Yuánshǐ tiānzūn shuō tàigǔ jīng zhù 元始天尊說太古經註
Commentary on the “Book of Highest Antiquity, Spoken by Yuánshǐ Tiānzūn”
thirteenth-century commentary on the Tàigǔ jīng 太古經 by the pseudonymous Chángquánzǐ 長筌子 (“Master Fish-Trap”); eleven folios; preserved in the Zhèngtǒng Dàozàng 正統道藏 (DZ 0103 / CT 103 = TC 102), 洞真部 本文類
About the work
An eleven-folio commentary — including preface — on the Tàigǔ jīng 太古經 (“Book of Highest Antiquity”), by the pseudonymous Chángquánzǐ 長筌子 (“Master Fish-Trap”), who is otherwise unknown (see [[KR5a1064|DZ 1064 Dòngyuán jí]]). The text is nearly identical with [[KR5a0107|DZ 107 Tàishàng chìwén dònggǔ jīng zhù]] by the same author — indeed Chángquánzǐ’s single commentary was evidently incorporated under two distinct scripture-titles in the Daozang tradition.
The text expounds the way to obtain immortality and access to Great Mystery (tàixuán 太玄) through cutting oneself off from outer vision and audition (juéjiàn juétīng 絕見絕聽). It is divided into three parts, each beginning with the words “The Tiānzūn says…” (Tiānzūn yuē 天尊曰) and ending with a poem.
Prefaces
Preface by Chángquánzǐ, identifying the text as the “Book of Highest Antiquity” revealed by Yuánshǐ tiānzūn.
Abstract
Catherine Despeux, in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004) 2:710–711 (§3.A.1), dates the commentary to the thirteenth century and notes that Chángquánzǐ is otherwise unknown outside the scripture and the cognate DZ 107 / DZ 108. The frontmatter brackets composition notBefore 1200 / notAfter 1300, with dynasty 南宋—元. Chángquánzǐ is the sole catalog-meta person wikilinked.
Translations and research
No translation. Standard scholarly entry: Catherine Despeux, “Yuanshi tianzun shuo taigu jing zhu,” in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004), Vol. 2 §3.A.1, 710–711. For a partial translation of the cognate Chìwén dònggǔ jīng, see Frederic H. Balfour, “Three Brief Essays (Translations from the Tao Canon),” Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 21 (1887), 286–293.
Other points of interest
The dual preservation of Chángquánzǐ’s single commentary under two scripture-titles (Tàigǔ jīng and Chìwén dònggǔ jīng) is a clear specimen of the editorial redundancy that accumulated in the Daozang over its long transmission, where the same commentary-text can appear twice under different scripture-titles reflecting different transmission-paths.
Links
- Kanseki Repository KR5a0103
- Schipper & Verellen, The Taoist Canon (2004), Vol. 2 §3.A.1, 710–711 — DZ 102 (TC) / KR5a0103 (Kanripo) entry (Catherine Despeux).