Qingjing Jing
Encyclopedia
The Qingjing Jing is an anonymous Tang Dynasty
Daoist classic that combines philosophical themes from the Dao De Jing with the logical presentation of Buddhist
texts and a literary form reminiscent of the Heart Sutra
. It instructs students of the Dao
to practice the elimination of desire in order to cultivate spiritual purity and stillness.
The first Chinese character
qing 淸 has the "water" radical
氵 and a qing 青 "green" phonetic element. The second character jing 靜 has the "green" radical 青 and a zheng 爭 "struggle" phonetic, and was anciently a variant Chinese character
for jing 淨 "clean; pure; complete; only", which has the "water" radical and this zheng phonetic. Qingjing could interchangeably be written 清靜 or 清淨, for instance, the Daoist copncept qingjing wuwei
清靜無為 or 清凈無為 "quiet and non-action; discard all desires and worries from one's mind". Chinese Buddhism used qingjing 清淨 to translate Sanskrit parishuddhi or Pali vishuddhi "complete purification; free from defilement" (cf. vishudda
). Kunio Miura explains,
In Standard Chinese
usage, qingjing 清靜 means "quiet; tranquil; serene (surroundings, etc.)" and qingjing 清淨 means "tranquil; clean and pure; (Buddhism) purified of defiling illusion, not bothered by material concerns".
English translations of the Qingjing jing title include:
Two passages of the Qingjing Jing are attributed to Laozi
, with the honorific
"Lord Lao" (老君, see Three Pure Ones
). This has led many traditional sources to attribute authorship of the entire text to Laozi, so the text exists under a variety of honorific titles that link it to him. Scholars believe the received text dates from around the middle Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE).
The oldest extant commentary is by Du Guangting (杜光庭, 850-933 CE), a prolific editor of Daoist texts during the late Tang and Five Dynasties period. Du says prior to being written down by Ge Xuan
(164-244 CE), the Qingjing Jing was orally transmitted for generations, supposedly going back to the mythical Queen Mother of the West.
"Daoist Canon" includes eight Qingjing jing editions with variant titles. The basic text (CT 620) is the Qingjing miaojing (清靜妙經 "Wondrous Scripture of Clarity and Stillness") or Taishang Laojun shuo chang qingjing miaojing (太上老君說常清靜妙經 "Wondrous Scripture of Constant Clarity and Stillness, as Spoken by the Most High Lord Lao"). Commentaries include those entitled Qingjing jingzhu (清靜經注, CT 755-760) and Qingjing jing songzhu (清靜經頌注, CT 974).
A slightly longer (and "possibly earlier", Kohn 2007:800) version of approximately 600 characters is the Qingjing xinjing (清靜心經 "Heart Scripture of Clarity and Stillness") or Taishang Laojun qingjing xinjing (太上老君清靜心經 "Heart Scripture of Clarity and Stillness, as Spoken by the Most High Lord Lao", CT 1169).
During the Song Dynasty
(960-1260 CE), the Qingjing Jing became popular within the Southern Lineage "Complete Perfection" or Quanzhen School
and was interpreted in context with neidan
Chinese internal alchemy. For instance, the seventh Quanzhen master Sun Bu'er
孙不二 took Qingjing sanren 清靜散人 "Vagabond of Clarity and Quiescence" as her sobriquet
and established the Qingjing Sect (Miura 2007:800). Modern Quanzhen Daoists consider the Qingjing jing a central scripture and regularly chant it in songjing (誦經, "reciting scriptural passages; ritual recitation"). Kohn explains.
, cosmology
, ontology
, and teleology
.
The Qingjing Jing is described by Komjathy.
These Daoist keywords are guan 觀 "scrutiny; careful observation; insight meditation; contemplation", qing 清 "clarity; purity; cleanliness", and jing 靜 "stillness; quiet; calm; tranquility". The Daodejing (45, tr. Mair 1990:13) is the locus classicus for qingjing: "Bustling about vanquishes cold, Standing still vanquishes heat. Pure and still, one can put things right everywhere under heaven."
Kohn summarizes the Qingjing jing.
(1894:70-73), Legge
(1891 2:247-54), and Kohn (1993:24-29). Wong(1992) translated the Shuijingzi (水精子) commentary.
The following versions of the opening section (verses 1-8 and 9-13, reformatted for consistency) illustrate the translational range.
