Page 438 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

F
fabiao

Announcement

Fabiao (lit., "issuing the Memorial," also referred to asfazou ~* or "issuing
the Announcement") is the section at the beginning of *jiao (Offering) and
*gongde (Merit) rituals when the purpose of the ceremony is announced to
the deities. This rite appears to date no earlier than the Song period. In his
*Shangqing lingbao dafa (Great Rites of the Numinous Treasure of Highest
Clarity; CT 1222-23) , Jin Yunzhong ~ Jt r:p (fl. 1224- 25) states that the people of
ancient times only "presented a petition" (baizhang ff~) without performing
the Announcement (CT 1223,j. 19). After describing the procedure for "issuing
the correct Announcement" lfa zhengzou ~ lE *), Jin adds that this was not
part of the *zhai (Retreat) ritual as described by *Du Guangting (850-933), but
an element "popular at the present time" (CT 1223,j. 16). The Announcement,
therefore, was not yet considered a formal part of the zhai ritual in the late
Tang and Five Dynasties periods (ninth and tenth centuries).
As performed in present-day southern Taiwan, the Announcement oc-
cupies a central position among the various rites that constitute a jiao. This
is clear from the fact that it must be performed by the high priest (gaogong ~
Jj] ; see *daozhang) himself in full regalia, and that it is described in detail only
in his secret manuals (*mijue). Summoning messengers and protective deities,
and sending them off to deliver documents to the appropriate deities, takes
place through a sequence of seven rites: Purification of the Altar (jingtan fft
jj; Lagerwey 1987C, 73-77), Invocation of Masters and Saints (qi shisheng ~ Bm
~ ), Summoning the Generals (zhaojiang 13 ~), Pronouncing the Talismanic
Order (xuanfu fuming '§'lIrH~f in), Offering Wine (xianjiu .fUim), Dispatching
the Generals (qianjiang ill~ ) , and Giving Thanks to the Masters and Saints
(xie shisheng ~j~m~) .
During the long initial rite for the purification of the altar, the high priest
transforms his body into a divine body (*bianshen), paces the stars of the
Northern Dipper (*beidou; see *bugang), burns talismans (*pu) while pronounc-
ing incantations, and uses techniques for absorbing the pneuma (*qi) of the
Northern Dipper and the Three Luminaries (sanguang = 7t, i.e., the Sun, the
Moon, and the stars). These and other techniques indicate that the Taiwan-
ese Taoist priests have inherited *Tianxin zhengfa and *leifa (Thunder Rites)
methods developed during the Song dynasty. From the Ming period onward,

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