《太上太玄女青三元品诫拔罪妙经》

Taixuan Nüqing, a divine perfected being of Daoism, said: At the beginning of the Dragon Han kalpa—the outset of the ancient kalpic cycles—the Jade Emperor of the Ultimate Dao, above the Three Heavens, expounded the great method of the Three Caverns (Dongzhen/Dongxuan/Dongshen), the Wondrous Scripture (Jing) of the Ranked Precepts of the Three Primes, to the sages of the various heavens, the true immortals of the ten directions, and countless great sages. At that time, officials of every rank throughout the Three Realms, together with the gods and immortals of the various heavens, all came before the seat, composed their minds and spirits, and listened with reverence.

The Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning then said to the assembly: “I now intend, for all living beings within and beyond the Three Realms, to proclaim widely the wondrous teachings of the Three Vehicles and the precious scriptures of the Three Caverns, so as to instruct and transform both the human world and the celestial realms, and, according to each being’s conditions and affinities, to guide and deliver the beings of the Lower Prime—one of the Three Primes spoken of in Daoism, often associated with beings of the lower realms. In the latter age, many men and women never hear the teachings of the Dao (the Way); they suffer violent, untimely death and cannot live out their natural span of years. This is because the karmic obstructions of people in the world are deep and heavy. They do not accept the transforming instruction of the orthodox Dao, turn away from the true Dao to follow what is empty and false, and practice only deviant conduct. After death, their hun and po souls have nowhere to settle and can only lodge in the hells of Fengdu, the underworld of Daoist lore. Even when the kalpas have passed and the mountains have dissolved away, they still have no chance of release.

“You ought to deliver all faithful men and women throughout the great chiliocosm and the lands of the ten directions. From now on, you should recite the Precious Scripture of the Three Primes, the wondrous canon of Nüqing. The merit of reciting the scripture can, above, deliver celestial and human beings and, below, rescue the departed souls in the long night of the dark underworld. Its blessings are inexhaustible, and its grace extends to all things. It can also enable a person, when life comes to an end, to avoid having the soul enter Fengdu and undergo every kind of retribution.”

At this time, the Purple Tenuity Thearch, Celestial Official of the Nine Qi (vital energy) and First Rank of the Upper Prime (Shangyuan)—the celestial thearch who administers the affairs of the Upper Prime—is formed by the condensation of the talismanic mandate symbolizing the continuation of life together with the yang Qi newly come to birth. He dwells in the Hall of Azure Mist of the Upper Palace of Purple Tenuity of the Seven Treasures of Primordial Yang in the Mysterious Capital. He sits upon a seat encircled by five-colored clouds of Qi, before a precious couch of purple gold, leaning on a desk of blue jade and holding a green-jade gui tablet, while divinities and immortals stand arrayed in ranks to his left and right as his guard.

The palace of the Upper Prime is vast without bound, fifty million li in length and breadth, and the whole palace is condensed from azure-mysterious Qi. It holds general charge of the karmic conditions of sin and blessing belonging to the High August Thearch of the Jade Void, spontaneous and supremely perfected; the thearch-lords of the various heavens; the true immortals of supreme perfection; and the sovereigns, ministers, empresses, imperial consorts, princes, and crown princes of all the states, together with the families of the hundred officials and the common people of the world. The immortal officials within the palace are all endowed with bodily form from the Qi of spontaneity. Unless one is a person whose name is registered on the jade slips of the Golden Towers and who has already attained the Dao, one cannot see them.

Within the Purple Tenuity Palace three further bureaus are established: the Left, the Right, and the Center. The Left Bureau administers the affairs of birth, which are examined by the Fire Official of the Great Yang; the Right Bureau administers death, which is examined by the Water Official of the Great Yin; and the Central Bureau administers life and death and sin and blessing, which are examined by the Official of Wind and Knives. The three bureaus together comprise thirty-six departments, and each department has ninety million officials. On every night of the Upper Prime, the three bureaus examine, throughout the great chiliocosm and the lands of the ten directions, the grounds of all life and death, of sin and blessing, of the correlative interplay of karmic causes and conditions, and of retribution. All people should revere them with devout sincerity.

With a single mind, in sincere reverence, take refuge and entrust one’s life to:

The Immortal Official of the Upper Prime Bureau of Illuminating the Perfected under Nüqing of the Great Mystery.

The Immortal Official of the Upper Prime Bureau of Supervision and Rectification under Nüqing of the Great Mystery.

The Immortal Official of the Upper Prime Bureau of Pure Conduct under Nüqing of the Great Mystery.

The Immortal Official of the Upper Prime Bureau of the Numinous Pass under Nüqing of the Great Mystery.

The Immortal Official of the Upper Prime Bureau of Restraining the Spirits under Nüqing of the Great Mystery.

In the Shangyuan (the celestial realm of the Upper Prime) of Taixuan Nüqing (an exalted deity in the Daoist pantheon) there is a host of bureau celestial officials (immortal officials who administer the affairs of the heavens), including those of Tongming, Zhengshen, Kaiming, Yudu, Nanshang, Yuangong, Sanling, Mingfan, Weiling, Taiqing, Xuanwei, Mingdu, Taichang, Duling, Taiyi, Mingfa, Kaozheng, Mingwei, Jiudu, Sizheng, Siming, Jiantian, Sisha, Mengtian, Youdu, Weiyi, Taiyin, Xiayuan, and Jiansi, among other bureau celestial officials. Some of the titles of these celestial officials are listed more than once in the text.

The Immortal Officials of the Bureau of Great Brilliance of the Upper Prime under Taixuan Nüqing, and the Immortal Officials of the Bureau of Supervising the Numina of the Upper Prime under Taixuan Nüqing.

The Perfected of Taixuan Nüqing oversees the immortal officials of the thirty-six bureaus, who are subordinate to the Purple Tenuity Palace. Each office is staffed with one examining official, 1,200 examining clerks, 12,000 examining soldiers, and 120,000 examining gentlemen. Together they record and examine the merits and faults, the sins and blessings, and the related causes and conditions and terms of retribution of those in heaven and in the human world who have already attained the Dao (the Way) or have not yet attained it. Those covered by the records include sovereigns of states, great ministers, crown princes of the various heavens, empresses and consorts, the hundred officials and chief ministers, and men and women who believe in the good Dao.

Every year, on the fifteenth day of the first month, the Heavenly Official of the Upper Prime, the Imperial Lord of Purple Tenuity (the Heavenly Official in charge of the Upper Prime), examines the beings of the great chiliocosm and the lands of the ten directions. Above are the name registers of the ascent and descent of the gods and immortals of the various heavens, and the records of rise and decline that correspond to the stars and constellations shining upon each country. In the middle are the lifespans and terms of retribution of sovereigns, worthy ministers, princes and crown princes, and all living beings. Below are the transformations, rebirths, and the years and months of rising and sinking of fish and dragons, birds and beasts, and the myriad kinds of creatures.

The guilty souls in the Three Paths (the realms of suffering, such as the hells, hungry ghosts, and animals) and in the Nine Offices each likewise have their offenses and the terms within which they receive retribution. Those who, according to their sinful karma, ought to be reborn as human beings are removed from the rolls of the Office of Long Night (the dark realm of the underworld), and their names are entered in the Left Palace. Those who ought to be reborn as anomalous beings of various kinds, or as evil demons and ghostly spirits, have their terms recorded in the Right Palace, and their names written into the Black Register. When the term is fulfilled, they change form once more and receive different fruits of retribution according to the weight of their karma.

