Shi Chongxuan史崇玄

Style & Daoist names

Shi Chong

Period

Tang

Dates

? — 713

Role

Daoshi (Daoist Priest)compiler of the Pronunciation and Meaning of Daoist Scriptures

Birthplace

Unknown

Life

Shi Chongxuan was a Daoist priest active under Emperor Zhongzong and Emperor Ruizong of Tang, and abbot of the Taiqing Temple in Chang'an. During the Shenlong and Jinglong eras of Zhongzong's reign he was introduced into the palace through the patronage of Princess Taiping and "advanced through heterodox arts," rising to the rank of Chamberlain for Dependencies (honglu qing) and being enfeoffed as Duke of Henei; under Ruizong he presided over the ordination ceremonies of Princesses Jinxian and Yuzhen. By imperial order he led Daoist priests and scholars of the two capitals in compiling the 113-scroll (some say 140-scroll) Yiqie daojing yinyi (一切道经音义, Complete Phonetic and Semantic Glosses on the Daoist Scriptures), and wrote the six-scroll Miaomen youqi (妙门由起, Origins of the Wondrous Gate), of which one scroll survives today under the title Yiqie daojing yinyi miaomen youqi. These were major achievements of official Tang-dynasty compilation of the Daoist Canon and of glossing the Daoist scriptures, and their scripture catalogue is also a key source for the state of the Daoist Canon before the Kaiyuan era. In the second year of Xiantian (713), when Xuanzong had Princess Taiping executed, Shi Chongxuan was put to death as one of her partisans.

Contributions & Influence

• Led the compilation of the Yiqie daojing yinyi, an official Tang-dynasty glossary of the Daoist scriptures
• The Miaomen youqi preserves extensive quotations from early Daoist scriptures

Works

• Pronunciation and Meaning of All Daoist Scriptures (lost)
• Origins of the Wondrous Gate, from the Pronunciation and Meaning of All Daoist Scriptures