Page 681 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

Ll HO N G 639

coagulation of the original energies of the universe. He is an omnipotent deity
who controls the universal rhythms and intervenes in worldly history. In times
of crisis, he reiterates his teaching, appearing to saints who are worthy of his
revelations or to sovereigns who benefit from his political advice. In other
instances, he manifests himself to confirm the Heavenly Mandate (tianming
72:.1fP) of the ruling dynasty.
The copious revealed literature produced by different Taoist currents during
the Six Dynasties is similarly claimed to have a divine origin. The stereotyped
introductory formula "Dao yan" ~ § ("The Dao says"), used profusely in these
holy scriptures, confers transcendental authority and authenticity upon them.
It no doubt echoes the "Fo shuo" 1Jli~ ("The Buddha says" or "preaches")
of Mahayana (Great Vehicle) siitras. Thus Lord Lao, personification of the
Dao, addresses himself to human creatures in order to transmit methods of
longevity or salvation, moral precepts, and liturgical codes.
The birth of this anthropomorphic Dao coincides with the formation of
Taoist self-identity in the first centuries CE. Each epiphany of Lord Lao cor-
responds to a crucial episode of Taoist religious history. According to the
Zhengyifawen Tianshijiaojie kejing iE - $)(72:.gjjl$5l:Mf4~~ (CT 789, 13a- b;
Bokenkamp 1997, 168- 70) and the *Santian neijie jing (I.8h-9b; Bokenkamp 1997,
220- 23), the first one occurred at the end of the Zhou dynasty (third century
BCE), when Laozi revealed the *Taipingjing (Scripture of Great Peace). Later
he returned to earth to pronounce the Daode jingo He then manifested himself
again as another "perfected immortal"-the Buddha. His epiphany of 142
CE inaugurated the history of the Taoist religion with the foundation of the
*Tianshi dao. This image of Laozi as a sage and compassionate counselor hides
a more extreme aspect of the god's personality: his messianic vocation. Under
the a ppella tion of Li Hong or Li zhenjun * ~;g (Li the Perfected Lord; Li is
the surname of Laozi's mother), Laozi was expected to save the world.
From the Han period onward, Li Hong (whose name is often written as a
pun: * T "3 D, "3 D ) T , or * T ::::: §') emerged as the preeminent Chi-
nese messiah. Expectations focusing on his coming gave birth to a messianic
and millenarian tradition that reached its climax during the turbulent period
of the Six Dynasties, when the main Taoist movements prophesied Li Hong's
Parousia. The apocalyptic scriptures produced by these movements describe
the messiah's advent. Li Hong was expected to descend to earth in a renchen
=r: J1f year (the twenty-ninth of the sexagesimal cycle; see table 10) to usher in
a reign of Great Peace (*taiping) in an entirely renewed universe, cleansed of
all traces of evil and inhabited only by the initiated and the immortal "seed-
people" (*zhongmin).
Lord Li, the savior, is also a prophet. He predicts his own advent as well as
the preceding apocalyptic horror , the pangs of the last days. These prophecies