Taiping Jing (Scripture of Great Peace), a major classic of early Taoism, is also known as Taiping Qinglingshu (Scripture of Great Peace, Purity, and Guidance). Historical records indicate that three versions of Taiping Jing circulated during the Han Dynasty:
- During the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Western Han Dynasty, Gan Zhongke from Qi created Tianguan Li Baoyuan Taiping Jing (Scripture of Celestial Officials' Calendar, Origin of Treasure, and Great Peace) in twelve volumes.
- During the reign of Emperor Shun of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Gong Chong presented Taiping Qinglingshu (Scripture of Great Peace, Purity, and Guidance) in 170 volumes, which his teacher Yu Ji had obtained by the Quyang Spring on Tiantai Mountain.
- Zhang Ling's Taiping Dongji Jing (Scripture of the Ultimate Grotto of Great Peace) in 144 volumes, all of which have been lost.
The Taiping Jing included in the Zhengtong Daozang (Orthodox Taoist Canon) only survives in 57 volumes, along with 10 volumes of Taiping Jing Chao (Excerpts from the Scripture of Great Peace) by Lüqiu Fangyuan of the late Tang Dynasty and Taiping Jing Shengjun Mizhi (Secret Instructions of the Sage Lord from the Scripture of Great Peace).
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The content of Taiping Jing is complex and not the work of a single person or period. Hou Hanshu·Xiang Kai Zhuan (Book of the Later Han・Biography of Xiang Kai) summarizes it as: "Its discourse is rooted in yin-yang and the five elements, with much 混杂的 shamanistic terminology" and "it focuses on revering heaven and earth, obeying the five elements, and also contains techniques for national prosperity and offspring multiplication."
In summary, its main ideas include:
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The thought of "primordial qi, Dao, and the One"
Taiping Jing regards "the One" as the root of "Dao." "Primordial qi" can generate all things, but it must abide by "Dao" to transform and give birth to them. "Primordial qi" can create heaven and earth, but only in accordance with the will of "Dao." -
The thought of "taking the unity of the Three as the origin"
Guided by the idea that "primordial qi abides by Dao, circulates its energy, and thus gives birth to heaven and earth," Taiping Jing puts forward the thought of "taking the unity of the Three as the origin." This refers to the harmony of the Dao of heaven, earth, and humanity to achieve great peace. -
Views on epistemology
Taiping Jing emphasizes "learning" in particular, arguing that people are born ignorant, and the distinction between good and bad people arises from their different learning. As stated in the scripture: "How can one be born a gentleman? It is all through learning. Learning the Dao makes one follow the Dao; learning virtue makes one virtuous; learning goodness makes one good... Learning evil makes one evil; learning literature makes one literate; learning hypocrisy makes one hypocritical; learning cunning makes one cunning." -
Simple dialectical thinking
Taiping Jing inherits China's ancient tradition of dialectics, believing that the generation and change of all things in heaven and earth result from the dialectical unity of opposites. -
Social and political thought of "the era of great peace"
The most extensive and detailed discussions in Taiping Jing are its complex social and political ideas. Firstly, it proposes the ideal of building a "great peace" society. Secondly, it repeatedly advocates the idea of equality through "relieving the poor and aiding the needy," criticizing those who amass billions of wealth but refuse to help the poor and needy, leading people to die of hunger and cold. Additionally, it puts forward the people-oriented thought that "the way to govern a country is to take the people as the foundation."
In short, the ideas of Taiping Jing are diverse and complex. It played a theoretical guiding role in Zhang Jiao's dissemination of the Taiping Dao and the organization of the Yellow Turban Uprising. Zhang Ling also used it to establish the Five Pecks of Rice Dao. It also had a significant impact on the development of later Taoism and Taoist thought.
In modern times, Wang Ming collated, supplemented, appended, and preserved the text based on Taiping Jing Chao and 27 other quoted books, basically restoring the 170-volume appearance. He also researched and explained several issues related to the scripture, compiling them into Taiping Jing Hejiao (Collated Edition of the Scripture of Great Peace). The entire book represents the early classics of Chinese Taoism and is a valuable resource in the history of Chinese philosophy and Taoist thought.
