Tàishàng shuō lìyì cánwáng miàojīng 太上說利益蠶王妙經
Marvelous Scripture of the Most High on the Multiplication of the Silkworm King
About the work
A two-folio Daoist sericultural scripture revealed in the Jìngmíng 淨明 (“Pure Luminosity”) Land in the Palace of Hóngmíng 紅明 (“Red Luminosity”). Transmitted in the Dàozàng in a composite juàn with DZ 362, DZ 363, DZ 364, and DZ 366. A companion piece to the more substantial DZ 360 Yǎngcán yíngzhǒng jīng (KR5b0044).
Prefaces
No prefaces in the source. The text opens directly with the revelation in the Jìngmíng Land and carries no author preface or transmission colophon.
Abstract
Dated by Lagerwey (Schipper & Verellen, Taoist Canon 3: 987, DZ 365) within the cluster of Táng–Sòng apotropaic sericultural scriptures. The scriptural frame: in the Jìngmíng Land, in the Hóngmíng Palace, the zhēnrén Yuèjìng 月淨 (“Lunar Purity”) describes for the Língbǎo tiānzūn 靈寶天尊 the sufferings of the people on earth caused by insufficient clothing. The Tiānzūn responds by dispatching the zhēnrén Xuánmíng 玄名 (“Mysterious Name”) to earth, there to transform himself into a silkworm and teach the people to weave fabrics from silk thread. The zhēnrén insists that the people must care well for silkworms, since the worms are his body. To help “the Silkworm King multiply” the text supplies a “divine fú” that keeps demons at bay.
The scripture complements DZ 360 (KR5b0044) in its invocation-driven protection of the sericultural economy — both texts are core witnesses to the Daoist liturgy of rural economic life in the late-medieval period.
Translations and research
- Schipper, Kristofer, and Franciscus Verellen, eds. The Taoist Canon: A Historical Companion to the Daozang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004, 3:987 (DZ 365).