What is "guadan" in Taoism?
paulpeng
"Guadan" means that Taoists temporarily stay and reside in a Taoist temple. After "guadan", the temple responsible for the reception provides food and accommodation.
In ancient times, the requirements for "guadan" were very strict. For visiting, one must prepare a palm mat, a small shovel, a begging bowl, and a handbell. This is because when traveling far away from home, sometimes it took two or three days, sometimes even half a month or a year to reach the destination. Taoists must be ready to cook for themselves to satisfy hunger or beg for alms at any time. Clothing, scarves, socks, and shoes are all indispensable. The clothes must have round collars both inside and outside, be blue, with the two sleeves hanging down and equal in length to the hands, and the sleeve width should be one foot and four inches. One should wear a scarf with one character or a Hunyuan scarf. The socks should be high-waisted and the shoes should be blue cloth with two eyes. If one doesn't wear socks or a Taoist scarf, the temple can refuse the "guadan".
The Taoist temple will interrogate the Taoists requesting "guadan". Generally, they will ask which temple they are from, where they come from, their name, their generation in the sect, the name of their master, whether they have been here before, etc., and then recite scriptures. After reciting the scriptures, the person in charge of registration fills out a form stating the number of days of stay. Only when the person getting "guadan" takes the form can they turn around to pick up their luggage. After entering the temple gate, they also need to receive education on the temple rules and meet with the hall master and the palace master because those who "guadan" need to participate in the temple's practices.
The procedure of "guadan" seems complicated, but just imagine if "guadan" were too easy, wouldn't the food in the temple be eaten up by the lazy? If the person getting "guadan" violates the rules, there should also be a guarantor to coordinate. Those who can neither recite the scriptures nor find a guarantor can only be given a temporary place to stay in a small temple not far from the large temple for reviewing the scriptures. This is called "borrowing a form".
This measure reflects the tolerance and people-oriented thinking of the Quanzhen School of Taoism and objectively creates conditions for seeking and preaching the Tao.
In ancient times, the requirements for "guadan" were very strict. For visiting, one must prepare a palm mat, a small shovel, a begging bowl, and a handbell. This is because when traveling far away from home, sometimes it took two or three days, sometimes even half a month or a year to reach the destination. Taoists must be ready to cook for themselves to satisfy hunger or beg for alms at any time. Clothing, scarves, socks, and shoes are all indispensable. The clothes must have round collars both inside and outside, be blue, with the two sleeves hanging down and equal in length to the hands, and the sleeve width should be one foot and four inches. One should wear a scarf with one character or a Hunyuan scarf. The socks should be high-waisted and the shoes should be blue cloth with two eyes. If one doesn't wear socks or a Taoist scarf, the temple can refuse the "guadan".
The Taoist temple will interrogate the Taoists requesting "guadan". Generally, they will ask which temple they are from, where they come from, their name, their generation in the sect, the name of their master, whether they have been here before, etc., and then recite scriptures. After reciting the scriptures, the person in charge of registration fills out a form stating the number of days of stay. Only when the person getting "guadan" takes the form can they turn around to pick up their luggage. After entering the temple gate, they also need to receive education on the temple rules and meet with the hall master and the palace master because those who "guadan" need to participate in the temple's practices.
The procedure of "guadan" seems complicated, but just imagine if "guadan" were too easy, wouldn't the food in the temple be eaten up by the lazy? If the person getting "guadan" violates the rules, there should also be a guarantor to coordinate. Those who can neither recite the scriptures nor find a guarantor can only be given a temporary place to stay in a small temple not far from the large temple for reviewing the scriptures. This is called "borrowing a form".
This measure reflects the tolerance and people-oriented thinking of the Quanzhen School of Taoism and objectively creates conditions for seeking and preaching the Tao.
