by Livia Kohn
(1995, 26–27).
However, this is not entirely true if one takes the trouble to look at the editions and transmission of the text within the activities of popular religious cults in Qing China. The fact that the text is of comparatively recent date makes it interesting for an entirely different area of Daoist studies, and its religious role can be better understood, especially in the light of Monica Esposito’s recent analysis of extant versions and their lines of transmission (1998). She explored the following six texts:
1. Xiantian xuwu taiyi jinhua zongzhi (Instructions on [Developing]
Golden Florescence by the Great Unity of Former Heaven,
Emptiness and Nonbeing). In Lüzu quanshu (Complete Collection of Patriarch Lü), edited by Shao Zhilin, 1775.
2. Fuyou shangdi tianxian jinhua zongzhi (Instructions on [Developing] Golden Florescence by the Celestial Immortal, the Highest Lord Fuyou). In Quanshu zhengzong (Complete Collection of the Orthodox Lineage), edited by Jiang Yupu, 1803.
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3. Xiantian xuwu taiyi jinhua zongzhi. In Lüzu quanshu zongzheng (Complete Collection of the Orthodox Lineage of Patriarch Lü), edited by Chen Mou, 1852.
4. Jinhua zongzhi. In Daozang jiyao (Repository of the Daoist Canon), edited by Jiang Yupu, ca. 1796–1819.
5. Lüzu shi xiantian xuwu taiyi jinhua zongzhi. In Daozang xubian (Supplement to the Daoist Canon), edited by Min Yide (1758–
1836), 1834.
6. Changsheng shu ( Book of Long Life), originally entitled Taiyi jinhua zongzhi. In Changsheng shu xuming fang hekan (Integrated Edition of the Book of Long Life and Its Longevity Techniques), edited by Dan Ranhui, 1921.
Through comparison of these texts, Esposito has shown that the Jinhua zongzhi was first formed as a spirit-writing scripture in the Jingming (Pure Brightness) tradition and was subsequently accepted by several different sects (see Esposito 1996; 1998a; 1998b). The lines of transmission of the text can be clearly asserted by tracing various factors that were eliminated—or added—at the various stages of acceptance.
As a result, it becomes evident that the text was appropriated in a rather disrespectful manner from one sect to another. They each tried to make use of the text as proof for their own legitimacy, showing that it had come down in none other but their tradition or lineage. This appropriation of the text implies not only the presence of a common need for a unifying and legitimating document among these sects, but also the existence of common structure to their faith. Interestingly, the sects involved in the appropriation of the Jinhua zongzhi were also deeply engaged in spirit-writing, and especially spirit-writing linked with Lüzu, Patriarch Lü, the poet and immortal Lü Dongbin (see Baldrian-Hussein 1986).
The following discussion of the text will present the process of formation of several of its versions, concentrating on the way each sect represented the relationship between Lüzu and themselves through spirit-writing. This then, it is hoped, will shed a little light on the ways in which spirit-writing functioned, or at least was expected to function, in each sect that used it to assert its legitimacy. I will begin by focusing on the formation of Shao Zhilin’s version, then examine the development of Jiang Yupu’s text, and finally look at Min Yide’s edition as contained in his Gu shuyinlou cangshu (Collected Books from the Ancient Pavilion) and in the Daozang xubian listed earlier.1
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The Formation of Shao Zhilin’s Version
The oldest extant version of the Jinhua zongzhi is the text included in juan 49 of the sixty-four- juan version of the Lüzu quanshu, edited by Shao Zhilin in 1775, a revised and enlarged edition of the thirty-two-juan version, prefaced by Liu Tishu in 1742. The Jinhua zongzhi is not included in the latter, but Shao Zhilin’s version contains fifteen prefaces, two appendices, and one postface (see Mori 1998a, note 5; Esposito 1998, 93–94).
Through these prefaces, we can trace the formation of the text. As half of them were eliminated from most later versions, they un-doubtedly give the most important extant account of the formation of the Jinhua zongzhi. According to them, around 1666 there was a group of at least seven participants who came together at the spirit-writing altar of Zhou Yehe in Piling (Changzhou, Jiangsu). There, Lüzu descended, together with the ancient patriarchs of the Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) school, Tan Changzhen and Qiu Changchun, and two years later the revelation of the Jinhua zongzhi began. At this time the altar was said to be located in the Bailong jingshe (White Dragon Chapel) in Piling. This is probably the same place as Zhou’s altar, but there are no records that explicitly make the identification.
