Jīnlù dàzhāi sùqǐ yí 金籙大齋宿啟儀
Eve-Announcement Liturgy for the Great Golden-Register Fast
About the work
The second of the Dù Guāngtíng Jīnlù 金籙 cycle (KR5b0167–KR5b0181), the sùqǐ yí 宿啟儀 (“eve-announcement liturgy”). The colophon in the source-file reads 三儀同卷軆二 (“three liturgies in one fascicle, Tǐ 2”), indicating that the Sùqǐ yí, Qǐméng yí (KR5b0169), and Bǔzhí shuōjiè yí (KR5b0170) were originally transmitted together as a single fascicle. The text supplies the formal announcement to the celestial bureau on the eve of the multi-day jīnlù dàzhāi, opening with the qǐngxuān shénzhòu 請宣神呪 invocation of the five-direction spirits (Jiǔqì qīngtiān east, etc., in the standard sequence).
Abstract
The sùqǐ (“eve-announcement”) is the canonical opening rite of any multi-day Daoist zhāi, performed on the night before the substantive ritual days begin. Schipper & Verellen (Taoist Canon 2: 994–996, entry by John Lagerwey) attribute the work to Dù Guāngtíng as part of his Jīnlù corpus, though noting that the explicit attribution in the colophon survives only on KR5b0167 Qǐtán yí; the Sùqǐ yí and the following texts may have been added to Dù’s core compilation by an early-Sòng editor working in his tradition. The diction is fully consistent with the rest of the Jīnlù corpus.
The sùqǐ sequence: gāogōng shēngzuò 高功升座 (the high-priest mounts the altar seat); zhāoyīn 招音 (call to attention); five-direction qǐngxuān invocations; fǎgǔ 24-fold drumming; call-down of the Sānwǔ gōngcáo spirit-officers from within the priest’s own body; zhāngzòu 章奏 announcement to the Tàishàng wújí dàdào of the impending rite, its patron, and its purpose; and the zhāoshī 朝師 reverence to the masters of the lineage.
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: 994–996 (DZ 484, entry by John Lagerwey).
- Verellen, Franciscus. Du Guangting (850–933). Paris, 1989.
- Lagerwey, John. Taoist Ritual in Chinese Society and History. New York: Macmillan, 1987.