Page 485 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

GENGSANG ZI 445

mention him, along with *Zhang Daoling, as one of the founders of Taoism,
while *Tao Hongjing, editor of *Yang Xi's texts, composed a stele inscription
debunking the Lingbao account.
Nonetheless, the Lingbao account of Ge Xuan endured. An anonymous
preface written during the Six Dynasties' period to the Heshang gong fJlJ ...t
o annotated version of the Daode jing, the "Preface and Secret Instructions"
("Xujue" Fftfk: ), is attributed to Ge Xuan. This text, a complete manuscript
of which was recovered at *Dunhuang, accords with the Lingbao account
of Laozi, its use of the text in ordination, and its preference for the Heshang
gong commentary.
Finally, the canon contains an annotated biography of Xuan, the Taiji Ge
xiangong zhuan jc f] !; {W 0 {' (Biography of Transcendent Duke Ge of the
Great Ultimate; CT 450), composed by Zhu Chuo *r.~ in 1377 from a fr!l-g-
mentary biography that he acquired inJiangsu. According to this biography,
almost all revealed literature in early Taoism might be retraced to Ge Xuan.
This biography attests to the high regard accorded Ge in later Taoism. In ad-
dition to collecting earlier sources of his hagiography, it also records the titles
imperially bestowed on Ge Xuan in 1104 and 1246.
Stephen R. BOKENKAMP

m Bokenkamp 1983; Bokenkamp 2004; Boltz J. M. 1987a, 93-94; Campany
2002, 152-59; Chen Guofu 1963, 92-93; Kusuyama Haruki 1979, 134-38

* Lingbao

Gengsangzi

also known as Kangsang zi 1C * -=f and Kangcang zi 1C:@;-=f

According to tradition, this immortal of antiquity lived in the state of Chen
~ (present-day Henanl Anhui) during the Zhou period. His surname was
Gengsang and his given name was Chu ~ . The "Gengsang Chu" chapter of
the *Zhuangzi depicts him as an attendant of Laozi, and the *Liezi contains a
passage in which he explains the difference between sensory knowledge and
self-knowledge (zizhi § ~ ; trans. Graham 1960, 77-78).
The bibliography in the Xin Tangshu (New History of the Tang; van der
Loon 1984, 81- 82) lists a work entitled Kangcang zi 1Cil" -=f, which probably is
the same text as the one found in the Taoist Canon under the title Dongling
zhenjing WiJS:~~~ (Authentic Scripture of the Cavernous Numen; CT 669).