Tàishàng dàtōng jīng zhù 太上大通經註
Commentary on the “Book of Great Communication of the Most High”
short Yuán commentary on the Dàtōng jīng 大通經 by Lǐ Dàochún 李道純 (d. 1306); four folios; preserved in the Zhèngtǒng Dàozàng 正統道藏 (DZ 0106 / CT 106 = TC 105), 洞真部 本文類
About the work
A four-folio Yuán commentary on the Dàtōng jīng 大通經 — identical in substance to [[KR5a0327|DZ 327 Tàishàng dòngxuán língbǎo tiānzūn shuō dàtōng jīng]], differing only in the closing character (sòng 頌 “hymn” here replacing jì 偈 “gāthā” there) — by Lǐ Dàochún 李道純 (d. 1306), the Quánzhēn 全真 master and major inner-alchemy theorist. After explaining the title of the work, Lǐ glosses each sentence, then addresses the general meaning of the three paragraphs and the final hymn. He draws on Confucian sources like the Zhōngyōng 中庸 and the Mèngzǐ 孟子, as well as on [[KR5a0107|DZ 106 Tàishàng chìwén dònggǔ jīng zhù]] (see 4b of the latter), also commentated by Lǐ.
Prefaces
No prefaces in the source.
Abstract
Catherine Despeux, in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004) 2:706 (§3.A.1), dates the commentary to Lǐ Dàochún’s Yuán floruit (to d. 1306). The frontmatter brackets composition notBefore 1280 / notAfter 1306, with dynasty 元. Lǐ Dàochún is the sole catalog-meta person wikilinked.
Translations and research
Frederic Balfour’s “Three Brief Essays” (1887) translates the cognate commentaries; partial study in Thomas Cleary, The Book of Balance and Harmony (North Point Press, 1989), on Lǐ Dàochún’s Zhōnghé jí. Standard scholarly entry: Catherine Despeux, “Taishang datong jing zhu,” in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004), Vol. 2 §3.A.1, 706.
Other points of interest
Lǐ Dàochún’s systematic deployment of classical Confucian sources (Zhōngyōng, Mèngzǐ) in a short Daoist commentary is characteristic of his Three-Teachings synthetic method — an approach that underwrites his reputation as the Quánzhēn “Central Branch” (Zhōngpài 中派) synthesiser.
Links
- Kanseki Repository KR5a0106
- Schipper & Verellen, The Taoist Canon (2004), Vol. 2 §3.A.1, 706 — DZ 105 (TC) / KR5a0106 (Kanripo) entry (Catherine Despeux).