Page 276 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

BU GA NG 237

on the *Taiqingjing (Scripture of Great Clarity) on Mount Xicheng (Xicheng
shan [!f~ ill, Shaanxi), and is also said to have received the *Sanhuang wen
(Script of the Three Sovereigns) and the *Wuyue zhenxing tu (Charts of the
Real Forms of the Five Peaks).
Bo He appears to have established a system of beliefs that were spread by
his disciples, who were based in present-day Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Much is
unclear, however, regarding the historical Way of the Bo Family. The term
Bojia dao is first recorded in writings by *Tao Hongjing (456-536). Tao notes in
his Zhoushi mingtongji )1![J R ~:li!i l'1C (Records of Mr. Zhou's Communications
with the Unseen; CT 302, I.I3a) that "prayers to the popular gods (sushen 11:H$)
are commonly called the Way of the Bo Family." In his *Zhengao (Declarations
of the Perfected; 4.IOb), Tao also clearly states that XU Mai ~il (300- 348; see
under *Yang Xi) "was originally affiliated with the Way of the Bo Family and
exploited many people." Tao's words seems to suggest that a cult called Way
of the Bo Family existed by the second half of the fourth century. It is worthy
of note, though, that while the *Baopu zi (trans. Ware I966, 3I4 and 328) refers
to Bo He, it makes no mention of the Way of the Bo Family.

YAMADA Toshiaki

m Chen Guofu I963, 75-76, 276-77; Yamada Toshiaki I983b, I:369- 7I; Hu
Fuchen I989, 56-57; Qing Xitai I994, I: 95-96

bugang

-.!V Jf. (or: -.!V #.~ )

"walking along the guideline"

The term bugang refers to Taoist ritual walks or dances, which follow the basic
cosmic patterns, such as the various arrangements of the eight trigrams (*bagua)
that are passed through in the sequence of the numbers from I to 9 arranged
so as to form the so-called "magic square" (see *Hetu and Luoshu). The earli-
est preserved descriptions are found in the revealed texts of the *Shangqing
tradition, which focus on walks along the patterns of the constellations and
the five planets, and especially on walks along the seven stars of the Northern
Dipper (*beidou). A common general term for the practice, which occurs al-
ready in texts from the late Six Dynasties, accordingly, is bugang tadou 2:l7 IE ~
4, "walking along the guideline and treading on (the stars of) the Dipper."

The "Paces of Yu. " The practice of bugang evidently descends from the ancient,
shamanic "Paces of Yu" (Yubu ~ 2:l7), and indeed the latter term occurs in