NOTES

1   This is the opinion of Xu (1993) and Lin and Peng (1993). The latter work points out that some of the prefectures mentioned here did not exist before the Qing dynasty. It is also the interpretation of the editors of the proceedings of the conference Chen Jinggu Wenhua Yanjiu held in Fuzhou in 1993; see Zhu, Zhang, and Weng (1993). There is also a Xiamen Huiwen Tang edition, titled Linshui pingyao zhi.

2   Min was one of the kingdoms of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–60), immediately following the Tang. See Schafer (1954) and Ouyang (2004, 573–84).

3   See Baptandier (2008a) and Chen (2017, 9n3). She continued to receive newer and higher titles over the course of the centuries.

4   Wan’an Bridge was first built around 820. It was rebuilt between 1054 and 1060 by the prefect Cai Xiang (1012–67) over the Pu River, where it exits Quanzhou in Fujian. See Quanzhou fuzhi (1967), 26:8 and 10:8. The name Luoyang Bridge, which figures throughout the text, was bestowed by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang dynasty (846–59), to whom the beauty of the countryside recalled the town of the same name.

5   This voyage to Mount Lü, a mythic site submerged in the Min River, could be regarded as a shamanic journey. However, the places through which it passes can still be identified on the island of Nantai in Fuzhou, where they form a map of sacred geography. See Li (1998) and Xie and Zhang (1999). The theme of marriage resistance figures in several novelistic accounts of the careers of goddesses.

6   Gegu—the act of slicing from the thigh or arm a piece of flesh that is applied or fed to an ill relative—is both a Buddhist and Confucian practice, based on the ideal of filial piety. Guanyin herself carried out such an act of devotion on behalf of her father. See Yü (2001, 317, 338–47).

7   On liandu, see Boltz (1987, 27, 37).

8   Chen Shouyuan was historically an eminent Daoist priest of the Zhengyi ritual tradition who served at the court of the king of Min between 931 and 935. See Schafer (1954, 96–99), Hu (1985, 110), and Ouyang (2004, 576).

9   See Andersen (1989–90). Dancing on the Dipper (bugang) magically invoked on a mat floating on the water suggests the ritual that the Dan people of Fujian call the “surging ocean” (yangping) of the “barbarian masters” (manshi fa). See Chen (2017).

10   Mummification is not unusual, particularly in Chan Buddhism. See Faure (1991, 150) and Demiéville ([1965] 1989). Princess Miaoshan/Guanyin is also said to have been mummified.

11   Baptandier (2001).

12   See Ye and Zheng (2010). The cult of Chen Jinggu was said to have been initiated in 792, but it was officially registered under the Southern Song (Chunyou reign period, 1241–52). It is said that every year in this grotto a snake demon had demanded the offering of two children, until Chen Jinggu eliminated the monster. See Wang and Li (1989), Baptandier (2008a), and Chen (2017, 21).

13   See Cass (1999, 65–85), Cahill (2006), Despeux (1990), and Despeux and Kohn (2003). See also Gherchanoc et al. ([2002] 2006, 243–44): “In the indispensable emancipation from the hold of the maternal body, it is the feminine that remains most problematic to conceive of or to invent, for men and women alike.”

14   On versions of the White Snake’s myths, see Idema (2009), Pimpaneau (1965), and Feng (1994).

15   See Ye and Wu (1997) and Baptandier (2008b).

16   See Ye and Lagerwey (2007), Davis (2001), and Meulenbeld (2015, 2018). See also Ye (1994).

17   See Topley (1974).

18   See Topley (1954, 1975).

19   Jiang Hupo’s teacher, the Old Mother of Mount Li, belonged to the line of transmission of female alchemy. She was considered to be a specialist in embryonic respiration (taixi). See Despeux (1990, 104–5, 172) and Zhang and Yan (1993). The Yunji qiqian, juan 77, testifies to the existence of her recipe for achieving immortality. See Hu (1985, 912).

20   These include the fox demon succubus slain by Chen Jinggu in the guise of the dharma-protecting Ucchusma, the Clam Fiend that posed as the gateway to paradise, and the Spider Fiend featured on this book’s cover. On Ucchusma, see Davis (2001, 150–51). On fox demons, see Levi (1984) and Huntington (2003).

21   See Zhu, Zhang, and Weng (1993), Huang (1993), Zhuang ([1989] 1993), and Boltz (1993).

22   The rituals of the Three Ladies sect known as the “Five Thunders” invoke the spirit soldiers of the Five Camps, which correspond to the five directions, the five elements, and the five bodily organs. See Strickmann (1975; 1996, 127–63), Despeux (2012), and Schipper (1985).

23   On the historical Chen Shouyuan, see Schafer (1954, 47, 96–99, 108). On the Heart of Heaven tradition and its context, see Davis (2001, 77) and Ouyang (2004, 576, 580).

24   On the “sinister way,” see Saso ([1978] 1990). This “tradition of Mount Mao” is not the classic tradition of Shangqing Daoism, but its modern reinterpretation, which incorporates the cults of spirit mediums. See Berezkin and Goossaert (2012).

