《洞真太上太霄琅书》

“Master of Cloud Affairs” (Yunwuzi) is said to have been a descendant of the Primordial Sovereign of the Jade Void and the second son of the Great Sovereign. In the Jade Chamber, he was conceived with a body like precious jade; at the Golden Gate, he gathered the essence of cloud Qi, with the light of the sun and moon held within his womb. He refined his spirit-consciousness with abundant dew, cultivated fetal breathing, and followed the natural course of its movement. After passing through many kalpas and reincarnating, he was born into the Yuan clan, followed the Yang path, and attained immortality.

On the morning of the first day of the third month in the first year of the August Sovereign, Yunwuzi was born in the Boundless Heaven of Precious Radiance, above the Nine Mysteries. Among the cloud cliffs he saw the sun, and his golden features illuminated towers like precious jade. He followed the foundations of imperial succession and modeled himself on the pure, natural qualities of jade. The light of the Nine Spirits washed over his body; sweet, fragrant Jade Springs nourished him; the August Mushroom offered by the numinous consort was his drink; and the Ninefold Refined Flying Frost fostered his body. A divine dragon spread its wings protectively beside him, a jade phoenix circled above his head, purple vapors rose, and flowing radiance shone in every direction.

Two numinous signs together upheld the cosmic order, while the sun, moon, and stars harmonized to reveal the true Dao. His marvels were proclaimed throughout the Divine Realm. Seven transformations made his spirit-consciousness ever more subtle; swift numinous winds bore up his body, and swirling fragrance swept away the dust. At ease, he roamed above the Great Void, leisurely wandering in a realm that flowed as one with the Dao.

At eighteen, he contemplated the hidden and subtle mysteries, followed his nature and observed the transformations at work, and let the seasons take their course. He did not covet the imperial path. He wandered freely through the Central Plains, visited the Great Empyrean, and lingered in the Purple Heaven. His gaze crossed long ages of kalpas; once he had grasped their meaning, he forgot to return. His destiny was not of his own making, yet through it his exceptional, transcendent nature as an immortal was made manifest. His name was therefore entered in the registers of the Celestial Emperor, and he was ranked among the Great Perfected. The gods of the Three Origins issued their command and bestowed upon him an honorific title from the August Scrolls.

After receiving the command, he went to pay court in the Jade Heaven. He ascended the Terrace of the Nine Mysteries and the Palace of Great Being, then came to the Seven-Treasure Vermilion Chamber in the Jade Capital of the Purple Phoenix. There, in the Jade Pavilion of the Hall of Bright Clouds, he cultivated himself through quiet practice and purification. He communed with numinous, luminous Qi, and a round halo appeared above his head. At night, divine candles shone, and the jade hall itself radiated light.

At that time, the Dao Lord of the Void Emperor bestowed upon him the Jade Writ of the Great Empyrean: The Jeweled Text of the August Chapter, in a realm of hollow formlessness, deep and mysterious. As the text was transmitted, the heavenly light shone everywhere in profound radiance; the sun, moon, and stars revolved and cast their light; the Five Lodgings altered their courses, and the Seven Primordials set numinous Qi in motion. Radiance in nine colors illuminated Jade Purity; flying mists gathered thickly, filling the eight directions and the shadowy realms. On the jade steps, the Myriad Emperors assembled in the court. Flying immortals rode beneath feathered canopies, assisting and guarding the Great Perfected. Immortal youths and jade maidens each led a thousand attendants, carrying cloths and scattering fragrance as they swept away the dust.

He then ordered his carriage prepared and sent out proclamations summoning the Five Numinous Ones. Flying mists turned its wheels; the carriage rose through the air and crossed the clouds. A divine phoenix held the reins, the numinous consort guided the immortal retinue, and the Bright Emperor led the way. Three streams of radiance converged, lightning flashed, and splendor surged forth. The carriage sped toward the Nine Mysteries and toured the jade palaces; he feasted and wandered in the realm of the Three Origins, circled through the Jade Empyrean, and traveled freely in Purple Dawn.

In the boundless realm, he unfolded the Jeweled Writ; amid azure clouds, he recited the August Chapter. Following the Jade Instructions, he regulated the foundations of former lives; by means of the Jeweled Text, he summoned the awe-inspiring spirits. In the hollow realm, he chanted wondrous melodies; in the Jade Pavilion, he gathered his spirit in quiet contemplation. Following mysterious diagrams, he ordered the workings of Heaven and Earth. He oversaw the Celestial Emperor’s register of the immortals, governed the terrestrial officials of the Five Sacred Peaks, and commanded the Perfected Ones of the Three Passes. Above, he ruled the boundless heavens; below, he governed the depths of the cavernous sources. From the heavenly realms downward, all fell under the Great Perfected’s authority.

His mysteries could not be fathomed, and his transformations could not be named. Those nearby could not speak of him; those far away had no way to seek him. He was so clear that nothing could stain him, and so blended that nothing could make him clear. His virtue was supremely wondrous, and his dignity stood majestic.

The Jade Book of the Great Empyrean (Taixiao Langshu) is the music performed by the Kings of the Nine Heavens as they ascend into the clouds. It is also a sacred text of the Celestial Emperor and a classic of the Nine Heavens. It came into being at the beginning of the Primordial Era, within the natural Void. The Jade Emperor of the Empty Sovereign received it from the Nine Mysteries. The Kings of the Nine Heavens then recorded the titles of its scriptures, cast tablets from gold, joined them into chapters with jade, and fashioned precious documents with golden threads and jade characters. They stored these treasures in the Great You Palace above the Nine Heavens. Three thousand Western Blossom Jade Maidens and three thousand Golden Dawn Jade Youths serve, guard, and tend the incense offerings there.

Each month, the nine Celestial Emperors and the Highest Sages ascend the jade steps three times to pay court and feast with the immortals and perfected beings. After countless kalpas, this classic was transmitted to the King of Great Zhen. Its principles are profound and subtle, the foundation of all scriptures. Its divine meaning is wondrous and refined, and its essentials surpass the methods of the Nine Heavens. Its wisdom is clear and still, able to penetrate the mysteries. Only those who have attained the highest truth are qualified to hear it. The classic is taught only to perfected beings who have already achieved their realization, not to the lesser immortals whose cultivation remains shallow.

The Jade Book of the Great Empyrean is the music of the Kings of the Nine Heavens as they soar through the skies. It is also the Dao-method through which the mysteries of the high spirits are revealed, and the condensation of the Nine Heavens’ vital energies. It perceives and governs the myriad kinds of Qi, and presides over all scriptures. Whether one cultivates the Thirty-Nine Chapters of the Great Cavern, practices the Returning Wind and Unifying with the Emperor One, or studies the Precious Scripture of the Five Elders and the Jade Register of the Feminine One to free oneself from karmic roots inherited from past lives and save one’s ancestors of seven generations, this classic must serve as the foundation. Without it, the Kings of the Nine Heavens will not receive the practitioner’s invocation; the Nine Qi will become confused and intermixed, and the immortals and perfected beings will be displeased. Heavenly demons will harass the practitioner, trials will arrive one after another, the mind will be unable to reach the subtle principles of the hidden realm, and Heaven will not open its mysterious gates.

In cultivating any scripture, one should first take the Jade Writ (Qiongwen) as the foundation. Recite and chant it in a quiet room, calming the mind and spirit until auspicious clouds and radiant light fill the courtyard. Then one can reach the Nine Heavens, harmonize the subtle Qi of the upper realms, and cause the Jade Palace to tremble and listen. Ten thousand perfected beings will descend before the hall, while the assembled demons draw back and submit, daring not to come and cause disturbance. By following the method appropriate to one’s own cultivation, one can attain the Dao and become perfected. After reciting the scripture ten thousand times, one’s practice will be complete, and one can ascend to the Great Clarity. The key to cultivating the Dao is not complicated: it lies in this classic. With focused practice and diligent effort, one can become an immortal of the highest rank.

Yunwuzi did not practice any other Daoist method. Instead, he received the Jade Chapters of the Exalted Writ of the Great Empyrean from the Dao Lord of the Void Emperor. He chanted its wondrous passages above the Nine Heavens and roamed there in carefree ease. In this way, he entered into communion with the spirits and perfected beings, moved the Three Primes—the Upper, Middle, and Lower Primes—to descend and impart their teachings, and was granted the rank of Supreme Perfected King.

Later, this method was transmitted to eighteen people: the Perfected of Mount Taihua, the Lord of Long Life of the Three Heavens, the Perfected of Great Harmony, Laozi of Eastern Florescence, the Lord of Prohibitions who presides over the South Pole, the Vice Marquis of the Western Terrace, the Central Perfected of the Northern Emperor, the Prince of the Nine Numinous Ones, the Perfected Consort of Great Numinous Power, the Jade Lad of Red Essence, Master Dark Valley, Red Pine of Southern Peak, Wang Qiao of Mount Zhong, the Perfected of Purple Yang, Lord Wang of Western City, Master Central Emperor, Zhao Boxuan, and Shan Zhongzong. They practiced this Way together. Their faces shone with a golden radiance, and round halos appeared behind their necks. They rose through the air into the clouds and feasted in the Purple Court, the palace of the heavens. They could transform at will and roam freely; when they summoned spirits, the spirits answered at once. They could call forth the myriad numinous beings, subdue the host of demons, and pass judgment over life and death. Riding clouds and mist, they entered and left the palace of the Celestial Emperor. These powers all came from practicing the Jade Chapters; in the end, they became Supreme Perfected Ones, beings who had attained the Dao and held the highest rank.

