True form (Taoism)

True form
True form
	The Chart of True Form of the Topography of the Most High Man-Bird Mountain (太上人鳥山真形圖).
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	真形 / 眞形
Simplified Chinese	真形 / 眞形
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	zhēn xíng
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	Chân hình
Chữ Hán	真形 / 眞形

In Taoism, the concept of a true form (Chinese: 真形 / 眞形; pinyin: Zhēn xíng) is a metaphysical theory which posits that there are immutable essences of things — that is, images of the eternal Dao without form.^[1]^[2]^[3] This belief exists in Chinese Daoist traditions such as the Three Sovereigns corpus, where they emphasise the capacity of talismans, charts, and diagrams to depict both "true forms" and "true names" (真名, Zhēn míng) of demons and spirits.^[1] These talismanic representations are considered to be windows into the metaphysical substance of the entities whose "true form" and "true name" they depict.^[1] Since both the "true form" and the "true name" of an entity are two sides of the same coin, diagrams and talismans, could serve as apotropaic amulets or summoning devices for the deities the Taoists believed populated the cosmic mountains.^[4]^[1]

Taoists created charts (albums) depicting these "true forms" to help guide them safely through holy places during their pilgrimages, later they created talismans (charms) which displayed these true form charts. A talisman was more easily carried on the person and provided protection for seekers of the Dao as they journeyed into these mountainous areas.

This concept should not be confused with the Confucian concept of a "true form" (深情, literally “feelings buried deep within”).^[5]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Steavu, Dominic, "Paratextuality, Materiality, and Corporeality in Medieval Chinese Religions", [1] (Archive).
^ Shih-Shan Susan Huang (黃士珊), Assistant Professor, Art History Department, Rice University (23 April 2011). "True Form Charts and the Daoist Visuality". The Visual and Material Perspectives on East Asia Workshop (VMPEA) - University of Chicago. Retrieved 10 July 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Wilhelm, The I Ching or Book of Changes (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1967), 323. Pregadio (“The Notion of Form”), 90–99 explains that the term qi 器, “literally meaning ‘vessel,’ and is used in this sentence as a synonym of wu [物], ‘thing’; it denotes any entity that exists in the world of form, distinguished from the Dao, which is above form.”
^ “Xie zhenshan zhixing: cong ‘Shanshuitu‘ ‘Shanshui hua‘ tan Daojiao shanshuiguan zhi shijue xingsu” 寫真山之形：從「山水圖」、「山水畫」談道教山水觀之視覺型塑 (Shaping the True Mountains: ‘Shanshui tu’,‘Shanshui hua’, and Visuality in Daoist Landscape), Gugong xueshu jikan (故宮學術季刊) - Palace Museum Research Quarterly 31.4 (2014): 121-204.
^ ChuangTzu ch. 32; Watson, The Complete Works Of Chuang Tzu, p. 358. Quote: Confucius said, “The mind of man is more perilous than mountains or rivers, harder to understand than Heaven. Heaven at least has its fixed times of spring and fall, winter and summer, daybreak and dusk. But man is thick-skinned and hides his true form (深情, Shēn qíng) deep within…."

[Steavu-Paratextuality-Materiality-and-Corporeality-1] Steavu, Dominic, "Paratextuality, Materiality, and Corporeality in Medieval Chinese Religions", [1] (Archive).

[University-of-Chicago-True-Form-Charts-and-the-Daoist-Visuality-2] Shih-Shan Susan Huang (黃士珊), Assistant Professor, Art History Department, Rice University (23 April 2011). "True Form Charts and the Daoist Visuality". The Visual and Material Perspectives on East Asia Workshop (VMPEA) - University of Chicago. Retrieved 10 July 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[3] Wilhelm, The I Ching or Book of Changes (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1967), 323. Pregadio (“The Notion of Form”), 90–99 explains that the term qi 器, “literally meaning ‘vessel,’ and is used in this sentence as a synonym of wu [物], ‘thing’; it denotes any entity that exists in the world of form, distinguished from the Dao, which is above form.”

[4] “Xie zhenshan zhixing: cong ‘Shanshuitu‘ ‘Shanshui hua‘ tan Daojiao shanshuiguan zhi shijue xingsu” 寫真山之形：從「山水圖」、「山水畫」談道教山水觀之視覺型塑 (Shaping the True Mountains: ‘Shanshui tu’,‘Shanshui hua’, and Visuality in Daoist Landscape), Gugong xueshu jikan (故宮學術季刊) - Palace Museum Research Quarterly 31.4 (2014): 121-204.

[5] ChuangTzu ch. 32; Watson, The Complete Works Of Chuang Tzu, p. 358. Quote: Confucius said, “The mind of man is more perilous than mountains or rivers, harder to understand than Heaven. Heaven at least has its fixed times of spring and fall, winter and summer, daybreak and dusk. But man is thick-skinned and hides his true form (深情, Shēn qíng) deep within…."

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