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The ''Zhengao'' (真誥, ''Declarations of the Perfected'') written in 499 CE is the Shangqing Taoist patriarch
Tao Hongjing Tao Hongjing (456–536), courtesy name Tongming, was a Chinese alchemist, astronomer, calligrapher, military general, musician, physician, and pharmacologist, and writer during the Northern and Southern dynasties (420–589). A polymathic indiv ...
's comprehensive collection of poetry and prose from the original "Shangqing
revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on th ...
s", which were supposedly given to the mystic Yang Xi by a group of Taoist ''
zhenren Zhenren () is a Chinese term that first appeared in the '' Zhuangzi'' meaning "Taoist spiritual master", roughly translatable as "Perfected Person". Religious Taoism mythologized ''zhenren'' to rank above '' xian'' "transcendent; immortal" in the ...
'' Perfected Ones from 364 to 370. This classic text has long been famous both as a foundational text of religious Taoism and as a brilliant exemplar of medieval Chinese poetry.


History

The ''Zhengao'' is a compendium of Shangqing Taoist materials transmitted by the
Eastern Jin dynasty Eastern may refer to: Transportation * China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...
scholar and mystic Yang Xi (330-c. 386) and his patrons Xu Mi (許谧, 303-376) and Xu Hui (許翽, 341-c. 370). The large, aristocratic Xu (許) family was from
Jurong, Jiangsu Jurong () is a county-level city under the administration of Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, China. In 129 BC, the then Prince of Changsha Liu Fa's son, Dang became the Marquis of Jurong. As he died soon, the lands enfeoffed to him became Jurong cou ...
, which was the Eastern Jin capital
Jiankang Jiankang (), or Jianye (), as it was originally called, was capital city of the Eastern Wu (229–265 and 266–280 CE), the Jin dynasty (317–420 CE) and the Southern Dynasties (420–552), including the Chen dynasty (557–589 CE). Its wall ...
(modern
Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...
) from 317 to 420. Following the Xu family tradition of government service, Xu Mi and his son Hui were officials in the court of Emperor Ai, unlike Xu Mi's elder brother Xu Mai (許邁, 300-348) who converted to the
Way of the Celestial Masters The Way of the Celestial Masters is a Chinese Daoist movement that was founded by Zhang Daoling in 142 AD. Its followers rebelled against the Han Dynasty, and won their independence in 194. At its height, the movement controlled a theocratic stat ...
, resigned from his official career and devoted himself to Taoist cultivation and practices. In 362, the Xus employed Yang Xi as their household shaman and spiritual advisor, and two years later when he first established contact with the Perfected Ones from the previously unknown heaven of Shangqing (上清, Highest/Supreme Clarity), they prophesied that the Xu family would have an important role in transmitting the prophetic revelations. According to
Shangqing School The Shangqing School (Chinese:上清派), also known as Supreme Clarity or Highest Clarity is a Taoist movement that began during the aristocracy of the Western Jin dynasty. Shangqing can be translated as either 'Supreme Clarity' or 'Highest Cla ...
tradition, between 364 and 370, Yang Xi had a series of midnight visions in which Perfected Ones appeared to him in order to reveal their sacred scriptures, talismans, and secret registers, as well as their instructions concerning personal matters such as health and longevity. Yang wrote down the content of every vision in
ecstatic Ecstasy () is a subjective experience of total involvement of the subject, with an object of their awareness. In classical Greek literature, it refers to removal of the mind or body "from its normal place of function." Total involvement with ...
verse, recording the date along with the name and description of each Perfected who appeared. The purpose of the revelations was to set up a new syncretic faith that claimed to be superior to all earlier Taoist traditions. Most texts revealed by Yang Xi were intended for the family patriarch Xu Mi, his relatives, and friends. The visions appeared to Yang Xi alone, and he said the Perfected directed him to transcribe the revelations for transmission to Xu Mi and Xu Hui, who would make additional copies. The ''
Zhengao The ''Zhengao'' (真誥, ''Declarations of the Perfected'') written in 499 CE is the Shangqing Taoist patriarch Tao Hongjing's comprehensive collection of poetry and prose from the original "Shangqing revelations", which were supposedly given t ...
'' says the Perfected women told Yang that since they could not express themselves in debased human writing, he would act as an intermediary, rendering their words in his own outstanding calligraphy. After each transmission the Perfected checked that he transcribed their words correctly and then "presented" it back to him as if they had written it themselves. The heavenly maidens who visited Yang at night "never write themselves, neither with their hands nor with their feet", but instead would take his hand and engage him in a "sublime relationship" while he transcribed the sacred texts The Perfected who appeared to Yang Xi constituted three groups. The first were early saints in the Shangqing movement. The three brothers Mao Ying (茅盈), Mao Gu (茅固), and Mao Zhong (茅衷), referred to as the Three Lords Mao, supposedly lived in the
