Taoist Magic
Taoist magic is long forgotten form of magic that was practiced in China, intertwined with the Taoist religion. Many sought the practice of Tao in ancient China as it was thought that through it, one can achieve immortality, but Taoist magic is capable of much more including transformation, conjuration, and exorcism, to name a few. Practitioners of the Tao (whether the religion or the magic) are called dàoshi (Chinese: 道士), which can be translated as "Taoist priests" or "Taoist monks".
Practices
Taoist spells used in the series:
- Body Freezing Spell (定, Dìng): Immbolizes the target's physical body
- Heavenly Lightning (天雷, Tiānléi)
- One Hundred Eight Transformations of Heaven and Earth (天地的一百八变化, Tiāndì de yībǎibā biànhuà): Refers to the combination of 36 Heavenly Transformation and 72 Earthly Transformation
- Strong Gale (烈風, Pinyin: lièfēng, Middle Chinese: ljet pjuwng)
- Split of Heaven and Earth (分裂天地, Fēnliè tiāndì)
- Four Direction Holy Barrier (四方位的天衛圈, Sì fāngwèi de tiān wèi quān, lit. 'Heavenly Protective Circle of Four Directions')
- Five Direction Holy Repelling Barrier (五方位的天抗圈, Wǔ fāngwèi de tiān kàng quān, lit. 'Heavenly Resistance Circle of Five Directions')
- Restrain (約束, Yuēshù)
- Contracted Earth (縮地脈, suōdìmài)
Inspiration
The most well-known example of Taoist magic in Chinese literature is through Sun Wukong in Journey to the West. Sun Wukong, a spiritual primate born from a rock, learned the Tao from Master Puti Zushi in the Cave of the Slanting Moon and Three Stars on the Mountain of Heart and Mind as a way to conquer death. Throughout the text, he demonstrates many fantastical feats, fighting Taoist deities, killing demons, etc.
Examples of Taoist spells in Journey to the West:
- Thirty-six Transformations of Heavenly Rectifiers (天罡數的三十六变化, Tiāngāng shǔ de sānshíliù biànhuà)[a][1, 2]
- Seventy-two Transformations of Terrestial Killers (地煞數的七十二变化, Dìshà shǔ de qīshí'èr biànhuà)[a] [1, 2]
- Body Freezing Spell (定, Dìng)
- Fire Avoidance Spell (避火诀, Bì huǒ jué)
- Water Avoidance Spell (避水诀, Bì shuǐ jué)
- Lock-breaking Spell (解锁法, Jiěsuǒ fǎ)
- Cloud Somersault (筋斗云, Jīndǒuyún): Wukong can travel 108,000 li (54,000 km, 33,554 mi) in a single leap.
- Body Outside of Body (身外身法, Shēn wài shēn fǎ): Wukong can transform each of his hair into a clone of himself, albeit much weaker clones.
Footnotes
- ^ It has never been explicitly stated in the novel what the 36 or 72 Transformations are. There is discord over whether the term 变化 (biànhuà) refers to actual transformations (shapelifting) or simply magical skills/spells. This presumably stems from the lists of “Thirty-Six Methods of the Heavenly Rectifiers” (天罡三十六法, tiāngāng sānshíliù fǎ) and “Seventy-Two Arts of the Terrestrial Killers” (地煞七十二術, dìshā qīshíèr shù) published in The Comprehensive Mirror of Successive Divine Immortals (歷代神仙通鑑, lìdài shénxiān tōngjiàn) around 1700[3], about one century after the original publication of Journey to the West (c. 1592)[4]. We can also notice some wordplay going on here, since the 法 (fǎ) character in the "36 Methods" and the 術 (shù) character in the "72 Arts" together from the word 法術 (fǎ shù), meaning "spell" as in "magic spell".
Related Articles
References
- ^《西游记》第二回 (Journey to the West, Chapter 2)
- ^ 七十二变 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%83%E5%8D%81%E4%BA%8C%E5%8F%98
- ^ Archive #43: The 72 and 36 Taoist Skills of the Lidai Shenxian Tongjian | Journey to the West Research. https://journeytothewestresearch.com/2023/08/14/archive-43-the-72-and-36-taoist-skills-of-the-lidai-shenxian-tongjian/
- ^ Journey to the West - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_West
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