Treatise on the Mysterious Guideline玄纲论
- Also known as
- Zongxuan Xiansheng Xuangang Lun (Master Zongxuan's Treatise on the Mysterious Guideline)
- Author / transmission
- Wu Yun
- Period
- Tang · Composed by Wu Yun (d. 778), presented to Emperor Xuanzong of Tang between the end of the Tianbao era and the Dali era, around the mid-8th century.
- Canon division
- Taixuan Section
- Collected in
- Zhengtong Daozang, Taixuan Section
- Category
- Daoist Philosophy
- Fascicles
- In one scroll, thirty-three chapters.
Synopsis
The Treatise on the Mysterious Guideline (Xuangang lun) is a work by the eminent Tang priest Wu Yun systematically expounding Daoist philosophy and the theory of cultivation, divided into three sections of thirty-three chapters: "Clarifying the Dao and De," "Distinguishing Teaching and Method," and "Resolving Doubts and Obstructions." The upper section argues that the Dao and De are the ancestors of Heaven and Earth, that yin and yang generate the myriad things, and distinguishes nature and emotion from the true and the false; the middle section argues that immortality can be learned and that form and spirit can be made secure, holding that "the Dao takes utmost emptiness as its substance," that one who studies immortality should "guard stillness and cast off agitation" and "govern the emotions and return to nature," and that "immortals have their ranks and grades"; the lower section poses questions and answers to resolve difficulties, distinguishing the similarities and differences between Confucianism and Daoism and the workings of life, death, fortune, and misfortune. Wu Yun was a successor of the Maoshan Lineage, skilled also in poetry and prose, and on friendly terms with Li Bai; his discourse takes the abstruse principles of Laozi and Zhuangzi as its base while fusing in Shangqing cultivation and Confucian ethics, representing the doctrinal systematization and elite orientation of High Tang Daoism. He also wrote the Treatise on Whether Immortality Can Be Learned, the Treatise on Whether Form and Spirit Can Be Made Secure, and the Treatise on Mind and Eye, works whose ideas mutually illuminate one another.
Key Ideas
- The Dao and De as the ancestors of Heaven and Earth, taking utmost emptiness as their substance
- Immortality can be learned, and form and spirit can be made secure
- Guarding stillness and casting off agitation, governing the emotions and returning to nature
- Encompassing Confucianism and Buddhism within the Dao
Structure
Three sections in thirty-three chapters: "Clarifying the Dao and De," "Distinguishing Teaching and Method," and "Resolving Doubts and Obstructions."
Editions
- Zhengtong Daozang edition
- Collected Works of Master Zongxuan edition
- Quan Tang Wen, scroll 925
Translations
- Partial English translation by Livia Kohn; study by Jan De Meyer, Wu Yun's Way (2006)
Full Text & Online Resources
Related scriptures
Treatise on Sitting in Oblivion, Master of Heavenly Seclusion (Tianyinzi), Pivot of Meaning of the Daoist TeachingRelated figures
Wu Yun, Sima Chengzhen, Li Bai- Jan De Meyer, Wu Yun's Way: Life and Works of an Eighth-Century Daoist Master, 2006
- 《旧唐书·吴筠传》
- 任继愈主编《道藏提要》