Shangqing Scriptural Corpus上清经系（洞真经、太上黄素、九真中经）

Also known as

Shangqing Scriptures, Dongzhen scriptures, Shangqing, thirty-one scrolls, Taishang huangsu sishisi fang jing (Scripture of the Forty-Four Methods on Yellow Silk), Shangqing Taishang dijun jiuzhen zhongjing (Central Scripture of the Nine Perfected of the Most High Sovereign of Shangqing)

Author / transmission

Yang Xi, Xu Mi, Xu Hui

Period

Eastern Jin · Centered on the descended scriptures recorded by Yang Xi and the two Xus between the second year of the Xingning era and the fifth year of the Taihe era of the Eastern Jin (364–370); later expanded by Wang Lingqi and others, so that by the time Tao Hongjing compiled them there were already several dozen texts; a catalogue of "thirty-one scrolls of Shangqing scriptures" already existed in the Southern Dynasties.

Canon division

Dongzhen (Cavern of Perfection) Section

Collected in

Zhengtong Daozang, Dongzhen Section (scattered across the Original Texts, Jade Instructions, Methods, and Various Arts categories)

Category

Early Daoist Scriptures

Fascicles

Numerous versions; the core corpus comprises some thirty-odd scrolls

Synopsis

The Shangqing Scriptural Corpus is a body of "descended revelation" scriptures formed in the mid-Eastern Jin between the Xu clan of Jurong and the medium Yang Xi, later honored by the Maoshan Lineage as the basis of the "Dongzhen" (Cavern of Perfection) category. Its core, besides the Dadong Zhenjing, includes the Scripture of the Forty-four Methods of the Supreme Yellow Plainness (on the methods of visualizing the sun and moon, pacing the void, and concealment), the Shangqing Scripture of the Nine Perfected of the Supreme Emperor-Lord (on the methods of the Nine Perfected Emperor-Lords and visualization of the "Three Ones"), the Scripture of the Divine and Mysterious Transformations of the Purple Effulgence of Blazing Light, the Flying Scripture of the Eight Effulgences of Golden Perfection and Jade Radiance, the Scripture of the Eight Simplicities, the Feathered Scripture of Flight, and the Hidden Book of Jade Purity's Golden Mystery for Dispelling Demons in the Cavern-Effulgence, among others. These scriptures are characterized by the visualization of body gods together with the sun, moon, and stars, breath ingestion and the swallowing of saliva, ascension through scripture recitation, and reclusion on sacred mountains; their pantheon centers chiefly on the Celestial King of Primordial Beginning, the Supreme Lord of the Great Dao, and Wei Huacun, while their underworld holds the Six Palaces of Heaven at Fengdu. The scriptural texts are elegantly written, largely in verse form, and were catalogued in detail and examined for authenticity by Tao Hongjing in the Zhengao and the Dengzhen Yinjue. The Shangqing Scriptural Corpus established the highest status of "Dongzhen" within the Daoist "Three Caverns" system, and its orientation toward visualization practice directly opened the way for the internal alchemy of the Tang and Song.

Key Ideas

• Revelation through descended Perfected and scripture transmission by a medium
• Visualizing the sun, moon, and stars together with the body's Three Ones
• Breath ingestion, swallowing saliva, and pacing the void
• Emphasis on inner cultivation over external alchemy and sacrifice
• Formation of the Dongzhen category

Structure

Tao Hongjing's "Yizhenjian" chapter of the Zhengao lists the early catalogue of Shangqing scriptures; the Original Texts category of the Dongzhen Section of the Zhengtong Daozang consists mostly of these texts.

Editions

• Various scriptures of the Dongzhen Section of the Zhengtong Daozang
• Zhonghua Daozang, volumes 1–2 (Three Caverns Perfected Scriptures: Shangqing Scriptures)

Translations

• Isabelle Robinet, La révélation du Shangqing (1984), volume 2, text-by-text annotations
• Stephen Bokenkamp, Early Daoist Scriptures (1997), partial English translations

Full Text & Online Resources

• Wikipedia: Shangqing School
• CTEXT Search

Related scriptures

Related figures