Taoist Yin Fu Sect on Taoist Engraved Talismans
The powerful vitality of talisman art is manifested in its rooting in the spiritual soil of the Chinese nation, possessing an incredibly profound mass foundation. The character 'Fu' (talisman) means trust and conformity, containing the meanings of belief and alignment. Symbols evolved into 'Fu Rui' (auspicious talismans) and 'Fu Ying' (responsive talismans), serving as synonyms for auspicious omens. Deeply revered by the common people and widely circulated among the folk, they became the folk art with the longest history and the widest dissemination. This folk art first appeared in the form of 'Tao Fu' (peach wood talismans).
The ancient Chinese people had a special belief in peach trees, revering purple-red peach wood as sacred wood and believing it could ward off evil. Ancient myths and legends state that on Mount Dushuo in the East Sea, there is a large peach tree. Underneath it are two deities named Shenshu and Yulei, who can devour a hundred ghosts. Therefore, during the Spring Festival of the lunar calendar, the folk custom was to paint images of these two deities (talisman symbols) on peach wood boards and hang them on doors to drive away ghosts and ward off evil. According to the 'Classic of Mountains and Seas': On Mount Dushuo, there is a large peach tree, coiled for three thousand li, with two deities above it commanding all ghosts. The Yellow Emperor established peach wood stakes at the gate based on this to drive away ghosts and ward off evil. 'Zhuangzi' wrote about the evil-warding effect of peach branches: 'Insert peach branches at the door, and spread ash underneath. Children enter without fear, but ghosts fear them.' Peach stakes and branches are the earliest forms of Tao Fu, which later developed into peach boards, peach staffs, and peach figures. 'Yuzhu Baodian' citing 'Dianshu' states that peach is the 'essence of the Five Elements' and can suppress evil qi and control a hundred ghosts, hence 'peach boards' were hung on doors. Peach wood boards themselves have evil-warding properties; symbols and portraits of the two deities 'Shenshu' and 'Yulei' could be drawn on them, and text for praying for blessings and averting disasters could be written, thereby greatly enhancing the artistic quality of the Tao Fu.
Tao Fu was already very popular in the Zhou Dynasty. 'Rites of Zhou · Summer Officials' states that when feudal lords held盟会 (alliance meetings), they cut the ears of oxen to collect blood, using peach brooms as镇物 (镇物 objects). According to 'Zuo Zhuan' (4th year of Duke Zhao), in a ritual to remove disasters by storing ice, peach wood staffs were used. During the Qin and Han dynasties, drawing talismans on peach wood boards to symbolize auspiciousness and the custom of driving away ghosts and warding off evil became more widespread and were advocated by the court. According to official histories, the Han court made specific regulations on the color and size for the production of 'peach figures' and 'peach talismans'. Updating Tao Fu during festivals became a fashion. 'Fengsu Tong' records: 'At the beginning of the year, set up peach talismans at the door, painting two ghosts to repel ten thousand ghosts.' Wang Chong's 'Lunheng · Ding Gui' citing 'Classic of Mountains and Seas': 'Paint Shenshu and Yulei with tigers on the doors, hang reed ropes to guard against evil spirits.' Tao Fu had become an indispensable ritual in the court during the Han Dynasty. Every year, on the day before the La festival, after the plague-driving ritual was completed, the Emperor bestowed the ritual of 'reed halberds and peach staffs' on dukes, ministers, generals, special marquises, and feudal lords ('Book of Later Han · Rituals'). From this, it can be known that the custom of setting up peach stakes (figures) by the door was already popular on the eve of the La festival in the Han Dynasty. Folk Tao Fu also had strict specifications. According to 'Book of Later Han · Rituals', Tao Fu made of peach wood boards were six inches long and three inches wide. By no later than the Han