Page 281 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

242 TH E EN C YC LOPED IA O F TAOISM A-L

The pace used on this occasion is sometimes the Pace of Yu (Yubu ~ tP-; see
*bugang). Officiants are enjoined by the hymn to visualize their own ascent into
the heavens and a similar assembly of their bodily gods within. For instance,
the second verse describes the dance steps as follows: "Circling round, we
tread the cloudy mainstays (i.e., the patterns of the stars); We ride the void,
pacing the mystic filaments. Intoning verses to the venerable, Lord Unity; the
hundred junctures [of our bodies] are put in order of themselves."
The earliest buxu song is the "Poem of the Golden Perfected, Melody for
Pacing the Void" C'Jinzhen zhi shi buxu zhi qu" ~ ffiiz BtP-fl1[z B±!) of *Yang
Xi's Xiaomo zhihui jing 1~ ~!& jj ~~ (Scripture of Devil-Dispelling Wisdom;
Robinet 1984,2: 179-86). As this poem describes a mysterious journey to the
powerful sites of the heavens, its recitation overpowers malignant beings. The
early fifth-century Lingbao version (Yujing shan buxu jing I. * LlJ tP- fl1[~~; CT
1439) shows traces of this emphasis as well, but also draws upon the Buddhist
practices of ritual circumambulation of the Buddha or his relics and psalmody.
The ten stanzas of the song accord with the ten-directional orientation of ritual
space common to the Lingbao scriptures. By the sixth century; the demon-
quelling aspect of the song again came to the fore as Taoists began to chant
the Spell for Commanding Demons (mingmo zhu ifP ~;j:Jt) before performing
the buxu. Finally; though, the Lingbao version of the song is a hymn of praise
and a description of the participation of all in the salvific drama of the Dao.
The appearance of a legend that the poet Cao Zhi lfm (192-232; IC 790-5n)
had composed the buxu after hearing celestial music during the sixth century
provided a suitable literary precedent for the hymn and lyrics began to be
composed by literati, presumably to the by then well-known ritual music. The
earliest non-canonical version to come down to us is the ten-verse poem of
Yu Xin ~ 1* (513- 81; IC 942-44). Versions by eight further poets, including the
Taoist poets *Wu Yun (?-778) and Gu Kuang !iJ15[. (ca. 725-814; IC 486-87), but
also the Buddhist poet Jiaoran B5t~ (730-99) and the secular writer Liu Yuxi
~~ ~ ~ (774-842; IC 592-93), survive from the Tang period. It is not known
if any of these were used in ritual, but the buxu ci is found listed as a Music
Bureau (Yuefu ~Jff) title in later collections. During the Song period, both
the emperors Taizong (r. 976-s97) and Huizong (r. IlOO- 1I25) composed their
own versions of the hymn. That of the latter is still used today as an introit
in Taoist ritual.

Stephen R. BOKENKAMP
W Andersen 1989-9ob; Bokenkamp 1981; Robinet 1976; Schafer 1977a; Schafer
1981; Schafer 1989, passim; Schipper 1989a; Whitaker 1957
* bugang; Lingbao; TAO IST MUSIC