Hóng’ēn Língjì zhēnjūn jífú wǎncháo yí 洪恩靈濟真君集福晚朝儀
The Evening-Audience Felicity-Gathering Liturgy of the Vast-Beneficence Numinously-Salvific Perfected Lords
About the work
The fifth of the nine-text Yǒnglè-era liturgical cycle of the Hóng’ēn Língjì zhēnjūn cult (KR5b0152–KR5b0160) and the third and concluding daytime cháo liturgy. The wǎncháo 晚朝 is performed at yǒushí (5–7 p.m.) and corresponds to the moment of transition from yáng to yīn in the diurnal cycle. The opening hymn is Shénguāng lǎngzhào 神光朗照 (“Divine light shines bright; auspicious vapor whirls round; the Winnowing-and-Dipper basket cleared in luminance; zhīyǔ tranquil”) — a moon-and-northern-constellation invocation appropriate to the evening symbolism. The structure parallels KR5b0154 and KR5b0155.
Abstract
The evening audience completes the day’s cháo cycle and presents the wǎnzhāng 晚章 memorials. Schipper & Verellen (Taoist Canon 2: 1220–1221) note that the three-fold zǎo / wǔ / wǎn structure reflects the standardised SòngYuán Língbǎo dàfǎ liturgy as preserved in KR5b0150, adapted here to the cult of the Two Lords. The closing portion of the wǎncháo incorporates the huíxiàng 迴向 dedication of the day’s accumulated merit toward the bǎomìng 保命 / bǎofú 保福 (life-preservation and felicity-protection) ends specified by the patron(s) of the rite, and the sòngshèng 送聖 dismissal of the descended deities.
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 472, entry by Vincent Goossaert).
- Lagerwey, John. Taoist Ritual in Chinese Society and History. New York: Macmillan, 1987.