龙门派

龍門派 Go ld en E lix ir Oc ca sio na l P ap er s • No . 4 Edited and Translated by Fabrizio Pregadio English Translation © Golden Elixir Press 2014 Mountain View, CA www.goldenelixir.com This work may be freely distributed, provided that no charge is collected for the distribution. The translation is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/丹 THE LONGMEN LINEAGE HISTORICAL NOTES Translator’s Note This essay is translated from the chapter “Longmen pai” ⻰龙門派 (The Longmen Line- age) in Zhongguo daojiao 中国道教 (Chinese Taoism), ed. by Qing Xitai 卿希泰 (4 vols; Chengdu: Sichuan renmin chubanshe, 1994), vol. 1, pp. 200-5. For ease of reading, I have subdivided the original text into sections. I have also provided additional footnotes, and have added a few illustrations. Chinese charac- ters are included in the main text only for names of persons and names of Long- men sub-lineages. For terms, titles of texts, and names of places, mountains, and religious establishments, see the Glossary of Chinese Characters at the end. This essay mentions names of several present-day provinces of China. The map below may be useful to identify them. The cover page of this PDF contains the characters “Longmen pai” 龍門派, or “Longmen Lineage.” The Longmen Lineage Source of Map: en.wikipedia.org (Public domain) THE LONGMEN LINEAGE (Longmen pai 龍門派) HISTORICAL NOTES The Longmen (Dragon Gate) lineage is one of the branches of Quanzhen (Complete Reality) Taoism. Longmen follows the Quanzhen teach- ings, and it developed during the Ming and the Qing dynasties, an age of decline for Taoism. The lineage reveres Qiu Chuji 邱處機, one of the Seven Masters of Quanzhen, as its Ancestral Master (zushi),1 and Qiu Chuji’s disciple, Zhao Daojian 趙道堅, as its founder and Lineal Master (zongshi). Origins Zhao Daojian 趙道堅 (1163-1221, original ming Jiugu 九古),2 came from a family that originally resided in Tanzhou (present-day Miyun, Hebei). When his father was appointed Vice Prefect (tongzhi) of Pingliang (Gansu), his family moved there. The Records of a Journey to the West by the Realized Man Changchun (Changchun zhenren xiyou ji), by Li Zhichang 李志常, records his activities, and the Inner Biographies of the Immortals and Realized Men of the Ancestral Court in the Zhongnan Mountains (Zhongnan shan Zuting xianzhen neizhuan) contains his biography.3 The Longmen Lineage 1 1 [See The Encyclopedia of Taoism (London: Routledge, 2008; hereafter EOT), 2:808-11. — Translator’s footnotes are enclosed in brackets.] 2 [EOT 1:705. Zhao Daojian is also known as Zhao Xujing 趙虛靜. The ming is one’s first name, which one receives soon after birth.] 3 [The Inner Biographies was written by Li Daoqian 李道謙 (1219-96); EOT 1:636-37.] Qiu Chuji Zhao Daojian became a Taoist in 1177 and a disciple of Ma Yu 馬鈺 in Huating (Gansu) in 1179.4 When Ma Yu, in 1180, returned to the Zhongnan mountains (Zhongnan shan) near Xi’an (Shaanxi), he instructed Zhao to go to Mount Longmen (Longmen shan, Shaanxi) and become a disciple of Qiu Chuji, and to change his first name to Daojian. In 1219, when Qiu Chuji responded to the summons of Chinggis khan and traveled to the Western regions, he chose Zhao Daojian as one of the eighteen disciples who fol- lowed him. In the 11th month of 1221, after a journey that lasted more than one year, they reached destination. Zhao Daojian told Yin Zhiping 尹志 平:5 While we were following our Master and we arrived in Xuande (Inner Mongolia), I had a premonition that I was going to die, and I would not have liked to continue. Later I have followed our Master’s teach- ing: If a man of the Way does not move his heart because of life or death, and does not care about hardship or happiness, there is no limit to what he can reach. Now my time to return has almost arrived. You all will continue to serve our Master.6 Some days later, he became ill and passed away. On the basis of this