《太真玉帝四极明科经》

At that time, the Lord of the Great Dao, the Most High, transmitted the Clear Statutes of the Four Extremities—Daoist precepts, ritual rules, and ceremonial ordinances—to the Jade Emperor, the Most True One of High Sanctity. The work contains 120 regulations: above, they oversee the Perfected Ones of the heavenly realms; in the middle, they oversee the flying immortals; below, they govern those who have committed offenses.

These jade writings all originated with the High Saint. The Chief Minister, a high-ranking celestial official, annotated and recorded them, and they were stored in the Sevenfold-Purple Chamber of the High Jade Void. They are the ordinances of Jade Radiance. Golden Immortals spread their fragrance, while the divine troops of the Five Emperors—numbering five hundred million—along with flying spirits and feathered cavalry guard them.

Through countless kalpas, these clear statutes have presided over five changes of cosmic fortune. Whenever Heaven’s mandate shifts, as signified by the number ninety-five, they examine the Perfected Ones and assist the sages in governing and transforming the teachings. Those endowed with golden bones and jade repositories—the qualifications and inner store of an immortal—have their names recorded in the Mysterious Charts and Purple Registers. Their titles are marked in Highest Clarity, and they must enter into an oath and receive transmission in accordance with the statutes and regulations.

The Most High (a revered Daoist deity) told the Celestial Emperor of the Golden Tower to command the Ninefold-Spirit Jade Consort to cast the text slips in gold and bind them together with silver. He asked the Mother of Turtles to write them, the Most True to dust the mats and table, Purple Dawn to spread fragrance, and Great Florescence to hold the cloth. All observed purification and abstinence, then restored the precious jade scripture in the Purple Chamber. They placed it in a pouch woven of cloud brocade and sealed it with a cinnabar-and-blue-green seal.

At that time, the Lord of the Great Dao ascended to a high place and led the twenty-four emperors of the Lofty Jade Void and thirty-nine Perfected Ones into the Purple Jade Palace, peerless in its height. In the jade halls lit by golden light and the nine winding chambers, they restored the jade scripture, placed it in a cloud-brocade pouch, and sealed it with a cinnabar-and-blue-green seal. The divine troops of the Five Emperors, the officials of the Four Poles, the billion spirits, poisonous dragons, and giant beasts were all commanded to guard the ten directions of the heavens.

Then feathered canopies streamed like flowing rosy clouds, and a thousand Perfected Ones gathered in the mulberry grove. A nine-colored ceremonial procession led the way, while numinous passes stood guard on either side. Divine luan birds sang out from afar, and purple phoenixes wheeled and danced. Jade instruments sounded with stirring force, while wondrous music rang through the jeweled forest. Golden blossoms scattered their fragrance, and the Jade Consorts raised clouds of mist. The energy of Flying Heavens gathered from every quarter, and the eight directions opened into clear radiance. The sun, moon, and stars drew in their light, yet the night shone like a lamp. Flowing golden light revealed its power, and fire bells blazed in splendor. The Five Dawn Spirits appeared together in radiance, and the Seven Primordial Ones—the Dipper and its associated star deities—subdued the spirits of disorder. Countless chariots and riders assembled in the purple celestial court, in a scene of vast magnificence.

The High Sage Jade Emperor commanded the Upper Palace Jade Maidens Xu Farong, Xiao Yizhong, Tian Sifei, Li Yunmen, and the others to play the cloud-tuned ao, a celestial instrument, and sing together, reciting “The Chapter of Great Cavern, Lofty Clarity, and Mysterious Sincerity” and “The Verses on the Sufferings Revealed in the Three Paths.” The jade-hui flutes sounded clear and bright, and the celestial melodies revealed subtle, mysterious principles. Divine jade resounded, and music like the ringing of metal and stone drifted through the air. The Dao’s methods nurtured the myriad beings and governed all affairs.

The scripture says:

The Great Cavern (the profound Dao that encompasses all things) gathers the transformations of the three realms. The primordial workings of creation appear between the formed and the formless. It is so still that it seems to have no fundamental teaching, yet it is solemn and majestic, as though its numinous power were manifest. How sorrowful that people are caught in the Three Paths (the realms of hell, hungry ghosts, and animals), where grief and suffering arise. Those who truly seek the Dao diligently observe these precepts and accumulate good deeds; their lives may then extend through immeasurable kalpas. When their allotted kalpas end, they are born in the heavens, their bodies shining alongside the sun and moon. The foolish pursue only worldly pleasures, studying superficially to win fame and profit. They proclaim teachings without standards and carelessly disclose precious heavenly scriptures. Those who violate the liturgical precepts enter the gate of death, and the Four Extremes (divine beings or powers that keep watch at the far reaches of the four directions) record their names. Their souls and spirits endure nine ordeals and suffer the Five Pains for a long time; they face punishments such as being swallowed by fire and climbing a mountain of knives, enduring hardship without a moment’s peace. Consider the roots of fortune and misfortune: their principles are in fact perfectly clear.

The Most High Dao has left strict precepts; the workings of fortune and misfortune inspire awe. The path to becoming an immortal depends on one’s destined opportunity, which has already been determined in the unseen. Without that opportunity, the gate to cultivation cannot be opened. Even those who have awakened are often delayed by hesitation. If you revere the precepts and regulations of the Mysterious Gate, you can naturally ascend beyond the heavens. If instead you cling to desire and let yourself be entangled by it, why act arrogantly and do as you please? When sin and karma bind you, the Four Luminaries (divinities or underworld authorities that record offenses) will enter your name in their registers; as you turn through birth and death, you will undergo eight ordeals. To fall into the Court of the Five Pains is cause for sorrow.

The path to becoming an immortal depends on one’s destined opportunity, which has already been determined in the unseen. Without that opportunity, the gate to cultivation cannot be opened. Even those who have awakened are often delayed by hesitation. If you revere the precepts and regulations of the Mysterious Gate, you can naturally ascend beyond the heavens. If instead you cling to desire and let yourself be entangled by it, why act arrogantly and do as you please? When sin and karma bind you, the Four Luminaries will record your offenses; as you turn through birth and death, you will undergo eight ordeals. To fall into the Court of the Five Pains is cause for sorrow, and the sins accumulated in the Three Paths are then hard to dispel. Your soul sinks into the Nine Depths (the deepest reaches of the netherworld), where it will wait through ten thousand kalpas without seeing dawn. When one thinks of the admonitions transmitted by the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, how can one not grieve?

The Nine Mysteries (the Daoist realm of profound and far-reaching mystery) stretch high and wide; in darkness, the first transformations of life began. At that time there was neither form nor shadow, and depth and extent could not be measured. The two principles of Heaven and Earth began to move and manifest; Qi gathered and formed tangible matter. The Three Luminaries (celestial bodies such as the sun, moon, and stars) illuminate the mysterious celestial chamber, while the numbers of the five and nine each follow their own ordering principles. People bring fortune and misfortune upon themselves through their actions; upon whom, then, do good and evil ultimately fall? Those who grasp the mysterious principle can ascend beyond the ordinary to a lofty realm. But if they take up the axe that fells life (a metaphor for destroying life and its blessings), allowing offenses to fill their hearts, they will sink into a realm of sin and suffering and be punished for past transgressions. Even when reborn as human beings, they must bear the torment of the mountain of knives; the Five Pains are without end. The Seven Ancestral Spirits (the ancestors or departed spirits of one’s lineage) crowd the darkness, enduring ten thousand kalpas before a single cycle is complete. They remain for a long time in the Three Paths, still failing to understand the truth of birth, death, and rebirth.

At this time, the High and Holy Jade Emperor (the Jade Emperor among the exalted perfected sages) and the Great Master Gaochen led the Jade Lang of the immortal realm. Holding feathered insignia for ascending to immortality and jade tablets inscribed with imperial texts, they proclaimed the decree to the Five Spirits. The Jade Secretariat, which oversees celestial documents, established the divine positions. The Ten Thousand Emperors assembled at court, and the Illustrious Emperor made an oath, granting this clear code to the Great Lord of the Supreme Dao. After receiving the Mysterious Precepts, the Lord at once transmitted them to the Later Sage, the Emperor Lord of the Nine Mysteries and Golden Tower. He charged him to govern the affairs of the upper realm in Shangqing, oversee the jade imperial texts throughout the Ten Heavens, and proclaim them to the Five Spirits, so that the Jade Secretariat’s offices would each be in their proper place, the Ten Thousand Emperors would assemble at court, and the Illustrious Emperor would make an oath. He was then to transmit the clear code to the Great Lord of the Supreme Dao.

After receiving the Mysterious Precepts, the Lord again entrusted the clear code to the Later Sage, the Emperor Lord of the Nine Mysteries and Golden Tower. He was to govern Shangqing above, the Ten Heavens in the middle, and the myriad realms below; lead the assembled immortals; proclaim the teaching to all the perfected ones; and inspect and confirm the registers of names in the Mysterious Charts and Purple Slips of the Azure Palace, the palace offices of the immortal realm. All whose names appear in the Jade Emperor’s register must transmit this teaching to later generations of Dao cultivators, so that they may learn the precepts and cultivate in accordance with its regulations.

The Later Sage Emperor Lord received the Clear Code of the Four Extremes from the Great Lord of the Supreme Dao and sealed it away in the Palace of Seven Treasures, Jade Reflections, on the Purple Terrace of the Golden Tower. After 1,700 years, it was transmitted to the Minister of the High Court, Lord Azure Lad. He in turn transmitted it to the Perfected of the Supreme Ultimate, the Red Lord of Southern Peak, Lord Wang of Western City, the Immortal Earl of Mysterious Island, Prince of the Ninefold Numinous, and twenty-four other perfected ones. Lord Wang sealed one copy in the Jade Chamber northwest of Mount Wangwu, decreeing that after ten thousand kalpas it should be transmitted to those who attain the Dao in later times.

Anyone whose name appears in the Mysterious Charts and Jade Register, and whose bones are of gold and inner storehouse of purple, is qualified to receive this scripture. Those who receive it will become immortals and ascend to heaven in broad daylight. Thirty-six Jade Youths and thirty-six Jade Maidens who attend the scripture will protect the bodies of those who observe its precepts and regulations, and record their merits and good deeds. Those who carefully uphold and treasure this text may also receive the scripture, become immortals, and ascend to heaven in broad daylight. Thirty-six Jade Youths and thirty-six Jade Maidens who attend the text will guard their bodies and record their faults, merits, and good deeds.

Practitioners should uphold it with care, regard the scripture as a treasure in accordance with their oath, and keep it strictly secret; they must not transmit it lightly. If anyone discloses this numinous text, the parents of their ancestors for nine generations will be punished and condemned to endless hard labor: carrying mountains on their backs, hauling stones, filling the River of Accumulated Night, and swallowing fire and eating charcoal. Even after ten thousand kalpas they will not be pardoned. After death, the offender will fall into the Springs of the Underworld and answer for their crime before the Three Officials, the divine authorities who govern Heaven, Earth, and Water.

The High Pure Subtle Heaven has three mysterious offices, governed by the Jade Emperor’s supervising director and the Immortal Lords. The Five Emperors’ divine troops stationed there number fifty thousand. The first, the Left Office, oversees punishment for offenses showing disrespect toward the Most High Perfect Jade Emperor. The second, the Right Office, investigates offenses involving the disclosure of Heaven’s treasures. The third, the Yin Office, investigates violations of precepts and prohibitions by the Primordial Ladies.

The Yu-yu Heaven also has three offices, governed by the Upper Perfect, the Director of the Registers, and the Non-Jade Lords. The Five Emperors’ divine troops stationed there likewise number fifty thousand. The first, the Left Office, oversees yang offenses—that is, outward misdeeds such as killing and rebellion, stealing heavenly treasures, disclosing sacred writings, and committing offenses through verbal disputes, curses, or oaths. The second, the Right Office, oversees yin offenses—that is, misdeeds held within the heart, such as plotting wrongdoing, scheming to harm worthy people, and harboring thoughts contrary to moral principles. The third, the Chief Office, oversees offenses such as doubt and turning away from heavenly truth; failing to revere or believe in the Way of Heaven; slandering heavenly treasures; wavering in one’s resolve; and showing disrespect toward Daoist scriptures or profaning sacred writings.

The Great Red Heaven has three offices, governed by the Commissioner who oversees and directs the numinous. The Five Emperors’ divine troops stationed there number fifty thousand. The first, the Left Office, oversees punishment for the offenses of the living. The second, the Right Office, oversees punishment for the offenses of the dead. The third, the Yin Office, oversees punishment for the offenses of women.

There are also two officials, one of Water and one of Fire. The Left Water Official oversees punishment for offenses such as lying and slander, quarrelsome speech, jealousy of the worthy, disbelief in heavenly truth, doubting talismans and seals, disparaging precious writings, speaking recklessly about Heaven and Earth, disclosing secret texts, destroying the sun, moon, and other signs of Heaven and Earth, and offending the sun, moon, and stars. The Right Fire Official oversees punishment for grave rebellion and killing, harming one’s teachers, elders, or ruler, plotting against one’s parents, and deeds of cruelty, intentions to harm others, or desires contrary to the Dao.

Mount Daqiu also has two examiners, one of Wind and one of the Blade. The Left Wind Examiner oversees punishment for receiving scriptures, talismans and registers, or precious instructions without vowing to practice them; coveting wealth while disregarding the Dao; and violating the celestial ordinances. The Right Blade Examiner oversees punishment for breaking vows, betraying teachers and friends, changing the Dao one follows, making arbitrary judgments about good and evil, attacking the fundamental teachings, and forming deep enmity with others.

In the mysterious realm are three layers of empty space, each governed by a group of celestial officials. The Upper Three Offices govern the Jade Void beyond the Great Mystery; the Middle Three Offices govern the Shangqing Empty Space; and the Lower Three Offices govern the Taiji Empty Space. All are located within the mysterious void, and nine departments are established in the mysterious caverns of the Five Sacred Peaks. The divine officials of the Three Offices and Nine Departments oversee the good and evil deeds and punishments of the human world.

Dao Mountain lies north of Mount Dai (Mount Tai). It is where the Three Officials below govern the Supreme Ultimate and the vast expanse of space. The Three Officials dwell amid mystery and emptiness, above the hollow void. Nine administrative bureaus are also established, distributed among the mysterious grotto chambers of the Five Sacred Peaks. The Three Officials and Nine Bureaus oversee the good and evil deeds of the living, as well as their punishments for wrongdoing.

Dao Mountain lies north of Mount Dai, above the small grotto heaven of the hollow void, and extends for seven thousand li in circumference. On the mountain are one hundred and twenty offices, one thousand two hundred clerks who handle official records, and fifty thousand divine soldiers who carry out punishments. Anyone who has violated the Three Officials’ precepts must, after death, be forced to climb the mountain of blades, suffering as they go back and forth. Each time an eon passes, they are punished once, and their souls endure extreme torment. Only after three punishments may they proceed to the Land of Flowing Fire.

The Land of Flowing Fire lies south of Mount Huo, within the Grotto Court of Great Yang, and extends for five thousand li in circumference. Sinful souls are sent there to swallow burning coals and suffer the agony of being scorched. They are punished once with each passing eon. After three punishments, they are sent to serve in the Three Paths, carrying soil from Meng Mountain to fill the River of Night. Only after three rounds of punishment and forced labor do they have a chance to be reborn, though never as human beings.

The Three Paths all come under Mount Fengdu, the upper palace of the Great Mystery and Lady Green (a legendary Daoist underworld), located in the northern quarter of Gui. The mountain holds eight prisons: the First, Heavenly Prison; the Second, Equal-Heaven Prison; the Third, Void Prison; the Fourth, Natural Prison; the Fifth, Ninefold Equality Prison; the Sixth, Clear Edict Prison; the Seventh, Mysterious Heaven Prison; and the Eighth, Primordial Rectitude Prison. These oversee the Three Officials of the Upper Heaven.

At the mountain’s center are another eight prisons: the First, Mysterious Sand Northern Prison; the Second, Imperial Heaven Prison; the Third, Prohibition and Punishment Prison; the Fourth, Mysterious Mystery Prison; the Fifth, Rectification by Punishment Prison; the Sixth, Statutes and Commands Prison; the Seventh, Nine Heavens Prison; and the Eighth, Clear Ling Prison. These oversee the Three Officials of the Middle Heaven.

At the foot of the mountain are eight more prisons: the First, Boundless Prison; the Second, Great Truth Prison; the Third, Mysterious Capital Prison; the Fourth, Great Prison of the Thirty-Six Heavens; the Fifth, Heavenly One Northern Prison; the Sixth, River Earl’s Prison; the Seventh, Eon upon Eon Prison; and the Eighth, Lady Green Prison. These oversee the Three Officials of the Lower Heaven.

These twenty-four prisons are all located north of Mount Dengdu. Each prison has twelve clerks and two thousand four hundred celestial strongmen with golden heads and iron faces, endowed with tremendous strength. Each carries a golden hammer and an iron staff. The souls of those who die having violated the Mysterious Ordinances (Daoist precepts) are sent to the appropriate prison, where the strongmen beat and punish them with iron staffs. They are punished once with each passing eon; only after three punishments may they at last make amends for the offenses they incurred in the Three Paths.

The character “Tai” appears to begin a fragment whose earlier text is missing. Its meaning is that two thousand four hundred gigantic, mighty warriors with golden heads and iron faces, carrying golden hammers and iron staffs, punish the souls of the dead who have violated the Dark Precepts, the Daoist commandments. Each soul is sent to the hell to which it belongs and beaten by the warriors with iron staffs. It is punished once every ten thousand kalpas; only after three punishments can it repay and make amends for its offenses in the Three Evil Paths: hell, the realm of hungry ghosts, and the animal realm.

The Most High said to the Lord of the Golden Palace, a revered celestial deity: People live between Heaven and Earth, within the six directions, yet do not understand the allotted span of life and death or the sources of sin and blessing. This is truly lamentable. The karmic ties formed by good and evil deeds never go without retribution.

Those who practice goodness and cultivate De, helping living beings during their lifetime, will be reborn after death in a hall of blessing. They will transcend the Eight Obstacles, the eight circumstances that hinder cultivation, share in the blessings and celebrations of the community, and naturally receive Heaven’s reward. Those who diligently study, aspire to become immortals, honor the Dark Precepts, and revere and trust the sacred writings; who turn toward goodness and away from evil, cultivate virtue, and enter the true Dao—after death, they will be received by the emperors of Heaven. Their names will be recorded on the purple registers, the celestial rolls of immortals, and they will ascend to Yuchen, the Daoist heavens.

