Zhu Quan朱权

Style & Daoist names

Prince Xian of Ning, Styled Quxian, Hanxu Zi, and Master Danqiu, Old Man of the Southern Pole, of Extended Years

Period

Ming

Dates

1378 — 1448

School

Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Daoism, Jingming (Pure and Bright) Daoism

Role

Regional Prince (Fanwang)Daoist ScholarsPlaywrightMusician

Birthplace

Nanjing

Places of activity

Wanshou Palace of Xishan (Yulong Wanshou Palace)

Life

Zhu Quan, the seventeenth son of the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming, was enfeoffed as Prince of Ning and first stationed at Daning; after the Jingnan campaign he was relocated by the Yongle Emperor to Nanchang, from which point he kept himself deliberately out of politics and devoted himself to Daoism and the arts. Styling himself the Emaciated Immortal (Quxian) and Hanxuzi, he built a hermitage at Xishan near Nanchang to cultivate the Dao, maintaining ties with both Jingming Daoism and Zhengyi Daoism; his writings were extremely prolific. In the field of Daoism, he wrote the eight-fascicle Jade Tablet of the Great Clarity on the Supreme Way of the Celestial Sovereign (a general account of the origins of Daoism, its ritual and its pantheon), as well as the Divine Pivot Kept at One's Elbow, the Gengxin Jade Tablet, and the Jade Tablet of Great Clarity, all included in the Supplementary Daoist Canon of the Wanli Era; he also wrote the Classic of Tea, the Marvelous and Secret Manual (the earliest surviving collection of qin scores), the Correct Sounds of Grand Harmony (a treatise on drama) and a number of zaju plays. Zhu Quan is representative of the imperial clan's devotion to Daoism and participation in the compilation of Daoist texts under the Ming; after his death he was buried at Xishan, in a tomb of Daoist style.

Contributions & Influence

• Wrote the Jade Tablet of the Great Clarity on the Supreme Way of the Celestial Sovereign, systematically organizing Daoist knowledge
• As an imperial prince, promoted the compilation of Ming-dynasty Daoist texts and the arts
• Compiled the Marvelous and Secret Manual, preserving ancient qin scores

Works

• Jade Register of the Celestial Sovereign's Utmost Dao and Great Clarity
• Divine Pivot at Hand
• Jade Register of Gengxin
• Marvellous and Secret Tablature
• Formulary of Correct Sounds of Great Harmony
• Treatise on Tea