Scripture of Great Clarity

In his summary of the Taiqing texts, Ge Hong quotes a passage from the Scripture of Great Clarity not found in any extant source of the Taiqing corpus, which asserts that the Way of long life does not consist in making cer-... 

The deities of the heaven of Great Clarity generated and handed down the alchemical scriptures to each other before they were written in a form comprehensible to mankind. The versions of those scriptures transmitted to the world are inferior and partial counterparts of those divine prototypes. According to Ge Hong, the Scripture of Great Clarity that circulated at his time was the last part of a longer text to which human beings have no access ... 

MAIN SCRIPTURES OF THE EARLY TAIQING CORPUS Scripture of Great Clarity Taiqing jing)... 

Hemp fabric and silk are also offered to receive the Scripture of Great Clarity. Its commentary says ... 

The ceremony of transmission also marks the disciple s commitment to not revealing the teachings and texts he has received. The passage quoted above from the commentary to the Scripture of Great Clarity continues by describing the penalties administered for improper transmission ... 

A similar recipe for the Pellet for Expelling the Demons is found in Sun Simiao s anthology of Taiqing methods, the Essential Instructions from the Scripture of the Elixirs of Great Clarity. The corresponding talisman is not reproduced either in the commentary to the Scripture of Great Clarity or in Sun Simiao s work, but is found in the commentary to the Nine Elixirs (see Fig. z) together with a third similar recipe for the Pellet. ... 

The same healing and restorative powers are possessed by the Elixirs of the Nine Radiances (jiuguang dan), whose methods were found, according to Ge Hong, in the second scroll of the original and now-lost Scripture of Great Clarity. 

The scriptures of Great Clarity supplement the Cavern of Spirit. They are concerned with the ranks pin) of Immortals up to those who obtain their status through the Golden Elixir. 

These textual similarities show that the Records from the Stone Wall of Great Clarity, Sun Simiao s Essential Instructions, and the Tang Inventory all drew their descriptions of minerals from a single source. The association of the former two texts with the Taiqing tradition points to one of the enlarged versions of the Scripture of Great Clarity as the source in question. 

This chapter, concerned with the transmission of doctrines and methods, is devoted to the preliminaries to the alchemical wor . Since the writings of the literati rushu M s ) do not contain methods for becoming an immortal, a sovereign should search for them. The methods alone, however, are not enough one should also receive both the written and the oral instructions wenjue and koujue P1 ). The main part of this chapter describes the ceremony of transmission of the Scripture of Great Clarity, of one unidenti-hed text, and of three lost wor s attributed to Hugang zi... 

The two methods are in Jiudan jingjue, i7.3a-b. See also 20.15a, where the compound is called White of Lead qianbai). On the method of the Flowery Pond found in the original Scripture of Great Clarity see below in the present chapter. 

Theories of Categories in Early Mediaeval Chinese Alchemy, 186 note 85. This text adds that Red Salt is nsed to snblimate the Erost and Snow (shuang-xue, calomel) compare the Hard Snow of the Scripture of Great Clarity. 

Zhen gao, ii.ioa, 12.13b, and 14.9b. According to Tao Hongjing, the method came from the Central Scripture of Great Clarity (Taiqing zhongjing). 

On the ceremony of transmission of the Scripture of Great Clarity and the talismans reproduced in this and other chapters of the commentary see above. Chapter 5. On Hugang zi see below in the present appendix. 

Master on the Scripture of Great Clarity]. Six Dynasties or early Tang (before 683). Daozang, CT 883. 

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