Those who cherish the Great Dao during their lifetime, endure bitter cold and hardship without fear, follow their master and serve diligently, and put hard work first in all things; who, even when hungry or thirsty, do their utmost to help without complaint—after death, they may ride a flying carriage and feast among the Five Sacred Peaks, passing freely through the clouds above. Their names, too, will be entered on the purple registers, and they will ascend to Yuchen.

Those who remain chaste and upright during their lifetime, avoiding sexual misconduct, treachery, and greed for desire; who remain unmoved at the sight of beauty, keep their resolve firm as dead ashes, and hold fast to the foundations of the Dao—after death, they will be guided by spiritual beings, escape the Three Evil Paths, and avoid the Five Sufferings.

Those who take joy in giving and hope that Heaven will bestow blessings far and wide, so that everyone may be saved and leave behind the Eight Obstacles; who, even before securing their own well-being, are willing to give up their clothing to help the poor, or set aside their own grain to feed birds and leave goods for people in the mountains—their good deeds will win the approval of the Four Offices, the celestial bureaus responsible for rewards and punishments, record keeping, and other affairs. They will move the Jade Emperor, who will have their names entered on the purple registers and among the ranks of the High Immortals.

Those who are loyal and filial during their lifetime, respectfully serve their parents and elders, honor those of higher standing, and show due respect to their teachers and rulers; whose thoughts accord with their words and actions, whose hearts are free of arrogance and whose speech is free of heedlessness; who are consistent within and without and conduct themselves according to reason—after death, they will be received by spiritual beings, bypass the Three Evil Paths, and transcend the Eight Obstacles. Good deeds continue one after another, and blessings arise from them. How could the Dao fail to repay such people?

But those whose conduct is poor during their lifetime, whose hearts harbor evil and deceit, who attack the foundations of their master’s lineage and instead slander the scriptures of the sages and worthies, refuse to honor sacred writings, and doubt the Way of Heaven and the perfected immortals; who outwardly pursue empty fame and profit, speak pleasing words while harboring other intentions, and act against the foundations of the Dao; who steal scriptures, spread them without first swearing an oath, reveal secret teachings, circulate false material, and violate precepts and prohibitions—such people will fall into sin. Even seven generations of their ancestors will be unjustly implicated, and punishment will extend to the souls of the dead. After death, they will suffer flogging and torture, swallow raging fire, and tread upon mountains of blades. They will endure the Three Evil Paths and Five Sufferings, remain unforgiven for ten thousand kalpas, and be endlessly punished in the darkness, with pain that pierces to the bone.

Those who wish to cultivate the Dao and study its teachings should read this scripture carefully. How could one ever fully describe the details of karmic retribution for blessings and calamities?

Those whose names are inscribed in gold in the registers of the Celestial Emperor and in jade characters on purple jade tablets, and who are permitted to receive and uphold the 120 precepts of the Four Extremities Clear Regulations (a Daoist text on precepts), are people of exceptional endowment from past lives, destined to become immortals. Yet after receiving the teachings, they must put them into practice diligently, day and night, and hold themselves to strict standards. Those who wish to study the Way should read this scripture carefully. The blessings and calamities that follow from observing or violating the precepts are too numerous to recount in full.

All who are permitted to receive and uphold the Four Extremities Clear Regulations should cultivate in accordance with its precepts, cherish good conduct, and follow the ordinances. In this way, they may seek to resonate with the vital essences of the spirits and deities, so that the Mysterious Void Jade Emperor, a Daoist deity, may observe and approve of them. The divine officials of the four directions will welcome and escort them. Near or far, people will bow to them and attend upon them.

Those who receive the precepts should sever relations between men and women and avoid associating with ordinary people, so as not to be tainted by the defilement of worldly life and death or offend the perfected spirits. They should also abstain from the five pungent plants, often forbidden in Daoist precepts, lest turbid Qi fill their organs and deplete their Jing, Qi, and Shen. They must never expose themselves naked beneath the sun, moon, and stars, or show disrespect toward Yuchen, a Daoist deity. Anyone who violates these precepts brings guilt upon themselves and invites calamity. For this reason, those who receive the precepts are especially admonished to reflect on them carefully and observe them.

Those who receive and uphold the Clear Regulations must not speak casually about the scripture to ordinary practitioners, nor make reckless pronouncements about ancient mysteries. They must not presume to have understood the utmost truth of the Dao and then preach to those unfit to receive it, divulge the source of the Daoist teachings, or display them indiscriminately to the world. Otherwise, calamity will extend to the spirits of their ancestors for seven generations: they will be punished and sent for a long time to fill in the source of the river and serve in the Ninefold Darkness, the depths of the underworld, enduring indescribable suffering.

Those who receive the highest teachings of the Dao and revere and practice the ancient methods will likewise bring punishment upon the spirits of their ancestors for seven generations if they presume to have understood the utmost truth of the Dao and preach to those unfit to receive it, divulge the source of the Daoist teachings, or display them indiscriminately to the world. Their ancestors will be sent for a long time to fill in the source of the river and serve in the Ninefold Darkness, enduring suffering beyond words.

Those who accept and practice the method above and diligently cultivate the Scripture of Clear Precepts should observe the eight seasonal nodes—Beginning of Spring, Spring Equinox, Beginning of Summer, Summer Solstice, Beginning of Autumn, Autumn Equinox, Beginning of Winter, and Winter Solstice—as well as the day corresponding to their birth year. They should fast, burn incense, and confess their faults before the Emperor Lord, so as to dispel the sins of the Nine Yin and be freed from the karmic burdens of the Seven Ancestors.

At the Beginning of Spring and the Spring Equinox, light nine lamps in the center of the courtyard; at the Beginning of Summer and the Summer Solstice, light three; at the Beginning of Autumn and the Autumn Equinox, light seven; at the Beginning of Winter and the Winter Solstice, light five; and on the day corresponding to your birth year, light twelve. At midnight, stand in the open beneath the sky and face the direction associated with the occasion: east at the Beginning of Spring and the Spring Equinox, south at the Beginning of Summer and the Summer Solstice, west at the Beginning of Autumn and the Autumn Equinox, and north at the Beginning of Winter and the Winter Solstice. On the day corresponding to your birth year, face the direction of Tai Sui. Then click your teeth twenty-four times and softly recite:

“Most High Perfect One, Emperors of the Myriad Saints, Jade Offices of the Five Emperors, Celestial Overseers of the Immortals: today, on this auspicious day of the eight seasonal nodes, may the registers of my offenses be opened, and my visible sins and hidden trials be made clear. May the sins of the Nine Yin be utterly erased, and may the burdens of the Seven Ancestors be forever removed and released. May I escape the sufferings of the fiery realm, be forever free of the perils of the blade mountain, and be spared the burdens of the Three Paths and Five Sufferings. May I endure as long as Heaven and Earth, and long preserve the dawn of the Emperor. With the Five Vows and Eight Assemblies, may every prayer I make be fulfilled just as spoken.”

When you have finished reciting, remove your headcloth and bow your head one hundred and twenty times, touching your forehead to the ground without striking it painfully. Then put your headcloth back on, gaze up at the sky, and silently say in your heart: “Today I receive Heaven’s grace; its blessing is bestowed upon my body, and I receive life and ascend to become an immortal.” When you have finished, tilt your head back and swallow twenty-four breaths. The rite is then complete.

Practice in this way for three years, and past offenses will all be erased. Your body will unite with the Perfected Ones, you will no longer undergo the Five Sufferings, and you will escape the calamity of the fiery realm. In the end, you will become a Perfected One and roam in leisure in the Hall of Radiance. This is called a subtle and wondrous secret method; it should be guarded carefully and not passed on lightly.

The four quarters of the Four Poles are all governed by the Jade Director Lords of the Five Emperors, who command the entire Four Poles, with no distinction of high or low, deep or shallow. Through endless kalpas, all good and evil within the four quarters are comprehensively observed by them, and misfortune and blessing are likewise tied to the Jade Director Lords. The eight Director Lords of the four directions likewise govern the Four Poles, inspecting all good and evil everywhere and controlling misfortune and blessing. The countless officials in the four directions and eight regions also all fall under the title of the Jade Director’s patrol of the various bureaus.

Legal Statutes of the Luminous Code of the Four Poles of Nüqing in the Upper Palace of the Great Mystery

The Jade Director Lord of the Green Emperor is surnamed Liang and named Shudu. He wears a green feather robe patterned with nine-colored phoenixes, a Nine-Origin Treasure Crown on his head, and holds a nine-colored ritual staff. He governs the Nüqing Upper Palace of the Mysterious Capital of the Cavern-Heaven Emperor at the Eastern Great Luminous Yang Terrace, and commands the bureaus of Mount Tai, the Eastern Peak, the earth spirits and water essences, and the soldiers of the Green Armor. The boundless heavenly realms at the farthest reaches of the east, as well as countless kalpas and endless bureaus, all are subordinate to the Jade Director Lord of the Green Emperor.

The Jade Director Lord of the Green Emperor governs human life, death, and lifespan. If a cultivator knows his name and performs cunsi (visualization) on his spirit, then after nine years of cultivation they can move him so that a flying canopy of green clouds comes to welcome them. Cunsi is a Daoist cultivation practice of focusing contemplation on a deity.

The Luminous Code of the Four Poles of the Great Mystery Capital says: If the High Above Jade Clarity Great Truth Imperial Sovereign violates the precepts set out in the luminous code, he will be struck from the register of imperial-rank immortal perfected, demoted to a roaming scattered true sovereign, and assigned to office in the Taiqing (Great Clarity) Central Palace for seven hundred years; afterward he will be promoted in title according to the regulations.

The Luminous Code of the Four Poles of the Great Mystery Capital also says: If a Perfected of Shangqing (Highest Clarity) does not wholeheartedly carry out royal service, is negligent and derelict in office, damages or abandons the true post, discloses precious secret instructions, or transmits secret methods to unsuitable people, he will be struck from the register of Upper Perfected and demoted to Lord of the Five Peaks’ Chief Inspectorate for one thousand years; afterward he will be promoted in title according to his diligence.

The Scripture of the Clear Regulations of the Four Poles of the Jade Emperor of Great Zhen says: Those appointed as Ladies or Sovereign Ladies of the Upper Origin who fail to diligently perform the duties assigned by the Celestial Emperor and neglect their divine offices; behave without proper decorum, or conduct audiences and banquets without restraint; carelessly disclose secret methods of the celestial realm, or transmit Daoist methods to unsuitable people, will have their names struck from the register of True Emperors and their rank lowered from the Purple Void. They will be assigned among the wandering, unattached spirit officials of Central Mystery and Pure Subtlety for seven hundred years. After that, their titles will be raised step by step according to their diligence.

Those appointed as Immortals of Great Clarity who fail to diligently perform their duties, neglect their responsibilities, or abandon their obligations will have their names struck from the register of True Emperors and their rank lowered from the Purple Void. They will serve among the wandering, unattached spirit officials of Central Mystery and Pure Subtlety for seven hundred years, after which their titles will be raised according to their diligence.

Those appointed as Immortals of Great Clarity who fail to diligently perform their duties, neglect their responsibilities, abandon their obligations, disclose the precepts of the celestial realm, or transmit Daoist methods to people who should not receive them will have their names struck from the register of True Immortals. They will be demoted to serve as chief officials of the Five Sacred Peaks for two thousand four hundred years, after which their titles will be raised according to their diligence.

Those appointed as Flying Immortals of the Five Sacred Peaks who fail to carry out their celestial duties, neglect their offices in the immortal realm, or show disrespect for Daoist scriptures will have their names struck from the register of Orthodox Immortals. They will be demoted to serve as officials under the Three Officials’ chief inspectors for two thousand four hundred years, after which their titles will be raised according to their diligence.

Anyone appointed to an office among the Five Emperors, the Four Offices, the Three Officials, or the chief inspectors who fails to fulfill their duties, delays and shirks, performs them carelessly, violates the statutes of the celestial realm, abandons their responsibilities, or imposes punishments unjustly—causing the punished spirits to suffer wrongful grievances and disrupting the governance of the celestial realm—will have their rank as a True and Orthodox deity revoked and be demoted to a clerical post under the chief commander for three thousand six hundred years. Those who perform their duties diligently may have their titles raised.

The Regulations of the Four Poles of the Great Mysterious Capital stipulate: Anyone who receives a Jade Writ of the Supreme Perfected Ones (a talismanic document conferring high rank among the immortals) and serves as a Gate-Supervising Jade Gentleman, Feathered Immortal Attendant, Chief Director of the Upper Palace’s Registers, Attendant Who Leads Immortals of the Jade Perfected, Director of Prohibitions, Feathered Youth in Charge of Immortals, or Director of the Capital’s Offices, but proves unable to fulfill the duties of the post, neglects affairs of the celestial realm, or violates celestial rules, shall have the Jade Writ of the Supreme Perfected Ones revoked and be demoted to serve as a clerk under the Three Offices (the Daoist Offices of Heaven, Earth, and Water), where they must command ghosts for seven thousand years. Those who serve diligently and earn merit may have their titles advanced in accordance with their good deeds.

The Regulations of the Four Poles of the Great Mysterious Capital stipulate: The Yellow Book and Red Boundary (talismanic writings and ritual methods associated in Daoism with transmission and cultivation), together with the Way of True Unity (a Daoist method of cultivation centered on “True Unity”), belong to the arts of transmission and are secret teachings of the Daoist tradition. Their principles are subtle and profound. They concern the union of the two forms of Yin-Yang and the harmonizing of the Three Qi. They can dispel impurity and calamity, release people from hardship, preserve Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy), and nurture Shen (spirit), enabling people to live long and never die. Those who receive this method commit especially grave violations if they damage their righteous Qi, give rise to greed and desire, behave chaotically and without restraint, or act with jealousy and suspicion, attack the foundations of their teacher’s tradition, and slander one another. The offenders and their ancestors for seven generations shall be punished by the Left and Right Palaces: they will suffer on mountains, swallow flames, and carry stones to fill rivers. They must also undergo three ordeals among the Three Paths and Five Sufferings (various torments described in the Daoist underworld), after which they will serve as ghost laborers for a long time. Those who receive the teaching should understand and carefully observe the Statutes of the Lady of the Azure Register of the Upper Palace.

The Regulations of the Four Poles of the Great Mysterious Capital stipulate: The large characters for the Celestial Emperor, Earthly Emperor, and Human Emperor of the Upper Clarity Heaven are all part of the wondrous methods of Great Clarity and Emptiness and the treasured texts of the Grotto Origin (secret writings transmitted from the higher realms in Daoism). Those without a Golden Name (a title registered in the immortal registers) must not presumptuously transmit or practice them. Those who receive the teaching should understand and carefully observe the Statutes of the Lady of the Azure Register of the Upper Palace.

The Sike Mingke of the Great Capital of the Supreme Mystery stipulates: The large characters “Celestial Emperor,” “Earthly Emperor,” and “Human Emperor,” along with the wondrous teachings of purity and emptiness and the precious writings of the Cavern’s Origin, may not be known or heard by anyone whose “Golden Name” is not entered in the Azure Palace of Fangzhu. Those who obtain these scriptures can become terrestrial immortals, ascend to the realm of profound emptiness, and take their place among the ranks of immortal ministers. If anyone treats the perfected ones with contempt, divulges the Lingbao scriptures, passes them to an unsuitable recipient, desecrates or tramples them, behaves irreverently and reveals them, or violates the prohibitions, then seven generations of their ancestors will be examined and punished, assigned to the Right Office and held accountable. They must endure punishments such as climbing a mountain of blades, eating fire, and carrying stones on their backs to fill a river. Each will also receive one beating before being reborn in a nonhuman form. The person who committed the offense will be punished by the Left Office: climbing mountains, eating fire, and undergoing the calamities of the Three Paths and Five Sufferings. After receiving three beatings, they will be made to serve as a ghost. These are the statutes of the Northern Emperor’s Upper Palace of Nüqing. Those who receive and uphold them should understand them and observe them with care.

The Sike Mingke of the Great Capital of the Supreme Mystery further stipulates: The upper scriptures of the Cavern Mystery Lingbao, writings on great and small kalpas, the Five Talismans, Jade Instructions, precious writings of the Highest Clarity, and the Way of the Profound Cavern may not be seen or heard by anyone who lacks a jade bone and a profound chart, or whose name is not recorded in purple characters. Those who obtain these scriptures will be attended and protected by jade boys and jade girls. They should burn incense and bow in reverence, honoring the scriptures as they would a ruler or their parents. By purifying the heart, observing abstinence, and reciting the scriptures, they can ascend a cloud chariot, roam and feast amid the scenic wonders of the Five Sacred Peaks, and become immortal officials who govern numinous mountains.

If anyone fails to honor the scriptures, defiles or treats the true writings with contempt, divulges and circulates them recklessly, passes them to an unsuitable recipient, or violates the prohibitions, then seven generations of their ancestors will be assigned to the Right Office for punishment. They will suffer the hardships of Lesser Mountain and the Land of Fire, undergo the Three Paths and Five Sufferings, and each receive two beatings before being reborn on a nonhuman path. The person who committed the offense will be examined and punished by the Left Office, enduring such penalties as climbing a mountain of blades, eating fire, carrying stones on their backs to fill a river, and undergoing the Three Paths and Five Sufferings. After receiving three beatings, they will be made to serve forever as a ghost in a place of unending darkness. These are the statutes of the Northern Emperor’s Upper Palace of Nüqing. Those who receive and uphold them should understand them and observe them with care.

The Four Extremes’ Clear Statutes from the Great Mysterious Capital record that the Thirty-Nine Chapters of the Great Cavern True Scripture, the Wondrous Scripture of the Plain Numinous Presence, the Treasure Scripture of the Five Elders in the Jade Register of the Feminine One, the Upper Writings of the Purple Books of the Golden Flower Cavern Chamber, the Primordial Registers of Turtle Mountain, the Upper Scripture of the Golden Root in the Azure Registers and White Tablets, and the Imperial Chapters of the Jade Writings of Langshu at the Great Empyrean, along with other precious texts of the Upper Palace, comprise thirty-one volumes. Each is a secret teaching transmitted separately. They belong to Daoist methods of supreme subtlety and profound mystery, whose radiance illuminates Heaven and Earth.

