Precious Canon of the Celestial Palace of the Great Song大宋天宫宝藏

Also known as

Precious Canon of the Celestial Palace

Author / transmission

Zhang Junfang, Wang Qinruo and others

Period

Northern Song · Compiled by imperial decree of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, with Wang Qinruo in overall charge and Zhang Junfang actually directing the work; completed in the third year of the Tianxi era (1019) at 4,565 scrolls; the original Canon is lost. Zhang Junfang separately extracted the Seven Slips from the Bookbag of the Clouds from it.

Canon division

Daoist Canon (lost)

Collected in

Lost (the Seven Slips from the Bookbag of the Clouds preserves its essentials in extracted form)

Category

Daozang Collections

Fascicles

4,565 juan

Synopsis

The Precious Canon of the Celestial Palace of the Great Song is the Daoist Canon compiled under state sponsorship in the early Northern Song. Emperor Zhenzong of Song, a devout patron of Daoism (associated with the “Heavenly Writs” affair, the Feng and Shan sacrifices, and the worship of the Sage Ancestor Zhao Xuanlang), ordered Wang Qinruo to take overall charge of collating and compiling Daoist texts, with Zhang Junfang actually directing the work from an office established in Hangzhou; the compilation was completed in the third year of the Tianxi era (1019) at 4,565 scrolls, with seven sets copied out and distributed among various temples. Although this Canon too has been lost, because Zhang Junfang, in the course of compiling it, “gathered the finest of the Seven Sections of the cloud-bookbag, and distilled the profundities hidden within the various masters,” extracting its essentials into the 120-scroll Seven Slips from the Bookbag of the Clouds, which he presented to the throne, the scale, classification, and principal contents of the Northern Song Daoist Canon have been preserved through this abridgment — hence the Seven Slips from the Bookbag of the Clouds is known as the “Little Daoist Canon,” and is one of the most important windows today for understanding pre-Song Daoist literature. This Canon also marks the transition of the Chinese Daoist Canon from manuscript to printed form: the subsequent Wanshou Daoist Canon of the Zhenghe Era, compiled under Emperor Huizong, was based on this foundation and was the first Daoist Canon to be block-printed, inaugurating the era of printed Daoist Canons.

Key Ideas

• A state-compiled Daoist Canon of the early Northern Song
• Directed by Zhang Junfang, comprising 4,565 scrolls
• The Seven Slips from the Bookbag of the Clouds as its extracted essentials
• The “Little Daoist Canon” preserving the appearance of pre-Song literature
• The transition from manuscript to printed Daoist Canons

Structure

Arranged according to the Three Caverns and Four Supplements; seven sets were copied out and distributed among various temples.

Editions

• The original Canon is lost; the 120-scroll Seven Slips from the Bookbag of the Clouds preserves its essentials

Commentaries

• Detailed study in Chen Guofu's Studies on the Origins and Development of the Daoist Canon

Full Text & Online Resources

• Wikipedia: Daoist Canon
• CTEXT: Seven Slips from the Bookbag of the Clouds

Related scriptures

Related figures