account and of the context of the times during which he lived, Zhao Daojian does not seem either to have performed ac- tivities or to have had plans leading to the establishment of the Longmen lineage. His position as the beginner of the Longmen lineage appears to be a later fabrication. In later times, in order to confirm that Zhao Daojian was the founder of the lineage, the Longmen masters gave a different description. The “Biog- raphy of the Ordination Master Zhao Xujing,” found in chapter 1 of the Transmission of the Heart-Lamp from Mount Jingai (Jingai xindeng), says: The Longmen Lineage 2 4 [Ma Yu (1123-84), also known as Ma Danyang 馬丹陽, is one of the seven disciples of Wang Zhe 王嚞 (1113-70, also known as Wang Chongyang 王重陽), who formed the original core of Quanzhen. See EOT 2:729-30.] 5 [EOT 2:1171-72.] 6 Changchun zhenren xiyou ji (Records of a Journey to the West by the Realized Man Changchun), ch. 1. [This work is partially translated in Arthur Waley, The Travels of an Alchemist (London: Headley, 1931).] The master’s surname was Zhao, his name was Daojian, his hao was Xujing 虛靜.7 He came from the Xinye county in Nanyang (Henan).  .  .  .  He heard that the Seven Realized Ones (qizhen) were spreading the [Quanzhen] teaching. Taking with him only his bottle gourd and his bamboo hat, he went to visit Patriarch Qiu Changchun 邱長春,8 and respectfully and meticulously performed the rites re- quired of a disciple. Patriarch Qiu spoke with him and was surprised. He said: “This is a pillar for the School of the Mysteries (xuanmen) and a guide for the Celestial Immortals (tianxian).9 One day, the one who carries on the Heart-Lamp (xindeng) and transmits the precepts (jiefa) will be this disciple.” Later, he served the Patriarch (i.e., Qiu Chuji) and traveled to Yan (present-day Hebei) in order to spread the teaching. . . . The Patriarch then transmitted to him the secrets of Clarity and Emptiness, and he dwelled in seclusion on Mount Longmen for several years. Later, he returned to attend upon the Patriarch at the Baiyun guan (Abbey of the White Cloud) [in Beijing],10 where he was gathering large crowds. On the 15th day (i.e., the day of full moon) of the first lunar month of 1280, the Master for the first time received the Precepts for Initial Realization (chuzhen jie) and the Intermediate Precepts (zhongji jie).11 He practiced them according to the rules, never disclosing his won- drous virtue. The Patriarch then personally transmitted to him the Seal of the Heart (xinyin), gave him the mantle and the bowl (yibo), handed down to him the Precepts for Celestial Immortality (tianxian jie), and bestowed upon him the four-line poem at the basis of the Longmen lineage, consisting of twenty characters. . . . The Master treas- The Longmen Lineage 3 7 [The hao is an “appellation,” which one may choose by oneself or—especially in religious contexts—may receive by one’s master.] 8 [Qiu Changchun is another name of Qiu Chuji.] 9 [The School of the Mysteries is Taoism. The Celestial Immortals are the immortals of highest rank.] 10 [EOT 1:207-10.] 11 [These are the first two degrees of Longmen precepts. The third degree (Precepts for Celestial Immortality) is mentioned a few lines below.] ured that poem and never dare foolishly divulge it.12 In this way he became the 1st-generation Ordination Master (lüshi). . . . [Zhao Daojian] practiced self-cultivation for altogether thirty years. When his merit was complete and his practice was accom- plished, he began to expound the teaching and to give oral instruc- tions on the precepts. In 1312, on the 15th day of the tenth lunar month, carefully performing the required rites, he personally gave the transmission to the Henan daoshi,13 Zhang Bizhi 張碧芝 (ming Dechun 德純). This biography is based, with some omissions, on Wang Changyue’s Mirror of the Bowl (Bojian). If we compare it with the accounts found