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Shangqing School

The Shangqing School (Chinese:上清), also known as Supreme Clarity or Highest Clarity is a Daoist movement that began during the aristocracy of the Western Jin dynasty. Shangqing can be translated as either 'Supreme Clarity' or 'Highest Clarity.' The first leader of the school was a woman, Wei Huacun (251-334). According to her Shangqing hagiographers, her devotion to Daoist cultivation so impressed a number of immortals that she received revelations from them 31 volumes of Daoist scriptures which would become the foundation of Shangqing Daoism. Later, Tao Hongjing, a man, (Chinese: 陶弘景) (456-536) structured the theory and practice and compiled the canon. He greatly contributed to the development of the school that took place near the end of the 5th century. The mountain near Nanjing where Tao Hongjing had his retreat, Maoshan (茅山 – fr), today remains the principal seat of the school.

Shangqing practice values meditation techniques of visualization and breathing, as well as physical exercises, as opposed to the use of alchemy and talismans. The recitation of the sacred canon plays an equally important role. The practice was essentially individualistic, contrary to the collective practices in the Celestial Master school or in the Lingbao School. Recruiting from high social classes, during the Tang Dynasty, Shangqing was the dominant school of Daoism, and its influence is found in literature of the time period. The importance of the school only began to diminish beginning from the second half of the Song dynasty. Under the Yuan dynasty, the movement was known by the name Maoshan and the focus changed from meditation to rituals and talismans. In the 21st century, Maoshan Daoism is still practiced but its current techniques are very different from the original techniques developed at the beginning of the school.

History

Lady Wei Huacun, an aristocrat from the Jin dynasty and a Celestial Master practitioner, was the first leader of the Shangqing School. Three decades after her death, from 364 to 370, Yang Xi (330-c. 386) supposedly had revelations "aided almost certainly by cannabis" (Joseph Needham 1980:213) and transcribed texts from a group of immortals and spirits that appeared to him. These texts eventually formed the basis of the school’s beliefs. The revelation began to spread in aristocratic circles of South China, and eventually Tao Hongjing, advisor to the princes of Qi, joined the group. He commented upon, and compiled the Shangqing texts, and developed a well-structured system consisting of a pantheon and new ways to reach immortality that depended upon meditation. More interested in Daoism and Buddhism than in public administration, in 492 he received authorization to leave the court. He moved to Maoshan, which had by now become the center of the school. There, with the help of the Emperor Wudi of the Liang dynasty, he built the temple of Huayang, the first Shangqing temple.

After his death, the school continued to prosper, and recruited many people from the aristocracy. From its beginning near Nanjing, the school expanded to the north after laws passed in 504 and 517 forced several masters of the school to go into exile. Ironically this expulsion helped spread the movement to the north, and did little to weaken the schools organization in the south. The Daoist encyclopedia published under the patronage of the Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou (561-578) placed a great deal of importance on the Shangqing texts.

The Shangqing School dominated the Daoist movements under the Tang. During this period, all of its leaders received a title from the emperor. Emperor Taizong personally visited three of the temples on Maoshan, and in 731 the Xuanzong emperor put Shangqing deities in charge of China’s sacred mountains. The Daoist section of the imperial encyclopedia was composed primarily of Shangqing texts.

 
Tao Hongjing, responsible for the compilation of Shangqing texts.

At the same time, the Shangqing school underwent a transformation and integrated texts from the Lingbao School as well as from the Way of the Celestial Master school. The clergy also became more important and more emphasis was put on public rituals.

During the second half of the Northern Song dynasty, the influence of Shangqing Daoism declined at the court, but still remained, changing its focus to rituals and talismans. New buildings appeared on Maoshan that survived until the Cultural Revolution of Mao Zedong. Under the Song, some of the Shangqing leaders still benefited from imperial favour such as the 23rd leader, Zhu Ziying (974–1029), who received the title of ‘national master’ from the court. The 35th and 44th masters, Ren Yuanpu and Wang Daomeng, were equally distinguished for having ended a grasshopper invasion and a flood. Under the Yuan dynasty, the Shangqing school integrated itself under the Zhengyi alliance. At the end of the 20th century, the Taiping Rebellion, the Japanese army and the Cultural Revolution have resulted in the complete destruction of the temples on Maoshan. Two of the temples, Jiuxiaogong and Yuanfugong have been rebuilt more for tourists than for religious purposes.

