Page 439 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

I
400 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM A-L

mastery of these techniques was a prerequisite for receiving investiture as a
Taoist priest (*daoshi), which has resulted in their institutionalization. Their
use in the Announcement is closely related to this development.

MARUYAMA Hiroshi
m Lagerwey 1987C, 68-89; Maruyama Hiroshi 1995; 6fuchi Ninji 1983, 241-56

* gongde; jiao

falu
~t :llt

Lighting the Incense Burner

The falu is the central opening rite in major Taoist rituals, such as the Noctur-
nal Invocation (*suqi), the Land of the Way (*daochang), and the Three Audi-
ences (*sanchao). It serves to initiate communication between the priest and
the divine world, and together with the closing rite of the Extinction of the
Incense Burner (fulu m '!11Xl; Lagerwey 1987C, 146-47) it forms the basic frame-
work of these rituals. The falu is an authentically old element of ritual derived
from the early practices of the Way of the Celestial Masters (*Tianshi dao),
and its persistence in present-day Taoist liturgies thus represents a remarkable
continuity in these liturgies. A version of the falu is described already in the
*Dengzhen yinjue (3.6b-8a, compiled from original *Shangqing material), and
the rite occurs with regularity in the major rituals described in the *Wushang
biyao (see for instance 48.la-b).
Already in these early forms of the rite, its defining element is the incanta-
tion that begins with an appeal to the Most High Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun
::t L ~ tL see *Laozi and Laojun), who is asked to summon forth from the
body of the priest a series of subordinate spirits associated with the task of
transmitting incense and messages to heaven (see *chushen). The version of
the incantation found in the Wushang biyao is practically identical with the
forms used in current classical Taoist liturgies (see for instance 6fuchi Ninji
1983, 272-73). The spirits are told to inform the local Earth God (*Tudi gong)
about the fact that the priest is about to "walk (or: practice) the Way" (*xing-
dao), and that he wishes that "the most high correct and perfected breaths of
the ten directions" descend into his body and cause what he states to reach
its destination in the highest Taoist heavens.
The connection between this purpose and the lighting of the incense burner
is spelled out in current liturgy in a number of accompanying visualizations