云笈七签 (1029)

《云笈七签》，道教类书，全书122卷。北宋宋真宗天禧年间（1017－1021）张君房编。内容主要有道教的教理教义、本始源流、经法传授、秘要诀法、诸家气法、金丹、方药等，有“小道藏”之称。后被收于《正统道藏》太玄部。

道教称书箱为“云笈”，分道书为“三洞四辅”七部（三洞: 洞真、洞玄、洞神, 四辅:太玄、太平、太清、正一），此书题名《云笈七签》即掇取七部精英之意。《云笈七签》收集了北宋以前的道教的珍贵的材料，可以帮助读者把握前期道教的概况、发展脉胳和基本史实。《四库全书总目提要》称其书“类例既明，指归略备，纲条科格，无不兼该。”

序

太清宝蕴：指太清宫唐写本《道藏》

目次

第一卷道德部：老子对道与德的论述。

第二卷混元混洞开辟劫运部：关于道教的宇宙论，讲述宇宙产生，天地成形的过程。

第三卷道教本始部：讲道教的起源。

第四卷道教经法传授部：关于道教各流派经典的传承。

第五卷经教相承部：讲道教早期各高道流派的传承。

第六到第二十卷三洞经教部：摘录各流派主要经典。

第二十一到三十二卷天地部、日月星辰部、十洲三岛部、洞天福地部、二十四治部、秉生受命部：道教的天文学、地理学和生物学论述。

第三十二卷到八十六卷杂修摄部、存思部、秘要法诀部、诸家气法部、金丹部、方药部等：关于戒律和符图，以及修炼方术，包括导引、斋戒、存思、气法、外丹、内丹等等。

第八十七到九十五卷诸真要略部、仙籍语论要记部等：高圣仙真修炼心得的摘录。

第九十六到一百二十二卷赞颂部、纪传部、道教灵验记部：对仙真的赞颂，纪传，和灵验纪录。

The Yunji qiqian is a (c. 1029) anthology of the (1016) Taoist Canon, which the Taoist scholar-official Zhang Junfang compiled for Emperor Zhenzong of Song. The Yunji qiqian records many early Taoist texts that have been lost since the 11th century, and is an important resource for understanding medieval Taoism.

History

The Yunji qiqian compendium was a "byproduct" of editing the 1016 edition Daozang "Taoist Canon" – the Da Song tiangong baozang 大宋天宮寳藏 "Great Song Celestial Palace Precious Canon". In 1012, the Northern Song Emperor Zhenzong (r. 997–1022) ordered the compilation of a revised and enlarged Canon. He put Chancellor Wang Qinruo in charge of the project, selected ten Taoist masters, and ordered Perfect Qi Guan 戚綸 to oversee the compilation of the Daozang. In 1016, the scholar-official Zhang Junfang (961?–1042?), who had replaced Qi Guan, completed the revised Da Song tiangong baozang edition, which comprised 4,565 juan 卷 "scrolls; volumes". In 1019, Zhang presented emperor Zhenzong with seven manuscript sets of the new Taoist Canon.

Zhang Junfang subsequently selected Canonical texts for the Yunji qiqian anthology, which he dedicated to Zhenzong, and presented to Emperor Renzong of Song (r. 1022–1063). Zhang's preface, dated circa 1028–1029, explains "[After having completed the Canon, I hence] selected the essentials of the seven sections of Taoist literature, in order to provide an imperfect treasury of the profound writings of various Taoist masters." Zhang submits the book to Zhenzong as a "bedside companion" (literally yiye zhi lan 乙夜之覽, "[for] perusal during the second watch [around 10 PM]").

Title

The title uses the common Chinese words yun 雲 "cloud" and qi 七 "seven" with the Classical Chinese terms ji 笈 "bamboo box used for travelling (esp. to carry books); book box; satchel" and qian 籤 "bamboo slip; book marker; lot (used for divination); oracle" (both made from bamboo and written with the "bamboo radical" ⺮).

Zhang's preface explains that he chose among yunji qibu zhi ying 雲笈七部之英 "outstanding [books] from the seven components in the cloudy bookbag". Boltz explains that yunji is a "well-established poetic trope for a bagful of Taoist writings" and qibu refers to the sandong 三洞 "Three Caverns" and sibu 四部 "Four Supplements" into which the Canon was organized.

Translating the opaque Yunji qiqian title into English is difficult.

"The Seven Bamboo Tablets of the Cloudy Satchel"

"The Bookcase of the Clouds with the Seven Labels"

"The Essentials or Outlines of the Seven Sections of the Taoist Canon"

"Seven Lots from the Bookbag of the Clouds"

"The Seven Tablets in a Cloudy Satchel"

An alternative name for the Yunji qiqian is xiao Daozang 小道藏 "little Daoist Canon".

Contents

The received Yunji qiqian has 37 bu sections, 122 juan chapters (several of which are divided into two parts), and quotes more than 700 early Taoist texts. Zhang's preface mentions 120 juan; one explanation for the discrepancy is if the 122-chapter Ming edition came from compiling various 120-chapter Song editions.

In Chinese bibliographic terminology, the Yunji qiqian is classified as a leishu (reference work arranged by category; encyclopedia). English descriptions of the text include anthology, encyclopedia, handbook, and encyclopedic anthology.

Source materials come almost exclusively from Six Dynasties (220–589) and Tang dynasty (618–907) Taoist works. Many texts are quoted extensively, some are abridged, and others are made into new compositions. Lin suggests the text represents the "crystallization" of religious Taoism from the late Han to early Song periods.

Schipper describes the Yunji qiqian as a handbook to the mystical and yangsheng 養生 "nourishing life" Taoism of the Tang, and the religion of the poets Li Bai, Li Shangyin, and Han Yu, which "provides a key to the understanding of the arts and the literature of this period."