These precious scriptures of the Jade Clarity of the grotto-heavens are transmitted only to perfected True Persons. Recipients must possess bones of gold and a jade treasury—the immortal body of Daoist teaching—and have their names recorded in the registers of the Imperial Lords and listed in the Purple Court. Only then are they qualified to see these scriptures. Those who receive them will be attended and guarded by jade boys and jade maidens. They should burn incense beside the scriptures, bow to them morning and evening, show them the same reverence as a ruler or one’s parents, and observe long periods of purification and recite the numinous texts. In this way, they can swiftly summon cloud chariots, ascend to Jade Clarity, take their place in the Golden Gate, and ride with the Imperial Lords.

If, after receiving the scriptures, one fails to treat them with reverence, violates the precepts, neglects or slightingly handles them, refuses to believe in the Way of the Heavenly Perfected, or carelessly divulges the secrets and makes the sacred writings public so that ordinary people can see or hear them, one will face severe punishment. According to the scriptures, seven generations of ancestors, parents, and relatives will be judged and punished by the Right Office. They must endure such calamities as blade mountains, regions of fire, and the Three Paths and Five Sufferings; after undergoing two examinations and floggings, they will still be reborn in nonhuman form. The offender and their relatives will be judged by the Left Office and subjected to tortures such as blade mountains, consuming fire, and carrying stones to fill rivers, as well as the Twenty-Four Hells, the Three Paths, and the Five Sufferings. After three examinations and floggings, they will remain for a long time in the service of ghosts in the underworld. These rules accord with the statutes of the Upper Palace of the Northern Emperor’s Maiden Qing. Recipients of the scriptures should understand the precepts, remain vigilant, and observe them with care.

The Four Extremes’ Clear Statutes from the Great Mysterious Capital also say that those who violate the precepts will suffer the calamities of the Great You Hell of Shangqing and the Three Paths and Five Sufferings. After three examinations and floggings, they will serve for a long time as ghosts in the underworld. This accords with the statutes of the Upper Palace of the Northern Emperor’s Maiden Qing, and recipients of the scriptures should observe them with care.

The Tai Xuan Du Si Ji Ming Ke says: In the palaces of the Six Heavens of the Great Upper Clarity, there are rules governing how one moves and behaves. There are also three hundred scrolls of the precious scriptures of the Upper Dao, nine thousand words of jade instructions, and seven thousand texts of talismans and registers. All are treasured writings of the Jade Clarity. They are kept in the Sevenfold Violet Chamber of the Palace of the Great High numinous capital, and transmitted only to perfected beings who have attained the Dao. Their mysterious names appear in the imperial registers, and their violet names are recorded in the Jade Clarity. Those who are permitted to see these writings will be attended and protected by jade boys and jade maidens.

Before these scriptures, one should burn incense and bow in reverence, honoring them as one would a ruler or a father. One must avoid lust and impurity, and must not act carelessly or neglectfully. In this way, one may soon ride a cloud carriage and ascend to Heaven in broad daylight.

Those who carelessly divulge these scriptures, profane and slight Heaven’s treasures, speak casually about numinous texts, or reveal them to people who are not permitted to receive them will face severe punishment. Their ancestors and relatives across seven generations will be placed under the jurisdiction of the Right Office and suffer the Three Paths of tribulation in the twenty-four hells. After being punished twice, they will be reborn as nonhuman beings. The offenders themselves will be placed under the jurisdiction of the Left Office and suffer on knife mountains and from consuming fire. The scriptures further say that after three rounds of punishment, they must carry stones to fill rivers, serve for a long time in dark places, and endure the Three Paths and Five Sufferings. Here, “Left Office” and “Right Office” refer to the underworld bureaus that administer punishment for offenses; “the Three Paths and Five Sufferings” is a Daoist term for the painful conditions encountered after death.

These are the ordinances of the Northern Emperor’s Lady Green of the Upper Palace. Those who receive and uphold these scriptures should understand their prohibitions and observe them with care.

The Statutes of Illustrious Teachings of the Four Extremities of the Great Mystery (celestial laws governing the transmission of scriptures and prohibitions) stipulate: The Scripture of the Golden Liquor Elixir of Highest Clarity, the Divine Diagram of the Nine Cauldrons, the Four Jade Elixirs of Langgan Blossoms—Flying Frost, Rising Snow, Crimson Growth, and Purple Nectar—Containing the Hidden Radiance of the Numinous Pellet, the Great Elixir Made Instantly through the Nine Transformations of the Great One, the Central Record of the Transmuted Embryonic Essence, and other works, numbering one hundred and forty scrolls in all, are the methods of cultivation and ascent to transformation practiced by the perfected of the middle ranks. They are transmitted to those destined to become perfected beings. Only those whose names in gold are registered at Fangzhu Palace should receive these scriptures.

Those who receive the scriptures and complete the elixir methods may transform into seventy-four forms, ride the void and cloud chariots, ascend to Highest Clarity (the Daoist name for a higher celestial realm), and cause objects of the five colors, purple gold, gold, and silver to appear instantly. After receiving these scriptures, they must keep them secret and practice them carefully. They must not treat the celestial truth with disrespect or profane it, nor reveal the numinous writings to worldly people. Violators will be handed over to the Left Office (the celestial officials responsible for punishments) for investigation and punishment. They will suffer the “crime of wind knives” and calamities in this life; after death, they will be sentenced to labor carrying stones. After undergoing this punishment, they must still be reborn in remote lands in the four directions.

The Statutes of the Lady of Azure of the Upper Palace (a Daoist disciplinary text) stipulate: Those who receive the scriptures must understand these prohibitions and observe them with care.

The Statutes of Illustrious Teachings of the Four Extremities of the Great Mystery further stipulate: The Divine Diagram of the True Forms of the Five Peaks came into being at the same time as Heaven and Earth. It is kept in the Palace of Dongting among the Thirty-Two Heavens, where the highest perfected, flying immortals, and immortals dwell. There grow divine herbs and jade fungi (the legendary lingzhi mushrooms of the immortals), which enable people to live forever. Those who obtain this diagram will be attended and protected by jade boys and jade maidens sent by the Five Emperors.

Those who treat this diagram with disrespect, reveal it, and offend the perfected spirits will be reported to Heaven by the jade boys and handed over to the Fire Office for investigation and punishment by fire. Those who burn the scripture will suffer the calamity of the fiery realm after death. After undergoing this punishment, they must also carry stones to fill a river. Following ten thousand kalpas, they will be reborn on a path where they cannot take human form. The Statutes of the Lady of Azure of the Upper Palace stipulate: Those who receive the scriptures must understand these prohibitions and observe them with care.

The Four Poles’ Illustrious Precepts of Tai Xuan Du says: The Shangqing talisman that stirs the numinous power of the Fangzhang, the hidden writings of the Eight Heavens, the Flowing Gold Fire Bell, the Seven Primordial Ones of Huoluo, the Five Elders’ treasure talismans, the five registers of the Emperor Lords who summon souls through the Five Phases, the tiger writings of the Metal Spirits, the red talismans of the plain memorials, the writings of wisdom and truth, the Great Cavern’s true talismans, and the jade registers and treasure seals of the forty-nine true Supreme Sovereigns—including those of the Heavenly Cavern, Earthly Cavern, and Abyssal Cavern—comprise seven thousand characters in all. They are kept behind the Nine-Bend Gate of the Purple Chamber in the Great You Palace of the Most High, guarded by three thousand jade boys and jade maidens.

After burning incense, these talismans and registers are bestowed upon those whose names have been entered in the Golden Register and recorded in Donghua; the characters in the register belong to the Purple Empyrean. Those who receive and wear these writings will have a radiant orb of light appear above their heads, illuminating the heavenly realms in all ten directions. They will be able to fly through space and ascend to Heaven by riding the void. They must maintain long-term purification, dwell in secluded mountain forests, abandon worldly entanglements, and reverently venerate the scriptures. They must not allow themselves to become defiled, show disrespect to the true spirits of Heaven, proclaim or divulge these teachings, or casually show them to ordinary people.

Those who violate these prohibitions will be punished and examined by the Three Offices, the divine authorities governing Heaven, Earth, and Water. In life they will suffer five kinds of calamity; after death, they will be sentenced to the twenty-four hells, including the Knife Mountain and Fire Prison, and to the Three Paths. Though they may escape after enduring three cycles of tribulation, they will still bear the burden of ghostly punishment for a long time and suffer these consequences in every life. These are the provisions of the Shanggong Nüqing Code. Those who receive and uphold it must observe and carry it out with clear understanding and utmost care.

The Tai Xuan Du Si Ji Ming Ke stipulates that when reciting such supreme scriptures of the perfected as “The Hundred Divine Treasures of the Returning Wind and Harmonizing Emperor One” from the Thirty-Nine Chapters of the Great Cavern True Scripture, the Jade Register Scripture of the Female One and the Five Elders, the Cavern Mystery Scripture of Pure Numinosity and Great Abundance, and the Hidden Book of the Great Elixir, one should face north, bow toward the four directions, tap the teeth thirty-six times, and swallow the saliva thirty-six times. Then visualize five-colored luminous Qi arising within the Five Viscera and joining with the essential Qi of the Five Planets.

Next, recite “The Way of the Seven Turns of the Divine Continent,” followed by the inner names of the hundred deities; only then may one recite the Great Cavern True Scripture. During recitation, one’s thoughts must accord with the scripture being chanted, without distracting thoughts or fanciful imaginings that might disturb the true spirits. The scripture must be recited in full, from beginning to end, without stopping midway, skipping passages, or omitting sentences. Anyone who violates these rules will be punished according to the law by the divine officials in charge. After three violations, one may not become an immortal. After five, the punishment will extend to seven generations of ancestors as well as the offender, causing them all to fall into the Three Paths and Five Sufferings and the Twenty-Four Hells, where they will suffer for ten thousand kalpas before being made to serve as ghost attendants. These are the regulations in the Lüwen of Shang Gong Nüqing, a text of Daoist precepts. Those who have received the teachings should understand them and observe them with care.

The Tai Xuan Du Si Ji Ming Ke further stipulates that when reciting the thirty-one volumes of the Shangqing Treasure Scripture and their independent cultivation instructions, one should face north whether engaging in visualization or in practice. Those who have received the teachings should carefully observe these precepts.

The Scripture of Clear Laws at the Four Poles of the Great Truth Jade Emperor stipulates that when reciting the thirty-one scrolls of the Most High’s treasured scriptures, one should face north, focus the mind on visualization and practice, bow toward the four directions, click the teeth twenty-four times, and swallow the saliva in the mouth twenty-four times. One should then visualize the essences of the Five Planets and the sun and moon descending from Heaven and entering one’s body. Only after this may one recite the scriptures and carry out the practices they prescribe. During recitation, the mind should accord with the words spoken, without giving rise to stray thoughts. Each scroll must be read in full, from beginning to end, without stopping midway, hesitating, or skipping passages. Three violations of these rules are said to bar one from becoming an immortal for ten thousand generations. Five violations bring punishment upon the practitioner, their parents, and their ancestors for seven generations. They will be seized by the officials on the left and right and subjected to punishments such as the Mountain of Knives, the Fire Prison, the Twenty-Four Hells, and the Three Paths and Five Sufferings. After enduring countless kalpas, they will be reborn on a nonhuman path. These are the statutes of Lady Qing of the Upper Palace. Those who receive this method should understand them clearly and follow them with care.

The Scripture of Clear Laws at the Four Poles of the Great Dark Capital further stipulates that anyone reciting the Lingbao, Dongxuan, or Shengxuan scriptures must face east, click the teeth twelve times, swallow saliva twelve times, bow twice, and visualize purple cloud qi covering the crown of the head and the whole body. Then recite the scripture with the mind and gaze focused: the eyes should look nowhere else, and the mind should be free of stray thoughts. Each time a scroll is opened, one must click the teeth twelve times, swallow saliva twelve times, bow twice, and visualize purple cloud qi covering the whole body. During recitation, every sentence must be read to its end; one must not stop midway or skip any of the text. Three violations are said to bar one from becoming an immortal for ten thousand generations. More than five violations will bring investigation by the officials on the left; after death, one will fall into Hell and suffer the torments of the Three Paths and Five Sufferings. Only after countless kalpas might one escape, and for a long time one will serve as a ghost attendant. These are the statutes of Lady Qing of the Upper Palace. Those who receive this method should understand them clearly and follow them with care.

The Taixuandu Four Poles Clarifying Regulations stipulate that when reciting the sacred names of the Celestial Emperor, Terrestrial Emperor, and Human Emperor and practicing the associated methods, one must face south, bow twice, click the teeth twelve times, and swallow the breath twelve times. At the same time, one should visualize in the mind the True Lords of the Three Sovereigns: the Celestial Emperor Lord, nine cun tall, wears a blue robe and blue brocade skirt, a jeweled crown with nine rays, and holds a jade register of flying immortals; he is positioned on the left. The Human Emperor Lord, also nine cun tall, wears a yellow shawl and yellow brocade skirt, a crown of seven colors, and holds the jade register of the Supreme Emperor that preserves life; he is positioned on the right. The Terrestrial Emperor Lord, likewise nine cun tall, wears a white brocade shawl and a plain brocade skirt, a jade crown of the Three Mornings, and holds the register of the Primordial Emperor that fixes one’s record; he is positioned behind. The True Lords of the Three Sovereigns protect the practitioner at their side. Only after completing these rites should one open the scripture scroll and perform the method.

Those who practice this method must not have sexual relations with others, tread on unclean things, or enter unclean places. They must not show disrespect toward celestial patterns or offend the numinous spirits. Offenders will be punished by the “Left Official,” a divine office responsible for investigation and discipline. After three offenses, practice is suspended for three years, after which it may be resumed. After five offenses, one falls into hell after death and undergoes the punishments of the Three Paths and Five Sufferings; after countless kalpas, one is reborn in a nonhuman form. These provisions come from the Statutes of Lady Green of the Upper Palace. Those who receive the method should understand these precepts and observe them with care.

The Taixuandu Four Poles Clarifying Regulations further stipulate that anyone who receives and upholds the treasured scriptures of the Shangqing tradition must not alter their wording by adding or removing anything, or damage the format or written characters of the Daoist scriptures. Anyone who treats the sacred writings carelessly or damages them will, after three offenses, have practice and the performance of related Daoist duties suspended for ten years. At the end of that period, they must undertake purification, fast anew, and sincerely repent before resuming practice. After five offenses, they will be investigated by the Left Official. Their ancestors for seven generations, their parents, and the offenders themselves will all be sentenced to the Mountain of Blades, the Land of Fire, and the Twenty-Four Hells, where they will undergo the punishments of the Three Paths and Five Sufferings. After countless kalpas, they will still be conscripted to carry stones and fill rivers. These precepts are found in the Statutes of Lady Green of the Upper Palace. Those who receive the method should understand them and follow them with care.

All who receive and uphold the Shangqing and Lingbao scriptures should make a handwritten copy to serve as a daily offering text. In a separate room, they should set up a scripture stand: five chi and five cun high, following the numbers of Heaven and Earth; four chi wide and four chi nine cun long, corresponding to the numbers of the four seasons. Morning and evening, they should burn incense and bow before the scriptures, praying for the gods’ protection.

Even those who do not possess a treasured copy of the scriptures should make a handwritten copy for daily offerings, and set up a stand in a separate room, burning incense and bowing morning and evening as described above. Unclean laypeople must not enter the scripture room, lest they defile the scriptures and violate the prohibitions. Those who break these rules will be called to account by the divine officials in charge. After death, they will fall into hell and suffer the Three Paths and Five Pains—the torments of the underworld as described in Daoism—for ten thousand kalpas, and will also be made to serve as ghosts. The foregoing is a statute of the Lady Qing of the Upper Palace. Those who receive and uphold it should understand it and follow it with care.

All who receive and uphold the Shangqing and Lingbao scriptures should first perform a formal announcement of their purification retreat, burn incense in a designated room, and temporarily withdraw from ordinary affairs. When copying the scriptures, they should prepare clean paper and writing implements, face an auspicious direction, and begin with reverence. They must not recite the chapters while writing. Instead, they should check and verify each character, and must not disclose the scriptures carelessly or treat them with negligence. Offenders will be called to account by the divine officials in charge. After death, they will fall into hell, suffer the Three Paths and Five Pains, endure ten thousand kalpas, and serve as ghosts. The foregoing is a statute of the Lady Qing of the Upper Palace. Those who receive and uphold it should understand it and follow it with care.

End of Volume One of the Scripture of the Four Extremities’ Clear Statutes of the Jade Emperor of Supreme Truth.

Volume Two of the Scripture of the Four Extremities’ Clear Statutes of the Jade Emperor of Supreme Truth: Statutes of the Four Extremities of the Lady Qing of the Lower Palace of the Great Mystery.

The Jade Secretary Lord of the White Emperor, the immortal lord who governs the West, bears the surname Wang and the name Xuandu. He wears a bright, splendid robe of pure white brocade embroidered with phoenixes in seven colors. On his head is the Precious Crown of Flying Essence and Celestial Radiance, and in his hand he holds a ritual tablet adorned with seven colors. He governs the Lower Palace of Lady Qing in the Great Dark Capital, within the Grotto-Heaven of Feathered Fields in the West. He commands the immortal officials, earth spirits, water essences, and troops belonging to the white direction at Mount Hua’s western peak in Huayin.

In the boundless celestial realm of the West, all the many kinds of officials who have served through countless kalpas, together with the laws governing the High Perfected, are under the authority of the Jade Secretary Lord of the White Emperor. He governs the allotted spans of human life and death. If a practitioner learns his name, visualizes his divine form, and cultivates for nine years, a flying carriage formed from plain clouds will come to receive them and carry them up to the Mysterious Palace.

The Great Capital’s Code of Clear Rules for the Four Extremes stipulates that the two methods known as the Register of Left Yi’s Merged Cavern and Eastern Obscurity, and the Statute of Right-Side Capture and Execution, are important ordinances of the Highest Clarity Daoist teachings. They are carried by the Jade Youths of the Three Heavens and used to confer the teachings on the Masters of the Upper Sovereign and the Lords of the Three Primordial Powers of Great Simplicity. Under the old precepts, once in seven thousand years, a person whose immortal charts and registers, bone and Qi, and true Dao are in harmony may be approved to receive the transmission. It must be conferred in three stages. The teacher and recipient must pledge ninety feet of blue silk and three pairs of golden clasps as tokens of their covenant. Master and disciple must fast together for ninety days, then face north to declare their covenant and transmit the teachings. The scripture also says that twelve Jade Youths and twelve Jade Maidens attend to and guard the scriptures.

