Scripture of Laozi's Western Ascension (Xisheng jing)老子西升经

Also known as

Xisheng jing (Scripture of Western Ascension), Laojun Xisheng jing (Lord Lao's Scripture of Western Ascension)

Author / transmission

Anonymous

Period

Wei–Jin – Northern and Southern Dynasties · Probably composed between the Wei-Jin and the Southern Dynasties (4th–5th centuries); some hold it was already current before the Northern Zhou. Chen Jingyuan's Song-dynasty collected commentary attributes it to Yin Xi.

Canon division

Dongshen Section, Original Texts (Benwen) category

Collected in

Zhengtong Daozang, Original Texts category of the Dongshen (Cavern of Spirit) section (Xisheng jing); commentaries are in the Jade Instructions category of the same section.

Category

Daoist Philosophy

Fascicles

In one scroll, thirty-nine chapters (a two-scroll edition also exists).

Synopsis

The Xisheng jing (Scripture of Laozi's Western Ascension) is presented as the words spoken by Laozi to the pass-keeper Yin Xi when he journeyed west and departed through the pass, comprising thirty-nine chapters. Taking ‘the Dao’ and ‘empty non-being and naturalness’ as its guiding principles, it teaches that ‘the false Way nourishes the form, while the true Way nourishes the spirit,’ and maintains that ‘my life is in my own hands, not dependent on Heaven and Earth,’ emphasizing the preservation of spirit and the guarding of the One, purity and emptiness with few desires, and the perfection of both form and spirit together. The text blends the philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi, Wei-Jin Xuanxue (Neo-Daoist metaphysics), and early Daoist teachings on nourishing life, and is one of the body of texts belonging to the legendary deification of Laozi (his western ascension and conversion of the barbarians), though its content is less polemical and leans more toward doctrinal cultivation. It is already quoted in the Northern Zhou Wushang Biyao (Supreme Secret Essentials), was listed as required reading for Daoist priests in the Tang, and received an imperial commentary from Emperor Huizong of Song; Chen Jingyuan's Collected Commentaries on the Xisheng jing brings together earlier commentaries by Wei Chuxuan, Xu Miao and Chongxuanzi, and scholars of the Chongxuan (Twofold Mystery) school such as Li Rong and Cheng Xuanying also elaborated extensively on it. It is a transitional text in Daoist philosophy, marking the shift from theories of nourishing life to theories of mind and nature.

Key Ideas

• Empty non-being and naturalness; the Dao is the mother of the myriad things
• The true Way nourishes the spirit, the false Way nourishes the form
• My life is in my own hands, not dependent on Heaven and Earth
• The perfection of both form and spirit, uniting with the Dao in truth

Structure

Thirty-nine chapters, beginning with the chapter ‘Laozi Ascends to the West, Opening the Way to India.’

Editions

• Zhengtong Daozang edition
• Chen Jingyuan's Collected Commentaries on the Xisheng jing edition
• Emperor Huizong of Song's imperial commentary edition

Commentaries

• Commentary by Wei Chuxuan
• Commentary by Xu Miao
• Chen Jingyuan, Collected Commentaries on the Xisheng jing
• Emperor Huizong of Song, Imperial Commentary on the Xisheng jing

Translations

• Livia Kohn, Taoist Mystical Philosophy: The Scripture of Western Ascension (1991)

Full Text & Online Resources

• CTEXT: Xisheng jing
• Wikipedia: Xisheng jing

Related scriptures

Related figures