Charts and Commentaries on Thunder Rites 道法宗旨图衍义

Compiled with diagrams by Daoist Deng Nan and expanded with explanations by Zhang Xixian during the Yuan Dynasty.

One scroll, included in the Zhengyi Section of The Daozang.

This book was composed during the Dade reign of the Yuan Dynasty. It expounds the essentials of Daoist laws (Thunder Arts) in the form of diagrams and commentaries. The main text contains twenty diagrams, including Diagram of the Primal Origin and First Kalpa, Diagram of the Hunyuan Transformation into Body, Diagram of Mutual Use of Thunder and Lightning, etc. Each diagram is followed by an “Expanded Meaning” that explains the image.

Charts and Commentaries on Thunder Rites

Based on Daoist mythology, the principles of yin-yang and five phases, as well as the nine palaces and eight trigrams, the entire text elucidates: the transformation of the Primordial Lord into all heavens; the incarnation and transmission of the Dao by the Supreme Lord Laozi; the movement of the sun, moon, and stars; the formation and changes of wind, rain, and thunder across the seasons; the interrelationship between heaven, earth, humanity, and spirit, qi, and form; the operational principles of the Thunder Arts; and more.

The book extensively quotes historical records, Daoist classics, and sayings of earlier masters, preserving important historical materials. For instance, the lost text of Chen Tuan’s Dragon Diagrams of the Changes can be found in this work.