Page 488 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM A-L

The succession of "Lingbao patriarchs" on Mount Gezao continued into the
Ming period, but the mountain was totally eclipsed by Mount Longhu as an
ordination center, and the communities that gathered there sporadically during
the Ming and Qing periods were modest. The temples have been rebuilt anew
in 199I.

Vincent GOOSSAERT
W Chen Dacan 1988; Qing Xitai 1994, 1: 123-28

* TAOIST SACRED SITES

gongcao

Merit Officer

In the regional bureaucracies of the Han and the Six Dynasties, merit officers
were high-ranking officials, equivalent to the Counselor-in-chief (xiangguo ffi
~) at the court, who evaluated the service of district officers and had broad
authority of promotion or dismissal. This bureaucratic title was adopted by
the early Way of the Celestial Masters (*Tianshi dao) to designate certain inner
deities that assist the Taoist priest (*daoshi) during rituals. As described in the
*Dengzhen yinjue (Concealed Instructions for the Ascent to Reality; 3.7a-b),
during the rite of Lighting the Incense Burner the priest summons from his
body the Merit Officers and other gods, which transmit his requests to the dei-
ties in heaven. These gods belong to the category of "officers, generals, clerks,
and soldiers" and do not permanently reside in the heavenly realm (3.22b).
Different numbers of Merit Officers are placed within the priest's body ac-
cording to the ordination registers (*LU) that he receives (see *Daofa huiyuan,
181.I6b). The Merit Officers appear before the priest with folded arms and
wearing garments of ordinary colors. They originate from the priest's spleen
and are a transformation of the yellow pneuma (huangqi }t *\) associated with
that organ.

MARUYAMA Hiroshi
W Ofuchi Ninji 1983, 198-99

* chushen