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Huangting Jing (Scripture of the Yellow Court) is an important canon of China's Taoism, including Huangting Neijing Jing and the Huangting Waijingjing. It is said that Huangting Jing was written by Wei Huacun, a famous female Taoist in the Western Jin Dynasty (265-317).
Huangting Neijing consists of 36 chapters, and its contents can be concluded as follows:
(1) Discuss the ways of immortality, and describe the general situations and main physiological actions of main organs in human body. In order to smoothly cultivate vital energy, she divided the human body into three parts (upper part, middle part and lower part). Every part was guarded by 8 Jing deities, and there are altogether 24 Jing deities for the three parts. If people can take good care of the essential qi (vital energy), he/she can avoid diseases and live forever.
(2) Explain the close relationship between Huangting San Gong, San Dantian (both are related to apparatuses and points in human body ) and the health preservation.
Talk about the tenets. The Huangting Waijing was divided into three parts by later generations to further explain the deities of human body and the meditation methods of the Neijingjing. It emphasizes the importance of expiration and inspiration, swallowing saliva, conservation and enhancement of essence every now and then, indifference to fame or benefit forevermore, and the cultivation method.
Dao Zang (Taoist Canon) is the most important ancient book of Taoism. It originally referred to the collection of Taoist writings. The storage place of Taoist canons was called as Zang at the end of the 6th century. People began to call all Taoist canons as Dao Zang in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). In fact, Dao Zang is a huge cultural project, as its compilation lasted more than one thousand years and dozens of versions were produced. During the past one thousand years or more, Dao Zang was compiled again and again. However, there is always a strong inheritance of the contents and thoughts among them. Though there are so many versions of Dao Zang during the long history, only one kind existed in fact and later versions were just the supplements of the previous one.
The development of Dao Zang indirectly reflects the rise and decline of China's history. During the peaceful period, many scholars and Taoists came out boldly and compiled Dao Zang with the support of emperors, aristocrats or rich and powerful people. Though they had different purposes, among which some were to respect and develop Taoism, some were for their pious belief and some were for the political stableness, they actually made indelible contributions to the compilation and preservation of traditional culture to a certain extent.
The compilation of Dao Zang can be divided into three phases. The first phase is from the Western Jin Dynasty (the 4th century) to the Anlushan Rebellion of the Tang Dynasty (the 8th century); the second phase is from the Tang Dynasty Suzong reign (the 8th century) to the Northern Song Huizong reign (the 11th century); and the third phase is from the Southern Song Xiaozong reign (the 12th century) to the Ming Dynasty Shenzong reign (the 16th century).
So Dao Zang available now was basically compiled during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It has 5,485 volumes and 121,589 pages. Dao Zang prevalent today has 4 versions.
Daode Jing (Classic of the Way and its Power) is also called as Laozi and Laozi Wuqianwen (five thousand articles). Tradition has it that Laozi, the founder of the Taoism, wrote this book, so Daode Jing is regarded as the greatest classic of Taoism. In fact, since it all-roundly embodies the worldview and philosophy of ancient Chinese people, it is also one of the most important philosophic books of ancient China, and has exerted great influence on the lives of Chinese people.
Daode Jing consists of two sections: the first section Dao Jing is from Chapter 1 to Chapter 37, and the second section De Jing is from Chapter 38 to Chapter 81. All the contents of Daode Jing mainly elaborate the profound meanings of Dao (Tao) and De (Virtue), representing the philosophic thoughts of Laozi.
As described by Laozi, Dao explains his cosmic view from the ontological point, including the life philosophy and the principles of cultivation methods. He thought that the Tao has no shape and cannot be seen, but it is the fountainhead of the universe. Everything comes from its movements and changes. The basic connotation of De is one feature represented by the universe of noumenal Tao; i.e. De is the concrete embodiment of Dao.
Laozi's description of Dao and De analyzes the various connotations of the universe, the world and human beings from different perspectives.
Baopuzi (Master Embracing Simplicity), a famous Chinese ancient book written by the Taoism master Ge Hong in the Jin Dynasty (265-420), consists of Baopuzi Neipian (inner chapters) and Baopuzi Waipian (outer chapters). It was regarded as the Taoism Canon.
