《太上说南斗六司延寿度人妙经》

The Most High Lord Lao twice descended upon Linqiong in Shu and went on to Mount Heming in Dayi. On the first occasion he conferred upon the summoned scholar Zhang Daoling the twenty-four ranks of the Secret Registers of the Covenant and Authority of Orthodox Unity (Zhengyi)—the ritual registers of the Zhengyi tradition. On the second he transmitted the secret methods of paying homage to the sun and moon and of ascending in flight with Yuyi and Jielin (the deities of the sun and the moon, respectively), together with the documents for confessing transgressions on the third and eighth days, for erasing the registers of sin, and for delivering one’s ancestors.

Zhang Daoling had earlier obtained, at the Central Marchmount, the Elixir Scripture of the Yellow Emperor’s Nine Tripods. He later withdrew into seclusion on Mount Heming, assembled the medicinal ingredients, and, following that scripture, refined the elixir for three years. When the elixir was complete, he dared not take it. He said to his disciple Wang Chang, “The divine elixir has already been refined. Once I ingest it, I shall certainly be able to ascend and become an immortal. Yet I have not established sufficient merit. I ought first to remove harms and promote benefits for the state and the people, and bring relief to the populace. Let me first practice goodness with diligence, and only afterward take the elixir and ascend. After I have risen and entered the service of the exalted deities of the realm of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), only then shall I be without shame before my own heart.”

Thereupon Zhang Daoling did indeed receive the Most High Lord Lao, who descended in person and transmitted precious methods of the Dao (the Way). After his cultivation had reached a full thousand days, he suddenly became able to look inward and discern the five viscera, and to reach outward in sympathetic communion and summon the myriad spirits.

The Most High—a revered deity of Daoism, here the Most High Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun)—further sent the Jade Maiden of Pure Harmony to instruct Daoling in exhaling and inhaling the Qi (vital energy) of pure harmony, that is, in regulating the breath and drawing in pure Qi. He was taught to tread the star-pacing rite of three steps and nine traces, to cross the trigram Qian and walk the Dipper according to set directions and stellar positions, to summon the spirits of the Nine Primordials, and to settle the Seven Governors—the Seven Luminaries, namely the sun, the moon, and the five planets—each in its proper place. Following the direction indicated by the handle of the Northern Dipper, he worked rites to subdue essence-specters and baleful spirits; he then swallowed the Great Reverted Elixir and swiftly destroyed demonic evils.

Later Daoling fought the ghost-demons of the Six Heavens and seized the Twenty-Four Dioceses, the twenty-four parishes of early Daoism, remaking them into blessed lands called “transformed realms.” He also subdued the leaders of those ghost-demons and made them officials of the yin realm, while posting Daoist priests there to cultivate the Dao and offer incense. From then on, day and night were clearly distinguished, and humans and ghosts each kept to their own path. In Renshou County of Lingzhou he further subdued twelve Heaven-Roaming Jade Maidens, so that the earth brought forth salt springs, which were boiled down into salt; for this reason the region came to be called Ling Commandery.

When Daoling’s cultivation of the Dao had succeeded, at his third ordination the Most High again descended and bestowed on him a thousand scrolls of scriptures, all essential methods of practice. The Most High intended to transmit these scriptures to those who possessed the Dao, so that they might attain deliverance while still in the world and long endure. He and Daoling then went together to Chengdu: the Most High rode in a dragon carriage, and Daoling rode a white crane. Descending from five-colored auspicious clouds, they came to the place where the Jade Maiden of Taihao refined the Great Elixir. From the ground there rose a jade seat of the Jade Bureau, more than one zhang in height. The Most High ascended the seat, and Daoling bowed beneath it.

There the Most High expounded for Daoling the Scripture of the Seven Primordials of the Northern Dipper, together with methods for reducing the appointed term of death and prolonging life. The date was the seventh day of the first month of the yiwei year, the first year of the Yongshou reign of Emperor Huan of the Han (155 CE). On the fifteenth of the same month, the Shangyuan Festival, the Most High further expounded for Daoling the Wondrous Scripture of the Six Offices of the Southern Dipper for Extending Life and Delivering People, transmitting the methods of prolonging life and delivering humankind.

