"Taoist Rituals in Chinese Society and History"
John Lagerwey
Chapter III Ceremony and Space: Taoist Mandala
The ceremony must build its own altar. The altar is not just a table, but includes the entire area where the ceremony is held.
Taoist classics contain different mandala designs. This chapter mainly introduces two forms of mandalas:
(1) Three mandalas from a document in the sixth century, "Supreme Secret Essentials"
(2) Mandalas still in use in southern Taiwan today
. The altar
in "Supreme Secret Yao" was written in 580 AD and recorded three different types of altars.
(1) San Juan vegetarian altar
(2) fasting three yuan meter altar
altar (3) Yellow Lu Zhai construction
1. fasting altar San Juan
(1) San Juan: God of the universe, including Emperor, to Huang and Huang human
altar : Also known as the Altar of Spirits. The exposed altar means that the three emperors will come here and invite the gods to come
. The area of the mandala is square with 3 tables and flags.
(2) A 24-foot-long mandala: 24 is the solar term , Each month is divided into two energy parts, Yin and Yang, which is also a number that marks the number of parishes.
(3) The gods are generally located in the heart, but may also be in the southwest (because the earth emperor must be located in the corner of the mother, and the cosmology of the altar is based on the congenital circle)
China: the main god usually sits north and faces the south (sun), in the mandala This is done by hanging three clear scroll paintings in front of the niche.
Human Emperor: Located in the northeast (the location of the ghost gate) Reason: After the death of the human -> the ghost placed the Human Emperor in the ghost gate to manage the existence of people in the past, but now they have become ghosts. The emcee is equivalent to the emperor, and enters the mandala from the ghost gate instead of descending from the heavenly gate as usual.
Similarly, the emperor actually refers to the old monarch, who passed the "three-day way" to Zhang Daoling. The mage is "transforming the sky on behalf of the sky"
(4) Mandala: Nine equal parts, each part should be covered with mats, used to place 9 lamps and an incense burner. Because nine is the largest number, it is the number of years Lao Tzu spent in his mother's womb before he was born.
The body itself is a uterus (the altar itself). The Taoist scriptures are divided into three holes, and each hole belongs to one of the three emperors.
(5) Arrangement of corner positions; in the four earthly branches of Chenxu Chouwei, "door opening" made of relic silk curtains
2. The altar of Sanyuanzhaiyi
(1) consists of three superimposed layers (squares), each representing the sky The four corner gates of the altar are Tianmen, Dihu, Sun, and Moon (Northwest, Southeast, Northeast, Southwest).
(2) Outer altar: Taoist priests at the lower level of the pagoda step on the foot of Yu to issue orders and summon gods. expulsion flood
the altar of two three-: represent, the day
three symbolizes the natural universe together constitute the world of water, then use five pillars to defend against demon power from the universe.
(3) Taoist-the reason for holding Jian Gui: The officials of the Chinese emperor's court held Jian Gui, and the Taoists imitated them, making themselves seem like officials in the Jade Emperor's court. Because every food in Chinese court rituals takes symbol as the first and function as the second. It is also possible that officials on the ground imitated the practices of members of the heavenly bureaucracy.
(4) The number of masters: 7->6 f are Gao Gong, Dujiang (lead singer), Shijing (Scripture affairs), Shixiang (incense burner affairs), Shideng (burning lamps affairs), and Jianzhai (fast supervision) Checker)
Jianzhai no longer appears in modern Taoist rituals. First of all, the god of the land is the prison, the prosecutor sent by the heavens.
(5) Three steps to enter the mountain: first enter through the central gate, then enter through the land, and finally enter through the Tianmen. To enter the outer altar, you must enter through the south gate.
Fengdu: It is said that the place where the ghost gate is located in the northeast is also the source of death.
3. The altar built by Huanglongzhai
(1) Twenty-two gates: The altar built by Huanglongzhai is the most typical altar in the middle ancient Taoist ceremony. There are 22 gates in total: the inner altar (atrium) has ten sides with buddies, the middle altar has four gates of heaven, earth, sun, and moon, and the outer altar has eight gossip gates.
The only novelty is the ten gates of the inner altar: all directions plus the top (Northwest Tianmen) and bottom (Southeast: Dihu)
(2) The number thirty-two; firstly it refers to thirty-two days, and then 32=4x8. The number four is related to the ground position, and there are eight days in each of the four directions.
Number Nine: The Largest Number
Number Twenty-Four: Twenty-four Solar Terms, Daoist Dioceses
Number Seven: The number representing the West in Taoism, and it is also the time needed for Jin Shengshui
2. The altar
in southern Taiwan 1. The altar in southern Taiwan -The altar that conforms to the ideals of the Eight Diagrams, Nine Palaces and Ten Directions, is a copy of the "sacred altar" in the past Three Emperors Studio
Among them, the emperor sits facing the south, and the right side belongs to the "yin" side; the master of high power-Dao's waiter. The altar itself is the sky, and the center of the sky is the North Star in the north.
(1) The North Wall-Nine Paintings or Sanqing Portraits By practicing the scriptures of the Sanqing Gods, people can participate in the cycle of the birth and return of the scriptures, that is, the salvation ceremony is a repeated demonstration of the original revelation.
