《太上洞玄灵宝护诸童子经》

The Dao (the Way) says: Heaven and Earth, one’s parents, the sun and moon, and the Five Stars—the five planets the ancients called Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—together with the naturally circulating Qi (vital energy) of Yin-Yang, all have a bearing on human destiny. As people live in the world, the length of life is governed by the seven stars of the Northern Dipper. The Seven Stars, the stars of the Three Terraces, the Assistant and Aide stars, the Canopy star, the stellar officers of one’s natal destiny, the Perfected Lord of the Yuanchen, the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions, the Southern Dipper, the Northern Dipper, the Eastern Dipper, and the Western Dipper, as well as the various stellar officers, the Three Officers of Heaven, Earth, and Water, the River Maiden and the Weaving Maid, the stars of the Heavenly River, and all immortals and spirits, are likewise bound up with human beings.

Men and women of the world live amid the dust of ordinary life. When they go in and out through their gates, they may offend stars such as the Heavenly Dog and the Heavenly River, along with inauspicious stellar lodges, and so encounter calamities of punishment, obstruction, and clash. Baleful forces such as the Three Killers and the Six Harms bring one misfortune after another, yet people do not know how to respond. If they can pray with devout sincerity and recite the scriptures (Jing), they may obtain blessing and receive grace, so that the men and women of the world, whether seeking offspring or praying for long life, can offer reverent thanks to the many spirits and see their wishes fulfilled.

Whether the body suffers the “Seven Injuries and Six Harms,” or pregnancy and childbirth meet with unfavorable conditions of the Yuanchen (the star corresponding to one’s year of birth), in every case that may bring on disaster one may rely on the benevolent lads of the ten directions (spirits who protect all living beings) to bestow once more power, light, and blessing, helping people remove calamity, preserve their lifespan, and prolong their lives.

The Dao says: the Dao can bring the myriad things into being, and it can also nourish them. The Seven Divine Lads are transformations of the Jing (essence) and Qi of the seven stars of the Northern Dipper in the central heaven. While an ordinary person is still in the mother’s womb, upon the seventh month of pregnancy the Seven Divine Lads descend into the body, open and illuminate the nine apertures (the orifices of the human body, such as the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth), record the person’s name, and from then on take that person under their charge. In order, their names are Tianpeng, Tiannei, Tianchong, Tianfu, Tianqin, Tianxin, and Tianzhu.

The Dao says: The many virtuous youths each ride the “Seven-Brightness Flying Cloud Chariots,” clad in five-colored garments, with divine troops and horses from the ten directions following behind them, a host of seven hundred million myriads in all. They constantly move about in the human world, able to divide their bodies and transform, their forms now tall and now short, and able likewise to appear in male or female guise. They hold Fulu (talismans and registers) and examine people’s offenses and blessings, the karmic conditions of good and evil, and the length of the lifespans of men and women. If a person can come to know these things, that person may escape death and attain long life.

If the destinies of ordinary husbands and wives, or of men and women, are set apart as though by a river of stars, or if their dwellings lie far apart; if men and women meet with obstruction, the bridges impassable, and they linger beside the thirty-six stellar rivers, barred at night by the Heavenly Dog and crossed in the morning by the Earthly Dog, while their families grieve, sigh, and are at a loss—then one ought devoutly to burn incense, recite the Jing (scriptures/classics), and reverently petition the Youths of the True Qi (vital energy) of the Seven Primordials (deities associated with the Qi of the Seven Primordials of the Northern Dipper) to bestow grace and blessing, dissolve obstructions and calamities, pardon the hardships suffered by men and women, and enable them to cross the stellar rivers. May solitary spirits not trouble children, and may the River Mother not harm infants.

May men and women grow to adulthood, their bodies sound and their lives prolonged; may the Southern Dipper confer the talismanic mandate that adds to the allotted span of life, and may the Northern Dipper remove their names from the register of death; may fathers and mothers enjoy peace and well-being, and may each member of the household preserve auspicious flourishing.

In the Eastern Heaven of the Nine Qi (vital energy)—the celestial realm corresponding to the nine kinds of primordial Qi of the East—there are nine divine youths. We entreat you to protect men and women and spare them from every illness of the three months of spring, as well as from such calamities as the Three Punishments and Four Killings, the Seven Injuries and Eight Hardships, and harassment by river gods, so that all these afflictions may entirely disperse.

In the Southern Heaven of the Three Qi there are three divine youths. We entreat you to protect men and women and spare them from every illness of the three months of summer, as well as from such calamities as the Three Punishments and Four Killings, the Seven Injuries and Eight Hardships, and harassment by river gods, so that all these afflictions may entirely disperse.

In the Western Heaven of the Seven Qi there are seven divine youths. We entreat you to protect men and women and spare them from every illness of the three months of autumn, as well as from such calamities as the Three Punishments and Four Killings, the Seven Injuries and Eight Hardships, and harassment by river gods, so that all these afflictions may entirely disperse.

In the Northern Heaven of the Five Qi there are five divine youths. We entreat you to protect men and women and spare them from every illness of the three months of winter, as well as from such calamities as the Three Punishments and Four Killings, the Seven Injuries and Eight Hardships, and harassment by river gods, so that all these afflictions may entirely disperse.

In the Central Heaven of the One Qi there is one divine youth. We entreat you to protect men and women and spare them from all illnesses throughout the four seasons, as well as from harassment by the stars and the rivers and from the Three Disasters and Nine Adversities, so that all these calamities may be relieved.

The scripture (Jing) says: Good men and good women, if only they read and recite this scripture, the five divine youths and the holy assembly of the ten directions will come to protect them, bestowing blessings, dispelling disasters, and eliminating transgressions. Thereupon the scripture speaks as follows:

The myriad things are originally empty and still, with no fixed root; all first receive the circulation and transformation of primordial Qi. Once perception arises, it must not be clung to as truly real perception; without clinging, there is likewise no lingering and no obstruction.

Though names are many, living beings are blended together as one, and through long years of cultivation they are opened. The deliverance of the immortal Dao (the Way) reaches exceedingly far, and in the end one returns to the truth of “attaining the One.”

The immortals and the Perfected roam and travel without any fixed direction; responding as conditions arise, the forms they manifest are not of one kind only. All of this is gained through this scripture. Across countless kalpas, body and mind of themselves grow clear and are washed clean.

Taking refuge in the Scripture of the Most High (Taishang Jing, a classic revered in Daoism), one’s lifespan can become long. Divine officers, soldiers, and generals constantly come to protect and bless; calamities depart, and good fortune arrives.

At this time, the child attendants of the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper, the Five Divine Child Attendants, and the good child attendants of every place in the ten directions are as numerous as sand and dust. They condense primordial Qi (vital energy) and accumulate merit. Even when the future evil age of the Five Turbidities arrives—an age filled with every kind of turbidity, disorder, and suffering—calamities such as the Seven Injuries and the Six Harms will of themselves return to the proper Dao (the Way). The two Qi of Yin-Yang circulate and flow between heaven and earth, nourishing the people as they grow; the Sima (the divine office that governs human lifespans and the registers of fate) is charged with fixing the records of lifespan. The myriad spirits answer with one voice in assent, and affairs will no longer meet with obstruction. Boys will be intelligent in their aspirations, and girls will be by nature dignified and virtuous; demonic evils and disasters cannot arise, and descendants can long retain blessings and good fortune.

If one can be sincere to this degree and single-mindedly entrust one’s life to the Taishang Jing, one may obtain protection and blessing.