Page 758 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

716 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM A-L

Yutang dafa. The Yutang dafa tradition is defined in the book as the "inner
secrets" (neibi IJg tk:') of the *Tianxin zhengfa (26.1a) and said to represent the
essential method of Zhang Daoling (l.7b). The Tianxin tradition is referred to
as the "ancestral teaching" (zujiao m.~, 2.6a), and the oral instructions from
the Great Master of the Teaching are said to have been obtained as elucidations
of the teachings of the Tianxin tradition (l.5b-6a). The Yutang dafa tradition is
maintained to be more fundamental and more meditational, and the Tianxin
tradition is said to have been discovered-as a result of the above-mentioned
oral instructions-to represent the exorcistic (i.e., the outer) practices (quxie
zi shi ,~;fI)~'Jj) of the Yutang dafa (l.6a). The link to the "ancestral teaching"
is preserved accordingly, as attested by the expositions of the progression of
initiation in the Santian Yutang dafa (2.6a, 26.1b-2a). It is stated there that the
novice may receive a work entitled Tianxin zhengfa in ten juan, i.e., a special
version of * Taishang zhuguo zongzhen biyao edited by Lu Shizhong ("in order
to support the correct teaching"), and only after having practiced it for three
years may ascend to the initial degree of the Yutang dafa.
This connection with the Tianxin tradition is borne out by the contents of
the Santian Yutang dafa. The two traditions agree in emphasizing the use of the
forces of the Three Luminous Ones (sanguang = Ye, i.e., the Sun, the Moon,
and the Northern Dipper, *beidou), for instance in the writing of talismans,
and indeed the three basic talismans of the Tianxin tradition (Sanguangfo _ .:
* 1'1 , Heisha fo ~ ~~;ftr, Tiangangfo J( 'lE;ftr; see * Taishang zhuguo jiumin zong-
zhen biyao, 2.1oa-I7a, and fig. 73) are included-with certain variations-in the
text. A large proportion of the exorcistic rites it describes are closely related
to those found in the texts of the Tianxin tradition. The major differences are
on the one hand the inclusion of elements of the funerary liturgy, such as the
rite of *liandu (Salvation through Refinement) within the Yutang dafa, and
on the other hand the greater emphasis on individual meditation practice in
this tradition.

Poul ANDERSEN
W Andersen 1991, 97-I03; BoltzJ. M. I987a, 36-37; BoltzJ. M. I993a; Davis E.
2001,56-57; rIymes 1996,58-60

* Tianxin zhengfa