Biographies of Taoist Practitioners 道学传

Also known as Biographies of Those Who Study the Dao.

Compiled by Ma Shu, a Taoist priest of the Chen Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties.

It was recorded in the Bibliography of the Sui Shu, as well as the Old Book of Tang and New Book of Tang. The original work, in twenty volumes, was lost in the Yuan Dynasty. Chen Guofu, a modern scholar, compiled a fragmentary version, which is included in the second volume of A Study of the Origin and Development of the The Daozang.

Biographies of Taoist Practitioners

This book compiles biographies of Taoist figures throughout the ages, spanning from the era of Yao and Shun down to the period between the Liang and Chen dynasties of the Southern Dynasties. More than one hundred figures are included in the existing texts; in addition to Taoist priests, it also covers emperors and literati of all dynasties associated with The Dao. Some Taoist priests of the Southern Dynasties recorded in this book cannot be found in existing Taoist biographies, thus it holds reference value for the study of Taoist history before the Sui and Tang dynasties.

The work is listed in the Catalogue of Lost Scriptures in The Daozang.