Records of Daoist Miraculous Efficacy道教灵验记
- Also known as
- Records of Miraculous Efficacy
- Author / transmission
- Du Guangting
- Period
- Late Tang and Five Dynasties · Compiled by Du Guangting, probably completed toward the end of the Tang (late 9th to early 10th century); fifteen fascicles survive today (some say the original had twenty), and an abridged version is also preserved in fascicles 117–122 of the Yunji qiqian.
- Canon division
- Dongxuan Section, Jizhuan Category
- Collected in
- Zhengtong Daozang, Dongxuan Section, Jizhuan category.
- Category
- Immortal Biographies
- Fascicles
- Fifteen juan
Synopsis
Records of Daoist Miraculous Efficacy is the most important collection of Daoist miracle-tales from the Tang and Five Dynasties, compiled by Du Guangting, gathering several hundred accounts of 'miraculous efficacy' involving temples, images of celestial worthies, scriptures, talismans and registers, retreats and offerings, and ritual masters, each entry specifying the time, place and persons involved. The whole work is arranged by category of efficacy — efficacy of temples, of sacred images, of the Celestial Worthies, of Lord Lao, of the Perfected, of scriptures and rites, of Daoist images, and so on — following a narrative pattern in which those who violate or slight Daoism meet retribution while those who devoutly serve the Dao receive blessings; its purpose was to demonstrate the truth of the teaching through concrete cases, in response to the wavering of faith amid the Buddhist–Daoist rivalry and warfare of the late Tang. Although a work of religious propagation, it preserves a great wealth of detail on the rise and decline of Tang-dynasty temples, the production of scriptures and images, local cults, and social life, making it a primary source for the social history and material culture of Tang Daoism; its format also directly influenced the tradition of morality-book literature of the Ganying pian type and of miracle-tale collections from the Song and Yuan onward.
Key Ideas
- A comprehensive collection of Daoist miracle-tales from the Tang and Five Dynasties
- Arranged by category of efficacy: temples, sacred images, scriptures and rites, and others
- Demonstrates the truth of the teaching through concrete cases, in response to Buddhist–Daoist rivalry
- Preserves details of Tang-dynasty temples and social life
- Influenced later morality-book and miracle-tale literature
Structure
Fifteen fascicles, divided by category of efficacy, each category containing a number of entries.
Editions
- Zhengtong Daozang edition
- Abridged version in Yunji qiqian, fascicles 117–122
Translations
- Franciscus Verellen, a series of scholarly studies on Du Guangting's miracle-tale collections
Full Text & Online Resources
Related scriptures
Biographies of Encounters with Divine Immortals, Records of the Assembled Immortals of the Fortified Walled City, Treatise of the Most High on Action and Response, Seven Slips from the Bookbag of the Clouds (Yunji qiqian)Related figures
Du Guangting- Franciscus Verellen, 'Evidential Miracles in Support of Taoism', T'oung Pao 78 (1992)
- 任继愈主编《道藏提要》
- Schipper & Verellen, The Taoist Canon, 2004
- 孙昌武《道教与唐代文学》