Practices

Shangqing Daoism has borrowed many concepts and beliefs from both the Celestial Masters as well as from Ge Hong’s alchemical tradition. However, the absorption of elixirs and other potions aimed to attain immortality was largely replaced in the Song period by internal alchemy that was more linked to meditation techniques (see the Zuowanglun).

An emphasis was placed on personal meditation in the Shangqing school, unlike the ritualized system of the Celestial Masters. Shangqing meditation was largely a solitary affair, and focused on mental visualization of spirits and gods. There was also no requirement to meditate at a temple; one’s own home was fine. Deities lived inside the body and could provide good health if meditated upon. Each deity inhabited a different part of the body. Through studying the descriptions of deities in the canon, adepts would contemplate the inside of their body and maintain the deities in their proper place. This would ensure the body’s durability. While it began as a school centered on the individual, the school changed progressively until talismans and rituals became a more important aspect.

Pantheon

The main god of the Shangqing School is known as the Venerable Sovereign, the first of the Three Pure Ones. The pantheon included gods that could be turned to for help, ones that could be revered and others that could be commanded. As described by Tao Hongjing, the pantheon occupied twenty-eight pages in Shangqing texts, but the most important deities are scarcely mentioned. The canon mostly contains information about the gods that lived within the body.

Canon

The principal text of the Shangqing School is known as The True Text of the Great Dong (Dadong Zhenjing, 大洞真經). Dong can be translated as cave or grotto, but also has other meanings such as ‘to communicate.’[1] When the texts were dictated to Yang Xi, the immortals told him that they were the condensed form of primordial qi, and existed before the world was born. Eventually the texts congealed and were sent by heaven to be dictated to Yang.

Although several sources confirm that the Dadong Zhenjing dates back to the 4th century CE, and earlier fragments exist, the oldest extant complete text, known as the Perfected Scripture of the Great Cavern of Highest Clarity (Shangqing dadong zhenjing 上清大洞真經), was edited by the twenty-third patriarch, Zhu Ziying, and collated in the 13th century by the thirty-eighth patriarch, Jiang Zongying (d. 1281).[2] Later versions introduced “dramatic changes.”[3]

Recitation and veneration of the texts was extremely important. The transmission of texts was strictly controlled, and only a master could give a text to a disciple. The texts could never be revealed to those outside the school.

List of Shangqing patriarchs

1 *Wei Huacun (251–334) 魏華存
2 *Yang Xi (330–86) 楊羲
3 Xu Mi (303–76) 許謐
4 Xu Hui (341–ca. 370) 許翽
5 Ma Lang 馬朗
6 Ma Han 馬罕
7 *Lu Xiujing (406–77) 陸修靜
8 *Sun Youyue (399–489) 孫游嶽
9 *Tao Hongijng (456–536) 陶弘景
10 *Wang Yuanzhi (528–635) 王遠知
11 *Pan Shizheng (585–682) 潘師正
12 *Sima Chengzhen (647–735) 司馬承禎
13 *Li Hanguang (683–769) 李含光
14 Wei Jingzhao (694–785) 韋景昭
15 Huang Dongyuan (698–792) 黃洞元
16 Sun Zhiqing 孫智清
17 Wu Fatong (825–907) 吳法通
18 Liu Dechang 劉得常
19 Wang Qixia (882–943) 王棲霞
20 Cheng Yanzhao (912–90) 成延昭
21 Jiang Yuanji (?–998) 蔣元吉
22 Wan Baochong 萬保沖
23 *Zhu Ziying (976–1029) 朱自英
24 Mao Fengrou 毛奉柔
25 *Liu Hunkang (1035–1108) 劉混康
26 Da Jingzhi (1068–1113) 笪淨之
27 Xu Xihe (?–1127) 徐希和
28 Jiang Jingche (?–1146) 蔣景徹
29 Li Jinghe (?–1150) 李景合
30 Li Jingying (?–1164) 李景暎
31 Xu Shoujing (?–1195) 徐守經
32 Qin Ruda (?–1195) 秦汝達
33 Xing Rujia (?–1209) 邢汝嘉
34 Xue Ruji (?–1214) 薛汝積
35 Ren Yuanfu (1176–1239) 任元阜
36 Bao Zhizhen (?–1251) 鮑志真
37 Tang Zhidao (?–1258) 湯志道
38 Jiang Zongying (?–1281) 蔣宗瑛
39 Jing Yuanfan 景元範
40 Liu Zongchang 劉宗昶
41 Wang Zhixin (?–1273) 王志心
42 Zhai Zhiying (?–1276) 翟志穎
43 Xu Daoqi (1236–1291) 許道杞
44 Wang Daomeng (1242–1314) 王道孟
45 Liu Dabin (fl. 1317–28) 劉大彬

