Hóng’ēn Língjì zhēnjūn jífú wǔcháo yí 洪恩靈濟真君集福午朝儀
The Midday-Audience Felicity-Gathering Liturgy of the Vast-Beneficence Numinously-Salvific Perfected Lords
About the work
The fourth of the nine-text Yǒnglè-era liturgical cycle of the Hóng’ēn Língjì zhēnjūn cult (KR5b0152–KR5b0160) and the second of the three daytime cháo liturgies. The wǔcháo 午朝 is performed at the zǐwǔ meridian (noon) and corresponds to the cardinal moment of yáng maximum in the diurnal cycle. The opening hymn is the Dānhuá liúyìng 丹華流映 chant (“Cinnabar flowers shimmer in answer, treasure-fungi grow into light, spirit-essence pierces the obscure, scattering numen to the eight directions”) — a fire-element invocation appropriate to the south-and-midday symbolism. The structure thereafter parallels that of KR5b0154 zǎocháo and KR5b0156 wǎncháo.
Abstract
The midday audience presents the zhōngzhāng 中章 memorials to the celestial bureau and incorporates an extended invocation of the south-direction Vermilion God (Chìshén 赤神) and the fire-stars Yínghuò 熒惑, who are particular allies of the Two Lords in their dispensation of bǎomìng 保命 (life-preservation). Schipper & Verellen (Taoist Canon 2: 1220–1221) describe the wǔcháo as the structural centre of the daily cycle. The text shares with the other cháo liturgies the bipartite framework of qǐngxuān shénzhòu 請宣神呪 (invocation of the spirit-spell) followed by míng fǎgǔ èrshísì tōng 鳴法鼓二十四通 (twenty-four drum-rolls), then the substantive ritual section.
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: 1220–1221 (DZ 471, entry by Vincent Goossaert).
- Lagerwey, John. Taoist Ritual in Chinese Society and History. New York: Macmillan, 1987.