Opinions differ as to the genre of a Daoist text attributed to Sima Chengzhen (647– 735) which co... more Opinions differ as to the genre of a Daoist text attributed to Sima Chengzhen (647– 735) which contained illustrations. The main body of this work, Shangqing shi dichen Tongbo zhenren zhentuzan (hereinafter referred to as Zhentuzan), consists of one “pref- ace” and eleven stories, each followed by a eulogy (zan 贊) and an illustration. This paper first demonstrates the preface to be of the zhuang 狀 genre, specifically in- tended for the emperor, through the examination of two different versions of the text compiled respectively in the Quan Tang wen and the Zhengtong Daoist Canon. The paper studies the work in comparison with epigraphical materials to first determine the date of the text with reference to its author, context, and original images, and then explores the religious and political background under the later part of Empress Wu’s (Wu Zhao) reign when the text was produced. It also demonstrates the work’s relationship with Tang materials on Pure Land Buddhism preserved in Dunhuang and compares the language, narrative, and form of its stories with those of Buddhist writings in the transformation-text (bianwen 變文) genre. Finally, the paper concludes with the discussion on the similarities between Sima Chengzhen’s illustrations and Buddhist Pure Land murals of the late seventh and early eighth centuries, which may further our understanding of the author’s idea of the integration of Buddhist and Daoist thoughts.
Opinions differ as to the genre of a Daoist text attributed to Sima Chengzhen (647– 735) which co... more Opinions differ as to the genre of a Daoist text attributed to Sima Chengzhen (647– 735) which contained illustrations. The main body of this work, Shangqing shi dichen Tongbo zhenren zhentuzan (hereinafter referred to as Zhentuzan), consists of one “pref- ace” and eleven stories, each followed by a eulogy (zan 贊) and an illustration. This paper first demonstrates the preface to be of the zhuang 狀 genre, specifically in- tended for the emperor, through the examination of two different versions of the text compiled respectively in the Quan Tang wen and the Zhengtong Daoist Canon. The paper studies the work in comparison with epigraphical materials to first determine the date of the text with reference to its author, context, and original images, and then explores the religious and political background under the later part of Empress Wu’s (Wu Zhao) reign when the text was produced. It also demonstrates the work’s relationship with Tang materials on Pure Land Buddhism preserved in Dunhuang and compares the language, narrative, and form of its stories with those of Buddhist writings in the transformation-text (bianwen 變文) genre. Finally, the paper concludes with the discussion on the similarities between Sima Chengzhen’s illustrations and Buddhist Pure Land murals of the late seventh and early eighth centuries, which may further our understanding of the author’s idea of the integration of Buddhist and Daoist thoughts.
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Papers by Jingjing Chen