| Immortal system is an important element of the existence of a religion. Immortal worship is the core of the faith in Taoism."True Immortal Position Diagram"which was made by Tao Hongjing in the Southern Dynasty is the first systematic immortal pedigree in the the history of Chinese Taoism.It is included in the pedigree category of Dongzhen department of"Zhengtong Daozang"in the Ming Dynasty.There are roughly seven hundred immortal positions which are arranged in seven levels.It is a integration of many immortals of previous generations.So far,in academic circle, the study of the author,the written date,the collation,the commentary,the origin and development of immortals,the comparison with"Suprem and Secret Book"and so forth has been in a big defective state.As far as the origin and development of immortals concerned,there are many immortals which have deep origin.Some scholars only referred to them occasionally in their articles or books and have not studied the immortal pedigree comprehensively.This paper will unfold the research centering on the origin of immortals.This paper is divided into four parts:The exordium introduces the cause of choosing this topic and its meaning.It also summarizes the research status in academia and determines the main methods of study which are textual research method and cultural element analytical method.The first chapter introduces"True Immortal Position Diagram"and hackles its edition briefly. With regard to the author, judging by a multi-angle study covering diction,doctrine,the source of literature,names of immortals and thought of Tao ,we can know that the thought that it reflects derives from Tao.So we can come to the conclusion that the immortal pedigree was more than likely made by Tao.In regard to the written date,I am in belief that the maximum interval is from AD 492 to 577 and the smallest is from AD 499 to 536. Now this diagram has four ancient editions which are from the Tang Dynasty,the Yuan Dynasty,Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty.They are generally consistent and have respective errors.With respect to the viewpoint of incomplete edition,I consider that it cannot be tenable.The second chapter is the main body of the paper.Here I research the origin and development of some representative immortals.According to the source of immortals,I classify them into nine categories which are legendary figure,fabulous figure,Taoist and hermit in the Warring States Period,the Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, figure in immortal biography and novel,immortal in"Zhen Gao", historical biography figure,mythological figure, personification of Dao,astrology and immortal of nature .I choose some representative immortals such as Huang Di,Peng Zu,Zhang Feng of Jiu Gong Shang Shu,Feng Du Emperor and the like to trace back to their sources and reproduce their history of going to altar. Through the study,I intend to tease out the history of formation of Taoism before Han Dynasty and Wei Dynasty broadside.The conclusion summarizes the main points of the text.Actually,these ethereal immorals derived from criticizing practical drawbacks which was done by Lao Zi by using regimen doctrine in the late Spring and Autumn Period. In the Warring States Period,Zhuang Zi developed it into a one-sided health philosophy and a group of Taoists fabricated many immortal stories to convince some vassals of themselves for wealth.After the Taoists and hermits in the Warring States Period,the Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty,with the exception of some immortals of complex personification which were from metaphysical concept and thought of alchemy, the majority of immortals were no longer imaginary,but some practitioners.They believed that immortal could be learned and the state of being undead could be reached.All of these immortals were eventually selectively absorbed into the immortal pedigree,"True Immortal Position Diagram",which centers on Taoism and take the Shang Qing faction as the trunk.Moreover,it involves some elements of Confucianism,Buddhism and other factions of Taoism. |
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