Guilty souls who ought to be reborn as birds, beasts, and living creatures of every kind are likewise assigned to different destinations according to the gravity of their offenses. Some become jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards; donkeys, horses, oxen, and sheep; or chickens, dogs, geese, and ducks. Some become foxes, hares, insects, and ants; snakes, rats, toads, and frogs; or fish, mussels, turtles, and soft-shelled turtles. Others become hawks, sparrowhawks, and peacocks; whales and sea beasts; or animals of still other forms. They may walk or fly, and may have many feet or none. Some are born from the womb and some from eggs; some live in dry places and some in damp places; some build nests and some dwell in burrows. Their forms and kinds change in great variety and can scarcely be named one by one. They may cling to ancient trees and strange rocks, take shelter in deep pools, lakes, marshes, and springs, crouch upon earthen hills and rocky crags, come and go among wells, hearths, and ditches, or appear in the human world as all manner of uncanny things.

All these many kinds that receive life and the fruits of retribution must wait until the term of examination is fulfilled. When the Heavenly Official inspects the registers of names, they change form according to their own karma, receive the fruits of retribution according to their share of blessing, and pass without cease through birth and death as the kalpas turn, each cause and condition of good or evil bringing its corresponding result.

If men and women who believe in the good Dao resolve to copy, distribute, and transmit and read this Jing (scripture/classic), and make offerings to the various heavens with incense, flowers, and precious canopies, all the sinful karma they have created can be eliminated. If, on the evenings of the Three Primes, the days appointed for the Zhaijiao (purification ritual) of the Upper Prime, the Middle Prime, and the Lower Prime, they set up a jiao rite to give thanks to the various heavens, or if on the Ten Upright Days, the designated days each month for fasting and reciting scripture, they uphold and recite this Jing, they can obtain blessings without measure.

Nüqing (the name of the deity in the scripture who conveys its teachings and admonitions) says: The merit of reciting and upholding this scripture (Jing) can dissolve enmities accumulated over many lifetimes, eliminate the sins built up through successive ages, lessen one’s own faults, avert unexpected calamities, free one from the suffering of the cycle of birth and death, dispel a host of evil thoughts, and bring boundless blessings.

All living beings, from this time onward, should recite this scripture if they meet with lawsuits and misfortune, illness, curses, or grudges and enmity. If they encounter plague or contagious disease, or suffer harassment by ghosts and malign spirits, they should also recite and uphold it. If they wish to seek a livelihood and obtain profit, go to sea in search of wealth, or build houses, break ground, construct a dwelling, or carry out a burial, they should likewise recite and uphold this scripture. If fame and official success do not come smoothly, if one is demoted or removed from office, or if one travels back and forth by boat and fears the perils of wind and waves, one may equally recite and uphold it.

If one wishes to deliver the souls of the dead in the long night of the dark underworld, to rescue those hidden spirits, to dissolve the calamities of former lives, and to relieve the sufferings of the nether realm, one need only recite and uphold this scripture to obtain boundless blessings. When locust plagues, floods, and warfare break out on every side, and the state is in distress while the people suffer death and injury, one should establish a ritual sanctuary in a pure and quiet place, or at an ancient altar or in a Daoist abbey, hang banners, streamers, and precious canopies, recite this scripture, light lamps and practice the Dao (the Way), and perform the jiao rite of offering to the Five Stars and the constellations of heaven. The scripture holds that in this way the land will be at peace, the seasons harmonious, and the people’s livelihood secure; locust plagues and warfare will disperse of themselves, and floods, droughts, and wind disasters will also be dispelled.

If faithful men and women suffer many calamities and hardships throughout their lives, if their fortunes decline, if they endure long illnesses that do not heal and for which medical treatment is of no effect, if they repeatedly offend against the laws of the ruler and for many years undergo punishment and confinement, or if they suffer from manic frenzy and are assailed by evil demons, they should copy out this scripture, distribute it to others, and recite and transmit it together. If living beings are able to do this, calamities will be dissolved, evil affairs will disperse, their lifespan will be lengthened, and their blessings will be without measure.

Nüqing said: All sentient beings turn without cease through the cycle of birth and death. The retributions of past lives and the present life follow one upon another, and misfortune and good fortune appear in due correspondence, without error even in the finest detail. All such matters must wait until the days of the Three Primes, when the Three Officers—the Officer of Heaven, the Officer of Earth, and the Officer of Water—examine the registers of names, and only then are the destinations of beings in life and death separately assigned.

Nüqing said: All sentient beings turn without cease through the cycle of birth and death. The retributions of past lives and the present life follow one upon another, and misfortune and good fortune appear in due correspondence, without the slightest error. When the days of the Three Primes arrive and the Three Officers examine the registers of names, the destinations of beings in life and death, their poverty or wealth, whether they return to the human path or the ghost path, and the circumstances of their rebirth as the various birds and beasts are all separately adjudicated. Those who deserve fortunate recompense have their names entered in the Left Palace and the Left Bureau; those who are to become ghosts or beasts have their names entered in the Right Bureau and the Right Palace. Each being awaits the coming of the term of examination.

Nüqing said: All men and women who devoutly revere the Daoist teaching, should they obtain a name and title in the registers of the immortals, have their merits and faults and the retributions of sin and blessing likewise recorded on jade slips and in the graded registers, and entered in the term-registers of names of the Purple Tenuity Palace (the celestial palace-bureau spoken of in Daoism), sealed in the Cavern-White Bureau of the Heavenly Officer of the Upper Prime, of the Jade Casket of Luminous Perfection in the Mysterious Capital. When the day comes on which the Three Officers assemble the host of sages, the registers of promotion and demotion of the various spirits and immortals are again adjudicated, and the karmic conditions of fortune and misfortune for good and evil men and women, the gravity of their retributions, the length of their lifespans, and the terms of examination are also ascertained. Down even to the Ninefold Darkness (the depths of the underworld), the terms of life and death, sin and blessing of sentient beings, and the seasons of generation and transformation, decline and flourishing of every kind of living creature, are all recorded, and on the day of the Upper Prime they are memorialized to the Most High Void Sovereign, the Lord of the Dao (the Way).

Nüqing says: Throughout the great chiliocosm and the lands of the ten directions, the life and death, sins and blessings, length of lifespan, and the allotted terms of years, months, and days of all men and women, good and evil alike, are recorded separately in the azure registers and the black registers and then submitted to the celestial palaces. If the good merit a person has accumulated is complete and meets the conditions for becoming an immortal, that person’s name is reported to the Ziwei Palace, a palace of the celestial realm.

If anyone reveres the Supreme Great Law of the Mysterious Origin—the law of the supreme Great Dao honored in Daoism—that person’s life and death, sins and blessings, length of lifespan, and the numerical limits of years, months, and days are likewise recorded separately in the azure registers and the black registers and submitted to the celestial palaces. If the good merit is complete and the person ought to become an immortal, the name is likewise reported to the Ziwei Palace. The names of those who revere this Great Law are also entered in the Golden Register, the roll that records the names of immortals and perfected beings, of the Left Palace of the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate), and enrolled in the immortal bureaus, the name registers of the offices of the immortal realm. The Earth Official, acting under command, sends guards to protect them; after the name registers have been recorded they are submitted to the celestial palaces, and the Three Realms uphold and protect them, so that no external demon can encroach upon them. All of this is carried out according to the statutes and ordinances of Nüqing.

