Chapter Two

CREATION

TheTaois responsibleforall

-

^that

-

^{is; it isatthe ground beyond}

all existence and yetimmanent in allitsforms

.

TheTao creates;in its most immediate appearance it is the creation of the universe

.

First allemptiness and nonbeing,it isformless and vague

.

^Revolv¬

ing around for ^long periods of time and through various stages of primordiality and chaos, it ^eventually divides into two, originally equally formless energies, one light, one heavy, one bright, one dark. These are yin and ^yang, the original pair of complementary opposites

.

^Through them, there are heaven and earth, thesun and the moon, light and darkness, hot and cold, and all the various distinctions that makeup theworld of existence

.

Combining again, yin and yang then give rise to the myriad beings, plantsand living creatures, of which humansare one

.

Giv^¬ ing different distributions to different beings, the multiplicity of life evolves, patterned accordingtotheschemeof the five agents or phases, which represent yin and yang in the varying stages of lesser andgreater

.

The first ^things created, the forces at the ^very brink of exist^¬ ence, are pure emanations of yin and yang

.

^They are the gods and the heavens, thescripturesand thetalismans

.

These arethe Taoin its most original and yet nolongerempty and formless shape;they are the world on the threshold of being born

.

^{Only due} to their existence can everything else come into being; only through the creative and salvational will of the gods in their heavens, through the powerful sacred formulas embedded in the scriptures and the talismans, can the world ever take shape

.

Not only creating, these forces continue to be part of the wider universe. Forever the same and yet ever new, they descend into the world of ^humanity to rectifyand save, tosupport and cherish, to reveal the purity of the Tao

.

^{They are a canopy} of Tao that is always there, that can be

33

called upon in ritual and reachedin meditation

.

Theyarethe source of creation as much as the cause of the world’s continued existence and the ultimatehopeof the salvation of all

.

The selections below give accounts of the original state of the world from different perspectivesand traditions

.

First, theKaitian jing ⁽Scripture ofOpeningtheCosmos⁾,isa short account of the origins of the world, beginning with formless nothingness and endingwith the Zhou dynasty

.

Inspired by High^¬ est ClarityTaoism,it datesapproximately from the Tang dynasty

(618

-

^906).It centers around the^figureof the Venerable Lord,the deified Laozi and embodiment ^of the Tao

.

It integrates the early myth of the transformations of Laozi ⁽see below⁾

—

^{the notion that}

he appeared in every age to be the teacher of the dynasty

—

^with

the historical vision of classical Chinese ^mythology

.

Next^, the Lingbao lueji ⁽A Short Record of Numinous Trea^¬ sure⁾, concentrates on the role of the talismans of NuminousTrea^¬ sure in the creation and continued salvation of the world

.

It is inspired by the Numinous Treasure ⁽Lingbao⁾ school and dates back to the third century. The central deity here is the Heavenly Venerableof Primordial Beginning⁽Yunshi tianzun⁾,an adaptation of the Buddha, as much in the Lingbao school is influenced by Buddhism. The purpose of the document is to establish an inte^¬ grated connection between the kalpic revolutions at ^{the dawn of} time with the ^emergence of the historical Lingbao tradition in the fourth century

.

It reinterpretshistory tothis end

.

Third, the Shizhou ji ⁽Record of the Ten Continents⁾, is an account of the isles and paradises of the immortals

.

These realms of high purity are ^part of the ^original state of the Tao; they house wondrous plants and animals which can bestow salvation upon human beings

.

The text is related to tales of the marvelous that were popular in the early middle ages ⁽220

-

⁵⁸⁹⁾ and was also integrated into the Highest Clarity corpus. It is a description of sacred geography as much asoftheconcrete conditions^ofthe heav^¬ ens, in whichthe pure representativesof theTao reside.

Fourth, finally, there is biography of the Queen Mother of the West ⁽Xiwang mu⁾

.

Written by Du Guangting ⁽850

-

^{933) in}

the late Tang and contained in his Yongcheng jixian lu ⁽Record of the Assembled Immortals of the Heavenly Walled City⁾, this provides some insight into the nature and daily tasks of the Taoist gods. ^They, as much as their lands and the celestial scrip^¬ tures and talismans, are part of the original creation

—

^existing

5.Scriptures Create the Universe 35 and yet uncreated, formless and ^yet powers of salvation to be called upon.

5. Scriptures Create theUniverse

The Taishang laojun kaitian jing ⁽The Scripture of How the Highest Venerable Lord Opens the Cosmos⁾ is contained twice in the Taoist canon, in DZ 1437, fasc. 1059, and in chapter 2 of the Yunji qiqian ⁽Seven Tablets in a Cloudy Satchel⁾, a Taoist encyclo^¬ pedia from theearlyeleventhcentury⁽DZ 1032,fasc

.

677

-

^702).

Probably dating from the Tang dynasty ⁽618

-

^{906), it shows a}

certain Mahayana Buddhist influence

.

Not ^only in its initial for^¬ mula, “Thus I have heard,” ^{but also} in its contents, for example in the descriptionof thesizeand heavenlynatureofthescriptures,in its phrasing, “as numerous as thesandsof theGanges,” and in thefinal verseorgathaof Laozi, itfollows the patternofaBuddhistsutra

.

Nevertheless^,the textis primarilyan indigenous version ofthe creation

.

It integrates philosophical views of the stages of the uni^¬ verse,first expressed inthe traditionof theYijing⁽BookofChanges⁾,

with the myth of the transformations ^of Laozi, who appears in every age to be the teacher of the dynasty, and the traditional Chinese understanding of ancient history and the beginnings of culture

.