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
Daoist classic that combines philosophical themes from the Dao De Jing with the logical presentation of Buddhist
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...
texts and a literary form reminiscent of the Heart Sutra
Heart Sutra
The Heart Sūtra is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra. Its Sanskrit name literally translates to "Heart of the Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom." The Heart Sūtra is often cited as the best known and most popular of all Buddhist scriptures.-Introduction:The Heart Sūtra is a member of the Perfection of...
. It instructs students of the Dao
DAO
DAO may refer to:* D-amino acid oxidase, a peroxisomal enzyme.* Data access object, a design pattern used in object-oriented software engineering* De-asphalted oil, a crude oil refinery process stream...
to practice the elimination of desire in order to cultivate spiritual purity and stillness.
Title
The Qingjing jing title combines qing 清 "pure; clean; clear; fresh; cool; distinct; clarified; quiet; peaceful", jing 靜 "still; motionless; static; silent; quiet; peaceful; calm; tranquil", and jing 經 "(fabric) warp; scripture; canon; classic".The first Chinese character
Chinese character
Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...
qing 淸 has the "water" radical
Radical (Chinese character)
A Chinese radical is a component of a Chinese character. The term may variously refer to the original semantic element of a character, or to any semantic element, or, loosely, to any element whatever its origin or purpose...
氵 and a qing 青 "green" phonetic element. The second character jing 靜 has the "green" radical 青 and a zheng 爭 "struggle" phonetic, and was anciently a variant Chinese character
Variant Chinese character
Variant Chinese characters are Chinese characters that are homophones and synonyms. Almost all variants are allographs in most circumstances, such as casual handwriting...
for jing 淨 "clean; pure; complete; only", which has the "water" radical and this zheng phonetic. Qingjing could interchangeably be written 清靜 or 清淨, for instance, the Daoist copncept qingjing wuwei
Wu wei
Wu wei is an important concept of Taoism , that involves knowing when to act and when not to act. Another perspective to this is that "Wu Wei" means...
清靜無為 or 清凈無為 "quiet and non-action; discard all desires and worries from one's mind". Chinese Buddhism used qingjing 清淨 to translate Sanskrit parishuddhi or Pali vishuddhi "complete purification; free from defilement" (cf. vishudda
Vishuddha
Vishuddha also known as Vishuddhi, is the fifth primary chakra according to Hindu tradition.-Location:Vishuddha is positioned at the neck region near the spine, with its ksehtram or superficial activation point in the pit of the throat.-Appearance:This chakra is white with 16 purple or smoke...
). Kunio Miura explains,
Whereas Chinese Buddhism always used the compound qingjing 清淨 (clarity and purity) rather than qingjing 清靜 (clarity and quiescence), Taoism uses both interchangeably. When qingjing 清淨 (clarity and purity) is used, however, there is ample room for considering a Buddhist influence. (2007:800)
In Standard Chinese
Standard Chinese
Standard Chinese, or Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin or Putonghua, is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Republic of China , and is one of the four official languages of Singapore....
usage, qingjing 清靜 means "quiet; tranquil; serene (surroundings, etc.)" and qingjing 清淨 means "tranquil; clean and pure; (Buddhism) purified of defiling illusion, not bothered by material concerns".
English translations of the Qingjing jing title include:
- "Classic of Purity" (Legge, 1891)
- "Scripture of Purity and Tranquility" (Kohn 1993)
- "Scripture on Clarity and Tranquility" (Despeux and Kohn 2003)
- "Scripture on Clarity and Stillness" (Komjathy 2004)
- "Scripture of Purity and Stillness" (Miller 2006)
- "Scripture of Clarity and Quiescence" (Kohn 2007)
Overview and origin
The Qingjing Jing is a short, mostly-versified text comprising some 390 Chinese characters in 90 verses. It is widely read, has numerous commentaries, and is considered one of the most important texts in the Daoist religion.Two passages of the Qingjing Jing are attributed to 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...
, with the 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...
"Lord Lao" (老君, see Three Pure Ones
Three Pure Ones
The Three Pure Ones also translated as the Three Pure Pellucid Ones, the Three Pristine Ones, the Three Divine Teachers, the Three Clarities, or the Three Purities is the Taoist Trinity, the three highest Gods in the Taoist pantheon. They are regarded as pure manifestation of the Tao and the...