Lord Wang has now sealed away a copy of the scripture in Mount Western City. Only those whose names were already entered in the Celestial Emperor’s registers and the documents of Purple Clarity, the heavenly realm, and who are destined to be attuned to the True Dao, should receive this scripture. Whoever obtains it must treasure it and keep it secret; it must not be passed on casually. If this numinous text is revealed, nine generations of one’s ancestors will be investigated and punished. The person who divulges it will be made a ghost official and imprisoned in hell for a long time, enduring myriad kalpas without release.

The Title of the Primordial Beginning of the Nine Heavens (the title of the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning of the Nine Heavens)

The first heaven is called Yudan Wuliang Heaven. Above it are three further celestial realms. The Venerable One of the Nine Heavens, a deity who governs the Nine Heavens, rules Wuliang Heaven, which lies 240,000 li from the second heaven. The people of Wuliang Heaven live for nine million years, equivalent to five hundred years in the human world.

In this heaven are four Jade Emperor Lords. On the first, third, and ninth days of each month, they send the Jade Morning Messengers to inspect the world. Anyone who studies the Higher Dao, carries and honors the Taixiao Ling Books, observes the precepts and prohibitions with care, and has been entered in the Celestial Register can attain the same lifespan as the people of Wuliang Heaven. Those who violate the precepts are reported by the Four Offices, the celestial bureaus responsible for inspection, and investigated by the Left and Right Three Officials, celestial functionaries who oversee assessments.

On these dates, one should undertake a pure fast, cleansing body and mind and observing abstinence. At dawn, enter a quiet chamber and recite once the Jade Text of the Taixiao Ling Books of Wuliang Heaven. The Jade Morning Messengers will then report your name to the Heavenly King and enter it in the register of the Azure Palace. After nine years of practice, you can ride the Jade Wheel of Taixiao up to Wuliang Heaven.

The second heaven is called the “Uppermost Meditation Heaven of Boundless Life.” Three other heavens are also established within the heavenly realm, each with its own name, and all are subordinate to the Heaven of Boundless Life. The Nine Heavens’ True King governs the Heaven of Boundless Life, which lies 46 million li from the Third Heaven. Its celestial beings live for 36 million years, equivalent to one thousand years in the human world.

There are four Celestial Emperors in the Heaven of Boundless Life. On the seventh, tenth, and eleventh days of each month, they regularly dispatch the True-Preserving Attendant Immortals—celestial officials ordered to make inspections—to travel throughout the world. If someone devotes themself to cultivating the Higher Way, wears the Book of Lang Jade of the Great Empyrean, observes purification and recites the scripture, keeps the precepts, and does not violate the prohibited ordinances, their name will be entered in the imperial register and inscribed in purple in the Register of Highest Clarity. They will then be granted a lifespan equal to that of the celestial beings of the Heaven of Boundless Life. Those who violate the precepts and prohibitions will be investigated by the Four Offices, the divine bureaus responsible for scrutiny and discipline, and assessed and recorded by the Left and Right Three Officials, Daoist divine functionaries who register and examine people.

On the days when these inspectors make their rounds, one should clear the mind, observe purification, enter a quiet chamber at dawn, and recite once the Jade Text of the Book of Lang of the Great Empyrean, Heaven of Boundless Life. The attendant immortals will then report the cultivator’s circumstances to the Heavenly King and enter their name in the Azure Palace, where the celestial registers of immortals are kept. After nine years of cultivation, one may ride the Flying Wheel of the Great Empyrean and ascend to the Heaven of Boundless Life.

The third heaven is called the “Heaven of Brahma’s Oversight.”

The Third Heaven is called Brahmā’s Oversight Heaven, also known as Xuyan Heaven. Three further heavenly realms are established above it, all under its jurisdiction. The Celestial King of Primordial Beginning governs Brahmā’s Oversight Heaven. It lies 6,720,000 li from the Fourth Heaven. Its celestial beings live for 152 million years, equivalent to 2,000 years in the human realm.

Brahmā’s Oversight Heaven is home to four True Imperial Kings. On the second, fourth, and thirteenth days of each month, they send the Immortal Lord Yulang to inspect the world below. Anyone who devotes themselves to cultivating the Highest Way, wears the Jade Writ of the Great Empyrean (a Daoist scripture), observes fasting, recites scriptures, and keeps the precepts will have their name entered in the Imperial Register, the celestial census, and may live as long as the beings of Brahmā’s Oversight Heaven. Those who violate the precepts and prohibitions will be investigated by the Four Offices and examined and punished by the Three Officials of the Left and Right, divine bureaus responsible for Heaven, Earth, and Water.

On these dates, one should purify body and mind, observe fasting, and enter a quiet chamber at dawn to recite once the “Jade Text of the Jade Writ of the Great Empyrean” from Brahmā’s Oversight Heaven. The Immortal Lord Yulang will then report the practitioner’s conduct to the Celestial King and have their name entered in the Green Palace. After nine years of cultivation, one may ride the Flying Wheel of the Great Empyrean and ascend to Brahmā’s Oversight Heaven.

The Fourth Heaven is called Dushutian, also known as Quiescent Heaven. Three further heavenly realms are established above it, all under its jurisdiction. The Celestial King of Primordial Beginning governs Dushutian. It lies 12,400,000 li from the Fifth Heaven. Its celestial beings live for 608 million years, equivalent to 4,000 years in the human realm.

Dushutian is home to four Heavenly Origin Kings. On the fifth, twelfth, and sixteenth days of each month, they send the Perfected Jade Immortal Dingxian to inspect the world below. Anyone who devotes themselves to cultivating the Highest Way, wears the Jade Writ of the Great Empyrean, observes fasting, recites scriptures, and keeps the prohibitions of the heavens will have their name entered in the Imperial Chart, the celestial census, and may live as long as the beings of Dushutian. Those who violate the precepts and prohibitions will be investigated by the Four Offices and examined and punished by the Three Officials of the Left and Right.

On these dates, one should purify body and mind, observe fasting, and enter a quiet chamber at dawn to recite once the “Jade Text of the Jade Writ of the Great Empyrean” from Dushutian. The Perfected Jade will then report the practitioner’s conduct to the Origin King and have their name entered in Donghua. After nine years of cultivation, one may ride the Jade Wheel of the Great Empyrean and ascend to Dushutian.

The fifth heaven is called the Heaven of Unfading Joy, also known as Paranirmita-vaśavartin Heaven. Three further heavens are located within it and fall under its jurisdiction. The High Supreme Primordial Sovereign, ruler of this heaven, dwells there. It lies 36,800,000 li from the sixth heaven.

The beings of the Heaven of Unfading Joy live for 2.34 billion years, equivalent to 8,000 years in the human world. Four “True Kings who Govern the Heavens” reside there. On the fourteenth, seventeenth, and nineteenth of each month, they dispatch Central True Messengers to inspect the world. Anyone who diligently cultivates the Higher Way, wears the Jade Text of the Great Empyrean, observes purification and recites scriptures, violates none of the precepts or prohibitions, and has their name entered in the Imperial Register may enjoy the same lifespan as the beings of the Heaven of Unfading Joy. Those who break precepts or violate prohibitions will be investigated by the Four Offices and examined and punished by the Three Officials on the left and right.

On these days, one should observe purification in seclusion and recite once the Jade Writ of the Great Empyrean of the Heaven of Unfading Joy. The Central True Messengers will then report the person’s circumstances to the Four Heavenly Kings and enter their name in the Eastern Florescence Palace. After nine years, the person will be able to ride the Jade Wheel of the Great Empyrean and ascend to the Heaven of Unfading Joy.

The sixth heaven is called the Heaven of Transformed Response, also known as the Heaven of Freely Enjoying Others’ Creations. Three further heavens are located within it and fall under its jurisdiction.

The sixth heaven is called the “Heaven of Transformative Response,” also known as the “Heaven of Freely Transforming Oneself.” Three further heavenly realms are established above it, all under its authority. The Jade Emperor of the Void Sovereign resides and governs here. This heaven lies 53,840,000 li below the seventh heaven. Its heavenly inhabitants live for 921,600,000,000 years, equivalent to 6,000 years in the human world.

In this heaven dwells the Heavenly Treasure Emperor. On the eighteenth, twentieth, and twenty-third day of each month, he regularly sends the Ten-Thousand-Picul Envoys—messengers who inspect the heavenly realms and observe people’s cultivation in the human world—to make their rounds. Those who diligently cultivate, are devoted in heart, carry and wear the Great Empyrean Jade Writ, observe purification and recite scriptures, and do not violate the precepts, will enjoy the same lifespan as the inhabitants of the Heaven of Transformative Response if their names are entered in the emperor’s register. Anyone who violates the precepts and prohibitions will be investigated by the Four Offices, divine departments responsible for inspection and discipline, and examined by the Left and Right Three Officials, divine functionaries who keep records and assess conduct.

On the appointed days, cultivators should observe pure purification, enter a chamber, and recite once the Jade Text of the Great Empyrean Jade Writ of the Heaven of Transformative Response. The Ten-Thousand-Picul Envoys will then report the person’s conduct to the Heavenly Treasure Emperor and enter their name in the Eastern Florescence Palace. After nine years, the person will be able to ride the Jade Wheel of the Great Empyrean, a heavenly treasure carriage, and ascend to the Heaven of Transformative Response.