The Baopuzi Neipian mainly describes the prescriptions of supernatural being, apparition change of ghosts, health preservation and secrets of longevity, and avoidance of disasters and cure of disease. These contents belong to the Taoist school, and they can be concretely concluded as follows: elaborate the noumenon of universe, demonstrate the existence of supernatural being, describe the manufacturing method and application of wonder drugs and pills of immortality, discuss the study and applications of various arts of necromancy, astrology and medicine, etc., list the bibliographies of Taoist canons, and illuminate the universality for common people to cultivate vital energy.
Baopuzi Waipian is mainly about social affairs, which belongs to the scope of Confucianism. Moreover, this book also testifies the author's development of his thoughts from the Confucianism to Taoism. Its concrete contents can be concluded as follows: discuss the gain and loss of current affairs, sneer the common customs, explain the method to rule common people; appraise occurrences in human life, advocate self-denying and waiting for the right moment to demonstrate one's ability; persuade king to appoint able people, love people, restrain desires and fully come into power; discuss the importance of talented people, moral self-cultivation and writing books.
In a word, Baopuzi integrates the metaphysics, Taoist theology, arts of necromancy (astrology and medicine, etc.), pills of immortality, ancient cooking vessels of pills, magic figures or incantations, Confucianism and immortality into a whole system. As a result, it establishes the theoretical system of Taoist supernatural being.
The commandments are the disciplines, regulations and rules with which the Taoists must comply. They have a long history, and originated from the China's ancient fast that was called as Daojie (Commandments of Taoists) at that time. There was recordation about Daojie in the early classics of Taoism, such as Taiping Jing (Classic of Great Peace). Tradition has it that there were disciplines ultimately when Zhang Daoling created Wudoumi Dao, which literally means "Five Pecks of Rice Tao. Subsequently, most sects of Taoism, including the Tianshi Dao (Celestial Masters Tao) and Shangqing Dao (Supreme Purity Tao), basically formed their formal commandments. During the initial development period of Taoism, the commandments were always transmitted openly, but all of them were transmitted secretly after the 5th century. The open transmission of commandments was not resumed till the rise of Quanzheng Jiao (Complete-Truth Sect). Later, it was specified that only Taoist temples that had discipline master(s) were qualified to transmit commandments, and the Taoism disciples of other places must go to the specific Taoist temples together to accept the commandments. Therefore there were many participants every time the commandment transmission started.
There were many types of Taoism commandments, basically including so-called Three Commandments, Five Commandments, Eight Commandments and Ten Commandments. In addition, there are Yuanshi Tianzun (Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning) Twenty-Seven Commandments, One Hundred and Twenty Nine Commandments, Three Hundred Commandments and even One Thousand Commandments, etc. The Quanzheng Jiao attaches the Chuzhen (Commandments for Elementary Perfection), Zhongji (Commandments for Middle Perfection), Tianxian (Commandments for Heavenly Immortals) and other commandments. The female Taoists shall study and comply with not only these commandments, but also the Nüzhen nine commandments. As to Zhengyi Dao (Orthodox Unity Tao, another big sect of Taoism, the requirements of commandments are not so strict.
Taoist music is applied during the Taoist mass rites, where activities are carried out to celebrate the immortal's birthday, beg for god's blessing, drive away devils and release the purgatory of the departed, etc. It is an essential part in Taoist rites, which can exaggerate the religious atmosphere, and thus strengthen believers' aspiration for the fairyland and their adoration for the immortals.
Taoist music was first utilized in the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589), and reached its peak with a big popularity in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). By the Five Dynasties Period (907-960), along with the further standardization of Taoist rites, Taoist music had undergone a big development by adding wind and plucked instruments to the original simple percussion instruments such as bell, L-shaped musical stone and drum. During the Song Dynasty (960-1279), string music was also added to Taoist music. And in the Qing Dynasty (1368-1644), the imperial government issued orders to rectify Taoism, and Taoist music was accordingly standardized.