(2) Yuanshi Tianzun-"The Unmeasured Human Scripture" ten times brings the ten directions of divine power together, which can make the blind see, break the stubbornness, and regenerate the dead bones.
(3) The Queen Mother of the West-The Tiger God, the Queen Mother of the West, is the symbol animal of the Sunset Land (Western) and belongs to Yin.
Jinshengshui: Through nurturing.
Nine days: the product of nine months of evolution of the universe, the god of pure yang, which is exactly the opposite of the pure yin attribute of the nine ghosts of hell. In the Taoist death ritual, the former can bring light and dispel the darkness of the latter.
Jin Kan: A door used to open a uterus-Muxue, that is, the cave of the white tiger and the uterus of the Queen Mother, the uterus of the Queen Mother's uterus. Taoist priests reproduced the ritual of the origin of the heavens through amulets, using the ritual symbols of primitive revelation to "regenerate" the redemptive scriptures.
Lao Tzu is the key to this process. Lao Tzu is the third god among the three pure gods, that is, one of the three treasures or three qi (Xuan, Yuan, and Shiqi). They are blue, yellow and white, corresponding to the center of the east and the west. . The Three Treasures are Tao itself (Yuanshi Tianzun), Sutra (Lingbao Tianzun), and Shi (Ethical Tianzun).
(4) Zhang Daoling-Longhu Mountain
(5) Sacrificial offerings to the gods are placed on the counter table-the gods become observers of mandalas and rituals enshrined as their own. The whole ceremony can be regarded as the entertainment and church of the gods, and a drama for the rebirth of the gods.
The distinction between the outer altar and the inner altar actually expresses the understanding of the different characteristics of nature and culture and the relationship between them. The whole picture represents a complete humanized universe, composed of four gods in the divine space: Heaven, Earth, Human, Water-Convergence, Return, "Chaoyuan" from the beginning of their appearance.
Chapter 4 Basic Taoist Rituals-Rituals for the Living-Sacrifice (醮)
Sacrifice (醮): The basic etiquette in Taoism for the living.
High skill transforms one's body into the body of Tao. This part of Taoist ceremony not only refers to the part held in the temple, but also includes the content of outdoor activities . Because after the official sacrificial activities of the mansion ceremony ended, the entire community had to reshape itself.
1. Take the ritual ceremony held in Taitung, Taiwan in 1980 as an example, lasting 25 hours.
Including two independent ceremonies: fire prevention ceremony (Fire Department) and
interpretation of some ceremonial ceremonies in order to protect the ritual of the land god (qingtu, meaning "celebration of the land")
(1) raising the flag: attracting lifelong attention
(2) points Lamp: Please light, it means that "graceful light" shines into the world of darkness and evil -> rolling curtain -> calling gods to exorcise evil
(3) Zhengjiao: Facing the north, with high merits, guide the believers to do a series of worship. After every three prayers, the Taoist priests would chant scriptures, and the sitting Taoist priests waved flags on the backs of the believers, as if they were expelling and removing the evil spirits from their bodies.
(4) Purdue: The final ceremony, in order to soothe the homeless ghosts.
Chapter 7 The Forbidden Altar and Su Qi
Forbidden altar and Su Qi ceremony in southern Taiwan: Dojo ceremony performances held on the second night and the third morning. Contact: The order of Zhai Yi in the Supreme Secret Key is: Su Qi, Xing Dao (Dojo) and Yan Gong.
1. Forbidden altar
The purpose of the altar ban ceremony is to seal the mandala to prevent evil spirits from destroying it, so as to build the altar.
Therefore, it must be carried out before the start of all rituals, before the "home", the purpose is to clean up the old age, make the inside and the outside clear, and feel the same.
The chanting, zhai music, and zodiac used in the altar are equal to Su Qi.
Convene strength to ward off evil and filth.
2. Su Qi
Su Qi is a ritual that includes the relief of building an altar. Like the Sanyuanzhai altar, it needs to be placed in five directions. The order is: East, South, West, North, and Central. In each position, Gaogong will recite the name of the heavenly monarch in that position.
The rest of Su Qi is mainly a set of praise songs, the content is roughly the same as the description of the ceremony. And the performance: consistent with the "presentation" of the dojo ceremony.
Chapter 8 Dojo
Dojo, the realm of Tao, is the most important ceremony in the ritual system.
1. At the beginning of the period, the dojo is to directly meet: Tao and submit a "prayer".
Modern dojo ceremonies are also presented to Sanqing, but as a kind of Taoist ceremony, the ceremony of entering the table has replaced the role of the dojo to a certain extent.
The performance gradually became less noticeable.
The whole ritual can be regarded as a product of the attraction and influence of the model ceremony itself. All the main ceremonies point to the central ritual in function: the dojo, and in structure they imitate the dojo. Only in the performance of the dojo is our area complete and correctly used.
Reason: the music, location and duration of the praise song.
2. Rolling curtain: In order to be able to pay homage to the Tao or enter the world of Tao smoothly in the dojo ceremony held the next morning.
Lighting: The incense offering of the rolling curtain actually establishes a cooperative relationship with the sub-lights.
Candlelight: the light of the three pure gods.
As a community, the two are essentially a mirror image of the dojo, and the performance of the dojo is a process from believers to the three pure gods. Corresponds to three sub-lights and then five symbols.