Page 62 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

22 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM VOL. I

different sets of gods, discrepancies appear frequently in both cosmology and
the pantheon, and the identities of some divinities are unstable. This, however,
did not matter much to the Taoists, as they saw all divinities as only "names"
or "traces" and as fundamentally one.

The Song period. During the Song period, with the emergence of Neo-Con-
fucianism-another syncretic movement-Taoist syncretism became deeper
and more widespread, mainly in *neidan and ritual. Most of the Song ritual
schools, including the *Shenxiao, *Qingwei, and *Tongchu, assimilated fea-
tures from the *Zhengyi, Shangqing, and Lingbao schools, the Daode jing,
and neidan and Buddhist Tantric practices. Incorporating earlier doctrines,
beliefs, traditions, and ancient masters was in fact a way for these schools to
strengthen their authority.
Neidan, which flourished at that time, synthesized Taoist elements (including
breathing exercises, *waidan language, and visualizations), Buddhist specula-
tions, Chan didactic methods, and a systematic use of the *Yijing trigrams and
hexagrams. Neidan sinified the Buddhist dialectic of Non-being and Being,
giving it the form of a dialectic between Yin and Yang. Such borrowings were
more than conceptual or semantic; neidan authors tended to equate the Three
Teachings, although at times they emphasized their differences. They claimed
that the ultimate goal of the Three Teachings was the same, even though
their language and methods differed, on the grounds that Ultimate Truth
was beyond all differences and formulations, and that the Three Teachings
had the same way to achieve it, namely, through quiescence. Language and
images (*xiang) had to be rejected to attain their ultimate meaning, so that
the differences among the teachings pertained to the relative truth, not to the
ultimate one. The Buddhist system of panjiao *IJ 1!J.. (classification of teachings)
was applied to explain the differences of meaning carried by a single term;
these differences occur within the framework of a didactic procedure that was
present in both neidan and other teachings. Every teaching is part of the whole
unutterable truth. Thus Taoists equated terms pertaining to the Three Teach-
ings, such as Great Ultimate (*taiji), "full awakening" (yuanjue ~ t:), Chaos
(*hundun), and Golden Elixir (*jindan), or nirvii1J.a and Dao, in the same way
they had done earlier for Taoist alchemical, cosmological and physiological
terms. Taoist masters commented on Confucian as well as Buddhist texts for
their disciples, and sometimes even explained Confucianism using Buddhist
terms. With regard to Neo-Confucian thought, Taoists adopted its new lan-
guage, referring to such notions as li Ft (Principle), or inner nature versus vital
force (*xing and ming). They quoted the traditional Chinese classics and other
Confucian or Neo-Confucian texts and authors. Among Buddhist sutras, the
Hrdaya (Heart), Vajracchedikii (Diamond), Sura1f1.gama (Heroic Progress), and
Prajiiiipiiramita (Perfection of Wisdom) are the most frequently cited.