These contents are to be written on the tablets of the Azure Mystery, azure documents of the immortal realm. The affairs of the registers of life and death under the general charge of the Superior Perfected, perfected divinities of high rank, together with their ritual protocols of merit and demerit, are now set out as follows. All you living beings should practice them with devout sincerity.

Under the general charge of the Superior Perfected are the titles of the divine and holy, the high and low of their ranks, the order of the honored and the humble, and the ritual protocols of merit and demerit. Under the general charge of the Superior Perfected are the court homage and inspection tours of the host of sages, and the related ritual protocols of merit and demerit. Under the general charge of the Superior Perfected are the banquets of the great sages and their journeys in attendance on the imperial retinue, and the related ritual protocols of merit and demerit. Under the general charge of the Superior Perfected are the charts and registers of life and death and the records of name rolls, and the related ritual protocols of merit and demerit. Under the general charge of the Superior Perfected are the destiny registers of life and death and the records of lifespan reckoning, and the related ritual protocols of merit and demerit. Under the general charge of the Superior Perfected is the relative weight of merit and virtue in matters of life and death, and the related ritual protocols of merit and demerit. Under the general charge of the Superior Perfected are the assigned service, retribution, and transmigration of ghosts and spirits, and the related ritual protocols of merit and demerit.

Under the general charge of the Superior Perfected are the charts and registers of life and death and the records of name rolls, and the related ritual protocols of merit and demerit. Under the general charge of the Superior Perfected are the destiny registers of life and death and the records of lifespan reckoning, and the related ritual protocols of merit and demerit. Under the general charge of the Superior Perfected is the relative weight of merit and virtue in matters of life and death, and the related ritual protocols of merit and demerit. Under the general charge of the Superior Perfected are the assigned service, retribution, and transmigration of ghosts and spirits, and the related ritual protocols of merit and demerit. Under the general charge of the Superior Perfected are the terms of years for which ghosts and spirits, after suffering punishment and demotion in the dark underworld, are permitted deliverance, and the related ritual protocols of merit and demerit. Under the general charge of the Superior Perfected are the promotion and deliverance of ghosts and spirits and the rebirth of dead souls, and the related ritual protocols of merit and demerit. Under the general charge of the Superior Perfected are the name registers of dead souls reborn after undergoing refinement and transformation, and the related ritual protocols of merit and demerit.

The Supreme Perfected (Shangzhen, immortals who dwell in the highest ranks) oversee the grades of the immortals who have attained the Dao (the Way) and of those who cultivate purity, together with the merits, faults, and ceremonies connected to them. They also record and adjudicate the merits and faults arising from the songs and ballads of the myriad demons. The Supreme Perfected mentioned earlier govern the registers of merit and fault of all beings throughout the Three Realms and the lands of the ten directions. On each of the Three Origins (the fast days of the Upper, Middle, and Lower Origins), these records are written into two ledgers, one blue and one black, and submitted to the Upper Palace. Salvation and retribution are then dispensed according to the quantity and weight of the sins and blessings each person has accrued; whether in the human world or the heavens, there is no error.

All of you beings, if you recite this Jing (scripture), and reverently offer incense, flowers, and other items, will dispel calamities and karmic grievances, increase your store of great blessings, and be free from the disturbance of feuds and lawsuits, so that both the living and the dead may rest in peace. I will now repent, on behalf of all men and women throughout the great thousand-world universe and the lands of the ten directions who hold to the true Dao, their many transgressions, so that those transgressions may be dissolved and no evil retribution be suffered again.

We repent the offense of the faithful who do not believe in the sacred Dao and its scriptures and harbor doubts; of treating the supreme Dao and sacred texts lightly and rashly criticizing the scriptures; of stealing or destroying images of the Dao and scriptures, or of receiving teachings without honoring one's master's lineage; of transmitting the Three Caverns (Dongzhen, Dongxuan, Dongshen) scriptures and methods without a master's authorization; of slighting teachers, breaking oaths, or slandering one's master and showing disrespect to the Way of Heaven; of concealing the methods of the scriptures and obstructing their circulation, or of wrongly transmitting the wondrous immortal scriptures to unsuitable people; of disregarding proper ritual when receiving and transmitting scriptures, carelessly divulging the numinous texts, or failing to keep the agreements made with one's master after the transmission; and of being unwilling, after receiving the scriptures, to deliver living beings, or of damaging without cause the scriptures, images, and ritual implements of the Mysterious Origin's sacred Dao.

We repent the offense of transmitting the scriptures and methods without following proper ritual, without first reporting to the many heavens or swearing the covenant before the Five Emperors and the Three Officials; of lacking reverence and faith after receiving the scriptures and treating the texts and teachers with contempt; of blocking the spread of the sacred Dao in order to monopolize merit and renown; of failing to honor one's teachers on the new and full moon days (the first and fifteenth of each month) and on festivals, or on fast days neglecting to burn incense sincerely and to pray for living beings; of reciting the scriptures hastily and with omissions, seeking only one's own satisfaction without any intention of helping others; of those studying the Dao acting out of order and scrambling for merit and fame; and of suffering misfortune at home after receiving the Dao, yet failing to reflect on one's own faults and instead resenting the Dao and blaming one's teacher.

We repent the offense of slandering good people, slighting the sacred Dao and venerating heterodox teachings, of speaking with a double tongue to wound others, abusing others with harsh words, indulging in drink, and rashly criticizing practitioners of every kind; of greed and arrogance that defile the true Dao, of cursing ghosts and spirits, speaking with false and clever words, and killing living beings; of lewdness and impurity, envy of the worthy, theft of property, deceiving one's master and slighting the Dharma, and leaking the secrets of the immortal Dao; of slandering the scriptures, forcibly suppressing living beings, not following the correct methods, exposing others' faults to gain a reputation, presenting one face outwardly while doing evil in secret, and despising the immortals and sages while presuming on one's own merit.

We repent the offense of bullying fellow disciples and neglecting living beings so that people cannot find peace; of defiling the Three Treasures (the Dao, the scriptures, and the master), ruining the norms of Daoist ritual, falsely calling the true scriptures forgeries, venerating heterodox teachings, and slandering the correct Mahayana teaching; of luring good people into wrongdoing, relying on power to damage the numinous texts, deceiving living beings so that they meet with disaster, envying and harming the worthy and good, destroying immortal temples and Daoist halls, seizing blessed lands, shielding the wicked and the powerful, and wrecking ritual altars and numinous temples. All who have committed these offenses will find them dissolved by hearing and reciting this Jing.

We further repent the offenses of the faithful from beginningless time until today: damaging good conduct and abetting evil, thinking only of themselves while harming others; imprisoning and beating living beings and cutting off their food and water; using public law to inflict harsh punishments on people; setting fire to mountains and harming living creatures; drying up streams and killing insects and fish; cutting off springs so that the water cannot irrigate; breaking up others' family ties, so that people are demeaned and kin are scattered; harming good people in pursuit of profit and fame; spreading poison and exploiting living beings to enrich oneself; distorting the meaning of the scriptures and contravening the sages' intent; mocking the numinous texts as false; failing to understand the origins of the Three Caverns, and destroying the scriptures and images of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing).

