Lu Xiujing

Lu Xiujing (Chinese: 陸修靜; pinyin: Lù Xiūjìng; 406–477), known by the courtesy name Yuande (元德) and the posthumous name Jianji (簡寂), was a Taoist compiler and ritualist who lived under the Liu Song dynasty. His education was of Confucianist leaning. Nevertheless, he chose to study Taoism. Lu was devoted to his faith to the point of abandoning his family.

During his pilgrimages to the various mountains where eminent Taoists had lived, Lu had the chance to collect the scriptures of various currents. His most important accomplishments are his edition of the Lingbao texts and his compilation of the first Taoist Canon. The structure of the canon, called "Three Caverns", will be used from the Tang dynasty onward.

When he was working on the Lingbao compendium, Lu helped structure and expand the already complex set of rituals. Although Lu attributed a lot of importance to the rituals, he put them in second position in the Taoist Canon, that is in the second cavern.

Lu was eloquent and hard-working, and he played a key role in the promotion of the Lingbao school of thoughts, and of the Taoist school of thoughts at large. He was very highly regarded in his lifetime but, after his death, his attempt at unifying the Taoist practices into one canon encountered a lot of criticism. Eventually his reputation was restored under the Tang.