fulu

{{zh|c=符|p=fú|labels=no}}{{cite web|url= http://www.transasiart.com/Numismatique/numismatique_chine/amulettes/religieuses/ncnamurel.htm|title= Amulettes religieuses (Religious charms).|date=14 September 2015|access-date=6 July 2018|work= François Thierry de Crussol (TransAsiart)|language=fr}} are instructions for deities and spirits, symbols for exorcism,The Tao of Craft: Fu Talismans and Casting Sigils in the Eastern Esoteric Tradition by Benenell Wen. Publisher: North Atlantic Books. Publication date: September 27, 2016. {{ISBN|978-1623170660}}. and recipes for potions or charms used to treat ailments. A {{zh|c=籙|p=lù|labels=no}} is a registry for the memberships of priests, which additionally lists the skills they are trained in.

File:Chinese Fulu talisman han dynasty 乌程汉简浙江出土.jpg Chinese talisman, part of the {{ill|Wucheng Bamboo-slips|zh|乌程汉简}}]]

Scholarly research into the history of Taoist symbolism has always been a particular challenge, because historically, Taoist priests have often used abstruse, obscure imagery writing to express their thoughts, meaning that a path to their successful decipherment and interpretation isn't always readily found in primary sources.{{cite journal|title= The Sacred Writing of Knowledge: Interpreting the True Form Charts of the Man-Bird Mountain in Taoism|date=21 November 2022|author= Linbo Cai|journal= Religions|volume= 13|issue= 11|page= 1128 |doi= 10.3390/rel13111128|language=en|doi-access= free}} According to scholar Yang Zhaohua, while a number of the earliest known Taoist talismans were "simple and legible", later examples had become deliberately cryptic in order to signal their divinity.Yang Zhaohua, “Devouring Impurities: Myth, Ritual and Talisman in the Cult of Ucchus.ma in Tang China” (PhD dissertation, Stanford University, 2013), 267–268. Other scholars of Taoism such as James Robson and Gil Raz have claimed that the incomprehensibility of written forms is central to the talisman's perceived authority and efficacy, and is one of talismanic script's defining features.James Robson, “Signs of Power: Talismanic Writing in Chinese Buddhism,” History of Religions 48:2 (2008), especially 135–139, and 167; and Gil Raz, The Emergence of Daoism: Creation of Tradition (London: Routledge, 2012), 139–143.

During the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420), it was already considered unnecessary for users of Taoist talismans to be able to decipher the writing on them in order for them to be considered efficacious.Steavu, Dominic, "Paratextuality, Materiality, and Corporeality in Medieval Chinese Religions", [https://online.ucpress.edu/jmw/article-pdf/1/4/11/382899/jmw_2019_1_4_11.pdf] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20230720062511/https://www.eastasian.ucsb.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Steavu.Paratexts.Talismans.fu_.Diagrams.tu_.pdf Archive]). Ge Hong noted in his Baopuzi that as long as the inscription was authentic, successful use of the talisman did not depend on whether the user was able to decipher its script. By this time, the talisman's illegibility had already become a sign that they were of divine authority and held supernatural provenance.

File:TaoistCharm.JPG

{{transliteration|zh|Fulu}} tend to have irregular strokes that resemble Chinese characters, often elongating existing words while incorporating non-character symbols. Taoist priests are the main interpreters of this eclectic writing system, and the characters can differ from sect to sect. The method of writing down these characters is generally passed down in secret from a Taoist priest to their disciples and treated as a special craft with which to communicate to local deities and spirits. According to Fudan University professor Ge Zhaoguang, the unreadability of Taoist talismanic is a type of 'linguistic archaism' deliberately designed to be incomprehensible, as "a veil of unfathomable otherwordliness" that allows only a small number of qualified clergy to adequately produce them.Ge Zhaoguang, {{zh|中國宗教與文學論集|labels=no}}, 57, cited in Yang, “Devouring Impurities,” 269. Similarly, Brigitte Baptandier, “Le Tableau talismanique de l'Empereur de Jade, Construction d'un objet d'écriture,” L’Homme 129 (1994): 59–92, argues that while talismanic diagrams are not intended to be read according to habitual linguistic conventions, through their symbols and script, they narrate mythologies and histories (among other things) and are therefore decipherable if not legible. However, she focuses on contemporary applications of talismans-diagrams that date from a more recent time when Daoism, especially in its more vernacular incarnations, was less concerned with establishing legitimacy and thus not as inclined to emphasise illegibility; see also Yang, “Devouring Impurities,” 269.