These offenses, as numberless as grains of dust and sand, are all subject to examination by the thirty-six bureaus of the Heavenly Officials and to trials as painful as being cut by wind-blades. Good men and women in the worlds of the ten directions, as many as motes of dust, in the great thousand-world lands, together with their parents, brothers, and kin, if they have committed these sins from beginningless time, need only recite, copy, and spread this Jing and have others recite it as well to gain immeasurable merit and extend their lifespans. The offenses they have committed can all be dissolved, and both old and new calamities will be delivered.

At that time, the gods of all the heavens bowed their heads in homage, reverently carried out what had been set forth, and together offered praise:

The unsurpassed King of the Law of the Primordial Beginning, prior to Heaven, extends his grace throughout the Three Realms, and his blessings shine upon the ten directions. All living beings rely upon his protection, and even the smallest creatures find peace. The voice of the teachings of the Dao (the Way) circulates without cease, saving the living and delivering the dead. Departed souls dwelling in the Ninefold Darkness (the depths of the netherworld) are brought to release, and the calamities of the Five Sufferings (every manner of hardship) are removed. Because of this the cold pools thaw, and light spreads even through the darkness. To recite, uphold, and make offerings to this scripture (Jing) brings immeasurable merit and auspicious blessing.

The Marvelous Scripture of the Most High Great Mystery Nüqing on the Graded Precepts of the Three Primordials for the Absolution of Sins (Taishang Taixuan Nüqing Sanyuan Pinjie Bazui Miaojing), Upper Scroll

Middle Scroll

Great Mystery Nüqing said: The True Lord of Pure Void, Earth Official of the second grade of the Middle Primordial (the divine perfected one who presides over the earthly administration of the Middle Primordial and who examines records and pardons sins), holds overall command and nurtures…

The Marvelous Scripture of the Most High Great Mystery Nüqing on the Graded Precepts of the Three Primordials for the Absolution of Sins, Upper Scroll

Middle Scroll

Taixuan Nüqing states: The Middle Prime Second-Rank Earth Official, the True Lord of Pure Vacuity (Qingxu Zhenjun), the exalted deity who oversees the affairs of the underworld, commands the Left, Middle, and Right Three Bureaus, forty-two Departments in all. The palatial seats of the immortal officials of the Three Bureaus are all formed of the Qi (vital energy) of cavernous void, pure vacuity, and primordial unity. Each palace extends fifty million li in length and in breadth, and together they govern the Five Emperors, the Five Sacred Peaks, and the host of spirits (Shen), deities, immortals, and Perfected beings. The immortal officials number ninety million in all.

They have charge of the registers of life and death of all good and evil men and women throughout the great chiliocosm and the lands of the ten directions, recording the retribution of fortune and misfortune, the length of life, wealth and honor or poverty and low station, and the term of each person’s allotted years and months. The birds and beasts of the world, together with every kind of insect, fish, and other living being, likewise each have a term of transformation and an allotted destiny. The relevant records are submitted to the Upper Palace of Purple Tenuity and await the Heavenly Official’s examination of the registers. If living beings are able to attain transformation, they change their bodily form according to their share of blessing; if they perform differing karmic deeds, they likewise receive retribution according to their karma, each with a corresponding term of life.

If living beings bear many karmic obstacles and nothing goes smoothly, they should, with rare flowers, precious fruits, pure water, and celebrated incense, devoutly invite masters day and night to recite and uphold this scripture (Jing), perform the offering liturgy of the Three Primes, and on the Eight Nodes—the important seasonal festivals of the year—declare their merit. In this way, disasters and grievances of enmity can be removed, and their names entered upon the golden slips, the registers of the divine realm. The merit of this scripture can heal illness, eliminate all suffering, dissolve calamity, drive away evil matters, invite good fortune, bring blessings to fulfillment, increase the span of life, and rescue the dead who have sunk into the dark underworld. So long as living beings receive and uphold this scripture, they can obtain measureless blessed reward.

The exalted stations of the immortal officials of the forty-two Departments of the Left, Right, and Middle Three Bureaus are now proclaimed. So long as living beings make offerings to these immortal officials, they can accumulate merit to deliver the beings confined in the prisons of the dark underworld, and that merit will be without end. May the assembly be devout and reverent.

With utmost sincerity we take refuge:

The Immortal Official of the Middle Prime Numinous Capital Department of Taixuan Nüqing.

The Immortal Official of the Middle Prime Upholding Rectitude Department of Taixuan Nüqing.

The Immortal Official of the Middle Prime Numinous Might Department of Taixuan Nüqing.

The Immortal Official of the Middle Prime Yellow Spirit Department of Taixuan Nüqing.

The Immortal Official of the Middle Prime Communion with the True Department of Taixuan Nüqing.

The Immortal Official of the Middle Prime Dongxuan (Cavern Mystery) Department of Taixuan Nüqing.

What is listed above are the Cao Immortal Officials (celestial officials who oversee the relevant offices) in charge of the Middle Prime (Zhongyuan) within the “Taixuan Nüqing” system. The titles on the list include Weiyang, Lingniu, Yuezheng, Dongxuan, Jiudu, Tongming, Yifan, Jiukao, Nanchang, Kaosuan, Geling, Taiyang, Dulü, Jiming, Jiuling, Mingdu, Jiantian, Xuanye, Jianling, Qiucheng, Jiuqi (Nine Qi, vital energy), Zhongshen, Jiusha, Sifei, Hansi, Zhizheng, and Ducha, among others. The scripture takes “Taixuan Nüqing Zhongyuan” as the heading that governs these official names and lists their titles of office in sequence.

The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Examination and Service of the Middle Prime (Zhongyuan) of Taixuan Nüqing (the immortal official in charge of examination and the assignment of duties).

The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Seizing Qi (vital energy) of the Middle Prime of Taixuan Nüqing (the immortal official in charge of capturing vital breath).

The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Administering Execution of the Middle Prime of Taixuan Nüqing (the immortal official in charge of penal execution).

The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Doujia of the Middle Prime of Taixuan Nüqing (the immortal official in charge of Doujia affairs).

The official of Taixuan Nüqing (an immortal official within the Taixuan Nüqing system).

The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Examination and Service of the Middle Prime of Taixuan Nüqing.

The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Seizing Qi of the Middle Prime of Taixuan Nüqing.

The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Administering Execution of the Middle Prime of Taixuan Nüqing.

The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Doujia of the Middle Prime of Taixuan Nüqing.

The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Binding and Seizure of the Middle Prime of Taixuan Nüqing (the immortal official in charge of binding, restraint, and arrest).

The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Minute Affairs of the Middle Prime of Taixuan Nüqing (the immortal official in charge of subtle and minute matters).

The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Release and Deliverance of the Middle Prime of Taixuan Nüqing (the immortal official in charge of unbinding and salvation).

The Immortal Official of the Bureau of the Ninefold Darkness (Jiuyou) of the Middle Prime of Taixuan Nüqing (the immortal official in charge of affairs of the underworld of the Ninefold Darkness).

The Immortal Official of the Bureau of the Cold Night of the Middle Prime of Taixuan Nüqing (the immortal official in charge of matters related to the cold night).

