after death. As outlined in the Sui-dynasty *Yebao yinyuan jing (Scripture on
the Causes of Karmic Retribution), high moral stature and numerous good
deeds will typically lead to an advantageous rebirth, such as in a noble and
prosperous family. Crimes of various sorts, on the other hand, are punished by
appropriate levels of suffering, first in a set of eighteen hells, later by rebirth
in lowly forms-for example, as a worm living in excrement for "lasciviously
violating the holy person of a monk or nun," or as a monkey for stealing holy
vessels and the like.
The second form of rebirth involves the ritual petition for the transfer of
one's ancestors from the realm of the dead to that of eternal life. They are
officially transferred from *Fengdu to the Southern Palace (Nangong r{ci ',,,'n,
where they undergo a sort of inner-alchemical refinement. One way to achieve
this relocation is through the practice of visualization and ecstatic excursion,
during which the adept visits the dignitaries on high and formally petitions
for the transfer of both his own and his ancestors' registers.
The other way to achieve celestial rebirth is through rituals performed at the
time of burial as specified in the Mingzhen ke BA AH (Code of the Luminous
Perfected; CT I4II). To assure a rebirth in the celestial realm, the five tablets
of the "Perfect Text in Cinnabar Writing" (see under *Wupian zhenwen) are
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