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= Du Guangting = Du Guangting (杜光庭) (850–933) was a Taoist priest and fiction writer in imperial China's Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. His legacy contains hagiographies, liturgical texts such as ritual descriptions and prescriptions, and sociopolitical historical accounts.

Civil Service Examination
Du Guangting was born in 850 C.E. in the Chuzhou prefecture, during the fourth year of the emperor Xuanzong (846-859). Du leaves numerous accounts of the political landscape of his prime years. He attempted, without success, the imperial civil service examination under the emperor Yizong (859-873). The reign of the emperor was characterized by arbitrary official nomination which resulted in the concentration of power in the hands of eunuchs. The emperor was a fervent Buddhist and sought to rehabilitate the faith as state religion. On the other hand, Du Guangting attempted the examination as a Confucian scholar and failed.

Entering the Dao
His failure at the examination forced him to "penetrate in the Dao" enthusiastically in service of the master Ying Yijie (810-894). He became the Daoist master's most distinguished student. It is his contact with Daoist faith that inspired Du's later works. Indeed, during his stay at the Mount Tiantai monastery, he noticed that liturgical work had declined. He was inspired by the efforts of other monks to retrieve and restore religious texts, accounts, and ritual ceremonies. Du Guangting's experience at Tiantai would mark the beginning of his effort to collect and conserve the Daoist Canon through the sociopolitical turmoil that he would witness in his lifetime.

Coming to Court
While the Tiantai monks lived as recluses on the mountain, their work had an important impact on official scholars. While the emperor Yizong was Buddhist, a Daoist revival movement emerged at the same time at court. When the emperor passed away during the seventh month of 873, his son Li Yan (posthumously: Xizong) succeeded him. In 875, Du was recommended as the official in charge of counseling the young emperor on Daoist rituals. The reputation of his liturgical work in Tiantai had reached the ears of the highest officials at court.

Xizong's Court
When the child emperor Xizong took the throne in 873, Du Guangting describes the court as an insecure place full of opportunities. He traces the figure of Daoist ministers that revived Daoism at court amid the Buddhist patronage promulgated by the late emperor Yizong. When Du was recommended for a place at court, he was asked to attend a personal audience with the young emperor Xizong. Although nothing is known of the exchange between the child and the Daoist master, it marked the beginning of the latter's service for the Tang.

As a symbol of his rank in the Tang dynasty, Du Guangting receives an ivory tablet (xiangjiang) that would be carried by courtesans when he would attend hearings. The tablet also served as a laissez-passer in and out the interior palace of the emperor. He also received the right to wear the cardinal red robes that signified his role as an officer of the Tang court. Moreover, during this dynasty, the color of the robes also differentiated the Daoist officials from the rest of the courtesans, similarly to the popular ceremonial clothes of the Buddhist ministers. To complete his figure of court official, Du was titled Memorial Editor at the disposal of the Emperor (Wenzhang Yingzhi) of the Linde Hall situated within the Daming palace. Du's ability to write about a wide diversity of subjects—such as the benevolence of Lord Lao towards the imperial household, as well as liturgical texts or ritual descriptions—earned him a reputation of expert in administrative documents at court.

In 881, the army of the rebel Huang Chao sacked Chang'an. At that time, Du Guangting held the position of Daomen weiyi (Daoist Rituals Commissioner). He likely had access to the imperial literature which allowed him, according to Jin Yunzhong, to carefully collect and edit religious work, namely the description of rituals such as the Rite of Fasting inscribed in the Yellow Register of the Zhongyuan Holiday. Diverse accounts describe him as a most knowledgeable scholar. For instance, the poet Fang Gan (?-888) compare him to the token of celestial legitimacy of the princes, his work validating the rule of the Tang. He was therefore the guardian of the State Rites, as well as responsible for the dynastic omens. The imminent fall of Chang'an by Huang Chao pressed Du Guangting to finish collecting as many Daoist texts as possible.