25   See Chen (2017, 71–72).

26   See Baptandier (2016).

27   Cited by Yü (2001, 467): “Know that the room of a filial wife is no different from a Buddhist place of truth [daochang]. Although there are neither wooden fish nor bells and cymbals, the Buddha will listen to the prayer of a filial woman.… If you serve your parents and parents-in-law sincerely, this is far superior to cultivating the elixir in vain.”

28   The name Great Ravine itself also indicates the original chaos, the North, and the Northern Dipper. See Schipper (1978, 367n3).

29   See Ye and Wu (1997), Baptandier (1996; 2008b), and Robinet ([1979] 1995, 215–16).

30   See Baptandier (2008a, 6). Zhang Yining (1301–70)—a native of Gutian district in Fujian, a scholar, and an official during the Yuan dynasty (1277–1367)—was also a celebrated statesman at the beginning of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644).See “Memorial on the Shunyi Temple” (Gutian xian Linshui Shunyi Miaoji), reproduced in Baptandier (2008a, 6–8).

31   See Ye and Zheng (2010) and Lemoine and Lemaire (2016).

32   See Wugenzi (2000) and Chen (2017). On the Nuo, see Wang (1993).

33   See Ye (1983) and Zeng, Chen, and She (1987, chaps. 21–86).

34   See Shi (1985).

35   See Ye (1995, 1996), Wu and Ye (1997), and Baptandier (2002, 2008b).

36   See Baptandier (2008a, 6–10).

37   See Lemaire and Lemoine (2016).

1   A li is a unit of linear measure, about one-third of a mile.

2   This episode is part of the legend of the True Warrior (Zhenwu) who ultimately became High God of the Dark Heaven (Xuantian Shangdi) by the grace of Guanyin.

3   Guanyin of the South Sea (Nanhai Guanyin) is one of the manifestations of this divinity, a Chinese transformation of Avalokitesvara. Her paradise is Putuo Mountain (Zhejiang). The full name is Putuolojia, a Chinese substitute for the Potalaka in Lhasa. The Purple Bamboo Grove (Zizhu Lin) is one of her sacred sites.

4   The “eye of wisdom” (huiyan), or “celestial eye” (tianmu); in tantric Buddhism, Guanyin receives the secret name of “eye of vajra” (jingang yan).

5   Appearing on a boat is a classic motif of the Daoist aspect of Great Being Guanyin of the South Sea, the Compassionate Sailing Universal Savior Celestial Worthy (Nanhai Guanyin Dashi Cihang Pudu Tianzun), who causes souls of the elect to enter the Western Paradise and who also gives instructions on internal alchemy.

6   This is the motif of Guanyin as “the wife of Mr. Ma” (Ma Lang fu).

7   Lü Dongbin is a famous Daoist venerated as one of the Eight Immortals. He is known as the master of the Daoist tradition called Pure Yang (Chunyang), as well as being a master of internal alchemy. Mount Penglai is the place where the Eight Immortals held their banquet.

8   This refers to the worship of ancestors, which required a son to continue it.

9   Luoqie Mountain is another name for Putuo Mountain. This is Potalaka.

10   Liang Hao (963–1004) succeeded in passing the imperial examinations only at the age of eighty-two.

11   Lü Dongbin is said to have succeeded in the imperial examination in 825, but quickly decided to abandon his position in order to retire to the mountains of Zhongnan, near Xi’an, in Shaanxi.

12   Wang Yanbin died in 931. Renzong of the Song ruled from 1054 to 1060.

13   A tael of silver (liang) was generally around fifty grams.

14   This puzzle is deciphered according to the rules of glyphomancy.

15   The village of Chidian is located on the outskirts of the town of Quanzhou.

16   The choice of this season was linked to cosmological considerations: executions could only take place in winter, the season when reproductive energy was at its lowest.

17   The imperial examinations (keju) were an essential part of the Chinese government administration from their introduction in the Tang dynasty (618–906) until they were abolished during Qing attempts at modernization in 1905.

18   Relations between affines are hedged about with strong avoidance conventions. Marriage negotiations are dangerous and therefore conducted at arm’s length through indispensable go-betweens.

19   Neo-Confucian master Li Tong (1093–1163) was the teacher of Zhu Xi (1130–1200).

20   “Cultivated Talent” (Xiucai) was a title bestowed on graduates of the examinations in the systems created during the Sui (581–618) and Tang (618–907) periods.

21   This refers to examining the “eight characters of birth,” four two-character compounds formed by the cyclical Celestial and Terrestrial signs of the hour, the day, the month, and the year of birth.

22   The district of Luoyuan is north of Fuzhou.

23   In Buddhism, Lokapala refers to the Four Heavenly Kings and to other protector spirits.

24   Shancai (Sudhanakumâra) and Liangnü (or Longnü), the granddaughter of the Dragon King, are Guanyin’s two acolytes.

1   The true Mount Lü, the Portal Mountain, is in the province of Liaoning, in Dongbei (Manchuria), in the City of the North, Beizhen. The Dark Warrior (Xuanwu), “ancestor” of High God of the Dark Heavens (Xuantian Shangdi), rules over this place. Beizhen, located in Dongbei, is a major site of shamanism, as the full name of the mountain indicates: Mount Lü of the Shaman Healers (Yiwu Lü Shan).