in the Re- cords of a Journey to the West and in the Inner Biographies of the Immor- tals and Realized Men of the Ancestral Court, the main change—in addition to the different place of origin—consists in omitting the actual events of Zhao Daojian’s life. Moreover, by expanding the respective actual life spans, this biography emphasizes that in 1280 Qiu Chuji somehow trans- mitted the Three Precepts (sanjie) to Zhao Daojian and gave him his “man- tle and bowl.” The purpose of this account is to support the view that the Longmen lineage was established in accordance with a directive given by Qiu Chuji, who chose Zhao Daojian as his heir. In other words, Zhao Dao- jian would be the founder of the Longmen lineage. However, Qiu Chuji and Zhao Daojian respectively passed away in 1227 and 1221, and obviously the transmission of texts, precepts, and “mantle and bowl” could not occur more than fifty years later. Moreover, both Qiu Chuji and Zhao Daojian lived at the end of the Jin dynasty, when Quanzhen was still in the early stage of its development; under those circumstances, they could not have planned to establish a separate branch of Quanzhen. For these reasons, the biographies in the Mirror of the Bowl and the Transmission of the Heart- Lamp are not based on actual fact. The Longmen Lineage 4 12 [Since the characters of this poem are used in sequence to bestow the ordination names to each generation of Longmen masters, the poem in a way incorporates the whole Longmen lineage.] 13 [Daoshi is the most common, but also most generic, term that defines a “Taoist master.”] Second to Sixth Generations According to both the Mirror of the Bowl and the Transmission of the Heart-Lamp, Zhao Daojian gave the transmission to the 2nd-generation Or- dination Master, Zhang Dechun 張德純 (hao Bizhi 碧芝), who came from Luoyang (Henan). He received the teaching in 1312 and retired on Mount Hua (Huashan, Shaanxi). In 1367 he transmitted the teaching to Chen Tongwei. The 3rd-generation Ordination Master, Chen Tongwei 陳通微 (hao Chongyi zi 沖夷子), came from Dongchang (present-day Liaocheng, Shan- dong) and was originally a Zhengyi priest. After he received the teaching, he traveled extensively for several years, until he retired on Mount Qing- cheng (Qingcheng shan, Sichuan). In 1387 he transmitted the precepts to Zhou Xuanpu. The Longmen Lineage 5 Front gate of Mount Qingcheng (Qingcheng shan) The 4th-generation Ordination Master, Zhou Xuanpu 周玄樸 (hao Daz- huo 大拙) came from Xi’an (Shaanxi). After he received the teaching, he re- sided on Mount Qingcheng until 1450, when he left for an unknown desti- nation. With the 5th generation, the Longmen lineage divided itself into two branches, headed by Zhang Jingding and by Shen Jingyuan, respectively. Zhang Jingding 張靜定 (hao Wuwo zi 無我子) came from Yuhang (Zhejiang). After he received the teaching, he retired on Mount Tiantai (Tiantai shan, Zhejiang). In 1522 he transmitted the teaching to Zhao Zhensong. The 6th-generation Ordination Master, Zhao Zhensong 趙真嵩 (hao Fuyang zi 復陽子), came from Langya (Shandong). After he received the teaching on Mount Tiantai (Zhejiang), he retired on Mount Wangwu (Wangwu shan, Shanxi). Later he transmitted the doctrine to the 7th- generation Ordination Master, Wang Changyue (on whom see below), and passed away in 1628. The other 5th-generation Lineal Master, Shen Jingyuan 沈靜圓 (hao Dunkong shi 頓空氏), came from Jurong (Jiangsu). He received the teaching in 1449, and retired on Mount Jingai (Jingai shan, Zhejiang). In 1465 he transmitted the teaching to Wei Zhending. The other 6th-generation Lineal Master, Wei Zhending 衛真定 (hao Pingyang zi 平陽子), came from Jiaxing (Zhejiang). After he received the teaching he traveled far and wide. When he arrived in Sichuan, he transmit- ted the doctrine to the 7th-generation Lineal Master, Shen Changjing 沈常 敬. The tradition says that he lived 205 years and