Shéngōng miàojì zhēnjūn lǐwén 神功妙濟真君禮文
Liturgical Text for the Perfected Lord of Numinous Merit and Marvellous Salvation
About the work
Single-fascicle devotional liturgy directed to the Shéngōng miàojì zhēnjūn 神功妙濟真君 — i.e. Xǔ Xùn 許遜 (Xǔ Jīngyáng 許旌陽, conventional dates 239–374), the eponymous saint of the Jìngmíng zhōngxiào dào 淨明忠孝道 and the principal Daoist deity of southern Jiāngxī. The title at the top of juǎn 1 reads Shéngōng miàojì zhēnjūn lǐwén huà èr 神功妙濟眞君禮文化二, placing the work as huà 2 of a sequenced Dòngxuán liturgy series.
Abstract
The opening preamble identifies the addressee as the Jiǔzhōu Dūxiān Tàishǐ Gāomíng Dàshǐ Zhìdào Xuányìng Shéngōng miàojì zhēnjūn 九州都仙太史髙明大使至道玄應神功妙濟眞君, an elaborated title compounded from the formal canonisations granted to Xǔ Xùn under the Northern Sòng. The honorific Shéngōng miàojì zhēnjūn 神功妙濟眞君 was specifically conferred by emperor Huīzōng in 1112; the inclusion of this title therefore fixes the terminus a quo of the work at 1112. The preamble enumerates Xǔ Xùn’s salvific powers in compact phrases: “with heart fused to the Subtle Way, hand grasping the original chart; with mastery of the sùjīng tiānwén 素精天文 and lǜlǚ 律呂 books, comprehending the yuánzhēn 元眞 and the principles of yin and yang; expelling demons and quelling evil, securing peace for family and state; writing talismans and dispensing medicines, raising the dead and restoring the bones.” The rite is brief — a single sequence of bows, incense-offerings, and pious declarations — and was intended for individual or small-group devotion at the local Xǔ Xùn cult-site (especially the Xīshān Wànshòu gōng 西山萬壽宮 in Jiāngxī).
The text was transmitted into the Dàozàng jíyào as JY 284, indicating sustained ritual use. Per Schipper & Verellen (Taoist Canon 2: 1083–1084, John Lagerwey, DZ 518), the rite is a Sòng-period composition, datable post-1112 and pre-Yuán.
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: 1083–1084 (DZ 518, entry by John Lagerwey).
- Akizuki Kan’ei 秋月觀暎. Chūgoku kinsei dōkyō no keisei: Jōmyōdō no kisoteki kenkyū 中国近世道教の形成 : 浄明道の基礎的研究. Tokyo: Sōbunsha, 1978 — the standard monograph on the Jìngmíng tradition.
- Schipper, Kristofer. “Taoist Ritual and Local Cults of the T’ang Dynasty.” In Michel Strickmann, ed., Tantric and Taoist Studies in Honour of R. A. Stein. Brussels: IBHE, 1985.
Other points of interest
The full formal title Shéngōng miàojì zhēnjūn was granted by emperor Huīzōng in Zhènghé 2 (1112) as part of the Sòng court’s promotion of the Xǔ Xùn cult; the title therefore serves as a fixed terminus post quem for the composition of the liturgy.