Zhāng Sānfēng xiān shēng quán jí 張三丰先生全集
The Complete Works of Master Zhāng Sānfēng
works attributed to 張三丰 (Zhāng Sānfēng, c. 1340–1410, semi-legendary); compiled and prefaced by 汪錫齡 (Wāng Xīlíng), dated 雍正元年小陽之月 = November/December 1723 (Yōngzhèng 1)
The principal early-Qīng anthology of pseudepigraphic Zhāng Sānfēng materials — eight juàn assembling alchemical scriptures (兩卷丹經), poetry-and-prose (詩文若干篇), and manifest-trace anecdotes (顯蹟三十餘則) — compiled by Wāng Xīlíng of Hénán in personal-cult devotion to Zhāng Sānfēng. Wāng’s preface is one of the more remarkable Qīng documents of personal-cult devotion: he recounts dream-encounters with Zhāng Sānfēng during his official postings in Sìchuān, Yúnnán, and Cháozhōu, and reports the master’s instructions to him on retreat-preparation, Daoist genealogical pedigree, and the appropriate level of secrecy in transmission.
Prefaces
Preface (Wāng Xīlíng), dated 雍正元年小陽之月 = November 1723. “From of old, those who have hidden and emerged without losing the orthodox Way — only the highest-man! He who can hide but cannot emerge — his idle-cold’s intent is too deep, of no benefit to the world. He who can emerge but cannot hide — his consume-and-extinguish’s days exceed those of his self-without-accomplishment. Yet, even so, when out he is rain-cloud, when in he is mist-and-rosy-mist — could he be entirely arid and unproductive? Truly not! The supreme-perfected hides-from-the-world and yet again delivers-the-world; he sees men and is not attached-to-men — that is the divine-marvellous of hiding-and-emerging. Our Zhāng Sānfēng zǔshī possesses the brightness-of-knowing-the-mechanism and preserves the principle of orthodox-righteousness. As Confucian-and-Daoist, his body advances and retreats; as immortal-Daoist, his body flies and submerges; the interval of advance-retreat-fly-submerge is the great-Way of yóu lóng. — Xīlíng is a wind-dust commonplace clerk; never having understood the source-and-fountain, in childhood I read Confucian books only with hope of using-the-world; now I am weary, and shall journey long to yúnshān and rove with Ānqī Xiànmén… When in office at Jiànnán, lifted to Yǒngběi, sojourning at Cháo, again rising in the dust-sea — I had the worry-labour, fortunately to encounter our zǔshī’s name-and-words extending and warning, summoning Líng into his presence and saying: ‘Now the sage is on high; below there are worthy ministers and great ministers in joint-administration; child, do not forget — the PéngShān co-dwelling time is now.’ — Withdrawing and pondering, I first awoke greatly… therefore I have taken our zǔshī’s liǎng juàn dān jīng and several poetic-and-prose pieces, day-and-night seeking-after, hoping for liberation. In leisure, dream-encounters at mountain-water and luánhè moments, again receiving the zǔshī’s face-instruction, who said: ‘his Way begins from Tàishàng and is ancestor in Xīyí (Chén Tuán); when hiding, he hides; when emerging, he emerges; there is hiding-within-emerging and there is emerging-within-hiding; from this, no hiding is not emerging, no emerging is not hiding; in sum, not running to call on princes and high-talkers of metal-and-stone — these are method-skill schools, not he.’ I therefore record the zǔshī’s manifest-traces in over thirty items and stored them. As to the mystery-mechanism marvellous-purport that I have personally obtained, I preserve the text and roughly preserve the oral-formula — fearing it would otherwise leak. — *Yōngzhèng 1, xiǎoyáng month (= 10th lunar month, Nov–Dec 1723), gào shòu Tōngyì dàifū Hénán quánshěng hédào fùshǐ Mèngjiǔ Wāng Xīlíng kē shǒu xūnmù respectfully wrote.”
Abstract
The classical Qīng Zhāng Sānfēng anthology, compiled by Wāng Xīlíng in 1723 from manuscripts and oral-traditions accumulated over Wāng’s career as a Qīng provincial official. The collection is the principal vehicle of late-imperial Zhāng Sānfēng pseudepigraphy: while the historical Zhāng Sānfēng died c. 1410, the writings here attributed to him include works of clear late-Míng / early-Qīng provenance, framed under his name through the standard fújī / cult-attribution mechanism. Subsequent expansions (xù biān by Lǐ Xīyuè 李西月 in 1844, the Hèniúǎn edition, etc.) extend Wāng’s base. The DZJY recension is Wāng’s 1723 anthology in its core form.
For the Zhāng Sānfēng cult and the textual history of his attributed corpus see 張三丰 and de Bruyn, “Daoism in the Ming,” cited there.
Translations and research
- de Bruyn, Pierre-Henry. “Daoism in the Ming.” In Modern Chinese Religion I, ed. Lagerwey & Marsone (Brill 2014).
- Wong, Eva. The Tao of Zhang Sanfeng. Shambhala 1990. — popular translation of selected materials.
- No comprehensive critical edition of the Zhāng Sān-fēng quán jí has been produced.
Links
- Kanseki Repository KR5i0071
- Compiler: 汪錫齡; subject: 張三丰.