that he died in 1645. Longmen in the Ming and Qing Periods As we have seen, Zhao Daojian is regarded as the 1st-generation Ancestral Master who established the Longmen lineage. His 2nd-generation disciple, Zhang Dechun, lived at the end of the Yuan dynasty. The events that con- cern both of them, however, are not entirely trustworthy. From the 3rd generation onwards, we enter the Ming dynasty. Thus, the Ming period is the actual time of foundation of the Longmen lineage. At that time, though, Longmen had few followers and had not yet taken the form of an independent lineage. For example, the above-named 4th- The Longmen Lineage 6 generation Ordination Master, Zhou Xuanpu, received the teaching in 1387. His biography says: At that time, the School of the Mysteries was in decline: persons of high ambition merely wanted to protect themselves from harm and escape from troubles. The master retired on Mount Qingcheng (Si- chuan) and did not tread on the world of dust for more that fifty years; he practiced inner contemplation (neiguan) facing a wall and was not concerned with activities related to teaching. He had several disciples, but none of them was engaged in spreading the teaching. The Ordination School (lümen) became almost extinct.14 The above-named 5th generation Lineal Master, Shen Jingyuan, moved to Mount Jingai (Jingai shan, Zhejiang) in 1459 and resided at the Shu yinlou (Hidden Pavilion of Books). He lamented: I sigh, because the traces of the Immortals are not followed; I mourn, because the graceful spirits find no inheritance.15 This state of affairs persisted throughout the Ming dynasty. From the early Qing period, the situation changed. In order to exercise control over the Han population, the Qing government during the reigns of the Shunzhi (1644-1661), Kangxi (1662–1722), and Yongzheng (1723–35) emperors implemented a relatively open religious policy, offering reasona- bly good conditions for the development of Taoism. It was in this context that the 7th-generation Longmen Ordination Master, Wang Changyue, moved from Mount Hua (Shaanxi) to the capital. He resided at first at the Lingyou guan (Palace of Numinous Support), but not long afterwards he moved to the Baiyun guan (Abbey of the White Cloud), where he transmit- ted the precepts and gathered followers. Wang Changyue promoted the renaissance of Longmen, and he entirely changed the image of decline that it had suffered during the Ming period. The Longmen Lineage 7 14 Jingai xindeng (Transmission of the Heart-Lamp from Mount Jingai), ch. 1 (“Zhou Dazhuo lüshi zhuan”). [By “Ordination School,” this passage means the Longmen lineage itself.] 15 Id. (“Shen Dunkong zongshi zhuan”). Wang Changyue Wang Changyue 王常月 (hao Kunyang zi 昆陽子) came from Changzhi in the Lu’an prefecture (Shanxi). He met twice the above-named Zhao Zhen- song, who transmitted the Dao to him, and he resided on Mount Hua (Shaanxi) for several years. In 1655, he left Mount Hua and moved to Bei- jing. The Monograph on the Abbey of the White Cloud says: In 1656, on imperial orders, he was named First Lecturer (zhujiang) at the Baiyun guan. He was bestowed the Purple Mantle (ziyi)16 alto- gether three times, expounded the precepts from the platform, and The Longmen Lineage 8 16 [A formal Taoist dress bestowed by the Emperor.] Wang Changyue ordained more than one thousand disciples. The wind of the Dao resonated everywhere. 