The forty-two bureaus of immortal officials of the Right Palace were established by Taixuan Nüqing and are subordinate to the Palace of Cavernous Emptiness and Clear Void (Dongkong Qingxu). Each bureau is provided with three offices—Left, Center, and Right—and each office has one examining official, 120 examining clerks, 1,200 examining scholars, and 12,000 examining soldiers. Together they have charge of the divine beings of the Five Marchmounts, the Soil Sovereigns of the Nine Lands, the spirits of the four corners and eight extremities, the various classes of immortal officials, and cultivators who have already attained the Dao (the Way). They also record the merits and faults, and the sins and blessings, of faithful men and women.

Those whose store of blessing is great are examined once every three years; those whose store is middling, once every nine years; and those whose store is small, once every twenty-four years. Sin and blessing are investigated together, while merit and fault are recorded and reported separately. The relevant registers are sealed and kept in the cavern palaces of the Five Marchmounts, awaiting examination on the nights of the Three Origins (Sanyuan)—the days when the Three Officials (Sanguan) assemble the holy host.

Examination is divided into three grades: upper, middle, and lower. The upper grade examines the transformations of divine beings and the terms allotted to them. The middle grade examines the gains and losses of all cultivators throughout the great thousandfold world, together with the name registers of their advance or retreat. The lower grade examines the changing forms and appearances of the various ghosts and spirits within the Three Realms (Sanjie), and the terms of the commissions assigned to them.

Among the mountains and streams, caves, rivers and seas, soil and stone, ancient trees and springs of the lands of the ten directions, every living being—dragons, qilin, lions, peacocks, and phoenixes; giant soft-shelled turtles and alligators, tortoises and turtles, insects and fish; tigers and leopards, monkeys and apes, water deer and muntjacs; flood dragons, crows and pheasants, wildcats and wolves, dogs and swine; doves and wagtails, sparrows and rats; and other birds and beasts, and scaled and shelled creatures of the waters; as well as camels, mules, elephants, horses, oxen, and sheep—whether they have several feet or none, whether born from the womb or from the egg, and whether they dwell in nests and lairs, earthen holes, or the silt of deep waters, or attach themselves to ancient trees and springs, numinous altars, wells and hearths, hills and ancient tombs, or old vessels and implements, has a form of its own. These miscellaneous spirits, together with evil demons and bewitching ghosts, sometimes bring blessings in the human world and sometimes bring calamity. When their destined season arrives, all must undergo examination and judgment.

Although these beings exist in the world, they cannot keep their original forms forever. If they have done no harm to people, they may at the examination be reborn as human beings; whether they will thereafter be rich or poor, noble or lowly, and whether their lives will be long or short, is determined by the force of each one’s karma. If, while in the world, they have harmed others and disturbed living beings in all manner of ways, then at the examination they must change form and suffer further pain, becoming either lowly beasts or ghosts of an inferior class. After death they pass through the Nine Darknesses (Jiuyou, the depths of the unseen world) and can scarcely gain release.

If anyone encourages others to copy, print, and produce this scripture (Jing), to bestow it upon the many, and to pass it on and read it among themselves, that person will obtain blessings without measure. In life after life, when reborn as a human being, they will have well-formed features and a long span of years, and these blessings will extend to their descendants as well.

Nüqing said: These immortal officials preside over the Three Realms and the Nine Earths, the Five Marchmounts and the Four Directions, and all living beings, male and female alike. They record the good deeds and evil acts that people perform from one lifetime to the next. Those who practice goodness may, in a future life, be born with a dignified appearance and enjoy a long lifespan, and their blessings may also extend to their descendants.

Nüqing said: These immortal officials must also record the categories of good and evil of all living beings, entering them separately in the green and black registers, and register the retribution of sin and blessing due to those who ought to receive kaidu (salvation and release from karmic offenses), together with the year, month, and day of examination and summons for verification. Those who have not yet received kaidu must likewise have their offenses and corresponding retribution recorded. All records are to be submitted to the celestial palaces in accordance with the regulations of Qingxu (the statutes of the Palace of Pure Vacuity).

At this time, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun) addressed the gods of the various heavens, the perfected immortals of the ten directions, the Perfected of Wondrous Practice, and the sun, moon, and constellations, saying: “You perfected ones, from now on, whenever the days of the Three Primordials arrive (Shangyuan, Zhongyuan, and Xiayuan—that is, the fifteenth day of the first, seventh, and tenth months of the lunar calendar), you must descend to the Palace of Qingxu Dongyang of the Northern Capital, assemble there, and examine the registers of life and death, merit and fault, and sin of all living beings within the Nine Earths, checking each record in turn. The categories of calamity and blessing are to be written separately into the green and black tablets and entered into the registers of life and death. Changes in the forms of human beings and of ghosts and spirits, as well as the times when birds, beasts, and fish alter their bodily forms, must also be recorded and submitted to the celestial palaces.”

At this time the divine immortals of all the heavens, the stars and constellations of all the heavens, the deities of the Five Sacred Mountains, the Four Directors and the Five Emperors, the true spirits of the eight directions, together with the officials of every rank throughout the Three Realms and all the immortals, obeyed the command and carried it out one by one.

The assembly of heaven then spoke again to the Heavenly Worthy: When the Three Officials—the deities who govern the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and Water—examine the registers of living beings’ allotted destinies, they investigate every being throughout the great chiliocosm and the lands of the ten directions, including the sins of men and women that bear upon life and death. According to good and evil they record them in the Azure Register and the Black Register, reckon merit and fault, sin and blessing year by year and month by month, and then judge each case according to the gravity of the offenses and the deeds that were done. Those who ought to be reborn have their names entered in the Left Palace; those who ought to become immortals, in the Central Palace; those who ought to die, in the Right Palace. Merit and fault, life and death, and the count of years, months, and days must be free of error even in the smallest detail.

If faithful men and women are heavily burdened by karmic obstructions and nothing goes smoothly for them, they should copy this scripture (jing) and give it to others to circulate and read, or themselves recite and uphold it at the proper times, and make offerings of incense, flowers, and the like. In this way they can obtain measureless blessings; calamities will recede, karmic obstructions will be removed, and their lives will be lengthened. These blessings will also extend to both the living and the dead, and the dragon spirits will all receive their benefit. You living beings should trust my words, practice wholesome teachings, and repent of your faults.

From the beginningless past down to the present day, faithful men and women in worlds as numerous as motes of dust throughout the ten directions, and in the lands of the great chiliocosm, may have committed the following offenses.

Some have appointed unsuitable people, been vain and boastful, and lied and deceived. Some have coveted private gain and taken it for themselves, never knowing contentment. Some, after amassing wealth and precious treasures, have still reached outward in greed. Some have induced good people to do evil. Some have hoped that benevolent people would be injured, slandered, or scattered and driven apart.

Some have damaged or cut out sacred scriptures of the holy teaching, such as the Dadong (Great Cavern), and sacred images. Some have slaughtered living beings to satisfy the cravings of mouth and belly. Some have shot wild beasts and birds, or burned mountains and forests, hunted, and taken life. Some have made eating vessels of gold, silver, and precious jewels, yet felt no shame. Some have sunk into greed and desire and willfully slighted life.

Some have burned the numinous altars, immortal halls, venerated images, and various scriptures of the sacred Dao (the Way). Some have poured food and drink into filthy places. Some have craved rich, strongly flavored meat and eaten without restraint. Some have eaten the five pungent plants, thereby defiling the Mysterious Prime and the immortal sages honored by the tradition of the Dao. Some have arbitrarily damaged, interpolated, or altered the scriptural teachings and failed to observe the rules of the classics.