Western Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a wa ...
. Perfected Lady
Wei Huacun Wei Huacun (252–334), courtesy name Xianan (賢安), was a founder of the Shangqing School of Taoism. Overview Wei was born in 252 in Jining, Shandong in the former county of Rencheng (任城). Her father, Wei Shu (魏舒), was a governme ...
(252-334), a
Way of the Celestial Masters The Way of the Celestial Masters is a Chinese Daoist movement that was founded by Zhang Daoling in 142 AD. Its followers rebelled against the Han Dynasty, and won their independence in 194. At its height, the movement controlled a theocratic stat ...
adept proficient in
Taoist meditation Taoist meditation (, ), known in Chinese as "Xiu Dao", refers to the traditional meditative practices associated with the Chinese philosophy and religion of Taoism, including concentration, mindfulness, contemplation, and visualization. The ea ...
techniques was among the Perfected, and she became Yang's ''xuanshi'' (玄師, Teacher in the Invisible World). Another notable example is the legendary ''
xian Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqing ...
'' transcendent Zhou Yishan (周義山, b. 80 BCE). The second group includes Yang Xi's bride, the Perfected Consort An (安妃), the Ninefold Florescent Perfected Consort in the Upper Palace of Purple Clarity, and her mythological parents Master Redpine and Lady Li (李夫人). The third are the
Queen Mother of the West The Queen Mother of the West, known by various local names, is a mother goddess in Chinese religion and mythology, also worshipped in neighbouring Asian countries, and attested from ancient times. From her name alone some of her most importan ...
's daughters, such as the Lady of Purple Tenuity (紫微夫人) who served as matchmaker between Yang Xi and Consort An. After Xu Mi died in 376, Xu Hui's son Xu Huangmin (許黄民, 361-429) spent several years compiling all the available Yang-Xu transcribed texts. He first distributed copies among the Xu family and their friends. Early readers of these revealed texts were impressed both by the erudite literary style of ecstatic verse and the artistic calligraphy of Yang Xi and Xu Hui. Manuscripts concerning the Shangqing revelations later were collected by several eminent Taoists. Notably, Gu Huan (顧歡, c. 425-c. 487) edited a compilation of Yang-Xu texts entitled ''Zhenji'' (真跡, Traces of the Perfected), which became the model for Tao Hongjing's 499 ''Zhengao''. Tao's postface notes differences between the two collections of Yang-Xu manuscripts. The ''Zhenji'' includes secondary texts such as biographies of the Taoist hermit Xu Mai by his famous calligrapher friends
Wang Xizhi Wang Xizhi (; ; 303 AD361 AD) was a Chinese calligrapher, politician, general and writer during the Jin dynasty. He was best known for his mastery of Chinese calligraphy. Wang is sometimes regarded as the greatest Chinese calligrapher in Chinese ...
and Wang Xianzhi, while the ''Zhengao'' is restricted to the revealed texts and their historical context. Gu's work was composed of
facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of ...
tracings of the manuscripts, while Tao's more accessible work included his calligraphic analysis of who wrote each component text. The eminent Shangqing scholar and alchemist
Tao Hongjing Tao Hongjing (456–536), courtesy name Tongming, was a Chinese alchemist, astronomer, calligrapher, military general, musician, physician, and pharmacologist, and writer during the Northern and Southern dynasties (420–589). A polymathic indiv ...
(456-536) collected, annotated, and redacted all the available autograph fragmentary Yang-Xu manuscripts. Based upon his remarkable familiarity with the calligraphy of Yang Xi, Xu Mi, and Xu Hui, Tao was able to judge authenticity and to eliminate forgeries, resulting in an early example of text-critical scholarship. Tao's painstakingly endeavors resulted in two texts. The esoteric c. 493-514 ''Dengzhen yinjue'' (登真隱訣, Concealed Instructions for the Ascent to Perfection), which provides technical guidance for Shangqing adepts, and the 499 ''Zhengao'', which was intended for a broader audience of laypeople. Tao Hongjing's ''Zhengao'' Declarations of the Perfected survives as a complete work, with interpolations and commentarial additions. Standard editions are found in the 1444 ''
Daozang Daozang (), meaning ' Taoist Canon', consists of around 1,400 texts that were collected (after the '' Daodejing'' and '' Zhuangzi'' and Liezi which are the core Taoist texts). They were collected by Taoist monks of the period in an attempt to ...
'' Daoist Canon (CT 1016) and the 1782 '' Siku Quanshu'' literary collection. The
received text ''Textus Receptus'' (Latin: "received text") refers to all printed editions of the Greek New Testament from Erasmus's ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) to the 1633 Elzevir edition. It was the most commonly used text type for Protestant denomi ...
of ''Zhengao'' is dated 499, with a preface by Gao Sisun (高似孫) dated 1223. In English, there are only partial translations of the ''Zhengao''. Bokenkamp translated some prose and seven poems, Kroll translated nine poems, and Schipper two. Smith made an annotated translated of Chapter 1. In Japanese, there are ''Zhengao'' (''Shinkō'') reference works and a full translation. Ishii (1971–72) and (1987) compiled indexes of the people, places, and titles mentioned in the text, and Mugitani created a concordance. Yoshikawa and Mugitani wrote an annotated translation.


