Page 144 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

104 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM VOL. I

Monastic code

Monasticism appeared within Taoism around the fifth century. At that time
it was only one of several possible modes of religious life, and the choice of
celibate living (chujia tI \ '~), either individual or communal, was not of great
consequence to the all-important initiation into priesthood. In monastic codes
dating from the Tang, like the Qianzhen ke T ~f4 (Code of the Thousand Real
Men; CT 1410), prescriptions for celibate and married (zaijia it: *) practitioners
are given together. Communities (guan flY!.) housed celibate priests, married
priests, with their families, and married priests living temporarily in celibate
groups. This shows that at that time there was no monastic order within
Taoism. The first and only monastic order appeared with *Quanzhen, which
organized its adepts into purely monastic communities subject to common
discipline and rules.

Texts. All Quanzhen adepts are celibate and take the Ten Precepts for Cultivating
the Truth (xiuzhen shijie f~ ~ + M), regularly used as celibacy precepts (and in
other liturgical contexts) from the Tang period to this day. Quanzhen adepts,
however, must also obey the specific rules of their monastery of residence.
Unlike precepts, these rules are enforced by this-worldly powers, namely the
abbot (jangzhang 1f;i:) and, for major crimes, the secular state. The earliest
known monastic code that includes rules is the Quanzhen qinggui ~ ~ iri m
(Rules of Purity of Quanzhen; CT 1235), dating from the fourteenth century.
While no set of rules enforced in all Taoist monasteries seems to have existed
at anyone time, the Quanzhen qinggui and similar works likely were used as
models that strongly influenced subsequent compilations. Later sets of codes
include excerpts cited in the *Tianhuang zhidao Taiqing yuce (Jade Fascicles of
Great Clarity on the Ultimate Way of the Celestial Sovereign), dating from
the early fifteenth century, and the Qinggui xuanmiao if3J;f,! £:!!'y (Mysterious
Wonder of the Rules of Purity), compiled in the early nineteenth century by
the *Longmen master *Min Yide.
The Quanzhen qinggui consists of thirteen different short texts of differ-
ent origin. The first ones describe the ordination ceremony, the program of
practice for a novice, and how a novice should conduct himself. They are
followed by lyrical texts about Taoist life, which focus on communal practice
and especially the group meditation with the bowl (*zuobo). Then comes the
set of punishments, which were to be written on a board, or guibang ~l f)¥,
and hung in the assembly hall, the dining hall, or the travelling monks' recep-
tion room so that everyone would know the local rules. A few more general