Notes

  1. ^ Robinet (1997), p. 132.
  2. ^ Jihyun Kim, "The Invention of Traditions: With a Focus on Innovations in the Scripture of the Great Cavern in Ming-Qing Daoism", 道教研究學報:宗教、歷史與社會 (Daoism: Religion, History and Society) 7 (2015), 63–115 (68).
  3. ^ Kim (2015), 67.

References

  • Needham, Joseph, Ho Ping-Yu, and Lu Gwei-djen. Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology; Part 4, Spagyrical Discovery and Invention. Cambridge University Press, 1980.
  • Robinet, Isabelle, Taoist Meditation: The Mao-Shan Tradition of Great Purity, trans. Julian F. Pas and Norman J. Girardot, State University of New York Press, 1993.
  • Robinet, Isabelle. Daoism: Growth of a Religion. Stanford: Stanford University, 1997.

External links

  • Shangqing (Isabelle Robinet), entry from The Encyclopedia of Taoism
  • Tao Hongjing (456-536)
  • 'The Rise of the Tao', New York Times Magazine

shangqing, school, chinese, 上清, also, known, supreme, clarity, highest, clarity, daoist, movement, that, began, during, aristocracy, western, dynasty, shangqing, translated, either, supreme, clarity, highest, clarity, first, leader, school, woman, huacun, acco. The Shangqing School Chinese 上清 also known as Supreme Clarity or Highest Clarity is a Daoist movement that began during the aristocracy of the Western Jin dynasty Shangqing can be translated as either Supreme Clarity or Highest Clarity The first leader of the school was a woman Wei Huacun 251 334 According to her Shangqing hagiographers her devotion to Daoist cultivation so impressed a number of immortals that she received revelations from them 31 volumes of Daoist scriptures which would become the foundation of Shangqing Daoism Later Tao Hongjing a man Chinese 陶弘景 456 536 structured the theory and practice and compiled the canon He greatly contributed to the development of the school that took place near the end of the 5th century The mountain near Nanjing where Tao Hongjing had his retreat Maoshan 茅山 fr today remains the principal seat of the school Shangqing practice values meditation techniques of visualization and breathing as well as physical exercises as opposed to the use of alchemy and talismans The recitation of the sacred canon plays an equally important role The practice was essentially individualistic contrary to the collective practices in the Celestial Master school or in the Lingbao School Recruiting from high social classes during the Tang Dynasty Shangqing was the dominant school of Daoism and its influence is found in literature of the time period The importance of the school only began to diminish beginning from the second half of the Song dynasty Under the Yuan dynasty the movement was known by the name Maoshan and the focus changed from meditation to rituals and talismans In the 21st century Maoshan Daoism is still practiced but its current techniques are very different from the original techniques developed at the beginning of the school Contents 1 History 2 Practices 3 Pantheon 4 Canon 5 List of Shangqing patriarchs 6 Notes 7 References 8 External linksHistory EditLady Wei Huacun an aristocrat from the Jin dynasty and a Celestial Master practitioner was the first leader of the Shangqing School Three decades after her death from 364 to 370 Yang Xi 330 c 386 supposedly had revelations aided almost certainly by cannabis Joseph Needham 1980 213 and transcribed texts from a group of immortals and spirits that appeared to him These texts eventually formed the basis of the school s beliefs The revelation began to spread in aristocratic circles of South China and eventually Tao Hongjing advisor to the princes of Qi joined the group He commented upon and compiled the Shangqing texts and developed a well