Title

Tao Hongjing titled his book with ''zhēn'' (真 or 眞, "real; true; perfected"; as in Gu Huan's ''Zhenji'' Traces of the Perfected) and ''gào'' (誥 , "proclamation; announcement"), denoting that its contents were divinely inspired. Taoist ''
Zhenren Zhenren () is a Chinese term that first appeared in the '' Zhuangzi'' meaning "Taoist spiritual master", roughly translatable as "Perfected Person". Religious Taoism mythologized ''zhenren'' to rank above '' xian'' "transcendent; immortal" in the ...
'' "Perfected" deities ''gao'' "dictated" the Shangqing revelations to highly literate medium and shaman Yang Xi. In the historical linguistics of the Chinese language, "Medieval Chinese" was used in texts during the 4th and 5th centuries when the ''Zhengao'' was written and compiled. Owing to the significant differences in word meanings between Medieval and
Modern Chinese Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern standar ...
, the following semantic discussion of ''zhen'' and ''gao'' will summarize English translation equivalents from Paul W. Kroll's dictionary of
Classical Classical may refer to: European antiquity *Classical antiquity, a period of history from roughly the 7th or 8th century B.C.E. to the 5th century C.E. centered on the Mediterranean Sea *Classical architecture, architecture derived from Greek and ...
and Medieval Chinese. ''Zhēn'' (from
Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the ''Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...
''tsyin'') (眞 or 真) had complex abstract meanings. #real, true < true to its own nature; natural, authentic, genuine. … a. what really is supposed to be … b. pure, perfect, of thoroughgoing genuineness … c. realize(d), perfect(ed), actualize or bring to completion one's inherent qualities … d. ideal, worthy to be imitated. #true < what is real and not illusory … a. consistent with fact or reality … b. accurate; truthful(ness); verity … #really, actually, truly, indeed. … The Taoist term ''zhēnrén'' (真人) has many English translations such as "Real Person", "Authentic Person", "True Person", "Perfected Person", and "Perfected". Kroll clarifies the difference between Taoist and Buddhist usages: "(1.c.) ''zhēnrén'', Realized Persons, the Perfected, term found as early as the 6th chapter of ''
Zhuangzi Zhuangzi may refer to: * ''Zhuangzi'' (book) (莊子), an ancient Chinese collection of anecdotes and fables, one of the foundational texts of Daoism **Zhuang Zhou Zhuang Zhou (), commonly known as Zhuangzi (; ; literally "Master Zhuang"; als ...
'' and used in various movements, but esp ciallyinfluential in Shangqing Tao smto designate the highest class of divine beings whose home is in the Shangqing heaven and who are completely spiritualized."; "(2.) … ''zhēnrén'', "one who embodies truth," ranscriptionof Sanskrit ''
Arahat In Buddhism, an ''arhat'' (Sanskrit: अर्हत्) or ''arahant'' (Pali: अरहन्त्, 𑀅𑀭𑀳𑀦𑁆𑀢𑁆) is one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved ''Nirvana'' and liberated ...
''… Chinese ''zhēn'' "real; true; genuine; etc." is written with several variant characters in
East Asian languages The East Asian languages are a language family (alternatively '' macrofamily'' or ''superphylum'') proposed by Stanley Starosta in 2001. The proposal has since been adopted by George van Driem. Classifications Early proposals Early proposals of ...
, illustrating the Unicode compatibility difficulties with encoding CJK hinese, Japanese, and Koreancharacters. The early graph (U+771E) is now an outdated
traditional Chinese character Traditional Chinese characters are one type of standard Chinese character sets of the contemporary written Chinese. The traditional characters had taken shapes since the clerical change and mostly remained in the same structure they took at ...
, Korean ''
hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...
'', Vietnamese
Chữ Nôm Chữ Nôm (, ; ) is a logographic writing system formerly used to write the Vietnamese language. It uses Chinese characters (''Chữ Hán'') to represent Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary and some native Vietnamese words, with other words represen ...
, and Japanese ''
kyūjitai ''Kyūjitai'' ( ja, 舊字體 / 旧字体, lit=old character forms) are the traditional forms of kanji, Chinese written characters used in Japanese. Their simplified counterparts are '' shinjitai'' ( ja, 新字体, lit=new character forms, la ...
'' ("old character form") ''
kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subse ...
''. There are variations of the calligraphic
strokes Stroke (also known as a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or brain attack) is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, ...
below the ''mù'' 目 "eye" component in 眞. This 10-stroke 眞 graph has a single "down and right" pattern (cf. 乚); which the 11-stroke 眞 (U+2F945) replaces with a 2-stroke "down and stop, right" version. The modern is both the traditional and
simplified Chinese character Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters used in mainland China, Malaysia and Singapore, as prescribed by the '' Table of General Standard Chinese Characters''. Along with traditional Chinese characters, they are one ...
, and the Japanese ''
shinjitai are the simplified forms of kanji used in Japan since the promulgation of the Tōyō Kanji List in 1946. Some of the new forms found in ''shinjitai'' are also found in Simplified Chinese characters, but ''shinjitai'' is generally not as extensi ...
'' ("new character form"). Note the change of the original ''bǐ'' 匕 "spoon" at the top of 眞 (compare the
Small seal script The small seal script (), or Qin script (, ''Qínzhuàn''), is an archaic form of Chinese calligraphy. It was standardized and promulgated as a national standard by the government of Qin Shi Huang, the founder of the Chinese Qin dynasty. Name ...
in the
infobox An infobox is a digital or physical table used to collect and present a subset of information about its subject, such as a document. It is a structured document containing a set of attribute–value pairs, and in Wikipedia represents a summar ...
above) to ''shí'' 十 "ten". There are Sino-Japanese variations on the horizontal line below the 目 "eye" element; Chinese (U+771F) connects it with the horizontal line, while Japanese (U+2F947) separates them. ''Gào'' (Middle Chinese ''kawH'') 誥 had comparatively more concrete semantics. #proclaim, proclamation; announce(ment); from med
eval In some programming languages, eval , short for the English evaluate, is a function which evaluates a string as though it were an expression in the language, and returns a result; in others, it executes multiple lines of code as though they ha ...
times exclusively superior to inferior. … a. royal proclamation conferring noble title or special recognition; entitlement. #exhortation; advisory instruction to subordinate, monition. #oracle, announcement from a divinity. The traditional Chinese character 誥 or simplified 诰 is classified as a radical-phonetic character, composed from the "speech" radical ''yán'' 言 and a ''gào'' (MC ''kawh'' or ''kowk'') 告 "announce, proclaim; report; exhort; accuse" phonetic element. Scholars either
transliterate Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...
the title (''Zhengao'', ''Zhen Gao'', ''Chen-kao'', etc.) or translate it: *True Reports *Declarations of Perfected Immortals *Proclamations of the Perfected *Pronouncements of the Perfected *Authentic Declarations and Declarations of the Perfected *The Proclamation of the Perfect


