Seven Slips from the Bookbag of the Clouds (Yunji qiqian)云笈七签
- Also known as
- Minor Daoist Canon (Xiao Daozang), Qiqian (Seven Slips)
- Author / transmission
- Zhang Junfang
- Period
- Northern Song · After compiling the Da Song Tiangong Baozang in the third year of Tianxi (1019), Zhang Junfang excerpted its essentials to compile this work, completing it roughly during the Tiansheng era (1023–1032) and presenting it to Emperor Renzong.
- Canon division
- Taixuan Section
- Collected in
- Zhengtong Daozang, Taixuan Section
- Category
- Encyclopedic Compendia (Leishu)
- Fascicles
- In one hundred twenty-two scrolls (originally one hundred twenty scrolls).
Synopsis
The Yunji Qiqian (Seven Slips from the Bookbag of the Clouds) is a Daoist compendium compiled by Zhang Junfang of the Northern Song on the basis of his collation of the Da Song Tiangong Baozang; 'cloud bookbag' refers to the case holding Daoist texts, and 'seven slips' refers to the Three Caverns and Four Supplements in seven sections, whence it is known as the 'Small Daoist Canon.' The whole work runs to 122 juan, divided into categories such as the Dao and Virtue, Primordial Chaos, Heaven and Earth, the Sun, Moon and Stars, the Ten Continents and Three Islands, the Twenty-four Parishes, Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands, the Origins of the Daoist Teaching, the Transmission of Scriptures and Teachings, Secret Essentials and Methods, Miscellaneous Cultivation and Regimen, Retreats and Precepts, Explication of Precepts, Miscellaneous Methods, the Various Schools of Qi Methods, the Golden Elixir, Internal Alchemy, Formulas and Medicines, Talismans and Charts, Gengshen, Liberation from the Corpse, Recorded Sayings of the Various Perfected, Eulogies and Hymns, and Biographies; it excerpts several hundred Daoist scriptures predating the Northern Song, preserving a great many texts that were later lost (such as the Central Scripture of Laozi, the Taiqing Zhonghuang Zhenjing, or Scripture of the Central Yellow of Great Clarity, and numerous early qi-methods and biographies). Because its material is carefully chosen and clearly classified, it is the most important introductory work for the study of the Daoist Canon and a treasury of source material for Daoist history before the Tang and Song. There are editions in the Zhengtong Daozang and the Sibu Congkan photoreprint of a Ming edition; the commonly used modern edition today is that collated and punctuated by Li Yongsheng.
Key Ideas
- A digest of the essentials of the Three Caverns and Four Supplements in seven sections
- A compilation of Daoist cosmology, Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands, and the genealogy of immortals
- A comprehensive collection of qi methods, internal and external alchemy, and retreats and precepts
- Preservation of a great many otherwise lost scriptures and biographies
Structure
122 juan, divided into several dozen sections (the Dao and Virtue section, the Primordial Chaos and Opening of the Cosmic Cycles section, the Heaven and Earth section, the Sun, Moon and Stars section, the Ten Continents and Three Islands section, the Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands section, the Transmission of Scriptures and Teachings section, the Three Caverns Origins of the Daoist Teaching section, the Secret Essentials and Methods section, the Miscellaneous Cultivation and Regimen section, the Retreats and Precepts section, the Various Schools of Qi Methods section, the Golden Elixir section, the Internal Alchemy section, the Formulas and Medicines section, the Biographies section, the Eulogies and Hymns section, and others).
Editions
- Zhengtong Daozang edition
- Sibu Congkan photoreprint of the Ming Zhang Xuan Qingzhen Guan edition
- Li Yongsheng, collated and punctuated Yunji Qiqian (Zhonghua Book Company, 2003)
- Jiang Lisheng and others, collated and annotated edition
Full Text & Online Resources
Related scriptures
Supreme Secret Essentials (Wushang biyao), Pearl Satchel of the Three Caverns, Daoist Canon of the Zhengtong Era, Central Scripture of LaoziRelated figures
Zhang Junfang, Emperor Zhenzong of Song, Wang Qinruo- 《云笈七签》张君房序
- 李永晟点校本前言，中华书局 2003
- Chen Guofu, Studies on the Origins and Development of the Daoist Canon
- 维基百科「云笈七签」条