Page 67 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

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The use of the term scripture in the Taoist context requires attention to
the differences in canon formation in Western and Asian contexts. In his
comparative study of Confucian and Western exegesis, John B. Henderson
observes that the Chinese model is perhaps more similar to the Hindu distinc-
tion between sruti (revealed scripture) and smrti (explanations of saints and
prophets). Borrowing Wang Chong's .:Eft (27-ca. 100 CE) distinction between
the jing ~~ (classics, or scriptures) of the *shengren (sages) and the commentaries
of the xianren N A (worthies), Henderson notes that in China the hierarchi-
cal distinction between classic and commentary is made "according to their
respective sources" (1991, 71).
While the silk. manuscript versions interred at *Mawangdui in 168 BCE do
not identify the work attributed to Laozi as a jing, the bibliographic survey
of the Hanshu (History of the Former Han; ca. 90 CE) does list several ver-
sions of the scripture with different types of exegesis. Among them are two
lost works in jingshuo ~~~ (scripture and explanation) format attributed
to a Mister Fu (Fu shi -M [\;;) and a XU Shaoji 1* ~,* (3°.1729). This and the
ascription of supernatural characteristics to Laozi in Han texts like the Shiji
(Records of the Historian; ca. 100 BCE) show that the text was a "scripture"
by the early Han dynasty at the latest. If two chapters of the late Warring
States Han Feizi ~~~.::r (ca. 240 BCE) dedicated to explaining and illustrating
the Daode jing are authentic (Liao 1939-59, I: 169-227), then it may have had
that status earlier. Soon afterward, the text was used as a religious scripture,
chanted for its magical efficacy by the early *Tianshi dao (Way of the Celestial
Masters; Kohn 1998h, 145). Several of the earliest commentaries on the text
were preserved in the *Dunhuang caves and rediscovered at the start of the
twentieth century (Kusuyama Haruki 1992, 3- 63), and more than sixty others
are preserved in the Taoist Canon.
While many titles in the Canon besides the Daode jing are classified as jing,
many of these "classics" or "scriptures" do not have a history of exegesis.
By contrast, some texts not usually labelled jing have commentaries in the
Canon. Examples of the latter are the commentaries to the Warring States
military classic Sunzi ~.::r (Book of Master Sun) and the alchemical classic
*Zhouyi cantong qi (Token for the Agreement of the Three According to the
Book of Changes). Other texts, like the Warring States Nanhua zhenjing 1¥i
~;g~~ (Authentic Scripture of Southern Florescence, usually known as the
*Zhuangzi) and the composite Chongxu zhide zhenjing lift Jllli. ~ 1j~ ~~ (Authentic
Scripture on the Ultimate Virtue of Unfathomable Emptiness, usually known
as the *Liezi), were made canonical and given the status of jing by imperial fiat
during the Tang dynasty. Other classics with numerous commentaries in the
Canon include the *Yinfu jing (Scripture of the Hidden Accordance), the *Duren
jing (Scripture on Salvation), and the *Qingjingjing (Scripture of Clarity and