Content

The ''Zhengao'' primarily contains Yang Xi's writings that purport to convey the teachings revealed in his spiritual visions. Tao Hongjing's redacted fragments relate the circumstances of the revelations, the Perfected Ones' explanations and interpretations of their scriptures and methods, private correspondences between Yang and the Xus, and responses to their direct questions addressed to the Shangqing divinities. Tao regularly comments on the authenticity of a text and whether he considered it an original Shangqing fragment. Gao Sisun's preface uses the weaving terms ''jīng'' (經, warp) and ''wěi'' (緯, weft)—alluding to the literary terms ''jīngshū'' (緯書, classics; scriptures) and ''wěishū'' (緯書, esoteric glosses on the classics) —to describe the ''Zhengao'' as the "weft" background of the Shangqing revelations. Tao Hongjing's received ''Zhengao'' is divided into seven ''piān'' (篇, chapters) and twenty ''juǎn'' (卷, volumes), but this was not the original format. It was initially arranged into ten ''juan'', or ten ''pian'' according to some later references. In the present text, chapters 1, 2, and 4 are each split in two parts, making ten chapters altogether, and the arrangement into twenty volumes results from the further subdivision of each chapter into two parts. Each chapter has a three-character title, emulating the New Text school's apocryphal ''chènwěi'' (讖緯, "mystical Confucian prophetical works of Eastern Han"). In the table below, chapter 1 and 2 translations are by Smith while the others are tentative. The division into seven chapters resulted from Tao's "sometimes clumsy" effort to give coherence to the whole. The first five chapters record the revelations of the Perfected. Chapter 1 contains texts relating Yang Xi's visions of and hymns sung by the Perfected, and fragments of Ziyang Zhenren (紫陽真人, Perfected Purple Yang)'s lost ''Jianjing'' (劍經, Scripture of the Sword) with a method for making a magic sword that will provide immortality through '' shijie'' (屍解, liberation by means of a simulated corpse). Chapters 2 and 3 are devoted to minor recipes and methods by lesser divinities, with information on the afterlife of the Xus' relatives and acquaintances, and a work revealed to Peijun (裴君, Lord Pei), the Baoshen qiju jing (寶神起居經, Scripture on the Behavior for Treasuring the Spirit). The fourth chapter concerns Maoshan, its long history of mystics and hermits, biographies of the Mao brothers, and Guo Sichao (郭四朝), an early inhabitant of the mountain. The fifth comprises a detailed description of the Chinese underworld, and may have constituted the lost ''Fengdu ji'' (酆都記, Records of
Fengdu Fengdu County (; formerly ) is a county located in Chongqing Municipality, People's Republic of China. The county was established as Fengdu County () during the Sui Dynasty. The name was changed to Fengdu County () during the Ming Dynasty. In 19 ...
), referring to the subterranean administrative headquarters of hell. Chapter 6 of the ''Zhengao'' consists of personal letters, memoranda, and records of dreams written by Yang and the Xus. Tao gives a detailed commentary on the texts contained in these first six chapters. The seventh chapter is Tao's postface, explaining his editorial methods, the history of the Shangqing textual corpus being scattered and plagiarized, and the Xu family genealogy. Despite this overall ordering, some sections have occasional interpolations, repetitions, and misplaced insertions, often resulting in a "confused and truncated" logical order of presentation.


Syncreticism

Scholars have long recognized that much of the ''Zhengao'' content derives from a
syncretic Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...
assortment of older sources from ''Wu'' shamanism, Celestial Master Taoism, and
Chinese Buddhism Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism which has shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy ...
, despite the "resplendent homogeneity which originally disparate elements appear to have acquired in his inspired transcriptions".