2   Great Ravine Mountain (Zhangkeng Shan / Zhang’an Shan) is in the Cang Shan district of Fuzhou, and overlooks the Min.

3   Panther Head Mountain (Baotou Shan) is located on the site of Black Stone Mountain (Wushi Shan), in Fuzhou.

4   Cinnabar Cloud Great Sage (Danxia Dasheng) appears here as a double of Qitian Dasheng, hero of Journey to the West, in which Panther Head Mountain also figures.

5   When refined nine times, cinnabar produced the elixir of immortality, which is pure yang.

6   Dragon Tiger Mountain (Longhu Shan) in Jiangxi is the high place of the Daoist tradition of the Celestial Masters, which was founded by Zhang Daoling in 142 CE.

7   This Dharma Jewel is the perfumed pearl presented to Guanyin by the Dragon King.

8   The hairpin was given to young girls at puberty.

9   Minqing is an administrative district under the jurisdiction of the town of Fuzhou.

10   The following itinerary can be traced to real places, most of which can be located today thanks to the preservation of their toponyms. All the places are found in the Nantai quarter of Fuzhou, in Cang Shan district, along the Min River, the course of which has changed since then (various small tributaries have disappeared over time). The place called Longtan Jiao is where today the temple Great Academy of the Ritual Arts of Lüshan (Lüshan Dafayuan) is located. Dragon Pool Ravine (Longtan Huo) is below Wangbeitai and the temple Lüshan Dafayuan.

11   Karma refers to one’s destiny based on actions in prior existences.

12   Dragon River is a tributary of the Min.

13   Fuqing is a district located on the bay of the same name, to the south of Fuzhou.

14   The tradition of the Sacred Jewel (Lingbao), which dates to the fourth and fifth centuries, comes after that of the Celestial Masters, and established the essence of Daoist ritual. Dominated by the importance of the scriptures and the search for health, it was also influenced by Buddhism.

15   The Three Sages (Sansheng) were the Daoist triad, the Three Pure Ones.

16   A dan is a dry measure for grains, anywhere between 120 and 160 pounds.

17   The Dharma Gate gives access to “taking refuge in the Buddha.” Rice is considered to be the pure essence of life that is transmitted from generation to generation.

18   Manipulating the mortar and pestle is the art of the Five Thunders (Wu Lei). They symbolize the union of yin (the mortar) and yang (the pestle).

19   Mount Mao, near Nanjing, was the religious center of those devoted to the revelations made to Yang Xi between 364 and 370 by the “true beings” (zhenren), especially the Lady of the South Peak, Wei Huacun, who became the matriarch of the tradition of High Purity (Shangqing). Popular traditions derived from the “orthodox” Mount Mao since the Song commonly took this name for themselves.

20   Jiangnan is the part of China to the southeast of Nanjing.

21   This refers to a magic technique called dunjia, defined as “seizing the yin moment in order to hide in it [dun].” This method is based on the symbolism of the Five Elements.

22   The Gutian district is in the north of Fujian, upstream on the Min River.

1   Xihe is southwest of Gulou, in Fuzhou.

2   The inner court is the private part of the house, which is reserved for women.

3   The age of a “full month” (manyue) is marked by a celebration of the same name, when the baby is named.

4   Sixteen years was the conventional age of nubility and marriage.

5   “Since we parted” probably refers to the miraculous birth of Jiang Hudan, later called Hupo.

6   These “poisonous” diseases come from the polarization of the relation between the mother (cold) and the baby (hot). The latter must expel the “poison of the womb” (taidu) in order to free itself from the maternal symbiosis.

7   Flag Mountain (Qi Shan) is in Minhou district, south of Nantai.

8   The crane is the mount of the immortals.

9   To be “terror-stricken” (shoujing) constitutes a permanent threat to the child. This pathological state described as “terror” (jing), in the case of children, is linked to the symptomatology of the “winds” (feng). It belongs to the semantic field of the strange, of agitated (kuang) or apathetic (dian) madness. If the child is actually “terror-stricken,” it will be necessary to “collect the terror” (shoujing) in order to enable the child to “recover its soul.” To “draw out poison” refers to the idea of “polarization disorders” between the mother (cold) and the child (hot).

10   Yangzhou is in Jiangsu.

11   Suzhou is in Jiangsu.

12   Each major guild had a local lodge (huiguan) in the big towns, which served as a meeting place, hotel, depot, and bank.

13   The Five Brilliant Spirit-Officials (Wuxian Lingguan) were originally demons of the wild (shanxiao). Then, under Daoist influence, they joined with Marshal Ma (Ma Yuanshuai) to become the enemies of such demons.

14   These magic instruments make up the “ritual treasure” (fabao) of a master of the Mount Lü sect.

15   These are the celestial army of the yin spirits led by the Generals of the Five Camps, which represent the cardinal directions and the center.

1   Five li was approximately 1.5 kilometers. Under the Song, some villages were originally kin groupings.

2   The talisman burned in front of the house was presumably addressed to the local earth god (tudi gong). These three divinities shared control of the local territory.

3   The earth gods are in charge of localities. They are at the bottom of the imperial order, like the district magistrates (tudi zhenguan).

4   The reference to “Madame Jiang” seems to be a mistake. It should probably be “Madame Lin.”

5   Time is calculated in periods of two hours; each period is associated with one of the Terrestrial Branches of the sexagesimal system.

