Wanshou Daoist Canon of the Zhenghe Era政和万寿道藏

Also known as: Wanshou Daoist Canon, Zhenghe Daoist Canon
Author / transmission: Compiled by Imperial Decree of Emperor Huizong of Song, Collated by Yuan Miaozong, Wang Daojian, and others
Period: Northern Song · Compiled by imperial decree during the Zhenghe era of Emperor Huizong of Song (1111–1118), block-carved and printed at Minxian, Fuzhou (present-day Fuzhou, Fujian), comprising 5,481 scrolls in 540 case-volumes; the first block-printed Daoist Canon in China, its original printing now lost.
Canon division: Daoist Canon (lost)
Collected in: Lost (surviving fragments and later transcriptions can be examined)
Category: Daozang Collections
Fascicles: 5,481 juan, in 540 cases

Synopsis

The Wanshou Daoist Canon of the Zhenghe Era is the first block-printed Daoist Canon in Chinese history, a work of epoch-making significance. Emperor Huizong of Song, who styled himself the “Sovereign Emperor and Lord of the Teaching” (Jiaozhu Daojun Huangdi), promoted Daoism vigorously and ordered the search for and collation of Daoist scriptures; the block-carving began at the Wanshou Temple in Minxian, Fuzhou, and was completed during the Zhenghe era (1111–1118), comprising in all 5,481 scrolls in 540 case-volumes, numbered using characters from the Thousand Character Classic (Qianzi Wen) — this system of numbering case-volumes by the Thousand Character Classic was followed by the successive Daoist Canons of the Jin, Yuan, and Ming, becoming the standard method of cataloguing the Daoist Canon. Block-printing freed the reproduction and circulation of Daoist scriptures from the constraints of manuscript copying from this point on, greatly increasing their scale and range of transmission, and also allowed the texts of later Daoist Canons to achieve relative stability. Although the original printing of this Canon no longer survives, the Jin-dynasty Precious Canon of the Mysterious Metropolis of the Great Jin was expanded on the basis of its printing blocks, and the Yuan- and Ming-dynasty Canons in turn inherited from it, so that a considerable portion of the text in the Zhengtong Daozang can be traced back to this Zhenghe edition. The block-carving at Fuzhou also reflects the flourishing of the block-printing industry in southeastern China during the Northern Song.

Key Ideas

The first block-printed Daoist Canon
5,481 scrolls in 540 case-volumes
Pioneered the Thousand Character Classic system of case-volume numbering
Block-carved at the Wanshou Temple in Minxian, Fuzhou
The basis for successive Daoist Canons of the Jin, Yuan, and Ming

Structure

Arranged according to the Three Caverns and Four Supplements, with case-volumes numbered using the Thousand Character Classic.

Editions

The original printing is lost; its text has been transmitted through successive Daoist Canons of the Jin, Yuan, and Ming

Commentaries

Detailed study in Chen Guofu's Studies on the Origins and Development of the Daoist Canon

Full Text & Online Resources

Related scriptures

Precious Canon of the Celestial Palace of the Great Song, Precious Canon of the Mysterious Metropolis of the Great Jin, Daoist Canon of the Zhengtong Era

References

Chen Guofu, Studies on the Origins and Development of the Daoist Canon
Schipper & Verellen, The Taoist Canon, 2004
任继愈主编《道藏提要》
维基百科「道藏」条