At this time, on the fifteenth day of the first month in the first year of Yongshou, the Shangyuan Festival, the Most High Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun) once again descended to the place in Chengdu where the Jade Maiden of Taihao refined the elixir. The earth deity once more caused the precious throne of the Jade Bureau to well forth, and Lord Lao ascended the throne and sat.

Lord Lao told Zhang Daoling: “The true writs of the Nine Heavens and Eight Assemblies, and the supreme Dao (the Way) of the Three Caverns (Sandong) and the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), were all obtained by the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning after he had passed through an exceedingly long succession of kalpas. Heaven and earth have a beginning and an end; human beings are born and die; the Five Cycles shift without cease; and the myriad things likewise flourish and decline. The Celestial Worthy therefore dwells at ease in the realm of Shangqing (Highest Clarity) above the luminous clouds, cultivating the Dao of ultimate truth and proclaiming the mysterious Great Dao. He pities all living beings and, in his compassion, does not abandon them. Long ago I received this scripture (Jing) and transmitted it; now it should be transmitted to you. You should select those who believe in the Great Dao and cultivate with care, and transmit this scripture to them.

“The yang of heaven and the yin of earth conjoin and give rise to the two luminaries, the sun and the moon. The sun and moon travel their courses, and the five planets circle the whole heaven. Together these are called the Seven Governors, that is, the seven stars of the Northern Dipper and the Nine Primordials. The handle of the Northern Dipper turns with the monthly ordinances, indicating the twenty-four solar terms and the twenty-eight lunar lodges, and corresponding to the seventy-two seasonal pentads and the thirty-six kinds of birds in the human world. Among the twenty-eight lodges, the Dipper lodge has six stars and is called the Six Offices of the Southern Dipper.

“The Six Offices of the Southern Dipper and the Seven Governors of the Northern Dipper each have their own duties. Together they govern the Three Powers of heaven, earth, and humanity, the Six Directions, the Bagua (Eight Trigrams), and the Nine Palaces, and they oversee the ranks of the hundred officials in heaven and in the human world. They are also the bureaus of the two celestial centers, the Purple Tenuity Enclosure and the Supreme Tenuity Enclosure. Above, they are linked with the true spirits of heaven corresponding to the twelve astral fields; below, they command the earth deities (spirits of the earth) of the twelve terrestrial divisions, together with the Four Great Rivers, the Five Marchmounts, the Nine Provinces and eight directions, the famous mountains and great rivers, and the temples of the city gods and local altars; in between, they keep the registers of the people, of living beings, and of the myriad things.

“The Northern Dipper is located in the Kan palace and corresponds to the moon. When its divine Qi (vital energy) descends upon a person, it is called the po. The Northern Dipper presides over the yin realm, governs the sources of water, and assists the myriad things in growing and multiplying; its merit is exceedingly great. The Southern Dipper is located in the Li palace and corresponds to the sun. When its divine Qi descends upon a person, it is called the hun. The Southern Dipper presides over the yang realm, governs the power of fire, and assists the myriad things in their activity and movement; its grace is exceedingly great.

“Since heaven and earth took form, these two celestial offices, the Southern Dipper and the Northern Dipper, have together brought the myriad things into being and caused them to grow. They arrange titles and stipends in heaven and in the human world, increase or decrease the blessings and fortunes of the people, and determine the length of life and whether calamity or blessing departs or remains. All of this is decided by them. Because the sun belongs to yang and the moon to yin, the southern and northern offices, together with such stellar officials as the Dipper’s bowl, the Dipper’s handle, and the Dipper’s guideline, are endowed with the natures of water and fire and of Yin-Yang. They assist heaven and earth in nurturing the myriad things, manifest the De (Virtue/Power) of the Great Dao, and cast light upon the myriad things.