There is no study of Taoist creation myths to date

.

^{For a com¬}

parative analysis of the myth of chaos ⁽Hundun⁾ in philosophical Taoism, see Girardot 1983. On the mythology and cosmology of HighestClarity, see Robinet 1984

.

On Laozi as the body of theTao, see Schipper 1978,1982

.

Taishang laojun kaitian jing (Scripture of How the Highest Venerable Lord ^OpenstheCosmos⁾

[la^] Thus I have heard. Before heaven and earth opened, all was endless beyond Great Clarity; all was limitless in Barren

Nonbeing

.

Desolate and vastit was,and without bounds. No heavennor earth :noyin noryang,

nosunnor moon :nobrightness norradiance, noeast norwest : no^green nor yellow,

no south nor north^;no soft nor hard,

nocover norsupport :noembrace nor closeness, nowisdom norsageliness :noloyalty norgoodness, nogoingnorcoming:no^arisingnor passing,

nofront nor back:no round nor^square

.

It transformed hundreds of millions of times, all grand and vast, vast and ^grand!Noshape nor sign

.

Pure so

-

^{beingand empti¬}

ness!Oh , howunfathomable!

No measure norend :nohigh norlow noeven norodd :noleft norright

.

Aboveand below^{, in pure}so

-

^beingalone,

THE VENERABLE LORD, the Tao, was at rest in open mystery, beyond silent desolation, in mysterious emptiness

.

Look and do not see^,

[lb^] listen and do not hear. Say it/he ^is there and do not see a shape; say it/he is not there, yet all ^beings follow him for life.

Beyond the ^eight bounds

—

^{slowly, slowly}

—

^{first it divides}

^.

^{Sinks to}

formthesubtleandthe wondrous, tomaketheworld.

Then there was Vast Prime ^[Hunyuan^]

.

^{In the time of Vast}

Prime, there still was no heaven and noearth, the empty void had not ^yet separated, clear and turbid were not ^yet divided.In ^myste¬ rious barrenness and silent desolation, Vast Prime continued for a myriad kalpas

.

Then Vast ^Prime divided, and there was Coagulated Prime [Hongyuan^]

.

^Coagulated Prime continued fora myriad kalpas until it reached its perfection

.

Its perfection lasted for eighty

-

^{one times}

ten thousand years

.

Then there was Grand Antecedence ^[Taichu^]

.

^{In the time of}

GrandAntecedence,

THE VENERABLE LORD descended from barren emptiness to be ^the teacher of Grand Antecedence

.

His mouth brought forth the Scrip^¬ tureof Opening theCosmos inone section and forty

-

eight times ten thousand scrolls

.

Each scroll had forty

-

eight times ten thousand characters

.

Each character was one hundred square miles in size

.

Thus hetaught Grand Antecedence

.

In Grand Antecedence^, for the first time he ^separated heaven and earth, the clear and the turbid

.

^[2a^] He divided boundless galaxiesand vast nebulae. He set up shapesand signs.He secured north and south. He ordered east and west

.

He opened the dark^¬ nessand madelight

.

He positioned thefour universal ^mainstays.

5.ScripturesCreatetheUniverse 37 Above and below^, inside and out, within and without, long and short, grossand subtle, female and male, white and black, bigand small^, noble and humble

—

^{all were constantly moving along in}

darkness

.

But whenCoagulated Prime attained theScripture of Opening theCosmosof

THEVENERABLELORD,clear and turbid were^separated

.

Clearenergy rose ^up and formed heaven

.

Turbid energy sank down and formed earth.The three spheres were established.Then,for thefirst time, there were heaven and earth

.

Yet,still no sun nor moon.

Heaven desired to transform beings, to afford them ^changes without bounds. Therefore it set up the sun and the moon in its midst. They would illuminate the darkness below

.

In the time of Grand Antecendence, there were thus the sun and the moon

.

Still no human beings. Slowly, they first came forth

.

Above he took the essence of heaven. Below he took the essence of earth

.

He joined them in the middle and made aspiritcalled human.

Heaven and earth were first void; then there were the three initial divisions

.

^[2b^]All species of life were without sign or ^shape

.

Each received just one bit of energy and life was complete

.

Those with raw energy for life were stones and mountains

.

Those with moving energy for life were birds and beasts

.

^Those with essential energy for life were human beings

.

^Among all the myriad beings, humansarethehighest

.

Grand Antecedence continued for a myriad kalpas

.

Then only humanbeings appeared.Thus thisperiod iscalled Grand Antecedence

.

At this time, there were ^only heaven and earth, the sun and the moon,animals and people

.

Still noconsciousnessnor^language.

When Grand Antecedence came to an end, Grand Initiation [Taishi^]emerged

.

In the timeof Grand Initiation,

THE VENERABLE LORD descended tobe itsteacher

.

^His mouthbrought forth the Scripture of Grand Initiation in one section

.

^{Thus he}

taught Grand Initiation

.

He worked to set up all under heaven for ninety

-

^{one times} ten thousand ^years

.

After ninety

-

^{one times ten}

thousand years, it reached its perfection. The perfection lasted eighty

-

^{one times}ten thousand years

.

Grand Initiation is thebeginningof the myriad beings

.

Thusit is called Grand Initiation

.

It flowed and revolved, perfected and refined all immaculatesigns in its midst

.

^[3a^] Energy became solid and transformed into perfect yinand yang

.

When Grand Initiation came to an end^, there was Grand Im^¬ maculate^[Taisu^]

.

In thetimeof Grand Immaculate,

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In document Taoist Experience (Page 42-47)