Chìsōngshān zhì 赤松山志
Gazetteer of Mt. Chì-sōng by 倪守約 (Ní Shǒuyuē, fl. Xiánchún 1265–1274) — zhuàn 撰
About the work
A 1-juan late-Sòng Daoist monograph on Mt. Chìsōng 赤松山 in Jīnhuá 金華 (Wǔzhōu, Zhèjiāng) — the cult-mountain of the Daoist immortals Huáng Chūpíng 皇初平 and his elder brother Huáng Chūqǐ 皇初起 (the Erxian 二仙 “Two Immortals” of Mt. Chìsōng). Composed by the Daoist priest Ní Shǒuyuē, who self-styles as a Sōngshān yǔshì 松山羽士. Categories: Huángchū xù (The Initial Beginnings), Dānlèi (Cinnabar), Dòngxuélèi (Caves), Shānlèi (Mountains), Shuǐlèi (Waters), Gōngyǔlèi (Buildings), Rénwùlèi (Persons), Zhìgàolèi (Imperial Decrees), Bēijílèi (Steles).
Tiyao
We respectfully note: this is the work of the Sòng Daoist priest Ní Shǒuyuē 倪守約. Shǒuyuē — what man and from where, is not in detail known. The book’s preface by his own hand says he renounced household and parted from his parents, came to seek a Master. He further self-signs as Sōngshān yǔshì (Daoist priest of Sōngshān) — knowing him to be a Daoist. The book mentions the Zhēnzōng (Zhēnmiào), Shénzōng (Shénmiào), Xiàozōng (Xiàomiào), and Níngzōng (Níngmiào) imperial designations, knowing him to be of the Sòng. At the end of the Persons section he uses the Xiánchún (1265–1274) reign-name, knowing it was composed in the time of Dùzōng.
The book’s opening prefaces the August Beginnings, beginning from the immortal-traces of the brothers Huáng Chūpíng — to display the numinous oddity of this mountain — as the framework of the entire book. Next Dānlèi (Cinnabar); next Dòngxuélèi (Caves); next Shānlèi (Mountains); next Shuǐlèi (Waters); next Gōngyǔlèi (Buildings); next Rénwùlèi (Persons); next Zhìgàolèi (Imperial Decrees); next Bēijílèi (Steles).
At the end of the book there are several lines of imperial composition by the Míng Yīngzōng (Zhèngtǒng 4 / 1439) — neither verse nor prose, seeming to be a paired-couplet. These are unrelated to this book’s pages and chapters; presumably appended by a later hand. Míng-era cut editions have the habit of disordering and confounding the older books — exactly so. We now prune and remove without recording, to preserve Shǒuyuē’s older form.
Abstract
The Chìsōngshān zhì is a principal late-Sòng Daoist mountain-monograph and the foundational documentary source for the cult of the Erxian (Two Immortals) Huáng Chūpíng and Huáng Chūqǐ at Mt. Chìsōng in Jīnhuá. The author Ní Shǒuyuē (no CBDB entry) was a Daoist priest of the Sōngshān 松山 abbey at Mt. Chìsōng, active in the Xiánchún era (1265–1274) — the work was composed under the last Sòng emperor Dùzōng (r. 1264–1274), shortly before the Mongol conquest. The 9-category structure (Huángchū, Dān, Dòngxué, Shān, Shuǐ, Gōngyǔ, Rénwù, Zhìgào, Bēijí) reflects the standard Sòng-era Daoist mountain-monograph genre as established for the major dòngtiān fúdì (grotto-heaven and blessed-land) sites.
The Sìkù compilers’ rejection of an inauthentic Míng Yīngzōng (Zhèngtǒng 4 / 1439) appendix is a notable instance of their textual scrutiny: the appended lines are not pages of the original book but a Míng-era addition, and the Sìkù version restores the Sòng-era integrity of the text. The work is preserved in the Wényuāngé Sìkù quánshū (vol. 585.3).
The cult of Huáng Chūpíng — the elder Huáng (Huáng Dàxiān 黃大仙) of Hong Kong popular religion — became one of the most widespread Daoist popular cults of post-Sòng south China, with major modern temples in Guǎngzhōu (the Wǔyángguān and the Hong Kong Wong Tai Sin / 黃大仙 cult-center). The Chìsōngshān zhì preserves the foundational hagiographic and topographical materials of the cult.
Translations and research
No comprehensive English translation. Cited in: Graeme Lang and Lars Ragvald, The Rise of a Refugee God: Hong Kong’s Wong Tai Sin (Oxford, 1993), with substantial use of the work as the foundational hagiographic source; Stephen Bokenkamp, Early Daoist Scriptures (UC Press, 1997); James Robson, Power of Place (Harvard, 2009). For Sòng-Yuán Daoist mountain-monograph genre see Tim H. Barrett, Taoism under the T’ang (Wellsweep, 1996). Standard Chinese reference: Hú Fú-chēn, Zhōnghuá dào-jiào dà-cí-diǎn (Zhōngguó shèkē, 1995); Liú Tíngyú 劉廷玉, Huáng Dà-xiān xìnyǎng yán-jiū 黃大仙信仰研究 (Sānlián, 2005).
Other points of interest
The work is the principal documentary source for the foundational cult of Huáng Dàxiān (Wong Tai Sin), one of the most widespread overseas-Chinese popular Daoist cults — with major modern temple centers in Hong Kong, Macau, and the Cantonese diaspora.