“The abundance of the myriad things cannot be separated from them, and the birth of human beings likewise depends upon them. Therefore the Celestial Worthy, deeply pitying all living beings and regarding them as his own children, extends rescue and protection, so that people may preserve both life and innate nature. The method of this rescue is as follows. All good men and faithful women, whether of high or low station, should be sincere and reverent. Whenever they see the sun, the moon, the Southern Dipper, or the Northern Dipper, they should solemnly kowtow, pray for protection and gracious blessing, and recite: ‘Most Holy and Most Venerable True Governor, True Lord.’ They entreat the spirits to pity mortals and forgive their faults, and then they bow again. They must not harbor any disrespect in their hearts, or they will instead bring calamity upon themselves.”

Lord Lao (Laojun) said: If you men and women can follow the methods I have transmitted and practice them with reverence, then whenever you have prayers or requests to make—whether you wish to dispel calamities, pass through hardship, increase your blessings, and prolong life, or pray for the reunion of your family and peace along the borders, or hope to bring an end to disputes over burial grounds, erase the registers of the dead, and turn people from peril back to life—you should submit memorials, present words of prayer, and hold a Jiao (the Daoist rite of setting up an altar to make offerings and petition the deities). When one prays in this way, there is nothing that fails to be granted as wished.

Thereupon Lord Lao proclaimed once more to Daoling:

The Fire Officers of the Southern Dipper (the deities among the star gods of the Southern Dipper who preside over the office of fire) can eliminate poisonous harm, and the Water Spirits of the Northern Dipper (the deities among the star gods of the Northern Dipper who preside over the office of water) can quell baleful disasters.

Whatever one seeks can be fulfilled as wished, and every kind of obstruction and vexation can likewise disperse and open into free passage.

If one can, in accordance with the methods of the Jing (scriptures), sincerely hold a Jiao and pray, what is sought will surely accord with the wishes of the heart and move the divine spirits to respond.

If those who cultivate in purity often perform prostrations, misfortune and calamity will have no cause to descend upon them lightly.

Lord Lao (Laojun) said: The mysteries of the divine spirits and the Great Dao (the Way) are hard for worldly people to explain clearly. Ordinary people are shallow in understanding; they tend to prize what is remote, yet slight what lies closest at hand.

What is closest is one’s own body. The eyes see the sun, moon, and stars; the ears hear wind, thunder, and beautiful sounds; the nose smells orchids, musk, and rank or foul odors; the tongue tastes sweet, pungent, sour, and bitter; and the mouth speaks and gives voice. Even the hands that grasp and the feet that walk—from birth until old age, none of this can be separated from water and fire. Ordinary people see these things, yet it is as if they do not see them; they hear these principles, yet it is as if they do not hear them. They do not know that human life and innate nature are able to take form only through what Heaven and Earth, the sun and moon, and the stars bestow; that the human body is formed in reliance on the Four Great Elements (the four basic constituents of the body) and is endowed with this primordial Qi (vital energy). Life continues generation after generation, always intimately bound up with water and fire. Water and fire are like the true substance of the Dao, and so one cannot leave them even for a moment. Whatever could exist apart from water and fire would be neither an ordinary thing nor an ordinary person.

I now solemnly admonish the men and women of the world and set forth this important principle, hoping that all will resolve to invoke the divine spirits and perform the jiao offering (a Daoist ritual of setting up an altar to pray to the deities for blessings), understand that divine perfected beings exist in the world, and trust and follow my teaching. Throughout the four seasons, the first day of each month, the Eight Nodes, the twenty-four solar terms, the Three Primordials and Three Assemblies, the Five La days, and one’s natal day are all auspicious times well suited to prayer. People may submit memorials and present written petitions, stating their wishes and seeking grace and protection; they may also give thanks for divine favor, repent of their faults, pray that calamities be removed, and light lamps, offer fruit, make offerings, and worship and petition. The blessings thus obtained are measureless.

