Pearls Left Behind from the Sea of Rituals法海遗珠
- Author / transmission
- Anonymous (compiled in the Yuan–Ming)
- Period
- Late Yuan to early Ming · Compiled around the late Yuan to early Ming (14th century); the compiler is unknown.
- Canon division
- Taiping Section
- Collected in
- Daoist Canon of the Zhengtong Era, Taiping Section
- Category
- Talismans and Registers
- Fascicles
- 46 scrolls
Synopsis
The Pearls Left Behind from the Sea of Rituals is a compendium of ritual methods assembled in the Yuan–Ming transition, in 46 juan; similar in nature to the Corpus of Daoist Ritual but including many methods not found there, hence its name, "pearls left behind." Its contents include the ritual methods of Beidi (the Northern Emperor), Fengdu, Tianpeng, the Dark Emperor of Heaven (Xuandi), the Earth Spirits, Thunder, Taiyi, the Fire Bell, and Doumu, among many others; each method includes the titles of spirit generals, talismans, incantations, essential instructions for practice, and the transmission from the founding patriarchs, such as the "Great Rite of Highest Clarity Tianpeng for Subduing Demons" and the "Great Rite of Marshal Wen, Earth Spirit of the Northern Emperor," with an especially large number of newly emerged Yuan-dynasty methods for exorcism, interrogation of spirits, healing illness, and pacifying the household. Its methods mostly combine internal cultivation with outward ritual, reflecting the trend toward the popularization and localization of Daoist ritual in the Yuan dynasty, and it is also a key source for the study of the marshal deities (such as Wen Qiong, Ma, Zhao, and Guan) and the formation of the Thunder Rite pantheon.
Key Ideas
- Supplementing methods not included in the Corpus of Daoist Ritual
- The ritual methods of Beidi, Fengdu, Tianpeng, and the Earth Spirits
- Belief in the marshal deities and rites of exorcism and interrogation
- The localization of Yuan-dynasty ritual methods
Structure
46 juan, each containing one or more methods.
Editions
- Daoist Canon of the Zhengtong Era edition
- Zhonghua Daozang, vol. 37
Full Text & Online Resources
Related scriptures
Corpus of Daoist Ritual (Daofa huiyuan), Correct Rites of the Celestial Heart of Shangqing, Secret Essentials of the Assembled Perfected for Aiding the State and Saving the People- 任继愈主编《道藏提要》
- Judith Boltz, A Survey of Taoist Literature, 1987