Catalogue of the Scriptures of the Three Caverns三洞经书目录
- Also known as
- Lu Xiujing's Catalogue of the Scriptures of the Three Caverns
- Author / transmission
- Lu Xiujing
- Period
- Liu Song (Southern Dynasties) · Compiled by Lu Xiujing (406–477), submitted at imperial command from Emperor Ming of the Song in the seventh year of the Taishi era (471), recording Daoist scriptures, medical formulas, and talismanic charts totaling 1,228 scrolls; the original text is lost.
- Canon division
- Catalogue of the Daoist Canon (lost)
- Collected in
- Lost (fragments survive scattered among the Daoist Canon and historical bibliographies)
- Category
- Daozang Collections
- Fascicles
- 1 juan (recording 1,228 juan of scriptures)
Synopsis
The Catalogue of the Scriptures of the Three Caverns is the first formal comprehensive catalogue of Daoist scriptures in history, compiled by Lu Xiujing at imperial command in the seventh year of the Taishi era of the Liu Song (471); it recorded scriptures, medical formulas, and talismanic charts totaling 1,228 scrolls, of which 1,090 scrolls of scriptures and precepts were already circulating in the world and 138 scrolls remained in the Celestial Palace. Its greatest contribution lay in establishing the classification system of the “Three Caverns”: Dongzhen (corresponding to Shangqing), Dongxuan (corresponding to Lingbao), and Dongshen (corresponding to Sanhuang), integrating scriptural lineages that had previously circulated separately into a single hierarchical whole, and correlating this classification with the sequence of a priest's reception of registers — advancing from Dongshen to Dongxuan to Dongzhen formed the sequence of both practice and ordination. This classification was later supplemented by the addition of the “Four Supplements” (Taixuan, Taiping, Taiqing, and Zhengyi), forming the “Three Caverns, Four Supplements, and Seven Sections,” to which the further subdivision of the “Twelve Categories” was added; this framework was adopted by successive Daoist Canons through the ages, and even the Ming-dynasty Zhengtong Daozang still followed its structure. Though the original text is lost, its system can be reconstructed from the Regulations for the Practice of Daoism in Accordance with the Scriptures of the Three Caverns, the Pivot of Meaning of the Daoist Teaching, the Seven Slips from the Bookbag of the Clouds, and other sources, making it the starting point of Daoist bibliographical scholarship.
Key Ideas
- The first formal comprehensive catalogue of Daoist scriptures
- Established the Three Caverns classification of Dongzhen, Dongxuan, and Dongshen
- Correlated classification with the sequence of ordination
- The origin of the Three Caverns, Four Supplements, and Seven Sections system
- The source of the framework for successive Daoist Canons
Structure
One scroll, cataloguing texts arranged by the Three Caverns.
Editions
- The original text is lost; fragments survive in the Seven Slips from the Bookbag of the Clouds, the Pivot of Meaning of the Daoist Teaching, and elsewhere
Commentaries
- Detailed study in Chen Guofu's Studies on the Origins and Development of the Daoist Canon
Full Text & Online Resources
Related scriptures
Catalogue of the Scriptures of the Seven Sections of the Jade Weft, Daoist Canon of the Kaiyuan Era, Daoist Canon of the Zhengtong Era, Pivot of Meaning of the Daoist TeachingRelated figures
Lu Xiujing, 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》
- 《云笈七签》卷四所引陆修静序