17 During the Kangxi reign-period, Wang Changyue instructed his disci- ples Zhan Shouchun 詹守椿, Shao Shoushan 邵守善, and others to move to the South. One after the other they went to the Yinxian an (Hermitage of The Longmen Lineage 9 17 Baiyun guan zhi (Monograph on the Abbey of the White Cloud), ch. 4 (“Kunyang zhenren daoxing bei”). The Ordination Platform at the Baiyun guan (Abbey of the White Cloud, Beijing) the Concealed Immortal) in Nanjing, the Zongyang gong (Palace of Ances- tral Yang) in Hangzhou, Mount Jingai (Jingai shan) in Huzhou, and Mount Wudang (Wudang shan) in Hubei, where they transmitted the precepts and gathered followers. In the course of more than twenty years, Wang Changyue ordained vast amounts of disciples, allowing the declining Quanzhen to flourish again. For this reason, he is regarded as the “Minister of Restoration” (zhongxing zhi chen) of the Longmen lineage. Longmen Branches After Wang Changyue’s death, his disciples opened centers and gathered followers in many different places, forming a large number of small Long- men branches.18 For example: • Huang Xutang 黃虛堂 (lineage name, Shouzheng 守正) started the Tai- wei Lüyuan 太微律院 (Ordination Cloister of the Great Tenuity) branch in Suzhou. His disciples included Sun Biyang 孫碧陽. • Tao Jing’an 陶靖庵 started the Yunchao 雲巢 (Cloud Nest) branch on Mount Jingai (Jingai shan) in Huzhou. His disciples included Tao Shian 陶石庵, Xu Ziyuan 徐紫垣, and Xu Longyan 徐隆岩, who in this sequence inherited the transmission. • The Jinzhu Laoren 金築老人 received the title of Ordination Master and started the Tianzhu guan 天柱觀 (Abbey of the Pillar of Heaven) branch in Yuhang (Zhejiang). His disciples included Pan Muxin 潘牧心, Wang Dongyang 王洞陽, and Pan Tianya 潘天厓, who in this sequence inher- ited the transmission. • Huang Chiyang 黃赤陽 (lineage name, Shouyuan 守圓) was the abbot of the Dade guan (Abbey of the Great Virtue) in Hangzhou. He gave the transmission to Zhou Mingyang 周明陽, who started the Jingu dong 金 鼓洞 (Cavern of the Golden Drum) branch also in Hangzhou. The Longmen Lineage 10 18 [Zhipai 支派, lit. “branch lineages.”] • Lü Yunyin 呂雲隱 (lineage name, Shoupu 守璞) started the Guanshan 冠 山 (Mount Guan) branch in Suzhou.19 His disciples included Lü Quan- yang 呂全陽, Bao Sanyang 鮑三陽, Fan Zhuyang 樊初陽, Weng Chaoyang 翁朝陽, Jin Yuheng 金玉衡, Xu Langyang 徐艮陽, Qiu Yinyang 邱寅陽, Qian Hanyang 錢 函 关于工期滞后的函关于工程严重滞后的函关于工程进度滞后的回复函关于征求同志党风廉政意见的函关于征求廉洁自律情况的复函 陽, Sun Zeyang 孫則陽, Gui Nanyang 歸南陽, Shao Wuzhen 邵悟真, Xu Heling 徐鶴嶺, Pan Wujin 潘無盡, and many others. This was an extremely flourishing branch. • Among them, Qiu Yinyang started the Changchun gong 長春宮 (Palace of Perpetual Spring) branch in Jiashan (Zhejiang); and Qian Hanyang started the Changchun gong branch in Wuxi (Jiangsu). In addition to those mentioned above, Wang Changyue had many other disciples, some of whom traveled in all directions to transmit the Dao, while others lived in reclusion to cultivate themselves. Later, Tan Shoucheng 譚守誠 (?-1689) received Wang Changyue’s “man- tle and bowl,” and became the abbot of the Baiyun guan in the capital. His successor was the above-mentioned Lü Yunyin’s disciple, Bao Sanyang. The lineage of the above-named 7th-generation Lineal Master Shen Changjing, who belonged to the same generation as Wang Changyue, also had a vast following. His disciples included Sun Yuyang and the above- mentioned Huang Chiyang. Huang Chiyang also received the precepts from Wang Changyue, re-unifying the two branches of Wang Changyue and Shen Chanjing. Sun Yuyang 孫玉陽 was the abbot of the Qianyuan guan (Abbey of Qian ☰, the Origin) on Mount Mao (Maoshan, Jiangsu); he gave the transmission to Yan Xiaofeng 閻曉峰, the above-mentioned Zhou Mingyang (lineage name, Tailang 太朗), and Fan Qingyun 範青雲 (lineage name, Taiqing 太青). Zhou Mingyang also received the precepts from Huang Chiyang and, as already mentioned, opened the Jingu dong (Cavern of the Golden Drum) branch in Hangzhou, which for some time was very influential and had fol- lowers numbering in the thousands. Among them, Gao Dongli 高東籬 (tra- ditional dates, 1621-1768) late in life succeeded to Fan Qingyun as abbot The Longmen Lineage 11 19 [Note that, in the language of Chinese religion, “mountain” (shan) is almost syno- nym of “lineage.”] of the Tongbo guan (Abbey of Paulownias and Cypresses)20 on Mount Tian- tai (Zhejiang). His disciples included Fan Rongyang 方鎔陽