Page 200 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

160 THE ENCYCLO PEDIA OF TAO ISM VOL. I

However, concern for ancestors (and for their care and feeding by tradi-
tional means) was impossible for the early Taoists to eradicate, even had they
wanted to. Instead, a stance of accommodation was adopted. *Lu Xiujing's
Daomen keliie (Abridged Codes for the Taoist Community) allows offerings to
the family dead, but only five times each year, on the five la days (wula .::ERi,
i.e., Il l, 5/ 5, 717,1 / 10, and in the twelfth lunar month-day not specified- in
the Chinese calendar; see *Chisong zi zhangli, 2.I7b- I8a). At the same time,
or even before, the basic rite of the early Taoist Church, that of "petitioning
celestial officials" (zou tianguan * J2 '§) had been turned to soteriological ends,
as evinced by the *Chisong zi zhangli (Master Red-Pine's Almanac of Petitions).
This medieval ritual manual includes model documents such as the "Petition
for Release From Punishment" ('Jiezhe zhang" fIW~:!iI, 6. Ib-2b ), in which the
descendants of the deceased through the mediation of a Taoist priest seek
to "release the departed, that he might leave the paths of darkness [in the
underworld] forever, and ascend and be transferred to the Hall of Blessings
lfutang m~) [in the heavens]."
Lingbao rites. With the emergence of the *Lingbao scriptures and their codifica-
tion by Lu Xiujing, new rituals for the salvation of ancestors were developed.
The Yellow Register Retreat (*huanglu zhai) is mentioned as one among twelve
Taoist Retreats in one of Lu's writings (Wugan wen 1i~)c; CT 1278). Though
the ritual script does not appear in the Taoist Canon as an independent text,
the Retreat is described in the *Wushang biyao (Supreme Secret Essentials;
Lagerwey I98Ib, 163-65). An altar is established surrounded by gates for each
of the ten directions, with a large incense burner and a nine foot tall lamp
installed in the center. Framed by the "opening" and the "closing" of the in-
cense burner, the principal actions include the request by the Master of Rites
for transcendent officials "to assist in the ritual for saving the souls of the dead
of nine generations of the host [the ritual's sponsor]"; the "Confession to the
Ten Directions," in which the Master declares the host's willingness to take
refuge with the deities of each such direction; and the presentation of silk and
gold to assure the ancestors' release and ascent.
This sequence was to remain the heart of Taoist rites for the dead, as elabo-
rated by *Du Guangting (850-933) and further developed during the Song.
The changes that are particular to the Song concern various actions designed
to convey the Master (or spirits under his direction) to the underworld, then
conduct the deceased to the ritual area. This was done to ensure their trans-
formation into gods or beneficent ancestors (Davis E. 200I, 227-36). The Song
rites for the dead may in turn be traced all the way to the present, for example
in the Merit rituals (*gongde) conducted today by Taoist priests in southern
Taiwan.