Yin Wencao尹文操

Style & Daoist names

Jingxian, Wencao

Period

Tang

Dates

622 — 688

School

Louguan School

Role

Patriarch of the Louguan SchoolHistorian of Daoism

Birthplace

Tianshui (present-day Tianshui, Gansu)

Places of activity

Louguantai (Louguan Terrace)

Life

Yin Wencao, courtesy name Jingxian, was a Tang-dynasty Louguan School Daoist priest who claimed descent from Yin Xi. He entered the Daoist priesthood in his youth and resided at the Louguan (Zongsheng Temple), where he became widely versed in Daoist scriptures. Under Emperor Gaozong he was appointed abbot of Haotian Temple with concurrent charge of the affairs of Zongsheng Temple, and he directed the compilation of the Catalogue of the Jade Weft Scriptures, recording seven thousand three hundred scrolls of Daoist scripture, an important achievement of official compilation of the Daoist Canon in the Tang; he also wrote the ten-chapter Sacred Chronicle of the Most High Lord Lao, the Mystic Primal Emperor (also called the Sacred Chronicle of the Mystic Primal Emperor), systematically compiling the sacred deeds and traces of Laozi's life and the basis on which the Tang imperial house of Li honored Laozi as their ancestor, a forerunner of the Song-dynasty Sacred Chronicle of the Mystic Origin. Emperor Gaozong granted him the titles Silver-Blue Grand Master of the Palace and Acting Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. He died in the fourth year of Chuigong (688). Yin Wencao was the leader of the Louguan School at the height of its power in the early Tang, and a key figure in the compilation of Tang Daoist scriptural catalogues and the construction of the Laozi mythology.

Contributions & Influence

• Directed the compilation of the Catalogue of the Jade Weft Scriptures, organizing the early Tang Daoist Canon
• Wrote the Sacred Chronicle of the Most High Lord Lao, the Mystic Primal Emperor, systematizing the mythology of Laozi and the Tang house's veneration of him
• Leader of the Louguan School in the early Tang

Works

• Catalogue of the Scriptures of the Jade Weft (lost)
• Sacred Chronicle of the Supreme Lord Lao, the Emperor of Mysterious Origin (lost, frequently cited in the Hunyuan Shengji)