Daoism: A Beginner's Guide by James Miller

Author:James Miller
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The term `messiah' is a Hebrew word meaning `the anointed

one', and is a reference to the ancient rite of accession in which

monarchs were anointed with oil. The modern meaning of the

term refers to the period in Jewish history roughly coterminous

with the Han dynasty (second century

bce to second century ce)

during which there arose the phenomenon of `messianic expecta-

tion' ­ the notion that the god of the Jews would send a leader to

rid the nation of its foreign occupiers and restore once again the

kingdom of Israel. Scholars of comparative religions now use this

term to designate any comparable phenomenon. Although we

have no direct evidence that millenarianism and messianism were

imported from the West, it has been suggested that the fact that

these phenomena occurred in roughly similar time periods is more

than a coincidence. Livia Kohn writes:

Given this historic coincidence in timing, it is quite conceivable

that merchants travelling along the silk road, which had been

opened in the second century

bce, carried ideas in addition to

goods into China, that people of various cultural backgrounds

migrated and settled there, and that Chinese soldiers in outlying

border posts came into contact with Western ideas. (Kohn, 1998,

p. 43)

The best evidence we have for this phenomenon of Daoist mes-

sianism is contained in a Daoist sectarian text that takes the form

of a report of Zhang Daoling's final sermon to his lieutenant, Zhao

Sheng. The Oral Instructions Declared by the Celestial Master of

Orthodox Unity to Zhao Sheng [Zhengyi tianshi gao Zhao Sheng kou-

jue] is dated around 400

ce, and bears witness to a complex apoc-

alyptic chronology that appears to have been rewritten several

times. This may well be evidence of having to readjust the

chronology of the messianic expectations in accordance with

changing political circumstances or as events that the text pre-

dicted did not seem to happen on schedule (see Nickerson, 2000,

p. 264).

102 Daoism: A Beginner's Guide

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