At first, the revealed characters could not be decoded, so the seven members requested further explanations from Lüzu, to which the immortal responded. Pan Yi’an describes how the members gathering at Zhou’s altar developed Lüzu’s spirit-writing:
As I remember, it was in the wushen year [1668] that our holy patriarch Chunyang [i.e., Lüzu] began to transmit the “Instructions.” The seven people who made a commitment [to Lü] bowed deeply and obtained [his teachings]. None but these seven were given this transmission. The most profound teaching was [expressed in] no more than one or two words. It could not be put into words and letters. Afterwards, the seven questioned [Lü] in detail. As our holy patriarch spared no mercy in giving clarifications, [his teachings were] compiled for days and months. Eventually they composed a volume. ( Lüzu quanshu 49, pref. 9a)
Through such communication between the members and the deity, the text was gradually compiled over a period of months (see Mori 1998a, 45–47). According to Shiga (1999), who studies spirit-writing cults in contemporary Hong Kong, the founders of the Xinshan tang, an altar community also centered on the spirit-writing of Lüzu, had a
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similar experience in 1935. They, too, initially could not understand the characters the immortal drew and had to ask him for an interpretation. Thus they were gradually trained to understand his teachings (Shiga 1999, 214).
Although all questions from disciples have been omitted in the extant versions of the Jinhua zongzhi, we can still find some passages that bear the marks of a question-and-answer situation, especially when the immortal patiently explains teachings he has already transmitted (for example, Lüzu quanshu 49.9a, 17b). The Jinhua zongzhi, therefore, began as a compilation of the dialogues between Lüzu and the spirit-writing disciples, for whom the most important fact, I think, was their belief that the teachings had come to them directly from the immortal himself.
However, according to a preface by Zhang Shuang’an (1692), it was little more than twenty years later that the next revelation started at the altar of Tu Yu’an, in a place known as the Old Red Plum Hall (Gu hongmei ge). Here, another group had been formed, which comprised seven members initiated under Tu’s instruction. After the Jinhua zongzhi was transmitted to them, Tu and Zhuang Xing’an chose the proper words of the immortal and asked Zhang Shuang’an to edit them into a scripture ( Lüzu quanshu 49, pref. 18a–19b).
While a prototype version of the text probably came into existence in this way, it is not extant today. According to the preface by Shao Zhilin (1775), the version he received from a certain Mr. Wu of Sumen consisted of twenty chapters, including the words of the immortals Tan Changzhen and Qiu Changchun. But Shao, finding them redundant, removed the other immortals’ words and included them as appendices to Lü’s teachings. As a result, the Jinhua zongzhi was reduced to thirteen chapters. This is the version included in Shao Zhilin’s Lüzu quanshu of 1775. Although it is impossible today to reconstruct the contents of the prototype version, it is safe to say that it was less organized than the extant version.2
The Dual Sense of Lineage
Seen in Shao Zhilin’s Version
On the face of it, Shao Zhilin’s version appears to be a scripture of the Jingming school, but the situation is not that simple because this version contains certain facets of the text tha
t cannot be explained in these sectarian terms. The Jingming school was a tradition from Yuzhang (Nanchang, Jiangxi) and its environs, which claimed to come
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from the immortal Xu Xun (also known as Xu Jingyang, Xu Zhenjun, or Xuzu). It emerged in the late Tang dynasty as a popular cult and flourished in the twelfth to fourteenth centuries as the Jingming zhongxiao dao, or the Way of Pure Brightness, Loyalty, and Filial Piety (see Akizuki 1978; Schipper 1985). In the Jinhua zongzhi, the teaching of Jingming is claimed as a revelation from the three immortals Lü, Tan, and Qiu, granted in order to recover the transmission of Jingming. According to the Jingming yuanliu (Sources and Currents of Pure Brightness), contained in an appendix attributed to the immortal Tan ( Lüzu quanshu 49.25b–26b), the transmission had been lost after Liu Yuzhen (1257–1308), the school’s Yuan-dynasty founder, and his successor, Huang Zhonghuang (1271–1328), had led the school to its apogee.
The partiarch [Tan] said: The source [of this line] is the Shangqing
[Highest Clarity] lineage. Lord Mao is regarded as the first generation.
After ten generations of transmission, it gradually began to lose its truth.
