Page 638 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

K kaiguang

Opening the Light

The rite of Opening the Light is performed when a statue of a deity or a Buddha
is venerated for the first time. It is also celebrated during *zhai (Retreat) and
*jiao (Offering) rituals to call down divine spirits or the spirit of the dead into
an image of a deity or an effigy of the deceased made of paper or bamboo.
The priest (*daoshi) cuts the cockscomb from a white cock (believed to have
the power to call spirits) with a Seven-star Sword (qixingjian {:; Jjl. ~IJ, a sword
with a pattern of the Northern Dipper; see under *faqi), dips his writing-brush
into the blood (symbolizing the life-force), and makes the person who sponsors
the ritual breathe onto the brush (signifYing taking the *qi). The priest holds
the brush in his right hand and a small round mirror in his left hand, turning
it in the direction of the sun. He stands facing the sun and mimes taking its
qi. He inscribes a circle with the brush in the air and dots its center; then he
dots the mirror. When this is done, he writes a talisman in the mirror with
the brush, comprising a pattern representing the Three Clarities (*sanqing),
the Chinese characters ling Ji!: (numinous) and gang iE (Dipper), the name
of the spirit of the deceased, and those of the gods of the Northern Dipper
(*beidou). Next the priest turns the mirror toward the image and with a brush
makes dots on its eyes, ears, nose, mouth, torso, arms, legs, and the crown of
its head. The image is then shaken and purified by burning before it yellow
rectangular sheets of paper rolled into a cylinder. As a result of this rite, both
divine spirits and the spirit of the dead come to lodge in the image.

ASANO Haruji
III Liu Zhiwan 1983-84, 2: 183-200; Naoe Hiroji 1983, 1075-83; Ofuchi Ninji
1983,368-9
* gongde; jiao; zhai