Brief introduction of Dunhuang Taoist literature

Taoist literature, Taoist poetry, Taoist poetry and Taoist characters, Taoist prose, Taoist novels, Taoist operas, other couplets and nursery rhymes Dunhuang Taoist literature is a special achievement in the specific space of China literature, and also a reflection of Taoist activities and thoughts in literature. The so-called "specific space" refers to the "Dunhuang" area. Because many ancient documents and plastic arts have been preserved in Dunhuang Grottoes, Dunhuang studies on Dunhuang culture have been formed internationally. For a long time, the study of Dunhuang studies mainly focused on Buddhism. In A.D. 1980, Sichuan scholar Long Hui began to pay attention to Taoist literature and wrote a paper on Taoist literature in Dunhuang. Later, many scholars involved in this issue from different aspects.

According to the sorting and classification of predecessors, there are two main forms of Dunhuang Taoist literature:

A story book based on the life story of a Taoist priest. Ye Jingneng's poems are the only works of Daomen dialect included in Dunhuang variation anthology. Ye Jing's anecdotes are recorded in Daozang in many places. As for some legendary novels in the Tang and Song Dynasties, Ye Jingneng is also the object of considerable concern. Ye Jingneng's poems, which are popular in Dunhuang, combine many popular Taoist stories with Ye Jingneng in the Tang Dynasty with vernacular novels and legendary brushwork. The work tells fifteen short stories, including Ye Jing's learning Taoism in Jishan, throwing a symbol across the river and saving Zhang Ling's wife, in order to show the hero's unique skills, and his exaggerated style shows the wonderful role of Taoist magic. The work also publicizes the social influence of Taoism with the help of the story of Emperor Tang Ming's worship of Taoism, and shows Ye Jing's extraordinary ideological power through the plot arrangement that Gao Lishi did not believe in fairy medicine and designed and tested Ye Jing's ability. Generally speaking, Ye Jingneng's poetry talks take poetry as the introduction and storytelling as the style, and those humorous narratives allow people to glimpse the traces of Taoist literary texts in the Tang Dynasty. In Dunhuang Taoist literature, there are a large number of poems, and poems related to Taoism are one of the representative works. Taoist poetry has fifteen pages. It was written by Xiang Li, or he thought he was a descendant of Sun Yuanxiang of Tang Gaozu IX. The book contains a total of 28 poems, either chanting Taoist wonders, or praising Taoist celebrities, or singing among Taoists and disciples. Complete Tang Poetry Supplement is called the earliest Taoist poetry collection. In addition to the collection of poems, there are also some Taoist poems in the Taoist scriptures, such as Yu Chen Fu and You Xian Fu in the Forbidden City. Some Taoist poems written in Dunhuang were also written by female Taoist priests, such as Yuan's Five Poems of Sound and Meaning. This person is the female Taoist priest. The so-called "sound and meaning" of the poem title is the meaning of sound and letter, which should be the author's reservation of his feelings and sentiments about learning Tao in the form of poetry. Among the five songs are Spring in Qin Dynasty, To Luoyang Sisters and Feeling. The work not only describes the beauty and entertainment of Chang 'an Palace Que in the capital in spring, but also expresses her ideal and happiness of meeting Taoist friends. At the same time, the work also expresses the feelings of the female Taoist about her hometown. She looked at the moon and pinned her thoughts on her sisters. In Dunhuang, the works of fasting ritual gods are also part of Taoist literature. For example, ten-word ceremony, fairy singing and so on. These works either depict the noble celestial world with their ethereal and quiet style, or express the bliss of the celestial world with the feelings of worshipping Taoism, and entrust the mysterious purpose of monasticism. Looking at Dunhuang documents, we can find that there are still some Taoist classics, often with "poems with inscriptions" at the beginning. For example, the Ten Commandments persuade people to practice Taoism and use rhyme in the form of five-character poems. The author deliberately exaggerates and creates an artistic atmosphere of observing precepts and monasteries, which is very infectious.