Tàishàng dòngzhēn jīng dòngzhāng fú 太上洞真經洞章符
Talismans and Symbols of the Cavern, from the True Shàngqīng Canon
Táng Daoist talisman-collection for the Míngmó zhòu 明魔咒 and Tàiyī 太一 cults, eight folios, preserved in the Zhèngtǒng Dàozàng 正統道藏 (DZ 0085 / CT 85), 洞真部 本文類
About the work
An eight-folio Daoist talisman-collection (some fú missing), together with the spells and documents to be used alongside them. The first item is the Dòngzhāng fú 洞章符, from which the collection takes its title, used for expelling the shī 尸 (“corpse”) demons in the body; this fú is to be practised daily, morning and evening. The next item consists of a series of protective talismans to be used with the famous Míngmó zhòu 明魔咒 (5a) — also used in Língbǎo liturgy, and here called Mièxié zhòu 滅邪咒. The final series of fú is related to the seven stars of the Dipper and to the god Tàiyī 太一. All of these texts and talismans belong to the Shàngqīng canon.
Prefaces
No prefaces in the source.
Abstract
Kristofer Schipper, in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004) 1:— (§2.B.2 or §2.B.8), dates the collection to the Táng. The frontmatter brackets composition notBefore 618 / notAfter 907, with dynasty 唐. No author is attributed.
Translations and research
No translation. Standard scholarly entry: Kristofer Schipper, “Taishang dongzhen jing dongzhang fu,” in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004), Vol. 1 — DZ 85 entry.
Other points of interest
The collection provides a compact witness to the Táng Daoist body-demon-expulsion (qū shī 驅尸) talismanic tradition, which persists in modern Daoist ritual practice.
Links
- Kanseki Repository KR5a0085
- Schipper & Verellen, The Taoist Canon (2004), Vol. 1 — DZ 85 entry (Kristofer Schipper).