Chart of the Palaces and Bureaus of Heaven and Earth天地宫府图

Author / transmission

Sima Chengzhen

Period

Tang · Written by Sima Chengzhen (647–735) of the Tang; the original work is lost, and the text survives today only as preserved in juan 27 of the Yunji Qiqian.

Canon division

Preserved in the Yunji Qiqian

Collected in

Zhengtong Daozang, Taixuan Section (Yunji Qiqian, juan 27)

Category

Mountain Gazetteers

Fascicles

One Fascicle (Juan)

Synopsis

The Tiandi Gongfu Tu (Chart of the Palaces and Bureaus of Heaven and Earth) is the earliest surviving text to systematically arrange the Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands, written by the Tang-dynasty Shangqing master Sima Chengzhen and preserved today in juan 27 of the Yunji Qiqian. The text lists in order the Ten Great Grotto-Heavens (the Heaven of Lesser Existence and Pure Emptiness at Mount Wangwu, the Heaven of Greater Existence and Empty Brightness at Mount Weiyu, together with Mount Xicheng, Mount Xixuan, Mount Qingcheng, Mount Chicheng, Mount Luofu, Mount Gouqu, Mount Linwu, and Mount Kuocang), the Thirty-six Lesser Grotto-Heavens, and the Seventy-two Blessed Lands, each annotated with its location and presiding Perfected being. This text organized the concept of the Grotto-Heaven, scattered through the Shangqing and Lingbao scriptures since the Six Dynasties, into a clearly hierarchical system; it became the basis for Du Guangting's Record of Grotto-Heavens, Blessed Lands, Marchmounts, Rivers and Famous Mountains, and established the canonical status of Daoist sacred mountains such as Maoshan (Mount Gouqu), Mount Wangwu, Mount Qingcheng and Mount Luofu. Sima Chengzhen himself was honoured by Emperor Ruizong and Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, and he once proposed that shrines to Perfected Lords be established at each of the Five Marchmounts; his vision of sacred geography thereby gained state recognition, becoming part of the institutionalization of Daoism in the Tang.

Key Ideas

• The earliest surviving systematic statement of the Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands
• The Ten Great Grotto-Heavens, the Thirty-six Lesser Grotto-Heavens, and the Seventy-two Blessed Lands
• The basis for Du Guangting's Record of Famous Mountains
• Established the status of famous mountains such as Maoshan, Mount Wangwu and Mount Qingcheng
• The proposal for shrines to Perfected Lords at the Five Marchmounts, and its state recognition

Structure

One juan, listing the names and locations of the Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands.

Editions

• Text preserved in juan 27 of the Yunji Qiqian
• Zhonghua Daozang edition

Full Text & Online Resources

• Wikisource: Yunji Qiqian
• Wikipedia: Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands

Related scriptures

Related figures