Page 337 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

TH E EN YC LOPEDIA OF TAOISM A- L

table 19). The original graphs in which they were written figure in the Zhu-
tian neiyin ziran yuzi mf 7( I*J if El ?~ 3S. -'=¥ (The Self-Generating Jade Graphs
and Inner Sounds of All the Heavens; CT 97), which also provides a celestial
commentary on the language. This commentary reveals the words said to be
written on the gates and palaces of the Thirty-two Heavens and demonstrates
that each graph making up these words in fact represents further words, the
names of gods, palaces, and celestial locales.
In that each graph represents further words, the "secret language" betrays
Taoist awareness of the mnemonic use of the arapacana syllabary as revealed
in such Buddhist sutras as the Prajiidpdramitd (Perfection of Wisdom) in 25,000
lines, translated as the Scripture of Radiant Prajiid (Fanguang banruo jing 1i5. %
!~JUH~ ; T. 221) by Moksala in 291. Recitation of the syllables of arapacana
enabled the practitioner to memorize points of doctrine and conferred mi-
raculous abilities. Recitation of the Duren jing, in continuation of the ancient
Chinese belief that knowledge of a demon or spirit's name sufficed to control
it, held out the hope that through knowledge of the origins of the universe,
the names and locations of the celestial bureaucracy, and its orderly workings,
practitioners might hope to ensure the proper functioning of that bureaucracy.
A further concept underlying the dafan yinyu is that possession of these secret
words marked the bearer as part of the celestial order.
In line with this hope, the graphs are employed in Lingbao burial rites
outlined in the Miedu wulianshengshi miaojing ~J.l.li~~p :9'.H~ (Wondrous
Scripture on Salvation through Extinction and the Fivefold Refinement of the
Corpse; CT 369). Examples of stones bearing these graphs have been found in
tombs dating to the Tang and later periods near Xi'an, Luoyang, and Chengdu.
The earliest practice seems to have been to bury the graphs associated with
the appropriate one of the five directions with the deceased, though priests'
graves might hold all 256 graphs for the Thirty-two Heavens in the four direc-
tions, plus sixteen additional graphs associated with the center.
The dafan yinyu in time became fairly widely known. At least one of the
words of this language entered the common poetic vocabulary during the
Tang.

Stephen R. BOKENKAMP
W Bokenkamp 1989; Bokenkamp 1991; Bokenkamp 1997, 385- 89; Wang
Yucheng 1996; Ztircher 1980, 107-12

* sanshi'er tian; Durenjing; Lingbao; TAOISM AND CHINESE BUDDHISM