What is The Daozang 道藏？

Daozang is the comprehensive collection of Taoist scriptures, a large-scale Taoist series compiled by arranging numerous classics according to specific compilation intentions, collection scopes, and organizational structures. Some scholars believe that Daozang was created by imitating the Buddhist Tripitaka. In fact, the Taoist scripture catalog San Dong Jing Shu Mu Lu (Catalogue of Scriptures of the Three Grottoes), compiled by Lu Xiujing in the Northern and Southern Dynasties in 471 AD, predates the Buddhist Tripitaka, which came out during the Northern Song Dynasty.

The earliest existing version of Daozang is from the Ming Dynasty. Originally collected in the White Cloud Temple in Beijing, it is now housed in the National Library of China. The official compilation of Taoist books into a "zang" (collection) began during the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty (713-741 AD). Since then, the Song, Jin, Yuan, and Ming dynasties all compiled and revised Daozang. During the Qing Dynasty, Daozang Jiyao (Essentials of Daozang) was compiled. In modern times, works such as Zang Wai Dao Shu (Taoist Books Outside the Canon), Dunhuang Daozang (Dunhuang Daozang), and Zhonghua Daozang (Chinese Daozang) have been compiled. However, Kaiyuan Daozang was the first official and complete Daozang in Chinese history.

Daozang has a complex content and a vast number of volumes. It includes a large number of Taoist classics, treatises, precepts, talisman charts, magic arts, ritual ceremonies, eulogies, records of temples and mountains, immortal genealogies, and biographies of Taoist figures, making it an encyclopedia for studying Taoist doctrines and their history. In addition, it incorporates works from various schools of thought, some of which are ancient books lost outside Daozang, providing references for scholars researching ancient academic thoughts. Daozang also contains many works related to ancient Chinese science and technology, serving as important historical materials for studying fields such as ancient Chinese medicine, health preservation, chemistry, astronomy, calendars, qigong, internal and external alchemy, and human body science. Dr. Joseph Needham of Britain, in his research on the history of Chinese science and technology, drew most of his materials from Daozang. The earliest existing Daozang was compiled in 1406 (the 4th year of the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty) under the auspices of Zhang Yuchu, the 43rd Celestial Master, and his younger brother Zhang Yuqing, by imperial order. In 1444 (the 9th year of the Zhengtong era of the Ming 英宗), Emperor Yingzong ordered Shao Yizheng, the Tongmiao True Man, to revise and supplement Daozang, which was completed and printed in 1445 (the 10th year of Zhengtong), totaling 5,305 volumes.

Later generations named it Zhengtong Daozang (Zhengtong Daoist Canon) because it was printed during the Zhengtong era. In 1607 (the 35th year of the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty), Emperor Wanli ordered Zhang Guoxiang, the 50th Celestial Master, to compile Xu Daozang (Supplementary Daozang). The combined Zhengtong Daozang and Xu Daozang include 1,476 kinds of Taoist books, 5,485 volumes, packed into 512 cases. Each case is numbered in the order of the Thousand Character Classic. The number of printing blocks reached 121,589. The various classics in Daozang are classified according to the "Three Grottoes and Four Supplements, Twelve Categories" system. Starting from 1996, under the auspices of Zhang Jiyu, vice president of the Chinese Taoist Association, Zhonghua Daozang was compiled with substantial human and material resources, and officially published in 2004. Zhonghua Daozang is based on the Zhengtong and Supplementary Daozang of the Ming Dynasty, maintaining the basic framework of the Three Grottoes and Four Supplements. For scriptures outside the Three Grottoes and Four Supplements, they are classified according to their different contents into seven major categories, with the scriptures in each category arranged in the order of Taoist schools' origins and chronological periods.