If a suitable person is found within seven hundred years, the teachings may be transmitted once, but no more than three times in all. Those who break their covenant and betray their trust will, after three offenses, have their cultivation achievements annulled and their Dao practice cut off; they will never be able to become immortals. After five offenses, the Right Officials will seize their seven generations of ancestors and parents, while the Left Officials interrogate the offenders themselves. They will endure punishments including knife mountains, eating fire, and the Twenty-Four Prisons, the Three Paths, and the Five Sufferings. Even after three rounds of torture, they will remain in servitude as ghosts for a long time. These are the regulations of Lady Qing in the Lower Palace of the Mysterious Capital. Those who receive the teachings must understand them and observe them with care.

The Regulations on the Four Poles of the Great Mysterious Capital stipulate that the four scrolls Divine Tiger Jade Scripture, Golden Tiger and Phoenix Patterns, Inner Scripture of the Highest Clarity, and Jade Views of the Yellow Court Inner Scripture originated in the chapters of the Great Thearch’s natural revelation. They were once transmitted to Master Mysterious Antiquity, the Perfected of the August Sovereign, the Dao Lord Most High, the Perfected Jade Essence, the Divine King of Fusang and Yang Valley, the Thearch Lord of the Golden Gate, and Lord Green Youth, Chief Minister of the Upper Realm.

According to the old precepts, these scriptures may be transmitted only three times in every seven thousand years. To receive them, a person must have a purple name in Donghua, recorded in its register, and an ordination name in the Upper Clarity register. In accordance with the covenant, the recipient must also provide nine pairs of gold clasps, ninety feet of phoenix-patterned gauze, forty feet of dark-cloud brocade, and one golden fish and one jade dragon. Master and disciple must fast together for ninety days, or at least thirty days, then face north and swear their covenant before the transmission. During the transmission, twenty-four jade boys and twenty-four jade girls must attend the scriptures. If a suitable person appears within a thousand days of waiting, one transmission is permitted. If no suitable person appears, the scriptures must not be proclaimed, even after ten thousand kalpas.

Anyone who breaks the covenant and betrays the oath will, after three offenses, have their merit and practice annulled and their Daoist work cut off, making further immortality impossible. After five offenses, their parents and ancestors for seven generations will face punitive examination by the Right Office, while they themselves will be examined and punished by the Left Office. They will also be sentenced to the mountains of blades, the fiery land, and the twenty-four prisons. After three rounds of interrogation and torture, they must serve indefinitely as ghost laborers, carrying stones to fill rivers. These provisions are set out in the statutes of Lady Green, a subordinate official of the Mysterious Capital. Recipients of the scriptures should understand these precepts and observe them with care.

The two sets of instructions known as the Record of the Ninefold Return to the Mysterious Origin, the Great Elixir and the Hidden Text of the Jade Way, the Returning Radiance of the Great Perfected are recorded in the Fourfold Radiant Precepts of the Great Mystery. They are methods practiced by the Celestial King of Primordial Beginning, who later transmitted them to the Three Heavens’ True Kings, the Great Lord of the Way of Supreme Oneness, the Great Sovereign, the Celestial Emperor, the Lord Emperor of the Great Tenuity, the Lord of Prohibitions of the Upper Origin, the Ladies of the Three Origins, the Queen Mother of the West, and the Perfected One of Red Essence.

Under the ancient precepts, these two methods could be transmitted only once every ten thousand kalpas. Anyone who possessed a Mysterious Diagram and Purple Tablets, and whose name was entered in the Green Palace—the residence of Daoist celestial officials—had to prepare, according to the covenant, eighty feet of cinnabar-marked silk, one golden dragon, one jade fish, and thirty-two feet of blue silk. Both teacher and student were to fast for seventy days, then face north, swear the covenant, and transmit the teachings. During the transmission, ten jade boys and ten jade girls were also to attend them.

If a suitable person appeared within seven hundred years, the teachings could be transmitted three times. If no such person appeared, they were to be kept secret for ten thousand kalpas and never proclaimed. Anyone who broke the covenant or violated the precepts would, upon the first offense, have their spiritual merit annulled and their cultivation brought to an end, losing the chance to become an immortal. After three offenses, the Right Office would investigate their ancestors for seven generations, while the Left Office would investigate the offender. They would then have to climb a mountain of blades, enter a land of fire, and endure the twenty-four prisons and the Three Paths and Five Sufferings—the torments of the underworld in Daoist teaching. Only after being tortured three times could they pass through, and in the end they would still become a ghost-servant in a place of endless darkness. These are the statutes of Lady Qing of the Lower Palace of the Great Mystery. Those who receive the teachings should understand the precepts and observe them with care.

The Tai Xuandu Siji Mingke records that the three secret methods known as San Hua Bao Yao Qiong Wen Lang Shu, Ling Yao Shang Lu, and Qi Chen Su Jing were practiced by the Elder of Great Truth and transmitted to the Lord of the Great Dao, the Youth of the Eastern Sea, the Emperor Lord of the Golden Portal, and the Lord of the Azure Youth, Chancellor of the High Court.

According to the old precepts, these three secret methods could be transmitted only once every ten thousand years. If someone appeared who possessed “golden bones and a jade repository”—that is, the aptitude to receive the secret methods—and whose name was recorded in the Emperor Lord’s documents, teacher and student had to prepare, in accordance with their covenant, one golden fish, one jade dragon, forty feet of purple-patterned cloth, twenty-two feet of cloud-patterned brocade, and one pound of genuine pearls. After both had observed ritual purification for sixty days, or thirty days, they could make their covenant facing north and then transmit the methods. The scriptures also stipulate that twenty-four jade boys and twenty-four jade maidens must attend to the texts.

If a suitable heir appeared within seven hundred years, the methods could be transmitted three times. If no such person appeared, they were not to be expounded, even after ten thousand calamities. Anyone who broke the covenant and betrayed its trust twice would have their cultivation merits revoked and their Daoist practice brought to an end, making them unable to become an immortal. After four or more offenses, the Right Office would investigate and punish their parents and ancestors for seven generations, while the Left Office would investigate and punish the offender. The scriptures further say that those who break the covenant must climb a mountain of knives, enter a land of fire, and suffer punishment in the Hell of Charcoal-Eaters and amid the Three Paths and Five Sufferings. After three rounds of scourging, they would still be consigned to labor in the endless realm of darkness.

These precepts are recorded in the Nüqing Statutes and Writings of the Lower Palace of Great Mystery. Those who receive the teachings should understand them and observe them with care.

The Regulations of the Four Extremes of the Great Mysterious Capital stipulate that the two oral teachings known as the Hidden Writings of Shangqing and the True Scripture of the Eight Spirits of Dragon Script are wondrous natural chapters cultivated by the True Kings of the Nine Heavens. They may be transmitted only to exalted divine immortals such as the Master of Purple Clarity, the Perfected One of the August Sovereign, the Great Emperor, the Celestial Emperor, the Lord Emperor of Great Tenuity, the Lords of the Three Origins, the Queen Mother of the West, the Emperor Lord of the Golden Tower, and the Youth of the Eastern Sea.

Ancient precepts stipulate that these scriptures may be transmitted only once every ten thousand kalpas. Before transmitting them, the recipient’s name must be written on a jade slip, with “Shangqing” written in purple characters. The terms of the covenant must be observed: one hundred feet of phoenix-patterned silk and ten taels of fine gold must be prepared, and an oath sworn before the divine beings of the Nine Heavens. In accordance with the old regulations, both master and disciple must observe a fifty-day purification retreat. Only after facing north and declaring their covenant may the scriptures be transmitted. Thirty-six jade boys and thirty-six jade maidens attend to the scriptures.

If a worthy recipient appears within a thousand years, the scriptures may be transmitted three times. If no such destined person appears, they must not be divulged, even after more than ten thousand years. Breaking the covenant and betraying the oath even once nullifies one’s cultivation merit and Dao practice, making it impossible to become an immortal. If the covenant is broken more than three times, the seven generations of one’s ancestors will face examination and punishment by the Right Office, while the offender will be examined and punished by the Left Office. The offender must also climb a mountain of knives, enter a land of fire, and fall into the hell of devouring charcoal, suffering the calamities and punishments of the Three Paths and Five Torments, and will ultimately be sentenced to carry stones to fill a river.

These are the regulations in the Statutes of Nüqing of the Lower Palace of the Great Mystery. Those who receive the scriptures should understand them and observe them with care.

The Code of the Four Poles of the Great Mystery Metropolis stipulates that the two secret teachings, Yuqing Shenhu Neizhen and Ziwen Danzhang, are natural scriptures practiced by the Lord of Purple Dawn in the Jade Clarity Heaven. They are used to instruct the Lord of the Great Dao, the Lord Who Prohibits in the Upper Origin, the Jade Emperor of Radiant Majesty, and the Twenty-Four Perfected Ones.

Under the old precepts, these scriptures were transmitted only once every ten thousand kalpas. Someone whose mysterious name was recorded in the Jade Clarity Heaven and whose name in the register of the Imperial Lords included the character “cinnabar” could hear and receive the teachings three times, but only after a thousand years had passed. For the transmission, pledges of fidelity had to include fifty feet of purple-patterned silk, thirty feet of crimson gauze, one gold fish, and one jade dragon. Teacher and disciple had to observe purification for thirty days and swear facing north before the teachings could be passed on. Ten jade youths and ten jade maidens were also assigned to them.

Recipients must not break their oaths or betray their trust. Three violations bring the cancellation of their cultivation achievements and sever their path, making immortality forever unattainable. Five violations subject the offender, their parents, and their ancestors for seven generations to investigation and punishment by the officials on the left and right. They suffer the torments of the knife mountain and consuming fire, enter the Twenty-Four Hells, undergo the Three Paths and Five Sufferings and three rounds of torture, and are then conscripted to carry stones on their backs to fill a river. These are the provisions of the Nüqing Code in the Lower Palace of the Mystery Metropolis. Those who receive the teachings should understand them and observe them with care.

The Essential Teachings on the Four Extremes of the Great Mystery Capital records: The Hidden Book of Jade Purity consists of four volumes and eight instructions. It is a scripture practiced by the August Emperor of Primordial Jade Purity, as well as a precious code for inspecting ghosts and spirits and restraining divine beings. The August Emperor once transmitted it to Lord Anyang, the Lady of the Upper Origin, the Queen Mother of the West, and the Imperial Lord of the Golden Portal in the Upper Palace of Clear Numinous Light.

Under the old precepts, this book could be transmitted only three times every seven thousand years. If the recipient’s name appeared in the register of jade names under Eastern Florescence and was written in purple in the Highest Clarity, it could be transmitted three times within any three-hundred-year period. The transmission required an oath sworn before the Northern Emperor, using one golden fish, one jade dragon, and one hundred and twenty feet of purple-patterned silk as tokens of the covenant. Teacher and disciple were to fast for twenty-seven days, then face north, affirm their covenant, and complete the transmission. The recipient could also be attended by four Jade Youths and four Jade Maidens.

Neither transmitter nor recipient could violate the covenant or break the precepts. After three offenses, one’s cultivation and achievements would be annulled, one’s duties terminated, and the path to immortality closed. After five or more offenses, both the offender and their seven generations of ancestors would face punishment and examination by the celestial officials. After death, the offender would be sentenced to the Hell of Blade Mountain and the Hell of Fire-Eating. Only after enduring ten thousand kalpas could they again become servants of the underworld. These are the provisions of the Statutes of the Lady of Azure in the Lower Palace of the Mystery Capital. Those who receive the teaching should understand the need for vigilance and reverently observe its precepts.

The Clear Statutes of the Four Extremities of the Great Mystery Capital, issued by the Great Mystery Capital, prescribe that the three scriptures The Scripture of the Lord of Destiny, The Clear Chart of Fated Destiny, and The Jade Register of True Ones, Establishing the Ancestral Records of the Supreme Sovereign’s People are carried by the Orthodox Unity Masters of the Three Heavens. They are used to establish the registers of those who attain the Dao and become immortals. A copy of each scripture must be transmitted to the Jade Emperor and to each of the thirty-nine Perfected Ones, as well as to the Queen Mother of the West, the Lady of the Upper Origin, the Perfected One of Pure Void, and the Perfected Immortals of the Five Sacred Peaks.

Under the old rule, the scriptures could be transmitted only three times in every thousand years. If the recipient’s name was already entered in the register of immortals and written on a memorial slip in the Green Palace, they could be transmitted three times within a hundred years. For the transmission, master and disciple must pledge one gold fish, one jade dragon, and thirty-two feet of blue cloth as tokens of their covenant, and swear before the Northern Emperor. Both must fast for nine days; only after facing north and declaring their covenant may the transmission take place. Two Jade Youths and two Jade Maidens must also be assigned to them. They must not violate the covenant or break their oaths. Five violations result in the loss of the right to receive transmissions. Five broken oaths sever one’s cultivation and bar one from learning the Way of the immortals. Ten violations bring a fall into hell, where one suffers punishment three times amid the Five Sufferings, then is reborn in a place where it is impossible to become human. These are the Statutes of the Lady of the Azure Dawn for the Lower Palace of the Mystery Capital. Recipients should understand them and observe them with care.

The Clear Statutes of the Four Extremities of the Great Mystery Capital further prescribe that the two scrolls The Secret Characters of the Golden Book and The True Book of the Upper Origin are studied by the Lord of the Green True Youths. Those to whom they may be transmitted include the Perfected One of the Supreme Ultimate, the Perfected One of Pure Void, and Liu Zixian, the Red Pine Immortal of the Southern Marchmount. Under the old rule, they could be transmitted only three times in every seven thousand years. If the recipient’s name was already entered in the register of immortals and written in the imperial register, they could be transmitted three times within seven hundred years.

For the transmission, eight liang of gold and forty feet of blue patterned cloth must be pledged as tokens of the covenant, and an oath made before the Supreme Perfected. Master and disciple must fast together for nine days; the transmission may take place only after they have declared their covenant. Ten Jade Youths and ten Jade Maidens must also be assigned to them. They must not violate the covenant or break their sworn pledges. Three violations result in the loss of one’s cultivation and the right to continue pursuing immortality. Five violations bring punishment upon oneself and seven generations of ancestors: their names are entered on the rolls of those under examination by the left and right offices of the celestial realm, and they fall into hells of blade mountains and fire eating, where they are punished for ten thousand kalpas amid the Three Paths and Five Sufferings, then reborn in a place where it is impossible to become human. These are the Statutes of the Lady of the Azure Dawn for the Lower Palace of the Great Mystery. Recipients should understand them and observe them with care.

The Regulations of the Four Extremes of the Great Mysterious Metropolis stipulate: The True Scripture of Great Purity, the Purple Book of Cinnabar Characters, and The Three and Five in Their Proper Sequence—three secret texts in all—are scriptures practiced by the Youth of the Eastern Sea. Their written forms are secretly stored in the Statutes of the Lady Azure in the Lower Palace. Those who receive them should observe and practice them with care and reverence.

The Regulations of the Four Extremes of the Great Mysterious Metropolis further stipulate: The True Scripture of Great Purity, the Purple Book of Cinnabar Characters, and The Three and Five in Their Proper Sequence—three secret texts in all—are scriptures practiced by the Youth of the Eastern Sea. Their written forms are secretly stored within the Jade Gate of the Western Chamber at the Jade Capital. The Lord Young Yang once sealed a copy away on Yangluo Mountain. Only those whose names appear in the Golden Register and whose Dao titles appear in the Register of the Purple Court are qualified to receive these scriptures.

According to the old precepts, these scriptures may be transmitted only once every ten thousand kalpas. If a suitable candidate is found, they may be transmitted three times within seven hundred years. At the transmission, twenty-four taels of silver, five taels of gold, and forty feet of blue brocade must be offered as tokens of the covenant. Master and disciple must fast together for one hundred days and swear an oath facing north. The transmitter who passes on the scriptures according to this rite will be able to fly at once. The recipient may also be assigned twenty-four attendants, jade boys and jade maidens.

Anyone who violates the precepts and breaks the covenant will be investigated and punished by the divine officials at their side, along with their own ancestors for seven generations. They will suffer the torments of knife mountains and swallowing fire, and fall into the twenty-four prisons and the Three Paths and Five Torments. Even if they are pardoned and returned three times, they will serve for a long time, carrying stones to fill rivers. These provisions are recorded in the Statutes of the Lady Azure in the Lower Palace. Those who receive them should observe and practice them with care and reverence.

The Regulations of the Four Extremes of the Great Mysterious Metropolis stipulate: The Scripture of the Purple Tenuity and Primordial Azure Way, the Upper Registers of the Azure Origin, the True Scripture of the Northern Dipper, and the Scripture of the Four Revolutions of the Central Mandate … Those who receive these scriptures should observe and practice them with care and reverence.

The Four Poles Clear Regulations, promulgated by the Great Mystery Metropolis and governing the precepts for transmitting scriptures, record that the Scripture of the Way, Beginning in Purple Tenuity and First Azure, the Highest Register of Cangyuan, the True Scripture of the Northern Dipper, the Scripture of the Four Revolutions of the Central Mandate, the Jade Register of Great Simplicity, and the Highest Scripture of the Precious Mystery—six volumes in all—are scriptures practiced by Lord Yuchen. The secret instructions of the Five Emperors are concealed in the Great Treasure Chamber of the Upper Palace of Plain Numinosity.

The old regulations stipulated that these six volumes could be transmitted only three times every seven thousand years. Anyone born with the foundation for cultivating immortality, whose name was entered in the Heavenly Emperor’s register and included in the Shangqing records, could receive them. In accordance with their covenant, the transmitter and recipient had to prepare forty feet of yellow-patterned silk, twenty-two feet of blue silk fabric, and three pairs of gold buttons. Master and disciple had to observe ritual purification for nine days and swear an oath before Heaven before the transmission could take place. Those who received these scriptures could fly through the heavens and conceal their bodies from view. If a suitable person appeared within a hundred years, transmission was also permitted.

At the time of transmission, two Jade Youths and two Jade Maidens were also to be assigned. Those who broke the covenant and betrayed its trust would have their path to immortality severed after three violations of the precepts. After five violations, they would be arrested and interrogated by the Left Office, the celestial officials charged with inspection. After death, they would serve as laborers in the Three Paths of Hell, endure ten thousand kalpas, and thereafter be unable to be reborn as human beings. These are the precepts set down in the Statutes of the Maiden Qing of the Lower Palace of the Mystery Metropolis. Those who receive the scriptures should carefully discern their meaning and respectfully observe them.