6   The hand bears the twelve Terrestrial Branches of the sexagesimal cycle, usually located at the joints of the fingers.

7   We should note the similarity of these rituals to acupuncture. The sword dance is a dance on the stars of the Great Bear. It is also a “hunt for the soul,” a shamanic journey “through the roads and passes.”

8   The tablet (lingpai) for issuing the commands of a Daoist master is a seal stamped with the talismans of the Northern Dipper (Beidou), or of the Five Thunders.

9   In certain rites for health (Liandu), one traces a body’s silhouette, to which moxa is then applied.

10   Nine Immortals Mountain is another name for Yü Shan, in Fuzhou. The “Nine Immortals of the He clan transformed into carp” are said to have practiced asceticism for long life there, before flying to Shizhu Shan in Fuqing, where they became gods.

1   Antai Bridge was just beyond the South Gate (Nanmen) of Fuzhou.

2   The sheets of paper serve to make petitions (zhang) and talismans (fu). They are also offering money.

3   Xi Shi (6th and 5th c. BCE) was one of the four great beauties of ancient China. Zhao Feiyan was one of another group of beauties, in the Han dynasty.

4   Bao Si, the concubine of King You of Zhou, was of a melancholy disposition, so King You offered a thousand ounces of gold to anyone who could make her laugh. Wang Zhaojun was given as a wife to Huhanye, ruler (shanyu) of the Xiongnu, by Emperor Yuan of the Han (r. 48–33 BCE).

5   Lingxiao Taipan is at Wushi Shan, in Fuzhou.

6   Pressing the pulses gives access to all the organs of the body for diagnosis, or allows the taking possession of the body if one is a ritual master (fashi).

7   Sanshan was the name of Fuzhou until 725 (the third year of the Kaiyuan reign period). Chang E is the goddess of the moon, which is considered to be the quintessence of the female principle (yin).

8   The request for offerings sent to a medium through a dream is standard for this type of divination.

9   Li Shan Laomu was a Daoist known as a specialist in embryonic respiration (taixi) and internal alchemy.

10   The West Hall is the part of the house reserved for women.

11   This diet of avoiding cereals (bigu) and other cooked substances is that of the immortals, who absorb only the vapor.

12   This paper figure is a yin soldier (yinbing), a “substitute for the body” (tishen).

1   Shuikou Cliff is on the Min, northwest of Fuzhou.

2   Weaving and spinning are the typical tasks of women within the family.

3   Blue-black (qing) is the color of indigo and of Daoist robes.

4   These whispered messages are related to secret, ritual formulas (zhou).

5   Changfu County is the district of Changle, which is at the gates of Fuzhou.

1   The Pear Orchard Theater School was created by the Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712–56) of the Tang dynasty. The ritual tradition of the Exorcist Masters of Fujian (Wangshi jiao) took the name “Divine Theater of the True Tradition of the Pear Orchard” (Liyuan zhengjiao shenxi) in Jiangxi under the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). In Chinese theater female roles (dan) were generally played by men.

2   Chen Jinggu here takes the appearance of Ucchusma (Huiji jingang), “Vajra being of impure traces.”

3   Cao Zijian (192–232), better known as Cao Zhi, was Cao Cao’s son and the most celebrated poet of the Three Kingdoms. Pan An (247–300), better known as Pan Yue, was a poet renowned for his good looks.

4   Wen Qu Star is the fourth star of the Big Dipper. It is named after Wen Chang, the god of literature and imperial examinations.

5   Song Yu was a Warring States author who wrote about romantic encounters with goddesses.

6   This refers to the practices of nourishing life (yangsheng). The seminal essence must rise along the spine up to the top of the head in order to produce there the quintessence of the person.

1   Realgar is arsenic sulfide (huangyan), which was commonly used in the fifth month of the year to drive away poisonous insects and snakes.

2   A Daoist master should have good posture, be energetic, and have a voice that can carry in order to chant the rituals. It is said that they have “the bones”—that is, the bodily structure—of a Daoist.

3   Wang Shenzhi (862–925) assumed control of Fujian on April 14, 898, and became Commissioner of the Wei Wu Army on October 25. He became Keeper of the Seal in 907 and was Prince of Min from 909 to 925.

4   Lianzhang Zhou is in the northeast of Fuzhou, near the mouth of the Dai River.

5   The city god (Chenghuang Shen) is the spirit equivalent of the local official. The first task of a magistrate is to visit the city god’s temple.

6   The Avalambana (Yulanpen) is the time when the souls of the dead return; it gives rise to great rituals of offerings for these souls and for “universal salvation” (pudu). The Paradise of Perfect Joy (Jile shijie) or the Pure Land Paradise (Jingtu) is the domain of the buddha Amitabha.

7   The White Lotus sect is a syncretist, soteriological movement that dates back at least to the twelfth century.

8   Dongdu is in Shandong, near Xinwen.

9   The Zhou Changes (Zhou Yi) is also known as the Classic of Changes (Yijing). According to myth, it was sequentially assembled by Fu Xi, the Duke of Zhou, and Confucius.

