| Summary: | 碩士 === 輔仁大學 === 宗教學系 === 104 === The present study investigates the emergence, development, and spread of the Taiyi Huofu Magic Arts, a new sect of Taoist magic skills first appearing in the Song-Yuan Dynasty, when various Taoist sects abound and Taoist magic skills diversify.
The paper begins with an internal approach—coming through biographies of Ancestral Masters with texts from the Taiyi Huofu Magic Arts. It is followed by an external approach—cross-referencing with literature. It is found that this new sect of Taoist magic skills prospered in the Southern Song Dynasty. It developed in Sichuan, China and thereafter spread to Fujian, China, with its own system of passing down the set and its own authority.
The magic skills of Taiyi Huofu Magic Arts include Thunder Rites, Reporting Ceremony (a ceremony in which the priest reports to the Heaven and prays for their wishes to be realized), and Home Letter (letters that priests write to Ancestral Masters—as their parents—in order to realize their wishes). In terms of functions, the Taiyi Huofu Magic Arts focus mainly on praying, curing diseases and dispelling the evil. Some contents of the Taiyi Huofu can be found in other documents of Taoist magic arts, which shows how priests of different sects interact and communicate. It also implies that Ancestral Masters of the Taiyi Huofu absorbed skills/knowledge from other sects and combine that with their own knowledge into a new way of practice, whereas some of the contents are solely documented in the Taiyi Huofu and cannot be found elsewhere. The distinctive contents may derive from regional traditions or may be inspired from other Taoist magic arts. It is hoped that through this study, we can gain a better understanding of the diverse Taoist sects in Southern China in the Song-Yuan Dynasty.
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