The Six Officers of the Southern Dipper (the six divine perfected beings among the stellar officials of the Southern Dipper) are as follows. The first star of the Southern Dipper is the True Lord of the Celestial Treasury, Controller of Destiny, Supreme General Who Stabilizes the Realm. The second star of the Southern Dipper is the True Lord of the Celestial Minister, Keeper of Records, Supreme Minister Who Stabilizes the Peaks. The third star of the Southern Dipper is the True Lord of the Celestial Beam, Who Prolongs Longevity and Protects Life. The fourth star of the Southern Dipper is the True Lord of Celestial Concord, Who Increases the Allotted Years and Preserves Life. The fifth star of the Southern Dipper is the True Lord of the Celestial Pivot, Who Delivers from Adversity, Wenchang Who Refines the Soul. The sixth star of the Southern Dipper is the True Lord of the Celestial Mechanism, Who Presides over Birth and Supervises the Registers, of the Great Principle.

The six talismans (fu) above should be written in cinnabar. Men wear them on the left, and women wear them on the right. It is said that they can grant long life and spare one from every kind of calamity.

The Ancestor of the Dao (the Way) said: As for the Perfected Lords of the Six Stars, the Youths of the Six Stars, and the Fire-Bell General, any ordinary person need only recite this Jing (scripture/classic) again and again, and must cherish the utmost sincerity and pray with a devout heart—there is nothing that will fail to be answered. The essential point lies in diligent effort and vigorous progress; if one further submits memorials and petitions according to the rites, the True Sages will descend in person, enabling people to prolong their years and extend their lives, and to increase the Dao-nature of long life.

As for the Perfected Lords of the Six Stars, the Youths of the Six Stars, and the Fire-Bell General, any ordinary person need only recite this scripture again and again, and must cherish the utmost sincerity and pray with a devout heart—there is nothing that will fail to be answered. The essential point lies in diligent effort and vigorous progress; if one submits memorials and petitions according to the rites, the True Sages will descend in person, enabling people to prolong their years and extend their lives, and to increase the Dao-nature of long life.

Lord Lao said: These Perfected Lords of the Six Offices (the divine perfected of the Six Offices of the Southern Dipper) are spiritually keen and responsive. Whoever prays with single-hearted sincerity will find no wish that they are unwilling to grant. The divine perfected respond to a person’s intentions, and whatever is sought will then proceed smoothly. The root of every form of cultivation, and the foundation of human life, lies in using the Qi (vital energy) of the Dao to protect and sustain the body and life. For the body and life to be protected and sustained, one relies on the teachings; and the carrying out of the teachings lies in the thorough care and completeness of the Keyi (liturgy). When a sound is uttered, an echo returns; when the body moves, a shadow follows. The bodily form stirs in response to the thoughts of the mind, and in every step and every lifting of the foot there is the subtle working of the spirits.

The Southern Dipper and the Northern Dipper can refine the po (corporeal soul) as a potter refines clay and cast the hun (ethereal soul) as metal is cast. Only after the hun and po have been refined and transformed can one pass through rebirth and transformative change. If a person follows my teachings, repenting of past faults, making good what will be lacking in the future, washing away every calamity, and welcoming a hundred blessings, and if one strictly keeps to purity, reverence, and devout sincerity and offers oneself with a whole heart, one will surely attain the immortal Dao that rises above the dusty world, and one’s lifespan will endure as long as the sun and moon.

If there are those who deeply believe in this method, they may arrange a jiao rite (a Daoist rite of offering and prayer) in honor of the Southern and Northern Dippers. On the same jiao altar, separately install the sacred images of the star lords of the two Dippers, raise the altar pillars, set out incense and lamps, spread clean thatch, and offer fruits and foods—for example, sugar cakes, oil cakes, foods steamed in lotus leaves, foods steamed with milk, fried dates, soup, and fine tea. Wine and meat need not be offered. This is a method of the greatest importance. By this means one invites the divine perfected; the True Sages descend with joy and likewise bestow blessings.

At that time, when Lord Lao had finished expounding this wondrous scripture, the Celestial Master (Tianshi) Daoling (Zhang Daoling) and the company of disciples once more bowed in thanks and declared that they would receive it in faith and put it into practice.