10   The River Chart (Hetu) and the Book of the Luo River (Luoshu) represent the universe in the form of a diagram of the bagua, the “eight trigrams” of divination.

11   This “thumb-sized paper man” is a ritually generated “substitute body” (tishen).

12   This refers to two ways of laying out the trigrams and of situating them in relation to the directions. The order called “Before Heaven” (Xiantian) is the arrangement of Fu Xi. That of “After Heaven” (Houtian) is known as that of the Zhou.

1   The alchemy of the five arts (fa) derives from a system of binary oppositions in the manner of the Classic of Changes. The trigrams qian and kun (the first two in the Classic) symbolize Heaven and Earth, yang and yin, male and female. We can also see in these two mandalas, the one masculine (Iron Head) and the other feminine (Lin Jiuniang), the tantric expression of the two linked rituals of the vajra and the womb. The five apprentices (tudi), personifications of the five phases and their law (fa), represent the powers of the five directions.

2   These elements of the Celestial Stems (Tiangan) and Terrestrial Branches (Dizhi) refer to the complete set of the cardinal directions.

3   The four phases, or the four essential powers that develop in the combat, correspond to the four phases of the day, each made up of three periods of two hours. The basic principle is the formation of a Taiji by the two adversaries.

4   “Seal script image” (zhuan xiang) refers to characters written in the ancient “Great Seal” style. Here the characters—which could be generated as seals, written characters, or hand gestures (mudras)—are ritually manipulated to work magic. Xiang also indicates the hexagrams that make up the Classic of Changes.

5   In this combination of the Celestial Stems and Terrestrial Branches, the six jia periods are the generals of the yang, and the six ding periods are the divinities of the yin.

6   “Bald ass” (tulü) is a term of contempt for Buddhist monks, whose heads are shaved.

7   To “free oneself” (tuoshen) here has the double meaning of escaping and of casting off the old body, which would be a preliminary to emerging in a new form.

8   The vajras are tantric creatures with terrifying appearances, like the guardians at temple doors.

9   The courtyard referred to here is literally the impluvium, “Heaven’s well” (tianjing), an important part of the house, through which heaven and earth connect, like the trigrams qian and kun.

10   This refers to the ritual division of the day into four quarters, each quarter consisting of three periods of two hours.

11   At dawn, the cycle is complete. This combat recalls that in The Precious Scroll of Thunder Peak between the White Snake (Madame Bai) and the monk Fahai, although the roles here are reversed.

12   Ningde is north of Fujian.

13   The Hidden Power of Lord Wen Chang is one of the most important texts on moral cultivation and karma. Spoken by the deity Wen Chang, the text stresses the accumulation of yin virtue.

14   This parodies the festivities of the Ghost Festival and the rites of “universal salvation” (pudu).

1   Here, a dan is a measure of weight equivalent to around 110 pounds.

2   The vow to not remarry was a mark of high virtue, allowing some women (until the beginning of the twentieth century) to be honored by the construction of an imperial “arch of virtue” recognizing their chastity.

3   That is, the years 898–901.

4   This is Emperor Zhuangzong (923–26) of the Later Tang. Wang Shenzhi died on the thirtieth day of the twelfth month of 925.

5   The eldest son of Wang Shenzhi was named Yanhan (r. 925–27), and not Yanshu (perhaps a secret name of Yanhan). Yanbin, who was indeed prefect of Quanzhou, was not the son of Wang Shenzhi, but of his brother, Shengui. In contrast, Yanjun (r. 927–35), the second son of Shenzhi, is not mentioned here. As for Yanbing, he was the adopted son of Shenzhi, and was the prefect of Jianzhou (927).

6   Forty-nine days is the ritual period of mourning. Wang Shenzhi is supposed to have been buried at the foot of Lotus Peak, Lianhua Feng, in the Houguan district of Fuzhou.

7   It was Wang Yanhan who succeeded Wang Shenzhi in 925.

8   The Wei Wu Army was created by Emperor Zhaozong (r. 888–904) of the Tang dynasty, on October 12, 896, on behalf of Wang Chao, his commissioner and the elder brother of Wang Shenzhi. The army was based at Fuzhou.

9   The Luo Wall (Luocheng), “enveloping wall,” is one of the first walls of Fuzhou, constructed in 901 by Wang Shenzhi.

10   In 907 or 909, sections of Jiacheng (“hemming wall”), also called Yuecheng (“lunar wall”), were constructed south and north of the “enveloping wall.”

11   Chen Jinfeng is a historical figure.

12   The existence of Gui Shouming, called Gui Lang, is historically attested in the kingdom of Min.

13   The existence of Chen Kuangsheng is historically attested.

14   Gaogai Shan is in the Cang Shan district in Nantai.

15   The Four Treasures of the Study are the brush, ink, paper, and ink stone used in Chinese calligraphy.

16   The Battle of Gaixia took place in 202 BCE between the king of Chu, Xiang Yu, and Liu Bang, founder of the Han dynasty.

17   In order to avoid Xiang Yu’s being distracted by his love for her, the concubine Yu (Wen Ji) killed herself with Xiang Yu’s sword. Bo Yi Kao was the eldest son of King Wen of Zhou, a model of loyalty and filial piety.