''Wu''-shamanist influences

The Shangqing school "succeeded in adhering to a perilous ridgeline" situated between ancient shamanism or mediumship and modern institutionalizing a church and codifying its liturgy. Chinese shamanic spirit journeys are a key
literary device A narrative technique (known for literary fictional narratives as a literary technique, literary device, or fictional device) is any of several specific methods the creator of a narrative uses to convey what they want —in other words, a stra ...
in both ''Zhengao'' poems and earlier ''
Chuci The ''Chu ci'', variously translated as ''Verses of Chu,'' ''Songs of Chu'', or ''Elegies of Chu'', is an ancient anthology of Chinese poetry including works traditionally attributed mainly to Qu Yuan and Song Yu from the Warring States perio ...
'' (Songs of
Chu Chu or CHU may refer to: Chinese history * Chu (state) (c. 1030 BC–223 BC), a state during the Zhou dynasty * Western Chu (206 BC–202 BC), a state founded and ruled by Xiang Yu * Chu Kingdom (Han dynasty) (201 BC–70 AD), a kingdom of the Ha ...
) poems such as ''
Li Sao "''Li Sao''" (; translation: "Encountering Sorrow") is an ancient Chinese poem from the anthology '' Chuci'' traditionally attributed to Qu Yuan. ''Li Sao'' dates from the late 3rd century BCE, during the Chinese Warring States period. Backgr ...
'' (Encountering Sorrow), ''
Yuan You "Yuanyou" or Far-off Journey (; Pinyin: Yuǎnyóu; en, Far Roaming) is a short work anthologized in the Chuci (楚辭 ''Songs of Chu'', sometimes called ''The Songs of the South''). "Yuanyou" is a poetic conceit involving a shamanic/Daoist flight ...
'' (Far-off Journey), ''
Jiu Ge ''Jiu Ge'', or ''Nine Songs'', () is an ancient set of poems. Together, these poems constitute one of the 17 sections of the poetry anthology which was published under the title of the ''Chuci'' (also known as the ''Songs of Chu'' or as the ''S ...
'' (Nine Songs), and ''
Jiu Bian "Nine Changes," also known as "Nine Variations," "Chiu pien" or "Jiu Bian" (traditional Chinese: 九辯; simplified Chinese: 九辩; pinyin: ''Jiǔ biàn'') is one of the 17 poems in the ancient Chinese poetry collection ''Chu ci'', also known as '' ...
'' (Nine Changes). Chinese ''wu'' shamans were spirit mediums who practiced divination, prayer, sacrifice, and rainmaking. Many of their practices were later modified and adopted by Taoists. The ''Zhengao'' section recording Yang Xi's and Consort An's betrothal and " spirit marriage" of illustrates how Yang adapted southern shamanic traditions. It resembles ''Chuci'' poems where male and female shamans describe their meetings, celestial travels, intercourse with nature spirits, and recount their yearnings once the spirit has gone. The passage is also an explicit renunciation of Celestial Masters marriage rites in which the initial sexual act of a bride and groom was performed ritually in the presence of the elders. The Shangqing spirit marriage between Yang and his celestial Consort also involves the merging of corporeal spirits, but all traces of the human sexual act are absent. Yang Xi names this refined type of spiritual union as ''oujing'' (偶景, "mating of the effulgent spirits") rather than the Celestial Master sexual practice of ''heqi'' (合氣, "joining of the pneumas"). Ziwei Fujin (紫微夫人), translated as the Perfected Consort of Purple Clarity or Lady of Purple Tenuity, was the celestial matchmaker between Yang Xi and Consort An. In Chinese astronomy, ''Ziwei'' (紫微, Purple Clarity) is the name of a constellation near the
Pole star A pole star or polar star is a star, preferably bright, nearly aligned with the axis of a rotating astronomical body. Currently, Earth's pole stars are Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris), a bright magnitude-2 star aligned approximately with its ...
that was associated with Destiny in Taoist
fortune-telling Fortune telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115-116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical wi ...
. On the night of 26 July 365, the Perfected Consort of Purple Clarity descended to Yang Xi and introduced his stunning bride Consort An. Both Perfected ladies dictated poems to ensure that Yang understood the cosmic significance of their engagement. At their spirit marriage on the next night, Consort An explains their destiny,