As an ancient religious music, Taoist music is permeated with the basic belief and the aesthetic thought of Taoism in terms of musical form and the connotation of its sentiment, and thus has formed its own unique structure. It is primarily used in praise of the immortals, praying for god's blessing, releasing the purgatory of the departed, and practicing asceticism. Its aesthetic thought reflects the Taoist pursuit of longevity and noninterference, and its melody is solemn and peaceful as well as seclusive and serene. With the foiling of music, Taoist mass rites appear more solemn, peaceful, heavenly and mysterious.
Taoist belief is closely related to the customs of Han nationality, and therefore, Taoist music is also closely linked with the traditional music of Han nationality by borrowing and adopting a lot of melodies and performing skills of court music and folk music. It generally consists of two parts: vocal music and instrumental music, with various forms of performance, such as vocal solo, singing in unison, solo-playing, playing together and accompaniment.
Taoist architecture mainly refers to the Taoist temple buildings, which basically consist of the divine hall, the alter, the room for reading sculptures and practicing asceticism, the living room, the reception room for pilgrims, and the park where visitors can have a rest. The general layout adopts the form of Chinese traditional courtyard, with the divine hall on the mean axis and the reception room and Taoists' living room, etc., on both sides. Together with a park cleverly built on the basis of the architectural complex, a kind of fairyland thus comes into being.
Taoist temple buildings also clearly reflect Taoists' strong will in the pursuit of happiness, longevity and immortality.
The existing Taoist architectures were mostly built in the periods of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911). Some important buildings have been listed as the national or provincial key cultural relics under special protection. As a kind of precious inheritance, their design, layout and craftsmanship are still worthy of borrowing in modern architecture.
Since its foundation in Shundi (an emperor) period (126 - 144 AD) of East Han Dynasty, Taoism has had a history of more than 1,800 years, or more loosely speaking, a history of over 2,000 years.
The basic ideas of Taoism are Changsheng (long living), Shen (god), and Xian (immortal), etc., and its doctrine has evolved from the academic thought of Taoists in the Spring and Autumn, and Warring States Period (770-256 BC). The religion of Taoism and the thought of Taoists are closely related, and to some extent, the former is the extension of the latter.
In addition, nature-worshiping and ghost-worshiping, popular in ancient Chinese society, also contributed a social and cultural basis to the formation of Taoism.
At the very beginning, there were two sects within Taoism: Fangxian Tao (square immortals) and Huanglao Tao (Yellow Emperor and Lao Zi).
Fangxian Tao was formed in about the 4th century BC, and was widely accepted by the upper-class society in today's Beijing, Hebei Province and Shandong Province, etc. Its aim was to get longevity and become immortal with the help of ghosts and gods. From the Warring States Period to the reign of Emperor Wudi of the Western Han Dynasty (5th century BC - 8th year BC), under the encouragement of both Taoist experts and emperors and kings, a famous movement in the history was initiated to seek longevity panacea in the sea. The immortal theory of Fangxian Tao became the basic belief in later Taoism, and its magic arts were later inherited and developed by Taoism. Fangxian Tao was combined with Huanglao school of thought afterwards.
Huanglao Tao is the mainstream of Huang (Yellow Emperor) and Lao (Lao Zi, a philosopher) school of thought, and it is a combination of the philosophy in emperors' ruling, Wuxing (five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, earth) of Yin (negative) and Yang (positive), and the immortal theories. Although like Fangxian Tao, it had neither systematic doctrines nor formal religious organization, it was a crucial phase in the formation of Taoism, and served as the precursor of Taoism.
During the reign of Emperor Shundi (126-144) of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), Zhang Ling created Wudoumi (five pipefuls of rice) Tao in Sichuan Province, and then during the reign of Emperor Lingdi (172-178) of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Jiao established Taiping (peace) Tao. These marked the real formation of Taoism.
During its popularization since its birth, Taoism had long been a kind of high-level culture, and widely pursued by the upper-class society. Consequently, many leaders of Taoism had gained respects from the imperial governments. However, since the 12th century, Taoism began to decline due to its own reasons, the attitude change of the government as well as the revival of other religions. From then on, Taoism started to spread in the lower-class society, and its witchcraft elements facilitated its influence on the folk society.