1   It was Yanhan, the eldest son of Wang Shenzhi (called Yanshu in the Linshui pingyao), who took the reign title of Ziyi.

2   Wang Yanbin was the son of Wang Shengui (brother of Wang Shenzhi). This cousin of Wang Yanhan (Yanshu in the Linshui pingyao) was in fact prefect of Quanzhou.

3   Jianzhou, modern Nanping, is a prefecture in the northwest of Fuzhou. Wang Yanbing (d. 931) was prefect of Jian. Entitled Prince Weisu of Wuping, he was an adoptive son of Wang Shenzhi.

4   This expedition was led in 927 by Wang Yanjun, prefect of Quanzhou, and Wang Yanbing, prefect of Jian (Nanping).

5   The marketplace is linked to the cult of the city god, the spirit equivalent to the local authority.

6   At the end of this battle it was Wang Yanjun who succeeded his brother Yanhan (called Yanshu in the original Chinese text), not Yanbin. Yanjun proclaimed himself emperor of Min in 933, under the personal name of Lin.

7   Du Fu (712–70) was a prominent poet of the Tang dynasty.

8   Yang Bao was a scholar of the Han. When he was a child he rescued a yellow bird in the wilderness. A man in yellow robes, who identified himself both as the bird he had saved and as an envoy of the Queen Mother of the West, appeared to him in a dream and promised fortune to Yang Bao’s descendants.

9   Liu Bang founded the Han dynasty under the name of Gaozu (r. 206–194 BCE). When he was still only a simple official, he was said to have decapitated a white snake.

10   “Black turtle” (heigui) indicates a cuckold.

11   In reality, she became the concubine of Wang Yanjun, the second son of Shenzhi (r. 927–35) and not of Yanbin, who made her queen and, in 935, empress of Min.

12   Emperor Mingzong ruled from 926 to 933.

13   The fourth year of the Tiancheng reign period of the Tang was 929.

14   West Lake (Xi Hu) in the Gulou district of Fuzhou, recalls West Lake of Hangzhou (in Zhejiang) where, in other texts, the White Snake was imprisoned under Thunder Peak Pagoda.

15   Wang Yanbing and his son, Wang Jixiong (called Yan Jixiong in the original Chinese text), prefect of Jian, led a siege of Fuzhou against Wang Yanjun, in 931. Both were defeated and decapitated in the marketplace by the army of Yanjun, who was supported by Wang Renda.

16   Wang Yanzheng, son of Wang Shenzhi, was the brother of Yanjun (cousin of Yanbin). Later (943–45) he became emperor of Dayin and of Min.

17   Baohuang, “the Precious August Emperor,” is the Jade Emperor (Yuhuang), the celestial ruler. In Fuzhou, Nine Immortals Mountain (Jiuxian Shan) is also called Yu Shan. The Nine Immortals, transformed into carp, were reputed to have attained the Way through refining the elixir of immortality at this mountain. They are worshipped at Shizu Shan in Fuqing, where they are believed to send dreams to those who request them.

18   Zhang Daoling (d. between 157 and 178) is at the origin of the Way of the Celestial Masters. Dragon Tiger Mountain (Longhu Shan), in Jiangxi, is the high place of the Celestial Masters of this orthodox Daoist tradition called Zhengyi.

19   These are Emperor Zhang (r. 75–88) and Emperor He (r. 88–105).

20   These are the sacred animals of the east and the west.

21   This is the Yongshou reign period (155–58) of Emperor Huan.

22   The Purple Tenuity (Ziwei) is the pivot of Heaven, identified with the Big Dipper (Beidou).

23   Both lines refer to the danger of ornate words.

1   According to the histories, this should be Wang Yanjun.

2   According to the histories, this should be Wang Lin, who became emperor in 933. He took the reign name of Dragon Ascent (Longqi) from the auspicious appearance of a dragon above his residence.

3   Chen Jinfeng became empress in March 935.

4   Wang Jipeng, prefect of Fuzhou, was named Vice Minister of State for the Right and Vice Secretary of State when his father, Yanjun (called Yanbin in the text), became emperor. Jipeng became emperor of Min (935–39), after having assassinated his father. He himself was assassinated by his guard. Xue Wenjie, State Astrologer, was named Fiscal Intendant in 933. The promotion of Chen Shouyuan to the rank of Celestial Master of Great Min state took place in January 936.

5   Zhuge Liang, courtesy name Kongming, celebrated strategist (b. 181 CE), was one of the most brilliant tacticians of the Three Kingdoms period. Zhang Liang (3rd c.–186 BCE), born in Henan, courtesy name Zifang, was a strategist and statesman who lived in the Qin and the early Western Han dynasty. Chen Ping (d. 178 BCE) was a strategist who later served as a chancellor in the early Western Han dynasty.

6   “A disease of cold or heat” refers to the bases of Chinese medicine concerning the balance between yin and yang.

7   The consumption of human flesh is based on attested medical practices and filial piety, both Confucian and Buddhist. This is closely related to gegu, practiced by Chen Jinggu for her parents, when she covered their wounds with pieces of her own flesh.

8   Bi Gan was the loyal minister and uncle of the Shang king Zhou Xin (second millennium BCE). When Bi Gan criticized the king, the latter carved open his uncle’s chest under the pretext of testing the story that sages (which Bi Gan was pretending to be) had distinctive hearts.

