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CHONGBI DANJIN G 273

a Chisong zi li #.f'~TM (Master Red-Pine's Almanac) and a Taizhen ke )cA
f4 (Code of the Great Perfected) as well as other texts, and that among these
were three hundred great petitions. The narrator explains that this was during
the distant Han dynasty, and that at the time of composition, only "one or two
out of ten" of the original petitions still survived. In fact, much of the opening
two chapters consists of quotations of the Chisong zi li and the Taizhen ke, and
the bulk of the scripture (j. 3-6) consists of sixty-seven model petitions, so this
accords well with the opening description.
The first chapter lists in detail the "tokens of faith" one must donate in
order to perform each ritual, the times when the gates of heaven are open to
accept petitions, and lucky days for the performance of various types of rites.
The second chapter consists of instructions on how to perform the rite of sub-
mission (how to write the petition, direction to face, officials to be addressed,
ete.) as well as taboos surrounding the rite. The petitions address a variety of
issues, ranging from a drought that affects the entire nation to family matters,
and matters of the priest's own conduct. Among the most informative peti-
tions are those dealing with the disposition of the dead and those intended to
ward off sepulchral plaints or legal cases against the deceased that somehow
impinge upon the living.
Terry KLEEMAN

m Kalinowski I989-90, 96-99; Nickerson I997; Ofuchi Ninji and Ishii Masako
I988, I86-87 (list of texts cited); Verellen 2004
* Chisong zi; Tianshi dao

Chongbi danjing

Scripture of the Elixir of the Unfathomable Jasper Heaven

This two-chapter alchemical treatise, whose full title isJinhua chongbi danjing
bizhi ~* {~I~:fJ- ~~ ~\ §' (Secret Purport of the Scripture of the Elixir of the
Golden Flower of the Unfathomable Jasper Heaven; CT 9I4), opens with an
account of the origins and uses of this Fujian tradition dated to I225. Its editor,
the Sichuan native Meng XU jfu:~ (fl. I2I8- 25), asserts that both chapters stem
from *Bai Yuchan (U94-1229?). Anxious to learn more about alchemy, Meng first
approached Bai's major disciple, *Peng Si (fl. I2I7-5I), in I2I8 while in Fuzhou
(Fujian). Peng turned over a core chapter of his master's teachings, known as
the Jinhua chongbi danjing. This first chapter focuses on the structure of the