The Tawei Yellow Book consists of eight scrolls. The Celestial Emperor of Tawei practiced its teachings, and it was kept in secret in the Jade Chamber of Xuandu, guarded by three hundred immortal youths and jade maidens. After incense was burned, one copy each was transmitted to the Lady of Ziwei, the Lord of Prohibitions of the Upper Origin, and the Three Origin Lords of Taisu; another copy was sealed away on Mount Xicheng.

Under the old regulations, the text was transmitted only once every eight thousand years. Anyone whose name appeared in the register of golden names and azure offices, and was entered in the ledgers of the Lady of Qing, could receive it three times within seven hundred years. To receive the transmission, one had to offer eight liang of gold, eighty feet of yellow silk, and eight pairs of gold fasteners in place of the customary oath made by cutting one’s hair. Disciples had to observe purification together for ninety days, or for thirty days, then face north and swear the oath. Only after tying on the oath sash could the transmission proceed. Eight jade youths and eight jade maidens were also to be assigned to them.

Breaking the oath once meant forfeiting one’s accumulated cultivation and ending one’s practice, with no further chance of becoming an immortal. Breaking it three times meant that the person and seven generations of their ancestors would be placed under investigation and punishment by the left and right offices. After death, they would have to endure punishments including climbing a mountain of blades, swallowing flames, the twenty-four prisons, and the Three Paths and Five Sufferings. They could pass through only after being tortured and interrogated three times; afterward, they would still have to perform labor, carrying stones to fill a river.

These are the regulations of the “Statutes of the Lady of Qing” in the Lower Palace of Xuandu. Those who receive the transmission should understand them and observe them with care.

The Code of the Four Extremities of the Great Mysterious Capital records that four instructional texts—the Scripture of the Three Primordial Flowing Pearls, The Jade Emperor’s Nine Refinements of the Supreme Perfected, Register of the Eight Paths of Destiny, and Purple Characters of the Golden Immortals—comprise eight volumes. The Lord of the Three Primordials of Great Simplicity received them from the chapters of nature. They were sealed in the Purple Chamber of the Numinous Capital of the Most High, guarded by three hundred golden boys and jade maidens. The scriptures were passed on by the Keeper of Incense to the Youth of the Eastern Sea, the Perfected Ones of the Four Extremities, and Lord Wang of the Western Citadel. One copy is now also sealed away in a hidden chamber on Mount Emei.

According to the old rules, these scriptures may be transmitted only once every ten thousand kalpas. If someone’s name appears in the registers of the Mysterious Emperor’s records and the Purple Characters of the Green Palace, and they are also a person of the Jade Treasury, they may be granted permission to receive the transmission three times within a thousand years. At the transmission, teacher and disciple must exchange one golden fish and one jade dragon, along with sixty feet each of phoenix-patterned gauze and dark-cloud brocade, as tokens of their covenant. Both must fast for nine days. Only after they have declared their covenant may the transmission take place, and twelve jade boys and twelve jade maidens are assigned to them.

Anyone who breaks the covenant or violates the precepts must renew the oath according to this covenant for each offense. For one to three violations, their merit will be diminished and the path to immortality severed, making them unable to become an immortal again. Five violations bring calamity upon the offender and seven generations of their ancestors. Their names are entered in the registers of punishment kept by the two officials on the left and right, and they suffer such penalties as the Mountain of Blades, the Fire of Devouring, and the Twenty-Four Hells. They must also endure the punishments of the Three Paths and Five Sufferings, and be sent to carry stones to fill a river.

These precepts are recorded in the statutes of the Lady Qing of the Lower Palace of the Mysterious Capital. Those who receive and uphold them should understand them clearly, act with care, and follow them without transgression.

The Four Directions’ Illustrious Regulations of the Great Mystery Capital records that the Golden Chapters on the Three Qi of the Jade Clarity Cavern Origin and the True Scripture of the Taiji Register’s Radiance comprise four volumes and two sets of secret teachings. They were transmitted by the Venerable of the Nine Heavens, then passed on to Master Shanghuang and the Lord of the Great Dao, the Most High. They were sealed away within the Purple Gate of Jade Capital and guarded by thirty-six jade boys and jade maidens. The Lord Emperor of the Golden Tower entrusted them to Lord Wang of Xicheng; one copy is now sealed away on Xicheng Mountain.

According to the old regulations, these scriptures could be transmitted only once every ten thousand kalpas. A person who possessed “jade bones and a purple repository”—a Daoist term for the aptitude to cultivate the Dao and receive secret teachings—and whose name was registered in the Green Palace could be permitted to receive the transmission once within a period of three hundred years. For the transmission, teacher and disciple had to offer one golden dragon, one jade fish, fifty feet of purple silk, and a pair of gold rings as tokens of their covenant, and swear an oath to the Jade Emperor. They had to fast together for thirty days. Only after making their covenant could the teachings be transmitted, and twelve jade boys and twelve jade maidens were assigned to guard them.

Those who broke their oath or violated the precepts would, on the first offense, have their merit diminished and their associated offices and duties revoked. Three offenses would bring calamity upon the offender and seven generations of their ancestors, and they would be punished by the two officials on the left and right. The punishments included the perils of Knife Mountain and eating fire, as well as the torments of the Twenty-Four Prisons, the Three Paths, the Five Sufferings, and other punishments lasting ten thousand kalpas. Afterward, they would be assigned to labor carrying stones to fill a river.

These are the regulations of the Lady Qing of the Lower Palace of the Mystery Capital. Those who receive the teachings should understand these precepts and observe them with care.

The three scrolls known as the Supreme Sovereign’s Jade Register, the Jade Emperor’s Yellow Register, and the Purple Book are scriptures worn by the Venerable Taizhen, a revered deity in Daoism. They were once transmitted to Master Wenshi and the Great Sovereign of the Myriad Sages. The twenty-four Perfected Ones and thirty-nine Celestial Emperors also wore these scriptures. The Lord Emperor of the Golden Gate sealed one copy away in the Palace of the Three Origins, while Lord Green Youth sealed another in Mount Wangwu.

According to the old precepts, these scriptures could be transmitted only once every ten thousand kalpas. Only those with a connection to the true Dao, whose names were recorded in the Celestial Emperor’s documents and entered in the registers of the Highest Clarity, could hear and receive the transmission three times, after a thousand years had passed. For the transmission, teacher and disciple had to pledge eight taels of gold, thirty feet of blue-patterned silk, and fifty feet of white silk as tokens of their covenant. Each also had to fast for ninety days, and the transmission could take place only after they had performed the covenant ceremony. The recipient would also be attended by twenty-four Jade Boys and Jade Maidens.

Anyone who broke the covenant would first have their merit diminished and their path to immortality cut off, making it impossible for them to become an immortal. If they broke their oath three times, calamity would reach back to their ancestors for seven generations and fall upon them as well. They would be entered into the records of the Left and Right Offices for examination and punishment, and made to endure such torments as mountains of blades and eating fire. They would suffer through the twenty-four hells and the Three Paths of Transmigration and Five Sufferings, enduring pain for ten thousand kalpas. At last, they would also be condemned to the hard labor of carrying stones on their backs to fill a river.

These are the precepts found in the Statutes of Lady Qing of the Lower Palace of the Mysterious Capital. Those who receive the transmission should understand these warnings and follow them with care.

The Tai Xuan Du Si Ji Ming Ke records that the Qingya Shisheng Jing, the Dan Jing Dao Jing Jing, and the Huantong Caihua Fa comprise three scrolls. They are scriptures practiced by the Queen Mother of the West, who once transmitted them to Master Dagu, the Perfected Huangtong, Gu Xizi, and the Perfected Taiji. Today, a manuscript copy is sealed away on Mount Daizong.

According to the precepts, the scriptures may be transmitted only once every seven thousand years. Only those whose names appear on the “Purple Slips of the Mysterious Register”—the immortal register of the profound and wondrous—are qualified to receive them. If a suitable person appears within a hundred years, they may also be taught. For the transmission, the teacher and student must exchange twenty chi of crimson silk and three pairs of golden rings as tokens of their covenant. They must fast together for thirty-four days and, only after making solemn vows and establishing their covenant, may the scriptures be passed on. Two Jade Youths and two Jade Maidens are then assigned to attend them.

Those who break their covenant and violate the precepts three times will have their cultivation merits diminished and their path to Dao severed; they will never again be able to become immortals. Five violations will bring death and descent into the five sufferings of hell described in the scriptures. After enduring ten thousand kalpas, they will be reborn, but will never again take human form. The statutes of Nüqing in the Lower Palace of the Mysterious Capital warn those who receive the scriptures to understand them fully and observe them with care.

The True Scripture of the Golden Chamber for Delivering Life and Returning the Years through the Radiant Splendor of the Three Flowers is a secret teaching of the natural mysteries, transmitted by the True King of the Nine Heavens. It is concealed in the Palace of Great Being, above the Nine Heavens, within the Seven-Treasure Terrace illuminated by golden light. There, three hundred Golden Immortals, three hundred Jade Youths, and three hundred Jade Maidens of Taihua burn incense and attend upon the True God.

The High Sage Jade Emperor of the August Sovereign, the Supreme True Ones among the Myriad Immortals, the Lord of the Great Dao, Master Purple Emperor, the Ladies of the Three Origins, the Queen Mother of the West, the Lady of the Upper Origin, the Great Emperor, the Lord of Heaven, the Emperor of Taiwei, the Emperor of the Golden Tower, the Minister of the Upper Court, the Azure Youth, and the Perfected One of the Supreme Ultimate have all received this scripture. It is a fundamental classic for those who cultivate and study, and a wondrous method for attaining long life. Even if someone withdraws to the remote mountains, abstains from food, and practices the Dao ten thousand times, without seeing this scripture they cannot thereby become an immortal.

The scripture’s oral instructions are few, yet the principles they contain are profound and far-reaching. For this reason, it is concealed in the Nine Heavens and not circulated among the people of this world. According to the ancient precepts, the scripture is transmitted only once in every ten thousand kalpas. Only those granted a name in gold, purple characters from the Jade Clarity realm, and an imperial chart may keep it as a treasured secret text. It may be passed on only when, within seven hundred years, a truly suitable person is encountered.

The covenant must be observed when transmitting the scripture: eight liang of gold, ninety feet each of five-colored silk gauze, and five pairs of gold rings must be offered. The master and disciple must both abstain and purify themselves for ninety days. The transmission ceremony is to be held on a sun-facing cliff, before the sun and moon, and accompanied by thirty-six Jade Youths and thirty-six Jade Maidens.

If someone sees this scripture, the divine officials of the Five Sacred Peaks will come to welcome them, and the Jade Registrar will enter their name in its records. They may thus become an immortal even without having yet undertaken cultivation. Those who violate the precepts and break the covenant will, at the first offense, have their merit reduced and their path to immortality cut off; in the end, they will not become immortals. Three offenses will bring consequences upon seven generations of ancestors above and upon the offender below. The Left and Right Offices will investigate and punish them, sending them to the twenty-four prisons, including the Mountain of Blades and the Inferno of Fire, where they will suffer the torments of the Three Paths and Five Sufferings. After undergoing punishment three times, they will be made to serve for a long period, carrying stones to fill a river.

These are the precepts recorded in the Statutes of Nüqing of the Lower Palace of the Mysterious Capital. Those who receive the scripture should understand them and observe them with care.

The Hidden Book of Inner Contemplation, Purple Reflections of Jade Mist from the Highest Clarity is a scripture recorded in the Great Canons of the Four Poles of the Supreme Mystery Capital, the Daoist precepts governing the transmission of scriptures. It was received and preserved by the Lord Emperor of Qingyao, and secretly stored in a jade chamber within the Three Treasures Mystery Terrace of the Purple Tenuity Palace, guarded by five hundred Jade Boys and five hundred Jade Maidens. The Lord of the Great Dao of the Highest, the Four Administrators and Five Emperors of the Immortal Capital of Ziyang, the Ninefold Mystery Emperor Lords of the Supreme Sages in the Golden Gate, and the Lord of the Blue Lad, Chief Minister of the Highest, all practiced this book. The Perfected of the Western City sealed a copy of the scripture and entrusted it to Jade Boys and Jade Maidens for safekeeping in the Great Abode of Empty Brightness, within the cave-heaven of Mount Wuyu. They, too, numbered five hundred each.

Ancient precepts decreed that this book could be transmitted only once every ten thousand kalpas. Only those whose names were entered in the Purple Registers and Golden Rolls and who had ascended to the Imperial Chart could, within seven hundred years, encounter a suitable recipient and transmit it up to three times. For the transmission, one needed a hundred feet of purple covenant text, thirty-two feet of blue silk, and two pairs of gold rings. One also had to present a purification offering to the Three Realms—the three tiers of heaven in Daoist cosmology—before passing on the book, and assign thirty-four Jade Boys and Jade Maidens to serve the recipient. Those who received it would have swirling rays of light in their eyes and a purple radiance on their faces.

To violate the precepts and betray the covenant even once would diminish one’s merit, sever the path to becoming an immortal, and make immortality forever unattainable. Three violations would bring the person and the seven generations of ancestors in the preceding world before the Left and Right Officials, divine officers who investigate wrongdoing. They would be condemned to the Mountain of Blades and the punishment of eating fire, and cast among the Twenty-Four Prisons and the Three Paths and Five Sufferings of hell. They would have to endure ten thousand kalpas before escaping, then serve for a long time, carrying stones to fill rivers. The statutes of Nüqing, in the Lower Palace of the Mystery Capital, warn those who receive the book to understand its precepts and observe them with care.

The Jade Scripture of Dissolving the Form, Following Change, and Flowing with the Light is also recorded in the Great Canons of the Four Poles of the Supreme Mystery Capital. Its mysterious scripture existed from the time the Nine Heavens were first established. The Venerable Man of Primordial Beginning received it from the Ninefold Mystery Heaven and passed it on to the Master of the High Sovereign, the Twenty-Four Emperors of the High Sages and Jade Dawn, the Lord of the Great Dao of the Highest, the Lord of Prohibitions of the Upper Origin, the Ladies of the Three Origins, the Queen Mother of the Purple Tenuity, the Primordial Lady of Great Simplicity, the Great Emperor, the Celestial Emperor, the Celestial Lord of Great Tenuity, the Emperor Lord of the Golden Gate, and the Lord of the Blue Lad, Chief Minister of the Highest. The Blue Lad sealed a copy of the scripture in the cave-heaven of Kunlun.

According to the old rules of transmission, this scripture is taught only once every ten thousand kalpas. Someone whose name appears in the Golden Register and whose courtesy name is entered in the Jade Register, and whose innate endowment meets the requirements of the mysterious charts and registers, may appear only once in a thousand years and be permitted to receive the transmission three times. For the transmission, teacher and disciple must prepare ten liang of purple gold, forty chi of purple-patterned silk, forty chi of blue silk, one golden fish and one jade dragon, and two pairs of gold rings, in accordance with their covenant, and swear an oath to the Nine Heavens. Teacher and disciple must fast together for one hundred days, transmit the scripture facing north, and be assigned ten Jade Boys and ten Jade Maidens.

Upon receiving this scripture, one can immediately perform all manner of transformations, ride the clouds and tread upon shadows, and fly through the Great Void, the vast emptiness described in Daoism. Anyone who breaks the oath and betrays the pledge will, at the first offense, have their merit diminished and their Daoist cultivation cut off. After three offenses, seven generations of ancestors, one’s parents, and oneself will all be implicated and sent to the Knife Mountain, the Fire Realm, and the Twenty-Four Hells, where they will endure the tribulations of the Three Paths and Five Sufferings. Only after ten thousand kalpas might they escape; afterward, they must serve for a long time as ghost laborers in the lower realm. These are the provisions of the Statutes of Nüqing of the Lower Palace of Xuandu. Those who receive the scripture must follow them carefully and with full understanding.

The Clear Regulations of the Four Poles of Great Xuandu states: “The Shangqing Scripture of Returning at Dawn and Returning to Childhood, Radiant and Luminous is a scripture received by the Jade Emperor of the Purple Void of the Middle Mystery. It is also a chapter of the Empty Life of the Upper Mystery, used to transmit teachings to the Jade Boys of the Three Heavens. The Primordial Lady of Purple Simplicity keeps one copy sealed away on Mount Emei.” According to the old rules, this scripture appears only once every seven thousand kalpas. If someone whose name is entered in the Golden Register of Donghua and whose record is listed in Shangqing encounters a suitable candidate within a hundred years, they may be permitted to transmit it three times. For the transmission, five liang of purple gold and fifty chi of brocade silk must be offered as pledges. Teacher and disciple must fast together for ninety days, report to the Northern Emperor, and then transmit the scripture; twelve Jade Boys and twelve Jade Maidens must also be assigned.

The eyes of anyone who receives this scripture will behold a child swirling and flowing, radiating light. Anyone who breaks the oath and betrays the pledge will, at the first offense, have their merit diminished and their Daoist cultivation cut off. After three offenses, seven generations of ancestors and oneself will all be implicated, investigated and punished by the Left and Right Officials, made to suffer the torments of the Knife Mountain and Fire-Eating, and sent into the Twenty-Four Hells. They will endure the Three Paths and Five Sufferings, suffer for ten thousand kalpas, and ultimately serve for a long time as ghost laborers in the lower realm, carrying stones to fill rivers. These are the provisions of the Statutes of Nüqing of the Lower Palace of Xuandu. Those who receive the scripture must follow them carefully and with full understanding.

The Fourfold Regulations of Illumination from the Great Dark Capital stipulates that the two volumes Purple Phoenix and Vermilion Writ and Morning Chart of the Eight Radiances are scriptures obtained by the Great Lord of the Dao (a revered Daoist deity). They were later entrusted to the Celestial Emperor, the Celestial Emperor of Taiwei, the Lady of the Upper Origin, and the Three-Origin Lord of Great Simplicity. The Lord of the Azure Youth sealed one copy in a cave on Weiyu Mountain.

