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THEDAOISTCANON(DAOZANG)
FabrizioPregadio
November11,1996
[ExcerptedfromPregadio'slongerbibliographicalessayat
http://venus.unive.it/dsao//pregadio/tools/daozang/dz_text.html]
Copyright1996FabrizioPregadio
Thetermdaozang,usuallyrenderedas"TaoistCanon",originallyreferredtothecollectionsoftextshousedineach
Taoistmonastery.ItlaterdesignatedImperiallysponsoredcollectionsofTaoisttextskeptintheImperiallibraries.The
TaoistCanonoftheMingperiodtheZhengtongDaozangorTaoistCanonoftheZhengtongEraisthelatestsuch
collectionandtheonlyonethatisextanttoday.
Thealmost1,500textsfoundinthepresentTaoistCanonareformallydividedinto"ThreeGrottoes"(sandong)and
"FourSupplements"(sifu).ThedivisionintoThreeGrottoesapparentlydatesfromca.A.D.400,andmirrorsthedivision
intoThreeVehicles(sansheng)oftheBuddhistdoctrine.EachoftheThreeGrottoesoriginallyincludedthetextsofone
scripturaltradition:
1.AuthenticityGrotto(Dongzhen):textsoftheShangqing(SupremePurity)tradition
2.MysteryGrotto(Dongxuan):textsoftheLingbao(SacredTreasure)tradition
3.SpiritGrotto(Dongshen):textsoftheSanhuang(ThreeSovereigns)tradition.
Thesethreecorporawererelatedtodifferentstagesofinitiation,fromthelowest(Sanhuang)tothehighest
(Shangqing).Schipper(1985)hasshownthat,ingeneralanduntiltheTangperiod,theinitiationofaTaoistmastertook
placeinfivemajorphases.Eachwasmarkedbythetransmissionof"Registers"(lu,containingbothdisciplinaryrulesand
listsofthedivinitiesonwhichtheMasterobtainedcontrol)andscripturalcorpora,includinginthelaterstagesthoseof
theLingbaoandtheShangqingtraditions.
TheFourSupplements,establishedca.A.D.500,originallycontainedworksthattracedtheirrootsinonemajor
scripture,exceptthelastthatincludedthetextsofanestablishedtradition:
1.GreatMystery(Taixuan),basedontheLaozi(Daodejing)
2.GreatPeace(Taiping),basedontheTaipingjing
3.GreatPurity(Taiqing),basedontheTaiqingjingandotheralchemicaltextsdeemedtohavebeenrevealedbythe
GreatPurity,oneoftheseveralHeavensdistinguishedinTaoistcosmography
4.OrthodoxOne(Zhengyi),basedonthetextsbelongingtotheidenticallynamedtradition,alsoknownasTianshidao
orWayoftheHeavenlyMasters.
EachoftheThreeGrottoesisdividedintoTwelveSections(shierbu),originallydesignedtohostdifferentkindsof
texts:
1.Benwen(Maintexts)
2.Shenfu(Talismans)
3.Yujue(Commentaries)
4.Lingtu(Diagramsandillustrations)
5.Pulu(Historiesandgenealogies)
6.Jiel(Precepts)

7.Weiyi(Ceremonies)
8.Fangfa(Rituals)
9.Zhongshu(Practices)
10.Jizhuan(Biographies)
11.Zansong(Hymns)
12.Biaozou(Memorials)

ThepresentdayTaoistCanonformallypreservesthedivisionintoGrottoes,SupplementsandSections,butoften
showssubstantialdeparturesfromthisidealarrangementespeciallyduetotheinclusionoftextsthatresultedfrom
revelationsorteachingslaterthanthedateinwhichthosedivisionswereelaborated.Thisisthereasonofthewellknown
lackoforganizationintheCanon.Ontheotherhand,asMichelStrickmannnotedintheintroductiontohisLeTaosmedu
MaoChan(1979:45),morethanonethirdofthepresentCanonistakenbyonlytwentydifferenttexts,andmorethanone
halfbyaboutseventycommentariestothetextsofclassicalTaoism.
