The Xishengjing is a late 5th century CE Daoist text with provenance at the Louguan 樓觀 "Tiered Abbey" of the The Northern Celestial Masters

The Northern Celestial Masters

The Northern Celestial Masters type of the Way of the Celestial Master Daoist movement existed in the north of China during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The Northern Celestial Masters were a continuation of the Way of the Celestial Masters as it had been practiced in Sichuan province by...

. According to Daoist tradition, Louguan (the eastern terminus of the ancient Silk Road

Silk Road

The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...

, west of the capital Chang'an

Chang'an

Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...

) was near where the legendary Laozi

Laozi

Laozi was a mystic philosopher of ancient China, best known as the author of the Tao Te Ching . His association with the Tao Te Ching has led him to be traditionally considered the founder of Taoism...

 老子 transmitted the Daodejing to the Guardian of the Pass Yin Xi 尹喜. The Xishengjing allegedly records the Daoist principles that Laozi taught Yin Xi before he departed west to India.

The Daozang

Daozang

Daozang , meaning "Treasury of Dao" or "Daoist Canon", consists of around 1400 texts that were collected circa C.E. 400...

 "Daoist Canon" contains two Song Dynasty

Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...

 editions (CT 726 and 666), the Xishengjing jizhu 西昇經集注 "Collected Commentaries to the Scripture of Western Ascension" by Chen Jingyuan 陳景元 (d. 1094 CE, see Huashu

Huashu

The Huashu , or The Book of Transformations, is a 930 CE Daoist classic about neidan "internal alchemy", psychological subjectivity, and spiritual transformation...

), and the Xishengjing by Emperor Huizong 徽宗 (r. 1100-1125 CE). The original date of the Xishengjing is uncertain, and is estimated at "late 5th century" (Kohn 2007:1114) or "6th century" (Komjathy 2004:52).

The Xishengjing is also known under two variant titles. Laojun xishengjing 老君西昇經 "Lord Lao's Scripture of Western Ascension" includes the supposed author's honorific

Chinese honorifics

Chinese honorifics were developed due to class consciousness and Confucian principles of order and respect in Ancient and Imperial China. The Chinese polite language also affects Japanese honorifics conceptually; both emphasized the idea of classes and in-group vs. out-group. So the language used...

 name. Xishengji 西升記 "Record of Western Ascension" uses the usual Chinese character

Chinese character

Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...

 sheng 升 "rise; hoist; ascend" instead of its variant sheng 昇 (with 日 "sun" above) and replaces jing "classic" with ji "record; remember; note".

The Xishengjing is textually affiliated with the Huahujing

Huahujing

The Huahujing is a Taoist book. Although traditionally attributed to Laozi, some scholars believe it is a forgery because there are no historical references to the text until the early 4th century CE...

"Classic on Converting the Barbarians", which purportedly records Laozi's travels into India where he founded Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

. Chinese Buddhists strongly debated this claim that Laozi became Gautama Buddha

Gautama Buddha

Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...

and argued that both texts were forgeries.

The received Xishengjing text has 39 sections in 5 parts, described by Livia Kohn.

First, it establishes the general setting, narrates the background story, outlines Yin Xi's practice, and discusses some fundamental problems of talking about the ineffable and transmitting the mysterious. Next, the inherence of the Dao in the world is described together with an outline of the way in which the adept can make this inherence practically useful to himself or herself. A more concrete explanation of the theory and practice, including meditation instruction, is given in the third part. The fourth part deals with the results of the practice and with the way of living a sagely life in the world. The fifth and last part is about "returning" (fan 反); it describes the ultimate return of everything to its origin, and explains the death of the physical body as a recovery of a more subtle form of participation in the Dao. (2007:1114)

For example, the first part of the Xisheng jing begins,

1. Western Ascension Laozi ascended to the west to open up the Dao in India. He was called Master Gu; skilled at entering nonaction, Without beginning or end, he exists continuously. Thus steadily ascending, he followed his way and reached the frontier. The guardian of the Pass, Yin Xi, saw his [sagely] qi. He purified himself and waited upon the guest, who in turn transmitted Dao and virtue to him. He arranged it in two sections. [He said]: I'll tell you the essentials of the Dao: Dao is naturalness. Who practices can attain [it]. Who hears can speak [about it]. Who knows does not speak; who speaks does not know. Language is formed when sounds are exchanged. Thus in conversation, words make sense. When one does not know the Dao, words create confusion. Therefore I don't hear, don't speak; I don't know why things are. It can be compared to the knowledge of musical sound. One becomes conscious of it by plucking a string. Thought the mind may know the appropriate sounds, yet the mouth is unable to formulate them. Similarly Dao is deep, subtle, wondrous; who knows it does not speak. On the other hand, one may be conscious of musical sounds, sad melodies. One then dampens the sounds to consider them within. Then when the mind makes the mouth speak, one speaks but does not know. (tr. Kohn 1991:223-224)

This "Master Gu" translates Gu Xiansheng 古先生 "Old Master", which is the literal meaning of Laozi.

External links

老君西昇經, Laojun xishengjing text in traditional characters 西昇經, Xishenjing text in simplified characters

• The Book of Western Ascension, Taoist Culture & Information Centre