The seventh heaven is called the “Heaven of Brahma Treasure,” also known as the “Heaven of Bōluóní Xiébázhì.” Three further heavenly realms are established above it, all under its authority. The Venerable Master of the Ten Thousand Beginnings resides and governs here. The Heaven of Brahma Treasure lies 5,200,000 li below the eighth heaven. Its heavenly inhabitants live for one kalpa, equivalent to 5,000 years in the human world.

In this heaven dwell four exalted heavenly emperors. On the twenty-first, twenty-fourth, and twenty-seventh day of each month, they regularly send the Truth-Monitoring Envoys—messengers who inspect whether cultivators are sincere and observe the precepts—to make their rounds. Those who devote themselves to arduous practice, diligently cultivate the higher Dao, observe purification and recite scriptures, and do not violate the heavenly precepts will enjoy the same lifespan as the inhabitants of the Heaven of Brahma Treasure if their names are entered in the emperors’ register. Anyone who violates the precepts and prohibitions will be investigated by the Four Offices and examined by the Left and Right Three Officials.

On the appointed days, cultivators should observe pure purification, enter a chamber, and recite once the Jade Text of the Great Empyrean Jade Writ of the Heaven of Brahma Treasure. The Truth-Monitoring Envoys will then report the person’s conduct to the exalted emperors and enter their name in the Eastern Florescence Palace. After nine years, the person will be able to ride the Jade Wheel of the Great Empyrean and ascend to the Heaven of Brahma Treasure.

The eighth heaven is called Brahma-Kāyika Heaven, also known as the Heaven of the Brahmā Assembly. Above it lie three further tiers of heaven, all under the authority of the Heaven of the Brahmā Assembly. The Purple-Void Emperor governs Brahma-Kāyika Heaven, which lies 6.8 million li from the ninth heaven. The heavenly beings there live for two kalpas, equivalent to 1,500 years in the human world.

In this heaven dwell four Great Illustrious True Kings. On the twenty-sixth, twenty-eighth, and twenty-ninth days of each lunar month, they send feathered immortal messengers to inspect the world. Those who sincerely persevere in cultivation, observe purification rites and recite scriptures, and violate none of the precepts or prohibitions have their names entered in the Azure Palace and may enjoy the same lifespan as the beings of Brahma-Kāyika Heaven. Those who do evil, break prohibitions, or violate precepts are investigated by the Four Offices and handed over to the left and right Three Officials for examination and judgment.

On these days, one should observe strict purity, enter a quiet chamber, and recite once the Jade Writ of the Great Empyrean of Brahma-Kāyika Heaven. The feathered immortal messengers will then submit a memorial to the Great Illustrious True Kings, who will enter the reciter’s name in the Eastern Florescence Palace. After nine years, this person will be able to ride the Jade Wheel of the Great Empyrean and ascend to Brahma-Kāyika Heaven.

The ninth heaven is called Pārāvata Heaven, also known as Great Brahmā Heaven. It lies 50,000,020,000 li above the realm below. Three further tiers of heaven lie above it, also under the authority of Great Brahmā Heaven. The Great True One rides the Jade Wheel of the Great Empyrean and ascends to Brahma-Kāyika Heaven.

The ninth heaven is called “Poli Dahe Heaven,” also known as “Great Brahma Heaven.” It lies five hundred billion and two hundred thousand li above the lower realm. This celestial realm also has three further levels of heaven, all subordinate to Great Brahma Heaven. The Perfected King Taizhen governs Poli Dahe Heaven. Its celestial beings live for four kalpas, equivalent to 2,500 years in the human world.

There are five emperors in this heaven. On the first, fifteenth, and thirtieth days of each month, they send envoys who lead the immortals on inspections throughout the world. Those who observe purification and fasting, put their ritual robes in order, recite scriptures, and devote themselves to reflection without breaking the celestial precepts will have their names entered in the imperial register of the gods. They will then enjoy the same lifespan as the inhabitants of Poli Dahe Heaven. Those who do evil and violate the precepts will be investigated by the Four Offices, the celestial agencies responsible for oversight and assessment, and judged by the Left and Right Three Officials, divine authorities who administer affairs of heaven, the human world, and the underworld.

On these days, one should observe purification and fasting in a quiet room and recite once the Jade Writings of the Lang Library of the Great Empyrean of Poli Dahe Heaven. The envoys who lead the immortals will then report your conduct to the Five Emperors and enter your name in the Eastern Florescence Palace. After nine years, you will be able to ride the Jade Wheel of the Great Empyrean and ascend to Poli Dahe Heaven.

These nine heavens are the essence of the primordial Qi, the universe’s original vital energy, and the place where the perfected immortals and emperors govern. Each heaven has three further levels, which are alternative names for the nine heavens; together, they make up the thirty-six heavens. Palaces and offices are arranged according to rank. Beyond the nine heavens lie many other Brahma heavens. Their names are determined by the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches of the nine heavens, and they are subordinate to the kings of the nine heavens.

Each of the nine heavens has its own Heavenly King. “Heavenly King” here does not mean a human emperor, but a divine being who dwells above the nine heavens. Those who cultivate the Supreme Way and seek immortality and transcendence should learn the names of these Heavenly Kings and the heavens to which they belong. Those who know the names of the nine Heavenly Kings will receive the protection of mysterious purple Qi, be guarded by divine troops, and obtain scriptures from the secret treasury of the nine heavens. Their lifespan will correspond to that of the nine heavens. These secret teachings must be treasured and kept safe. Anyone who casually reveals them to three people will, after death, fall into the Ninefold Abyss, the depths of the underworld, and suffer punishment for myriad kalpas without release. Take great care.

The first is the Heavenly King of Yudan Wuliang. His surname is Hun, and his taboo name is Minta. He wears a seamless fur robe of nine colors, naturally marked with patterns, and a radiant sun-disc crown. He dwells within the Purple Gate of the Dark Terrace of Qiatian Wuying, attended on either side by ninety thousand jade maidens.

The Second Heavenly King, Chan-Shan Wuliangshou, bore the surname Xie and the personal name Chanminban. He wore a robe of nine naturally interwoven colors patterned with clouds, and on his head he wore the Radiant Essence Moonlight. He dwelt on a jeweled terrace adorned with the Seven Treasures, in the Pearl Forest of the Jade Realm. Around him were seventy thousand perfected beings and jade maidens who served him.

The Third Heavenly King, Xuyan, bore the surname Zi and the personal name Yuwanshu. He wore a robe of nine colors patterned with the clouds of the Three Methods, and on his head he wore the Heavenly Origin’s Precious Radiance. He dwelt in the Palace of the Numinous Capital at the Jade Capital, surrounded by ninety thousand jade maidens who served the perfected.

The Fourth Heavenly King, Jiran, bore the surname Fu and the personal name Qianying. He wore a robe patterned with seven-colored dragons and radiant throughout, and on his head he wore the Yin Essence’s Night Radiance. He dwelt upon a jeweled terrace in a pearl palace, surrounded by sixty thousand jade maidens who served the perfected.

The Fifth Heavenly King, Bujiao Le, bore the surname Ning and the personal name Funiliang. He wore a mottled robe of nine colors patterned with flying frost and clouds, and on his head he wore the Azure Radiance of Jupiter’s Mysterious Essence. He dwelt on the nine-tiered Jade Terrace in the Cinnabar Chamber of Unshadowed Light, surrounded by seventy thousand jade maidens who served the perfected.

The Sixth Heavenly King, Huaying Sheng, bore the surname Hui and the personal name Ranglie. He wore a robe of nine-colored brocade, with flowing radiance and shining clouds, and on his head he wore the White Radiance of Venus’s Jade Essence. He dwelt in the Vermilion-Illuminated Chamber of the Upper Palace of the Jeweled Forest, surrounded by sixty thousand jade maidens who served the perfected.

The Seventh Heavenly King, Fanbao, bore the surname Jing and the personal name Wuyunxi. He wore a robe of nine colors, its clouds flowing and its dawn lights flying, and on his head he wore the Mysterious Essence of the Fluorescent Star, the Flowing Cinnabar and Crimson Treasure. He dwelt in the Palace of the Seven Radiances in the Southern Heights, surrounded by eighty thousand jade maidens who served the perfected.

The Eighth Heavenly King, Fanmo Jiayi, bore the surname Xuan and the personal name Dengduo. He wore a seamless robe of nine colors, its clouds flying, and on his head he wore the Flowing Essence of the Mysterious Dawn and the Chen Star. He dwelt on the Purple-Jade Terrace in the City of the Phoenix of the Nine Mysteries, surrounded by fifty thousand jade maidens who served the perfected.

In this passage, “Heavenly King” is a title for a revered deity of the celestial realm. “Jade maidens who serve the perfected” refers to female immortals who attend the perfected beings. The descriptions of their robes, headdresses, and dwellings convey the majesty and numinous character of the heavens in which each Heavenly King resides.

The ninth Heavenly King, Bolidahe, has the surname Wang and the personal name Ling. He wears a dark-cloud robe of nine colors, made without seams, and wears on his head the Boundless Flowing Yellow Star-Quelling Flying Essence. He resides in the Nine-Turn Chamber of the Great Wondrous Palace at Layered Jade Capital in the Heavenly Mound, attended by ninety thousand jade maidens.

