Page 244 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

BAJ YUC H A N 2 0 5

legacy of *Wang Wenqing. He seems to have helped to establish the Thunder
Ministry (Leibu ~$) and its role among the other new celestial bureaucra-
cies invoked by Taoist ritual practitioners from the Song period onward. One
of Bai's most important contributions was the promotion of the *Yushu jing
(Scripture of the Jade Pivot) and its revealing deity, the Celestial Worthy of
Universal Transformation (*Puhua tianzun), both associated with Bai and
both evolved forms of Shenxiao teachings.
Works. Among the main extant texts that bear witness to Bai's teachings are
tho e found in the Ming Taoist Canon, including the Haiqiong Bai zhenren yulu
fflJlli 8 • .A ~g~ (Recorded Sayings of the Perfected Bai of Haiqiong; CT
1307; Qing Xitai 1994, 2: 219- 21), the Haiqiong wendao ji fflJ:m F,,~ :@~ (Anthology
of Haiqiong's Queries on the Dao; CT 1308), the Haiqiong chuandao ji fflJ 1li ~
:@ ~ (Anthology of Haiqiong's Transmission of the Dao; CT 1309), and the
Jingyu xuanwen TIJtJ; K F,,~ (Tranquil Remnants and Queries on the Mystery; CT
1252). Three anthologies in the *Xiuzhen shishu (Ten Books on the Cultivation
of Perfection; CT 263)-i.e., the Yulongji 3S.1li~ (Anthology of [the Abbey
of] Jade Beneficence,j. 31-36), Shangqingji -.t~~~ (Anthology of [the Abbey
of] Highest Clarity,j. 37-44), and Wuyiji lit~~ (Anthology of [the Abbey of
Mount] Wuyi,j. 45- 52)-are associated, respectively, with the cult centers of
Xu Xun (in the Western Hills or *Xishan, Jiangxi) , the Zhengyi order (Mount
Longhu, Jiangxi), and the Lords Wu lit and Yi ~ (Wuyi mountains, Fujian).
A very interesting alchemical text, the *Chongbi danjing (Scripture of the Elixir
for Piercing the Jasper Heaven), is atypically rich in both history and doctrine
and worth a separate study. There are also numerous shorter texts associated
with Bai, such as the annotated Yushujing (CT 99), whose compiler seems to
have pieced together parts of Bai's ritual memorials to explain the structures
and processes of this key text on the Thunder Ministry In addition, the *Daofa
huiyuan (Corpus of Taoist Ritual) contains many texts on the Thunder Rites
that are attributed to Bai or his disciples.
Outside of the Ming Taoist Canon, there is also the distinctive commen-
tary Daode baozhang :@1~J!. (Precious Stanzas of the Way and Its Virtue),
which is included in the anthology of his teachings compiled by Peng Si and
Liu Yuanchang and printed in 1237, with a preface by the official Pan Fang titJJ
dated 1236. Later extensions, revisions, and editions of Bai's writings include
those by the Hongwu emperor Zhu Yuanzhang's *5f;1l seventeenth son,
*Zhu Quan (1378-1448), dated 1442; a work by the Ming scholar Lin Yousheng
tfff!l! with a preface by He Jigao {il] ~ r8i, dated 1594; one by Peng Zhu ~ ~
dated 1791; another with an 1869 preface by Xu Baoheng WFJff1J; and a recent
compilation with a preface by Xiao Tianshi ~*;o from 1969 and published
in 1976 by a committee headed by Wang Mengyun £~* .

LowellSKAR