). This has led many traditional sources to attribute authorship of the entire text to Laozi, so the text exists under a variety of honorific titles that link it to him. Scholars believe the received text dates from around the middle Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE).
The oldest extant commentary is by Du Guangting (杜光庭, 850-933 CE), a prolific editor of Daoist texts during the late Tang and Five Dynasties period. Du says prior to being written down by Ge Xuan
Ge Xuan
Ge Xuan was a Chinese Taoist. He was the ancestor of Ge Hong and a resident of Danyang in the state of Eastern Wu during the period of the Three Kingdoms; namely 220–280 CE. Ge Xuan's paternal grandnephew, Ge Hong, titled him Ge Xian Gong, which translates into "Immortal Lord" or "Transcendent Duke"...
(164-244 CE), the Qingjing Jing was orally transmitted for generations, supposedly going back to the mythical Queen Mother of the West.
Versions and commentaries
The DaozangDaozang
Daozang , meaning "Treasury of Dao" or "Daoist Canon", consists of around 1400 texts that were collected circa C.E. 400...
"Daoist Canon" includes eight Qingjing jing editions with variant titles. The basic text (CT 620) is the Qingjing miaojing (清靜妙經 "Wondrous Scripture of Clarity and Stillness") or Taishang Laojun shuo chang qingjing miaojing (太上老君說常清靜妙經 "Wondrous Scripture of Constant Clarity and Stillness, as Spoken by the Most High Lord Lao"). Commentaries include those entitled Qingjing jingzhu (清靜經注, CT 755-760) and Qingjing jing songzhu (清靜經頌注, CT 974).
A slightly longer (and "possibly earlier", Kohn 2007:800) version of approximately 600 characters is the Qingjing xinjing (清靜心經 "Heart Scripture of Clarity and Stillness") or Taishang Laojun qingjing xinjing (太上老君清靜心經 "Heart Scripture of Clarity and Stillness, as Spoken by the Most High Lord Lao", CT 1169).
During the 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...
(960-1260 CE), the Qingjing Jing became popular within the Southern Lineage "Complete Perfection" or Quanzhen School
Quanzhen School
The Quanzhen School of Taoism originated in Northern China. It was founded by the Taoist Wang Chongyang in the 12th century, during the rise of the Jin Dynasty...
and was interpreted in context with neidan
Neidan
Neidan, or internal alchemy, spiritual alchemy is a concept in Taoist Chinese alchemy. It is a series of physical, mental, and spiritual disciplines intended to prolong the life of the body and create an immortal spiritual body that would survive after death.In Neidan the human body becomes a...
Chinese internal alchemy. For instance, the seventh Quanzhen master Sun Bu'er
Sun Bu'er
Sun Bu'er , one of the Taoist Seven Masters of Quanzhen lived c. 1119–1182 C.E. in the Shandong province of China. She was a beautiful, intelligent, wealthy woman, married with three children. Her family name was Sun and her first name was Fuchun, Bu'er being her name in religion. Her husband Ma Yu...
孙不二 took Qingjing sanren 清靜散人 "Vagabond of Clarity and Quiescence" as her sobriquet
Chinese style name
A Chinese style name, sometimes also known as a courtesy name , is a given name to be used later in life. After 20 years of age, the zì is assigned in place of one's given name as a symbol of adulthood and respect...
and established the Qingjing Sect (Miura 2007:800). Modern Quanzhen Daoists consider the Qingjing jing a central scripture and regularly chant it in songjing (誦經, "reciting scriptural passages; ritual recitation"). Kohn explains.
The text serves to inspire the active practitioner and believer. It provides an easy handle on the realization of the Tao within the religious life. It is an exhortation to purity and meditation, a warning against bad thoughts and deviant desires. Pious Taoists know this short and rhythmic text by heart. (1993:25)
Contents
Although brief, the Qingjing Jing is philosophically complex. It synthesizes Daoist and Buddhist theories of psychologyPsychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, cosmology
Cosmology
Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...
, ontology
Ontology
Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations...
, and teleology
Teleology
A teleology is any philosophical account which holds that final causes exist in nature, meaning that design and purpose analogous to that found in human actions are inherent also in the rest of nature. The word comes from the Greek τέλος, telos; root: τελε-, "end, purpose...
.
The Qingjing Jing is described by Komjathy.
