A History of Daoism and the Yao People of South China
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A History of Daoism and the Yao People of South China By Eli Alb ...

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that the distinction between these two kinds of liturgy, one written in classical Chinese and the other in vernacular—the so-called vulgar rites (su-fa)—has a long history in China.49

As de Groot had argued for southern Fujian, Schipper distinguished two separate ritual traditions. On the one hand, the Daoist priests (daoshi ) of the Orthodox Unity (Zhengyi ) line—the Celestial Masters who claimed descent from Zhang Daoling, the progenitor of their ritual lineage—use the Chinese texts of the Daoist Canon (daozang ). On the other hand, another class of ritual specialist used texts of a “vernacular” tradition.

As Schipper points out, in order to perform orthodox Daoist ritual, it is necessary to be able to read classical Chinese:

The classical ritual performed in Hokkien is in pure wen-yen [literary Chinese] in a variety of styles, usually alternating prose with rhymed parts…. The classical rituals have to be read, that is, the text (always manuscript) has to be present on the altar and the officiant—or one of his acolytes—turns the pages as the reading progresses, even if the text is known by heart. This reading (and chanting) is done in the classical Hokkien pronunciation (thak-im; Mandarin: tu-yin), which is entirely different from the spoken language…. The use of this classical pronunciation requires much training on the part of the performers. The masters of classical ritual are specialists. And so, in a different way, are the performers of vernacular ritual.50

Thus, for Schipper, one of the defining features of the Daoist priest is his literacy in Chinese, and his ritual use of Chinese texts, which he explains are always in manuscript form, and are not only meant to be read but also have a place in the ritual as objects of great symbolic power.

In contrast to the orthodox traditions of the Daoist priests, Schipper— following de Groot—distinguished a separate class of specialist known