What is "Hua Hu" and what is the Hua Hu Jing?

Hua Hu Jing was a very popular Taoist scripture from ancient China written by Taoist Wang Fou in 305 A.D.

Originally, it was a narration of Lao Tzu's journey West. The book became valuable—and controversial—due to an alleged conviction made inside the book stating that after Lao Tzu finished Tao Te Ching, he went to India and enlisted Sakyamuni as his disciple. This sparked a long debate between the Taoists and Buddhists.

For the next nine hundreds years, the issue intensified yet remained unsettled.

Meanwhile, from the Fourth to the Thirteenth century, the Taoist scripture Hua Hu Jing circulated and gained popularity. Its contents kept growing.

Then, during the early part of the Mongol period, by decree of the emperor, it was officially banned and burning on three separate occasions.

Why it was forbidden and how that happened will be the main topic of Hanson Chan's talk.

General consensus among Chinese scholars stated that in the subsequent seven hundreds years—from the Fourteenth to Nineteenth century—this important Taoist scripture had been lost. Yet, early in the Twentieth century, someone in Dun-Huang discovered a large quantity of ancient books hidden inside a cave. Among them, a single copy of the Hua Hu Jing was found.

The surviving scripture, in two separate fragments, is currently kept in England and France.

Hanson Chan's novels regarding "Hua Hu" have been published in two volumes: Book I is titled, The Forbidden Scripture, and Book II, The Thunder Spell. Both have English versions. The stories are based on historical events surrounding the banning and burning of the scripture.

During the CALA program, Mr. Chan will focus on the background and reasons for these historical incidents. In addition, while briefly reviewing some pertinent content from the surviving text, he will explain how "Hua Hu" relates to our current generation. <

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