Dynasty, Tao Fu was no longer simply symbols drawn on peach wood boards, but mixed with text, thereby enriching the content of Tao Fu, as noted by Xu Shen in his commentary on 'Huainanzi · Quan Yan': 'Ghosts fear peach; nowadays people use peach stakes about an inch in diameter, seven or eight inches long, split in the middle, and write words for praying for blessings and averting disasters.' By no later than the late Tang Dynasty, the term 'Tao Fu' appeared. Han E's 'Sishi Zuanyao' explicitly states: 'The immortal wood is the current Tao Fu. Tao Fu initially wrote the names of the two deities or depicted images, later evolved into writing auspicious phrases, and further developed into couplet poems.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, due to the development of painting art, door gods were added alongside hanging Tao Fu. Liang Zonglin's 'Jingchu Suishiji': 'On the first day of the first month... make peach boards and attach them to the door, called immortal wood. Paint the two deities and paste them left and right on the door, the left Shenshu, the right Yulei, commonly known as door gods.' After the Five Dynasties, they gradually replaced them with spring couplets written on paper and printed door god images. Song Dynasty Zhang Tangying's 'Shu Tao' records that in the last year before the Shu ruler Meng Chang surrendered to Song (3rd year of Qiande), on the day of removing evil, because the Hanlin academician Xing Yinshun was not satisfied with the inscription on the peach board at the bedroom door, he personally wrote 'The new year receives lingering blessings, the fine festival is called Eternal Spring.' Indeed, the new year saw the surrender to Song, Lu Yuqing became the prefect of Chengdu, and 'Changchun' was the auspicious title of Song Taizu's birth, fulfilling Meng Chang's inscription, becoming an omen of the fall of Shu. Song Dynasty Huang Xiufu's 'Maoting Kehua' Volume 1 also records this story, adding that 'On every last day of the year, each palace gate was given a pair of Tao Fu, inscribed with the four characters 'Yuan Xiang Li Zhen'.' Besides the previous use of peach boards and Tao Fu mainly for warding off evil, auspicious words for welcoming spring and receiving blessings could be written on them. In this way, although the nature of Tao Fu changed, the belief in auspicious omens and efficacy only increased.
The custom of Tao Fu in the Song Dynasty remained vigorous for a long time. According to Song Dynasty Chen Yuanliang's 'Huangchao Suishi Zaji' Volume 5: 'The system of Tao Fu uses thin peach wood boards two or three chi long, four or five cun wide, with images of gods such as Suanni and Baize painted on top, or prayers written, and they are changed on New Year's Day.' Wang Anshi's poem 'Yuan Ri' says: 'In the sound of firecrackers, the year passes; the spring breeze brings warmth into Tusu wine. Under the bright sun of thousands of doors and households, all replace the old talismans with new peach ones.' The spring-welcoming and blessing-receiving nature of Song Dynasty Tao Fu became more obvious. The Northern Song 'Suishi Zaji' says: The system of Tao Fu uses thin peach wood boards two or three chi long, four or five cun wide. Besides painting images, 'or write spring words or pray for blessings, and change them on New Year's Day.' Writing spring words and blessings on rectangular peach boards became a type of Tao Fu. The 'Jiatai Kuaiji Zhi' compiled during the Southern Song Gaozong reign, Volume 13, also says: 'Peach boards inscribed with Shenshu on the left and Yulei on the right, or other words, set up on the left and right of the door.' Fang Hui's poem 'Yiwei Sui Chu' also says: 'The nobles have new peach boards, I have the old earth cow before spring.' 'Ban' is the same as 'ban' (board), i.e., peach board, also called peach plaque or spring plaque. The Southern Song 'Meng Liang Lu' also records that the market sold 'Spring Welcoming Plaques' and the custom of 'pasting spring plaques' on New Year's Eve. 'Spring Plaque' means spring-welcoming peach plaque, a new type of Tao Fu.
