| Abstract |
This article examines the ritual of lighting lamps in early Lingbao scriptures and traces the development of the ritual. In the Jade Instructions, one of earliest Lingbao scriptures, Daoist practitioners performed the rituals for the benefit of the family, society, and the whole nation. In the Major Precepts of the Upper Chapter of Wisdom, each lighting lamps ritual had to be conducted in the context of the entire Lingbao ritual system, especially confession. However, in the Ordinances of the Luminous Perfected the traditional lamps lighting further bears a salvational significance in itself. Light dispels the clouding darkness of hell, hence all souls in the hell can be liberated. The ritual destroys the hells which consequently results in universal salvation. The ritual of lighting lamps became a systematic ritual on its own and a popular practice for various purposes as well. The ritual syncretizes Daoist liturgy and Buddhist concepts of merit and salvation from hell. During the Tang dynasty, the celebration of the Lantern Festival reached its zenith and became one of the largest social activities throughout the empire.
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