Dòng líng zhēn jīng 洞靈真經 (Hé Càn 何璨 commentary)
True Scripture of Communion with the Divine — with Hé Càn’s commentary
庚桑楚 (Gēngsāng Chǔ; the received Kàngcāng zǐ compiled c. 742 by Wáng Shìyuán 王士源); commentary by 何璨 (Hé Càn, tài xué bó shì 太學博士 of the Later Jìn 後晉, 936–946)
The foundational Five-Dynasties 五代 commentary on the [[KR5c0050|Dòng líng zhēn jīng]] (the Kàngcāng zǐ 亢倉子) by Hé Càn 何璨 — Grand Academician of the National University under the Later Jìn 後晉 (936–946) dynasty. Preserved in the Zhèngtǒng Dàozàng as DZ 747 / CT 747 (Dòngshén bù, Yù jué lèi 洞神部玉訣類) in three juàn; preserved also in the Qīng Dàozàng jíyào as JY137, and in a Sòng printed edition (five juàn) in Sìbù cóngkān 四部叢刊.
About the work
Already mentioned at KR5c0050
Hé Càn’s commentary was introduced in KR5c0050 as the second major editorial layer on the Kàngcāng zǐ. The Sìkù editors’ note in KR5c0050 reported that:
“Hé Càn’s commentary on the Kàngcāng zǐ was first bibliographically recorded in Jùn zhāi dú shū zhì 郡齋讀書志 (VDL 82). A comparison of two citations in Tài píng yù lǎn 太平御覽 344.7b and 350.3a with the present work (1.26a–b) shows that it already existed — with some variants — in the tenth century.
“No details about the author of this commentary seem to have been available to Sòng (960–1279) and post-Sòng bibliographers, but the Tōng lè dà diǎn 同樂大典 10286.14b–15a contains a preface, nowhere else preserved, by the grand academician (tài xué bó shì) Hé Càn of the Later Jìn dynasty (936–946). According to this source, a certain Liú Tiān cōng 劉天聰, who kept a copy of the Dòng líng zhēn jīng in his private collection, asked Hé Càn for an introduction so that he could have the work printed.”
Commentary style
Hé Càn’s commentary consists of pithy lexical-semantic explanations and interpretation — a relatively brief philological apparatus rather than a sustained philosophical commentary. This makes it a practical reader-aid for the difficult diction of the Wáng Shìyuán pseudo-archaic composition (KR5c0050).
Textual history
The commentary has a complex textual history:
- Original 5-juàn version — preserved in a Sòng printed edition in Sìbù cóngkān 四部叢刊, with an attached folio of phonetic explanations (yīn yì 音義).
- Received 3-juàn Daozang version (DZ 747) — a shortened form.
- Phonetic annotations interspersed in the text — present in DZ 669 (KR5c0050) as well as DZ 747, and in citations in Tài píng yù lǎn. Whether these are Hé Càn’s or earlier is unclear.
Prefaces
- Hé Càn’s preface — preserved only in the Tōng lè dà diǎn 同樂大典 10286.14b–15a (otherwise lost). The preface records Liú Tiān cōng’s commissioning of the edition.
- No preface is transmitted with DZ 747.
Abstract
Hé Càn’s commentary is the foundational ancient scholarly apparatus to the Kàngcāng zǐ. Its survival — despite the author’s obscurity and the text’s complex transmission — provides the primary interpretive framework for reading the received Dòng líng zhēn jīng.
Dating. Hé Càn was a Grand Academician under the Later Jìn 後晉 (936–946). Per the project’s dating rule, the frontmatter gives 936–946 as the composition window. Dynasty: 五代.
Translations and research
- Schipper, Kristofer, and Franciscus Verellen, eds. The Taoist Canon: A Historical Companion to the Daozang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004, DZ 747 entry (U.-A. Cedzich).
- Van der Loon, Piet. Taoist Books in the Libraries of the Sung Dynasty. London: Ithaca Press, 1984, p. 82 (VDL 82).
Links
- Kanseki Repository KR5c0141
- Parent text: KR5c0050 Dòng líng zhēn jīng.
- ctext.org: 洞靈真經 (何璨註)