Fulu: Difference between revisions
Citation bot (talk | contribs) Alter: template type. Add: doi-access, doi, page, issue, volume, journal. Removed proxy/dead URL that duplicated identifier. Removed access-date with no URL. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Headbomb | Linked from Wikipedia:WikiProject_Academic_Journals/Journals_cited_by_Wikipedia/Sandbox2 | #UCB_webform_linked 216/677 |
Alter: title. | Use this tool. Report bugs. | #UCB_Gadget |
||
| Line 19: | Line 19: | ||
== History == |
== History == |
||
The research into the history of Taoist symbols and symbolism has always been a challenge for scholars because historically, Taoist priests have often adopted mystical images and written symbols to express their thoughts and knowledge, meaning that both the deciphering and interpretation of these symbols as well as the history behind them isn't easily found in the [[primary source]]s.<ref name="Cai-Linbo-2022">{{cite journal|title= The Sacred Writing of Knowledge: Interpreting the True Form Charts of the Man-Bird Mountain in Taoism |
The research into the history of Taoist symbols and symbolism has always been a challenge for scholars because historically, Taoist priests have often adopted mystical images and written symbols to express their thoughts and knowledge, meaning that both the deciphering and interpretation of these symbols as well as the history behind them isn't easily found in the [[primary source]]s.<ref name="Cai-Linbo-2022">{{cite journal|title= The Sacred Writing of Knowledge: Interpreting the True Form Charts of the Man-Bird Mountain in Taoism|date=21 November 2022|author= Linbo Cai|journal= Religions|volume= 13|issue= 11|page= 1128 |doi= 10.3390/rel13111128|language=en|doi-access= free}}</ref> According to scholar Yang Zhaohua, while a number of the earliest known Taoist talismans were "simple and legible", later talismans were deliberately cryptic to signify their divinity.<ref name="Steavu-Paratextuality-Materiality-and-Corporeality"/><ref>Yang Zhaohua, ''“Devouring Impurities: Myth, Ritual and Talisman in the Cult of Ucchus.ma in Tang China”'' (PhD dissertation, [[Stanford University]], 2013), 267–268.</ref> Other scholars of Taoism like James Robson and Gil Raz have made the claim that the incomprehensibility of what is written down is a defining feature of most talismanic script, they argue that the illegibility is central to the talisman's perceived authority and efficacy.<ref name="Steavu-Paratextuality-Materiality-and-Corporeality"/><ref> James Robson, “Signs of Power: Talismanic Writing in Chinese Buddhism,” History of Religions 48:2 (2008), especially 135–139, and 167; and Gil Raz, The Emergence of Daoism: Creation of Tradition ([[London]]: Routledge, 2012), 139–143.</ref> |
||
During the [[Jin dynasty (266–420)#Eastern Jin (317–420)|Eastern Jin dynasty]] period (317–420) it was already not needed for a user of Taoist talismans to be able to decipher them in order for them to be perceived as "applicable for their intended purpose".<ref name="Steavu-Paratextuality-Materiality-and-Corporeality">Steavu, Dominic, "Paratextuality, Materiality, and Corporeality in Medieval Chinese Religions", [https://online.ucpress.edu/jmw/article-pdf/1/4/11/382899/jmw_2019_1_4_11.pdf] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20230720062511/https://www.eastasian.ucsb.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Steavu.Paratexts.Talismans.fu_.Diagrams.tu_.pdf Archive]).</ref> [[Ge Hong]] noted in his ''[[Baopuzi]]'' that as long as the talisman's inscription or shape was authentic, it didn't matter if the user was literate or illiterate in the script, the talisman would be functional.<ref name="Steavu-Paratextuality-Materiality-and-Corporeality"/> By this time, the talisman's illegibility had already become a sign that they were of divine authority and held supernatural provenance.<ref name="Steavu-Paratextuality-Materiality-and-Corporeality"/> |
During the [[Jin dynasty (266–420)#Eastern Jin (317–420)|Eastern Jin dynasty]] period (317–420) it was already not needed for a user of Taoist talismans to be able to decipher them in order for them to be perceived as "applicable for their intended purpose".<ref name="Steavu-Paratextuality-Materiality-and-Corporeality">Steavu, Dominic, "Paratextuality, Materiality, and Corporeality in Medieval Chinese Religions", [https://online.ucpress.edu/jmw/article-pdf/1/4/11/382899/jmw_2019_1_4_11.pdf] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20230720062511/https://www.eastasian.ucsb.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Steavu.Paratexts.Talismans.fu_.Diagrams.tu_.pdf Archive]).</ref> [[Ge Hong]] noted in his ''[[Baopuzi]]'' that as long as the talisman's inscription or shape was authentic, it didn't matter if the user was literate or illiterate in the script, the talisman would be functional.<ref name="Steavu-Paratextuality-Materiality-and-Corporeality"/> By this time, the talisman's illegibility had already become a sign that they were of divine authority and held supernatural provenance.<ref name="Steavu-Paratextuality-Materiality-and-Corporeality"/> |
||
Revision as of 10:29, 10 August 2023
| Part of a series on |
| Taoism |
|---|
 |
Fulu (traditional Chinese: 符籙; simplified Chinese: 符箓), is a term for Taoist incantations and magic symbols,[1][2] written or painted as talisman or lingfu (traditional Chinese: 靈符; simplified Chinese: 灵符)[3][4][5] by Taoist practitioners.
