Page 359 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

32.0 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM A-L

incomplete as it lacks the last five fascicles of the original twenty. The latter
duplicates eighty-three accounts from CT 590, often with variant readings and
missing portions, but also contains an additional thirty-five records missing from
CT 590. In sum, 204 passages from the original compendium, corresponding
to most of the text or about eighteen fascicles, have survived.
According to Du Guangting's preface, "the sage teaches the people to aban-
don evil and pursue good," and that is essentially the message of the Daojiao
lingyan ji. To accomplish that objective, Du relates stories that exemplifY the
principle of reciprocity (baoying r~ lfit). Those who attack Taoism-officials
who attempt to dismantle temples in order to construct offices for themselves,
monks who alter Taoist scriptures to serve the ends of Buddhism, and the
like-will be punished. Conversely those who adhere to, defend, or promote
Taoism will be rewarded: the sick will be healed, the drought-stricken will
be saved with rain, and so forth. In short the Daojiao lingyan ji is a polemical
work, intended to advance the cause of Taoism by demonstrating that the
faith and the faithful enjoy the special protection of the gods and nature.
There are altogether eight divisions to the Daojiao lingyan ji:
1. "Palaces and Abbeys" CGongguan" -gill): temples,j. 1-3.
2. "Images of the Venerables" ("Zunxiang" ~f~): icons of the highest dei-
ties,j.4-5.
3. "Lord Lao" CLaojun" t; ~): icons of Laozi deified as well as his epipha-
nies, j. 6-7.
4. "Celestial Master" CTianshi" A ~jjj): icons of *Zhang Daoling,j. 8.
5. "Images of the Perfected, the Queen Mother of the West, Generals, and
Divine Princes" CZhenren, Wang Mu, Jiangjun, Shenwang" .ffitAI tij:
~*;f$£),j. 9·
6. "Scriptures, Practices, Talismans, Registers" ("Jing, fa, fu, lu" t:~i!tf1~),
j. IO-12.
7· "Bells, Chimes, Ritual Paraphernalia" CZhong, qing, fawu" ji~i!~),
j. 13 (includes materials on swords and seals).
8. "Retreats, Offerings, Presenting petitions" ("Zhai, jiao, baizhang" Jl!!fM
Jf.:&'t),j. 14-15·
Besides the above, j. 122 of the Yunji qiqian contains sections devoted to
miracles involving temple property, trees, caves, rivers, stones, wells, and so
forth.
The Daojiao lingyan ji is one of the main sources for the study of medieval
beliefs in the supernatural, but it also supplies a wealth of materials on Taoist
practices, priests, abbeys and their accouterments, and gods. In addition, it
contains much information on secular subjects--emperors, ministers, literati,