Page 587 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

T H E ENCYCLO PE DIA OF TAO ISM A- L

Laozi and took on the mantle of Li Hong. The apocalyptic image of the kalpa
endures in modern Taoism and in Chinese religion more generally.

Stephen R. BOKENKAMP
W Bokenkamp 1994; Bokenkamp 1997, 295-99 and 380-82; Lagerwey 1981b,
80-82; Nattier 1991; Seidel 1984; Strickmann 1990; Ziircher 1982

* APOCALYPTIC ESCHATOLOGY

jie

iX.. (or: ~)

precepts

Taoist precepts, like those of other religions, function as rules for the regulation
of behavior- usually to prevent wrongdoing- and range from sets of ten or
fewer up to as many as three hundred. These sets of rules are graduated, with
increasingly strict regimes of behavior demanded as the follower of Taoism
became more committed and involved in the religion. Various different sets
of precepts were bestowed to adherents at different levels of initiation into the
religion and different grades of ordination. Among the many sets of precepts
there is much overlap, with different sets clearly borrowing from each other
and from Buddhist rules for monks and lay people which clearly played a major
role in the inspiration for, if not the formation of, Taoist rules.
The justification for the existence of precepts is, of course, to lead a correct
religious life. The consequences of not leading a proper life-transgressing
the guidelines set down-are understood in several ways in different Taoist
traditions. In the early scripture *Taipingjing (Scripture of Great Peace), for
instance, transgressions lead to the build up of *chengfu or "inherited burden,"
by which mechanism bad consequences, including sickness, befall the descen-
dants of the transgressor. In the *Baopu zi, *Ge Hong explains that improper
behavior leads directly to the shortening of life and prevents the aspirant to
immortality from reaching his goal. In some later Taoist texts, on the other
hand, the punishment for transgressing the precepts is a bad rebirth.
Many of the short sets of precepts are found in the first chapter of the
Zhihui shangpin dajie 1f ,~t.-t ~ *~ (Great Precepts of the Highest Rank of
Wisdom; CT 177). They are, however, most conveniently consulted in a study
by Kusuyama Haruki (1992,64- 113). The first set of ten in the Shangpin dajie are
the precepts observed by the "disciples of unsullied belief" (qingxin dizi 1W{*.5f1
r ; trans. Bokenkamp 1989, 18- 20). Numbers 2 to 6 of these ten echo the five