Spring plaques made of peach wood boards generally became paper-made in the Ming Dynasty, and were named 'Spring Posts'. The change in manufacturing materials caused Spring Posts to break away from the old system of Tao Fu, becoming an independent ornament separate from Tao Fu. The 'Tingzhou Fu Zhi' of Fujian during the Jiajing period records Tao Fu, and then writes: 'Spring Posts: Families of officials all use five-colored paper to write couplets, pasting them on doors or between hall columns; even artisans and merchants buy and paste them to show the meaning of discarding the old and bringing in the new.' Spring Posts also have names such as 'Spring Couplets', 'Spring Duilian', and 'Door Couplets'. Among them, the term 'Spring Couplets' became a popular term in the Qing Dynasty and has been used to this day. The content of Spring Couplets, according to 'Qing Jia Lu', 'mostly writes words such as 'Thousand Gold', 'Hundred Obediences', 'Suitable for Spring', 'Di Ji', 'One Wealth', 'Two Joys', and 'Family Reputation', 'Generational Grace' as door couplets. Collectively gathering auspicious phrases from 'Pa Jing' and poems from Tang and Song people for pillar posts.' Since Spring Couplets originated from Tao Fu, the Qing Dynasty 'Yanjing Shisui Ji' says: 'Spring Couplets are, in fact, Tao Fu.'
The folk custom of Tao Fu not only occupies an important position in Han culture but is also widely circulated among ethnic minorities. The Tujia, Yi, and Miao ethnic groups all have the custom of hanging Tao Fu and pasting Spring Couplets. It is said that when Wang Zhaojun went to the frontier for marriage alliance in the Han Dynasty, she brought seventy-two divine talismans, which spread among the Xiongnu folk, later forming the written symbols of the Mongolian Phags-pa script. It is said that Princess Wencheng's distant marriage to the Tibetan region in the Tang Dynasty also brought the divine talismans widely circulated in Han and Tang dynasties. Tao Fu also spread overseas; traces of it can be found in Japan, Korea, and many Southeast Asian countries. For example, Japanese Onmyodo makes good use of Yu Fu and Bu Gang Ta Dou.
The inheritance and development of talisman art by Taoism. Primitive symbols had a dual function before the emergence of writing: on one hand, they undertook the task of human communication, and on the other hand, they were tools for communication between humans and gods. With the emergence of writing and pictures, they were closely combined to form more perfect talisman diagrams. When writing separated from symbols and became a tool for social communication, primitive symbols continued to undertake the task of communication between humans and gods, inherited by primitive religions and early Taoist organizations, gradually developing into talismans with rich content and various categories, i.e., Taoist talismans.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Ling founded and spread the Celestial Master Orthodox One Taoism in Shu, integrating Huang-Lao Daoist talismans and witch books of southwestern ethnic minorities, 'creating talisman books', using talisman spells as important magic arts for health cultivation, fasting and sacrifice rituals, and inheriting the Taoist lineage, thereby opening a new era of talisman art. Since Zhang Ling founded the religion, the Taoist Talisman School began. For over 800 years from the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Celestial Master, Shangqing, and Lingbao three major sects were formed successively; entering the Song Dynasty, Taoist talisman studies entered a new stage of development. On the basis of the three major Taoist sects in the Han and Tang dynasties, new talisman sects such as Beidi, Shenxiao, Qingwei, Donghua, Tianxin, Taiyi, and Jingming were derived. The Taoist talisman sects during the Song and Yuan dynasties had rich writings and mature theories, unprecedentedly prosperous, and the development of Taoist talismans reached its peak. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, various sects temporarily returned to unity, mostly merging into the Zhengyi Sect. From the Eastern Han to the Qing Dynasty, spanning over 1800 years, the Taoist talisman sects were passed down from generation to generation, playing an important role in continuing the Taoist lineage, popularizing Taoist principles, and connecting Taoism with society. Talismans are important magic arts of Taoism, often used together with spells, becoming an important means for Taoism to propagate the Dharma and save the world. Whether for cultivation and practice or for rituals and sacrifices, they cannot be separated from it, hence the saying 'Without talismans and registers, there is no Tao.' The widespread use of talismans, combined with the organization by Taoist theorists, formed a complete system