Page 407 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

368 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM A-L

Yin-Yang and *wuxing correlative cosmology. The Dongmingji may therefore
be read as an attempt to illustrate how ritual works.
Thomas E. SMITH
III Campany 1996,95-96,144-46, and 318- 21; Eichhorn 1985; LiJianguo 1984,
159"-67; Smith Th. E. 1992, 274-334 and 588-652 (trans.); Wang Guoliang 1989

* TAOISM AND CHINESE LITERATURE

dongtian

Grotto-Heavens

See * dongtian and fudi 1\iil J( . m ±t!!..

dongtian and fudi

Grotto-Heavens and Blissful Lands

The Grotto-Heavens and the Blissful Lands (see tables 4, 5, and 6) are worlds
believed to exist hidden within famous mountains and beautiful places. They
are earthly paradises that do not suffer from floods, wars, epidemics, ill-
nesses, old age or death. Such imaginary places are usually known by the
single compound, dongtian fudi. However, the two words originally referred
to different things,fudi broadly meaning "paradise" and dongtian denoting an
underground utopia.
One of the earliest descriptions of the Blissful Lands is found in the *Baopu
zi. The major mountains, says *Ge Hong, "have gods of their own, and some-
times earthly transcendents (dixian ±t!!. {w) are to be found there too. Numinous
mushrooms (*zhi) and grasses grow there. There you can not only compound
the medicines, but also escape war and catastrophe" (see Ware 1966, 94). Sun
Chuo ~~ (314-71), a younger contemporary of Ge Hong, used the expression
'blissful garden" (fUting mM) in his You Tiantai shanfu JffiJ(~ LlJ!tit (Rhapsody
on Wandering on Mount Tiantai; trans. Knechtges 1982-96, 2: 243- 53). The
term fudi first appears in j. 11 of *Tao Hongjing's (456- 536) *Zhengao, in which
Jinling ~ ~ (i.e., the *Maoshan area of Jiangsu) is described as a Blissful Land