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 “A Home to Return To” Chen Yanning 1988 Oil on canvas 30" x 40" Related Items By This Artist: “Door To The Temple” Inventory #: CC_0673 © The Hef ner Collection lisenced one time use only |
| THE HISTORY OF
TAOISM Russell Kirkland University of Georgia © 2002 “TAOCHIAO” The Ecumenical Tradition (6th century — 12th century) A clear sense of common “Taoist identity” evolved in South China during the LiuSung Dynasty of the 5th century. By that time, Buddhism had become a powerful force in both the North and the South (especially after the corpus of Kumârajîva’s translations stimulated interest in Mahâyâna Buddhism). In order to compete with Mahâyâna Buddhism, some members of the Taoist movements of the day began trying to organize their traditions into a coherent whole. They assembled a corpus of scriptures (Santung, “The Three Arcana”), which included works of Lingpao, Shangch’ing, and the old traditions of Chiangnan. Later, four supplementary sections were added, containing texts pertaining to the Tao te ching, the T’aip’ing ching, the T’aich’ing tradition, and the T’ienshih tradition. A leading figure in such efforts was the Lingpao master Lu Hsiu‑ching (406477), who drew upon earlier ritual traditions to establish new liturgical forms (chiao and chai), adding elements of both imperial ritual and popular worship. Under Lingpao auspices, Taoism became an ecumenical, nonsectarian tradition, in which any (nonBuddhist) text or group devoted to higher spiritual goals found a place. The Ling‑pao synthesis became a social and cultural bridge, blending compatible Buddhist concepts and values with more traditional Taoist forms in such a way that intellectuals, mystics, and pious peasants could all participate in a single comprehensive religious system, which its participants called Taochiao (“the Teaching of the Tao,” a tradition intended to be comparable to, and competitive with, Fochiao, “the Teaching of the Buddha,” and Juchiao, “the Teaching of the Confucians”). Eventually, the leadership of the tradition was assumed by masters ordained in the Shangch’ing tradition, such as T’ao Hungching (456536). Taoists of the subsequent T’ang period generally traced their authority back to T’ao (not to ealier figures like Chang Taoling). During most of the medieval period (i.e., the late “Six Dynasties,” T’ang, and Northern Sung dynasties), Taoism frequently maintained close ties to the government and to the social/cultural elite. The T’ang emperors claimed descent from Lao‑tzu, and continued the tradition of linking the government to Taoism for legitimatory support that had evolved in the north during the “Six Dynasties.” All the T’ang emperors (especially Hsüan‑tsung, r. 712‑755) heavily patronized Taoism. But though imperial support for Taoist institutions was strong, the rulers generally tried to maintain control of all religious organizations. In T’ang times, aristocratic leaders like Ssuma Ch’engchen (646735) wrote new texts on meditation and personal refinement, and associated freely with political and cultural leaders. They thus greatly influenced contemporary literature and politics as well as religion. Abbeys (kuan), first established in the 7th century, were staffed by celibate priests/priestesses (tao‑shih); they performed liturgical rituals (the chiao and chai) designed to integrate society and cosmos. But selfcultivation remained central, and Ssuma wrote texts like the Fuch’i chingi lun (“On the Essential Meaning of the Absorption of Ch’iEnergy”); and the Tsowang lun (“On ’Sitting in Forgetfulness’”; also called “Seven Steps to the Tao”). He also edited the T’ienyin tzu (“The Master of Heavenly Seclusion”), arguing that the path of spiritual transcendence (shenhsien) requires practice of “various techniques to cultivate and refine body and energy, to nourish and harmonize mind and emptiness” (Kohn). Some of Ssuma’s writings show acceptance of certain Buddhist ideas, as do other littleknown T’ang texts like the Taochiao ishu (“Pivotal Meaning of the Taoist Teaching”) and the Penchi ching (“Scripture of the Genesis Point”), both of which teach that all things contain a “pure, empty and spontaneous Taonature (Taohsing),” a concept presumably inspired by the Buddhist concept of a universal “Buddhanature.” In late T’ang times, new traditions, like “Inner Alchemy,” began to evolve, and new movements, like Ch’ingwei, were founded. In the final days of the T’ang, and the generation that followed, much of the foregoing Taoist heritage was chronicled in the numerous compilations of a historian named Tu Kuangt’ing (850933). |
