Daoist Texts outside the Canon藏外道书

Author / transmission

Hu Daojing, Chen Yaoting, Duan Wengui, Lin Wanqing

Period

Modern · Edited by Hu Daojing, Chen Yaoting, Duan Wengui, Lin Wanqing, and others, published by Bashu Books 1992–1994 in 36 volumes, containing 991 Daoist texts not included in the Ming Daoist Canon.

Canon division

Modern Facsimile Compendium

Collected in

Modern work

Category

Daozang Collections

Fascicles

36 volumes, 991 titles

Synopsis

Daoist Texts outside the Canon is the most important modern facsimile compendium of Daoist texts, edited by Hu Daojing, Chen Yaoting, Duan Wengui, Lin Wanqing, and others, published in installments by Bashu Books from 1992 to 1994 in 36 large volumes, containing 991 Daoist texts not included in the Ming Daoist Canon of the Zhengtong Era or the Supplementary Daoist Canon of the Wanli Era. Its contents cover recovered compilations of lost ancient Daoist scriptures, Ming–Qing works of Internal Alchemy (the Wu–Liu School, the Western Lineage of Li Xiyue, Min Yide's Longmen Fangbian teachings, and others), morality books and ledgers of merit and demerit, ritual manuscripts, mountain and temple gazetteers, spirit-writing texts, and Republican-era works on Immortality Studies, among others, a large number of which are rare manuscripts and unique commercially printed editions previously almost never seen by scholars. This work was designated a key national publishing project of the Eighth Five-Year Plan, and together with the Daoist Canon of the Zhengtong Era, the Essentials of the Daoist Canon, and the Zhonghua Daozang, forms the four major textual foundations of Daoist studies today. Its publication greatly transformed the landscape of Daoist studies — making Ming, Qing, and modern Daoism (previously a weak field of research owing to insufficient source material) a viable field of study, and providing a vast quantity of new material for the study of local Daoism, popular religion, and the history of Internal Alchemy.

Key Ideas

• Contains 991 Daoist texts outside the Ming Daoist Canon
• Published by Bashu Books in 36 volumes, 1992–1994
• Covers Ming–Qing Internal Alchemy, morality books, ritual manuscripts, and mountain gazetteers
• A large number of rare manuscripts and unique editions made public for the first time
• Made the study of Ming, Qing, and modern Daoism possible

Structure

36 volumes, reproduced in facsimile and arranged by category, with a general table of contents.

Editions

• Bashu Books facsimile edition, 1992–1994

Full Text & Online Resources

• Wikipedia: Daoist Texts outside the Canon
• Daoist Culture Centre Database: Daoist Texts outside the Canon

Related scriptures