Studies on the Origins and Development of the Daoist Canon道藏源流考

Also known as

Sequel to Studies on the Origins and Development of the Daoist Canon

Author / transmission

Chen Guofu

Period

Modern · Written by Chen Guofu (1914–2000), first published by Zhonghua Book Company in 1949, with a revised and enlarged edition in 1963; there is also a Sequel to the Studies on the Origins and Development of the Daoist Canon (Taipei: Ming Wen Book Company, 1983).

Canon division

Reference Works

Collected in

Modern scholarly work

Category

Reference Works

Fascicles

2 volumes (expanded edition)

Synopsis

Studies on the Origins and Development of the Daoist Canon is the foundational work of Daoist textual scholarship. Chen Guofu was by training a chemist (a professor at the National Southwest Associated University, Peking University and Tianjin University) who came to the Daoist Canon in depth through his research on the history of ancient Chinese chemistry, spending more than ten years on its textual investigation; the work was published by Zhonghua Book Company in 1949 and revised and enlarged in 1963. It falls into two parts: the first examines the compilation, the number of juan, the development of the sectional divisions and the survival or loss of the Daoist Canon through the dynasties, tracing it one by one from Lu Xiujing's Catalogue of the Scriptures of the Three Caverns to the Ming Zhengtong Daozang; the second appends studies of a number of special topics, such as the provenance of the various scriptures included in the Canon, the formation of the Three Caverns, Four Supplements and Twelve Categories, the literature of external alchemy and the "yellow and white" arts, Daoist music and a bibliography of works cited, along with a great deal of exacting research on editions and dating. This was the first work to treat the Daoist Canon with rigorous philological method, and it established a research paradigm for scholars in China and abroad; Schipper, Robinet and Ōfuchi Ninji all relied heavily on its findings, while its treatment of the history of external alchemy opened up the intersection of Chinese history of science and technology with Daoist studies (echoing the work of Joseph Needham and Nathan Sivin). It remains to this day the unavoidable starting point for any study of the Daoist Canon.

Key Ideas

• The foundational work of Daoist textual scholarship
• Examines the compilation, the number of juan and the survival of the Daoist Canon through the dynasties
• Research on the formation of the Three Caverns, Four Supplements and Twelve Categories
• A pioneering survey of the literature of external alchemy and the "yellow and white" arts
• Established the paradigm of Daoist Canon research in China and abroad

Structure

Two parts: the first a study of the Daoist Canon through the dynasties, the second appended special studies and a bibliography of works cited.

Editions

• Zhonghua Book Company, first edition, 1949
• Zhonghua Book Company, revised and enlarged edition, 1963 (reprinted 1989, 2014)
• Sequel to the Studies on the Origins and Development of the Daoist Canon, Taipei: Ming Wen Book Company, 1983

Full Text & Online Resources

• Wikipedia: Chen Guofu
• Douban: Studies on the Origins and Development of the Daoist Canon

Related scriptures

Related figures