Shangqing School

TheShangqing School(Chinese: Thượng thanh ), also known asSupreme Clarity,Highest Clarity,orSupreme Purity,is aDaoistmovement that began during the aristocracy of theWestern Jindynasty. Shangqing can be translated as either 'Supreme Clarity' or 'Highest Clarity.' The first leader of the school was a woman,Wei Huacun(251-334). According to her Shangqing hagiographers, her devotion to Daoist cultivation so impressed a number of immortals that she received revelations from them 31 volumes of Daoist scriptures which would become the foundation of Shangqing Daoism. Later,Tao Hongjing,a man, (Chinese: Đào Hoằng Cảnh ) (456－536) structured the theory and practice and compiled thecanon.He greatly contributed to the development of the school that took place near the end of the 5th century. The mountain nearNanjingwhere Tao Hongjing had his retreat, Maoshan ( Mao Sơn –fr), today remains the principal seat of the school.

Shangqing practice valuesmeditationtechniques of visualization and breathing, as well as physical exercises, as opposed to the use ofalchemyandtalismans.The recitation of the sacred canon plays an equally important role. The practice was essentially individualistic, contrary to the collective practices in theCelestial Masterschool or in theLingbao School.Recruiting from high social classes, during theTang dynasty,Shangqing was the dominant school of Daoism, and its influence is found in literature of the time period. The importance of the school only began to diminish beginning from the second half of theSong dynasty.Under theYuan dynasty,the movement was known by the name Maoshan and the focus changed from meditation to rituals and talismans. In the 21st century, Maoshan Daoism is still practiced but its current techniques and beliefs differ from the original values of the school.

History

Lady Wei Huacun, an aristocrat from the Jin dynasty and a Celestial Master practitioner, was the first leader of the Shangqing School.

Three decades after her death, from 364 to 370,Yang Xi(330-c. 386) was believed to have had revelations"aided almost certainly bycannabis"(Joseph Needham1980:213) and "received...scripturalandhagiographicliterature "fromzhenrenxianwho brought him into a visitation experience. These texts eventually formed the basis of the school’s beliefs. The immortals and spiritsthat appeared to him were from "theheavenof Shang-ch'ing "and stated thatImperial Chinaand all othergovernmentsin the world would end and be replaced by atheocraticTaoistempire.

The school at this time believed that the4th centurywas a time ofsinand divine trials brought on by six evil anddemonictiānrealms called the Six Heavens in English and during theapocalypsewhich would come in the year392,"the earth was to be cleansed of evildoers by a cataclysm of fire and flood."The good people of the world would be safe from this because of the power of the "luminous caverns of the perfected" beneath divine mountains like Maoshan, and Lord Li Hung would descend from heaven to rule the world afterwards.

The revelation began to spread in aristocratic circles of South China, and eventually Tao Hongjing, advisor to the princes of Qi, joined the group. He commented upon, and compiled the Shangqing texts, and developed a well-structured system consisting of a pantheon and new ways to reach immortality that depended upon meditation. More interested in Daoism andBuddhismthan in public administration, in 492 he received authorization to leave the court. He moved to Maoshan, which had by now become the center of the school. There, with the help of theEmperor Wudiof theLiang dynasty,he built the temple of Huayang, the first Shangqing temple.

After his death, the school continued to prosper, and recruited many people from the aristocracy. From its beginning near Nanjing, the school expanded to the north after laws passed in 504 and 517 forced several masters of the school to go into exile. Ironically this expulsion helped spread the movement to the north, and did little to weaken the schools organization in the south. The Daoist encyclopedia published under the patronage of theEmperor Wuof theNorthern Zhou(561-578) placed a great deal of importance on the Shangqing texts.

The Shangqing School dominated the Daoist movements under the Tang. During this period, all of its leaders received a title from the emperor. EmperorTaizongpersonally visited three of the temples on Maoshan, and in 731 theXuanzongemperor put Shangqing deities in charge of China’s sacred mountains. The Daoist section of the imperial encyclopedia was composed primarily of Shangqing texts.

