Tàishàng shuō Dōngdǒu zhǔsuàn hùmìng miào jīng 太上說東斗主筭護命妙經
Wonderful Scripture on the Eastern Dipper, Master of Life-Spans and Guardian of the Life-Decree, Preached by the Most High
anonymous Southern-Sòng revealed scripture in one juàn of three folios, second of the four directional-Dipper sequels to the Běidǒu zhēnjīng (KR5c0003 / DZ 622), preserved in the Zhèngtǒng Dàozàng (DZ 625 / CT 625, 洞神部本文類). The source file’s title carries 鬥 for 斗 (title-variant inherited from some Wànlì-era blocks); the Sānjiā edition normalises to 斗.
About the work
The scripture is the Eastern counterpart of KR5c0005: Tàishàng Lǎojūn preaches to Zhāng Dàolíng the “Wondrous Book of Life-Protection” addressed to the five Perfected Lords of the Eastern Dipper (Dōngdǒu wǔ zhēnjūn 東斗五眞君): Cānglíng yánshēng zhēnjūn 蒼靈延生眞君, Língguāng hùmìng zhēnjūn 陵光護命眞君, Guāntiān dàwèi jífú zhēnjūn 關天大衛集福眞君, Dàmíng héyáng bǎohé zhēnjūn 大明和陽保和眞君, and Wěijí zǒngjiān zhēnjūn 尾極緫監眞君. Recitation instructions follow: fast, face east, knock the teeth, close the eyes, visualise the Xuánlíng Dìjūn 玄靈帝君 of the Eastern Infinite in his vast assembly of sages, and offer seasonal flowers, rare fruits, and incense on the natal day, the new and full moons, and the ninth of the month. The scripture closes with Lǎojūn’s warning (line 50 ff.) that “the mysterious writ and secret Dharma — if transmitted to the wrong person, calamity extends through nine generations of ancestors; I accordingly bestow it on you for propagation, that the right Dào may save the heaven-men and secure for them long life.” Recitation is then entrusted to Zhāng Dàolíng for circulation in the world.
Prefaces
No independent preface; the scripture is logically annexed to KR5c0005 and uses its preface (see there). The concluding apotropaic incantation (lines 32–36) may be rendered: “The Great Dào manifests bright, stilled and silent in dark mystery. The five Dippers revolve at their centre and bring to completion the four seasons. The ten-thousand ghosts of the Northern Capital would fell the years of man, but I have the cavernous Scripture that saves the world and grants long life. Attend and revere the Master-of-Men, the Spirit: within mystery there is mystery — lofty, lofty, the Jade Capital! Swift as by statute, so let it be!”
Abstract
Schipper, in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004, 2:983–984, DZ 624–627, group entry under 3.B.1 Zhèngyī), dates the four directional-Dipper scriptures — KR5c0005 (DZ 624), the present KR5c0006 (DZ 625), KR5c0007 (DZ 626), and KR5c0008 (DZ 627) — collectively to the Southern Sòng. The cycle’s shared preface (see KR5c0005) is attributed to Zhāng Dàolíng’s disciples Wáng Cháng and Zhào Shēng, and Schipper reads the emphasis on the first Heavenly Master’s legendary biography as diagnostic of a Southern-Sòng Zhèngyī production of the Five-Bushels (Wǔ dǒu 五斗) cult-set. The structural symmetry of the four directional scriptures — each assigning a different number of Perfected Lords to each of the cardinal Dippers (Northern: 7 + 2 + 3 = 12; Southern: 6; Eastern: 5; Western: 4; Central: 3) — reflects numerological-cosmological patterning rather than pre-existing astronomical tradition; there is no Chinese astronomical configuration called the “Eastern Dipper” (as there is a genuine Southern-Dipper 斗宿), and the Dōngdǒu/Xīdǒu/Zhōngdǒu are pure Daoist theological elaborations. Frontmatter dating 1127/1279.
Translations and research
- Schipper, Kristofer, and Franciscus Verellen, eds. The Taoist Canon: A Historical Companion to the Daozang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004, 2:983–984 (group entry for DZ 624–627).
- Little, Stephen. Taoism and the Arts of China. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2000, 246–247.
Links
- Kanseki Repository KR5c0006
- Schipper & Verellen, The Taoist Canon (2004), 2:983–984.