In former times, these two volumes were transmitted three times every seven thousand years. They could be passed on only to someone whose name appeared in the Golden Register of Eastern Florescence and whose courtesy name was entered in the Register of Highest Clarity, and only if such a person was encountered within a hundred years. For the transmission, the teacher and disciple had to pledge ten taels of gold, one golden fish, one jade dragon, and a jade tablet one foot and two inches long, and swear an oath before the Nine Heavens. They had to observe purification together for ninety days, or for thirty days, and then face the Northern Emperor to transmit the scriptures. Ten jade boys and ten jade girls were also to be assigned to them.

Those who obtain and behold this scripture can ride a dragon carriage through the air and ascend to the Seven-Treasure Terrace of the Jade Capital. Anyone who violates its regulations or breaks its precepts will be investigated and punished by the officials on the left and right. The guilt will also implicate seven generations of ancestors, subjecting them to such ordeals as the Knife Mountain and consuming fire. Even if they return after enduring two rounds of torture, they will serve as ghost laborers for a long time. The statutes of Lady Qing in the Lower Palace of the Dark Capital state that those who receive and uphold this scripture must understand its requirements and follow them with care.

The Precious Cavern’s Flying Firmament, Mysterious and Sublime Golden Writ is a scripture transmitted by the Great Lord of the Supreme Dao. It is sealed away in chambers that wind through nine turns atop a steep, rugged terrace on Jade Capital Mountain. Three hundred Jade Maidens of the Upper Palace attend and guard it, burning incense in its honor. By the old rule, it may be transmitted only once every seven thousand years. If someone is born with “golden bones and a jade repository,” and their name is entered in the register of the Azure Palace—the immortal realm—then a suitable recipient may be found and the scripture transmitted within three hundred years.

The transmission requires a sworn covenant: ten taels of fine gold, forty feet of white silk, one golden fish, and one jade dragon. Master and disciple must fast together for twenty-seven days, face north, and point toward the Northern Emperor as they swear the covenant and transmit the scripture. Ten Jade Boys and ten Jade Maidens are also assigned to them. This passage repeats the terms of the covenant and transmission. Once the scripture is received, a thousand kinds of demonic hindrances will be subdued, and myriad spirits and monsters will lose their forms.

Anyone who violates the rules of transmission or breaks the precepts will, after three offenses, have their merit diminished and their path to immortality cut off. After five offenses, the punishment will extend to seven generations of their ancestors as well as to themselves. At that point, the two officials on the left and right will seize them and send them to the Mountain of Blades, the Land of Fire, the twenty-four prisons, and the Three Paths and Five Sufferings, where they will be punished three times before being reborn in a nonhuman state. The statutes of Lady Qing of the Lower Palace of the Mysterious Capital require recipients to understand these rules and follow them with care.

The Fourfold Extremity Clarifications and Precepts of the Great Mysterious Capital (precepts issued by the Great Mysterious Capital) says: All who receive the Upper Scripture and the treasured books of Jade Clarity do so through a subtle, mysterious affinity with them, and possess the bones and features suited to becoming immortals. They should leave their homes and bid farewell to their wives, travel among the Five Sacred Peaks, and observe fasting and cultivate the Dao in the mountains and forests for a long time. They should focus their thoughts and pursue the Dao with perseverance. They should eat at noon, drink clear water, and use only a single ladle. They must not give way to fatigue or cold, and must practice diligently morning and evening. Only then can they communicate with the sovereign deities, undergo separate examinations by the Jade Bureau, and receive visits at their dwelling from the Three Primordials—the divine perfected beings of the heavens in Daoist belief. After three years, they should receive the talismanic writ authorizing them to ride the Mysterious Void and ascend to Great Clarity.

If anyone treats the sacred scriptures with contempt or negligence, insults or disregards them, spreads or divulges them without authorization so that everyone can see and hear them, or breaks an oath, calamity will befall the spirits of their ancestors for seven generations and the oath breaker as well. Those who break their oaths will be examined and punished by the left and right officials: they will climb a mountain of knives, swallow burning coals, and fall into the Twenty-Four Prisons and the Three Paths and Five Sufferings—the torments of the underworld in Daoist belief. Only after enduring ten thousand kalpas might they return; even then, they must serve as ghostly laborers for a long time, carrying stones from Meng Mountain to fill the River of Accumulated Night.

These are the statutes established by Nüqing, a subordinate official of the Mysterious Capital. Those who receive and uphold this scripture should understand them and observe them with care.

The Regulations of the Four Extremes say: If someone receives the treasured scriptures of Shangqing, or happens through a fortunate encounter to come upon sacred scriptures, yet cannot cast off worldly ties, leave home, and practice in the mountains, then they may remain in the human world, honoring and revering the scriptures in their heart while directing their aspirations toward the mysterious spirits. They should solemnly copy one scripture and set aside a quiet chamber to enshrine it. They should burn incense morning and evening, and bow before it whenever they enter or leave, as though serving a ruler or their parents. When difficulties arise, they may pray to the scripture; no wish will fail to be fulfilled as they desire.

The Celestial Emperor will dispatch Jade Boys and Jade Maidens—immortal attendants who serve the spirits—to guard the scripture and observe your intentions. If you sincerely take refuge in it and uphold it, the spirits will naturally respond through the True Dao. Whatever you seek will come to pass: calamities and troubles will be dispelled, the myriad demons subdued, and all manner of spirits and goblins stripped of their forms. You will gain wealth, honor, and good fortune, and your official rank will flourish. Seek the Dao and you will attain the Dao; seek office and you will gain office. Your descendants will prosper, and gold, silver, and treasures will abound like a forest.

If you follow the prescribed practices for seven years, a Perfected One—an immortal who has attained the Dao—will descend into your quiet chamber, meet with you, and impart essential instructions. Even without dedicated study, you will naturally attain perfection and become an immortal without toil. Thus, those who pursue the Dao at the highest level can gain office, see their descendants prosper, and acquire abundant treasures even while serving in the army. Follow the prescribed practices for seven years, and a Perfected One will descend into your quiet chamber, meet with you, and impart the essential teachings, enabling you to attain perfection without study and become an immortal without toil. This is how those who pursue the Dao at the highest level can cultivate the Way even while serving in the army.

If someone has the good fortune to encounter the scripture but refuses to receive it, that is fate; if they receive it but do not believe in it, that is destiny; but if they believe in it and still fail to cherish and uphold it, the fault is truly their own. If someone commits all three of these transgressions, the guilt will implicate seven generations of their ancestors as well as themselves. They will be judged by the Left and Right Officials, divine officers responsible for inspection and punishment, and condemned to the punishment of the Knife Mountain. They will undergo the Three Paths and Five Sufferings, the Nine Calamities and Eight Hardships, and, after enduring ten thousand kalpas, may be reborn into a condition outside the human realm.

These are the statutes established by Nüqing, a female immortal of the Lower Palace of Xuandu. Those who receive and uphold them should understand them, exercise caution, and faithfully put them into practice.

Scripture of the Four Extremes of the Jade Emperor of Great Truth, juan 2

Scripture of the Four Extremes of the Jade Emperor of Great Truth, juan 3

Statutes of the Regulations of the Four Extremes, established by Nüqing of the Left Palace of Great Xuandu:

The Jade Lord of the Red Emperor’s Secretariat, whose surname is Yu and personal name is Jingdu, wears a crimson ceremonial robe and a garment embroidered with phoenix patterns in nine colors. He wears a level-heaven crown adorned with flying spirits and holds the nine-colored Statutes of the Four Extremes of the Left Palace of Nüqing.

The Lord of the Jade Office of the Red Emperor, a Daoist deity who governs the South and the affairs of the South Pole, has the surname Yu and the personal name Jingdu. He wears a deep red ceremonial robe adorned with phoenix designs in nine colors, a Jade Crown of the Flying Spirit with a level top, and carries a ritual baton in nine colors. He dwells at the Grotto-Heaven of the Terrace of Vermilion Yang in the south, attended on either side by the Goddess of Azure who serves the Great Mystery Capital. He commands the immortal officials, earth spirits, water essences, and troops of the Red and Bing forces of Mount Huo, the Southern Peak.

Within the Heaven of the Boundless Southern Pole, the Lord of the Jade Office of the Red Emperor oversees every kind of official retinue, from the countless kalpas of the past into the endless future. He also governs all the laws followed by the High Perfected, Daoist beings of the highest rank. He has charge of human life, death, and lifespan. If a practitioner learns his name and visualizes his divine form, then after nine years of practice they can obtain immortal medicines such as divine herbs and Jade Mushrooms. At that time, crimson mists and purple clouds descend to welcome the practitioner and escort them up to the Palace of Jade Clarity, a celestial palace revered as one of Daoism’s highest heavens.

The Scripture of the Thirty-Nine Chapters of the Great Grotto of Truth is also known as the Scripture of the Great Truth of the Dao or the Dragon Book of the Three Heavens. It is a jade chapter of the High and Supreme Nine Sovereign Dao Lords and the Primordial Beginning of Nature. The scripture says that it is kept in secret within the Ninefold Mystery Jade Chamber of the High and Supreme Great Being Heaven, guarded by three thousand jade boys who attend the scripture and three thousand jade maidens who attend the scripture, burning incense. It was transmitted to the Central Yellow Elder Lord.

Ancient precepts stipulated that this scripture could be transmitted only once in every ten thousand kalpas. Only those endowed with the qualifications of “mysterious names in the imperial registers, purple slips and green characters, and jade repositories and golden bones” could hear it three times within a thousand years. At the transmission, master and disciple had to swear an oath and offer ten taels of gold, twenty-five jin of copper, five pairs of gold clasps, one gold fish, one jade dragon, and one liang of blue silk, and fast together for a hundred days. Alternatively, they could fast for ninety or thirty days. During the rite, they faced north, bound themselves with the gold clasps, made their oath, and then transmitted the scripture. Twenty-four Golden Dawn Jade Boys and thirty-six Western Florescence Jade Maidens attended the scroll, burning incense to protect it.

Anyone who received this scripture and recited and chanted it ten thousand times would immediately ascend to Shangqing, the high celestial realm in Daoism, save seven generations of ancestors, and be reborn as an immortal in the south. Anyone who broke the oath or violated the precepts would, for a single offense, have their cultivation merit diminished and their chance of becoming immortal cut off. Three offenses would bring punishment and investigation by the Left and Right Officials upon the person and seven generations of ancestors alike. They would suffer such calamities as crossing a mountain of blades, entering fire and swallowing coals, and enduring the Twenty-Four Hells and the Three Paths of Five Sufferings. Only after three rounds of torture could they leave; afterward, they would serve for a long time as ghost laborers in the lower realm, carrying stones to fill rivers. The jade boys and maidens would carry the scroll back to the celestial palace. The statutes of the Left and Right Women of Xuandu admonish recipients of the scripture: they must understand the precepts and observe them with care.

The Precious Scripture of the Five Elders in the Jade Register of Ciyi is a numinous book written in purple characters. It belongs to the Dao of High Mystery and Radiance, and is a scripture cultivated by the High and Supreme Emperor Lord. At its conclusion, it likewise admonishes recipients: they must understand the precepts and observe them with care.

The Wujian of the Five Elders of the Feminine Unity is a numinous scripture written in purple. It belongs to a profound and mysterious teaching that reflects the Great Dao, and was practiced by the High Sovereign Lords. It speaks of the Twelve Mysterious Mothers, the Eight Chambers, the Nine Revolutions, and the Way of Yin and Yang as they transform through five cycles. It was once transmitted to the various emperors, the Forbidden Lords of the Upper Origin, the Ladies of the Three Origins, the Queen Mother of the Purple Tenuity, and the Imperial Lord of the Nine Mysteries of the Golden Tower, the Sage of Later Generations.

This scripture is secretly stored in the Palace of Great Being, above the Nine Heavens, within the Jade Chamber of the Numinous Terrace of the Great Mystery. Its text is written on purple-gold paper, and its chapters are inscribed in blue-green characters. Three thousand Jade Boys and three thousand Jade Maidens attend the scroll, burning incense and guarding it.

According to ancient regulations, the scripture may be transmitted only once every ten thousand kalpas. If someone possesses the required Mysterious Name, Imperial Chart, Purple Slips with Green Characters, and Golden Bones with Jade Storehouses, it may be transmitted only three times within seven thousand years. When the scripture is transmitted, teacher and student must swear an oath and present five liang of gold, fifty feet each of five-colored silk, one jin of incense, and three pairs of gold fasteners. They must also observe purification for ninety days and swear their covenant facing north before the transmission can take place. In addition, twenty-nine Jade Boys and twenty-seven Jade Maidens guard this numinous text throughout the year.

A person who obtains this scripture and completes ten thousand recitations can ascend to the Highest Clarity, the lofty immortal realm in Daoism. The prohibitions governing the scripture are especially strict; it must not be transmitted casually. Anyone who breaks the oath and betrays the trust even once will have their cultivation merit diminished and their path to immortality cut off, making it impossible to become an immortal. If the oath is broken three times, the offense will implicate seven generations of ancestors as well as the offender. They will all be examined by the Left and Right Offices and sentenced to suffer on mountains of blades or in fields of fire, or to labor in the underworld carrying stones to fill a river. The Jade Boys who guard the scripture will hold the negligent to account and return the scroll to the Upper Palace.

These precepts are recorded in the Regulations of Nüqing of the Left Palace of Xuandu. Those who receive the scripture should understand them and observe them with care.

The Wondrous Scripture of the Great Abundance of the Cavern Mystery of the Plain Spirit of the Most High is kept in secret in the Palace of Great Abundance above the Nine Heavens, in the Chamber of the Plain Spirit within a golden terrace and jade chamber. Its text is engraved on jade slips, with the characters carved in gold to make its chapters clear. It was once transmitted to the Lord of the Celestial Emperor, the Lord of the Primordial Origin of the South Pole, the Lord of the Celestial Emperor of Taiwei, and the Imperial Lord of the Nine Mysteries of the Golden Gate, the Later Sage. Today, one copy of each of its three rare editions is sealed away in Mount Dai.

According to the old precepts, this scripture may be transmitted only once in every ten thousand kalpas. Only those whose names are inscribed in gold and characters in jade, and who are listed in the Purple Register of the Mysterious Chart, may hear and receive it through three transmissions over a period of seven thousand years. For the transmission, three taels of gold, one hundred feet of purple-patterned cloth, twenty-seven feet of blue silk, five taels of red silk, one pound of incense, and one tael of cinnabar must be offered as pledges. Both master and disciple must fast for one hundred days, report to the Northern Emperor, and swear an oath to Heaven before the scripture can be transmitted. They must also provide twenty-four jade boys and twenty-four jade maidens to burn incense and attend to the scrolls. After one hundred days of practice, they will be able to communicate with the Perfected and make contact with the wondrous and numinous. After nine years of cultivation, the Dao will descend, and they will ascend to Heaven in broad daylight.

Recipients must not break their oath or violate the precepts. A single violation diminishes their merit and severs their path of cultivation. Three violations bring punishment upon the person and seven generations of ancestors, who will be investigated and punished by the officials on the left and right. The punishments include entering a mountain of knives, swallowing flames, and being confined in the twenty-four prisons amid the Three Paths and Five Sufferings. Even if they escape after three interrogations, they will be assigned for a long time to carry stones and fill in rivers. The jade boys and maidens will trace the whereabouts of the scripture and return it to the Upper Palace. Such are the provisions of the statutes of the Lady Qing, officials on the left and right of the Great Mystery Capital. Recipients of the scripture must understand these rules and observe them with care.

The Central Scripture of the Nine Perfected is a classic cultivated by the Lord of the Celestial Emperor of Taiwei, the Most High. It describes the methods of the Eight Paths and Nine Perfected, the binding of the lunar and solar spirits, and the practices of ascending upward and hastening toward the sun and moon. This scripture was transmitted to the Lord of the Central Yellow and Old One, and kept in secret in the Most High Palace of the Six Directions. Recipients of the scripture must understand this and observe it with care.

The Great Dao Capital’s Four Extremes of Illuminating Precepts records: The Central Scripture of the Nine Perfections was a classic practiced by the Supreme One, the Heavenly Emperor Lord of the Great Subtlety. The Daoist methods by which the Eight Ways, the Nine Perfections, Jie Lin, and Yu Yi—the deities associated respectively with the moon and the sun—ascended into the sun and moon were transmitted to the Yellow Emperor Lord of the Center, then kept secret in the Supreme One’s Palace of the Six Directions.

Ancient precepts stipulated that this scripture could be transmitted only twice every seven thousand years. If someone was found whose destiny bore the immortal-register signs of the Azure Book, Bound Blossoms, Jade Characters, or Highest Clarity, and who had the appearance of violet veins, the scripture could be transmitted to them three times within seven hundred years. Transmission required an oath and offerings of ninety feet of white silk, one pound of blue silk, twenty-four feet of crimson silk (as an oath to the radiance of the sun), twenty-four feet of green silk (as an oath to the brilliance of the moon), and three pairs of gold rings as tokens for the Primordial Constant Youths. Master and disciple had to observe fasting together for ninety or twenty-four days, face north and make their covenant, then transmit the scripture. Seventeen Jade Youths and seventeen Jade Maidens were also assigned to serve them.

After seven years of practicing these methods, one could ride the clouds and ascend to Great Clarity. The precepts governing this practice are extremely strict: two violations bring the erasure of one’s cultivation merits and the severing of one’s access to the Daoist methods; four violations bring an investigation by the two officials on the left and right; seven violations bring punishment upon the practitioner and their seven generations of ancestors. They will fall into the hells of knife mountains and fire-eating, endure punishments through the Three Paths and Five Sufferings, and, after ten thousand kalpas, be reborn among nonhuman beings. These are the provisions of the Statutes of the Lady Azure of the Left Palace of the Mysterious Capital. Those who receive the method must observe them with care.

The Great Dao Capital’s Four Extremes of Illuminating Precepts also records: The Hidden Scripture of Great Elixir, Cavern of Truth, and Mysterious Classic has three other names: The Emperor Lord’s Seven Transformations, Changing Appearances, and Nine Forms; The Great One’s Three Descents, Imperial Treasure, and Five Essences; and The Emperor One’s Union of the Three and Five, Established in Completion. This scripture was transmitted by the Great One Emperor Lord. It is a chapter of the naturally arising Void Mystery, kept secret in the Violet Chamber of the Supreme One’s Palace of the Six Directions, and transmitted to the Primordial Lord of the South Pole, the Three Primordial Lords of Great Simplicity, and the Queen Mother of the Purple Tenuity. Another copy is now sealed away on Mount Dai (Mount Tai).

