Tàishàng dòngyuān sānmèi shénzhòu zhāi chànxiè yí 太上洞淵三昧神咒齋懺謝儀
Liturgy of Confession-Thanksgiving in the Great-High Dòngyuān Three-Samādhi Spirit-Spell Fast
by 杜光庭 (刪定)
About the work
First of three liturgical rites (DZ 525–527 = KR5b0228–KR5b0230) attached to the Dòngyuān shénzhòu jīng 洞淵神咒經 (the Spirit-Spell Scripture of the Cavernous Abyss; cf. KR5b0019), revised by Dù Guāngtíng 杜光庭. The opening rubric attributes the rite to Dù with the verb 刪定 (“collated and fixed”), indicating that Dù worked over an older transmission rather than composing the rite de novo; this is consistent with his role in the larger transmission history of the Dòngyuān scripture, which culminated in his definitive twenty-juǎn recension. The fascicle bears the rubric huà 7 (化七) in the Dòngxuán sequence.
Abstract
The rite is a chànfāng 懴方 (directional confession) framed for performance at the Sānmèi shénzhòu fast — the dramatic exorcistic Daoist zhāi descended from the early-medieval Shénzhòu jīng and its eschatological cult of demon-quelling salvation. Each of the standard directions (beginning with the dōngfāng) is addressed in succession; the celebrant declares the family-fast (奉修神呪行道) being conducted on behalf of the named beneficiary household, and seeks (1) confession of accumulated faults (shǒuxiè zuìqiān 首謝罪愆), (2) the dispersal of plague-spirits (duànjié mówēn 斷截魔瘟), (3) the protection of the state and the populace, (4) the burning of incense and lighting of lamps, and (5) the visualisation of the deities. The dedication is to the Dòngyuān sānmèi shénzhòu sāndòng tiānzūn 洞淵三昧神呪三洞天尊 and the Wúshàng xuánlǎo tàishàng 無上玄老太上.
Per Schipper & Verellen (Taoist Canon 2: 1023–1024, John Lagerwey, DZ 525), Dù’s three Dòngyuān shénzhòu liturgies form a coherent set with the master rite for confession (KR5b0228), the dawn rite of cultivation (KR5b0229), and the ten-direction confession (KR5b0230). All three are securely Dù’s late-career work.
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: 1023–1024 (DZ 525, 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.
- Mollier, Christine. Une apocalypse taoïste du début du Vᵉ siècle: le Livre des Incantations divines des Grottes abyssales. Paris: Collège de France, IHEC, 1990 — for the parent Dòngyuān shénzhòu jīng tradition.