Page 625 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

JINTAN

of the Totality of Perfected, of the Most High, for Assisting the Country and
Saving the People; preface III6) by Yuan Miaozong 5G Y'J>*, quotes the present
book at length, and derives a good part of its methods of bugang, as well as its
"methods of inspecting and summoning" (kaozhao fa ~ 1:3 ~), from it. The
only definite certainty about the date of theJinsuo liuzhu yin- apart from it
being later than the life of Li Chunfeng- therefore seems to be that it is earlier
than II16. However, some apparent references to political developments from
around the middle of the Tang, as well as the absence of a number of the most
characteristic elements of the ritual styles that developed in the early Song,
together appear to point to a date in the late eighth or early ninth century as
the most likely.
The methods of bugang described in the book emphasize elements derived
from the *Zhengyi tradition. However, the book also testifies to a general
syncretistic attitude, and in the introductory account of the original transmit-
ters and recipients of the tradition, almost equal weight is given to the first
Celestial Master, *Zhang Daoling, on the one hand, and the founders of the
*Shangqing tradition, represented especially by *Wang Yuan, on the other.
A number of passages from the central Shangqing scriptures on bugang are
included, and the total result is an apparent synthesis of the methods of the
two traditions. The intent of the book, however, is defined by the purposes of
exorcism, and by the goal of benefiting other human beings. Together with
a strongly critical attitude toward the practice of retiring to the mountains in
order exclusively to seek personal salvation (associated with a criticism also
of Buddhism), these themes confirm the close affiliation of the book with
Zhengyi Taoism.

Poul ANDERSEN
W Andersen 1991, 12-14, 73-77; Barrett 1990; Strickmann 1996, 234-36

* Tianxin zhengfa

jintan

Sealing the Altar

The jintan (lit., "prohibiting [access to] the sacred area") is the great purification
of the ritual space that is carried out in the beginning of major *zhai (Retreat)
or *jiao (Offering) ceremonies, as part of the initial phase of the liturgy, which
is dedicated to the construction and consecration of the sacred area. It has been