Since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the influence of Taoism on folks had become stronger and stronger. In the mean time, people held a mussy, superstitious, and vulgar faith in religions because of their illiteracy. In order to attract followers, the doctrine, form and content of Taoism had been randomly modified to cater for people's psychological needs, and finally Taoism became a mixture with no unique features. During this period, Taoists were of low quality, and knew little about the doctrine and laws of Taoism. They could only carry out some religious rites to satisfy people's demand. Along with the decline of the normal Taoism, some folk religions of even lower level, which were even more ridiculous in both form and content, prospered in the name of Taoism.
The combination of the vulgarization of Taoism and people's needs has developed into a series of superstitious activities in Chinese folk society, such as fortune-telling and lots-drawing.
Taoist ethics is primarily linked with longevity. Since everyone is eager for longevity, Taoism takes this as a tool to bring up many requests to people. In fact, this is where Taoism is in common with other religions in attaining their goals through cherishing ideals, just like Elysium in Buddhism and Heaven in Christianity, etc.
As Taoism preaches, one must nicely obey the social ethics for the purpose of longevity. Everybody must accumulate good virtues, do good deeds and obey various kinds of social norms. In all kinds of classic scriptures, Taoism emphasizes that in addition to keeping away from bad deeds and helping others, one must also be loyal to his country, show respect to his parents, and avoid the selfishness of human nature. Meanwhile, Taoism also warns that one will suffer from a reduced life span or an early death once he commits evil.
Such kind of Taoist thought is the authentic Chinese ethics. In terms of the effect, to some extent Taoist theories have a positive influence on Chinese society.
As a Chinese native religion, Taoism has a close relationship with Chinese folk customs. With the development of Taoism, it has become deep-rooted in, and the practices of, the ordinary people. This can be seen both in Taoist religious festivals and sacrifice-offerings.
There are many Taoist festivals, and quite a few of them have evolved into folk festivals. For example, the Double Ninth Festival on September 9 of lunar calendar came from the Taoist festival. It is said that in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), there was a Taoist immortal named Fei Changfang, who was resourceful enough to drive all devils away. At that time, he had a pupil called Huan Jing. One day, Fei Changfang foresaw a disaster on September 9 in Huan Jing's family, and told Huan Jing to fasten a bundle of dogwood onto his arm, and drink chrysanthemum wine in an elevated place so as to prevent the disaster. Having done what he had been told, Huan Jing's family was indeed safe and sound. Along with the spreading of Taoism, this legend has evolved into the Double Ninth Festival. When the day comes, people will carry dogwood and drink chrysanthemum wine in elevated places. Another example is Beijing's Yanjiu Festival (literally swallow nine), also known as Yanjiu (banquet nine), which is on lunar January 19. This day is the birthday of Qiu Chuji, the ancestor of Quanzhen Tao (meaning totally true), a main branch of Taoism - and a Taoist festival to commemorate Qiu. Later on, it was rumored that Master Qiu would be sure to come on this day, so all the visitors would sit and wait to see the immortal. In this way, it gradually became a folk activity. In the past, Beijing people went and gathered in Baiyuan Temple to worship and offer sacrifices to Master Qiu, which was considered as a meeting with the immortal. Therefore, nowadays, these festivals are not only the days for Taoists to hold religious activities, but also have become folk festivals. Together with various kinds of temple fairs, they have evolved into a part of folk economic activities as well as cultural entertainment with special local features.
Many immortals in Taoism came into being on the basis of earthy folk gods, and thus the Taoist god-worshiping system has much in common with the earthy folk god-worshiping. On the one hand, a number of earthy folk gods such as Caishen (mammon), Chenghuangshen (city god), Dongyuedadi (god of East Mountain) and Guanshengdi (god of Saint Guan) have become part of the pedigree of folk gods; on the other hand, Taoist immortals such as Laojun (Holy Lord), Yuhuangdadi (Jade Emperor) and Baxian (eight immortals) have become widespread and part of people's life.
Moreover, some Taoist taboo tricks have an extensive influence on the folk society, especially in the countryside; or rather, they have constituted a necessary part of folk customs. The combination of Taoism and Chinese folk customs is in various aspects, but it is mainly embodied in celebrations of festivals and seasonal changes and spirit worshiping.