Ancient precepts stipulated that this scripture could be transmitted only once every ten thousand kalpas. If someone was found whose name was entered in the Golden Register of the Imperial Chart and the Green Characters of the Violet Tablets, and whose bones and Qi contained the true, it could be transmitted to them three times within seven hundred years. Transmission required offerings of twenty-seven feet of blue silk, five liang of plain silk, two packets of blended incense, one brush, one hundred sheets of paper, and one liang of cinnabar, along with an oath sworn under the Emperor Lord’s strict prohibition against revealing the scripture. Master and disciple had to fast together for one hundred days, then make their covenant and transmit it. Nine Jade Maidens and seven Jade Youths were also assigned to serve them and burn incense.

After practicing the Way of the Five Spirits’ Union, true spirits would descend within one hundred days, and one could ascend to heaven in broad daylight within seven years at most. The precepts and sworn covenant must not be violated. One violation brings the erasure of one’s cultivation merits and the severing of access to the Daoist methods; three violations bring punishment upon the practitioner and their seven generations of ancestors, an investigation by the two officials on the left and right, and descent into the hells of knife mountains, fire-eating, and the Twenty-Four Hells, where they will endure punishments through the Three Paths and Five Sufferings. Even if they somehow endure all three rounds of punishment, they will be condemned forever to the hard labor of carrying stones to fill a river. These are the provisions of the Statutes of the Lady Azure of the Left Palace of the Mysterious Capital. Those who receive the method must observe them with care.

The Scripture of the Clear Regulations of the Four Extremities of the Jade Emperor of Great Truth stipulates that the three scrolls Scripture of the Mysterious True Transformation of Purple Measure and Flaming Radiance, Inner Vision of the Central Direction, and Seventy-Four Methods of Supreme Clarity Transformation are exalted chapters of the Nine Mysteries of the Great Palace, transmitted from the True King of the Nine Heavens. They are kept in secret in the Purple Chamber of the Palace of Numinous Capital of the Most High, under the care of the Three Primordial Lords. The scriptures are transmitted only once every ten thousand kalpas. Only if someone is listed in the Golden Register of the Emperor, bears the green characters of Supreme Clarity, and has the aptitude to accord with the True Dao may they hear and receive the transmission three times—and only when such a person appears within seven hundred years.

For the transmission of Purple Measure, the items used in the oath are fifty feet each of five-colored brocade, five ounces of fine gold, five pounds of aloeswood, one pound of pearls, one writing knife, seven gold rings, and seventy feet of crimson patterned brocade. For the transmission of Supreme Clarity Transformation, the required items are forty feet of blue silk, ten ounces of fine gold, six pairs of gold clasps, one pound of fine incense, and one gold fish and one jade dragon. Teacher and disciple must fast together for ninety days, or alternatively for thirty or nine days, before swearing their oath and completing the transmission. Such oath ceremonies formally affirm the bond between teacher and disciple and their commitment to uphold the scriptures and their teachings.

The recipient of the teachings is attended by twenty-four Jade Youths and thirty-six Jade Maidens who serve the perfected person. After one hundred days of practice, they can transform and return to Nonbeing; after completing nine years, they can ascend to Heaven in broad daylight. Anyone who violates the regulations and precepts will, upon the first offense, have their merit diminished and their progress in cultivation cut off. Three offenses bring punishment upon seven generations of ancestors, their parents, and themselves, and they are brought before the Left and Right Bureaus for judgment. Their punishments include enduring the Knife Mountain, eating fire, the Twenty-Four Hells, and the Three Paths and Five Sufferings. After undergoing punishment three times, they must also serve for a long period, carrying stones to fill a river.

These are the statutes of Lady Green of the Left Palace in the Mysterious Metropolis. Those who receive the teachings should understand these precepts and uphold them with care.

The Four Extremes’ Illuminating Ordinances of the Great Mysterious Capital (regulations governing the transmission of precepts and ritual arts in Daoism) records that “The Dance of the Seven Turns and Seven Transformations of the Celestial Realm of the Divine Continent,” also known as “Concealing the Radiance and Hiding the Form” and “Emerging from Being and Entering Nonbeing,” is a ritual art transmitted by the Lord of Purple Dawn, a master of the Most High Sovereign. It belongs to the “Chapters of the Natural Great Void,” and is secretly stored in the jade chambers and golden halls of the Primordial Terrace in the Purple Heaven. It is transmitted only once after the passage of countless kalpas.

This scriptural method was once transmitted to the Sovereign Lord of the Clear Heaven, Xuan Cheng; the Jade Youths of the Three Heavens; the True Primordial Lord of the Purple Pole; the August Lord of the Southern Pole; the Celestial Emperor of Taiwei; and the Lord of the Way, the Sage of Later Ages. A copy is now sealed away in the Western Citadel Mountains. Only cultivators whose names appear in the registers of Shangqing and are inscribed in gold characters at Shuhua may hear and receive this teaching three times over a period of seven hundred years.

For the transmission, both master and disciple must observe purification for ninety days. The teaching may be transmitted only after they have sworn an oath of allegiance. Twenty-one Jade Youths and twenty-one Jade Maidens must also be assigned to attend them, guard them, and burn incense. Anyone who violates the regulations or breaks the oath is forever barred from becoming an immortal after a single offense. After three offenses, the seven generations of ancestors and the offender alike will be punished. They will be placed under the scrutiny of the two officials on the left and right, sentenced to such prisons as the Mountain of Blades and the Fire-Eating Hell, and subjected to the punishments of the twenty-four hells and the Three Paths and Five Sufferings. Only after three rounds of torture may they pass through, thereafter serving indefinitely as laborers carrying stones to fill rivers.

These precepts are recorded in the statutes of the Lady of the Green Register in the Left Palace of the Mysterious Capital. Those who receive the teaching must understand them and observe them with care.

The Wisdom That Dispels Demons has seven volumes. It is also known as the Scripture of the Grotto of Great Simplicity and The Plain Wisdom. This scripture was received by the Great Lord of the Dao, the Most High. It originated in the ancient script of the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning and is kept in the elixir chamber of the lofty Void Sovereign in the Jade Clarity Palace, guarded by three thousand plain-spirited jade maidens. It is transmitted only once in ten thousand kalpas.

Anyone whose name is inscribed in gold in Donghua, the immortal realm of Daoism, and whose characters are written in green in Highest Clarity may hear and transmit it only once every seven hundred years, and only three times in all. At the transmission, teacher and disciple must enter into a covenant. They must present ten taels of gold, one jade bi disk, one golden fish, one jade dragon, and forty feet of purple silk. Teacher and disciple must fast together for ninety days. Only after declaring their covenant may they transmit the scripture; twelve jade youths and twelve jade maidens are then assigned to them.

Those who break the precepts and violate their oath will, after three offenses, lose the chance to become immortals. After five offenses, they and their ancestors for seven generations will be examined and punished by the divine officials at their sides. They will suffer for ten thousand kalpas on the Mountain of Blades, in the Fiery Prison, and in the twenty-four prisons, the Three Paths, and the Five Sufferings. They will also be sentenced to carry stones on their backs to fill a river. This text comes from the Statutes of the Lady Qing of the Left Palace of the Mysterious Capital. Those who receive and uphold it should understand its precepts and observe them with care.

The Qingyao Purple Book of the Golden Root and the Many Scriptures (a secret scripture transmitted by immortals and perfected beings) was received by the Perfected King of the Nine Heavens. Its chapters appeared spontaneously from the void. They were later entrusted to the Jade Emperor, the Primordial Sovereign of the Nine Yangs, and hidden in the Mysterious Spirit Seven-Treasure Jade Chamber above the Nine Heavens, guarded by three thousand jade maidens who served the scriptures.

After countless aeons, the scripture was passed in succession to the Sovereign Lord of Qingyao, the Supreme Sovereign of the Void, the Primordial Spirit Dao Lord, the Greatly Pure and Lofty Dao Lord of the Cavernous Vista, the Lord of the Primordial Origin at the Southern Pole, and various emperors. A copy is now sealed away on Mount Wangwu. Anyone with “golden marrow and jade bones”—that is, the qualities suited to cultivating the Dao—whose name appears on the Sovereign Lord’s register, and who meets a destined recipient within seven hundred years, may transmit the scripture three times. For each transmission, the teacher must prepare one gold fish, one jade dragon, one hundred feet of purple silk, and forty feet of blue-patterned silk. Teacher and student must observe purification for one hundred days and exchange vows before the transmission may take place. The recipient will also receive twenty-four jade boys and twenty-four jade maidens to protect them.

After one hundred days of practice, one will be able to communicate with spirits and draw near the true Dao. After nine years, one may ride the clouds and ascend to Jade Clarity, the Daoist realm of pure and empty immortals. Anyone who violates the restrictions on transmission will, after three offenses, lose the chance to become an immortal. After five offenses, seven generations of ancestors, one’s parents, and oneself will all be examined and punished by the Left and Right Officials, cast into the Mountain of Blades, the Fiery Land, and the Twenty-Four Hells. Only after enduring countless aeons may they return, and even then they must serve in the lower world as ghost laborers carrying stones to fill a river. These are the precepts recorded in the Statutes of Lady Qing of the Left Palace in the Mysterious Metropolis. Recipients of the scripture should observe them with care.

The Tai Xuan Du Four Extremes Clear Precepts records three methods of cultivation: “Walking the Celestial Dipper and Treading the Seven Primordials,” “The Feather Scripture of Flight with White Plumes and Black Wings,” and “The Three Charts of the Heavenly Pass for Shifting the Seven Stars.” The Great Emperor and the Great Lord Emperor of the Celestial Subtlety once received and practiced these methods. They are ways to ascend through the air and take flight, secretly stored in the Purple Chamber of the Jade Void, a realm of lofty spirits, and guarded by 2,400 attendant jade maidens.

These methods were once transmitted to the Lord of the Upper Primordial of the South Pole, the Lord of the Three Primordials of Great Simplicity, the Imperial Lord of the Nine Mysteries, the Later Sage, and the Lord of the Green Youth, Chief Minister of the Upper Realm. A copy is now sealed away at Fangzhang in Yingzhou. The old rule allowed them to be made public only once every 7,000 years. Anyone listed in the Golden Register of the Emperor, possessing jade tallies and green bamboo slips, and whose bone structure accords with the True Dao, may hear and transmit them three times within 700 years.

When transmitting them, one must prepare the pledge offerings specified for each method and provide for the jade boys and jade maidens:

• To transmit “Walking the Celestial Dipper and Treading the Seven Primordials,” one must use thirty feet of brocade, which may be replaced with green cloth, and provide one gold fish and one jade dragon, as well as seven jade boys and seven jade maidens.
• To transmit “The Scripture of Flight with Plumes,” one must use thirty-two feet of blue silk and two ounces of gold, in place of the rite of cutting one’s hair to seal the pledge.
• To transmit “White Plumes and Black Wings,” one must prepare ninety feet of brocade in each of the five colors and provide twenty-four jade boys and twenty-four jade maidens.
• To transmit “Shifting the Seven Stars,” one must prepare thirty-two feet of blue-patterned cloth, seventy feet of crimson silk, ninety feet of phoenix-patterned gauze, and a pair of gold clasps, as well as seventy jade boys and seventy jade maidens.

Both teacher and disciple must observe purification for ninety days and make a solemn covenant before the spirits before the transmission may take place. Those who receive these methods are said to be able to fly through the vastness of space and ascend through the void into the celestial realm at dawn.

Anyone who violates the rules of transmission or the precepts will, at the first offense, have their cultivation merits diminished and their path to immortality cut off, remaining unable to become an immortal for the rest of their life. At the third offense, the offender, their parents, and their ancestors going back seven generations will all be investigated and punished by the Left and Right Officials. They will be sent to twenty-four prisons, including the Mountain of Blades and the place where they must eat fire, and made to undergo the Three Paths and Five Sufferings. After enduring punishment three times, they must serve as ghost laborers in the lower realm, carrying stones to fill rivers. The scripture concludes that these are the statutes established by the Mother of the Green Law, a goddess of the Left Palace of the Mysterious Capital, and that those who receive and practice them must observe them with care.

The Taixuandu’s Four Poles Clarifying Precepts records that the Correct Methods of the Three Heavens came into being at the same time as the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning. The Most High Lord Lao received and upheld it, and it was secretly stored above the Nine Heavens, within the purple gates of the Jade-Clear Golden Chamber, guarded by three thousand attendant jade maidens.

According to the ritual regulations, this scripture is transmitted only once every ten thousand kalpas. Only those listed in the registers of immortals and endowed with special qualities may hear it and receive its transmission three times within a span of seven hundred years. At each transmission, the disciple must present the master with thirty feet of blue silk ribbon, thirty-two feet of blue cloth, five pairs of gold rings, and ten liang of fine gold. Master and disciple then observe a seven-day purification fast before making a covenant and transmitting the teachings. The fast is a rite to purify the body and still the mind before the teachings are passed on; the covenant is a joint vow by master and disciple to uphold the precepts.

Those who receive the teachings must not violate the ritual regulations or break the prohibitions. Anyone who breaks a prohibition three times can no longer become an immortal. Five violations bring punishment upon the person and their ancestors for seven generations, and the offense is entered in the registers of the Right Second Office. Punishments include falling into the Twenty-Four Hells, such as the Mountain of Blades and the Land of Fire. After ten thousand kalpas, the offender may return, but must then serve as a ghost attendant for a long time. These precepts appear in the regulations of the Lady Qing of the Left Palace in Xuandu. Those who receive the teachings should understand them and observe them with care.

At the end, the text again refers, under the title Taixuandu Four Poles Companion Precepts, to the punishments in the Three-Nine Blue Writs, Words of the Jade Essence True Officials. The wording matches the earlier passage concerning the Mountain of Blades, the Land of Fire, the Twenty-Four Hells, and long service as a ghost attendant.

The True Instructions on the Three-Nine Green Purities and Jade Essence, the True Scripture of the Eight Purities on Absorbing the Sun and Moon (also known as the Lofty Scripture of the Eight Altars and Four Gates, in eight scrolls), and the Jade Writings and Imperial Chapters of the Great Empyrean (three secret methods, in ten scrolls) were transmitted by the Venerable One of the Nine Heavens and the Jade Youths of the Three Heavens. They were kept in secret in the Palace of Seven Reflections, in a golden chamber and jade hall above the Nine Heavens, and passed down to the Celestial Lord of Taiwei, the Primal Lord of the Southern Pole, the Queen Mother of Purple Tenuity, the Lord of the Golden Gate, and the Lord of the Azure Youth, Chief Minister Above. By the ordinances, they could be transmitted only once every eight thousand kalpas.

To transmit the Three-Nine Words of Purity, one must swear an oath of alliance and provide one golden fish, one jade dragon, thirty feet of blue-patterned silk, nine pairs of gold clasps, and one hundred feet of silk bearing the recipient’s natal mark. To transmit the True Scripture of the Eight Purities, one must provide eight ounces of fine gold, forty feet of silk in each of five colors, and a set of ritual robes. To transmit the Imperial Chapters of Jade Writings, one must provide one golden fish, one jade dragon, thirty-two feet of blue brocade, and eighty feet of white silk, thereby swearing faithfulness to the Nine Heavens.

Master and disciple must fast together for one hundred days, or at least forty days. Only after they have declared their oath before the gods may the transmission take place. If a worthy recipient appears within seven hundred years, the texts may be transmitted three more times. Twelve Jade Youths and twelve Jade Maidens must also be assigned to the recipient. Those who receive the scriptures and practice according to them will attain the true realm within one hundred days and, after eight years, ascend to the immortal realm of the Clear Dawn.

The ordinances must not be violated. Anyone who breaks them will be unable to become an immortal. If someone violates the prohibitions three times, they and their ancestors for seven generations will be implicated and subjected to examination and punishment by the left and right officials. They will be sentenced to places such as the Mountain of Blades and the Fire-Eating Realm, the Twenty-Four Prisons, and the Three Paths and Five Sufferings. Only after enduring ten thousand kalpas will they be able to return, serving for a long time as ghost laborers in the lower world. These prohibitions are recorded in the statutes of the Lady of Azure, left palace of the Dark Capital. Those who receive the scriptures should understand them and observe them with care.

The Forty-Four Prescriptions of Yellow Silk and the Nine Vermilion-Ranked Talismans are secret methods practiced by the Most High, treasured in jade chambers within the palace of the Nine Heavens. According to the old rules, these methods are transmitted three times every seven thousand years. If someone’s name is inscribed in the Golden Register and Jade Writ and their innate bone structure is suited to becoming an immortal, they may receive the transmission three times within seven hundred years.

For the Yellow Silk covenant oath, one must prepare a jade token used as proof of the covenant, one chi and five fen long and one cun and four fen wide; forty chi of yellow silk; and two pairs of gold rings. For the transmission of the Nine Vermilion-Ranked Talismans, one must prepare forty chi of red brocade and half a jin of blue silk, to take the place of the blood oath. Master and disciple must observe purification for one hundred days, then declare their covenant and conduct the transmission, handing over the items required for the oath. The recipient of the scriptures will also receive thirty-seven jade maidens to guard them.

Anyone who breaks the covenant or violates the precepts will, with a single offense, lose the ability to become an immortal. After three offenses, they and seven generations of their ancestors will be registered with the Left and Right Offices, punished on the mountain of knives and by eating fire, and cast into the Twenty-Four Hells and the Three Paths of Suffering. Only after enduring ten thousand kalpas might they return; afterward, they must serve for a long time as ghost attendants in the lower realm. These are the provisions of the Statutes of the Jade Maiden from the Left Palace of the Mysterious Capital. Those who receive the scriptures should understand them and observe them with care.

The Scripture of the Hidden Images and Recorded Forms of the Spirit and Body, with the Essence of Stone and Golden Radiance, is a classic transmitted by the High Sage. One scroll is now sealed away on Mount Emei. A person whose status bears the title “Mysterious Name Joined with the True” may receive the teaching only three times in seven hundred years. At the transmission, a forty-two-foot-long covenant document marked with blue patterns must be drawn up, along with one gold fish, one jade dragon, and nine pairs of gold rings. Master and disciple must fast together for seventy days, and the teaching must be transmitted facing north. Seventeen jade boys and seventeen jade girls must also be assigned to protect them. Anyone who breaks the covenant three times will be barred from attaining immortality; after five violations, the offender and three generations of ancestors will be sentenced to the twenty-four prisons, endure ten thousand kalpas in the three evil paths, and be reborn as nonhuman beings.

