Printing the Daoist Canon under Mongol Rule, 1237–44

Historians of medieval China consistently underestimate the significance of religious communities in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. When the Mongols ruled north China, Complete Realization Daoism, the most influential religious movement of the time, attracted scores of literati. Printing the Daoist canon created distinctive jobs for scholars: as essay writers, text editors, and monastic lecturers. The publication of the Daoist canon gave rise to new teaching positions for scholarly Daoists in new Daoist-style schools, which also attracted many non-religious listeners who sought an education. Quanzhen Daoism offered scholars an alternate route to fame, not through success in civil service examinations or literary achievements, but through their accomplishments in Daoist enterprises. In 1281 Khubilai Khan ordered the burning of all copies of the printed Daoist canon and its woodblocks.  The one and only text that survived this inferno is the Scripture of Great Clarity in Wind and Dews (Taiqing fenglu jing太清風露經): it is preserved in Beijing’s National Library and reprinted in a modern project that recovers Chinese rare books. It is a lost link connecting two disparate worlds: the realm of the literati and that of the monks. This precious document sheds new light on the ways in which non-literati groups wielded great influence in this place and at this time.