The Nine Heavens and their Nine Kings are the root and sovereign source of the myriad kinds of primordial Qi, the ancestors of the many Heavenly Emperors, and the wellspring of the essences of the nine kinds of Qi. Before Heaven and Earth had congealed, and before the sun, moon, and stars had appeared, they came into being spontaneously amid the empty chaos. After ninety thousand kalpas, the nine kinds of Qi each differentiated and took charge of their own domains. The Nine Heavens were thereby established, and the sun, moon, and stars became manifest. The myriad kinds of Qi flowed and circulated, congealing to form the Dao and the true spirits.

The Primordial August Sovereign and the Most High Jade Void were both born within the Beginning Heaven. Thereafter, thirty-nine Emperors and twenty-four perfected beings were established, and ranks of palaces and official posts gradually took shape. The August Sovereign’s precious scriptures were all characters that had congealed spontaneously, to be transmitted and circulated in the world. The Way of long life, the methods of immortality, and the talismanic registers and jade instructions all originated with the Kings of the Nine Heavens, then were passed down through the generations by perfected beings.

When the cycles of fate shifted in the Three and Five, and the time of the Nine Spirits’ response arrived, the Later Sage, the Lord of the Nine Mysteries, investigated and traced the original sources. He checked the texts against the reckoning of nine hundred billion and nine thousand kalpas, and found many inconsistencies among the August Sovereign’s canonical regulations. On the first day of the ninth month of the first year of the Central August Era, in the Upper Palace of the Golden Gate in the Jade-Heavenly Chamber of Gems, the Lord ordered the Eastern Florescence Green Palace to examine the systems of ancient and present times, collate and record the ancient writings, and revise and compile them into numinous chapters. The result was a collection of three hundred volumes of precious scriptures, entrusted to the Assistant Minister, Lord Green Lad. He was to transmit them to later practitioners who held registers of immortality and were capable of uniting with the perfected.

Anyone who studies immortality and seeks the Dao but does not know the source of the Great Dao or where its treasured instructions arose is like someone groping in the dark. Without an inherited lineage and root, perfected beings will not descend, and the Dao’s methods will be difficult to put into practice. Those who wish to seek immortality should investigate the origins of the Nine Heavens and understand their beginnings. In this way, the Dao’s methods can be made complete, and the attainment of immortality will have a foundation.

The secret names of the Kings of the Nine Heavens are kept in the Great You Palace above the Nine Heavens and are not transmitted to the human world. If someone, through such methods as the Mysterious Name and Imperial Chart or the Golden Characters of the Highest Clarity, learns the Kings’ secret names in accordance with the cycles and their destined opportunity, the Kings will send twelve jade boys and nine jade maidens to guard that person’s body. To transmit the secret names, one must observe the prescribed purification fast for ninety days, or nine days, and prepare nine liang of fine gold and ninety chi of purple patterned silk as an oath to the Nine Heavens. The master must then swear an oath before transmitting them. These supremely numinous secret names must not be disclosed carelessly. Otherwise, the offender will be punished, bringing calamity upon seven generations of ancestors. They will serve as ghost laborers for a long time, carrying stones and moving mountains, and after death will be placed under the jurisdiction of the Three Offices, forever unable to attain immortality.

Chapter One: The Exquisite Jade Writing of the High Heaven, from the King of Yudan Wuliang Heaven.

The primordial Qi in the High Heaven—the lofty realm of open space—gathers and forms clouds and palaces. Our King reveals his wondrous power of creation, bringing all things into being as though leaving neither form nor trace. Within the formless lies the true Dao, and the true Dao arises from emptiness.

Above the deep, distant realm of mysterious emptiness resounds the subtle Qi of the Primordial Beginning, the cosmic origin in Daoist thought. By following the light in cultivation, one can discern mysterious transformations; the workings of the mystery will also appear as signs. Constellations arrange themselves into jade characters, while flying clouds and rosy mists sweep across green jade. When the clouds disperse, the radiance of the sun, moon, and stars comes into view; flowing light fills the Purple Clarity, the noble and pure celestial realm.

Hand in hand, I ascend the Jade Radiance Terrace, then pause to rest and wander at ease in Phoenix City. Turning back, I climb the Nine Ridges and open the way to limitless life. Whoever wishes to travel with me may seek out my name. My name is easy to learn: it is found in the Eastern Florescence Court, the celestial palace in the east. You may go to the Mysterious Capital, the Daoist celestial city, to pay your respects and focus your attention on the numinous spirit of the Emperor. Set aside the tangled thoughts that reach beyond the world of dust, and hold fast to Yellow Tranquility, the inner calm cultivated in Daoist practice. Reciting the chapters of the High Heaven will naturally illuminate the Three Passes within the body, the barriers spoken of in cultivation.

Whoever wishes to travel with me may seek out my name. My name is easy to learn: it is found in the Eastern Florescence Court. You may go to the Mysterious Capital to pay your respects and focus your attention on the numinous spirit of the Emperor; set aside the tangled thoughts that reach beyond the world of dust, and hold fast to Yellow Tranquility. Reciting the chapters of the High Heaven will naturally illuminate the Three Passes within the body.

Mysterious spirits arrive in a carriage, circling and lingering; from the void, a flying rosy-cloud carriage is sent as well. Though the Nine Heavens are distant, with focused visualization through wondrous thought, body and spirit can be brought to stillness.

Chapter Two: The Exquisite Jade Writing of the High Heaven, from the King of Supreme Supreme Meditation and Goodness, Wuliangdu Heaven.

The wondrous movement of Qi opens the realm of the void, and the Golden Perfected (Immortals) appear within a body like jade. Law and radiance fill the court of Great Stillness, while mysterious transformations unfold naturally, one after another. Through ten thousand kalpas, even when sunk in the ninefold depths of the underworld, one remains secretly bound to the Immortals by a distant appointment. Once the Three Mornings—the pure Qi of the three heavenly realms in Daoist teaching—have reported to the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, fortune becomes accessible, and peace arrives of its own accord.

Guiding chariots and horses, ascend above the rosy clouds; flowing vital energy shines upon jade branches. Looking back, one sees the formless give rise to form. Yin and Yang blend, like an infant newly born. When the father’s calm joins with the mother’s essence, one can roam freely and play at the Phoenix Terrace. After sunset, wander through the cloud-borne chambers of the Immortals. Who can comprehend their singular mystery?

Meet at Heqing and the Liluo Gate; perform the Jieqi rite at Purple Cloud Cliff, an ancient ceremony by the water to dispel misfortune and pray for blessings. If you wish to seek out these mysteries, study the “Lang Book” with care. Repeatedly ponder its jade-like chapters, and the Heavenly King will naturally preside over the matter in person.

Keep the August One in mind—the revered deity visualized and contemplated in inner cultivation—as the foundation for seeking immortality. Sever distracting thoughts and set aside worldly turmoil, keeping heart and spirit peaceful at all times. When your accumulated resonance is deep, you can bring the Perfected Ones to descend and reveal the radiant appearance of the Immortals. In this way, you can deliver the roots of seven generations of ancestors, so they may ascend the cloud stairs together.

Jade chapters illuminate the high-ranking spirits; the profound meaning of the jade writings is difficult to fathom. The two wondrous methods harmonize with each other. Though each is called by a different name, their source is not the same. If you wish to roam among the Nine Mysteries, simply recite the “Poem of the Great Empyrean.” Even ten thousand kalpas will pass in an instant; do not worry that Heaven’s response will be slow.

“The Jade Writings of the Great Empyrean,” Book Three, by the Heavenly King of Brahma’s Surveillance.

Amid purity and clarity, not a trace of impurity remains; gathered primordial Qi (vital energy) becomes a purple radiance. The scarlet clouds illuminate the heavens, arraying and spreading out before circling southward. The Three Mornings and the host of stars stand in clear formation. After seven revolutions, the celestial region of Taiwei grows bright as well. The numinous wind rushes past, bringing a strange fragrance; jade music—the sounds of the immortal realm—begins to play, so mournful in tone. Divine phoenixes fly above the jade forest, while the immortals stir their feathered robes. The Heavenly Jade travels in accord with the current of fortune, holding a tally and overseeing all manner of affairs. Wheels from the void are cast into the open expanse, and the gates of the Nine Heavens spread wide and clear. Immortals lead guests from among the clouds of the firmament; they loosen their robes and enter a canopy of jade. The Qi of Fuchen unfurls in brilliant splendor, lighting the jade steps. Lingfan reflects the crimson sun, and countless scenes cluster around the numinous light. All beings drift within the transformation of the primordial (the arising and changing of Heaven and Earth), as the jade carriage proceeds slowly onward. The young lord commands the tiger tally, which summons divine generals, and gathers the myriad spirits to return. He uproots the primal offenses of seven generations of ancestors, enabling the impoverished and suffering souls of the dead to become immortals and ascend. The writings of the Lang appear in the Court of Auspicious Clouds; the jade text is profound, opening onto the subtle and wondrous principle. With diligent study, the Dao-heart grows ever clearer; through billions of kalpas, one’s numinous nature will not decay. All things shift with the turns of time. From this we know that wondrous music is truly rare and precious.