structured system consisting of a pantheon and new ways to reach immortality that depended upon meditation More interested in Daoism and Buddhism than in public administration in 492 he received authorization to leave the court He moved to Maoshan which had by now become the center of the school There with the help of the Emperor Wudi of the Liang dynasty he built the temple of Huayang the first Shangqing temple After his death the school continued to prosper and recruited many people from the aristocracy From its beginning near Nanjing the school expanded to the north after laws passed in 504 and 517 forced several masters of the school to go into exile Ironically this expulsion helped spread the movement to the north and did little to weaken the schools organization in the south The Daoist encyclopedia published under the patronage of the Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou 561 578 placed a great deal of importance on the Shangqing texts The Shangqing School dominated the Daoist movements under the Tang During this period all of its leaders received a title from the emperor Emperor Taizong personally visited three of the temples on Maoshan and in 731 the Xuanzong emperor put Shangqing deities in charge of China s sacred mountains The Daoist section of the imperial encyclopedia was composed primarily of Shangqing texts Tao Hongjing responsible for the compilation of Shangqing texts At the same time the Shangqing school underwent a transformation and integrated texts from the Lingbao School as well as from the Way of the Celestial Master school The clergy also became more important and more emphasis was put on public rituals During the second half of the Northern Song dynasty the influence of Shangqing Daoism declined at the court but still remained changing its focus to rituals and talismans New buildings appeared on Maoshan that survived until the Cultural Revolution of Mao Zedong Under the Song some of the Shangqing leaders still benefited from imperial favour such as the 23rd leader Zhu Ziying 974 1029 who received the title of national master from the court The 35th and 44th masters Ren Yuanpu and Wang Daomeng were equally distinguished for having ended a grasshopper invasion and a flood Under the Yuan dynasty the Shangqing school integrated itself under the Zhengyi alliance At the end of the 20th century the Taiping Rebellion the Japanese army and the Cultural Revolution have resulted in the complete destruction of the temples on Maoshan Two of the temples Jiuxiaogong and Yuanfugong have been rebuilt more for tourists than for religious purposes Practices EditShangqing Daoism has borrowed many concepts and beliefs from both the Celestial Masters as well as from Ge Hong s alchemical tradition However the absorption of elixirs and other potions aimed to attain immortality was largely replaced in the Song period by internal alchemy that was more linked to meditation techniques see the Zuowanglun An emphasis was placed on personal meditation in the Shangqing school unlike the ritualized system of the Celestial Masters Shangqing meditation was largely a solitary affair and focused on mental visualization of spirits and gods There was also no requirement to meditate at a temple one s own home was fine Deities lived inside the body and could provide good health if meditated upon Each deity inhabited a different part of the body Through studying the descriptions of deities in the canon adepts would contemplate the inside of their body and maintain the deities in their proper place This would ensure the body s durability While it began as a school centered on the individual the school changed progressively until talismans and rituals became a