Tài shàng tōng líng bā shǐ shèng wén zhēn xíng tú 太上通靈八史聖文真形圖
Diagrams of the True Forms of the Most High Sacred Writings of the Eight Archivists Communicating with the Spirits
Anonymous (3rd–4th century; Six Dynasties period)
An early Daoist sacred-form diagram text (zhēn xíng tú 真形圖) associated with the Eight Archivists (bā shǐ 八史) tradition — the celestial clerks who record the registers of immortality (see KR5c0052, DZ 671, for the bā shǐ ritual-complex). Preserved in the Zhèngtǒng Dàozàng as DZ 767 / CT 767 (Dòngshén bù, Líng tú lèi 洞神部靈圖類). Dated by catalog to the 3rd–4th century.
About the work
Zhēn xíng tú 真形圖 genre
The zhēn xíng tú 真形圖 (“True-Form Diagrams”) are among the most venerable Daoist sacred-diagram genres, providing graphic representations of cosmological / sacred entities in their “true forms” (as opposed to their manifest phenomenal forms). The most famous example is the Wǔ yuè zhēn xíng tú 五嶽真形圖 (“True-Form Diagrams of the Five Sacred Mountains”), a classic Six Dynasties work.
Eight Archivists (bā shǐ)
The eight archivists are celestial clerks who maintain the registers of immortality (xiān lù 仙錄). See KR5c0052 (the Ancient Língbǎo Wǔ chēng fú) for their ritual-summoning and role in the Daoist celestial bureaucracy.
Contents
The scripture provides graphic zhēn xíng tú 真形圖 for the Eight Archivists — enabling the adept to visualise and invoke them through graphical-meditational practice.
Dating
Per catalog: 3rd–4th century. Consistent with the Ancient Língbǎo corpus (c. 395–410) and the emergent Six-Dynasties sacred-diagram tradition. Dynasty: 六朝. Frontmatter gives 200–400 as a broad window.
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 767 entry.
- See KR5c0052 for the related bā shǐ liturgical tradition.