The Fourth: The Taixiao Langshu Qiongwen of the Silent Heaven King

They feast and wander among immortal scenes in the land of Great Stillness, while circling winds drive their jade chariots swiftly onward. Scarlet clouds shelter the green carriage, and the divine lord assists the august sovereign. The Nine Mysteries, dark and remote, open their way to the immortal realm layer by layer. Immortals linger above golden nets, singing in long, clear calls to celebrate the numinous clouds. Three recitations bring the profound awakening into clarity; after five revolutions, the levels of the Dao become manifest. The golden chamber rises high in radiant splendor, and streams of vital essence flash and shimmer. To the left, one sees Wuying; to the right, Baiyuan—the spirits said to dwell within the body. Step into the flourishing realm and pass through the Yellow Registers, ritual registers used in Daoist purification rites and ordinations; Taiyi, the supreme divinity or origin revered in Daoism, reveals the root of life. Enroll me in the register of immortals and grant me the text that confers transcendence. Clear chanting sets the Qi of Heavenly Truth in motion; still contemplation can regulate every aperture of the body. The Emperor One guards the numinous palace, clothed in a blue ritual robe. Where do we meet in perfect accord? At the furthest edge of the Nine Heavens. The day of our meeting seems immeasurably distant, yet the imperial radiance shines in every direction. The response of utmost sincerity lets one put aside distracting thoughts, and the Dao’s methods are transmitted from within the mysterious. Numinous responses each have their appointed time; those who seek learning with utmost sincerity can therefore often preserve their practice.

The Fifth: The Taixiao Langshu Qiongwen of the Heaven King Who Does Not Take Pride in Pleasure

Purple vapor rises through the air, dense and billowing, veiling the splendid palaces of the immortals. Radiance unfolds as fortune turns.

The Scripture of the Jeweled Writings of the Great Empyrean of the Unarrogant King Who Delights in Heaven, Chapter Five

Purple clouds and mist arise in the heavens, densely enveloping splendid palaces. Their radiance flows in accord with the workings of Heaven; red clouds of the celestial heights shine upon the green chambers. Supporting and sheltering the scenes of the void, their brilliance illuminates the ten directions. The myriad Heavenly Emperors all follow the true Dao in their transformations, yet none is more exalted than the Kings of the Nine Heavens.

The bodies of the Kings of the Nine Heavens are formed from the finest essence of nature. Containing primordial Qi, the fundamental energy of Heaven and Earth, they stand tall amid the palaces of the void. They govern and teach, bringing order to the four quarters, and so are revered as the forebears of all the Emperors. Riding the clouds of the eight directions, they command the realms of emptiness and caverns. At dawn they wander through the Western Terrace Pavilion; at dusk they rest in the Fuduo Palace.

They oversee the registers of the Mysterious Realm and rescue the Youths of Qinghua, the immortal boys of the Azure Florescence paradise. Taokang, a deity who governs longevity, steadies the registers of life spans, while Mingchu, a Daoist deity, safeguards the merit accumulated across kalpas. Their gaze reaches beyond all limits, and the transformations of the myriad things flow freely in accord with the Way of Heaven. Practitioners take flying steps as they recite the Jeweled Writings of the Great Empyrean, seeking deep within for traces that reach back to the beginningless past. With focused reflection, they attune themselves to the realm of utmost stillness and ascend to the all-encompassing realm of mystery.

The foundations of cultivation laid across many lifetimes pass down their blessings, allowing the seven generations of ancestors to return to the Southern Palace. They no longer undergo the Five Sufferings, and join companions in the Great Void. The numinous peaks are no ordinary dwelling; flying clouds are my mount. Together with the Perfected Ones of the Nine Ridges, I join my shadow with theirs, and we roam as a pair. Why remain seated in a noisy, defiled world, lingering until one’s allotted lifespan comes to an end?

The Scripture of the Jeweled Writings of the Great Empyrean of the King Who Responds to Sound through Transformation, Chapter Six

Exalted and wondrous spirits emerge from the realm of emptiness and caverns. They gather primordial Qi and form a vermilion heaven.

The numinous peaks are no ordinary dwelling; flying clouds are my mount. Together with the Perfected Ones of the Nine Ridges, I join my shadow with theirs, and we roam as a pair. Why remain seated in a noisy, defiled world, lingering until one’s allotted lifespan comes to an end?

The Scripture of the Jeweled Writings of the Great Empyrean of the King Who Responds to Sound through Transformation, Chapter Six

An exalted and wondrous spirit appears in the realm of emptiness and caverns, gathering primordial Qi into vermilion clouds and mist. Holding a tally of authority, he travels to and fro through the Nine Heavens, drifting gracefully like a true spirit of the Heavenly Emperor. Jeweled terraces illuminate the mountain cliffs; jade qilin appear and vanish amid the purple winds. Mysterious songs drift from deep within the palaces, where cloud-dwelling immortals dwell in serene and distant ease.

They roam together through the Seven Reflected Chambers, while radiance like a golden net shines upon the Middle Field, one of the body’s Dantian (energy centers) and a place of internal cultivation. There are nine Heavenly Kings, and countless millions of flying immortals. The abundant Qi of Dongyang reveals itself, showing people the path to prolonging life and transcending mortality. Vermilion blossoms gleam like the red sun, spreading their fragrant blessings and illuminating the bodies and minds of practitioners.

They lift their heads to drink the jade nectar of the moon, while the Nine Sources, the nine kinds of primordial Qi, send down sweet dew. Thus they preserve themselves for a long time and pass through boundless kalpas, their inner and outer selves clear and empty. With focused reflection, they attune themselves to the Great Void and reach the depths of the limitless abyss. Their bodies merge with the Great Dao as one; they travel and feast at leisure, no longer bound by constraint.

The Scripture of the Jeweled Writings of the Great Empyrean of the King of Brahma’s Treasure, Chapter Seven

The Three Luminaries (the light of the sun, moon, and stars in Daoist thought) illuminate the deep night sky, while flowing rosy clouds shine upon the golden sun. The Elixir Chamber, where the methods of alchemy are practiced, rises high and gleams brightly; numinous incense surrounds the Jade Chamber. The young lord is in the Hall of Joined Celebration, singing as he walks and accompanied by Di Yi, a revered Daoist deity.

Heavenly King Fanbao, “Jade Writings of the Lang Book of the Great Empyrean,” Chapter Seven

The Three Luminaries illuminate the dark night, and flowing rosy clouds shine upon the golden sun. The Elixir Chamber gleams, lofty and bright; numinous incense surrounds the Jade Chamber. The young lord is in the Hall of Joined Celebration, singing as he walks and accompanied by Di Yi. The Three Origins—the Daoist triad of Heaven, Earth, and Water—converge in the palace, where subtle words are profound and hidden. If you wish to extend your life, quiet your mind and contemplate; do not let stray thoughts intrude. Let your mind be still, as though it were empty of all things, and the true Dao will appear from within that emptiness. Blessings and auspiciousness will descend everywhere, and even your ancestors of seven generations will thereby be delivered. The blessings and De you have accumulated have deep roots, and the wrongs of the past can all be erased. This Jade Writ contains subtle chapters; guard it carefully and do not forget it. Keep in mind the names of the most numinous spirits, and the Dao will descend, bringing you into union with the wondrous One.

Heavenly King Fanmo Jiayi, “Jade Writings of the Lang Book of the Great Empyrean,” Chapter Eight

The primordial Qi circulates in the Nine Profundities, and purple essence rises to the Jade Empyrean. Numinous radiance shines forth at the Golden Gate; spirit and Qi blend in harmony, and the branches and leaves of the jade tree flourish. The Purple Void Lodge suddenly comes into view, while auspicious clouds disperse and transform. Deep echoes strike the numinous mechanism, and the ritual drum resounds in the furthest depths. At the Gate of the Mysterious Dawn, one peacefully takes in the view, borne round and round by numinous winds. Riding in a carriage beyond the Nine Heavens, one roams freely back and forth. Wandering among the peaks of purple clouds, one pays court to the Jade Emperor with graceful bearing. Ten thousand kalpas stretch as long as an instant; in the blink of an eye, Yin and Yang Qi unite. Nothing in the empty courtyard can bind you; coming and going, you follow the workings of stillness and emptiness. The Great Dao gives life to all things and never changes its laws from beginning to end. The Three Luminaries appear as numinous signs that illuminate what is hidden and subtle. The Lang Book brings auspiciousness to the spirit chamber, the inner sanctuary where spirits are cultivated; the meaning of the Jade Writ becomes an elegant song. Refined beauty arises naturally from the mysterious, returning to one’s true appearance without relying on outward adornment.

Heavenly King Bolidahe, “Jade Writings of the Lang Book of the Great Empyrean,” Chapter Nine

Mystical Qi gathers into nine layers of cloud-filled heaven, while the purple void reflects the sun. Flying jade gems shimmer with radiance, and flowing essence Qi congeals into jade frost. The perfected beings of Heaven come and go in accord with the turning of time; thin clouds drift past the towering, secluded Heavenly Beam. Responses within the netherworld are mutually connected, and crimson clouds set off swift, nimble forms. A meeting with the secluded High Morning Palace in Heaven is appointed; carrying a token of trust, one travels to Jade Capital, the celestial realm where the Heavenly Emperor resides. Marvelous transformations unfold amid remote, still emptiness, revealing the profound and unfathomable Dao of Heaven. Fragrance spreads and veils the red sun; circling winds bear an extraordinary scent. The Golden Gate gleams with radiance, and jade blossoms well up upon the Jade Terrace. Orchids and lingzhi fill the deep valleys. Raising one’s head and swallowing the Six Positions—the six forms of numinous Qi or divine offices associated with cultivation—can make life flourish. The spirit’s thoughts soar beyond the ordinary, resonating with the still palace; profound reflection reaches the celestial grotto realms. Holding fast to the token of trust, one enters the Hall of Great Empyrean, returns to the true Dao, and attains the celestial realm recorded in the jade writings.

