Kou Qianzhi’s Daoist Reformation: Purifying Tianshi Practices

Lao Jun Yin Song Jie Jing (The Classic of Lao Jun's Chanted Precepts), also known as Tai Shang Lao Jun Yue Yin Song Jie(The Supreme Lao Jun's Melodious Chanted Precepts) or Yue Zhang Song Jie Xin Fa(New Methods of Chanted Precepts in Musical Chapters), is a Taoist text whose author is not explicitly named in the original work.

It consists of one volume and is included in the Dao Zang(Taoist Canon) under the "Dong Shen Bu" (Grotto-Spirit Section) in the category of precepts and rules.

According to the Wei Shu·Shi Lao Zhi(Book of Wei·Treatise on Buddhism and Taoism), during the early Northern Wei period, the Taoist master Kou Qianzhi claimed that Lao Jun descended to Mount Song and bestowed upon him the Yun Zhong Yin Song Xin Ke Zhi Jie(New Precepts Chanted from the Clouds) in twenty volumes, tasking him with reforming Taoism and eliminating the "false practices of the Three Zhangs." The content of this text aligns with the descriptions in the Shi Lao Zhi, indicating that it is likely the work authored by Kou Qianzhi, though much of the original has been lost over time.

The text, presented as the words of Lao Jun, severely criticizes the various shortcomings of the early Celestial Master Taoism (Tianshi Dao). It proclaims that Lao Jun bestowed precepts upon Kou Qianzhi to reform the old practices of the Three Zhangs in areas such as establishing dioceses, conferring registers, collecting wealth and goods, healing diseases, seeking blessings, and practicing sexual arts. The new methods emphasized adherence to Taoist precepts, purification practices, and reverent worship as essential paths to achieving longevity and immortality.

This work serves as important material for studying the reformation of Taoism during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period.