Jīnlù dàzhāi qǐméng yí 金籙大齋啟盟儀
Vow-Initiation Liturgy for the Great Golden-Register Fast
About the work
The third of the Dù Guāngtíng Jīnlù 金籙 cycle (KR5b0167–KR5b0181), traditionally transmitted with KR5b0168 and KR5b0170 as “three liturgies in one fascicle.” The qǐméng yí 啟盟儀 (“vow-initiation liturgy”) is the opening vow ceremony, in which the patron and the celebrants formally enter into the méng 盟 (covenant) with the gods that frames the multi-day rite. The text opens with the high-priest’s seating, the qǐtáng fǎshì 啟堂法事 (hall-opening rite), the burning of the Fúlí guónèi Yùjīngshān 浮黎國内玉京山 incense, the yīzhù 一炷 of incense rising upward, and the formal qǐméng announcement to the Sānqīng sānjìng shíjí shíhuá — the Three Pure Ones, Three Realms, Ten Ultimates, and Ten Magnificents.
Abstract
The qǐméng establishes the binding vow between human and divine that constitutes the metaphysical foundation of the zhāi rite proper. Schipper & Verellen (Taoist Canon 2: 994–996, entry by John Lagerwey) note that the méng 盟 concept in Daoism descends from the original Zhèngyī méngwēi 正一盟威 covenant attributed to Zhāng Dàolíng — the celestial-human compact at the foundation of Daoist religion — and is here renewed in the form appropriate to imperial high-state liturgy. The text is procedural and supplies the precise formulae of vow.
The text concludes with the formal call-down of the Jīnlù dàzhāi tán yìnggǎn zhēnzǎi 金籙大齋壇應感真宰 — the responsive deities of the Golden-Register altar, who will witness and validate the vow.
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 485, 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.