Page 145 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

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descriptions conclude this short collection. Later codes, especially the Qinggui
xuanmiao, contain more detailed entries on the Taoists' vestments and belong-
ings, and on the hierarchical organization of the monastery. Nevertheless,
these documents are far less detailed than the Buddhist codes-in particular,
the Baizhang qinggui SJt~j1jm (Rules of Purity of Master Baizhang; T. 2025)
family of texts that flourished from the Song onward and its rich legacy-and
cover fewer aspects of monastic life, especially in the ritual realm. There are
also fewer existing editions, and none that were issued with imperial approval;
this suggests that Taoism, even in its most official forms, gave less importance
to standardization of its practices than did Buddhism.
Rules of conduct. The most salient feature of Taoist monastic codes is the com-
plete independence granted to each monastery in determining its own rules.
On the other hand, descriptive texts enjoyed large circulation; the Qinggui
xuanmiao, for example, was edited on Mount Huagai (Huagai shan *JJf. L1J ,
Jiangxi) and found to be still in use in the early twentieth century by Heinrich
Hackmann on Mount Lao (*Laoshan, Shandong); it was also rewritten under
the title Xuanmen bidu ~ p~ !.l6\l3I1 (Required Reading for the School of Mys-
teries) and used on the Luofu Mountains (*Luofu shan, Guangdong) in the
same period. Such works gave travelling monks a formal common culture,
especially with regard to the procedure for taking up temporary residence
(guadan m 1{il.) in a monastery or temple, which under the Qing could last for
theoretically unlimited periods in "public" (shifang +1]) monasteries, and for
three days in the "private" (zisun T~) ones. The highly ritualized ceremony
was intended to distinguish real monks and nuns from pretenders, ensuring
that only ordained Taoists would gain access to temples or monasteries. Each
community, however, decided on its own guibang or set of rules and punish-
ments. For instance, on Mount Wudang (*Wudang shan, Hubei), where several
communities belonging to different orders coexisted, each maintained its own
set of rules. At least fifteen guibang dating from the fourteenth to the mid-
twentieth centuries are extant, either in mountain gazetteers, or noted down
by Japanese or Chinese observers in the twentieth century.
Taken together, these different sets of rules allow a general picture of Taoist
monastic discipline to emerge. The most common punishments were kneeling
down in prayer for the time it took for an incense stick to burn (guixiang JlfB w),
paying a fine lfa fil), public censure (gongze 0Jt), demotion (qiandan ~ft or
~ JfI, cuidan ft ft), flogging (zhang tt), expulsion (gechu 1¥ ill ), ignominious
expulsion (zhuchu ~ ill), deferment to civilian justice, and death on a pyre
(huohua j( it. or fenxing Pt J~). These punishments may have been subject to
different interpretations, were not all used in every monastery, and could also
be combined. They strongly suggest, however, that discipline was not taken
lightly. The provision for capital punishment, included in at least seven sets