9   The Heavenly Web and Earthly Net is a web formed of the ten Celestial Stems (Tiangan) and the twelve Terrestrial Branches (Dizhi), weaving all of creation.

10   Every human being has three light souls (hun), as well as seven heavy souls (po), which are the essence of the bones.

11   Longtan Gully is on the Min River, at the supposed location of Mount Lü; Iron Buddha Palace is in Kaiyuan Temple, in Gulou in Fuzhou; Qichuan Well is also at Gulou.

1   In the historical texts this would be Wang Yanjun.

2   “Refining bones” is a ritual of “salvation through refinement or transmutation” (liandu).

3   “Dragon Pavilion” (Longting) refers to geomancy and to the regulation of the state’s territory.

4   Chen Jinggu received four titles that illustrate her progressive canonization: Zongfu, Zhaohui, Ciji, and Shunyi Furen.

5   Wang Jitu, son of Wang Yanhan (here Yanshu), led a rebellion and was put to death with a thousand other people.

6   Wang Yanbing (adopted son of Wang Shenzhi), eldest brother of Wang Yanhan (Yanshu) and of Wang Yanjun (Yanbin). Yanhan was put to death by his brothers Yanbing, prefect of Jian, and Yanjun, then prefect of Quan[zhou], who had come to lay siege to Fu[zhou] in January 927. It was then that Yanjun succeeded Yanhan, first as commissioner of the Wei Wu Army (Fuzhou), then as prince, then as emperor of Min.

7   It was Wang Yanjun who succeeded Yanhan.

8   Minqing County of eastern Fujian was under the administration of Fuzhou.

9   Within Daoist sacred geography, Huayang “Flourishing Yang” is the eighth Grotto Heaven (Dongtian).

10   Nanchang, the prefectural town, was the capital of Jiangxi.

11   The “five relationships” are those between ruler and subject, father and son, elder and younger brother, husband and wife, and among friends.

12   Zhu Wen, Emperor Taizu (r. 907–12), was the founder of the Later Liang dynasty (903–27); he inaugurated the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

13   King Ping of Chu ruled from 528 to 516 BCE.

14   This refers to the final story in chapter 2 of the Zhuangzi, in which Zhuang Zhou dreams that he is a butterfly, and when he awakens is uncertain whether he is a butterfly dreaming that he is Zhuang Zhou, or Zhuang Zhou who had dreamed that he was a butterfly. The line about lustful thoughts and the cuckoo does not figure in the Zhuangzi.

15   Prince Teng was Li Yuanying, the younger brother of Emperor Taizong (598–649) of the Tang dynasty. Yuanying received the title of “prince” in 639. In 652 he became governor of Nanchang (Jiangxi), where he constructed the “Pavilion of Prince Teng” the following year. Wang Bo (650–76) composed a famous poem titled “Preface for the Pavilion of Prince Teng.”

16   According to legend, Liu Yong, who lived under the Song dynasty (420–79) of the Southern Dynasties, loved to eat scabs, finding them as delicious as abalone.

17   Nanchang and Tingzhou are two towns in Jiangxi. Yanping district (Fujian) is under the jurisdiction of the prefectural town of Nanping.

18   Jiao is an “offering” or “sacrifice” headed by Daoist priests. It refers to the large-scale ceremonies organized by local communities, and by other social groups, in order to define themselves on the religious level, specifically in order to establish or confirm the (semi-contractual) relationship between the group and its tutelary deity.

1   This refers to the magic art of using paper cutting, an ancient ritual art, to create “substitute bodies” (tishen).

2   This is another name for Wang Qiang, a lady of the Han court, who was married to a chieftain of a northern tribe, one of the four beauties of ancient China.

3   Changle is next to Fuzhou and was an earlier name for it.

4   Fuzhou was besieged in 927 by Wang Yanbing and Wang Yanjun, who vanquished Wang Yanhan (called Yanshu in the Linshui pingyao), who was decapitated. In 931 Wang Yanbing and his son, Wang Jixiong, led the siege against Yanjun, who won and proclaimed himself emperor of Min in 933. Yanbing and Jixiong were decapitated. Wang Jitu fomented a rebellion against Yanjun but was defeated. He was put to death with a thousand other people.

5   This is the quintessential Chinese halberd, which figures prominently in late imperial fiction.

6   This demon general of the army recalls many other women warriors, such as Tang Sai’er, who led an insurrection during the reign of the Yongle emperor (r. 1403–25) of the Ming dynasty. What made her so potent as a rebel was her status as an adept of the martial arts.

7   The magic tradition of Mount Mao has an open arrangement of the trigrams in the form of a snake. The eight sworn sisters and the thirty-six Pojie trace the form of this diagram.

8   These thirty-six palace concubines and seventy-two ladies of the court in the service of the shaman (fashi) of Min recall the court of the Jade Emperor.

9   The left is the yang position.

10   These eight divisions are patterned on the eight trigrams (bagua).

11   The blood and fur of a dog were employed in black magic. A fly whisk (in this case made of palm) wards off evil spirits.

1   In the Thunder Arts, the tip of the Big Dipper is called the “horse” and is commonly called “breaking the army” (po jun) in esoteric terms. The Thunder must be summoned from the direction in which the Pole Star is pointing.

