The music of this qin setting, which perhaps more suggests a hymn than a chant, also seems to be musically and stylistically unrelated to any of the music commonly used today for chanting the Qingjing Jing.⁶ Such chanting is said to be particularly common in the Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) school of Daoism.⁷ Quanzhen, which has a strong monastic tradition, rose to prominence during the northern Song dynasty; this text became an important part of their prayer services at that time.⁸ As mentioned in the footnote accompanying the image at right, there have also been numerous fine art renderings, ink as well as inscription.

The text of Qingjing Jing was apparently first written down around the 9th century CE.⁹ It heavily quotes and paraphrases the Dao De Jing (sometimes called the Book of Laozi), which is the great philosophical text of Daoism.¹⁰ Other parts of the Qingjing Jing text also have strong Buddhist influence, for example, the emphasis on tranquility of mind and freedom from desire.¹¹ Qingjing Jing might thus be seen as a meeting between so-called philosophical and religious Daoism.¹²

Directly below the title in the Sanjiao Tongsheng setting the tuning is given, after which is the statement "Six sections".¹³ The text/lyrics are placed alongside the tablature, paired according to the common method of one character for each right hand stroke (and some left hand strokes). The first and fifth sections begin with the words "Lao jun yue" (Laozi says). Thus, the Qingjing Jing is sometimes attributed to Laozi himself.

It should be noted that the back of the surviving copy of Sanjiao Tongsheng is damaged and the end is missing. As a result the music for two or three phrases (eight characters) near the end of section 5 and for the final four phrases (16 characters) of section 6 are missing or illegible. In my transcription I have supplied tablature (indicated by circles) for those two passages based on the surrounding idiom.¹⁴

 
Original Preface

None

 
Music of Qingjing Jing
translation by Livia Kohn;¹⁵ A largely syllabic setting of the text;¹⁶
the music and/or text is missing for the phrases in square parentheses

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. References
18003.683 qingjing quotes many ancient sources but does not mention the Qingjing Jing. An alternate translation is Canon of Purity and Stillness. Another title is apparently 常清靜經 Chang Qingjing Jing (9138.162 has only 常清 chang qing), translated as Daoist Scripture of Constant Purity and Tranquility.
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2. 夷則調 Yize Diao
From standard tuning lower the 1st, 3rd and 6th strings; there is an 夷則意 Yize Modal Prelude in Xilutang Qintong. Tuning is the same as for Man Gong Diao (see Huo Lin) and Nanlü Yi.
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3. Fine art renderings of Qingjing Jing
The image above (longer excerpt below) is from a photo I made of an inscription carved into a rock at the 玉泉廟 Yuquan Temple at the base of 華山 Hua Shan.

The Freer Gallery of the Smithsonian has a copy of this text in calligraphy by Zhao Mengfu. There is important commentary with the online image on their site, but the image itself shows a colophon by a prominent Mongol artist with the Chinese name 康里夒夒 Kangli Naonao (d.1354). The image at right is from an amateur photo that was once on the website of the World Art Kiosk; it claims to show the Zhao Mengfu calligraphy of the original text, but it is too small to read.
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4. Tablature for Qingjing Jing
三教同聲 Sanjiao Tongsheng was reprinted in Vol.6 of 琴曲集成 Qinqu Jicheng; Qingjing Jing begins on page 113.
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5. The other Ming dynasty qin melodies that perhaps most closely resemble chants are the versions of the various melodies of homage to Yan Hui.
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6. Music for active chants of Qingjing Jing
As yet I have not been able to find out the source of the music for any of the chanted versions of Qingjing Jing that I have heard (other than my own), nor have I yet heard anything that sounds like the 誦經 songjing mentioned below. Here are some examples of what seems to be available.

1. Renditions available on the internet: as with most modern recordings of any Buddhist or Daoist chant, almost all of these are orchestral synthesizer arrangements that do not seem to have any connection with anything in traditional Chinese culture except the language and a vague pentatonicism. These are often played over loudspeakers at temples, perhaps suggesting one reason the traditional literati so often wrote with disdain of monks and nuns.
2. Qingjing Jing is said still to be actively sung at Wudang Mountains (Wikipedia; not a Quanzhen temple) in northwestern Hubei province; I have yet to hear this.
3. At the 八仙庵 Temple of the Eight Immortals in Xi'an I found a CD with chant by the 西安萬壽八仙宮經師班 Xi'an Long Life Eight Immortals Scripture Teaching Group accompanied by the 陝西省歌舞劇院民樂隊 Shaanxi Province Song and Dance Theater Music Ensemble. Qingjing Jing is listed as #6 (of 12) on Side A. The contents of Side A (59.03) are listed as follows:
   1. 澄清韻
   2. 舉天尊
   3. 雙吊挂
   4. 提網
   5. 大、小啟請
   6. 清靜經
   7. 諸真浩章
   8. 中堂贊
   9. 懺悔文
   10. 小贊
   11. 靈官咒
   12. 三皈依

