Tàishàng Lǎojūn shuō ānzhái bāyáng jīng 太上老君說安宅八陽經
Scripture on the Eight Yáng and the Pacification of the Dwelling, Preached by the Most High Lord Lǎo
anonymous Táng short dwelling-pacification scripture in one juàn of two folios, preserved in the Zhèngtǒng Dàozàng (DZ 634 / CT 634, 洞神部本文類); fifth in the bundle “Qī jīng tóng juàn shāng sì” 七經同卷傷四.
About the work
The scripture is framed as a dialogue: Tàijí Zhēnrén 太極眞人 asks Lǎojūn, seated in the “Heaven of Blessed Virtue” (Fúdé tiān 福徳天) among the ten-directional sages, for a means to save ordinary householders from the repeated calamities that attend the construction of dwellings in the world of Jambudvīpa (Yánfú 閻浮). Lǎojūn’s answer enumerates the disturbances provoked by digging and building — the calling-out of roof-beams, the split of earth-flower and clay, the crying of dragon-spirits under south-hall, north-chamber, east-gallery, gateway, well, stove, mortar, mill, storehouse, boat, carriage, cattle-pen, stable, pig-sty, chicken-coop, temple-precinct — and names the specific demonic agencies disturbed: the Sky-Sha 天煞, Earth-Sha 地煞, Year-Sha 年煞, Month-Sha 月煞, Day-Sha 日煞, Hour-Sha 時煞, the four-direction and five-direction earth-deities, the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Dark Warrior guardians, the Grand Year-Duke (Tàisuì 太歳), the Yellow-Banner (Huángfān 黄旛) and Leopard-Tail (Bàowěi 豹尾) stars, the twelve hour-spirits, the six cyclical jiǎ 六甲, the Earth-Duke and Earth-Mother (Tǔgōng, Tǔmǔ 土公土母), the Earth-Bureau (Tǔfǔ 土府), and the Subdued-Dragon (Fúlóng 伏龍). Recitation of the scripture three times or up to one hundred times will send them all to their proper quarters and secure harmony, concord of yīn and yáng, favourable orientation, and the increase of all merit.
Prefaces
No preface.
Abstract
Hans-Hermann Schmidt, in his notice in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004, 1:563, DZ 634) dates the scripture to the Táng, noting that it “shows a close correspondence, partly verbatim, with a section in Tiāndì bāyáng shénzhòu jīng 天地八陽神咒經 (T. 2897), a Buddhist apocryphon the translation of which is attributed to Yìjìng 義淨 (635–713).” The Buddhist text was first listed in the Zhēnyuán xīndìng shìjiào mùlù 貞元新定釋教目錄 28.1017a–b (800 CE) and condemned as apocryphal in Běishān lù 北山錄 2.582c (completed 806 CE). Unlike the Buddhist text, the present scripture offers no philosophical exegesis of the term bāyáng 八陽 (“eight yáng”) — the Buddhist text equates “eight” with bāshì 八識 (the eight types of perception) and “yáng” with clear understanding of the principle of emptiness — and confines itself pragmatically to dwelling-pacification. The mention of a Bāyáng jīng at DZ 289 Chéngxīng língtái bìyào jīng 乘星靈臺秘要經 4a may refer either to this text or to its sibling KR5c0016 / DZ 635. Frontmatter notBefore/notAfter 618/907 (Táng).
Translations and research
- Schipper, Kristofer, and Franciscus Verellen, eds. The Taoist Canon: A Historical Companion to the Daozang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004, 1:563 (DZ 634, Hans-Hermann Schmidt).
- Sørensen, Henrik H. “On the Buddho-Taoist Apocryphal Sūtra Tiandi bayang shenzhou jing.” In Buddhism in Chinese History (forthcoming/various editions). The underlying Buddhist apocryphon.
Other points of interest
The Daoist Bāyáng jīng pair (DZ 634 and DZ 635) is perhaps the most striking documented instance of direct Daoist adaptation of a condemned Buddhist apocryphon — the Tiāndì bāyáng shénzhòu jīng — from the Táng period. That both the Buddhist and the Daoist versions focus on dwelling-pacification rituals and share verbatim passages confirms that the two communities were competing for the same liturgical-magical niche in Táng household religion.
Links
- Kanseki Repository KR5c0015
- Schipper & Verellen, The Taoist Canon (2004), 1:563 — DZ 634 entry (H.-H. Schmidt).