Some have gathered crowds to kill living beings. Some have plotted to harm the kin, wives and concubines, and children of benevolent people. Some have wantonly betrayed their masters and schemed for the lands of others. Some have recklessly slandered the true scriptures of the Great Dao, the wondrous teachings, and all manner of numinous writings. Some have exchanged coarse, inferior goods for the fine possessions of others. Some have destroyed the images of the Heavenly Worthies, the Perfected of the Supreme Dao, and the Jade Maidens.

Some have casually pointed to the stars and recklessly spoken of good and ill fortune. Some have burned the storehouses and houses of living beings. Some have felled the trees of immortal altars and numinous halls and ruined gardens of flowers and fruit. Some have associated with the wicked and maligned the good. Some have slandered the immortal scriptures of the sacred Dao and arbitrarily judged the classics as high or low, weighty or slight. Some, without understanding the meaning of the scriptures, have explained the text in a biased and deviant way and distorted the sacred intent.

Some have practiced the illusory arts of outside paths and maligned the Great Vehicle of the sacred Dao. Some have given themselves over to worldly life and made sport of the Three Jewels (the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha). Some have praised others to their faces while heart and speech did not agree. Some have recklessly discussed the rights and wrongs of their elders and failed to observe filial piety and ritual propriety. Some have divulged the secret arts of the immortals and the numinous books kept in store as treasures.

Some have attacked good people and stirred up trouble without cause. Some have relied on power and influence to deceive ordinary people, or oppressed the good and the poor and weak. Some have forged scriptures and treatises and slandered the sacred Dao of the Mysterious Prime. Some have forged books and maligned the celestial signs and the celestial perfected. Some have incited the foolish to commit all manner of evil. Some have been arrogant and looked down upon teachers, friends, and living beings.

Some have repaid private grudges in the name of public duty. Some have without cause abandoned parents, wives and children, brothers, and other kin. Some have without cause led their children into ruin and harmed the unborn. Some have violated the moral order of the clan and entered into licentious relations with persons of an improper degree of kinship. Some have cast poison into the water and killed fish and insects. Some have without cause provoked strife among living beings and bound them in enmity. Some have without cause gathered living beings and raised up matters of deviant and baleful cults. Some have without cause submitted letters and offered schemes, slandering the great… of the Three Caverns (Dongzhen, Dongxuan, and Dongshen)…

Some offenses consist in falsely claiming to understand the true Dao (the Way); some consist in forging scriptures and recklessly discoursing on the empty sacred Dao; some consist in wildly practicing demonic arts to swindle living beings of their wealth; some consist in disturbing good people and luring them into evil deeds; some consist in failing to choose according to the correct Way and wrongfully oppressing commoners; some consist in slighting the elderly and those of unattractive appearance, and bullying the poor and the sick; some consist in calling the false true and the deviant correct; some consist in relying on power and influence to oppress living beings; some consist in favoring the wicked and harming the good; and some consist in envying those who surpass oneself and seeking to entrap people of virtue (De) and insight.

I now set forth these charges for you, all living beings. The offenses listed above are all examined by the immortal officials of the Numinous Bureaus of the Three Primordials (divine officers charged with investigating offenses). Within the great chiliocosm and throughout the lands of the ten directions, all people of virtue and learning, and all men and women who sincerely believe in the Dao, from beginningless time down to the present day, if they have committed the offenses named above, may now worship and recite this scripture (Jing) in the ritual sanctuary, repent together, and pray that these offenses be entirely extinguished.

Nüqing said: The merit of this scripture can rescue those sunk in the dark underworld, release all manner of evil karma, dispel unjust wrongs and sudden calamities, and also eliminate various….

Nüqing said: The merit of reciting and upholding this scripture can rescue beings sunk in the dark underworld, dissolve every kind of sin, dispel grievances and sudden calamities, quell all manner of evil, release the many sufferings and enmities, and also avert unexpected disasters while increasing blessings and lifespan, bringing endless benefit to the beings of the world. If beings are able to recite and uphold this scripture, the merit they obtain is as vast as the great sea, and the power to aid beings is inexhaustible; even if one spoke throughout worlds as numerous as dust and sand, one could never finish the telling. You should worship and recite this scripture with single-minded devotion, and reverently prepare offerings of incense, flowers, and the like. In this way, through life after life you will obtain immeasurable merit, generation after generation will be prosperous and flourishing, and this grace will extend to both the living and the dead. The merit of this scripture can universally succor the human world and the heavenly realms, and its blessed rewards have no end.

It is then recited: The mysterious and wondrous Dao (the Way) manifested by the Void Sovereign (the supreme honored deity in Daoism) is the Medicine King of the Three Realms (the different levels of the world, such as heaven, earth, and humanity). With compassion He nurtures heaven and earth and harmonizes Yin-Yang; His mighty power governs all the heavens, and His blessings reach the ten directions. He is the father and mother of all beings and, through vast ages of calamity, still sends down light. His radiance illuminates the Great Void, and even a place as tiny as a mustard seed conceals nothing; beings in the dark Nine Springs are delivered, and the Five Sufferings obtain cool relief. This scripture is like a fine medicine of life and death, able to save both the living and the dead. By reciting and upholding this scripture, one obtains endless blessings and lifespan.

Wondrous Scripture of the Supreme Great Mystery, Nüqing’s Graded Precepts of the Three Primes for the Removal of Sins, Middle Scroll

Lower Scroll

Taixuan Nüqing (Nüqing of the Great Mystery) says that the Third-Grade Water Official of the Lower Prime (Xiayuan) receives the wind-and-marsh Qi (vital energy) of Dongyuan and is the essence of the vast dawn. The three officials of the Lower Prime are called, respectively, the Palace of Yanggu Cavern-Source, the Palace of Qinghua, and the Palace of Cold Night.

The Three Officials have overall charge of the water palaces of the Water Emperor of the Nine Rivers, the Twelve Stream Maidens, the Three Rivers, and the Four Seas. They also govern the waters of the river sources and of Dongting, together with every kind of aquatic spirit and scaled water-beast, including fish, dragons, jiao, and shen. All living beings that dwell in water fall within their jurisdiction. The Three Officials further hold the registers of life and death, the allotted spans of life, and the causes of retribution for all faithful men and women throughout the great chiliocosm and the lands of the ten directions. The officials under their command number ninety million in all.

The Lower Prime also has three bureaus, of the left, the center, and the right. The Left Bureau is called Qingyuan (Pure Source), the Right Bureau is called Cold Night, and the Central Bureau is called Qingling (Pure Numen). These three bureaus together comprise forty-two departments, which jointly administer good and evil, life and death, and the causes and conditions of transgression and blessing in the human world, as well as the terms of examination and the registration of records. All people ought to be devout and reverent.

With a sincere heart one takes refuge in the following immortal officials: the immortal officials of the Shuiming Department, the Qingshui Department, the Liehuo Department, the Sanming Department, the Jiandui Department, the Shuiling Department, the Mingfan Department, the Taihuo Department, the Sanming Department, the Jiandui Department, the Shuiling Department, the Mingfan Department, the Dongyuan Department, the Jieliang Department, the Congshui Department, and the Dongyang Department under Taixuan Nüqing of the Lower Prime. Department officers are the titles of officials in the divine offices of Daoism who separately take charge of different affairs.