At the beginning of the Jin dynasty, Lan’gong transmitted it to Chenmu; Chenmu transmitted it to Xuzu; Xuzu transmitted it to the ten great disciples.
After seven more generations, Masters Yuzhen and Zhonghuang succeeded to the lineage. Today, the transmission has been lost. That is why we have brought it, that is, the instructions [of Golden Florescence]. ( Lüzu quanshu 49.25b)
The preface of Tu Yu’an (1692) shows how he came to respect Jingming teachings. At the time when Tu was first shown a scripture entitled Jingming zhongxiao lu (Record of Pure Brightness, Loyalty, and Filial Piety) by his master Pan Yi’an, he was inspired by the school’s teachings. Later, he asked Pan whether it were possible to enjoy the direct instruction of Xu Xun, a thousand and more years after the immortal had ascended to heaven. Pan replied, “It is not difficult”
and explained to him that Xu Xun, who now dwelt in heaven, a few years previously had asked Shangdi, the Highest Lord, to order Lüzu and Tan Changzhen to administer the great teaching of Jingming and to bring it down to Zhou Yehe’s altar. Tu, in great surprise and joy, went to this altar with Pan to be a disciple of Lüzu ( Lüzu quanshu 49.15b–17b).
According to this description, Lüzu and the Quanzhen patriarchs held celestial ranks lower than that of Xu Xun, serving as messengers who mediated betweeen Xu Xun and Lü’s disciples. Although they called themselves disciples of Jingming, the members of the spirit-writing cult
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who assembled at the altar of Lüzu do not seem to have had as much direct communication with Xu Xun as they had with Lüzu.
This indirect relationship between the disciples and Xu Xun seems to correspond to their dual sense of lineage. According to the “Instructions from the Immortal Tan Changsheng” (an appendix of Shao Zhilin’s version), the original seven members of the Bailong jingshe also claimed that they belonged to the Taiyi lineage, which traces directly back to Lüzu. As the Jingming yuanliu says: The Patriarch Tan said: In the transmission of Jinhua Taiyi [Lord of the Great Unity of Golden Florescence], there is another lineage. Chunyang shengzu [i.e., Lüzu] is regarded as the great founding master of the first generation. This is the main doctrine included in the three teachings, the genuine backbone of the teaching of the immortals and buddhas. Each disciple at the altar belongs to his own generation whose name is determined in the order of [the names of eight trigrams,] qian, kan, gen, zhen, xun, li, kun, and dui.
[Those who belong to the first generation are] Pan Yi’an named Qiande, Tu Yu’an named Qianyuan, Zhuang Xing’an named Qianwei, Cheng’an named Qianxin, Zhou Yehe named Qianlong, Liu Du’an named Qianshan, and Xu Shen’an named Qianheng. Henceforth, disciples initiated under those seven should start with the generation of the character kan. When you finish making a round of all the letters, you will come back again to the first. ( Lüzu quanshu 49.26b) This shows clearly that those assembled at the Bailong jingshe came to be listed as members of the Taiyi lineage. Taiyi, it is likely, was the name given to this specific spirit-writing cult of Lüzu.3 However, it is difficult to ascertain the precise relationship between the lineage and the Jingming school on the evidence of this statement. On the one hand, the Taiyi lineage seems to be regarded as a suborder of Jingming; on the other hand, it is interesting that the lineage is referred to as a line distinct from the mainstream of the school, a line with Lüzu as its initiator. The Jingming tradition and Lüzu were not merged into one, in the usage of this text.
The Negative Attitude Toward the Quanzhen School
In Shao Zhilin’s version, Lüzu and the Quanzhen patriarchs are given slightly lower positions than Xu Xun. In the very beginning of the text, the Quanzhen tradition is even referred to rather critically: The Quanzhen could flourish in its ultimate bloom. It had a prosperous time among its followers but declined in the mind-transmission un-
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til it reached extreme disorder and confusion, reaching the replacement and decline seen at present. ( Lüzu quanshu 49.1ab; see Miyuki 1967).
This attitude is not surprising if one looks upon this version as a product of the Jingming school. However, the situation is not so simple. Given that Zhuang Xing’an was one of the coeditors of the prototype version of the Jinhua zongzhi and had some connections with the Longmen lineage, the major sect of Quanzhen in the Qing, it appears very strange to find expressions so offensive to the Quanzhen school.