more important aspect Pantheon EditThe main god of the Shangqing School is known as the Venerable Sovereign the first of the Three Pure Ones The pantheon included gods that could be turned to for help ones that could be revered and others that could be commanded As described by Tao Hongjing the pantheon occupied twenty eight pages in Shangqing texts but the most important deities are scarcely mentioned The canon mostly contains information about the gods that lived within the body Canon EditThe principal text of the Shangqing School is known as The True Text of the Great Dong Dadong Zhenjing 大洞真經 Dong can be translated as cave or grotto but also has other meanings such as to communicate 1 When the texts were dictated to Yang Xi the immortals told him that they were the condensed form of primordial qi and existed before the world was born Eventually the texts congealed and were sent by heaven to be dictated to Yang Although several sources confirm that the Dadong Zhenjing dates back to the 4th century CE and earlier fragments exist the oldest extant complete text known as the Perfected Scripture of the Great Cavern of Highest Clarity Shangqing dadong zhenjing 上清大洞真經 was edited by the twenty third patriarch Zhu Ziying and collated in the 13th century by the thirty eighth patriarch Jiang Zongying d 1281 2 Later versions introduced dramatic changes 3 Recitation and veneration of the texts was extremely important The transmission of texts was strictly controlled and only a master could give a text to a disciple The texts could never be revealed to those outside the school List of Shangqing patriarchs Edit1 Wei Huacun 251 334 魏華存 2 Yang Xi 330 86 楊羲 3 Xu Mi 303 76 許謐 4 Xu Hui 341 ca 370 許翽 5 Ma Lang 馬朗 6 Ma Han 馬罕 7 Lu Xiujing 406 77 陸修靜 8 Sun Youyue 399 489 孫游嶽 9 Tao Hongijng 456 536 陶弘景 10 Wang Yuanzhi 528 635 王遠知 11 Pan Shizheng 585 682 潘師正 12 Sima Chengzhen 647 735 司馬承禎 13 Li Hanguang 683 769 李含光 14 Wei Jingzhao 694 785 韋景昭 15 Huang Dongyuan 698 792 黃洞元 16 Sun Zhiqing 孫智清 17 Wu Fatong 825 907 吳法通 18 Liu Dechang 劉得常 19 Wang Qixia 882 943 王棲霞 20 Cheng Yanzhao 912 90 成延昭 21 Jiang Yuanji 998 蔣元吉 22 Wan Baochong 萬保沖 23 Zhu Ziying 976 1029 朱自英 24 Mao Fengrou 毛奉柔 25 Liu Hunkang 1035 1108 劉混康 26 Da Jingzhi 1068 1113 笪淨之 27 Xu Xihe 1127 徐希和 28 Jiang Jingche 1146 蔣景徹 29 Li Jinghe 1150 李景合 30 Li Jingying 1164 李景暎 31 Xu Shoujing 1195 徐守經 32 Qin Ruda 1195 秦汝達 33 Xing Rujia 1209 邢汝嘉 34 Xue Ruji 1214 薛汝積 35 Ren Yuanfu 1176 1239 任元阜 36 Bao Zhizhen 1251 鮑志真 37 Tang Zhidao 1258 湯志道 38 Jiang Zongying 1281 蔣宗瑛 39 Jing Yuanfan 景元範 40 Liu Zongchang 劉宗昶 41 Wang Zhixin 1273 王志心 42 Zhai Zhiying 1276 翟志穎 43 Xu Daoqi 1236 1291 許道杞 44 Wang Daomeng 1242 1314 王道孟 45 Liu Dabin fl 1317 28 劉大彬Notes Edit Robinet 1997 p 132 Jihyun Kim The Invention of Traditions With a Focus on Innovations in the Scripture of the Great Cavern in Ming Qing Daoism 道教研究學報 宗教 歷史與社會 Daoism Religion History and Society 7 2015 63 115 68 Kim 2015 67 References EditNeedham Joseph Ho Ping Yu and Lu Gwei djen Science and Civilisation in China Volume 5 Chemistry and Chemical Technology Part 4 Spagyrical Discovery and Invention Cambridge University Press 1980 Robinet Isabelle Taoist Meditation The Mao Shan Tradition of Great Purity trans Julian F Pas and Norman J Girardot State University of New York Press 1993 Robinet Isabelle Daoism Growth of a Religion Stanford Stanford University 1997 External links EditShangqing Isabelle Robinet entry from The Encyclopedia of Taoism Tao Hongjing 456 536 The Rise of the Tao New York Times Magazine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Shangqing School amp oldid 1141404802, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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