Tao Hongjing, responsible for the compilation of Shangqing texts.

At the same time, the Shangqing school underwent a transformation and integrated texts from the Lingbao School as well as from the Way of the Celestial Master school. The clergy also became more important and more emphasis was put on public rituals.

During the second half of theNorthern Song dynasty,the influence of Shangqing Daoism declined at the court, but still remained, changing its focus to rituals and talismans. New buildings appeared on Maoshan that survived until theCultural RevolutionofMao Zedong.Under the Song, some of the Shangqing leaders still benefited from imperial favour such as the 23rd leader, Zhu Ziying (974–1029), who received the title of ‘national master’ from the court. The 35th and 44th masters, Ren Yuanpu and Wang Daomeng, were equally distinguished for having ended a grasshopper invasion and a flood. Under the Yuan dynasty, the Shangqing school integrated itself under the Zhengyi alliance. At the end of the 20th century, theTaiping Rebellion,theJapanesearmy and the Cultural Revolution have resulted in the complete destruction of the temples on Maoshan. Two of the temples, Jiuxiaogong and Yuanfugong have been rebuilt more for tourists than for religious purposes.

Practices

Shangqing Daoism has borrowed many concepts and beliefs from both the Celestial Masters as well as fromGe Hong’s alchemical tradition. However, the absorption of elixirs and other potions aimed to attain immortality was largely replaced in the Song period byinternal alchemythat was more linked to meditation techniques (see theZuowanglun).

An emphasis was placed on personal meditation in the Shangqing school, unlike the ritualized system of the Celestial Masters. Shangqing meditation was largely a solitary affair, and focused on mental visualization of spirits and gods. There was also no requirement to meditate at a temple; one’s own home was fine. Deities lived inside the body and could provide good health if meditated upon. Each deity inhabited a different part of the body. Through studying the descriptions of deities in the canon, adepts would contemplate the inside of their body and maintain the deities in their proper place. This would ensure the body’s durability. While it began as a school centered on the individual, the school changed progressively until talismans and rituals became a more important aspect.

Some members of the school during the time of itsapocalypticismbelieved those who would be saved would only be elite Daoists who previously used cultivation techniques or studied them in attempts to becomexian.Members of the school in the afterlife were thought to be able to aid their living counterparts.

Pantheon

The main god of the Shangqing School is known as the Venerable Sovereign, the first of theThree Pure Ones.The pantheon included gods that could be turned to for help, ones that could be revered and others that could be commanded. As described by Tao Hongjing, the pantheon occupied twenty-eight pages in Shangqing texts, but the most important deities are scarcely mentioned. The canon mostly contains information about the gods that lived within the body.

There are at least eight heavens in Shangqing Daoism, although six of them are evil and demonic.One of them gives its name to the school and has many immortals within it.

Canon

The principal text of the Shangqing School is known as The True Text of the Great Dong (Dadong Zhenjing, đại động chân kinh ). Dong can be translated as cave or grotto, but also has other meanings such as ‘to communicate.’When the texts were dictated to Yang Xi, the immortals told him that they were the condensed form of primordialqi,and existed before the world was born. Eventually the texts congealed and were sent by heaven to be dictated to Yang.

SomeBuddhistelements such asreincarnationandChinese Buddhism's views ondestinyand predestined scenarios were written into Shangqing texts.

Although several sources confirm that the Dadong Zhenjing dates back to the 4th century CE, and earlier fragments exist, the oldest extant complete text, known as the Perfected Scripture of the Great Cavern of Highest Clarity (Shangqing dadong zhenjing thượng thanh đại động chân kinh ), was edited by the twenty-third patriarch, Zhu Ziying, and collated in the 13th century by the thirty-eighth patriarch, Jiang Zongying (d. 1281).Later versions introduced “dramatic changes.”

