Gazetteer of Maoshan Mountain 茅山志
Paul PengGazetteer of Maoshan Mountain
Compiled by Liu Dabin, the 45th Patriarch of the Shangqing School in the Yuan Dynasty.
Completed in the first year of the Tianli reign (1328), the original work consisted of twelve treatises in fifteen volumes.
The existing version in the Daozang is divided into thirty-three volumes and included in the Biographies category of the Shangqing Section.
Gazetteer of Maoshan Mountain
Maoshan Mountain is situated in southern Jiangsu Province today. According to legend, as early as the Western Han Dynasty, the Three Mao True Lords secluded themselves here, cultivating the Dao and attaining immortality. Since the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties, Maoshan Mountain has been the sacred mountain of the Shangqing School of Taoism, known as the Eighth Huayang Grotto Heaven. The mountain is lined with Taoist palaces, abbeys and retreats, boasting numerous Taoist scriptures, cultural relics and historical sites left by predecessors. This book is divided into twelve treatises that detail its history, cultural relics and historical sites in full.- The first treatise Ink Copy of Imperial Edicts collects imperial edicts from Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty to Emperor Renzong of the Yuan Dynasty, as well as memorials submitted by Taoist priests.
- The second treatise Records of the Three Deities records the genealogy and biographies of the Three Mao True Lords.
- The third treatise Compendium of Deities narrates the mountains, rivers, caves, rocks, altars, stone bridges and pavilions of the mountain.
- The fourth treatise Textual Research of Antiquity documents twenty-three historical sites including the Stone of Tianshi Altar, Leiping Pond, the Mao Lords' Elixir Well, the Reading Platform of Crown Prince Zhaoming, the Secluded Retreat of the Hermit Master, and the Tomb of Master Tongbai.
- The fifth treatise Annals of the Daoist Mountain lists the catalog of Shangqing Great Grotto scriptures, talismans and amulets handed down in Maoshan Mountain.
- The sixth treatise Rank of the Shangqing records the biographies of seven founding patriarchs of the Maoshan Shangqing School such as Wei Huacun, Yang Xi and Xu Mu, as well as the names and brief resumes of successive patriarchs of Maoshan Mountain up to Liu Dabin, the 45th Patriarch.
- The seventh treatise Immortal Official Departments documents the official duties and important deeds of all immortals and true lords in the Three Palaces and Five Mansions of Huayang Grotto Heaven.
- The eighth treatise Journeys to Gather the True records the names and deeds of those who entered the mountain to cultivate the Dao and achieved extraordinary words and deeds in successive dynasties.
- The ninth treatise Section of Towers and Abbeys accounts for the Taoist palaces, abbeys and retreats on Maoshan Mountain.
- The tenth treatise Survey of Spiritual Plants records ganoderma lucidum, rare elixirs, and famous flowers and exotic trees.
- The eleventh treatise Collection of Stone Inscriptions and Metal Records compiles stone inscriptions from the Liang, Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties.
This book contains detailed and comprehensive materials with a clear and well-organized compilation. Reading it allows one to see the complete historical panorama of the Maoshan Shangqing School before the Yuan Dynasty.