The “Imperial Chapter of Jade Writings from the Lang Library of the Great Empyrean” is composed in the hidden, subtle language of the Nine Mysteries, the obscure and wondrous realms of the nine heavens. The King of the Nine Heavens dwells in the flourishing realm of the Six Positions. The spirit’s thoughts soar beyond the ordinary, resonating with the still palace; profound reflection reaches the celestial grotto realms. Holding fast to the token of trust, one enters the Hall of Great Empyrean, returns to the true Dao, and attains the celestial realm recorded in the jade writings.

The “Imperial Chapter of Jade Writings from the Lang Library of the Great Empyrean” is composed in the hidden, subtle language of the Nine Mysteries. In the void, before the beginning of the primordial origin, the King of the Nine Heavens chants a mysterious song, regulates life, and wanders in delight through the Court of Auspicious Clouds. Its sounds and verses are subtle and profound, arising from the mysterious realm. They are precious secrets of the divine perfected beings, and so have been set down in an efficacious text. By cultivating this method, one may attain a rank corresponding to the nine heavens. With subtle thoughts, observe the prohibitions, visualize the divine beings, and contemplate the true Dao; efficacious auspicious signs will then respond and arrive, and the cultivator will naturally be able to ascend to the realm of Dawn.

To cultivate this method, one should bathe and observe ritual purification on one’s birth destiny day and on the Eight Seasonal Nodes: the Beginning of Spring, Spring Equinox, Beginning of Summer, Summer Solstice, Beginning of Autumn, Autumn Equinox, Beginning of Winter, and Winter Solstice. At noon, enter a quiet chamber, face east, and click the teeth nine times. Visualize the nine heavens above: clouds of nine colors and flowing radiance shining down to fill the room. Softly invoke the names of the Kings of the Nine Heavens, visualize the perfected spirits, then recite the nine chapters of the “Jade Writings of the Great Empyrean” once. This will gladden the Court of Auspicious Clouds, delight the spirits in the quiet chamber, and bring one into communion with the Nine Mysteries. After practicing according to the method for nine years, one may ride the radiance of flight upward and arrive in peace at the realm of Purple Dawn.

On the days when the perfected immortals of the Nine Heavens descend to roam and feast, and observe the immortals holding their wondrous assembly, recite the text once at the appropriate hour, following the fasts and observances of the Shangqing school. The Nine Heavens will then record your name and enter it in a separate register of the Great Perfected Immortals. After nine years of steadfast practice, you may hope to become a High Immortal.

The imperial talismans are all formed from the primordial essence of the Nine Heavens, and reveal the secret names kept by the emperors of the Nine Heavens. They also contain talismans and jade instructions—the secret teachings carried on jade. Those who wear these texts will take their place among the perfected immortals of the Nine Heavens. The myriad spirits will pay them homage, and the assembled immortals will guard and welcome them. They will be able to awe the heavenly demons, come and go freely, ride the clouds and soar through the void, and roam and feast in the vast heavens. These texts are profound and subtle, the foundation revered by all emperors. Understand this secret, and you may become an Immortal King. If you reveal it or pass it on carelessly, after death you will be conscripted into service in the Nine Springs. Calamity will extend to your ancestors for seven generations, and all will sink together into the source of the river, enduring suffering through ten thousand kalpas. Therefore, preserve and uphold it with care.

The scriptures called “Qiongwen Dizhang” comprise 240 syllables. They are the primordial essences of the Nine Heavens and the names of the myriad perfected beings—that is, the many divine perfected ones. The text should be carved into the heartwood of a jujube tree, written on paper taken beside a clear spring near a sheer cliff, and then placed on a Feiluo cloth, a kind of Daoist ritual scarf. At the time of transmission, face north, swear an oath to the Nine Heavens, and reverently receive the Chapter of the Nine Heavens.

The disciple should hold nine liang of fine gold and ninety feet of purple-patterned cloth, face south, and bow low. The master recites the Qiongwen text and then transmits it to the disciple. If the scripture and seal cannot yet be carved, the text may instead be written in orpiment, a yellow pigment, on a blue-green surface, and transmitted after an oath has been sworn. The scripture can then be carved later, followed by an ascent of a mountain to swear an oath to the Nine Heavens.

If the Qiongwen is carved onto jujube-wood tablets, the seal must not be hung up facing the four directions. It should be placed in a jade case and set in another room, face upward. Burn incense morning and evening, and bow in reverence to the Lord of the Nine Heavens.

A practitioner who wishes to summon the immortal officials of the Eastern Peak to ask about good and ill fortune or communicate with the spirits should choose a Jia or Yi day. Face east with the Imperial Seal (the sacred seal or talisman mentioned in the scripture), and read it once; the immortal officials will then arrive and speak with the Perfected. To summon the officials of the Southern Peak, choose a Bing or Ding day and face south, following the same procedure. For the Western Peak, choose a Geng or Xin day and face west; for the Northern Peak, choose a Ren or Gui day and face north; for the Central Peak, choose a Wu or Ji day and face the center. When summoning the immortal officials of the Five Peaks, always face the corresponding direction, click the teeth thirty-six times, and then read the Imperial Seal. The scripture says that if one observes purification rites with focused devotion, the spirits will descend.

If practitioners are surrounded by noise and impurity and have not yet attained access to the hidden and mysterious, they may still see the spirits by closing their eyes and concentrating their thoughts. They can then investigate the unseen realm and learn what is auspicious or inauspicious. After nine years of practice, they will resemble the Perfected in form, move in and out of the void, and roam and feast in Yuchen, the pure realm of the immortals. When their practice is complete, a Perfected will descend in a cloud chariot beneath a purple canopy to welcome them. The practitioners should then stamp the Imperial Seal on the soles of both feet and the palms of both hands. It is said that wings will grow, and they will be carried aloft to Heaven.

If, while practicing and reciting the scripture in a quiet place among the Five Peaks, an uncanny being disguises itself as a Perfected and appears in the room to welcome the practitioner, point the Imperial Seal at it; its true nature will then be revealed. If it is a Perfected or an immortal official, bow with the forehead to the ground in welcome, then present your request sincerely, and you will receive important guidance. If it is a demon, its true form will appear. Click the teeth thirty-six times and read the Imperial Seal once, and the demon will vanish before you. In practicing these methods, one’s thoughts and spoken words must agree. The teachings must also be kept carefully secret and not passed on to others; if the secret methods are divulged, the practice cannot be brought to completion.

When lying down alone at night, place the Imperial Seal on your chest. It is said that True Immortals of the Great Empyrean will come to protect you, appearing in dreams to speak with you. Within nine years, you will be able to meet the Perfected face to face. Those who receive the Imperial Seal must not disclose it carelessly or show it to others. If three people see it, the Dao’s efficacy will be lost and the methods will no longer work. Practitioners must also be cautious and avoid entering unclean places carelessly or offending the true spirits. Violating the prohibitions will bring punishment from the Nine Heavens.

If practitioners possess the immortal qualities of the Mysterious Chart and Imperial Register, the Green Characters and Purple Writings, and the Golden Bones and Jade Marrow, and their names are recorded in the Azure Palace, the celestial palace of Daoist tradition, the Nine Heavens will naturally send the Perfected of the Four Poles to bestow the Imperial Seal in Qiongwen. If they have a bond from a former life and encounter an enlightened master, the time will be ripe for them to receive this scripture and ultimately become High Immortals. Those who receive the teaching should prepare tokens of trust, such as gold and silk, as agreed, and go to their master to observe purification rites, receive the teaching, and practice it. Without tokens and an oath of alliance, Heaven will not open the way to spiritual response, the Perfected will not descend, and attaining immortality will be difficult. If a master carelessly divulges the secret methods while transmitting them, it is said that the master’s seven generations of ancestors will be implicated and made to serve for a long time as ghost officials. Therefore, the mysterious precepts and rules must be observed with care, and the teaching must never be transmitted recklessly.

Whenever the Scripture of the Jeweled Writings of the Highest Heavens and the Jade Chapters of the Emperor is transmitted, the rite should be held in a quiet, secluded place. Spread a Feiluo cloth facing north. Place incense, cakes, dates, and fruit separately on a tray, then set the scripture on the cloth.

The master faces north and clicks his teeth thirty-six times, inviting the Ninefold Numinous Primordial Perfected Ones, the High Officials of the Mysterious Beginning, the Golden Immortals and Jade Maidens, the Numinous Spirits of the Great One, the Perfected Ones who oversee and administer the rite, and the assembled Perfected Ones of the Five Emperors to attend as witnesses. The master declares: “Now, Master Wang Jia of a certain sacred mountain, whose purple network formed in the womb and whose destiny was endowed with numinous nature, comes to offer silk and gold, sincerely seeking to receive the numinous text, the Jeweled Imperial Chapter of the True Taboos of the Nine Heavens. This is a precept of the celestial realm, admonishing the recipient to guard the scripture with care and to swear before the divine Perfected Ones to keep it treasured in secrecy. May the spirits bestow their radiance and mysteriously shine upon this disciple. Should I ever disclose it, may I return to the source of the River, and may seven generations of my ancestors also atone for the offense. I will never again dare to seek immortality.”

When the rite is complete, the master takes the scripture in his own hands and gives it to the disciple. The cakes and fruit are then buried within the Mysterious Mountain and must not be put to any other use.