of Taoist talismans, called 'Three Yuan Eight Meetings' and 'Sixty-four Types of Writing'. In the talisman system, characters and talisman diagrams are the most common and numerous. Taoist characters include eight categories: Heavenly Book, Divine Book, Earthly Book, Inner Book, Outer Book, Ghost Book, Central Xia Book, and Rong Yi Book; Taoist talisman diagrams include Heavenly Phenomenon Talisman Diagrams, Earthly Phenomenon Talisman Diagrams, and Human Figure Talisman Diagrams, etc. Taoist classics are divided into twelve parts; the first is the Text, the second is Divine Talismans, both related to talismans and registers. In the vast Taoist literature, traces of talismans and registers can be seen everywhere. The Taoist talismans developed from primitive symbols have continuously sublimated in artistic quality and enriched in categories
The ancient Chinese people had a special belief in peach trees, revering purple-red peach wood as sacred wood and believing it could ward off evil. Ancient myths and legends state that on Mount Dushuo in the East Sea, there is a large peach tree. Underneath it are two deities named Shenshu and Yulei, who can devour a hundred ghosts. Therefore, during the Spring Festival of the lunar calendar, the folk custom was to paint images of these two deities (talisman symbols) on peach wood boards and hang them on doors to drive away ghosts and ward off evil. According to the 'Classic of Mountains and Seas': On Mount Dushuo, there is a large peach tree, coiled for three thousand li, with two deities above it commanding all ghosts. The Yellow Emperor established peach wood stakes at the gate based on this to drive away ghosts and ward off evil. 'Zhuangzi' wrote about the evil-warding effect of peach branches: 'Insert peach branches at the door, and spread ash underneath. Children enter without fear, but ghosts fear them.' Peach stakes and branches are the earliest forms of Tao Fu, which later developed into peach boards, peach staffs, and peach figures. 'Yuzhu Baodian' citing 'Dianshu' states that peach is the 'essence of the Five Elements' and can suppress evil qi and control a hundred ghosts, hence 'peach boards' were hung on doors. Peach wood boards themselves have evil-warding properties; symbols and portraits of the two deities 'Shenshu' and 'Yulei' could be drawn on them, and text for praying for blessings and averting disasters could be written, thereby greatly enhancing the artistic quality of the Tao Fu.
Tao Fu was already very popular in the Zhou Dynasty. 'Rites of Zhou · Summer Officials' states that when feudal lords held盟会 (alliance meetings), they cut the ears of oxen to collect blood, using peach brooms as镇物 (镇物 objects). According to 'Zuo Zhuan' (4th year of Duke Zhao), in a ritual to remove disasters by storing ice, peach wood staffs were used. During the Qin and Han dynasties, drawing talismans on peach wood boards to symbolize auspiciousness and the custom of driving away ghosts and warding off evil became more widespread and were advocated by the court. According to official histories, the Han court made specific regulations on the color and size for the production of 'peach figures' and 'peach talismans'. Updating Tao Fu during festivals became a fashion. 'Fengsu Tong' records: 'At the beginning of the year, set up peach talismans at the door, painting two ghosts to repel ten thousand ghosts.' Wang Chong's 'Lunheng · Ding Gui' citing 'Classic of Mountains and Seas': 'Paint Shenshu and Yulei with tigers on the doors, hang reed ropes to guard against evil spirits.' Tao Fu had become an indispensable ritual in the court during the Han Dynasty. Every year, on the day before the La festival, after the plague-driving ritual was completed, the Emperor bestowed the ritual of 'reed halberds and peach staffs' on dukes, ministers, generals, special marquises, and feudal lords ('Book of Later Han · Rituals'). From this, it can be known that the custom of setting up peach stakes (figures) by the door was already popular on the eve of the La festival in the Han Dynasty. Folk Tao Fu also had strict specifications. According to 'Book of Later Han · Rituals', Tao Fu made of peach wood boards were six inches long and three inches wide. By no later than the Han Dynasty, Tao Fu was no longer simply symbols drawn on peach wood boards, but mixed with text, thereby enriching the content of Tao Fu, as noted by Xu Shen in his commentary on 'Huainanzi · Quan Yan': 'Ghosts fear peach; nowadays people use peach stakes about an inch in diameter, seven or eight inches long, split in the middle, and write words for praying for blessings and averting disasters.' By no later than the late Tang Dynasty, the term 'Tao Fu' appeared. Han E's 'Sishi Zuanyao' explicitly states: 'The immortal wood is the current Tao Fu. Tao Fu initially wrote the names of the two deities or depicted images, later evolved into writing auspicious phrases, and further developed into couplet poems.