The first compilation of the Dao Zheng occurred during the Sung Dynasty, when it was catalog and printed in 1019.

Kublai Khan decided in 1281 that he had enough of the Daoists, and ordered all of their sacred texts to be burned. This conflagration peaked in 1289. This resulted in the reduction of the Daoist Canon from 4565 volumes of the Sung Edition to 1120 volumes of the Ming Edition.