It is just that I grasp the crux of things and so seized this rare opportunity, thereby responding to cosmic rhythms and numerological fate. In lowering my effulgent corporeal spirits into the dust and evanescence of your world, I have harnessed them as dragons to plunge below. This was done expressly to summon to me the male who pursues the mysterious and to pursue with him an association wherein I might gain a suitable counterpart. We came together because of predestination. As a result, Our records were compared, our names verified; Our immaculate tallies joined in the jeweled realms— Our dual felicity has been arranged: We will travel as wild geese supporting one another. We will share sips from a single gourd-goblet, Toasting the nuptial quilt and knotting our lower garments. When you look to your mate for the food she will prepare— It is the Perfected drugs she holds inside herself. ...
The ''Zhengao'' is a unique source for understanding the ancient shamanistic Taoism of Southern China, and its ecstatic poetry shows a distinct relationship to earlier shaman-inspired literature such as in the ''Chuci'' anthology. The spiritual quest for "a divine lover who is at the same time a redeemer" is a central theme in the ''Zhen Gao'', and the male and female Taoist adepts exchange love poems with their immortal counterparts, in celebration of their ecstatic union. Take for instance, the "Song of Consort An" that she dictated to Yang Xi.
My chariot has departed from the realm of Western Flowers, Wandering between the worlds of impermanence and transcendence. I now look at the summits of the Five Marchmounts, Then again I bathe myself in the Milky Way. Leaving my chariot behind, I search for an empty vessel, In all this I am full of passionate feelings, Who like a mustard grain can suddenly grow to cover ten thousand acres! In the center stands
Mount Sumeru Mount Meru (Sanskrit/Pali: मेरु), also known as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru, is the sacred five-peaked mountain of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cosmology and is considered to be the centre of all the physical, metaphysical and spirit ...
: There is no difference between large and small. The same cause stands at the root of what is far and near; You come from the impermanent world of phenomena. But I love you as a transcendent being!
Among the Perfected who transmitted poetry to Yang Xi, the most prolific (9 poems from 21 August 365 to 28 May 366) was Lady Youying (右英婦人), the thirteenth daughter of the goddess
Queen Mother of the West The Queen Mother of the West, known by various local names, is a mother goddess in Chinese religion and mythology, also worshipped in neighbouring Asian countries, and attested from ancient times. From her name alone some of her most importan ...
. All nine were "seduction songs" for Yang's patron Xu Mi, who the Perfected said was destined to join Lady Youying in spirit marriage and ascend to Shangqing heaven. At that time Xu Mi was in his early sixties, and seen by the Perfected to be entangled in earthly, carnal desires. Lady Youying hoped that her poetry, filled with the colors, sounds, and scenes of the celestial regions, will convince him to join her in a mystical
sacred marriage ''Hieros gamos'', hieros (ἱερός) meaning "holy" or "sacred" and gamos (γάμος) meaning marriage, or Hierogamy (Greek , "holy marriage"), is a sacred marriage that plays out between a god and a goddess, especially when enacted in a symb ...
in the "unseen realm". However, despite Lady Youying's repeated otherworldly pleadings, Xu Mi waited over a decade to join her. He completed his official career in the capital, and moved to Maoshan where he practiced Shangqing worship until his death in 376. Yang recorded that Lady Youying dictated the following poem on 6 March 366.
Reining in the sky-lights, I ascend the empyrean's dawn-source, Rambling to revelry in the Palace of Watchet Whitecap. Prismatic clouds wreathe the cinnabar auroras; Numinous cumuli bestrew the Eight Hollows. The Perfected Ones on high chant in rose-gem abodes; Lofty Transcendents carol in blue-gem chambers. Nine phoenixes sing through the vermilion sounding-pipes; The rhythms of the void commingle in the plumed bells. With our necks entwined, within the Golden Court I'll unite with my mate amidst the unseen realm. Together we will tap the ichor of the jade ale— In a flash and a flicker, are now in the nonage of infancy! —Well then, why do you crouch athwart the worldly road, Your lapses and maladies increasing with every day?
Songs such as Lady Youying's are "direct heirs" to the ''Chucis ''Yuan you'' Far-off Journey, which poetically describes a shamanic/Taoist flight around the heavens and earth.