Interestingly, the name “Zhuang Xing’an” is found in the preface of a text called Qiuzu yulu (Recorded Sayings of Patriarch Qiu). He is cited here with the recommendation that the text—claimed to be transmitted through the Longmen lineage —be handed down to the Longmen Master Zhu Yunyang for publication to a wider audience.
It seems a natural assumption to identify this Zhuang with the Zhuang Xing’an who appears as a member of the Bailong jingshe. Evidence pointing into this direction is as follows:
1. Longmen Master Yunyang was Zhu Yunyang, known as an editor of Wuzhen pian chanyou (Clarifying Unclear Points in the Tract on Awakening to Perfection), who also lived in Piling around the 1660s (see Mori 1998, 260–261).
2. One of the main topics dealt with in the Qiuzu yulu is “circulation of the light” ( huiguang ), which is similar to a meditation method mentioned in the Jinghua zongshi (Mori 1998, 268).
3. According to Pan Jingguan’s preface to the Qiuzu yulu, the text was shown to disciples of Zhu in the dingwei year (1667), and soon afterward Zhuang asked Zhu to publish it (Mori 1998, 258–261).
4. In a note to chapter 8 of the Jinhua zongzhi, the words of Zhu Yunyang are quoted (see Lüzu quanshu 49.18b).
On the basis of these factors, it seems safe to assume that the Zhuang Xing’an who recommended the transmission of the Qiuzu yulu to Zhu Yunyang was the same person who engaged in editorial work on the Jinhua zongzhi. Accepting this supposition, one should also consider the possibility that the method of “light circulation” was brought from Zhu Yunyang’s school to the Bailong jingshe around 1667–1668.
Considering the degree of communication between Zhuang and the Longmen lineage, why do we find such a critical attitude to the Quanzhen sect in the Jinhua zongzhi? One supposition is that there was a disagreement within the sect among those who insisted on the importance of the Jingming lineage and those who did not. Interestingly,
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Zhuang Xing’an, unlike Tu Yu’an, does not refer to Jingming in his preface (1693). Instead, he wrote that both he and his mother recovered from a fatal illness with the help of Lüzu, who came down to Zhou Yehe’s altar. It seems that Zhuang’s respect focused on Lüzu himself rather than on the Jingming immortals, while Tu and Pan strongly identified themselves with the Jingming lineage. The assumption then becomes possible that it
was only after 1692, when the center of the cult shifted to Tu’s altar, that the power of Jingming became overwhelming. It appears that people eager for succession to the Jingming lineage appropriated the Lüzu cult in Piling and the teachings attributed to him, just around the time the text was compiled.
Jiang Yupu’s Version
More than one hundred years after the compilation of the first version, Jiang Yupu (1756–1819), an elite official at the Qing court, adopted the Jinhua zongzhi as a scripture of the Tianxian lineage. According to the Guochao qixian leizheng chubian (Initial Collection of Categorized Documents on Servers of the Dynasty, ch. 94) and its supplement (see Li 1890), he filled the post of chief minister in the Office of the Imperial Stable in 1802, became vice director of the Ministry of Works in 1806, and served in the Ministry of Revenue in 1808. His involvement in elite society is also attested by the fact that two celebrated ex-officials of the time, Zhu Gui (1731–1806) and Zai Quheng (1755–
1811), wrote postscripts (dated 1803) to the Quanshu zhengzong, the anthology of Lüzu’s revelations compiled by Jiang. According to Zai Quheng’s preface, Zhu Gui once instructed Zai in the Dao by means of “Lüzu’s words of instruction” ( Lüzu xunyu) when both of them were in Yuedong. Apparently, there was a network of believers in Lüzu among high officials around Jiang Yupu, and Jiang’s work provides some concrete information about one of its centers.
The process by which the Jinhua zongzhi changed from Shao Zhilin’s version to Jiang Yupu’s is complicated. Monica Esposito suggests that Shao Zhilin’s text was first included in an anthology called Quanshu zhengzong, possibly a former version of the text Cheng Mou restored in 1852, and was then revised and appropriated into Jiang’s edition (1998a, 104).4 Jiang Yupu’s version is also found in the more familiar anthology Daozang jiyao. The editor of this anthology can be identified as Jiang Yupu himself on the basis of two prefaces attributed to the immortals Zhongli Quan and Su Lang. They contain a reference to Lüzu giving an order to publish the Daozang jiyao, ad-