Page 75 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

OVERVIEW 35

with Dongzhen replacing Dadong as the heading for the Shangqing corpus
centering on the *Dadong zhenjing. Here the heritage of the Three Caverns is
presented as a unified, single Great Vehicle (tongyi dasheng iPJ-::kJli2).
An alternative, hierarchical, perception of the Three Caverns is conveyed
in a presumably earlier text, noted for its transcript of an exchange between
Tang Tianhuang m 7( £ (i.e., Gaozong, r. 649-83) and *Pan Shizheng (585-682)
at Zhongyue r:p m, i.e., Mount Song (*Songshan, Henan). In this anonymous
compilation, the Daomen jingfaxiangcheng cixu m r, ~~ lt f117~ IX ff (The
Scriptures and Methods of Taoism in Orderly Sequence; CT II28, I.Ib-2a),
Dongzhen, Dongxuan, and Dongshen are designated dasheng ** (Great
Vehicle), zhongsheng r:p * (Middle Vehicle), and xiasheng T * (Lower Vehicle),
respectively. Competition from Buddhist schools of teachings could very well
have led to abandonment of this stratification of scriptural categories in favor
of a unified presentation of disparate teachings. Both views are represented
with no apparent conflict in lengthy accounts on the history of sandong in the
Yunji qiqian (3.4a-7b; 6.Ia-I2a).

Judith M. BOLTZ
m Bokenkamp 1997, 190-94; Bokenkamp 2001; Chen Guofu 1963, 1-4, 106-7;
Fukui Kojun 1958, 138-70; Kohn 1993b, 65-71; Lagerwey 198Ib, 24-26, 82; van
der Loon 1984, 171; 6fuchi Ninji 1979; 6fuchi Ninji 1997, 12-72 (= 1964, 2I7-76);
Ozaki Masaharu 1983b, 75-88; Pregadio 2006b, 43-47, I52-55; Qing Xitai 1988---95,
I: 536-52; Robinet I984, I: 75-85 and I95-97; Zhu Yueli 1992, 173-80

* Sanqing; Sandongjingshu mulu; COSMOGONY; DAOZANG AND SUBSIDIARY
COMPILATIONS

fu

tf

talisman, tally, charm

Taoist talismans are diagrams, conceived as a form of celestial writing, that
derive their power from the matching celestial counterpart kept by the deities
who bestowed them. Known also as qi .~ (or ~) or quan 3f, tallies were used
in pre-Han China to verify written orders of the king and as contracts and
signs of authority held by the king's vassals. Authentication was achieved by
joining the two split halves of the tally. From this mundane use, the term fit
came to be applied to omens of divine approbation authenticating a ruler's
receipt of the mandate to rule, known as fitming ;f'B= $- . Taoist talismans derive