This is the secret essential teaching of the King of the Nine Heavens and the wondrous formula of the Great Perfected. Without this scripture, practitioners may train in vain amid empty mountains and work in secluded courtyards, yet still find it difficult to commune with the spirits. If they are diligent and steadfast, and focus their thoughts on the Nine Mysterious Ones, the Heavenly King will be moved and send Jade Boys and Jade Maidens to guard them. Within nine years, they will be able to ride the Flying Jade and ascend to the Nine Heavens.

End of scroll one of the Cavern of Perfection, Supreme One’s Jeweled Writings of the Highest Heavens.

The first scroll of the Dongzhen Taishang Taixiao Langshu is complete.

Editorial notes: The character wen was missing from the original and has been supplied on the basis of the Gaoshang Taixiao Langshu Qiongwen Dizhang Jing. The character ru was missing and has been supplied from the context. The character shang has been supplied based on its usage in similar passages. The original character yi was mistakenly written as qi and has been corrected according to the Qiongwen Dizhang Jing. The character de has been supplied from the Qiongwen Dizhang Jing. The original character qing was mistakenly written as jing and has been corrected according to the Qiongwen Dizhang Jing.

The second scroll of the Dongzhen Taishang Taixiao Langshu is missing.

The Third Scroll of the Dongzhen Taishang Taixiao Langshu

Essential Guidelines for Cultivation in the Three Vehicles

The Gaoshang Taizhen Yudi Siji Mingke (Rules on the precepts and cultivation standards of the Four Poles heavenly realms) is divided into twenty-four regulations each for the Upper Palace, Lower Palace, and Middle Palace.

Of the twenty-four regulations for the Upper Palace, seven explain how officials of different ranks are demoted, stripped of rank, or promoted in title after committing offenses. The other seventeen concern texts, catalogues, regulations, and rites related to the Yellow and Red Caverns (classifications of Daoist scriptures and teachings), the Three Caverns, and the Five Sacred Peaks.

Of the twenty-four regulations for the Lower Palace, twenty-two list the titles and oral instructions of sixty-six scrolls, from “Zuoyi” to “Feixiao.” The remaining two explain how to receive scriptures and what to do if one happens to come upon the writings or secret instructions of a sage.

Next come thirty-one separate precious-scripture regulations of the Four Poles of the Taixuan Capital’s Left Palace, associated with Nüqing. Their precept texts contain twenty-four rules. There are also thirty-nine chapters, listing the titles and oral instructions for fifty-six volumes, from “Qilingfei” to “Liujia.”

The Right Palace also has twenty-four regulations. Three concern the titles and oral instructions of the Three Categories. Six cover the classifications and titles of teachings such as the Dongxuan, the Three Sovereigns, the Five Sacred Peaks’ mighty spirits, the talismans of High Immortals, and the scriptures and methods of the Golden Liquids. The remaining fifteen set out ritual standards for ritual garments, reciting scriptures, purification and fasting, and related matters.

Of the twenty-four regulations for the Middle Palace, seven concern rules for making offerings in the human world, serving one’s elders and teachers, and formally entering a teacher’s lineage. Nine address visualization when coming and going; prohibitions and their removal, including those concerning impure influences; sleeping and resting; bodily functions; and instructions for averting a lunar eclipse. The remaining eight concern the requirements for purification and fasting when receiving scriptures, preparing and copying scriptures and transmitting them, the use of tokens of faith, and the prohibition against wandering about aimlessly.

Next is the Taishang Jiuzhen Mingke Sanpin Lü, divided into upper, middle, and lower grades. The upper grade contains nine articles: eight cover everything from transmitting the Dadong Zhenjing to the methods of the Six Jia; one more concerns transmitting the talismanic instructions of the Fangzhang. The middle grade also contains nine articles, setting out the precepts to observe when writing and transmitting, along with rules such as dividing credentials into three parts and not traveling about at will. It then lists the offenses in the middle grade. The lower grade contains nine articles listing the terms for redeeming offenses.

These three sets of regulations are difficult to consult, so in practice one should follow the key points listed here.

The precepts observed by the three vehicles—the different levels of Daoist cultivation—are broadly alike, though they differ somewhat in detail. The inner karma practitioners create and the consequences it brings vary greatly; only minor points are shared. Those who do not understand the arcane principles often find them difficult to distinguish. For present practice, the regulations of the three grades are the most essential. When applying these guidelines, one must carefully assess one’s own abilities. Never undertake what you cannot accomplish, and do not press others to take on what they are not yet capable of. Pressuring others can bring the calamity of mutual blame, while forcing one’s way forward can incur the punishment of demotion.

Devote yourself to cultivating body and mind, and use good deeds to correct bad ones. Examine yourself and others, then put each subtle instruction into practice. Whether concerning one’s dwelling, clothing and headgear, offerings, petitions, participation and reception, practice, or the giving and receiving of teachings, everything must be fitting and appropriate. Do not betray the spirits of the unseen and the human world, or exceed what your body and mind can bear. Do not neglect yourself or burden others; do not betray teachers and friends or bring shame upon the Dao and its truth. Do not fear slander and envy, nor feel ashamed before those close to you or distant from you. Do not become doubtful because of distance or confused by differences in rank. Do not break your vows or fail the worthy people of antiquity. The worthy and the sages will surely be able to maintain ritual purity, and demonic influences will thereby be subdued. Among practitioners of the three vehicles, there are only slight differences in excellence.

Essential Instructions on the Four Poles’ Revealed Regulations, Part Two.

The Order of the Four Extremities Liturgy says: All who are listed in the Golden Register and have received the transmission of the Four Extremities must practice in accordance with the precepts. The divine officials of the heavenly realms of the four directions will come to welcome them. Practitioners should abstain from sexual relations and avoid associating with ordinary people, for the impurities of birth and death offend the true spirits. Eating pungent foods such as scallions and garlic allows their odors to penetrate the viscera, damaging Jing (essence) and dissipating Shen (spirit). To expose the body beneath the Three Lights—the sun, moon, and stars—is to show disrespect to Yuchen, a revered Daoist deity. The resulting misfortune falls upon the offender and may even endanger their life.

Do not speak casually about scriptures to ordinary students of the Way, and do not debate the profound mysteries of antiquity. If you presume to understand the Way of the Highest Truth and spread what should not be transmitted, disclose the source of Daoist methods, or display them indiscriminately to the world, you will bring calamity upon yourself and may even implicate your ancestors for seven generations.

On 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—and on one’s natal day, the day corresponding to one’s zodiac sign or cyclical stem-branch, clear the mind, observe fasting and purification, burn incense, and confess one’s faults before the Lord Emperor. In this way, one may remove the sins of the Nine Yin, the karmic offenses of the underworld, and free the Seven Generations of the Profound, one’s ancestors and related kin, from their karmic burdens.

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 one’s natal day, light twelve. At midnight, place the lamps behind you and face the Northern Dipper; on your natal day, face Tai Sui, the deity presiding over the year. Then click your teeth twenty-four times and softly recite:

“Highest and Most Perfect One, sovereign of the myriad sages; Jade Offices of the Five Emperors, overseers of the immortals and inspectors of the true. Today is an auspicious day, one of the Eight Seasonal Nodes or my natal day. Reveal to me my sins in the world of the living and the punishments awaiting me in the underworld. Erase the sins of the Nine Yin and deliver the Seven Generations of the Profound, so that I may escape entry into the land of fire, leave the mountain of blades forever, and suffer no more the burdens of the Three Paths and Five Pains. May I share the lifespan of Heaven and Earth and preserve forever the body of the Imperial Dawn. May the Five Vows and Eight Assemblies fulfill all that I have 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: “Today I receive Heaven’s grace, casting off my mortal form and being reborn as a flying immortal.” Afterward, click your teeth and swallow Qi (vital energy) twenty-four times. If you practice this method for three years, all past offenses can be erased. Your body will unite with that of a Perfected One, and you will no longer suffer the Five Pains or remain in the land of fire. In the end, you will become a Perfected One and feast and roam in the Hall of a Myriad, the abode of immortals.

The Shanggong Code says: Anyone who receives the Upper Qi—the energy of Shangqing—and practices according to this method for three years can erase all the offenses accumulated in the past. Body and mind will unite with the perfected beings, and the practitioner will no longer suffer the Five Pains or face the calamity of the fiery realm. In time, they can become a perfected being and wander and feast in the Abode of the Myriad Spirits, where perfected immortals dwell.

The Shanggong Code also says: Anyone who receives the Shangqing scriptures and methods must not add to or remove anything from the celestial writings, damage the Daoist scriptures, rub or wipe their text with their hands, or treat these sacred writings carelessly or with disrespect. Three violations will nullify the benefits of practice and interrupt the associated cultivation for ten years. Only after undertaking purification and fasting anew and confessing before the gods may the practitioner resume. Five violations will bring detention by the Left Office, the divine bureau that handles offenses; the practitioner and their seven generations of ancestors will be consigned to the Mountain of Blades for punishment.

After receiving a scripture, one should copy it for veneration. A separate room should be set aside to house the books. The stand on which they are enshrined should be five feet and five inches high, corresponding to the numbers of Heaven and Earth; it should be four feet and nine inches wide and long, corresponding to the names of the four seasons. For this reason, the scriptures are also called the “Four Seasons.” Burn incense and bow before them morning and evening, asking the gods for protection. Common people must not enter the scripture room, lest they defile it and violate its taboos.