The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Opportunity, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing (a revered deity in the Daoist pantheon). The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Inspection and Assembly, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of the Dragon Stable, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of the Luminous Kalpa, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Destined Lifespan, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Water-Brahma, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Sin and Blessing, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Slips and Assembly, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Following Qi (vital energy), belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Seizing Spirits, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Summoning Dragons, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Heroic Women, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Opening to Light, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Delivering Souls, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Inspecting Jing (essence), belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. Tai.

The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Heroic Women, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Opening to Light, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Delivering Souls, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Inspecting Jing, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Purity and Rectitude, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of the Nine Rivers, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of the Northern Origin, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Examination and Correction, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of the Nine Sections, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of the Four Extremes, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of the Dark Night, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of the Long Kalpa, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Spirits of Suffering, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of the Three Calamities, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of the Five Methods, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Myriad Pardons, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of the Vast Waves, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of the Limitless, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of Venomous Blades, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing. The Immortal Official of the Bureau of the Long Night, belonging to the Lower Origin under Tai Xuan Nü Qing.

Taixuan Nüqing established forty-two bureaus (forty-two offices), subordinate to the Left, Central, and Right Three Bureaus of the Cavern Source of Yanggu. They are charged with the Examination of the Wind-Knives (a system that investigates sinful karma by means of punishment). These offices have general charge of the dead souls long detained in the water bureaus of the Nine Rivers, the Three Rivers, and the Four Seas, of the years of penal servitude, of the affairs of the hundred ghosts and the myriad spirits, and of the name registers of all who are fated to die.

Within the worlds of the ten directions, the merits and faults of all good and evil men and women are entered in the records of the Three Bureaus. The myriad spirits of the waters and the coiling dragons, floods in streams and valleys, and the dates on which, when a kalpa arrives, great assemblies are held to liberate departed souls, are likewise subject to examination. Each palace extends fifty million li in every direction and is endowed with the Qi (vital energy) of wind, marsh, and adamant. They govern the water sources of every place, together with the affairs of the Water Emperors of the Jiang, the He, the Huai, and the Ji, and of the dead souls, ghosts, and spirits in the long night of the deep seas. At the same time they register the merits and faults, the sins and blessings, and the terms of retribution of the faithful men and women of the world, as well as the years of service imposed on guilty souls; the Jing (essence) of fish, dragons, and flood-dragons is included as well.

On the nights when the Three Officials examine the name registers and the Five Emperors assemble the holy multitude, or on Jiazi days and Gengshen days, or on the Three Assembly days and the Five La days, the Bureau of the Nine Darknesses is opened. The departed souls of the long night are scrutinized, souls whose karmic retribution has been exhausted are delivered, and the human path is distinguished from the ghost path. Living beings are born according to their merit and virtue, and they likewise receive retribution according to their karma.

At every assembly of the greater and lesser kalpas, the azure slips and the black slips report merits and faults, sins and blessings, and the causes and conditions of life and death upward to the Three Heavens. Those who ought to be reborn are reported to the Left Palace; those who ought to become immortals are reported to the Central Palace; those who ought to receive the retribution of death are reported to the Right Palace. The life and death, sins and blessings of the myriad spirits of the waters are also handled, level by level, by the Three Bureaus, which fix the years of retribution according to the weight of merit and fault and record each deed one by one according to what each has done.

If the worthy and good scholars, and all living beings, in the worlds of the ten directions and the lands of the Great Thousand repent of the offenses they have committed since remote ages—including having grown angry at disciples cultivating the Dao (the Way) and arbitrarily reproaching the worthy and good; harboring ill will and refusing to release living creatures or save lives; forgetting a teacher’s kindness once wealth and rank are gained; failing, on the fasting days of the various heavens, to turn the heart back toward goodness; in anger slandering teachers and elders and uttering words contrary to principle; mocking those who revere the Dao of the Mysterious Origin; urging others to do evil and preventing them from doing good; rejoicing in others’ misfortune and hoping that their good undertakings fail; turning away from the holy Dao and the stars of the various heavens; defiling the Five Marchmounts and the Nine Rivers; seizing what good people seek and coveting the treasures of the world; lying to and deceiving living beings; claiming others’ merits as one’s own; recklessly casting living beings into peril; capturing birds, fish, and wild beasts so that they cannot live in peace; intimidating the poor and the sick; slighting officials and superiors while presuming upon one’s own merit; inverting right and wrong; recklessly discussing the rise and fall of the state; lacking wisdom yet clinging to a narrow teaching and arbitrarily accepting or rejecting; destroying the holy writings of the Great Dao and its numinous images; indulging in aimless wandering without restraint; occupying high station yet showing no regard for the lowly; spreading nets to catch and kill birds and fish; ruining others’ family property so that they are left homeless and adrift; stripping travelers of their clothing and forcibly taking others’ goods; after receiving the Dao, still sacrificing to ghosts and spirits; exposing the body before the Three Treasures; rebuking wind and rain and failing to revere the sun, moon, and stars; borrowing things by force of status and not returning them; harming living beings in pursuit of glory and wealth, with insatiable greed; arrogantly slighting celestial signs and the Celestial Worthies; injuring elders and kin and deceiving rulers and superiors; urging others to be unfilial and sowing discord among parents and siblings; believing the illusory arts of outside paths and lightly destroying the Dao of the Mysterious Origin; falsely claiming communion with spirits without a teacher’s instruction; having clothing and food to spare yet not relieving the poor and the sick; stealing or destroying Jing (scriptures); dressing in excessively splendid attire; ascending the high seat in unclean clothing; insulting the teacher’s lineage and holding no reverence; failing to offer comfort when teachers and friends are grieved; discarding scriptures and slighting the methods of the Dao; attaching oneself to the rich and powerful while ignoring the poor; not personally tending a master who is ill, and showing no compassionate aid upon seeing others sick; entering and leaving Daoist abbeys without burning incense, and, upon entering the halls of the immortals, looking about, joking, and talking noisily; when encountering the prayers and petitions of Zhaijiao (purification ritual), failing to dedicate merit to the Three Officials; being oneself well provided for yet showing no concern for the poor and the elderly; when someone in the household falls ill, resenting the methods of the Dao and one’s teachers; accepting offerings from the faithful without knowing shame; when transmitting the methods of the Dao, violating covenants and disrespecting teachers; on the days of the Three Origins, failing to confess faults before the Five Emperors and the Three Officials; and on the Ten Upright Days, failing to give rise to good thoughts.

I now set forth these categories of offense for living beings. They are as numerous as dust and sand, and could not be exhausted even at the end of the kalpas. If living beings wish to remove these offenses, they need only worship and recite this scripture and present offerings of incense, flowers, and the like; then every kind of calamity will recede, the host of evils will be eliminated, and blessings will be inexhaustible through life after life.

The merits and faults, sins and blessings, and causes and conditions of life and death of living beings, together with the weight of the root karma of former lives, are all examined by the Three Officials, the Five Emperors, the Four Directors of the Three Realms, and all immortal officials, so that no error may arise. The names of those who have attained the Dao and those who have not, and of good and evil living beings who enjoy blessings in the present life, are reported upward to the Three Heavens and then delivered to the Five Emperors.

