Tàishàng língbǎo yùguì míngzhēn dàzhāi chànfāng yí 太上靈寶玉匱明真大齋懺方儀
Liturgy of Confession-by-Direction in the Great-High Língbǎo Jade-Casket Luminous-Perfected Great Fast
by 杜光庭 (修)
About the work
The “great-fast” (dàzhāi 大齋) expansion of the Yùguì míngzhēn chànfāng yí (cf. KR5b0222), again attributed to Dù Guāngtíng 杜光庭. In the canonical bundling the two share one physical fascicle (二儀同卷化三). Where KR5b0222 gives the abbreviated everyday version, the present work is the full-scale directional confession for the climactic dàzhāi of the Yùguì míngzhēn programme.
Abstract
The work is organised by direction: dōngfāng 東方, nánfāng 南方, xīfāng 西方, běifāng 北方, shàngfāng 上方, xiàfāng 下方, dōngběi, dōngnán, xīnán, xīběi — the ten directions of the Daoist mandala. For each direction the rite invokes by name and title the local infinite-Tàishàng-Língbǎo tiānzūn, the local yǐdédào dàshèngzhòng zhìzhēn zūnshén 巳得道大聖衆至眞尊神, and a long enumerated pantheon of subordinate deities — beginning with the Tàiqīng Xuányuán wúshàng sāntiān wújí dàdào Wúshàng Xuányuán lǎojūn 太清玄元無上三天無極大道無上玄元老君, the Tàishàng zhàngrén 太上丈人, the Huángshàng lǎojūn 皇上老君, the Huángshàng zhàngrén 皇上丈人, the Qīnglíng shàngzhēn tiāndìjūn 青靈上眞天帝君, etc. — and offers the confessional declaration. The east-facing first section names the Hòushèng Dìjūn 後聖帝君, the Qīngtóngjūn 青童君, the Jīnquē hòushèng Dìjūn 金闕後聖帝君, and the Língbǎo jiǔxiānjūn 靈寳九仙君 among others — a roster characteristic of Dù’s Língbǎo synthesis. Per Schipper & Verellen (Taoist Canon 2: 1083, John Lagerwey, DZ 520), the work is structurally the largest and ritually most elaborate of the three Yùguì míngzhēn liturgies.
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 (DZ 520, entry by John Lagerwey).
- Verellen, Franciscus. Du Guangting (850–933): Taoïste de cour à la fin de la Chine médiévale. Paris: Collège de France, IHEC, 1989.