These practitioners are also called fulu pai (Chinese: 符籙派) or the fulu sect, an informal group made up of priests from different schools of Taoism. These charms and amulets are also not confined strictly to Taoism as they have been incorporated in to several forms of Chinese Buddhism, and have descendants such as the Ofuda of Japanese Buddhism and Shinto.
Etymology
- Fu (Chinese: 符),[6] or shenfu (Chinese: 神符) are instructions to deities and spirits, symbols for exorcism,[7] and medicinal potion recipes or charms to assist with ailments.
- Lu (Chinese: 籙) is a register of the membership of the priests, as well as the skills they are trained in.
Other names for fulu in English include Taoist magic writing, magic script characters, magic figures, magic formulas, secret talismanic writing, and talismanic characters.[8]
History
The research into the history of Taoist symbols and symbolism has always been a challenge for scholars because historically, Taoist priests have often adopted mystical images and written symbols to express their thoughts and knowledge, meaning that both the deciphering and interpretation of these symbols as well as the history behind them isn't easily found in the primary sources.[9] According to scholar Yang Zhaohua, while a number of the earliest known Taoist talismans were "simple and legible", later talismans were deliberately cryptic to signify their divinity.[10][11] Other scholars of Taoism like James Robson and Gil Raz have made the claim that the incomprehensibility of what is written down is a defining feature of most talismanic script, they argue that the illegibility is central to the talisman's perceived authority and efficacy.[10][12]
During the Eastern Jin dynasty period (317–420) it was already not needed for a user of Taoist talismans to be able to decipher them in order for them to be perceived as "applicable for their intended purpose".[10] Ge Hong noted in his Baopuzi that as long as the talisman's inscription or shape was authentic, it didn't matter if the user was literate or illiterate in the script, the talisman would be functional.[10] By this time, the talisman's illegibility had already become a sign that they were of divine authority and held supernatural provenance.[10]
General design
Fu symbols tend to have irregular strokes that resemble Traditional Chinese characters, often elongating existing words while incorporating non-hanzi symbols.[8] Taoist priests are the main interpreters of this eclectic writing-and-symbol system, and the characters can differ from sect to sect.[8] The method of writing down these characters is generally passed down in secret from a Taoist priest to their disciples and treated as a special craft with which to communicate to local deities and spirits.[8] According to professor Ge Zhaoguang (葛兆光), National Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies and the Department of History at Fudan University, Shanghai, the unreadability of Taoist talismanic is a type of "linguistic archaism" (復古主義), deliberately designed to be incomprehensible as "a veil of unfathomable otherwordliness" allowing only a minority of qualified Taoist clergy to produce them.[10][13]
Some magic script characters appear to have been formed by stacking one Traditional Chinese character atop of another character and compounding them into one.[8] This specific technique of linking or combining different Chinese characters was not used exclusively by the Taoists, however. Fu characters also appear on other types of Chinese charms such as Buddhist coin charms and woodblock print charms.[8] Fu styles vary from sect to sect and each sect has different incantations and mudras used to create Fu. Even the invocations for a single deity will vary between sects.
Healthcare
Talismans have for centuries been used in China as a healing method alongside medicinal drugs, meditation, acupuncture, astrology and massage.[14] Known as zhuyou (祝由) in medical writings, talismans enjoyed official support between the Sui and the late Ming dynasties – before the imperial court recognised acupuncture as a medicinal discipline (ke 科) in the 6th century CE.[15]
Whilst rejected by Traditional Chinese Medicine, zhuyou continues to be widely used amongst Chinese folk healers today. Following the popularisation of psychology in early-twentieth century China, zhuyou began to be interpreted as the Chinese version of Western hypnosis.[16]
Taoist scripture
One of the earliest classical scripture referring to fu was the Huangdi Yinfujing (Chinese: 黃帝陰符經), although it does not contain specific instructions to write any talisman.