2   The old city of Fuzhou had “three lanes and seven alleys” (sanfang qixiang). Anmin Alley (Anmin Xiang) is said to have received its name at the time of the Huang Chao rebellion, at the end of the Tang dynasty.

3   Black Dragon River (Wulong Jiang) is a tributary of the Min.

4   This was 662, in the reign of Emperor Gaozong (r. 649–83) of the Tang dynasty.

5   Zhang You (Sengyou) (6th c.) was a painter originally from Wu, in Jiangsu. Yang Zihua (fl. 561–65) was known for his paintings of horses. Wang Mojie (Vimalakirti) was the pen name and court name of the poet, painter, and musician Wang Wei (701–61).

6   The Chinese title is Chongfu Linshui Furen.

7   Chen Shouyuan was a Daoist official (daoguan), and his Daoist medium, Sheng Tao, is called “Daoist master shaman” (daoshi wuzhe). It is common to see a Daoist master perform rituals with a medium.

1   This was 935.

2   This is a reference to the sequence of rituals called morning, noon, and evening “audiences” with the Jade Emperor.

3   This threat to burn the Daoists alive echoes the ancient custom of burning a shaman (wu) to death or of exposing him to the sun for a long period in order to bring rain.

4   In the context of “nourishing the vital principle,” the “deliverance from the womb” (tuotai) evokes the nourishing of the embryo of immortality within the body of the adept, a process that culminates in the casting off of one’s old body to liberate the new, perfected one. Here this process is conflated with Chen Jinggu’s “removal of her fetus” (tuo qi taiyun).

5   The birthing basin (xitong) was part of the dowry that a woman took with her when she married.

6   The text says niejue, “knot a mudra.” This refers to forming a mudra that creates a “finger seal” that is used to trace out a magic figure.

7   Chen Jinggu re-created the world of the womb and oriented it like a birthing chamber.

8   Kui Ge, “Elder Brother Kui,” suggests the name Kuixing, a star in the handle of the Big Dipper (Beidou). The Great Ravine Demon is the demon of the universal womb.

9   Hemorrhaging evokes the real danger of bleeding to death in childbirth, as well as the punishment of the Lake of Blood that women face in the next world, due to the impurity linked to blood lost during childbirth. The ritual skirt worn by the masters of the Mount Lü sect is red, like the blood lost by Chen Jinggu.

10   There is a ritual called “jiao of the masters” (shijiao), unique to the Mount Lü sect for the salvation of those who died bad deaths. These unnatural deaths are known as “ten wounds” (shi shang). This term recalls the Ten Furies (chang) often associated with the cult of Chen Jinggu and her talismans.

11   “A Dream under the Southern Bough” (Nanke meng or Nanke ji), by Tang Xianzu (1550–1616), is a famous Kunqu opera, where what is experienced as an entire lifetime turns out to be a brief dream.

12   Gui Shouming was responsible for making sacrifices (jidian), a category of official ritual that he carried out according to court etiquette.

13   The thirty-six concubines became “divine positions” (wei). The inscription of their names on the Imperial Register of Min gave an official status to the cult.

14   The Chinese title is Zhaohui Chongfu Linshui Furen.

15   This refers to the Ming dynasty traveler Xu Xiake (1587–1641), known for his work Records of the Wanderings of Xu Xiake (Xu Xiake youji).

16   This title of “heroine divinity” (yingxiong shenming) evokes the idea of an empire-wide heroine.

1   The three worlds (sanjie) correspond to the cult of the Three Agents. The Agent of Heaven (Tianguan), Agent of Earth (Diguan), and Agent of Water (Shuiguan) keep the register of good and bad actions.

2   Fenggang is in Sha district, near Nanping and Gutian.

3   Zhong Kui, who lived under Emperor Dezong (r. 799–805) of the Tang dynasty, according to legend, became king of the ghosts in hell. At New Year’s and in the fifth month, his image is pasted on doorways to ward off evil spirits.

4   Guan Gong (or Yunchang) was a general in the Three Kingdoms period who was killed in battle.

5   “Pond-snail” (tianluo) birth is one in which the mother’s internal organs come out along with the baby.

6   A zhang was a unit of Chinese linear measurement slightly longer than ten feet.

7   Fengdu is a district near Chongqing in Sichuan said to be near the entrance to hell. A large complex of shrines, temples, and monasteries dedicated to the afterlife was constructed there on the model of Youdu, the capital of hell.

8   The sutra particular to Chen Jinggu is titled “True Sutra of the Favorable and Beneficent Qilin Who Brings Infants to Birth” (Yulin shunyi dutuochan ruozhenjing) (manuscript, Linshui Gong, Gutian).

9   It consists of “eagle wood,” ebony, and persimmon.

10   Supreme Exalted Lord Lao is the divinized Laozi.

11   There is still an active cult to this Python Celestial Spirit King (Mang Tian Shen Wang). In his temple in Lianjiang the serpent god is represented in human form with his wife and three sons.

12   Zhi Mountain is in Gulou in Fuzhou.

13   The Changxing reign period of the Later Tang is 930. The fourth year of the Zhengtong reign period of the Ming is 1440.