Page 318 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

CH U 279

chu

"cuisines"

The term chu or "cuisines" designates in Taoism a complex of religious prac-
tices that includes both communal rituals and techniques of meditation. The
semantic field defined by this term is extensive but can be summarized in
some key expressions: ritual banquets, communion with divinities, granaries
(zang ~l , a word that also denotes the viscera), visualization of the five viscera
(*wuzang), and abstention from cereals (*higu) and other food proscriptions.
Taoist cuisines have an antecedent in early Chinese religion: "cuisine" was
the term used for the ceremonial meals organized by communities to honor
the gods of the soil (she t±). These "cuisine congregations" (chuhui Jfl"iW)
became an object of criticism, and sometimes were banned, by orthodox Tao-
ists who objected not only to their excessive financial expenditure but also to
their moral dissolution, as they involved animal sacrifice. Taoists nevertheless
perpetuated the custom by adapting and codifying it, as they did with several
other popular religious practices.
Cuisines thus became a major element of liturgy from the origin of Taoist
organized movements. Also called "good luck meals" (fushi ;fiit), they were
performed especially during the three large annual festivals (the Three As-
semblies, *sanhui), when *Tianshi dao officiants updated the civil records of
their communities and granted parochial ranks to their adepts. An appropriate
number of cuisine officiants was chosen; they first observed a period of puri-
fication that included fasting and abstention from sexual intercourse. Cuisine
rituals lasted for one, three, or seven days. Participants consumed exclusively
vegetarian food and moderate amounts of wine, which was considered as a
mandatory element of the banquet. The leftovers were shared by the faithful
who could thereby participate in the communion. Cuisine ceremonies were
also performed in pecial circumstances, such as when there was disease, sin,
or death pollution. They had an exorcistic and salvific power, and conferred
good luck or merit upon the adepts.
Taoist cuisines shared many features with the Retreats (*zhai or "liturgical
fasts"). In fact, the Taoist Fasting and Offering rituals (*jiao) progressively su-
perseded the communal cuisine feasts. The decline of these cuisine practices
coincided with the development, during the Tang period, of a contemplative
cuisine ritual, partaking of the long tradition of Taoist psycho-physiological
techniques. The *Wuchujing (Scripture of the Five Cuisines) gives an idea of