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, due to the development of painting art, door gods were added alongside hanging Tao Fu. Liang Zonglin's 'Jingchu Suishiji': 'On the first day of the first month... make peach boards and attach them to the door, called immortal wood. Paint the two deities and paste them left and right on the door, the left Shenshu, the right Yulei, commonly known as door gods.' After the Five Dynasties, they gradually replaced them with spring couplets written on paper and printed door god images. Song Dynasty Zhang Tangying's 'Shu Tao' records that in the last year before the Shu ruler Meng Chang surrendered to Song (3rd year of Qiande), on the day of removing evil, because the Hanlin academician Xing Yinshun was not satisfied with the inscription on the peach board at the bedroom door, he personally wrote 'The new year receives lingering blessings, the fine festival is called Eternal Spring.' Indeed, the new year saw the surrender to Song, Lu Yuqing became the prefect of Chengdu, and 'Changchun' was the auspicious title of Song Taizu's birth, fulfilling Meng Chang's inscription, becoming an omen of the fall of Shu. Song Dynasty Huang Xiufu's 'Maoting Kehua' Volume 1 also records this story, adding that 'On every last day of the year, each palace gate was given a pair of Tao Fu, inscribed with the four characters 'Yuan Xiang Li Zhen'.' Besides the previous use of peach boards and Tao Fu mainly for warding off evil, auspicious words for welcoming spring and receiving blessings could be written on them. In this way, although the nature of Tao Fu changed, the belief in auspicious omens and efficacy only increased.
The custom of Tao Fu in the Song Dynasty remained vigorous for a long time. According to Song Dynasty Chen Yuanliang's 'Huangchao Suishi Zaji' Volume 5: 'The system of Tao Fu uses thin peach wood boards two or three chi long, four or five cun wide, with images of gods such as Suanni and Baize painted on top, or prayers written, and they are changed on New Year's Day.' Wang Anshi's poem 'Yuan Ri' says: 'In the sound of firecrackers, the year passes; the spring breeze brings warmth into Tusu wine. Under the bright sun of thousands of doors and households, all replace the old talismans with new peach ones.' The spring-welcoming and blessing-receiving nature of Song Dynasty Tao Fu became more obvious. The Northern Song 'Suishi Zaji' says: The system of Tao Fu uses thin peach wood boards two or three chi long, four or five cun wide. Besides painting images, 'or write spring words or pray for blessings, and change them on New Year's Day.' Writing spring words and blessings on rectangular peach boards became a type of Tao Fu. The 'Jiatai Kuaiji Zhi' compiled during the Southern Song Gaozong reign, Volume 13, also says: 'Peach boards inscribed with Shenshu on the left and Yulei on the right, or other words, set up on the left and right of the door.' Fang Hui's poem 'Yiwei Sui Chu' also says: 'The nobles have new peach boards, I have the old earth cow before spring.' 'Ban' is the same as 'ban' (board), i.e., peach board, also called peach plaque or spring plaque. The Southern Song 'Meng Liang Lu' also records that the market sold 'Spring Welcoming Plaques' and the custom of 'pasting spring plaques' on New Year's Eve. 'Spring Plaque' means spring-welcoming peach plaque, a new type of Tao Fu.
Spring plaques made of peach wood boards generally became paper-made in the Ming Dynasty, and were named 'Spring Posts'. The change in manufacturing materials caused Spring Posts to break away from the old system of Tao Fu, becoming an independent ornament separate from Tao Fu. The 'Tingzhou Fu Zhi' of Fujian during the Jiajing period records Tao Fu, and then writes: 'Spring Posts: Families of officials all use five-colored paper to write couplets, pasting them on doors or between hall columns; even artisans and merchants buy and paste them to show the meaning of discarding the old and bringing in the new.' Spring Posts also have names such as 'Spring Couplets', 'Spring Duilian', and 'Door Couplets'. Among them, the term 'Spring Couplets' became a popular term in the Qing Dynasty and has been used to this day. The content of Spring Couplets, according to 'Qing Jia Lu', 'mostly writes words such as 'Thousand Gold', 'Hundred Obediences', 'Suitable for Spring', 'Di Ji', 'One Wealth', 'Two Joys', and 'Family Reputation', 'Generational Grace' as door couplets. Collectively gathering auspicious phrases from 'Pa Jing' and poems from Tang and Song people for pillar posts.' Since Spring Couplets originated from Tao Fu, the Qing Dynasty 'Yanjing Shisui Ji' says: 'Spring Couplets are, in fact, Tao Fu.'