The Secret Talisman of the Five Phases from the Song of Joy in the Qu Su Instructions was transmitted by the Great Lord of the Supreme Great Dao. It is kept in the Mysterious Chamber at the Jade Capital, guarded by three hundred jade maidens who attend to the texts, and was later passed on to the Perfected of the Supreme Ultimate. Under the old rules, it may be transmitted only three times in seven thousand years. If a person listed in the Azure Palace of Fangzhu and bearing the title “Mysterious Name in Jade Characters” appears, the teaching may be transmitted at a suitable time within three hundred years. At the transmission, forty feet of white silk, twenty feet of blue cloth, three pairs of gold rings, and one pound of incense must be prepared. These items serve in place of a covenant sworn before the spirits. Master and disciple must fast together for thirty days. Men receive the teaching facing north, and women facing south; each must declare an oath in the master’s presence. The recipient may receive ten jade boys and girls to protect the body. After wearing the secret talisman for twenty years, a Perfected One will descend.

Anyone who violates this precept and breaks the covenant will be barred from attaining immortality after one offense. After three offenses, the offender, their parents, and five generations of ancestors will be sentenced to the left and right offices and the twenty-four prisons, endure ten thousand kalpas, and then be required to serve by carrying stones to fill rivers. The above is the Statute of the Lady Qing of the Left Palace of the Mysterious Capital. Those who receive this teaching should do so with care and faithfully observe and practice it.

The Tai Xuan Du Four Extremes Luminous Rules records that the Scripture of the Hidden Heaven and Concealed Moon, Containing Yellow Qi and Yang Essence was a scripture practiced by the Imperial Lord of Taiwei and kept secret in a jade chamber of the Mysterious Palace of Shangqing. According to the old regulations, it could be transmitted only once every seven thousand years. Only those listed in the registers of immortals and endowed with the potential to become immortals could hear and receive it through three transmissions within three hundred years. The transmission required forty feet of yellow silk, thirty feet of blue cloth, and seven pairs of gold rings as tokens of the covenant. Master and disciple were to fast together for twenty-seven days; the scripture could be transmitted only after they had sworn their covenant. Seven jade youths and seven jade maidens were also to be assigned to them. Those who broke the rules and violated the covenant would lose the chance to become immortals after three offenses. After five offenses, they and their ancestors for seven generations would be punished and placed under the scrutiny of the Left and Right Officials. They would suffer calamities and punishments including the Sword Mountain Hell and the Three Paths and Five Sufferings, and after enduring countless kalpas, they would be reborn as nonhuman beings. The statutes of Nüqing of the Left Palace of Xuandu require recipients of the scripture to observe and practice it with care and understanding.

The Tai Xuan Du Four Extremes Luminous Rules records that the Register of the Primordial Tortoise Mountain was a scripture received by the Queen Mother of the West of Xitai from the Heavenly King of the Primordial Beginning. It was kept secret in the Great Existence Palace above the nine heavens, guarded by 1,700 jade maidens who attended to the texts. According to the old regulations, it could be transmitted only once every ten thousand kalpas; one copy is now sealed away on Mount Xicheng. Only those listed in the immortal registers of the Mysterious Chart, endowed with bones of gold, and able to accord with the True Dao could hear and receive it through three transmissions within seven hundred years. The transmission required three liang of fine gold, thirty-seven feet of red brocade, twenty-two feet of blue cloth, one golden fish, and one jade dragon as tokens of the covenant. Master and disciple were to fast together for one hundred days.

The Scripture of the Four Extremities and Luminous Precepts of the Great True Jade Emperor was issued by the Jade Emperor of the Northern Palace. The Perfected of the Supreme Ultimate received it from the Most High and secretly stored it in a jade chamber in the Palace of Clear Emptiness. It is made public only once every seven thousand years. Only those whose names are entered in the golden register and who accord with the Dao may hear and transmit it three times within a period of seven hundred years.

For the transmission, nine bolts of blue silk, three bolts of violet silk, five bolts of black silk, seven bolts of white silk, twelve bolts of yellow silk, and one gold fish and one jade dragon must be offered as covenant tokens. The recipients must swear to the Nine Heavens that they will never divulge the scripture. Two jade youths and two jade maidens must also be assigned to them. Anyone who breaks the covenant or violates the precepts will, after three offenses, have their cultivation merits diminished and their path to immortality cut off. After five offenses, the offender, together with their seven generations of ancestors and their parents, will be handed over to the two officials on the left and right for punishment. They will be condemned to the hells of the Knife Mountain and the Land of Consuming Fire, where they will endure the Three Paths and Five Sufferings for ten thousand kalpas, then be reborn as a living being incapable of becoming human. The foregoing is recorded in the Statutes of Nüqing of the Left Palace in the Mysterious Capital. Those who receive the scripture should understand these rules and observe them with care.

The Record of the Luminous Precepts of the Four Extremities of the Great Mysterious Capital states that the Hidden Scripture of the Most High, Golden Truth and Jade Radiance is a classic received by the Great Lord of the Dao of the Most High. It is the essence of the Nine Mysteries—that is, the subtle and wondrous methods of the Nine Heavens—and is secretly stored behind the Sevenfold Gates of the Palace of Numinous Capital, guarded by three thousand jade maidens. Under the old precepts, it is transmitted only once in ten thousand kalpas. Anyone whose name appears in the Emperor’s chart and is recorded in the register of the Most High Clarity may hear and transmit it three times within seven hundred years. For the transmission, five taels of gold, eighty feet of vermilion-patterned silk, and one pound of pearls must be offered as covenant tokens, and an oath sworn to the Nine Heavens. Teacher and disciple must fast together for one hundred days and perform the covenant ceremony before the transmission may take place. Seventy-seven jade youths and seventy-seven jade maidens must also be assigned to them.

Anyone who violates the precepts and laws five times will be handed over, along with their seven generations of ancestors, to the two officials on the left and right for examination and punishment. They will be condemned to the Knife Mountain, the Land of Fire, and the Twenty-Four Prisons, where they will endure the Three Paths and Five Sufferings for ten thousand kalpas. Even if they are later reborn, they will be condemned for a long time to the bitter labor of carrying stones to fill a river. The foregoing is recorded in the Statutes of Nüqing of the Left Palace in the Mysterious Capital. Those who receive the scripture should understand these rules and observe them with care.

The Tai Xuan Du Four Extremes Clarifying Precepts (the precepts of the Four Extremes of Tai Xuan Du) records that the scripture Eight Guardians of the Hidden Realm of the Essence of the Dao of the Cinnabar Radiance was received by the Most High Jade Dawn from the High Sage and kept secret in the golden terrace and jade chamber of Shangqing. Eight hundred jade youths and eight hundred jade maidens served and guarded it, burning incense in its support.

This scripture was transmitted to the Perfected of the Supreme Ultimate and the Great Spirit of Donghua. The old regulations of the Azure Palace at Fangzhu stated that the scripture could be transmitted only once every seven thousand years. If a person’s name was inscribed in gold and jade in the Mysterious Register—the Daoist charts of immortal status—and they were deemed capable of accord with the true Dao, then no more than eight people could receive it within seven hundred years. For the transmission, forty feet of white silk, eighty feet of purple-patterned silk, and eight pairs of gold buttons were required as tokens of the oath. Teacher and disciple alike had to observe an eighty-day purification fast and conduct the transmission facing north. Each also had to make offerings to twelve jade youths and maidens.

Anyone who violated the precepts and broke the oath would, at the first offense, lose the chance to become an immortal. At the third offense, the offender, their seven generations of ancestors, and their parents would all be punished. Their cases would be entered for review by the Left and Right Offices, and they would suffer punishments such as the mountain of blades and the fiery land, falling into the twenty-four prisons and the Three Paths and Five Sufferings. Only after enduring ten thousand kalpas might they return, and even then they would serve for a long time as ghost laborers in the lower realm.

These regulations are recorded in the statutes of Nüqing of the Left Palace of the Mysterious Capital. Those who receive the scripture should understand them, exercise caution, and observe them accordingly.

The Inner Writings of the Blue Youth on the Foreign Exile of the Worthy belong to the Four Extremities’ Bright Precepts, transmitted by the Great Mystery Metropolis. These rules govern the transmission and observance of the teachings. They are received and upheld by the Jade Protector King of Great Perfection of the Highest Clarity, the High Minister and Grand Marshal Gaochen, and the Blue Radiance Youth Lord of the Jade Gate in the Eastern Sea. They are kept secret in the Blue Palace of Fangzhu and guarded by three hundred Jade Youths who attend to the scriptures. According to the old rule, they are transmitted only once every seven thousand years, and the transmission must be accompanied by an oath of allegiance. Each recipient is also assigned twenty-seven Jade Youths and twenty-seven Jade Maidens.

Those who obtain this scripture may have their allotted lifespan revised by Taiyi, a revered deity in Daoism, and may be approved for immortality in the Blue Palace. But recipients must not break their oaths or betray the precepts. A single violation will diminish their merit and cut off their path to immortality, making it impossible for them to become immortal. If they violate the precepts three times, the offenders themselves, their parents, and their ancestors for seven generations will all be taken before the left and right offices for judgment. They will then be sentenced to the torments of the Knife Mountain and Fire Township, the Twenty-Four Prisons, and the Three Paths and Five Sufferings, among other hells. Only after enduring three rounds of calamities will they be assigned labor carrying stones to fill a river. These are the statutes of the Lady Qing of the Left Palace of the Great Mystery Metropolis. Recipients of the scripture should understand them and observe them with care.

The Three-Yuan Jade Register and Three-Yuan Cloth Scripture is a scripture recorded in the “Clear Ordinances of the Four Extremes” of the Great Dark Capital. It is kept in the Great Being Palace above the Three Heavens and was received by the Jade Youths of the Three Heavens. Its chapters arose spontaneously from the Nine Mysteries. It is secretly stored in the Great Dao Palace above the Nine Heavens of Purity, guarded by 2,400 Jade Maidens and Jade Youths who attend to the scripture.

According to the old precepts, this scripture may be transmitted only once every ten thousand kalpas. Those eligible to receive it are the Lord of Prohibitions of the Upper Origin, the Lord of the Upper Origin of the Southern Pole, the Queen Mother of the West, and the Emperor Lord of the Golden Tower. Today, another copy is sealed away in a chamber on Mount Huo. Anyone registered in Donghua as a person with an immortal’s name may hear and receive the scripture three times within seven hundred years.

Transmission requires a covenant ceremony. The offerings must include five taels of fine gold, ninety feet of phoenix-patterned gauze, and thirty-two feet of blue-patterned cloth. Teacher and disciple must fast together for seventy days; only after taking the covenant may the teaching be transmitted. Twenty-seven Jade Maidens and thirty-two Jade Youths must also be assigned to guard and arrange the scripture. The recipient’s name will be entered in the register of immortals, and officials of the Three Origins will go to the recipient’s dwelling.

Anyone who violates the precepts or breaks the covenant will have their cultivation merits reduced for a first offense. At the covenant ceremony and transmission, Jade Maidens and Jade Youths must also be assigned, in accordance with the rules, to guard and attend to the scripture. Though the recipient’s name is entered in the register of immortals and officials of the Three Origins go to their dwelling, violating the ordinances and breaking faith brings punishment: a first offense reduces one’s merits and cuts short one’s affairs, making it impossible to become an immortal. After three offenses, the offender, their parents, and their ancestors for seven generations will all be punished. They will be entered into the assessments of the Left and Right Officials, suffer the trials of the Mountain of Blades and the Fire of Consumption, and undergo ten thousand kalpas of tribulation in the Twenty-Four Prisons. Afterward, they will be condemned for a long time to the hard labor of carrying stones to fill a river. These are the provisions of the “Statutes of the Lady Qing of the Left Palace of the Dark Capital.” Those who receive and uphold this scripture should understand the need for caution and reverence, and follow its rules.

The Record of the Embryonic Essence of the Nine Elixirs of Supreme Transformation is an explicit sacred law of the Great Mystery Capital’s Four Extremes. It is regarded as a scripture followed by the Nine Mysteries at their beginning, the twenty-four Perfected Ones, and the Nine Emperors. The Great Emperor transmitted it to the Lady of the Southern Pole and the Queen Mother of the West. Copies are now kept sealed away in Yingzhou and Fangzhang. It is transmitted only once every seven thousand years. If someone’s name appears in the Golden Register and they are chosen to become a Perfected One, they may hear it within three hundred years and transmit it twice more.

At the transmission, one pound and nine ounces of gold, eighty feet of white silk, and one pound of cinnabar serve as pledges of the oath. Master and disciple must fast together for ninety days and conduct the transmission rite facing north, attended by nine jade boys and nine jade maidens. Anyone who receives this scripture can transform at will and fly through the vast reaches of space.

Those who violate this explicit sacred law three times can no longer become immortals. After five violations, they will undergo the trial of wind-blades in life; after death, they will fall into hell, endure ten thousand kalpas, and then be reborn among nonhuman beings. The statutes set down by Nüqing, a female official of the Left Office in the Mysterious Capital, warn recipients of the scripture to understand these injunctions and observe them with care.

The Four Poles Luminous Regulations, transmitted by the Great Dark Capital—the mysterious capital in the Daoist heavens—state: The Jade Pendant and Golden Dangling Ornaments: Hidden Writings of the Great Empyrean; The Mysterious Chronicle of the Seven Sages: A Reversed Text of the Nine Heavens; and The White Tablets and Azure Registers: Names of Those Who Attained the Dao are scriptures cultivated by the Jade Emperor, Sovereign of the Primordial Origin, and the High Sagely Emperor-Lords. They are kept in secret chambers above the Nine Heavens, illuminated by the purple radiance of the Seven Treasures. They appear only once after ten thousand tribulations and are transmitted only to those who have attained the Dao. Now one of these scriptures has been sealed away on Mount Yangluo.

If someone’s name is written in gold in the registers of the Celestial Emperor, their name appears in green in the registers of Shangqing, and their innate bone structure accords with the true Dao, they may receive the transmission three times over a period of seven hundred years.

For the transmission of the Jade Pendant, the pledge tokens must be forty feet of blue-patterned cloth, ninety feet of white gauze, and two taels of gold. For the transmission of the Mysterious Chronicle, they must be seven taels of gold and seventy feet of purple-patterned cloth. Master and disciple must use these tokens to swear their covenant before the Nine Heavens, in place of the covenant sworn before the assembled witnesses, and fast together for one hundred days. At that time, twenty-four Jade Boys and twenty-four Jade Maidens must be assigned to attend to the scriptures, canonical texts, and spirit officials. Those who practice in accordance with these instructions will have their names entered in the registers of the Nine Heavens and will ultimately become perfected beings.

Anyone who breaks the covenant and abandons the oath will, with a single breach, forever lose the chance to become an immortal. If they break the oath three times, their seven generations of ancestors and the oath-breaker themselves will face examination and punishment by the two officials on the left and right. They will be sentenced to places of torment such as the Mountain of Blades, the Land of Fire, the Twenty-Four Prisons, and the Three Paths of Rebirth and Five Sufferings. Only after ten thousand tribulations might they return; for a long time, they will remain ghostly laborers in the lower realm, carrying stones to fill rivers.

These are the prohibitions set forth in the statutes of Nüqing, Lady of the Left Palace of the Mysterious Capital. Those who receive the transmission should understand these rules, exercise caution, and follow them with reverence.

The Code of the Four Poles of the Great Mystery Capital says: The Plain Memorial and Cinnabar Talisman and the Jade Talisman of the Six Jia, Left and Right, for Spiritual Flight came into being at the same time as Heaven and Earth. They are scriptures held and received by the Jade Emperor, who later transmitted them to the Lord of the Great Dao, the Most High. They were then kept secret within the Jade Palace.

These two scriptures may be transmitted only three times every seven thousand years. For those whose names are inscribed in gold in the Eastern Florescence and whose characters are written in green in Highest Clarity, they may be transmitted three times every seven hundred years. The transmission requires a covenant and solemn oath: forty feet of white silk, three pairs of gold clasps, and thirty-two feet of blue-green silk are to serve as tokens of the pledge. Master and disciple must fast together for sixty days, then transmit the scriptures facing north. In Daoist transmission rites, fasting and oath-taking express reverence and fidelity to the rules governing the lineage.

Receiving these scriptures enables one to comprehend spiritual mysteries, attain the state of a Perfected One, fly through the heavens, and ascend to Heaven in broad daylight. Anyone who violates the ritual codes or breaks the oath will, at the first offense, have their merit diminished and their path to immortality cut off. At the third offense, the seven generations of ancestors of both master and disciple, as well as the offenders themselves, will face the trial of wind blades. After death, they will fall into the underworld, endure ten thousand tribulations, and serve for ages as lowly ghosts, carrying stones to fill rivers.

This text is a legal document of the Jade Maid of the Left Palace in the Mystery Capital. Those who receive it should understand its prohibitions and rules, and observe them with care.

End of volume three of the Scripture of the Four Poles of the Great Clarifications of the Jade Emperor of Great Truth.

Volume Four of the Scripture of the Four Poles of the Great Clarifications of the Jade Emperor of Great Truth

Legal text of the Jade Maid of the Right Palace of the Great Mystery on the Four Poles and Great Clarifications

The Black Emperor Jade Secretary Lord has the surname Shi and the personal name Shengdu. He wears a black robe patterned with the emblems of five-colored phoenixes and a precious crown fashioned from jade essence, which reaches toward Heaven. In his hand he holds a five-colored feather baton, a ceremonial object symbolizing his rank and authority. He resides in the Right Palace of the Grotto Heaven of Dark Yin and Great Darkness, where he commands the immortal officials of Northern Peak Hengshan, along with earth spirits, water essences, and the troops of Black Ren.

The Black Emperor Jade Secretary Lord governs the boundless heavenly realm of the north and oversees its endless cycles of tribulation and officials. He directs the registers and ritual codes of the Highest True Ones, and all these affairs fall under his authority. He also governs human life, death, and destiny. If practitioners learn his personal name and visualize his spirit, then after nine years of cultivation, a flying carriage formed from dark clouds will come to receive them and carry them up to the Dark Palace.

The Four-Pole Bright Regulations of the Great Mystery Metropolis records: “All those who are supremely high and truly perfected, the Jade Emperor Lords, the True Persons of Jade Purity, the myriad immortals and assembled sages, and those numinous beings who have attained the Dao all wear the …