Daoist Ritual and Meditation

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Daoist Ritual and Meditation

• Ritual and meditation became two foremost
  spiritual practices of post-Han Daoism
• Purposes of ritual and meditation
• Established contact or interaction between humans
  and divine realms
• Became ordained Daoists and eventually attained
  immortality
• Daoist immortals (transcendents) became objects
  of popular cult
• The full formulation of both occurred in the Tang
  Dynasty (618-906)

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An old Daoist today in Jiangxi, China
A young Daoist today in Laoshan, Qingdao, China
Eighty-seven immortals (transcendents) by Wu
Daozi, Tang Dynasty
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Ritual in The Three Caverns System

• Consists of complex ritual practices that involve
  ordination into one of the seven ranks
• Initial stage seen from the viewpoint of modern
  anthropologists as the beginning of the rite of
  passage for candidates, which is separation

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• Subsequent two stages of the rite
• Liminal phase Candidates received ordinations
  and entered Daoist community as ordinands,
• Reaggregation phase Became full-fledged Daoists
  after pledging to uphold Daoist precepts and
  undergoing a ceremony to pay obeisance to the
  Heavenly Worthies

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Daoist Temple in Laoshan
A Daoist in historical times
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Major Ritual in Post-Han Daoism

• The purification (zhai) ritual in the Lingbao
  School is a communal ritual, often referred to as
  festival of purgation
• It involved participants chanting, praying,
  confessing, presenting offerings and petitions to
  gods

A modern Daoist chanting scripture
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• A festival placing a particular emphasis on
  confession of sins and repentance was called Mud
  and Soot Purgation
• Some other large-scale ceremonies were for the
  state and the community
• Yellow Register Purgation (huanglu zhai) to
  create cosmic harmony with the larger universe
  and ease political and social tensions.

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Daoist Meditation

• Preparation to establish a state of strong
  health
• Concentration and insight
• Concentration to obtain a strong stability of
  mind
• Insight observation to recover the purity of
  spirit and physical body
• examination of the practitioners own
  psychological constitution spirit (shen), bodily
  form (xing)
• sit and forget to reach a state of detachment
  and new understanding
• Personal transformation

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Variety of practices

• Variety of practices ranging from simple
  breathing exercise to combinations of elaborate
  ritual and meditation
• Ordinary followers
• Encouraged to set up a sacred space for daily
  prayers in their own homes

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• The space is often called a chamber of
  tranquility or oratory (jingshi)
• Incense burner, incense lamp, a prayer bench or
  cushion, a brush or writing knife plus paper or
  bamboo slips
• Wash hands, put one a clean robe and cap, enter
  the room with the right foot first while holding
  a ritual tablet, kneeling on the prayer bench or
  cushion, swallow the saliva, regulate breathing,
  close eyes and visualize guardian deities.

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Spells and Talismans

• Practices of ritual and meditation were further
  developed in the Song dynasty (960-1279)
• Demand for religious services rose because of
  urbanization and commercialization of Song
  society
• Development of new printing skills created
  opportunities for Daoist priests to exert their
  influences
• Merchant-orient society helped increase the
  application of Daoist rites and spells, as well
  as the use of Daoist talismans
• Knowledge about Daoist immortals spread widely

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Ritual Masters and New Daoist Schools

• Ritual masters flourished in the beginning of the
  12th century
• Played an important role in new Daoist schools
  that used spells and talismans in the rituals
  aimed at healing, exorcism, and salvation
• Three schools associated with these practices
  emerged and became prominent under emperor
  Huizong each had its new gods

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• The Heavenly Heart (Tianxin) School
• God worshipped Northern Emperor and his
  assistants Black Killer, Dark Warrior, and
  Heavenly Protector
• Founder Rao Dongtian
• The Divine Empyrean (Shenxiao) School
• God worshipped the Great Emperor of Long Life
• Founder Lin Lingsu
• The Lingbao School
• Rose in prominence again

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Revival of the Lingbao School

• Developed in three branches
• The Thunder Rites Sect
• Used Thunder Rites to perform exorcism
• The Ni Benli Sect
• Mixed elaborate rituals used in Divine Empyrean
• The Jin Yunzhong Sect
• Made the Duren jing the center of his system,
  which reduced the use of talismans and focused on
  fewer but more efficacious deities

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Inner Alchemy School

• Known as Southern School
• Followed an earlier tradition known as Zhong-Lü
  School (Lü refers to the Patriarch Lü, Zhong
  refers to Lüs master Zhongli Quan)
• Practiced meditation and concentration to
  conserve, generate, and strengthen qi
• Practice reverting the semen to nourish the
  brain through sexual activities

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Taoist Immortal Patriarch Lü

