Page 104 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM VOL. I

fying and controlling harmful spectres recorded in the bibliographic treatise
of the Hanshu (History of the Former Han). Archaeological evidence has
been even more fruitful. A book whose title was probably Rishu B * (Book
of Days-much of the book's content is hemerological) was recovered in the
mid-1970S from an early third century BCE tomb in Shuihudi ~* m till (Hubei).
One section called "Spellbinding C'Jie" RI';) begins with a brief prologue, after
which virtually all of its seventy entries follow the same sequence: the type
of demon is described and named, then appropriate exorcistic measures are
prescribed (Harper 1985, esp. 492-94; Harper 1996).
The most notable example of the absorption of this demonographic tradi-
tion into Taoism is the ca. 400 CE *Nuqing guilu (Demon Statutes of Niiqing;
some parts of the text may be one or more centuries older). Most of the text
is comprised of a roster of demons: "If one knows the name of the demon,
it will return to its real form (zhenxing ~%) and no longer harass one ....
The demon that is a tree sprite (mujing *~~) is named Qunyao ffx .... The
demon that is a tiger sprite is named Jianzhuang zi f7tlft {" (2.1a-b). Special
attention is given to the spirits of the sixty days of the sexagesimal cycle (see
*ganzhi). They have human forms, but are covered only by red hair; they have
ears but no eyes. If one remembers the appropriate demon's name for a given
day (and, presumably, calls it out), then one can avoid its depredations (I.4b-7b).
The Nuqing guilu also prescribes various protective spells and talismans for
avoiding demonic harm.
Thus the Nuqing guilu, like the "Spellbinding" text written centuries before,
places the same emphasis on magical control over demons through various
exorcistic measures, but especially through the ability to identify any given
spectre by name. Still, given that the Nuqing guilu is a Taoist scripture-revealed
by the Most High Lord Lao (*Laojun) to the Celestial Master *Zhang Dao-
ling-the nature and function of the demonic is presented in a very different
context. The opening of the scripture describes the revelatory situation. In the
beginning, people were free from demonic harassment; demonic hordes were
loo sed upon the world only when the moral behavior of humankind deterio-
rated (r.ra). Followers of the Dao should have relatively little to fear if their
actions remain correct; for them, problems only arise when demons overstep
their correct functions (punishing evil). The Nuqing guilu thus functioned to
aid adherents when they encountered such rebellious demons. Taoist ethics
(spelled out in a code of twenty-two items-for humans, not spirits-in j. 3
of the Nuqing guilu) became conjoined with the demonographic tradition.
Demonization of popular deities. The addition of this moral component was
not the only way in which Taoism changed the demonological tradition that
had preceded it. While early conceptions of the spirit world had drawn only a