Baopuzi - Hobokushi

A book written by Ge Hong (283-343?), a Taoist scholar from the Jin Dynasty in China. The title is his pen name. The current eight-volume edition contains 20 chapters in 20 volumes of the Inner Chapters and 52 chapters in 50 volumes of the Outer Chapters (volume 49 is three chapters in the same volume). Some sources state that the Inner and Outer Chapters contain 160 chapters, and since the Liang Dynasty, the number of volumes has been said to be "like a tangled thread" (Sikozensho Zongmu Teiyao). The Inner Chapters provide information on cinnabar (a compound of mercury and sulfur), medicines made from animals and plants, breathing techniques, amulets, ways to ward off evil, the use of demons and gods, the Luzhong method (considering the gods within oneself), precepts, and other topics, and describe the methods of becoming a sage and the types of sages. Taoist thought is the origin (first) and Confucian thought is the end (last). The outer chapters are based on Confucianism and discuss politics, society, and life, as well as literature, and the style of writing is noteworthy in the history of the development of the four-six-four-legal literature. The autobiography in volume 50 describes Ge Hong's life and the motivation and content of the work. Today, the term "Baopuzi" generally refers to the inner chapters. He considered the Taoist arts passed down from Zuo Ci at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, through his great-grandfather Ge Xuan, to his master Zheng Yin, to be the orthodox art, and he considered those who received oral teachings from them to be wise masters, rejecting other schools of Taoism, including Laozi and Zhuangzi. Ge Hong's intellectual background as an aristocrat is shown in his teaching that one can become a sage by choosing a wise master and practicing. On the other hand, it preaches a theory of fate based on the stars (birth and death stars) to avoid criticism of the theory of immortality, and encourages various health regimes and morals under the guise of concurrent practice, making it a culmination of traditional Taoist arts.

[Masayuki Miyazawa]

``A Study of the History of Taoism'' by Shinobu Obuchi (1964, Okayama University Mutual Aid Association Book Department) ▽ ``World Religions Series 9: History of Taoism'' by Tokutada Kubo (1977, Yamakawa Publishing) ▽ ``Hobokuzi'' by Yoshimi Murakami (1967, Meitoku Publishing)''

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、晋(しん)代の道教の士、葛洪(かっこう)（283―343？）の著書。彼の号を書名とした。現行の八巻本には内篇(ないへん)20巻に20章、外篇50巻に52章（第49巻は3章同巻）を載せる。内・外篇の内容を160篇と記すものもあり、梁(りょう)代以来その巻数は「もつれた糸のようである」（『四庫全書(しこぜんしょ)総目提要』）といわれている。内篇は丹砂(たんさ)（水銀と硫黄(いおう)の化合物）や動植物の薬、呼吸法、護符、避邪(ひじゃ)、鬼神の駆使、歴臓法（身中の神々を想念する）、戒律などを示して、仙人となる方法や仙人の種類を記す。道家思想を本（先）とし儒家思想を末（後）とする。外篇は儒家を本として、政治、社会、処世のことを説くほか、文学も論じており、その文体は四六駢儷文(べんれいぶん)発達史上注目されている。巻50の自叙は、葛洪の生涯や本書述作の動機、内容を伝えている。今日『抱朴子』といえば一般に内篇をさす。彼は、後漢末の左慈(さじ)―従祖父（いとこおじ）の葛玄(かつげん)―師の鄭隠(ていいん)へと伝わる道術を正統とし、その口訣(くけつ)（奥義の宗教的口授）を受けたものを明師(めいし)とし、老子や荘子をはじめ他の道流を排斥した。明師を選び修行すれば仙人になれる（神仙可学）と説く点に葛洪の貴族出身の知識人らしさが示されている。一方、星宿（生星と死星）による宿命論を説いて神仙可学説への批判をかわし、各種の養生法や道徳を兼修と称して奨励しており、従来の道術が集大成されている。

［宮澤正順］

『大淵忍爾著『道教史の研究』（1964・岡山大学共済会書籍部）』▽『窪徳忠著『世界宗教叢書9　道教史』（1977・山川出版社）』▽『村上嘉実著『抱朴子』（1967・明徳出版社）』

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