Mid-5th century, in the bustling Southern capital of Jiankang (today’s Nanjing), marked the birth of what would become the Daozang. Around 456–463 CE, the scholar-official Lu Xiujing undertook the colossal task of gathering, editing, and organizing hundreds of Taoist texts into a coherent “canon.” His system—later known as the Three Caverns (San Dong) classification—neatly arranged rituals, meditation manuals, alchemical treatises and liturgical works under one roof.

This original compilation arose under the Liu Song dynasty, at a time when southern China was fast becoming a refuge for scholars and spiritual seekers, fleeing northern turmoil. Jiankang itself was a melting pot of ideas, with Daoist lineages intersecting and borrowing from Buddhist and Confucian thought. Lu Xiujing’s vision essentially laid the foundation for all subsequent Daozang editions—Tang, Ming and Qing—with each dynasty expanding and refining the collection.

Fast-forward to today: digital humanities projects in China and abroad are bringing that 5th-century manuscript network back to life online. Scans of Lu Xiujing’s earliest catalogues sit alongside modern translations, proving that those Jiankang scribes still cast a long shadow over contemporary Taoist studies.