Scripture of the Original Deeds of the Jade Emperor (Yuhuang jing)高上玉皇本行集经

Also known as

Jade Emperor Scripture, Scripture of the Original Deeds of the Jade Emperor, Huangjing (short for Yuhuang jing)

Author / transmission

Anonymous

Period

Northern Song · Composed around the Northern Song, contemporary with or slightly later than the veneration of the Jade Emperor by Emperors Zhenzong and Huizong (an honorific title bestowed in 1012, a further title added in 1115); it continued to be expanded under the Yuan and Ming.

Canon division

Dongzhen Section, Original Texts (Benwen) category

Collected in

Zhengtong Daozang, Dongzhen: Original Texts

Category

Early Daoist Scriptures

Fascicles

In three scrolls (variant editions in five scrolls and in the ten-scroll Yuhuang jing series also exist).

Synopsis

The Yuhuang jing, in full the Scripture of the Original Deeds of the Jade Emperor (Gaoshang yuhuang benxing ji jing), is a scripture that appeared after the rise of the cult of the Jade Emperor in the Song, and recounts his origins and merits: long ago the king of the land of Guangyan Miaole and his queen Baoyueguang prayed for a son and a crown prince was born; the prince renounced his kingdom to cultivate the Dao, and after a hundred million kalpas of perfected practice attained the station of "Jade Emperor, Sovereign on High." It further relates how the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning expounded the scripture in the Qingwei Heaven, proclaiming the Jade Emperor's precious title and extolling his merits, and holds that reciting and upholding this scripture dispels calamity and resolves adversity and brings deliverance to the living and the dead. Its narrative structure plainly draws on Buddhist birth-story and Pure Land scriptures. After Emperor Zhenzong of the Song bestowed an honorific title on the Jade Emperor and Emperor Huizong added the title "Haotian Yuhuang Shangdi," the Jade Emperor became the supreme deity of popular religion and this scripture spread widely with him, becoming the recitation text for rites such as Dipper worship and the assemblies of the Imperial Scripture; the Yuhuang baochan (Precious Litany of the Jade Emperor) still commonly recited in temples today derives from it.

Key Ideas

• The original deeds of the Jade Emperor: the crown prince of the land of Guangyan Miaole cultivates the Dao and becomes emperor
• The Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning expounds the scripture and proclaims the Jade Emperor's precious title
• Reciting the scripture dispels calamity and delivers the souls of the dead
• The theological position of the Jade Emperor as supreme in the Three Realms

Structure

Three juan in five chapters: the Chapter on Divine Powers in the Palace of the Qingwei Heaven, the Chapter of the Great Divine Incantation of the Most High Great Radiance and Perfect Fullness, the Chapter on the Merit of Recitation and Upholding, the Chapter on the Protection of the Celestial Perfected, and the Chapter on Retribution and Divine Efficacy.

Editions

• Zhengtong Daozang edition
• Daozang jiyao edition
• Various temple recitation editions

Commentaries

• Zhou Xuanzhen, Huangjing jizhu (Collected Commentaries on the Imperial Scripture) (Ming)

Full Text & Online Resources

• Wikipedia: Yuhuang jing
• CTEXT search

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