Scripture of the Void of Free Wandering消摇墟经

Also known as

Scripture of the Void of Free Wandering, Illustrated Scripture of the Void of Free Wandering

Author / transmission

Hong Yingming (Ming)

Period

Ming · Compiled by Hong Yingming of the Ming (courtesy name Zicheng, author of the Caigentan), printed during the Wanli era; two fascicles, with an illustration and a biography for each immortal.

Canon division

Outside the Canon (Ming printed edition)

Collected in

Outside the canon (a Wanli-era printed edition, later included in the Daoist Texts outside the Canon).

Category

Immortal Biographies

Fascicles

2 juan

Synopsis

The Scripture of the Void of Free Wandering (also written Xiaoyao Xu Jing), in two fascicles, was compiled by Hong Yingming during the Wanli era of the Ming, and is a popular illustrated collection of immortal biographies. The title draws on the sense of 'free and easy wandering' from the Zhuangzi, 'void' (xu) denoting the empty realm inhabited by immortals. The work collects several dozen immortals and perfected beings from across the ages, each given one illustration and one biography; the illustrations are woodblock prints, and the biographical texts are brief and accessible, drawn from and abridged out of older works such as the Biographies of Exemplary Immortals, Biographies of Divine Immortals, and the Xianjian. Belonging, together with the contemporaneous Youxiang liexian quanzhuan, to the genre of illustrated immortal biographies published by late Ming commercial presses, the work reflects the flourishing of woodblock printing and the trend toward popularization and visualization of Daoist belief in the mid-to-late Ming — immortals and perfected beings were no longer merely models for Daoist priests' cultivation, but also objects of desktop appreciation and prayer for blessings among the literati and common classes. Hong Yingming was also the author of the Caigentan (Vegetable Root Discourses), and the taste for a blending of the Three Teachings and for terse aphoristic sketches evident in that work can also be seen in the selection and commentary of the present book.

Key Ideas

• A popular illustrated collection of immortal biographies
• Draws its title from 'free and easy wandering' in the Zhuangzi
• Late Ming woodblock printing and the visualization of Daoist belief
• Drawn from and abridged out of older immortal biographies
• Its compiler, Hong Yingming, also wrote the Caigentan

Structure

Two fascicles, one illustration and one biography for each immortal.

Editions

• Wanli-era printed edition
• Facsimile reprint in the Daoist Texts outside the Canon

Full Text & Online Resources

• CTEXT: search
• Wikipedia: Hong Yingming

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