On the days of the Three Origins, the Celestial Worthies of the Limitless, the Great Sages of the Ten Directions, the sovereigns of the Thirty-Two Heavens, the Divine Kings of the Flying Heavens, the Most High Jade Emperor of Jade Vacuity and Perfect Truth, the Lords and Elders of the Limitless Great Dao, the Five Ancient Thearchs, Donghua, the Southern Pole, the Western Numen, and the Northern Perfected, together with the many flying celestial immortals and perfected persons, jade lads and jade maidens, the Directors of Longevity and Destiny, the Recorders, the Directors of Execution, the suns, moons, and stars of the various heavens, and all perfected immortals, assemble together.

If, within the Three Realms and in the lands of the ten directions, faithful men and women are able to follow the method of confessing faults on the Three Origins and the rite of the Seven Sages for prolonging life, burn renowned incense, set out pure offerings of banners, flowers, jeweled canopies, and the like, make offerings to the various heavens, and worshipfully recite this scripture, they will obtain measureless blessings. If faithful men and women are able to read and recite this scripture, the Three Officials will recommend their good deeds, and the Director of Destiny will lengthen their lives; their names may be entered in the Azure Register, and the charges against them will be struck from the Bureau of the Northern Metropolis. Thereupon the scripture continues with a hymn of praise, saying:

The wondrous Dao (the Way) of Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity)—the orthodox Great Dao revered by Daoism—is Mingwei Fawang, the exalted deity who manifests divine majesty and presides over law and measure. It covers Heaven and Earth and causes Yin-Yang to arise, grow, and change. Amid the kalpic course of Longhan, the fair names of the five great Daos were handed down across long ages; in the era of Chiming their titles were made illustrious, and the Nine Elders descended, bestowing blessings and auspicious signs. When the final kalpa of Shanghuang, the Supreme Sovereign, arrived, the sacred Jing (scripture/classic) and the precious treasures of the teaching gave forth light. The Great Dao, in compassionate love, nurtures the myriad beings and rescues both the living and the dead; it opens the Nine Darknesses, the depths of the unseen world, and brings peace to all who dwell amid the Five Sufferings. The myriad spirits thereby have a support on which to rely and enjoy blessings without end. Those who recite, uphold, and make offerings to this Jing will have fortune and longevity that endure without cease.

At this time Daojun, a venerated deity of Daoism, bowed his head to the ground and said: “I have heard that the Jade Emperor of the Supreme Dao—the Jade Emperor of the highest Great Dao—often proclaims the orthodox teaching, instructing all living beings and carrying out a vast and compassionate work of transformation. He pities the people of the world, so that both the living and the dead obtain salvation, and both the netherworld and the human realm are released from suffering. The sound of the teaching ought to be spread far and wide, bringing relief to all the heavens; even through hundreds of millions of kalpas, the bonds of cause and affinity will not be severed. The blessings of the wondrous Dao of Zhengyi extend throughout the ten directions. The living and the dead alike receive this grace, and both those still in the world and those already departed are given shelter.”

The Celestial Worthy said: All faithful men and women—from time without beginning, primordial Qi (vital energy), the original energy that constitutes all things and sustains life, has continued without cease, so that every kind of living being could come into being. Good and evil, and fortune and misfortune, each have their source. They are not caused by Heaven, Earth, or other people; the true source lies in the mind, and the mind is Shen (spirit).

The body does not truly belong to me, nor does reputation endure forever. The life I bring forth comes from emptiness and natural spontaneity, taking form through the condensation of primordial Qi. Thus, although I have a body, this body does not truly belong to “me.” The body is only a temporary lodging, an outward appearance that has been manifested. One who attains the Dao (the Way) is no longer bound by the body.

Sentient beings suffer all manner of hardship because they have this body. Once there is a body, there are all kinds of faults and afflictions, and birth and death follow upon the bodily form. If one can bring the mind into accord with the true Dao, one can unite with the Dao. When both body and Shen are fully cultivated, one becomes a True Person, returns to the formless, and attains the Dao. From then on there is no more sorrow, nor any death; the body is no longer destroyed, and one finally returns to the source.

If sentient beings use the body to create all kinds of evil karma, they must undergo every sort of suffering and cannot easily obtain life again. Bodies formed through good and through evil each have their own causes and conditions and their corresponding retribution. How, then, can one lay the blame on the holy perfected ones of the dark netherworld?

All sentient beings in the limitless worlds of the various heavens, and all who cultivate the Dao, should copy this scripture (Jing), give it to others, and transmit, read, and recite it. The merit of this scripture is inconceivable: above, it can dispel heavenly calamities; below, it can rescue sentient beings in the long night of the netherworld. The blessed reward of copying this scripture can increase one’s good fortune through life after life and birth after birth, while the merit of transmitting and reciting it brings endless wealth and honor.

At this time, the gods of all the heavens, together with every perfected immortal of the Three Origins (Sanyuan) and the Nine Bureaus and of the Five Emperors and the Four Offices, bowed their heads and acclaimed, “Excellent!”

From now on, if floods, droughts, armed disorder, or other calamities arise in the worlds of the ten directions and the great thousandfold lands, bringing injury and death upon the people, a ritual space should be established at the northern gate of the realm, in a pure and quiet place, or at an ancient altar or in a clean chamber. Banners and sacred images should be hung, and a great jiao (offering rite) performed, with sacrifices offered to the Five Stars, the Twenty-Eight Lunar Lodges, and the immortal officials of the Three Origins. In this way I shall cause wind and rain to come in their proper season, warfare to cease, the sovereign to govern in accord with the Dao (the Way), the world to be at peace, and the people to live in ease and abundance.

If a household suffers frequent illness and failing fortune, is harmed by curses, troubled by evil demons, stricken with pestilence or madness, meets with disaster because the circulation of Qi (vital energy) is unfavorable, or is visited by calamity sent down by baleful stars, the dwelling should be set in strict order, sacred images enshrined, incense burned, and this Jing (scripture/classic) worshipped and recited. The scripture says that in this way every such affliction will be removed, and measureless blessings will be obtained for generation after generation; the gods of the heavens will also come often to guard and aid.

If good men and faithful women worship and recite this scripture in some place, and enshrine the Mysterious Images (Daoist sacred images) in the home, they will dissolve disasters and ritually avert misfortunes; the wishes they seek will be fulfilled, and blessings of every kind will descend. All you living beings ought to follow these precepts of the Dao.

At this time the assembled perfected bowed their heads, received the command, and chanted:

The Dharma King of Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity)—the revered deity whom the Zhengyi tradition venerates as lord of the teaching—is the master of the teaching of the Dao of Wuwei (non-action). He embraces Yin Qi and, by transformation, brings forth Yang Qi; he is the father and mother of Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things. Through successive layers of transformation and generation, the myriad things arise from him; he is the root of all things. His wisdom is like a deep, broad, and clear ocean, and the source and current of his Dharma lineage are vast. His majestic De (Virtue/Power) commands all the heavens, and his transforming teaching reaches throughout the Three Realms. The myriad kinds receive his favor, and living beings have a support upon which their lives depend. His power is inexhaustible; both the living and the dead obtain peace and security. All things receive his mysterious merit and are freed from the many bonds of the dark netherworld.

Wondrous Scripture of the Supreme Great Mystery Nüqing on the Graded Precepts of the Three Origins for the Removal of Sins, Lower Scroll.