Emperor Xuanzong of Tang唐玄宗

Style & Daoist names

Li Longji, Emperor Ming of Tang (Tang Minghuang), Sacred, Cultured, Divine, and Martial Emperor of the Kaiyuan Era

Period

Tang

Dates

685 — 762

Role

EmperorsEmperor Who Revered DaoismScriptural Commentator

Birthplace

Luoyang

Places of activity

Louguantai (Louguan Terrace), Mount Mao (Maoshan), Mount Wangwu

Life

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, personal name Li Longji, reigned 712–756 and was the Tang emperor most devoted to Daoism; under his rule Daoism reached its high point of the dynasty. His principal measures included: receiving a ritual register from Sima Chengzhen in the ninth year of Kaiyuan (721); ordering in the twenty-first year of Kaiyuan (733) that every household, gentry and commoner alike, keep a copy of the Laozi, and adding questions on the Laozi to the imperial examinations; establishing the post of Erudite of Mysterious Learning in the twenty-fifth year of Kaiyuan, and in the twenty-ninth year (741) establishing a Xuanyuan Huangdi Temple and a Chongxuan Academy in both capitals and in every prefecture, instituting a special examination (the "Daoist examination," Daoju) based on the Laozi, Zhuangzi, Wenzi, and Liezi; in the first year of Tianbao (742) conferring on Zhuangzi the title Nanhua Zhenren (南华真人, Perfected Being of Southern Florescence), on Wenzi the title Tongxuan Zhenren (通玄真人, Perfected Being who Penetrates the Mystery), on Liezi the title Chongxu Zhenren (冲虚真人, Perfected Being of Vacuous Perfection), and on Gengsangzi the title Dongling Zhenren (洞灵真人, Perfected Being of Cavernous Numen), elevating all four books to the status of true scriptures; in the second year of Tianbao (743) adding to Laozi's title "Great Sage Ancestor, Mysterious Primogenitor Emperor," further elevated in the eighth year to "Sage Ancestor of the Great Dao, Mysterious Primogenitor Emperor," and in the thirteenth year to "Great Sage Ancestor, Most High Great Dao Golden Portal Mysterious Primogenitor Celestial Sovereign and Great Emperor"; personally annotating the Daodejing and promulgating it throughout the empire; completing the Daoist Canon of the Kaiyuan Era (also called the Sandong qionggang, 三洞琼纲, Jeweled Programme of the Three Caverns, said to have run to over 3,700 scrolls) during the Kaiyuan era; ordering the collection of Daoist scriptures and appointing Zhang Wanfu, Sima Chengzhen, and others to oversee ritual protocols; and having his younger sisters, Princesses Jinxian and Yuzhen, ordained as Daoist priestesses. He also honored Daoist priests such as Zhang Guo, Luo Gongyuan, Ye Fashan, Wu Yun, and Li Hanguang, and had a great many Daoist temples built. After the An Lushan Rebellion he withdrew to become Retired Emperor (Taishang Huang), and died in the first year of Baoying (762).

Contributions & Influence

• Personally annotated and promulgated the Daodejing, a model of imperial commentary on Laozi
• Established the Erudite of Mysterious Learning, the Chongxuan Academies, and the Daoist examination, bringing Daoist scripture into the imperial examination system
• Compiled the Daoist Canon of the Kaiyuan Era, the first officially compiled Daoist Canon
• Conferred the title of Perfected Being on four Daoist philosophers and elevated Laozi's honorific titles, completing the establishment of Daoism as a state religion
• Supported the Shangqing centers at Maoshan and Wangwushan and had Daoist temples built

Works

• Emperor Xuanzong's Imperial Commentary on the Daodejing
• Emperor Xuanzong's Imperial Commentary on the Daodejing

Legends

According to legend, Laozi appeared to Xuanzong in a dream and told him, "My image lies a hundred li or more southwest of the capital," leading to the discovery of an image of the Mysterious Primogenitor; and he is said to have visited the Palace of the Moon and there obtained the melody of the "Rainbow Feather Garment" (Nichang yuyi qu), a tale later attributed to Ye Fashan or Luo Gongyuan. These are legendary accounts.