The second chapter of each of the three grottoes in the daozang is a record of the history and feats of the fulu sect, where it is described that the origin of fu script is from the condensation of clouds in the sky.[8]
On talismanic coins
.jpg)
Fu script was also used on Taoist coin talismans (many of which resemble cash coins). Many of these talismans haven't been deciphered yet but a specimen where Fu was used next to what is believed to be their equivalent Chinese characters exists.[8][17][18] On rare occasions Taoist fu writing has also been found on Buddhist numismatic charms and amulets. Most of these coin talismans that feature fu writings request Lei Gong to protect its carriers from evil spirits and misfortune.[8]
Fulu characters are usually included at the beginning and the end of the inscription of a Taoist coin charm.[8]
See also
References
- ^ "符籙". Ninchanese. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
- ^ "符籙". ApproaChinese. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
- ^ "灵符". Ninchanese. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
- ^ "灵符". Ninchanese. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
- ^ "灵符". ApproaChinese. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
- ^ "Amulettes religieuses (Religious charms)". François Thierry de Crussol (TransAsiart) (in French). 14 September 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
- ^ The Tao of Craft: Fu Talismans and Casting Sigils in the Eastern Esoteric Tradition by Benenell Wen. Publisher: North Atlantic Books. Publication date: September 27, 2016. ISBN 978-1623170660.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Daoist (Taoist) Charms - 道教品壓生錢 - Introduction and History of Daoist Charms". Gary Ashkenazy / גארי אשכנזי (Primaltrek – a journey through Chinese culture). 16 November 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
- ^ Linbo Cai (21 November 2022). "The Sacred Writing of Knowledge: Interpreting the True Form Charts of the Man-Bird Mountain in Taoism". Religions. 13 (11): 1128. doi:10.3390/rel13111128.
- ^ a b c d e f Steavu, Dominic, "Paratextuality, Materiality, and Corporeality in Medieval Chinese Religions", [1] (Archive).
- ^ Yang Zhaohua, “Devouring Impurities: Myth, Ritual and Talisman in the Cult of Ucchus.ma in Tang China” (PhD dissertation, Stanford University, 2013), 267–268.
- ^ James Robson, “Signs of Power: Talismanic Writing in Chinese Buddhism,” History of Religions 48:2 (2008), especially 135–139, and 167; and Gil Raz, The Emergence of Daoism: Creation of Tradition (London: Routledge, 2012), 139–143.
- ^ Ge Zhaoguang (葛兆光), Zhongguo zongjiao yu wenxue lunji (中國宗教與文學論集), 57, cited in Yang, “Devouring Impurities,” 269. Similarly, Brigitte Baptandier, “Le Tableau talismanique de l'Empereur de Jade, Construction d'un objet d'écriture,” L’Homme 129 (1994): 59–92, argues that while talismanic diagrams are not intended to be read according to habitual linguistic conventions, through their symbols and script, they narrate mythologies and histories (among other things) and are therefore decipherable if not legible. However, she focuses on contemporary applications of talismans-diagrams that date from a more recent time when Daoism, especially in its more vernacular incarnations, was less concerned with establishing legitimacy and thus not as inclined to emphasise illegibility; see also Yang, “Devouring Impurities,” 269.
- ^ Lin, Fu-shih. "「祝由」釋義：以《黃帝內經‧素問》為核心文本的討論". 中央研究院歷史語言研究所集刊. 83 (4): 671–738.
- ^ Fan, Ka Wai (2004). 六朝隋唐醫學之傳承與整合. Hong Kong: 香港中文大學出版社. ISBN 9789629961558.
- ^ Bernardi Junqueira, Luis Fernando (2021-06-08). "Revealing Secrets: Talismans, Healthcare and the Market of the Occult in Early Twentieth-century China". Social History of Medicine. 34 (4): 1068–1093. doi:10.1093/shm/hkab035. ISSN 0951-631X. PMC 8653939. PMID 34899068.
- ^ TAOISTSECRET.COM Taoist Talismans. Retrieved: 10 May 2018.
- ^ Anything Anywhere - CHINA, amulets. Chinese culture is permeated, no, based on poetic allusion, hidden meanings, union of opposites, complex currents of energy and intention. In certain contexts these bases can express in rank superstition (present in all human cultures), and in others can lead to scientific advancement. Retrieved: 10 May 2018.
| Philosophy |
|  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Practice | ||||||
| Texts | ||||||
| Deities | ||||||
| People |
| |||||
| Schools | ||||||
| Sacred places | ||||||
 | This Taoism-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |