Page 609 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

JINGMING DA D

]ingming dao

*aJJit

Pure and Bright Way

A school of teachings known as jingming dao arose around the enshrinement
of *Xu Xun (trad. 239-374) at the Western Hills (*Xishan,jiangxi). Hagiographic
texts offer variant accounts concerning the history of devotions at his shrine.
By the Tang it became a widely recognized center for a *Lingbao form of ritual
practice known as Xiaodao ~m (Way of Filiality). Scholars have located two
versions of a Xiaodao scripture of unknown provenance in the Taoist Canon.
The text appears to date to the late Tang but is devoid of any allusion to XU
Xun lore, so its relation to the early devotional community at Xishan can only
be considered conjectural, pending the discovery of external evidence.
Several post-Tang compilations in the Taoist Canon attest to a derivative
of Xiaodao calledjingming fa If I¥I ~ (Pure and Bright Ritual). Most of these
texts lack prefaces or colophons. A Song date of transmission can nonetheless
often be discerned from internal reference to XU Xun by a title dating to III2,
Shengong miaoji zhenjun :fIjl Jj] ftt) tPf JI ~ (Perfected Lord of Divine Merit and
Wondrous Deliverance). Texts clearly edited no earlier than the late thirteenth
century bear an additional epithet granted Xu in 1295 by Yuan Chengzong (r.
1295-1307). This title, Zhidao xuanying ~mR ffj, (Mysterious Response of
the Ultimate Way), conventionally precedes the honorific of 1112.
The *]ingming zhongxiao quanshu (Complete Writings of the Pure and
Bright [Way of] Loyalty and Filiality) is the most comprehensive resource on
the jingming dao in the Taoist Canon. This fourteenth-century anthology
features the recorded sayings of *Liu Yu (1257- 1308) and his protege Huang
Yuanji jtj[;i§' (1271-1326). Liu Yu is recognized as the founder of a form of
jingming dao popularly known as jingming zhongxiao dao If BJl ,~, ~m (Pure
and Bright Way of Loyalty and Filiality).
Early history. Precisely how and when Xu Xun gained recognition as a paragon
of filiality is uncertain. According to the earliest extant hagiography, devotees
came from a great distance to set up an altar and ancestral hall at Xishan when
they learned of Xu's ascent there in 292. Sometime later the Youwei guan JD1 ~
ft (Abbey of the Flying Curtain) was built at the site by imperial decree. *Zhai
(Retreats) were held there under imperial sponsorship three times a year. In
addition to commemorating Xu's ascent on the fifteenth of the eighth lunar
month, ritual oblations on behalf of the empire were also authorized at the