Gazetteer of the Biayun Monastery 白云观志

Compiled by Koyanagi Shikita (1870–1940), a Japanese scholar.

Published during the Republican period of China, it consists of four volumes and is included in the 20th volume of Daoist Texts Outside the Canon.

Baiyun Guan is located outside the West Bianmen in Beijing and is the ancestral court of the Longmen Sect of the Quanzhen Dao. After 1921, Koyanagi Shikita visited China many times for on-the-spot investigations. Having conducted a detailed study of the history of Baiyun Guan, the daily life of Taoist Priests, and their religious activities, he compiled this work.

Gazetteer of the Biayun Monastery

Preceding the main text are eighteen illustrations, including those of the memorial archway, the Hall of the Spiritual Officer, the Hall of the Seven True Lords, the wooden alms bowl, the ordination platform, the certificate of pure ordination, and the Tibetan script stone stele, all accompanied by explanatory notes. The certificate of pure ordination is a vital document for the Quanzhen Dao’s ordination ceremony: upon the completion of a disciple’s ordination period, the master bestows this certificate to confirm the disciple’s attainment of religious initiation. The entire work is divided into seven volumes, with only the first four dedicated to the records of Baiyun Guan.

Volume 1: A Brief Account of Baiyun Guan It records the history of Baiyun Guan from the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, the evolution of the temple’s construction and layout, and brief biographies of some eminent Taoist masters.

Volume 2: Chronicles of Baiyun Guan It covers biographical sketches of abbots and Taoist priests through the ages, the distinctions between fasting days and Taoist temple observances, ordination ceremonies, the daily life of Taoist priests, as well as sect rules, the qualifications for becoming an abbot, the temple’s economic conditions, and the sects and subsects of Taoism. The ordination ceremony is a major event of Baiyun Guan, held twice a year, and it also stands as a symbol of Baiyun Guan as the ancestral court of the Quanzhen Dao.

Volume 3: General Register of the Lineages of All True Lords It records the names and generation character inheritances of the eighty-four Taoist sects and subsects. This is a precious historical document of Taoist sects and serves as a fundamental basis for studying their inheritance and development, boasting great academic value.

Volume 4: Stone Stele Inscriptions of Baiyun Guan It collects thirty-eight stone stele inscriptions of Baiyun Guan from the Ming and Qing Dynasty, which document the construction, prosperity and decline of the temple.

In addition, following the Records of Baiyun Guan, the book also includes the Records of Dongyue Miao, a textual research on the Seventy-Six Divisions of Dongyue Miao, and a supplement to the Genealogy of the Celestial Masters of the Han Dynasty, which are compiled into Volumes 5 to 7. Though their content is inconsistent with the book’s title, these sections remain valuable as historical materials. In particular, the extant materials related to Dongyue Miao are scarce, making the records in this work of great significance. At the end of the book, an investigation report of Baiyun Guan, a floor plan of Baiyun Guan, and a floor plan of Dongyue Miao are appended as supplements.