Inner Biographies of the Immortals of the Ancestral Court on Mount Zhongnan终南山祖庭仙真内传
- Also known as
- Inner Biographies of the Ancestral Court
- Author / transmission
- Li Daoqian
- Period
- Yuan · Compiled by the Yuan-dynasty Li Daoqian, completed around the Zhiyuan era; three scrolls, recording successive generations of Daoists at Chongyang Palace on Mount Zhongnan, the Quanzhen ancestral court.
- Canon division
- Dongzhen Section, Records and Biographies Category
- Collected in
- Zhengtong Daozang, Dongzhen section, Biographical category
- Category
- Immortal Biographies
- Fascicles
- 3 juan
Synopsis
The Inner Biographies of the Immortals of the Ancestral Court on Mount Zhongnan (Zhongnanshan zuting xianzhen neizhuan), in three scrolls, is devoted to the deeds of several dozen Daoists, from Wang Chongyang onward, associated with the Quanzhen ancestral court — Chongyang Wanshou Palace on Mount Zhongnan and its surrounding temples. Unlike the Records of the Immortal Stream of Ganshui, which collects stele texts by famous literary figures, this work consists largely of brief accounts of conduct composed within the tradition itself, recording the lineages of transmission, cultivation, foundations, and dates of passing of successive priors and superintendents, together with their relations to local society. Because Chongyang Palace was the center of the Quanzhen dharma lineage and its institutions, this work amounts to a 'gazetteer of temple personnel' for the ancestral court, and can be read alongside the Chronological Biographies of the Seven Perfected and the Records of the Immortal Stream of Ganshui to reconstruct the generational succession of the Daoist community on Mount Zhongnan and the actual operation of the Quanzhen order in Shaanxi. The sites it mentions — the tomb of the 'living dead man,' Chengdao Palace, Da Chongyang Wanshou Palace, and others — can largely be corroborated against the surviving forest of steles at Chongyang Palace on Mount Zhongnan today.
Key Ideas
- A gazetteer of personnel at Chongyang Palace, the Quanzhen ancestral court
- Brief accounts of conduct composed within the tradition
- Records the lineages and foundations of successive priors and superintendents
- Reflects the actual operation of the Quanzhen order in Shaanxi
- Corroborated by surviving steles at Chongyang Palace
Structure
Three scrolls, arranging brief biographies by generation.
Editions
- Zhengtong Daozang edition
- Zhonghua Daozang edition
Full Text & Online Resources
Related scriptures
Records of the Immortal Stream of Ganshui, Chronological Biographies of the Seven Perfected, Record of the Orthodox Lineage of the Golden LotusRelated figures
Wang Chongyang, Yin Zhiping, Li Zhichang- 任继愈主编《道藏提要》
- 陈垣《南宋初河北新道教考》
- Schipper & Verellen, The Taoist Canon, 2004
- 《陕西金石志》与重阳宫碑刻著录