An anonymous text probably dating from the 9th century, this is one of a group of Tang-dynasty (618-907) works that could be labeled "Clarity-and-Stillness" literature. Emerging under the influence of Buddhist insight meditation (vipaśyanā) and expressing a form of wisdom (zhi 智) based on the practice of observation (guan 觀), the text combines the worldview of the Daode jing 道德經 (Scripture on the Dao and Inner Power) with the practice of Daoist observation and the structure (as well as some content) of the Buddhist Panruo xinjing 般若心經 (Heart Sutra of Perfect Wisdom; T. 250-57). It emphasizes the dual cultivation of clarity/purity (qing 清) and "stillness/tranquility" (jing 靜). (2004:47-8)
These Daoist keywords are guan 觀 "scrutiny; careful observation; insight meditation; contemplation", qing 清 "clarity; purity; cleanliness", and jing 靜 "stillness; quiet; calm; tranquility". The Daodejing (45, tr. Mair 1990:13) is the locus classicus for qingjing: "Bustling about vanquishes cold, Standing still vanquishes heat. Pure and still, one can put things right everywhere under heaven."
Kohn summarizes the Qingjing jing.
The text first describes the nature of the Dao as divided into Yin and Yang, clear and turbid (qing 清 and zhuo 濁), moving and quiescent (dong 動 and jing 靜), and stresses the importance of the mind in the creation of desires and worldly entanglements. It recommends the practice of observation to counteract this, i.e., the observation of other beings, the self, and the mind, which results in the realization that none of these really exists. The practitioner has reached the observation of emptiness (kongguan 空觀). The latter part of the work reverses direction and outlines the decline from pure spirit to falling into hell: spirit (shen 神) develops consciousness or mind (xin 心), and mind develops greed and attachment toward the myriad beings. Greed then leads to involvement, illusory imagining, and erroneous ways, which trap beings in the chain of rebirth and, and they sink deeper into the quagmire of desire, causes them to fall into hell. (2007:801)
Translations
The Qingjing jing has been translated into English by BalfourFrederic H. Balfour
Frederic Henry Balfour was a British expatriate editor, essayist, author, and sinologist, living in Shanghai during the Victorian era. He is most notable for his translation of the writings known today as the Tao Te Ching...
(1894:70-73), Legge
James Legge
James Legge was a noted Scottish sinologist, a Scottish Congregationalist, representative of the London Missionary Society in Malacca and Hong Kong , and first professor of Chinese at Oxford University...
(1891 2:247-54), and Kohn (1993:24-29). Wong(1992) translated the Shuijingzi (水精子) commentary.
The following versions of the opening section (verses 1-8 and 9-13, reformatted for consistency) illustrate the translational range.
Lâo the Master said, The Great Tâo has no bodily form, but It produced and nourishes heaven and earth. The Great Tâo has no passions, but It causes the sun and moon to revolve as they do. The Great Tâo has no name, but It effects the growth and maintenance of all things. I do not know its name, but I make an effort, and call It the Tâo.
Now, the Tâo (shows itself in two forms); the Pure and the Turbid, and has (the two conditions of) Motion and Rest. Heaven is pure and earth is turbid; heaven moves and earth is at rest. The masculine is pure and the feminine is turbid; the masculine moves and the feminine is still. The radical (Purity) descended, and the (turbid) issue flowed abroad; and thus all things were produced. The pure is the source of the turbid, and motion is the foundation of rest. If man could always be pure and still, heaven and earth would both revert (to non-existence). (tr. Legge 1891:249-250)
The Great Tao has no form; It brings forth and raises heaven and earth. The Great Tao has no feelings; It regulates the course of the sun and the moon. The Great Tao has no name; It raises and nourishes the myriad beings. I do not know its name – So I call it Tao.
The Tao can be pure or turbid; moving or tranquil. Heaven is pure, earth is turbid; Heaven is moving, earth is tranquil. The male is moving, the female is tranquil. Descending from the origin, Flowing toward the end, The myriad beings are being born. Purity – the source of turbidity, Movement – the root of tranquility. Always be pure and tranquil; Heaven and earth Return to the primordial. (tr. Kohn 1993:25)
External links
- Qingjing Jing 清靜經 - Original Chinese text English translation.
- The Wonderful Scripture on the Constant Purity and Tranquility - An English Translation of 清靜經
- Canon of Purity and Tranquility Reconstruction of the musical setting of Qingjing Jing published in 1592