Buddhist influences

The
Silk Road transmission of Buddhism Buddhism entered Han China via the Silk Road, beginning in the 1st or 2nd century CE. The first documented translation efforts by Buddhist monks in China were in the 2nd century CE via the Kushan Empire into the Chinese territory bordering th ...
into China began in the 1st or 2nd century CE, and the new foreign religion had become widely popular by the time the ''Zhengao'' was written. The Taoist
Lingbao School The Lingbao School (), also known as the School of the Sacred Jewel or the School of Numinous Treasure, was an important Taoist School that emerged in China in between the Jin dynasty and the Liu Song dynasty in the early fifth century CE. It l ...
, which began in the early 5th century, borrowed many practices and terms from Buddhism. The Shangqing Taoist ''Zhengao'' incorporated some passages from Buddhist texts and adapted religious concepts such as monastic celibacy. Some revelations the Perfected bestowed upon Yang were corrections of existing texts in other traditions. One of the clearest examples of Buddhist borrowings in the ''Zhengao'' is a portion of the ''Sishi'erzhang jing'' ''
Sutra of Forty-two Chapters The ''Sutra of Forty-two Chapters'' (also called the ''Sutra of Forty-two Sections'', Chinese: 四十二章經) is often regarded as the first Indian Buddhist sutra translated into Chinese. However, this collection of aphorisms may have appeared so ...
'', which is believed to have been the first
Buddhist scripture Buddhist texts are those religious texts which belong to the Buddhist tradition. The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed to writing until some centuries after the death of Gautama Buddha. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts a ...
translated into Chinese. The Chinese philosopher and author
Hu Shih Hu Shih (; 17 December 1891 – 24 February 1962), also known as Hu Suh in early references, was a Chinese diplomat, essayist, literary scholar, philosopher, and politician. Hu is widely recognized today as a key contributor to Chinese liberal ...
(1935) first discovered the ''Sishi'er zhang jing'' borrowings in the ''Zhengao'' (volumes 6 and 9, and criticized Tao Hongjing for plagiarism. The ''Zhengao'' imbeds borrowed passages within discourses attributed to Taoist deities. The following passage uses two fundamental tenets of Buddhism—'' Dukkha'' "suffering; unsatisfactoriness" (Chinese ''kǔ'' 苦 "bitterness"), the first of the
Four Noble Truths In Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths (Sanskrit: ; pi, cattāri ariyasaccāni; "The four Arya satyas") are "the truths of the Noble Ones", the truths or realities for the "spiritually worthy ones". Four Noble Truths: BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY Encycl ...
, and ''Saṃsāra'' "karmic cycle; reincarnation" (''lúnhuí'' 輪回 "transmigration")— to exhort Shangqing adepts toward single-minded, painstaking training and to reject the futile cravings of mundane life.
The Blue Boy of Fangzhu appeared and proclaimed, ''"For a person to practice the Tao is also to suffer, but to not practice the Tao is also to suffer. People from their birth reach old age, and from old age reach [the stage of] illness''. Protecting their bodies ''they reach [the point of] death. Their suffering is limitless. In their minds they worry and they accumulate transgressions. With their births and deaths unending, their suffering is difficult to ccurately and sufficientlydescribe'' (emphasis added). Even more so it is because many do not live to their old age ordained by Heaven!
y saying that Y, or y, is the twenty-fifth and penultimate letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or seventh ...
to practice the Tao is also to suffer, I mean that to maintain the Perfect purely and immaculately, to guard the mysterious and long for the miraculous, to search for a teacher while struggling, to undergo hundreds of trials, to keep your heart diligent without failure, to exert your determination firmly and clearly; these are also the utmost in suffering."
Another recurring ''Sutra of Forty-two Chapters'' theme in the ''Zhengao'' is the elimination of sexual desire. One borrowed passage states, "As for what is great among longings and desires, nothing is greater than lust. The guilt it brings on has no limit, and it is a matter that cannot be forgiven." (''Zhengao'' 6, ''Sishi'erzhang jing'' 22). Prior to significant Buddhist influence, Daoists traditionally encouraged the practice of " retention of the semen" as a means to increase longevity, with ''jīng'' (精) meaning both physical "sperm" and spiritual "
essence Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...
" in ''
Neidan Neidan, or internal alchemy (), is an array of esoteric doctrines and physical, mental, and spiritual practices that Taoist initiates use to prolong life and create an immortal spiritual body that would survive after death. Also known as Jindan ...
'' Internal Alchemy and
Traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logica ...
. Thus, "The Oral Lesson of the Female Immortal, the wife of Liu Gang" warns, "Those who seek immortality must not associate with women." (''Zhengao'' 10). The ''Zhengao'' used ''yàolì'' (藥力, "efficacy of a medicine") in an unclear meaning: "If a Taoist adept seeks to become an immortal, he must not copulate with women. Each time you copulate, you nullify a full year's medicinal strength. If you ingest nothing and engage in bedroom activities, you will lose thirty years off your life span." (10) interpreting that uncelibate adepts could take special medicines to supplement their ''jing''). One of the primary ''Zhengao'' reasons for maintaining celibacy and eliminating lust was to attain direct spiritual encounters with immortals and gods. "Those who are perfect have no feelings of roticpassion and desire, nor any thoughts of man and woman. If houghts ofred and white exist in one's bosom, the sympathy of Perfected beings will not come about as a response, and Divine Women and Superior Worthies will not descend efore you" (6). This "red and white" may refer to blood and sperm. The ''Zhengao'' poem "Spiritual Union, Not Sexual Intercourse" begins, "The world prizes sweetly scented intercourse / The way prescribes union in the mystic empyrean"