Recitation and veneration of the texts was extremely important. The transmission of texts was strictly controlled, and only a master could give a text to a disciple. The texts could never be revealed to those outside the school.

List of Shangqing patriarchs

1. Wei Huacun (Ngụy hoa tồn,251–334)
2. Yang Xi (Dương hi,330–86)
3. Xu Mi (Hứa mịch,303–76)
4. Xu Hui (Hứa hối,341–ca. 370)
5. Ma Lang (Mã lãng)
6. Ma Han (Mã hãn)
7. Lu Xiujing (Lục tu tĩnh,406–77)
8. Sun Youyue (Tôn du nhạc,399–489)
9. Tao Hongijng (Đào Hoằng Cảnh,456–536)
10. Wang Yuanzhi (Vương xa biết,528–635)
11. Pan Shizheng (Phan sư chính,585–682)
12. Sima Chengzhen (Tư Mã thừa trinh,647–735)
13. Li Hanguang (Lý hàm quang,683–769)
14. Wei Jingzhao (Vi cảnh chiêu,694–785)
15. Huang Dongyuan (Hoàng động nguyên,698–792)
16. Sun Zhiqing (Tôn trí thanh)
17. Wu Fatong (Ngô pháp thông,825–907)
18. Liu Dechang (Lưu đến thường)
19. Wang Qixia (Vương Tê Hà,882–943)
20. Cheng Yanzhao (Thành duyên chiêu,912–90)
21. Jiang Yuanji (Tưởng nguyên cát,?–998)
22. Wan Baochong (Vạn bảo hướng)
23. Zhu Ziying (Chu tự anh,976–1029)
24. Mao Fengrou (Mao phụng nhu)
25. Liu Hunkang (Lưu hỗn khang,1035–1108)
26. Da Jingzhi (Đát tịnh chi,1068–1113)
27. Xu Xihe (Từ hi cùng,?–1127)
28. Jiang Jingche (Tưởng cảnh triệt,?–1146)
29. Li Jinghe (Lý cảnh hợp,?–1150)
30. Li Jingying (Lý cảnh ánh,?–1164)
31. Xu Shoujing (Từ thủ kinh,?–1195)
32. Qin Ruda (Tần nhữ đạt,?–1195)
33. Xing Rujia (Hình nhữ gia,?–1209)
34. Xue Ruji (Tiết nhữ tích,?–1214)
35. Ren Yuanfu (Nhậm nguyên phụ,1176–1239)
36. Bao Zhizhen (Bào chí thật,?–1251)
37. Tang Zhidao (Canh chí nói,?–1258)
38. Jiang Zongying (Tưởng tông anh,?–1281)
39. Jing Yuanfan (Cảnh nguyên phạm)
40. Liu Zongchang (Lưu tông sưởng)
41. Wang Zhixin (Vương chí tâm,?–1273)
42. Zhai Zhiying (Địch chí dĩnh,?–1276)
43. Xu Daoqi (Hứa nói kỷ,1236–1291)
44. Wang Daomeng (Vương đạo Mạnh,1242–1314)
45. Liu Dabin (Lưu đại bân,fl. 1317–28)

References

• Needham, Joseph, Ho Ping-Yu, and Lu Gwei-djen.Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology; Part 4, Spagyrical Discovery and Invention.Cambridge University Press, 1980.
• Robinet, Isabelle,Taoist Meditation: The Mao-Shan Tradition of Great Purity,trans. Julian F. Pas and Norman J. Girardot, State University of New York Press, 1993.
• Robinet, Isabelle.Daoism: Growth of a Religion.Stanford: Stanford University, 1997.

External links

• Shangqing(Isabelle Robinet), entry fromThe Encyclopedia of Taoism
• Tao Hongjing (456-536)
• 'The Rise of the Tao',New York Times Magazine