Zhang Wanfu张万福

Style & Daoist names

Zhang Qingdu

Period

Tang

Dates

? — ?

School

Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Daoism

Role

Ritual MasterScholar of Precepts

Birthplace

Unknown

Life

Zhang Wanfu, a Daoist priest of the Taiqing Temple in Chang'an during the Kaiyuan era of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, a "Master of the Three Caverns," dates of birth and death unknown. He systematically organized the rites for transmitting scriptures, precepts and registers, writing numerous works on ritual and precepts including the Brief Explanation of the Transmission of the Scriptures, Precepts and Registers of the Three Caverns, Text on the Ritual Vestments and Precepts of the Three Caverns, Calendar for Selecting Days for Daoist Priests to Receive the Scriptures, Precepts and Registers of the Three Caverns of Dongxuan Lingbao, Established Rites for the Offering to the True Writs of the Three Caverns and the Correct and Unitary Register of the Covenant with the Powers, and Text on the Names and Forms and Places of Residence of the Three Masters of Dongxuan Lingbao, recording in detail the sequence and protocols for conferring registers at the various ranks of Zhengyi, Lingbao, Shangqing and other traditions in the early Tang; these are among the most important primary sources for studying the Tang-dynasty systems of register conferral, ritual vestments, and retreat-and-offering ritual. He also composed a record for the ordination of Princesses Jinxian and Yuzhen into the Daoist priesthood, showing his standing within the ritual practice of the Kaiyuan-era court.

Contributions & Influence

• Systematically organized the rites for transmitting the scriptures, precepts and registers of the Three Caverns, the principal recorder of Tang ritual and register-conferral institutions
• Wrote the Text on the Ritual Vestments and Precepts of the Three Caverns, standardizing the system of Daoist ritual vestments

Works

• A Brief Account of the Transmission of the Scriptures, Precepts, and Registers of the Three Caverns
• Regulations and Precepts on the Ritual Vestments of the Three Caverns
• Calendar for Selecting Auspicious Days for Daoist Priests of Dongxuan Lingbao to Receive the Scriptures, Precepts, and Registers of the Three Caverns
• Established Rites for the Offering of the True Writs of the Three Caverns, the Five Methods, and the Register of the Covenant of Orthodox Unity and Awesome Power
• Text on the Names, Forms, and Temple Locations of the Three Masters of Dongxuan Lingbao