| Taiping Jing太平经was a sacred and classic scripture of early Taoism.To explore the process of its formation and the historical origins of its main ideas,as well as its authorship and the hidden intentions behind it,can provide some reference for judging the lower limit of its formation time and help to better understand the meaning and thrust of the scriptures.Generally speaking,Taiping Jing,as a sacred classical work,was created under the leadership of Confucians in the East Han Dynasty,with the core Confucian discourse and Gongyang-studies of the Spring and Autumn春秋公羊学as its basic guidance,to select,use and transform the ideas of Huang Lao黄老,Chenwei谶纬,medicine and other ideas,and to make"achieve great peace"and"transcend the world"as its ideal.Huang Lao thoughts played an important role in the formation of Taiping Jing.Especially it took the realization of the monarch’s“reign even when they sleep soundly”安枕而治,“rule without punishment”无刑罚而治and“roam about without worries”乐游无忧as the main symbols of national peace in the scriptures.Yin-Yang阴阳as well as Xing-De刑德,as the core concepts of Huang Lao,permeated the creation of the scriptures:the concept of Yin-Yang became the“linchpin”to the operation of heavens and the earth,the main basis for ruling the country,and the fundamental principle that must be followed in order to cultivate one’s moral integrity in Taiping Jing.To a certain extent,the creation of the scriptures lied in"making the divine path for Yin-Yang".The concept of"Xing-De"as described in the scriptures had three connotations:first,Xing-De was synonymous with Yin-Yang and became"the law of all the people and things";second,Xing-De was two different ways of governing the country.Before the ideal of great peace can be realized,the scriptures advocated that"morality should be promoted and punishment should be inferior",but also that the punishment should be gradually withdrawn in order to finally realize the ideal of"governance without punishment";third,"Xing-De"became the guardian deity,responsible for supervising people’s good and evil deeds and recording them in documents.The scripture also extrapolated the concept of Yue-Xin乐刑,and strongly promoted the idea of making Music flourish and put an end to punishment.The three sets of concepts formed the core of the so-called"the teaching of the saints"圣人之教in Taiping Jing together.More importantly,in addition to the traditional governance model of the Huang Lao in which the monarch is Yang and the subjects are Yin,as well as assisting Yang with Yin.The scriptures also constructed the ruling tactic of lying in Yin and assigning Yang居阴布阳,in which the monarch staying in Yin and the subjects staying in Yang.The ruling tactic belonged to newly–emerged Huang Lao thought during the East Han Dynasty.Around the ultimate ideal of"achieve great peace",the unique concepts of ruling the country constructed in Taiping Jing also drew on the historical resources from the West and East Han dynasties.Firstly,the scriptures advocated"examining the appointment"审其署置,for the monarch,"the right talents"were the talisman to prolong his government,and"the wrong persons"indicated his rule was temporary.Moreover,its election model had drawn on and modified the electoral system in the West and East Han dynasties,such as the selection criteria for officials based on filial piety and fraternity,and the principle of appointment like appointing officials by their nature and examining officials by granting them official positions.Secondly,Mingtang明堂which was established by the scriptures as the Palace of promulgating policies,originated precisely from the conception of Confucianism in the East Han Dynasty.Mingtang on Earth was responsible for reconciling the qi of Yin-Yang,seeking good governance and recruiting wise men to help virtuous rulers achieve national peace.Mingtang in Heaven was the place where the Celestial Lord天君conducted his affairs and was responsible for holding the documents of the world.Thirdly,the scriptures constructed a local governance model based on the Confucian concept of"regulating virtue and establishing indoctrination"轨德立化.It was both a succession and development of the original village order and had elements that drew on the experience of local governance during West and East Han dynasties.This shows that the formation of indigenous religions was based on the selecting and using of historical resources,by sublimating and exalting the resources and making them as beliefs and the ultimate ideal. |
