The ''Divine Incantations Scripture'' is the oldest known
Chinese classic text
Chinese classic texts or canonical texts () or simply dianji (典籍) refers to the Chinese texts which originated before the imperial unification by the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, particularly the "Four Books and Five Classics" of the Neo-Confucian ...
that details an
apocalypse.
History
The earliest portions of the book have been traced back to the beginning of the fifth century CE, with subsequent commentary attesting an origin in the early fourth; the book likely integrates older traditions.
These traditions offered a new route to
transcendence that was different from the
Way of the Celestial Masters
The Way of the Celestial Masters is a Chinese Daoist movement that was founded by Zhang Daoling in 142 AD. Its followers rebelled against the Han Dynasty, and won their independence in 194. At its height, the movement controlled a theocratic stat ...
from which it branched. The ''Divine Incantations Scripture'' sought to clarify the gods are "merely the officials of the
celestial bureaucracy". The text was unique for the time in that it promised the aid of celestial "ghost troops" to those who upheld its teachings and acknowledged the dynamic obedience and simultaneous danger of various "daemon kings" that also existed in a fantastical version of the
metaphysical world. These characteristics draw interesting parallels with the cosmic and celestial warfare depicted in the ''
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of ...
'' from the Christian ''
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...
'' canon. The book also urges Daoists to "assiduously convert the unenlightened", and demands scriptural exclusivity when receiving the ''Divine Incantations Scripture''.
Notes
References
Works cited
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Taoist texts
Apocalyptic literature
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