The folk custom of Tao Fu not only occupies an important position in Han culture but is also widely circulated among ethnic minorities. The Tujia, Yi, and Miao ethnic groups all have the custom of hanging Tao Fu and pasting Spring Couplets. It is said that when Wang Zhaojun went to the frontier for marriage alliance in the Han Dynasty, she brought seventy-two divine talismans, which spread among the Xiongnu folk, later forming the written symbols of the Mongolian Phags-pa script. It is said that Princess Wencheng's distant marriage to the Tibetan region in the Tang Dynasty also brought the divine talismans widely circulated in Han and Tang dynasties. Tao Fu also spread overseas; traces of it can be found in Japan, Korea, and many Southeast Asian countries. For example, Japanese Onmyodo makes good use of Yu Fu and Bu Gang Ta Dou.
The inheritance and development of talisman art by Taoism. Primitive symbols had a dual function before the emergence of writing: on one hand, they undertook the task of human communication, and on the other hand, they were tools for communication between humans and gods. With the emergence of writing and pictures, they were closely combined to form more perfect talisman diagrams. When writing separated from symbols and became a tool for social communication, primitive symbols continued to undertake the task of communication between humans and gods, inherited by primitive religions and early Taoist organizations, gradually developing into talismans with rich content and various categories, i.e., Taoist talismans.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Ling founded and spread the Celestial Master Orthodox One Taoism in Shu, integrating Huang-Lao Daoist talismans and witch books of southwestern ethnic minorities, 'creating talisman books', using talisman spells as important magic arts for health cultivation, fasting and sacrifice rituals, and inheriting the Taoist lineage, thereby opening a new era of talisman art. Since Zhang Ling founded the religion, the Taoist Talisman School began. For over 800 years from the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Celestial Master, Shangqing, and Lingbao three major sects were formed successively; entering the Song Dynasty, Taoist talisman studies entered a new stage of development. On the basis of the three major Taoist sects in the Han and Tang dynasties, new talisman sects such as Beidi, Shenxiao, Qingwei, Donghua, Tianxin, Taiyi, and Jingming were derived. The Taoist talisman sects during the Song and Yuan dynasties had rich writings and mature theories, unprecedentedly prosperous, and the development of Taoist talismans reached its peak. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, various sects temporarily returned to unity, mostly merging into the Zhengyi Sect. From the Eastern Han to the Qing Dynasty, spanning over 1800 years, the Taoist talisman sects were passed down from generation to generation, playing an important role in continuing the Taoist lineage, popularizing Taoist principles, and connecting Taoism with society. Talismans are important magic arts of Taoism, often used together with spells, becoming an important means for Taoism to propagate the Dharma and save the world. Whether for cultivation and practice or for rituals and sacrifices, they cannot be separated from it, hence the saying 'Without talismans and registers, there is no Tao.' The widespread use of talismans, combined with the organization by Taoist theorists, formed a complete system of Taoist talismans, called 'Three Yuan Eight Meetings' and 'Sixty-four Types of Writing'. In the talisman system, characters and talisman diagrams are the most common and numerous. Taoist characters include eight categories: Heavenly Book, Divine Book, Earthly Book, Inner Book, Outer Book, Ghost Book, Central Xia Book, and Rong Yi Book; Taoist talisman diagrams include Heavenly Phenomenon Talisman Diagrams, Earthly Phenomenon Talisman Diagrams, and Human Figure Talisman Diagrams, etc. Taoist classics are divided into twelve parts; the first is the Text, the second is Divine Talismans, both related to talismans and registers. In the vast Taoist literature, traces of talismans and registers can be seen everywhere. The Taoist talismans developed from primitive symbols have continuously sublimated in artistic quality and enriched in categories