Catalogue of Scriptures Missing from the Daoist Canon道藏阙经目录
- Also known as
- Catalogue of Missing Scriptures
- Author / transmission
- Author unknown (Ming)
- Period
- Ming · Compiled by a Ming-dynasty editor, in two scrolls, included in the Taiping section of the Zhengtong Daozang; it records the titles of Daoist scriptures then known by name but not included in the canon.
- Canon division
- Taiping Section
- Collected in
- Zhengtong Daozang, Taiping section
- Category
- Daozang Collections
- Fascicles
- 2 juan
Synopsis
The Catalogue of Scriptures Missing from the Daoist Canon (Daozang quejing mulu), in two scrolls, is included in the Taiping section of the Zhengtong Daozang and is devoted specifically to recording the titles of several hundred Daoist scriptures that were known by name when the Ming canon was compiled but whose physical texts could not be located, and which were therefore not included in the canon. The compilation of this catalogue was itself a direct consequence of the Yuan-dynasty burning of scriptures: a great many Song- and Yuan-dynasty Daoist scriptures were lost after the destruction of texts in the eighteenth year of the Zhiyuan era (1281), and the compilers of the Ming canon could only preserve their titles on the basis of earlier catalogues and citations in other works. This catalogue has therefore become a key source for examining the loss of Song- and Yuan-dynasty Daoist literature: scholars can cross-check its titles against surviving fragments quoted in encyclopedic compilations such as the Seven Slips from the Bookbag of the Clouds, the Sandong zhunang (Pearl Satchel of the Three Caverns), and the Supreme Secret Essentials, thereby partially inferring the content and nature of lost scriptures; some of the recorded titles were later rediscovered among the Dunhuang manuscripts, in the Essentials of the Daoist Canon, in Daoist Texts outside the Canon, or in Chinese texts held in Japan and Korea, further highlighting the reference value of this catalogue. Chen Guofu's Studies on the Origins and Development of the Daoist Canon includes a dedicated study of this catalogue, and it remains an indispensable tool of Daoist textual scholarship.
Key Ideas
- Records several hundred known Daoist scriptures not included in the Ming canon
- A direct consequence of the Yuan-dynasty burning of scriptures
- A key source for examining the loss of Song- and Yuan-dynasty Daoist literature
- Titles can be cross-checked against fragments quoted in encyclopedic compilations
- The subject of a dedicated study in Chen Guofu's Studies on the Origins and Development of the Daoist Canon
Structure
Two scrolls, arranged by title.
Editions
- Zhengtong Daozang edition
- Zhonghua Daozang edition
Commentaries
- Studied in detail in Chen Guofu's Studies on the Origins and Development of the Daoist Canon
Full Text & Online Resources
Related scriptures
Daoist Canon of the Zhengtong Era, Precious Canon of the Mysterious Metropolis (Yuan), Pearl Satchel of the Three Caverns, Supreme Secret Essentials (Wushang biyao)Related figures
Chen Guofu- Chen Guofu, Studies on the Origins and Development of the Daoist Canon
- Schipper & Verellen, The Taoist Canon, 2004
- 任继愈主编《道藏提要》
- 朱越利《道藏分类解题》