Hang Chao's Rebellion
Under Xizong's rule, the over-taxation, the reforms, as well as natural catastrophes demoralized the countryside population. The Tang started losing legitimacy in the eyes of the people at the local level. The large territory began to be hard to control and the Emperor lost the control over local military officials who were confronted to the population critique of the regime. In term, the inability of the central government to control the military impeded its influence in the provinces. While at first the imperial government thought it could deal with isolated cases of sedition, in 875 it became clear that a main force had to be constituted to deal with the rebels swiftly. Unfortunately for the young Emperor, he 8th of January 881, Huang Chao entered the capital and took the palace.

Exile (881- 907)
While Huang Chao sacked Chang'an, the Emperor fled with a small troop towards Chengdu. According to all accounts, Du Guangting was not accompanying him. However, when he learned about the escape he hastily pursued the company. Verellen writes: "Pour Du Guangting la fuite de ses pairs fut un effet miraculeux de l'intervention divine en faveur des dévots taoïstes dans la détresse" (Verellent, 1989; 75) (Temptative translation: "For Du Guangting the flight of his peers was a miraculous effect of the divine intervention in favor of the Taoist devotees in distress). In later years, Du was so moved by the safeguarding of the court that he attempted to create a full account of their adventure. Verellen argues that Du Guangting believed a divine intervention would restore the Tang dynastic order . When in 885 the emperor Xizong came back to Chang'an after four years of exile, Du devoted himself to collecting and describing rituals and omens that sustained the faith of the Tang being the guardians of the Great Peace announced in the Taiping jing: "depuis l'année 877, Zhenyuan (...) avait été soumise à des attaques répétées de la part de bandits rebelles et qu'à chaque fois le Seigneur Lao était intervenu mystérieusement (...) La protection continuelle accordée au lieu de naissance de Laozi (...) fut interprétée comme un nouvelle preuve de l'alliance active de la dynasty avec la divinité" (Verellen, 1989; 91-92).

(Temptative translation: "since the year 877, Zhenyuan (...) had been subjected to repeated attacks by rebel bandits and that each time Lord Lao had intervened mysteriously (...) The continuous protection granted to the place of birth de Laozi (...) was interpreted as new proof of the active alliance of the dynasty with the divine") Although the Emperor had returned and reinstated the rule of the Tang in Chang'an, an economic crisis shook the central power. During the exile, certain peripheral provinces ceased to pay the imperial taxation. When in need of funds and resources the government attempted to collect those taxes in 885, the governor of Hezhong, Wang Chongrong, refused to pay. This triggered a series of political plays that resulted in Xizong fleeing the imperial capital a second time in 886. At that moment, Du Guangting followed the imperial court. As aforementioned, the political instability and the constant destruction brought by warfare had the effect of pressing Du to save the Daoist Canon. The day before Huang Chao took Chang'an, Du had completed the first collection of Fasting Ritual of the Yellow Register (Taishang huanlu zhai yi). After the second escape from Chang'an in 886, he kept on searching for Daoist texts that would have survived the fires of war. In 891, Du had traveled to the Eastern part of the kingdom of Shu. There, he witnessed the campaigns of several Tang generals, namely Wang Jian, who obtained promotions in part because of the glorious accounts Du Guangting made of their feats. Thus, Verellen argues, the allegiance of Du started shifting towards the generals who grew increasingly independent from the imperial household.

When Wang Jian had conquered the kingdom of Shu and deposed the Tang, Du remained a high official at court as royal tutor. In 923, he was granted the title of Celestial Master, a high recognition of his talent in the Dao. Wang Jian was killed in an attempt in overthrowing the government in 913, but Du continued his liturgical work after he retired from court and established himself on Mount Qingcheng until his death in 933.

Daoist Priestesses
Du Guangting was very important in dressing a picture of the political and religious reality of his era. One of his most notable contribution is Records of the Assembled Transcendents of the Fortified Walled City (Yongcheng jixian lu). Cahill explains that his "accounts of Daoist holy women are among the most detailed and complete records of medieval Chinese women's lives" (Cahill, 2006; vii). Indeed, from his texts we know that Daoist women were much more fortunate than Buddhist females in medieval China because their path in the Dao was equal to that of men. The practitioners of the faith were often referred to as "all Daoist, whether male or female" (Kohn, 2003; 81).

