Silent Chanting — The Highest Merit

From the moment a Daoist enters the path and begins learning the rituals, the first thing they must master is scripture chanting.

The Essential Collection for Universal Daoist Teaching (Daomen Tongjiao Biyong Ji) states: “When a novice comes of age, teach him the tones and rhythms. Chanting in a single voice supports one’s practice. Where errors and vulgarisms have crept in through hearsay, correct them all and restore strictness and precision.” In other words, chanting scripture helps sustain one’s practice and cultivate the Dao.

Chanting is fundamentally different from reading verse or prose aloud. Reciting poetry follows the natural cadence of meaning — rising and falling with the emotion. But chanting scriptures is deliberately flat and steady, unconcerned with semantic expression. The rhythm is typically controlled by a percussion instrument. One may chant alone or in a group, once through or hundreds of times over.

Daoism holds that by chanting a scripture ten thousand times, an adept can achieve immortality and communicate with the divine. According to the Dongxuan Kongdong Lingzhang Jing, as cited in the Supreme Secret Essentials (Wushang Miyao):

The Song-dynasty Daoist master Bai Yuchan wrote in his Praise of the Salvation Scripture that whoever chants the Supreme Numinous Treasure Salvation Scripture is “acting as the Celestial Venerable’s voice, expounding the teachings, embodying the Great Dao to guide sentient beings.” To speak on heaven’s behalf is to spread the faith.

Throughout the ages, Daoist ritual texts have offered extensive guidance on the selection of scriptures, the scheduling of chanting, and its relationship to other esoteric practices.

The Methods of Daoist Chanting

Scripture chanting in Daoism takes many forms: heart chanting, breath chanting, physical chanting, and spirit chanting. The word for “chant” (song, 诵) is also understood as “invocation” (zhu, 祝), giving rise to heart invocation, secret invocation, subtle invocation, and so forth. These methods can be broadly grouped into two categories: formless “spirit chanting” (shen song, 神诵) and embodied “physical chanting” (xing song, 形诵). The formless includes heart chanting, breath chanting, heart invocation, and secret invocation. The embodied includes audible chanting, clear chanting, and subtle invocation.

On the surface, the difference between “spirit chanting” and “physical chanting” might appear to be simply “silent” versus “audible.” But from a Daoist perspective, the inner meaning runs far deeper.

Wang Qizhen of the Southern Song dynasty explains in his Supreme Numinous Treasure Great Rites of the Upper Clarity (Shangqing Lingbao Dafa):

The same text elaborates in chapter twenty-four:

The Great Cavern Jade Scripture: Essential Commentary in Twelve Principles (Dadong Yujing Shuyao Shi’er Yi) states:

From this perspective, the more formless and silent the “spirit chanting,” the higher its spiritual attainment, and the closer one draws to the ideal of the Dao — until one enters the very state of the Dao. This is perhaps a living expression of Laozi’s teaching: "The great form has no shape; the great sound is rarely heard."

Scripture Selection

Daoism has always placed great importance on chanting the Daode Jing. The Dongxuan Wucheng Jing records:

The Dongzhen Taixiao Langshu Qiongwen Dizhang Jing adds:

The Dongxuan Lingbao Sandong Fengdao Kejie Yingshi, compiled near the end of the Sui and beginning of the Tang dynasties, declares that those who chant the “Three Cave Treasures” shall “ascend in form to the crimson heavens,” while those who hear them chanted “shall be born in spirit in the azure void,” and “all beings in heaven and on earth shall rely on them — they are the bridge for all living beings and the gateway to all perfected ones.”

The Timing of Chanting

Daoism teaches that chanting at different times serves different purposes.

According to the Numinous Treasure Infinite Salvation Scripture: Great Rites of the Highest Order (Lingbao Wuliang Duren Shangjing Dafa), supplications and averting calamities belong to the upper prime; refining qi belongs to the lower prime; and rituals for the departed belong to the middle prime. In other words, chanting during the Upper Prime period has the power to avert misfortune; chanting during the Lower Prime period cultivates the qi; and chanting during the Middle Prime period delivers the dead.

As for chanting on one’s “natal day” — the day of one’s birth — it is said to:

This bestows the power of longevity.

Chanting in Union with Esoteric Arts and Internal Alchemy

As a practice within Daoist purification and sacrificial rituals, chanting is often combined with esoteric arts. Both the Dongzhen Jinfang Dulü Jing and the Dongzhen Suzou Danling Liujia Fuzheng, as cited in the Supreme Secret Essentials, discuss the integration of chanting with the consumption of Taoist talismans.

After chanting the Golden Chamber Scripture of Delivering Life ten times, one must consume the Golden Chamber Life-Preserving Talisman. After one hundred recitations, the talisman is taken ten times.

In cultivating the Six Jia Way, on each Jia day one enters the chamber, consumes the talisman, and chants the songs of the six palaces. After six continuous years of chanting:

In the Infinite Salvation Scripture: Great Rites, chanting is combined with wearing talismans:

Chanting is also integrated with visualization and internal alchemy:

The Rules of Chanting

Daoism holds that scripture chanting must abide by the precepts. The Dongzhen Zhihui Guanshen Dajie Jing warns:

The Dongzhen Siji Mingke prescribes rules for men and women chanting in the same chamber:

Further rules require that when entering the chamber to chant, one must dress neatly and solemnly, and refrain from speaking with outsiders: