Sòng Zhēnzōng yùzhì Yùjīng jí 宋真宗御製玉京集
Imperially-Authored Collectanea of the Jade Capital, by Sòng Zhēnzōng
by 趙德昌 (御製, = Sòng Zhēnzōng 宋真宗, r. 997–1022)
About the work
A six-juan collection of imperial yì 意 (“Intentions”) — drafts and presentation-versions of memorials for Daoist liturgical use — composed (presumably) by the Sòng emperor Zhēnzōng 宋真宗 (Zhào Héng 趙恆, originally Zhào Déchāng 趙德昌; 968–1022; r. 997–1022) himself. Preserved in the Zhèngtǒng Dàozàng 正統道藏 (DZ 0315 / CT 315 = TC 315), 洞真部 表奏類. The collection is structured by the addressee-deities and the occasions of the offerings: imperial thanksgivings (xiè 謝) for auspicious rains and harvests, memorials (biǎo 表) celebrating the Tiānshū 天書 (“Heavenly Writs”) of 1008, the conclusion of the fēng 封 sacrifice on Tàishān 泰山, the supernatural apparition of the imperial ancestor Shèngzǔ 聖祖 (Yùhuáng 玉皇, Jade Emperor), and the like. Each yì opens with the standard ritual-memorial address — “Sìtiānzǐ chén X chénggǎn chéngqìng dùnshǒu dùnshǒu zàibài shàng yán” 嗣天子(臣)某誠感誠慶頓首頓首再拜上言 — followed by the ritual content in formal parallel-prose. Among the recipients, the Sānqīng 三清 (Three Pure Ones), the Yùhuáng 玉皇 (Jade Emperor), the Tàishān god, and the Daoist saints of various caverns appear most often.
Prefaces
No preface in the source. The text opens directly with the first yì, Xiè ruìmài biǎo 謝瑞麥表 (“Memorial of Thanksgiving for the Auspicious Wheat”) addressed to the Yùhuáng 玉皇: “Filial Son of Heaven, the [unworthy] minister X, sincerely moved, sincerely rejoicing, kotows, kotows, again bowing — respectfully memorialises: I have lately followed in the rites of audience with the zhēn 真 [the cháozhēn lǐ 朝真禮]; though I was strict in my apprehension and waited cautiously, fearing my virtue thin, I look back and see that this favoured plain has at once revealed the auspicious sign — the rich field has again given forth excellent ears. I behold the sacred concord of harmony, I know the loving regard of Heaven’s purpose; I respectfully receive this descent of good fortune, the more determined to strive of myself. I — the unworthy minister X — without the means to express my gratitude, with all the force of my emotion, respectfully offer this memorial to give thanks…”
Abstract
Kristofer Schipper, in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004) 2:1107 (§3.B.6, Imperial Daoism and Ritual Documents), describes the work as a collection of “yì” 意 (“Intentions”) for memorials presented during Daoist rituals, presumably written by the emperor himself. The Yùhǎi 玉海 28.10b mentions the present work as having twenty juan; the Daozàng version, in only six juan, must therefore be incomplete. Even so, this is a most important document for the study of religious events during Zhēnzōng’s reign. It contains the Xiè jiāng Tiānshū biǎo 謝降天書表 (“Memorial of Thanksgiving for the Bestowal of the Heavenly Writs,” 4.9a), the memorial expressing thanks for the conclusion of the fēng sacrifice on Tàishān (4.9b), the memorial for the supernatural apparition of the imperial ancestor Shèngzǔ 聖祖 (95.3a [recte: read 5.3a or similar]), and others.
The frontmatter brackets composition to the entirety of Zhēnzōng’s reign (997–1022), the historical window in which the yì would have been authored. The principal historical event prompting the great body of these compositions is the Daoist–imperial cult inaugurated in 1008 (the Tiānshū descent), which transformed the Sòng court’s ritual practice and precipitated the great Daoist canon project ([[KR5a0769|Yúnjí qīqiān 雲笈七籤]], compiled at this period by Zhāng Jūnfáng 張君房). The catalog meta corrects to “趙恆 r. 997–1022,” but the personal name Zhào Déchāng 趙德昌 was the prince’s birth name — see the person note.
Translations and research
No full translation. Standard scholarly entry: Kristofer Schipper, “Song Zhenzong yuzhi Yujing ji,” in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004), Vol. 2 §3.B.6, 1107. On Sòng Zhēnzōng’s Daoist patronage: Suzanne Cahill, “Taoism at the Sung Court: The Heavenly Text Affair of 1008,” Bulletin of Sung-Yuan Studies 16 (1980), 23–44; Edward L. Davis, Society and the Supernatural in Song China (Honolulu 2001); on the Tiānshū episode and its Daoist context: Suzanne Cahill, Transcendence and Divine Passion: The Queen Mother of the West in Medieval China (Stanford 1993).
Links
- Kanseki Repository KR5a0327
- Schipper & Verellen, The Taoist Canon (2004), Vol. 2 §3.B.6, 1107.