TheclassicalstudyonthescripturalcorporafoundinthepresentdayTaoistCanonisChenGuofu'sDaozangyuanliu
kao(AstudyontheevolutionoftheTaoistCanon1963),aworkthatisoftenconsideredasthefoundationofmodern
Taoiststudies.Achapterentitled"TheoriginandtransmissionoftheThreeGrottoesandtheFourSupplements"(pp.1
104)tracestheformationofthesevensectionslistedabove,whichparallelsthehistoryofTaoismuntiltheTangperiod.
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TextsdatingfromtheSong,YuanandMingperiodsareintroducedinchaptersconcernedwithliterarygenres(revelation,
ritual,hagiography,topography,epigraphy,historiography,literaryanthologies,dialogictreatises,exegesis,and
encyclopaediccompilation)inJudithBoltz'sSurveyofTaoistLiterature:TenthtoSeventeenthCenturies(1987a).The
originoftheclassificationintoTwelveSectionsistheobjectofastudybyYamadaToshiaki(1984).
ThebestsyntheticdescriptionsoftheCanonaretwootherworksbyBoltz(1986aand1987b),andatwopartstudyby
StephenBokenkamp(1986)andBoltz(1986b),respectively.AmongthemorerecentJapanesestudiesthosebyOzaki
Masaharu(1983and1986)deservespecialmention.AnarticlebyL.Gauchet(1948)onthecompositionoftheCanonis
stillofinterestthoughitdatesfromanearlierstageofresearch.
OftheseveralscripturalcorporarepresentedinthepresentdayTaoistCanononlythecorpusoftheShangqing
(SupremePurity)traditionhasbeenstudiedinanexhaustivefashion,intwoworksbyStrickmann(1979)andIsabelle
Robinet(1984),respectively.TheoriginalcorpusoftheLingbao(SacredTreasure)traditionwasreconstructedbyfuchi
Ninji(1974)inaworkconcernedwiththecataloguecompiledbyLuXiujing(406477).Thereconstructionbyfuchi
servedasbasisforthemostdetailedstudyinaWesternlanguageontheoriginsofthistradition,publishedbyBokenkamp
in1983.
AmorecompleteoverviewofthetextsmakingtheTaoismCanonwillbepossiblewiththepublicationofthe
HandbookoftheTaoistCanon(Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress),thefruitofaprojectsponsoredbytheEuropean
ScienceFoundationanddirectedbyKristoferSchipperatthecolePratiquedesHautestudesinParis.Itsthreeprojected
volumes,coeditedbySchipperandVerellen,willcontainentriesforeachtext,arrangedbothchronologicallyandby
tradition,andprovidedwithdetailsonthedate,authorship,transmission,relationtoothersources,andcontentsofeach
text.AsimilarprojectwascompletedafewyearsagobytheResearchInstituteofWorldReligionsoftheChinese
AcademyofSocialSciences(ZhongguoShehuiKexueYuanShijieZongjiaoYanjiusuo).Itsresultswerepublishedinan
importantworkentitledDaozangtiyao,editedbyRenJiyuandZhongZhaopengin1991(seeBoltz1994).Inadditionto
entriesoneachtext(ofasomewhatunequalvalue),thisvolumecontainsseveralappendixes,themostusefulofwhichare
onecontainingshortbiographicalnotesonabout500authors,andonecontainingaclassificationofthetextsintoninemain
categoriesandseveralsubcategories.(Someentriespreliminarilypublishedin1984bytheShijieZongjiaoYanjiusuo
DaojiaoYanjiuShiarestillworthyofbeingconsulted,astheyaremoredetailedthanthecorrespondingentriesinthe
definitivepublication.)