• Patriarch Lü (Master Chunyang, named Yan, styled,
  Dongbin)
• In the ten-century literary and folk traditions,
  he appeared as a Daoist, a calligrapher, a poet,
  an alchemist, a healer, a soothsayer, a drug
  peddler, and an ink seller and was highly popular
  with different social groups
• The later Daoist and theatrical texts associated
  with him made him even more popular

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• One of the Eight Immortals
• Known for the tradition of the spirit-writing
  cult
• Patron god of drug merchants
• Main deity in Wong Tai Sin temple in Hong Kong

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Daoism and the State

• Daoism became formal state religion under a
  foreign dynasty of Hunnish origin, the Toba-Wei,
  who conquered China in 386.
• Ruler of foreign origin adopted Chinese idea of
  sacralized government
• Emperor, or Son of Heaven, enjoyed unchallenged
  authority and power
• He uses heavens mandate and his absolute power
  to keep universe on its track and the world in
  proper order

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• The emperor could use any religion to his
  advantage.
• The Daoist Theocracy was established
• The Daoist Kou Qianzhi claimed that he received
  two revelations from Lord Lao, who empowered him
  to take the place of the Celestial Master and
  told him to reform Daosim.
• Abolished practices such as five pecks of rice
  tax and the sexual initiation rituals (the
  techniques of harmonizing the male and female
  energies).
• His program focused on rituals and longevity
  techniques based on ingestion of longevity drugs

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• Supported by the prime minister Cui Hao and the
  emperor, Kou became the head of a state-sponsored
  Daoism and emperors teacher.
• His power reached apogee when the emperor
  accepted Daoist initiation at Kous Daoist
  palace-cum-temple and claimed to be the new ruler
  of Great Peace with his , his reign title changed
  to Perfect Lord of Great Peace, (Taiping
  zhenjun)

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• This short-lived Daoist theocracy is
  characterized by the following beliefs, rules,
  and practices
• Sickness is a cause for cosmic concern and is
  treated through public confession
• Daoist priests collect taxes for the state,
  serving as civil servants and bureaucrats
• People have to be loyal to the ruler, obedient to
  their parents and elders, live a life of
  contentment when they are poor

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• Observe, recite, and copy code of conduct
  prescribed in Kous Scripture of Lord Laos New
  Code of Precepts (New Code), many of which are
  based on Confucian thoughts.
• Be conscious of the Transmigration between the
  Six Realms and perform good deeds by building
  Daoist temple, cultivating merit and virtue,
  reciting Daoist scriptures, and upholding
  precepts etc.

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Daoism in the Tang Dynasty

• Honored as state religion because the founder of
  the dynasty claimed that he was the descendant of
  Laozi, who shared with him the same family name,
  Li.
• Daoist priests were given extensive privileges
  and Daoist temples lavish gifts
• Daoist track of imperial bureaucracy was
  established
• Daoist canon was compiled under the auspices of
  emperors

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• Lord Lao was honored with the title Sovereign
  Emperor of Mysterious Origin (Xuanyuan huangdi
  ????)
• Two imperial ancestral temples in the capital
  were converted to Daoist temples by Emperor
  Xuanzong, a great supporter of Daoism and Laozi,
  in the 8th century.
• Several imperial princesses became ordained
  Daoist priestesses
• Emperor Xuanzong wrote a commentary on the Daode
  jing.

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Spirit-Writing Cult to Patriarch Lü

• Texts that represent the spirit-writing cult,
  e.g., the Longmen Lineage (Dragon Gate), indicate
  that some Daoist schools advocated salvation of
  the people, wishing to save the world.
• Schools associated with Spirit-writing advocated
  transmission of teaching trough communication
  with the Patriarch (Lüzu)

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Spirit-writing Cults in Modern Time

• Spirit-writing movements occurred in the 19th
  century China.
• Spirit-writing movements in Guangdong and Hong
  Kong formed part of the ecumenical movements
• The purposes of the practice
• Relief work providing free medical service,
  funeral services, and self-cultivation based on
  the moral and religious ideas of the three
  teachings, particularly Taoism.

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• Cult involves the worship of the Three Benevolent
  Masters Lord Guan, Patriarch Lü, and Rulers of
  Fate
• Or Five Benevolent Masters including the above
  three plus King Mu and Dark Warrior
• Cantonese spirit-writing cults are more Taoist,
  many worship Patriarch Lü
• There are many Lüzu centers in Guangdong and Hong
  Kong, a development since the beginning of the
  19th century

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• Many social groups worship Lüzu today,
  particularly drug merchants
• Pharmacies made prescriptions of immortals
  gained through spirit-writing associated with
  Lüzu
• Children are among the groups
• Worship demonstrates in the games they play, such
  as Descent of the Eight Immortals, which
  involves spirit-writing