Page 304 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

CHENGPU

was also combined with three attributes ascribed to the Dao in Daode jing 14,
namely, invisible (yi ~), inaudible (xi ~), and imperceptible (wei ~). These
attributes are associated in turn with the Three Primes (*sanyuan)-three
deities who live in the three Cinnabar Fields (*dantian) and are the corporeal
forms of the Three Pneumas (sanqi -= ~; see *santian and liutian)-and with
Essence, Pneuma, and Spirit (*jing, qi, shen). Each component of the various
triads is connected with the other two, and all are thought to be fundamentally
and originally one. Cheng Xuanying relates this view to the doctrine of the
Three Ones (*sanyi), applying the Chongxuan dialectic of the two truths to
the Three and the One, and to the Body of the Law and the Body of Response
that are the single body of the Ultimate Truth. The latter has no form, and
the whole world and all teachings are no more than its traces.

Isabelle ROBINET
W Ch' oe Chinsok 1995; Fujiwara Takao 1980a; Fujiwara Takao 1980b; Kohn
1991a, 192--96; Meng Wen tong 1946; 6fuchi Ninji 1978-79, I: 236-38 (crit. notes
on the Dunhuang mss.) and 2: 461-75 (reprod. of the Dunhuang mss.); Qiang
Yu 1995; Qing Xitai 1988-95, 2: 174--90; Robinet 1977, 96-261; Sunayama Minoru
1980b, 245-71; Yu Shiyi 2000
* Chongxuan

"inherited burden"

The notion of "inherited burden" refers to the liability for sins and transgres-
sions that individuals and societies inherit from their predecessors. As fault and
blame are passed from one generation to another, calamities and misfortune
increase. Based on this principle, later generations must make for the sins com-
mitted by their predecessors; to do so, individuals reflect upon the existence of
sin (siguo ~,if!Q, "considering fault"), confess it to the celestial deities (shouguo
§rif!Q, "admitting fault"), and correct themselves (zize § J![).
This idea appears for the first time in the second-century * Taiping jing
(Scripture of Great Peace). Examples of sin and transgression mentioned in
this text include claiming exclusive possession of the Dao and its *de (virtue),
neglecting to study the Dao, and accumulating riches without aiding the
poor. Liability for these sins is expressed at the social level as natural disasters,
epidemics, social discontent, and war. These notions are based on theories