REFERENCES
BOKENKAMP,StephenR.1983."SourcesoftheLingpaoScriptures".InMichelStrickmann,ed.,TantricandTaoist
StudiesinHonourofR.A.Stein,vol.2:434486.Bruxelles:InstituteBelgedesHautestudesChinoises.
BOKENKAMP,StephenR.1986."TaoistLiterature.PartI:ThroughtheT'angDynasty".InWilliamH.Nienhauser,Jr.,
ed.,TheIndianaCompaniontoTraditionalChineseLiterature,138152.Bloomington:IndianaUniversityPress.
BOLTZ,JudithM.1986a."Taotsang".InWilliamH.Nienhauser,Jr.,ed.,TheIndianaCompaniontoTraditionalChinese
Literature,763766.Bloomington:IndianaUniversityPress.
BOLTZ,JudithM.1986b."TaoistLiterature.PartII:FiveDynastiestotheMing".InWilliamH.Nienhauser,Jr.,ed.,The
IndianaCompaniontoTraditionalChineseLiterature,152174.Bloomington:IndianaUniversityPress.
BOLTZ,JudithM.1987a.ASurveyofTaoistLiterature.TenthtoSeventeenthCenturies.Berkeley:InstituteofEastAsian
Studies,UniversityofCalifornia.(ChinaResearchMonographs,32.)
BOLTZ,JudithM.1987b."TaoistLiterature".InMirceaEliade,ed.,EncyclopediaofReligion,vol.14:317329.NewYork
andLondon:MacMillan,1987.
BOLTZ,JudithM.1993."NotesontheDaozangtiyao".ChinaReviewInternational1:133.
CHENGuofu.1963.Daozangyuanliukao[StudiesontheevolutionoftheTaoistCanon].Secondedition.2vols.Beijing:
ZhonghuaShuju.Repr.1985.
GAUCHET,L.1948."Contributionl'tudedutaosme".Bulletindel'Universitdel'Aurore,sr.3,9:138.
FUCHINinji.1974."OnKuLingpaoching".ActaAsiatica27:3356.
OZAKIMasaharu.1983."Dkykyten"[Taoisttexts].InFukuiKjunetal.,eds.,Dky[Taoism],vol.1:73120.
Tokyo:HirakawaShuppansa.
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OZAKIMasaharu.1986."Dznoseiritsutosonoshhen"[ThecompilationandcontentsoftheDaozang].InAkizuki
Kan'ei,ed.,Dkykenkynosusume.Sonogenjtomondaitenokangaeru[InvitationtothestudyofTaoism:Reflections
onitspresentstateandissues],79109.Tokyo:HirakawaShuppansha.
RENJiyuandZHONGZhaopeng.1991.Daozangtiyao[CriticalnotesontheTaoistCanon].Beijing:ZhongguoShehui
KexueChubanshe.
ROBINET,Isabelle.1984.LarvlationduShangqingdansl'histoiredutaosme.2vols.Paris:coleFranaised'Extrme
Orient.(Publicationsdel'EFEO,131.)
SCHIPPER,Kristofer.1985."TaoistOrdinationRanksintheTunhuangManuscripts".InGertNaundorfetal.,eds.,
ReligionundPhilosophieinOstasien.FestschriftfrHansSteiningerzum65.Geburtstag,127148.Wrzburg:
KnigshausenundNeumann.
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Taoism],ed.1984."Daozangtiyaoxuankan"[SelectionsfromCriticalnotesontheTaoistCanon].Shijiezongjiaoyanjiu
1984.2:1291984.3:84101.
STRICKMANN,Michel.1979.LetaosmeduMaoChan.Chroniqued'unervlation.Paris:CollgedeFrance,Institut
desHautestudesChinoises.(Mmoiresdel'InstitutdesHautestudesChinoises,17.)
YAMADAToshiaki.1984."Dzjniruiseiritsunikansuruhitoshirynohaikei"[Asourceontheformationofthe
classificationoftheTaoistCanonintoTwelveSections].InMakyoRykaiHakushiShhjuKinenRonshKankkai,ed.,
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