Page 349 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

310 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM A-L

daochang

.i! .185

1. ritual area, sacred space;
2. Land of the Way

The word daochang is used in both Taoism and Buddhism to mean the sacred
space where the Dao is practiced (Lagerwey 1993a). It is also used in Taoism as
the name of a ritual. In the latter sense, it can indicate either the whole ritual
with its many parts lasting several days, or, as described below, the central
rite in a *jiao (Offering), when the priest goes in audience before the Celestial
Worthies (tianzun 7(.) and other divinities.
The Land of the Way is one of the oldest Taoist rites; its form was es-
tablished by *Lu Xiujing (406-77) and after that underwent little change. It
passed through *Du Guangting (850-933) and, preserved in the corpus of the
*Lingbao dafa (Great Rites of the Numinous Treasure) from the Song to the
Ming periods, has come down to modern times. It is identical in structure to
the Three Audiences (*sanchao), which in southern Taiwan are performed in
the morning, at noon, and at night on the third day of a five-day jiao. Accord-
ing to Wang Qizhen's -=:E~~ (fl. ca. 1250) *Shangqing lingbao dafa (Great Rites
of the Numinous Treasure of Highest Clarity; CT 122I,j. 57), performing the
audience rites three times a day re enacts the audience before the supreme deity.
The scripture explains that every day, at the yin ~, wu Lf, and xu }-Y: hours
(formally corresponding to 3-5 am, II am-I pm, and 5-7 pm), the Drum of
the Law ifagu it 92) is sounded in the Palace of Purple Tenuity (Ziwei gong
~ 1~ 1?;) in the heaven of Jade Clarity (Yuqing:f.l~), and then all the highest
gods go in audience before Yuanshi tianzun 7iJEl:7(., the Celestial Worthy
of Original Commencement. As a result, the rite of the Land of the Way must
include an audience before the Three Clarities (*sanqing).
As described in the Shangqing lingbao dafa (CT 1221, 57. Ib-2a), the rite is
composed of the following sections:
1. The high priest (gaogong ~ Jj); see *daozhang) ascends the altar and offers
incense to express his reverence and sincerity.
2. The priest consecrates the incense burner and announces the purpose of
the ritual to the deities. He exteriorizes the deities within his body (see
*chushen) and summons the local earth deities so that together they will
carry the message to the abode of the celestial deities and announce it
there.