Literary value

The ''Zhengao'' was influential in medieval Chinese literature and continues to have extraordinary lyrical value. The works of many of China's greatest poets, including
Li Bo Li Bai (, 701–762), also pronounced as Li Bo, courtesy name Taibai (), was a Chinese poet, acclaimed from his own time to the present as a brilliant and romantic figure who took traditional poetic forms to new heights. He and his friend Du F ...
, Wang Wei,
Bo Juyi Bai Juyi (also Bo Juyi or Po Chü-i; ; 772–846), courtesy name Letian (樂天), was a renowned Chinese poet and Tang dynasty government official. Many of his poems concern his career or observations made about everyday life, including as ...
, and
Li Shangyin Li Shangyin (, 813858), courtesy name Yishan (), was a Chinese poet and politician of the late Tang dynasty, born in the Henei Commandery (now Qinyang, Henan). He is noted for the imagist quality of his poems and his "no title" () style of poe ...
, were influenced by it. The first readers of the ''Zhengao'' were Eastern Jin dynasty literari, well-educated intellectuals who esteemed poetic ability. The text comprises some 70 poems and songs recited to Yang Xi by the Shangqing divinities, and they communicated with verbal artistry specifically "calculated to impress and enchant" the literate aristocracy of the Eastern Jin court. Yang Xi's "virtuoso efforts combining spiritual content with lyric technique" precisely appealed to this 4th-5th century Chinese audience, since most of the Perfected Ones' verses had the then current pentasyllabic meter favored by the Eastern Jin literati themselves. For a final example of Yang Xi's literary ability, consider this description of when Lady of Purple Tenuity first appeared to him (described above). "Her garments flashed with light, illumining the room. Looking at her was like trying to discern the shape of a flake of mica as it reflects the sun. Her billowing hair, black and long at the temples, was arranged exquisitely. It was done up in a topknot on the crown of her head, so that the remaining strands fell almost to her waist. There were golden rings on her fingers and jade circlets on her arms. judging by her appearance, she must have been about thirteen or fourteen."Tr. .


References

* * * * * * * * * * Footnotes


External links


Declarations of the Perfected
FYSK Daoist Culture Centre Database.
真誥
''Zhengao'' versions at
Chinese Text Project The Chinese Text Project (CTP; ) is a digital library project that assembles collections of early Chinese texts. The name of the project in Chinese literally means "The Chinese Philosophical Book Digitization Project", showing its focus on books ...
. {{Taoism footer 5th-century Chinese books Taoist texts Chinese folk religious texts Buddhism in China