传真天师杜光庭

Chuan Zhen Tian Shi Du Guang Ting

道士杜光庭,字宾圣,号东瀛子。本处州人。《青城山记》云: “京兆杜陵人。”博极群书,志趣超迈。唐懿宗朝与郑云叟赋万言不中,乃奋然入道。事天台道士应夷节。常谓:“道法科教自汉天师暨陆修静撰集以来,岁月绵邈,几将废坠。”遂考真伪,条列始末。故天下羽褥永远受其赐。郑畋荐其文于朝,僖宗召见,赐以紫服象简,充麟德殿文章应制,为道门领袖。蜀主王建初赐号广德先生,又欲优于名秩,询于故事,毛文锡献言:“唐武德初,祁平定为金紫大夫,开元中尹惜居谏省。”于是以为谏议大夫,封蔡国公,进号广成先生。延之玉局化,通正初迁户部侍郎。衍袭位,尊为传真天师,特进检校太傅太子宾客兼崇文馆大学士。

Taoist Du Guang Ting was a native of Ben Chu Zhou (本处州). He was diligent, curious and knowledgeable about classics and philosophical works. During the period of Emperor Yi Zong (懿宗) of Tang Dynasty, his failure in the Imperial Examinations was his life’s major turning point: he became a Taoist and a disciple of Master Ying Yi Jie (应夷节) in Tian Tai Mountain (天台山). During that time, Du found that a lot of teachings and information handed down by Zu Tian Shi and Lu Xiu Jing (陆修静) were made erroneous as time lapsed. He then reorganized and annotated the materials with proper citation, as well as deleting all forged documents. His works were being recommended to Emperor Tang Xi Zong (僖宗). The Emperor appointed him a senior position as “Lin De Dian Wen Zhang Ying Zhi” (麟德殿文章应制) for writing him poems and other literary works. Soon, Du also became a leader in Taoism. Later because of wars, he sought refuge to Shu (蜀), now Sichuan, and settled in there. At that time, Wang Jian (王建), founder of the later Kingdom of Shu, appreciated Du for his exceptional abilities and granted him prestigious titles such as “Guang De Xian Sheng” (广德先生), “Jin Zi Dai Fu” (金紫大夫) as well as “Jian Yi Dai Fu” (谏议大夫). Du also received a nobility position as “Cai Guo Gong” (蔡国公) and a name as “Guang Cheng Xian Shen” (广成先生), for all his great achievements and contributions. During the reign of Emperor Yan (衍), Du was formally named as “Chuan Zhen Tian Shi”(传真天师) and “Chong Wen Guan Da Xue Shi” (崇文馆大学士), a position equivalent to the Emperor’s senior secretariat.