Shàngqīng jīnmǔ qiúxiān shàngfǎ 上清金母求仙上法
Superior Methods of the Search for Immortality of the Golden Mother, of the Upper Clarity by 李玄真 (演)
About the work
A twenty-three-folio late-Táng Daoist talismanic manual, setting out the correct way to write, read, and deploy a specific set of Língbǎo talismans — the Tàisù yǎngshēng yīshíjiǔ fǎ 太素養生一十九法 (“Nineteen Methods of the Tàisù for Nourishing Life”), traditionally said to have been given to the Wángmǔ 王母 (Golden Mother) for her enlightenment.
Prefaces
No prefaces in the source proper. The colophon at 22a identifies the author Lǐ Xuánzhēn 李玄真 as a “Master Who Wanders in the Arcane of the Northern Peak” (Běiyuè yóuxuán xiānshēng 北岳游玄先生), associated with the Chóngxuán guǎn 崇玄觀 on Lúshān 廬山.
Abstract
Dated by Schipper (Schipper & Verellen, Taoist Canon 2: 713, DZ 391) to 790–796. The prefix Shàngqīng in the title does not indicate affiliation with the Shàngqīng canon proper; it is a general term for Táng-dynasty Daoist scripture. The author Lǐ Xuánzhēn 李玄真 hails from Liáodōng 遼東 and describes himself as a Běiyuè yóuxuán xiānshēng (a Six Dynasties / Táng title for dàoshì who had been ordained and held the Língbǎo registers; cf. DZ 1130 Dàodiǎn lùn 2.2a–4b; DZ 1407 Dòngxuán língbǎo èrshísì shēng tújīng 19b). He states his affiliation with the Chóngxuán guàn 崇玄觀 on Lúshān, one of the state-sponsored Daoist abbeys founded by Emperor Xuánzōng in the second year of Tiānbǎo (743); these institutions were renamed Chóngxuán guǎn 崇玄館 during the Wǔdài and Sòng.
The colophon states that Lǐ taught the method to his disciple Wáng Yànzhēn 王彥真 and others during a seven-year period from a gēngwǔ 庚午 year to a bǐngzǐ 丙子 year; these cycles correspond most plausibly to 790 and 796. The text thus offers a rare datable witness to Língbǎo talismanic transmission in the heart of the late-Táng Lúshān Daoist establishment.
Translations and research
- Schipper, Kristofer, and Franciscus Verellen, eds. The Taoist Canon: A Historical Companion to the Daozang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004, 2:713 (DZ 391).