道德真經取善集

Dàodé zhēn jīng qū shàn jí 道德真經取善集

Select Anthology of Commentaries on the True Scripture of the Way and Its Virtue

compiled by 李霖 (Lǐ Lín, zì Zōng fú 宗父, Hermit of Ráo yáng 饒陽); Liú Yǔnshēng 劉允升 1172 preface

An important Jīn-dynasty anthology of commentaries on the Dàodé jīng ([[KR5c0045|Dàodé zhēn jīng]]) in twelve juàn, compiled by Lǐ Lín 李霖, “Hermit of Ráo yáng”. Originally printed in 1172 in six juàn (preserved by Liú Yǔnshēng’s preface of that year); the received Daozang version is expanded to twelve juàn. Preserved in the Zhèngtǒng Dàozàng as DZ 718 / CT 718 (Dòngshén bù, Yù jué lèi 洞神部玉訣類). Contains extensive extracts from fifty-four commentators from diverse periods — making it one of the single most important anthologies for the reconstruction of lost Chinese Dàodé jīng commentary.

About the work

Isabelle Robinet’s notice in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004, 2:1058–1100, DZ 718) gives the authoritative modern framing.

Prefaces

The anthology contains two prefaces:

1. An undated preface by Lǐ Lín himself, written “in his later years”.
2. A preface by Liú Yǔnshēng 劉允升 dated 1172, stating that the work was divided into six juàn and printed at that date.

Cited authors

The anthology joins together fifty-four authors from different periods. Robinet identifies the following principal groups:

• Most frequently quoted: Sòng Huīzōng (徽宗, r. 1100–1125) and Wáng Pōu (王雱, 1042–1076).
• The standard two Wáng Bì (王弼) and Héshàng gōng (河上公).
• Chóngxuán 重玄 school commentaries (many now lost): Sūn Dēng 孫登, Zāng Xuán jìng 臧玄靜, Liú Jìnxǐ 劉進喜, Chéng Xuányīng 成玄英, Cài Zǐ huáng 蔡子晃, Lǐ Róng 李榮.
• Extracts from other lost commentaries, including the one attributed to Kumārajīva (344–413).
• Jìn (265–420) and Suí (581–618) period commentaries: those of Zhōng Huì 鍾會, Gù Huān (顧歡), Táo Hóng jǐng 陶弘景, and Péi Chuén 裴處恩.
• Táng (618–907) and Sòng (960–1279) commentaries: Chē Huìbì 車惠弼, the Daoist Zhāng Jūn xiāng 張君相 (1254–1322), Wú Yún 吳筠, Sīmǎ Guāng (司馬光, 1019–1086), Liú Zhòngpíng 劉仲平 (who signs as Liú Jì 劉跡 in DZ 707), Lù Diàn 陸佃 (under the name Lù Nóng shī 陸農師 in DZ 724), Lǐ Tián 李湉, Lǚ Jí fǔ 呂吉甫 (= Lǚ Huìqīng 呂惠卿; cf. DZ 686 KR5c0069), and the female Taoist Cáo Dàochōng 曹道沖 (cf. DZ 707 preface, 7b).
• A half-dozen otherwise-unknown commentators: the most frequently quoted are Shè Wáng 射望 and Mǎ Jù jì 馬具卜.

Editorial method

Lǐ Lín’s distinctive editorial move: he adds his own personal commentary to each of the commentaries he has chosen. The received text is therefore a multi-voice dialogue: the Lǎozǐ base text, then the cited earlier commentary, then Lǐ Lín’s own gloss on that commentary.

Lǐ Lín’s philosophical orientation

Lǐ Lín reveals a tendency toward Quán zhēn 全真 Taoism, especially in relation to Inner Alchemy (nèi dān 內丹). He states:

“He who attains the Tao is a Quán zhēn person who perfects his essence (jīng 精), his breath (qì 氣), and his spirit (shén 神).”

This is an explicit reference to the nèi dān tradition (cf. 2.11a). However, Lǐ Lín’s particular conceptualisation is his own:

• Jīng is the prime element and carries a cosmological meaning.
• Sublimation seems to occur from jīng to shén without qì playing an important part (6.14a–b).
• Jīng is the basis of xìng 性 (real nature), in contrast to the qì (which here has cosmological significance).
• Qì is the basis of the body (xíng 形); the jīng sometimes forms one common entity with the spirit (jīng shén 精神), as described in the Huáinán zǐ 淮南子.

Closing essay

The text concludes with a brief “Essay on the Unifying Coalescence of the Tao and the De” (DàoDé tóng yī 道德同一), in which Lǐ Lín insists on the fundamental unity of the Tao “prior to forms” and the De “after the appearance of forms”. Quoting Sīmǎ Guāng, Lǐ Lín seems to decry the tradition that treats them as fundamentally distinct.

Abstract

The anthology is an indispensable source for the reconstruction of lost Chinese Dàodé jīng commentary. Where Péng Sì’s DZ 707 (KR5c0095) focuses mainly on the Sòng tradition, Lǐ Lín’s DZ 718 reaches back to the JìnSuí period and preserves substantial fragments of Chóngxuán and earlier commentaries that would otherwise be entirely lost.

Lǐ Lín’s own commentary positions him in the early Quán zhēn tradition — the movement founded by Wáng Chóngyáng 王重陽 (1113–1170) and consolidated under Mongol-Yuán patronage. The 1172 printing-date makes this one of the earliest texts to show explicit Quán zhēn influence — just two years after Wáng Chóngyáng’s death and before the tradition’s full institutional consolidation.

Dating. Preface 1172 (the printing-date); Lǐ Lín’s own preface undated but “written in his later years”. Per the project’s dating rule, the frontmatter gives 1150–1172 as the composition window (from a plausible early start to the attested printing date). Dynasty: 金.

Author. Lǐ Lín 李霖 (zì Zōng fú 宗父) is identified as the “Hermit of Ráo yáng” 饒陽 — referring to Ráo yáng xiàn 饒陽縣 in Héběi 河北. The Jīn-dynasty provenance is confirmed by the 1172 date and the Héběi location (which was under Jīn control from 1126).

Translations and research

• Schipper, Kristofer, and Franciscus Verellen, eds. The Taoist Canon: A Historical Companion to the Daozang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004, 2:1058–1100 (DZ 718, I. Robinet). Primary reference.
• Boltz, Judith Magee. A Survey of Taoist Literature, Tenth to Seventeenth Centuries. Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, 1987. For the Jīn Daoist context.

Other points of interest

The anthology’s preservation of fifty-four commentators — including many otherwise entirely lost figures from the Jìn, Suí, and Táng — makes it a reference work of the first importance for the reconstruction of pre-Sòng Lǎozǐ commentary. Its text-critical value is enhanced by Robinet’s observations that the quotations often differ from parallel texts in DZ 707 and DZ 724, giving scholars multiple independent witnesses to the lost original commentaries.

The female Daoist Cáo Dàochōng 曹道沖 is an important figure whose commentary is cited both in DZ 718 and DZ 707. Female-authored commentarial work in the Daoist tradition is relatively rare, and the survival of Cáo Dàochōng’s name and fragments through these anthologies is of particular interest.

Links

• Kanseki Repository KR5c0107
• Schipper & Verellen, The Taoist Canon (2004), 2:1058–1100 — DZ 718 entry (I. Robinet).
• ctext.org: 道德真經取善集