Song Defang宋德方

Style & Daoist names

courtesy name Guangdao, sobriquet Piyunzi, Perfected Piyun, Perfected Piyun Who Penetrates the Mystery and Broadly Propagates the Teaching

Period

Jin–Yuan

Dates

1183 — 1247

School

Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoism, Longmen (Dragon Gate) Lineage of Quanzhen

Role

Compiler of the Daoist CanonExcavator of GrottoesEminent Quanzhen Daoist

Birthplace

Yexian, Laizhou (present-day Laizhou, Shandong)

Places of activity

Yongle Palace (Palace of Eternal Joy)

Life

Song Defang, a native of Laizhou, Shandong, was a major figure in Quanzhen Daoism who studied under Liu Chuxuan and Qiu Chuji and accompanied Qiu Chuji on the journey west in 1220. On his return he was sent to teach in Shanxi, where he oversaw the reconstruction of Yongle Palace (Chunyang Wanshou Palace) and had the Daoist rock-cut caves at Longshan, Taiyuan carved — the Longshan Grottoes, the most important Daoist rock-cut caves still extant. Beginning in 1237 he proposed and oversaw the compilation and carving of the Xuandu Baozang, over seven thousand fascicles, at Xuandu Temple in Pingyang (present-day Linfen, Shanxi); the project took eight years to complete and was the only officially compiled Daoist Canon of the Yuan dynasty, though it was regrettably ordered burned by Kublai Khan in 1281. Song Defang made an enormous contribution to the spread of Quanzhen Daoism in Shanxi and to the preservation of Daoist texts. After his death he was buried near Yongle Palace, and in the Yuan dynasty he was posthumously canonized as Perfected One Xuantong, Broadener of the Teaching, Cloud-Cloaked.

Contributions & Influence

• Chief editor of the Xuandu Baozang, the foremost Daoist Canon of the Yuan dynasty
• Had the Daoist rock-cut caves at Longshan, Taiyuan carved
• Oversaw the reconstruction of Yongle Palace, establishing its scale
• Built numerous temples throughout Shanxi

Works

• Precious Canon of the Mysterious Metropolis (chief editor; now lost)
• Collection of Complete Joy