At the beginning of the 20th century, Taoist monk Wang Yuanlu discovered a large number of ancient classic manuscripts in the Dunhuang Mogao Caves. Among them were about 500 Taoist manuscripts, which were copied over a period of about 200 years from the late Southern and Northern Dynasties to the mid-Tang Dynasty, with the most copies being made during the reigns of Emperor Gaozong, Empress Wu, and Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. The contents include about 100 kinds of Taoist books, such as the works of the Taoist masters, Taoist classics, and ritual manuals. Among them, about half of the manuscripts are early Taoist classics that were not included in the Zhengtong Daozang. The discovery of the Dunhuang Taoist scriptures not only makes up for the missing parts of the existing Ming Daozang, but also provides valuable historical materials for the study of Taoism in the Hexi region. The discovery of the Dunhuang manuscripts has attracted great attention from scholars at home and abroad. In 1978, Japanese scholar Shinobu Obuchi published the “Catalog of the Dunhuang Taoist Canon,” which recorded about 496 copies of the Dunhuang Taoist Canon. In 1979, Mr. Obuchi published the “Dunhuang Taoist Canon Atlas,” which included photocopied plates of all the Dunhuang Taoist Canon. In 1999, Mr. Li Defan of China published the “Dunhuang Taoist Canon,” which compiled and organized more than 500 Dunhuang Taoist documents unearthed from the Dunhuang relics into five large volumes.

  二十世纪初道士王圆箓在敦煌莫高窟藏经洞中发现大批古代经典文书抄本。其中道教遗书抄本约有五百余件，其抄写时期在南北朝后期至唐朝中期约二百年的时间，尤其以唐高宗，武后至唐玄宗时代的抄本最多。其内容包括道家诸子、道教经典、科仪等约有一百多种道书，其中约有半数抄本是《正统道藏》未收入的早期道教典籍。敦煌道经的发现，不仅弥补现存明《道藏》的缺佚，而且为研究河西地区的道教历史提供了珍贵史料。敦煌遗书一经出现，便引起了国内外学者的极大关注。日本学者大渊忍尔1978年出版《敦煌道经目录》，该书著录敦煌道经抄本约四百九十六件。1979年，大渊先生又出版《敦煌道经图录篇》，刊载全部敦煌道经的影印图版。1999年中国李德范先生出版了《敦煌道藏》，将敦煌出土遗书中的五百余件敦煌道教文献整理汇编，集成五巨册。