Huàqīng jīng 化清經
The Classic of Transformative Purity by an anonymous Jìn-period 蔡氏 (“Master Cài”)
About the work
A short jíyì compilation of a Jìn-period zǐbù text variously cited in early Táng and Sòng leishu as Huàqīng jīng 化清經, Càishǐ huàqīng lùn 蔡氏化清論, Càishǐ qīnghuà lùn 蔡氏清化論 and Càishǐ qīnglùn 蔡氏清論. Reconstructed from quotations in 《初學記》 (Xú Jiān 徐堅), 《北堂書鈔》, 《太平御覽》 and 《意林》. Not in the Sìkù quánshū; sourced from CHANT (CH2a1477).
Abstract
The early citations name the author as 蔡氏 (“Master Cài”) without further identification — the most plausible candidate among the Jìn-period Cài clan is the Eastern Jìn minister Cài Mó 蔡謨 (281–356), but the Suí shū jīngjí zhì 隋書經籍志 and subsequent traditional bibliographers do not commit to the identification and the work circulates as anonymous (闕名). The surviving fragments are aphoristic moral observations in a strongly xuánxué-inflected register — concealment as the basis of authority (“the about-to-fly tucks in his wings, the about-to-bite withdraws his claws”), the moral discrimination of character through physical signs, the dangers of conspicuous excellence. The title Huàqīng — transformative purity — suggests a xuánxué engagement with the Daoist motif of qīng 清 (purity, clarity, the unmuddied source). The composition window is bracketed by the Jìn period; the received recension is a 19th-century jíyì.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located. Standard fragment-compilation: 嚴可均 Quán Jìn wén 全晉文 j. 144 (under Wú-míng-shǐ / anonymous).
Links
- Suí shū jīngjí zhì 隋書經籍志.