Some {{transliteration|zh|fulu}} appear to have been created from a composition of two Chinese characters, by stacking one atop of the other. This technique of synthesis was not unique to Taoists: {{transliteration|zh|fulu}} also appear on other kinds of Chinese charms, such as Buddhist coin charms and woodblock prints. {{transliteration|zh|Fulu}} style varies from sect to sect, with each having different incantations and different mudras used in their creation. Even the invocations used for a single deity will vary between sects.

Talismans have been used for centuries in China as a healing method alongside medicines, meditation, acupuncture, astrology, and massage.{{Cite journal|last=Lin|first=Fu-shih|title=「祝由」釋義：以《黃帝內經‧素問》為核心文本的討論|journal=中央研究院歷史語言研究所集刊|volume=83|issue=4|pages=671–738}} Known as {{zh|c=祝由|p=zhuyou|labels=no}} in medical writings, the use of talismans enjoyed official support between the Sui and the late Ming dynasties, though seeing decline when rival acupuncture practices were recognised by the imperial court as a medicinal discipline in the 6th century.{{Cite book|last=Fan|first=Ka Wai|title=六朝隋唐醫學之傳承與整合|publisher=香港中文大學出版社|year=2004|isbn=9789629961558|location=Hong Kong}}

While rejected by traditional Chinese medicine, {{transliteration|zh|zhuyou}} continues to be widely used amongst Chinese folk healers today. With the growing influence of Western psychology in the 20th century, {{transliteration|zh|zhuyou}} began to be interpreted as a Chinese counterpart of Western hypnosis.{{Cite journal|last=Bernardi Junqueira|first=Luis Fernando|date=2021-06-08|title=Revealing Secrets: Talismans, Healthcare and the Market of the Occult in Early Twentieth-century China|journal=Social History of Medicine|volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=1068–1093 |doi=10.1093/shm/hkab035|pmid=34899068 |pmc=8653939 |issn=0951-631X|doi-access=free}}

One of the earliest references to {{transliteration|zh|fulu}} is found in the Huangdi Yinfujing, though without adequate instructions for the writing thereof. The second chapter of each of the three grottoes in the Daozang is a record of the history and feats of the '{{transliteration|zh|fulu}} sect', where {{transliteration|zh|fulu}} are said to originate with the condensation of clouds in the sky.

File:91619 SMVK EM objekt 1016716 (1).jpg in Sweden]]

{{Main|Taoist coin charm}}

{{See also|Chinese numismatic charm#Taoist charms|Lei Ting curse charm}}

{{transliteration|zh|Fulu}} was also incorporated into coin talismans, of which many resemble cash. Many of these talismans have not yet been deciphered. One specimen has been described where talismanic script was written side by side with Chinese characters suspected to be their glosses or equivalents.TAOISTSECRET.COM [https://web.archive.org/web/20060625233102/http://www.taoistsecret.com/taoist.html Taoist Talismans]. Retrieved: 10 May 2018.Anything Anywhere - CHINA, amulets. [http://www.anythinganywhere.com/commerce/coins/coinpics/chin-amulets1.htm Chinese culture is permeated, no, based on poetic allusion, hidden meanings, union of opposites, complex currents of energy and intention. In certain contexts these bases can express in rank superstition (present in all human cultures), and in others can lead to scientific advancement]. Retrieved: 10 May 2018. On rare occasions, {{transliteration|zh|fulu}} has also been found on Buddhist numismatic charms and amulets. Most of these coin talismans request Lei Gong to protect its carriers from evil spirits and misfortune.

{{transliteration|zh|Fulu}} are usually included at the beginning and the end of the inscription on a Taoist coin charm.

• {{Cite book |last=Huang |first=Shih-shan Susan |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/758383292 |title=Picturing the true form: Daoist visual culture in traditional China |date=2012 |publisher=Harvard University Asia Center : Distributed by Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-06573-4 |series=Harvard East Asian monographs |location=Cambridge, Mass |oclc=758383292}}
• {{Cite book |last=Shih-shan Susan Huang (黃士珊) |url=https://www.academia.edu/35704246 |title=Daoist Seals |year=2018}}
• {{Cite book |last=Wong |first=Eva |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/642843256 |title=Taoism: an essential guide |date=2011 |publisher=Shambhala |isbn=978-1-59030-882-0 |location=Boston |oclc=642843256}} See in particular Chapter 7, Magical Taoism, The Way of Power.
• {{Cite book |last=刘 |first=晓明 |title=中国符咒文化研究 |publisher=中央编译出版社 |year=2013 |isbn=978-7-5117-1742-9 |series=中国神秘文化系列 |location=Beijing}}

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