However, some scholars, such as Jinhua Jia, view his hagiography in Yongcheng jixian lu as inaccurate and biased "as Du Guangting greatly modified or rewrote many of his original sources, in order to present his ideal images of Daoist women" (Jia, 2016; 323). Du would have had to modify some of his primary sources to paint a heroic tale of women in the Tang era. If the fact that he was among the highest Daoist official in the Tang and Shu courts is taken into account, it means that Du had access to primary and authentic sources that he could have easily altered. Moreover, as a Confucian scholar in his early years and a Daoist master throughout his life, Du Guangting understood the importance of rites in preserving harmony and legitimacy of the imperial household. Since the predecessor of Xizong, Yizong was a fervent Buddhist, Du may have attempted to use his influence as minister to sustain the reestablishment of Daoism as the official faith of the imperial government:"'For example, Wang Fengxian (...) described as a Daoist female saint in Du's hagiography, in fact ordered the cold-blooded murder of the commissioner Gao Pian (...) (d. 887) and scores of his family members, according to several historical records. Using Du Guangting's hagiographies to reconstruct the religious experiences of these priestesses and praise them as Daoist 'saints' problematic, to say the least' (Jia, 2016; 323-324)."

Saintly Daoist Women and Gender in the Tang
Cahill argues that historical sources on the role and place of women in Tang society—and medieval China overall—are seldom. This makes Du Guanting's hagiographic work that much more valuable: "[Records of the Assembled Transcendents of the Fortified Walled City] provides a wealth of information about women in relation to Daoism, the state and society during the Tang dynasty" (Cahill, 2006; 195). His text paints a complete picture of Daoist women placing them in all contexts of life, ranging from mundane—marketplace, harem, convent—to sacred—family, rite ceremonies, battles.

While Cahill preaches Du Guangting for his legacy in helping historians understand more deeply and comprehensively the Tang era, Jia believes the value of his work is only limited and ought to be revised by scholars. She argues that the Daoist master extensively modified primary sources in addition to copying them in an attempt to collect and preserve them:"'He did not, however, simply copy from other texts; rather, he made major modifications and even re-creations according to his own Daoist idea and ideal image of female Daoists. Luo Zhengming 伭䇕沜 and Suzanne Cahill have already indicated some ways in which he incorporated and modified the accounts of pre-Tang figures, while Russell Kirkland has produced an excellent study of the story of Huang Lingwei' (Jia, 2018; 199)."The modification and historical bias is visible in the "historical" accounts he makes of female Daoist. The main discrepancy with authentic historical sources is the depiction of the women. Du attempted to glorify his characters by creating a relation to divinity and Heavenly beauty: "[Wang Fengxian] was as beautiful as a goddess and very bright and eloquent. Immortal girls often descended from heaven to play with her, and soon she was able to walk quickly and fly" (Jia, 2018; 199). Thus, by using Daoist references and analogies, Du departed from a historical perspective towards a religious and political angle for his work.

Ritual Master
Perhaps because of his Confucian background, Du distinguished himself as a ritual master for the Tang. In fact, he compiled numerous descriptions and prescriptions for Daoist rites. Kohn and Kirkland explain that he "brought a strong analytical mind to Daoist worldview and presented integrated visions in various ritual, hagiographic, geographic and philosophical venues" (Kohn & Kirkland, 2000; 369). The most notable of those accounts is the Jinlu dazhai shuojie yi (Observances for the transmission of precepts throught the great Golden Register Purgation). Indeed, it was not only necessary to practices Daoist rituals to promote a proper cosmic balance, but it was also important to do it right. That is why Du Guangting lengthily describes "observances" and include errors of practice as well as their punishment.

Works
Du Guangting was a very prolific author. He wrote political accounts, liturgical texts, hagiographies and novels. The complete collection of his work is listed in Verellen's bibliography of Du Guangting.