Shàngfāng dàdòng zhēnyuán túshū jìshuō zhōngpiān 上方大洞真元圖書繼說終篇
Final Chapter of the Continued Explanations of the [Marvelous Scripture of] True Origin, the Great Cavern, and the Highest Direction
About the work
A six-folio Southern-Sòng Daoist text — the concluding chapter of the Zhēnyuán 真元 complex, though in fact distinct in content from its two companion works DZ 436 and DZ 437–438 (KR5b0120–KR5b0122).
Prefaces
No prefaces in the source. The text opens directly with Zǐmíng 子明 (the zì of Chén Shàowēi 陳少微, fl. 712–734) addressing Lǐ Fǎng 李昉 (924–995) — a glaringly anachronistic pairing — and continues with Xiāoyáo 逍遙 (= Shí Yòng 時永, fl. 1159) also present, alongside a Sīmǎ liànshī 司馬鍊師, probably intended as Sīmǎ Chéngzhēn 司馬承禎.
Abstract
Dated to the Southern Sòng by Yuán Bǐnglíng (Schipper & Verellen, Taoist Canon 3: 1221–1222, DZ 439). Despite its sequel-title, the fragment is substantially distinct from the preceding Zhēnyuán texts. The text opens with the anachronistic trio — Chén Shàowēi (Táng), Lǐ Fǎng (Sòng), Shí Yòng (Southern Sòng) — plus the Sīmǎ liànshī (likely Sīmǎ Chéngzhēn), all in conversation about the origin of the Zhēnyuán scriptures and their distribution: these books are to be printed and distributed free by all those blessed with good health and fortune, the highest merit accruing from this dharma-propagation.
The text continues with an account of the origins and development of the Daoist canon and the Three Caverns from the three original pneumata. The closing lines resemble those in DZ 995 Yuányuán dàomiào dòngzhēn jí piān 元元道妙洞真集篇 — one of the clear markers linking this work to the wider Zhēnyuán-tradition textual family.
Translations and research
- Schipper, Kristofer, and Franciscus Verellen, eds. The Taoist Canon: A Historical Companion to the Daozang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004, 3:1221–1222 (DZ 439).