   However, the CD is not subdivided by tracks and I cannot make out the words they are chanting, so cannot confirm Qingjing Jing is actually on it.
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7. Quan Zhen School
See in Wikipedia. A Quanzhen website, Introduction to Quanzhen Daoism, makes greater claims for the antiquity of this text.
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8. Modern usage of Qingjing Jing
Qingjing Jing is apparently the first of the Daoist morning canons (see Kim). The account in Wikipedia says that modern Quanzhen Daoists consider the Qingjing jing a central scripture and regularly chant it in songjing 誦經 "reciting scriptural passages; ritual recitation". Regarding the music for this chant, see my comments above.
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9. Origin of the text of Qingjing Jing
This is discussed in some detail in a Wikipedia entry. The entry, which translates Qingjing Jing as "Scripture of Clarity and Quiescence", begins (as of 2009) by describing it as,

"...an anonymous 9th century CE Daoist classic that combines philosophical themes from the Daode jing with Chinese Buddhist meditative practices from the Heart Sutra. It emphasizes using Daoist guan 觀 'observation; insight meditation' to cultivate spiritual qing 清 'clarity; purity' and jing 靜 'tranquility; quiescence; stillness'."

A more traditional account of the source is related together with the online image mentioned above at The Freer Gallery. Here it says Laozi originally

"dictated this teaching to the goddess Queen Mother of the West (西王母). His words were then transmitted orally through generations of Daoist adepts until the text was written down by a believer named Ge Xuan (葛玄 164–244 C.E.) and later became part of the official Daoist canon."

The Queen Mother of the West [Xiwang Mu] is said to have had a daughter who played a one-string qin.
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10. Daoism and the Dao De Jing
At the time of Confucius there were numerous contending schools of thought. That of Confucius emphasized bringing order to society by following certain moral principles; another school, suggesting any true principles could not be put into words, emphasized what might be called detachment and non-action. The Dao De Jing seems to be a collection of sayings of this latter school. Much of it was written in verse.

Tradition attributes the Dao De Jing to Laozi ("Old Master"), a contemporary of Confucius. There is a story that as Laozi was leaving the world (by entering the mountains southwest of what is today Xi'an) he met Yin Xi, Keeper of the Pass, who persuaded him to write it down. D. C. Lau, Tao Te Ching, A Bilingual Translation, The Chinese University Press, 2001, p. ix, says the original title of the book was "Laozi", while the title "Dao De Jing" dates only from the 2nd C. CE. However, there being no historical records for someone named "Laozi", it has been suggested that Daoism grew out of the philosophy of 楊朱 Yang Zhu, which emphasized extreme individualism. See D.C. Lau (trans.), Tao Te Ching, HK, Chinese University Press, 1982, p.xiv.
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11. See the account in Wikipedia.
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12. Although Daoism is commonly divided into religious Daoism and philosophical Daoism, and Buddhist influence is sometimes said to be an indicator of religious Daoism, this distinction is not always clear, nor is it always accepted.
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13. In most printed versions the text of Qingjing Jing is not divided into sections.
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14. Individual errors and omissions throughout the text are also circled.
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15. The translation, included here with permission, is published in Livia Kohn, The Taoist Experience: An Anthology. Albany, State University of New York Press, 1993, pp.24-29.
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16. The complete Chinese text is also published (with some minor differences) in 太上全貞早談功德經 Taishang Quanzhen zao tan gongde jing, Beijing, Zhongguo Dajiao Xiehui, 1983, pp.24-27. According to François Picard the text there is prefaced by 太上老君說「常清靜經」 Taishang Laojun shuo, "Chang Qingjing Jing" (The great master Laozi spoke, the permanent canon of purity and tranquility]), intended to be sung in declamatory style before the text is recited. Music for this title can be found in Wudang Shan Daojiao Yinyue (武當山道教音樂; Daoist Music of Mount Wudang, a mountain in northwest Hubei province with many Daoist monasteries and fame as a martial arts center). That music is unrelated to the music here.

The original text as found here in Sanjiao Tongsheng is as follows:

Here is the beginning of the text, as found in the 玉泉院 Yuquan Temple, dedicated to Chen Tuan at 華山 Hua Shan (comment).

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