Cangwai Dao Shu: The Largest Post-Ming Daoist Collection

Extra-Canonical Taoist Texts (Zang Wai Dao Shu) is a large-scale series of Taoist classics published by Bashu Shushe (Bashu Publishing House), edited by Hu Daojing, Chen Yaoting, Duan Wengui, Lin Wanqing, and other scholars. It serves as a comprehensive collection of Taoist texts outside the Daozang (Taoist Canon) compiled in the Ming Dynasty and its supplement, the Xu Daozang (Continued Taoist Canon).

The Taoist texts included in this series are sourced from roughly three categories:

Ancient lost Taoist texts: These include Huang-Lao works and health-preserving treatises found in the silk manuscripts of the Mawangdui Han Tomb (discovered in the 1970s), as well as surviving fragments of the Xuan Du Bao Zang (Treasury of the Mysterious Metropolis) compiled in the Yuan Dynasty, such as the Tai Qing Feng Lu Jing (Scripture of Wind and Dew from the Great Purity).
Taoist classics printed and circulated during the Ming and Qing dynasties: Examples include texts not included in the Daozang but collected in the Daozang Ji Yao (Essentials of the Taoist Canon), such as the Fang Hu Wai Shi (Outer History of the Square Vase), Dao Yan Nei Wai Mi Jue Quan Shu (Complete Book of Internal and External Secret Instructions on Taoist Teachings), Dao Shu Shi Er Zhong (Twelve Taoist Texts), Gu Shu Yin Lou Cong Shu (Collection from the Hidden Pavilion of Ancient Books), Lv Zu Quan Shu (Complete Works of Ancestor Lü), and Guan Di Ming Sheng Jing Quan Ji (Complete Collection of the Sage Emperor Guan’s Classic).
Rare Taoist texts preserved in libraries (e.g., in Beijing and Shanghai) and Taoist temples across China:
- The National Library of China (Beijing Library) holds 7 texts, including the Ming Dynasty imperial manuscript Tai Yi Yue Bo Lei Jun Mi Fa (Secret Methods of the Thunder Lord of the Taiyi Lunar Apogee), Tian Gang Xuan Mi Du Lei Fa (Mysterious Universal Thunder Methods of the Heavenly Gang), Tai Yi San Shan Mu Lang Qi Yu Zhou (Rain-Praying Mantra of Mu Lang from the Three Taiyi Mountains), and Yu Qing Zong Jiao Qi Xue Wen Jian (Snow-Praying Documents of the Jade Purity Sect).
- The Shanghai Library houses texts such as Yu Ji Jin Xiang (Jade Casket and Golden Box), Dao Jia Shi Ji (Anthology of Taoist Poems), and Shang Qing Ling Bao Ji Du Da Cheng Jin Shu (Golden Book of the Great Completion of Salvation Rites from the Highest Purity and Numinous Treasure).
- The Ancient Changdao Temple on Qingcheng Mountain in Sichuan Province preserves texts like Guang Cheng Yi Zhi (Ritual System of Guang Cheng).

All texts in the series are reproduced in 16mo format, with double columns, either as full-size facsimiles or reduced-size reprints of the original versions.

Unlike the Daozang, which follows the traditional classification of "Three Grottoes, Four Supplements, and Twelve Categories," Extra-Canonical Taoist Texts divides its contents into 11 categories:

Ancient Lost Taoist Texts
Classical Scriptures
Doctrinal Theories
Nourishment & Cultivation
Precepts & Moral Texts
Ritual Norms
Biographies of Immortals
Temple & Geographic Records
Literary Works
Catalogues & Bibliographies
Others

The first batch of the series was originally planned to be bound into 30 volumes. By 1992, volumes covering categories from "Ancient Lost Taoist Texts" to "Temple & Geographic Records" had been published, totaling 20 hardbound volumes.

As the largest-scale Taoist text series published since the Ming Dynasty Daozang, Extra-Canonical Taoist Texts includes a vast number of texts that had long been rare or scattered across various collections—making them barely accessible to scholars. Compiling these texts into a single series greatly facilitates research and usage. Among them, several texts that were long lost or never previously published are of particular value:

Guang Cheng Yi Zhi (Ritual System of Guang Cheng) collects over 270 ritual texts of the Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Taoist school, none of which had been circulated publicly before. It provides crucial documents for studying Quanzhen’s fasting and ritual practices.
Shang Qing Ling Bao Ji Du Da Cheng Jin Shu (Golden Book of the Great Completion of Salvation Rites...) was compiled by Zhou Side, a Taoist priest from Longhu Mountain during the Ming Dynasty. Previously, only two copies of this text were thought to exist, housed at Princeton University (USA) and the National Central Library (Taipei). Later, an additional copy was discovered in the Shanghai Library, which was then included in Extra-Canonical Taoist Texts as a facsimile.
Other valuable texts include the Tai Qing Feng Lu Jing and 7 Ming imperial Taoist manuscripts from the National Library of China, Taoist texts extracted from the fragmentary Yongle Dadian (Yongle Encyclopedia), Ge Zao Shan Zhi (Chronicle of Gezao Mountain), Xuan Miao Guan Zhi (Chronicle of Xuanmiao Temple), and Beijing Bai Yun Guan Zhi (Chronicle of Beijing Baiyun Temple). Many of these are either unique copies in China or extremely rare editions, holding significant documentary value.