When receiving a scripture, one must observe purification and fasting, burn incense in a separate room, and refrain from attending to ordinary affairs. The paper and writing brush must also be clean. Copy the scripture facing east, and do not recite it once copying has begun. Check every character against the original three times. Failure to follow the ancient edition or omission of a scriptural phrase will reduce one’s allotted lifespan by ten ji. Those who neglect their duties will be investigated by the Right Office, the divine bureau that oversees scrutiny and punishment. In this life, they will suffer tortures like blades of wind, with no release even if they seek death.

Do not reveal the name of the Supreme One, the Lord of the Great Unity, a revered Daoist deity, to anyone who has not entered the school or received the transmission. The same rules apply to the contents that follow the section on facing north.

The Xia Gong Code says: Anyone who obtains the Upper Scripture has the bones and the destined opportunity of an immortal. They should abandon their household and spouse, travel among the Five Sacred Peaks, and spend many years fasting and practicing in mountain forests. They should devote themselves to reflection and work diligently, eat at noon, drink pure water, and use a bamboo basket and gourd as their eating utensils. They should fear neither toil nor cold, and persist without fail morning and evening. Only then can they move the Imperial Jade Bureau, the heavenly office that administers the registers of immortals, to send the Three Origins—the spirits of the upper, middle, and lower realms in Daoist teaching—to their dwelling to examine them. After three years, they will ascend by carriage to the Great Clarity, the Daoist heavenly realm.

If anyone disdains or neglects the sacred scriptures, spreads or discloses them so that worldly people hear of them, or breaks an oath, calamity will ensnare the Seven Generations—their ancestors and descendants—as well as themselves. They will suffer on a mountain of blades, swallow burning coals, and carry stones from Mount Meng to fill the River of Accumulated Night.

Those who receive and uphold the precious Shangqing scriptures may sometimes encounter them through a destined opportunity yet be unable to leave home and enter the mountains, and so must remain in the world. In that case, they should honor and revere the scriptures inwardly, devote themselves wholeheartedly to the mysterious spirits and the Dao, make a careful copy of a scripture, and establish a separate, quiet room in which to enshrine it. They should burn incense morning and evening and bow whenever they enter or leave, as though serving a ruler or a father. Whenever they have a need, they may pray to the scripture, and all they ask will be granted. The Heavenly Emperor will dispatch Jade Boys and Jade Maidens to guard the scripture and observe the practitioner’s intentions.

As long as they turn their hearts toward the Dao and believe, the spirits will respond. Their wishes may be fulfilled as they desire: calamities will be dispelled, the myriad demons subdued, and the multitude of spirits made to vanish. They may pray for wealth, rank, good fortune, and flourishing office; seek the Dao and attain the Dao, seek office and attain office. Their descendants will thrive, and gold, silver, and treasure will pile up like a forest. If they uphold the scripture according to its rules for seven years, a Perfected One will descend to their dwelling and meet with them, imparting the essential instructions. They will succeed without study and become immortals without hardship.

Thus, those who practice the Dao at the highest level can seize their opportunities across the three cycles—the different opportunities that come to practitioners. To encounter a scripture but not accept it is due to one’s opportunity; to accept it but not believe is due to one’s fate; to believe but fail to cherish it is one’s own transgression. If all three failures are present, punishment will follow, ensnaring the Seven Generations and bringing suffering upon the practitioner as well. The Left and Right Officials, heavenly officers who investigate and punish, will strike them with wind-blades. They will undergo the Three Paths of Woe, the Five Sufferings, the Nine Calamities, and the Eight Hardships; even after ten thousand kalpas, they will find it difficult to be reborn as human beings.

The Third Chapter: Essential Instructions on the Rules for Independent Illumination

The ritual texts of the Right Palace state: The High and Supreme Perfected One, the Jade Emperor, the Perfected Ones of the Jade Purity, the host of immortals and saints, and those who have attained the Dao and become numinous beings all wear the “Clear Precepts of Supreme Perfection,” the rules for Daoist discipline and practice. All who study the path receive the “Clear Precepts of the Nine Perfected Ones.” The Lord of the Great Dao receives the “Clear Precepts of the Four Poles.” Together, these are the “Jade Instructions of the Four Clearances and High Sages.”

Those who practice the Shangqing Daoist scriptures should wear the prescribed ritual garments on the day they enter their chamber for cultivation. Men may wear a deer-hide shoulder cape and headcloth, or a hemp headcloth. The outer layer of the ritual robe is purple and the lining blue-green. The cape is four chi and nine cun wide and five chi and five cun long, with twenty-four bands on the outside and fifteen on the inside; its ties are also purple. An uncapped black headpiece may also be worn. Women wear the “Great Cavern” ritual garment, modeled on the attire of the Primordial Lord’s consort. The purple gauze robe uses twenty-four chi of cloth, divided into two halves and made into thirty-six bands, twenty-three of them forming the body of the robe. The blue-green gauze skirt uses forty-five chi of cloth, made into eight panels, each four chi and nine cun wide, with thirty-two bands in all; the remainder is used for the skirt ties.

During practice, both men and women should visualize twelve Jade Boys and twelve Jade Maidens, who attend to the ritual garments. When entering the chamber, first knock the teeth together three times outside the door and close the eyes. Visualize purple cloud Qi gathering inside the chamber and enveloping the whole body. The Jade Boys stand on the left and the Jade Maidens on the right; golden light and precious lingzhi illuminate the inside and outside. Then recite the spell:

“The sky is bright and clear, the Qi is pure and calm; the three lights of sun, moon, and stars shine through. In the golden chamber and hidden room, the Five Zhi precious plants grow. Dark clouds and a purple canopy descend, reflecting my form. May the Jade Boys and Jade Maidens summon numinous Qi for me; may the radiance of the Nine Emperors appear together, and the spirits of the Three Origins ride in a single carriage. May I mount the flying canopy and ascend to the Purple Court.”

When the spell is finished, draw in and swallow the Qi thirty-nine times. Then enter the chamber, bow, and perform the cultivation rites. The recitation of the Scripture of the Yellow Court has its own special instructions.

When entering a quiet chamber to recite the scriptures, the Five Emperors (the Heavenly Emperors of the five directions) will fasten their belts and make themselves ready, while the Four Offices (divine authorities in Heaven who oversee related affairs) attend nearby. Therefore, while reciting, do not stop in the middle of a scripture to speak with outsiders. If you miss one sentence, go back and recite one hundred sentences again; if you miss five, go back and recite five hundred. If you miss a sentence as soon as you begin, start over and recite the entire piece.

As you recite, keep your eyes fixed on the text and your thoughts on the divine perfected beings; think of nothing else, lest you disturb the Heavenly Sound. If you recite fewer than one thousand characters, do not drink water. For more than one thousand but fewer than five thousand characters, you may drink once; at ten thousand characters, you may drink twice; and beyond ten thousand, you may drink three times. Do not eat or drink at will. If you reach ten thousand characters and are utterly exhausted, you may pause briefly to rest, but afterward you must finish the entire piece and not put it off until the next day.

When men and women study together, they may stay in the same room, but must sleep in separate beds. Both beds should face north, with the man to the east and the woman to the west. They must not sit or lie together on the same mat. Before beginning the recitation, first use the talisman of the Golden Perfected Ones for restraining demons, then recite the Thirty-Nine Chapters. The place of recitation should be a space one zhang square, kept clean inside and out at all times. Light incense and lamps, and shut out disturbances from the outside. Vessels and tables used for offerings, as well as wrapping cloths, must not be lent to others.

The Central Palace Liturgy says: There is a scripture called Jade Names of the Azure Palace, in thirty-one volumes. If you are not yet able to cast off worldly ties and resolve to live in seclusion deep in the mountains, or if worldly duties bind you and you have not gathered the provisions needed for mountain practice, you may still venerate this scripture in the world, bowing to it morning and evening as you would serve a ruler or your parents.

Even those who are married may practice the Way of the Seven Scriptures. The descendants of the Supreme Perfected Emperor Jing and Lady Primordial Sovereign may descend among them. Those who follow the Dao can form affinities that accord with the immortals and perfected beings, harmonizing through their breath. Such connections, too, arise through the unfolding of destiny.

Serve your teachers and lineage as you would serve the spirits. Before entering the quiet chamber to burn incense, first envision in your mind where your teachers are, then pay your respects inwardly before them; only afterward should you proceed. Do not speak fine words that lack substance, deceive fellow initiates, trick others into obtaining scriptures, slander your teachers or rulers, fabricate things without cause, or reveal precious secrets to those who have not entered the covenant.

Those whose names have been entered in the registers of the immortals and who have been authorized to receive precious scriptures must, when transmitting them, perform the oath rite according to the rules and confirm that the recipient is truly qualified. After the scriptures have been transmitted, if the disciple breaks the agreement, the master also bears a corresponding share of the blame.

Male and female disciples who study together must all honor the same master. They should observe a fast before entering the meditation chamber to practice. Among those of equal standing, rank them first by depth of study, then by virtue and length of time since entering the tradition. If they are still equal, rank them by age. Those of high virtue and outstanding ability should serve as Senior Masters of the Great Dharma. No one should contend with others for position or yield it to them out of false modesty. All should share the same oath-master, remain harmonious in mind and attuned in Qi, keep their practice and conduct consistent, and coordinate their behavior. They should also do all they can to help their fellow disciples attain the Dao and its truth together, receive the Dao transmitted by their master as one, and ultimately ascend to Heaven in broad daylight.

They must not attack one another or disrupt the community of fellow disciples. Nor should they quarrel, spread gossip, or slander others without cause. Having taken a common oath and bowed to the same master, they should not appear harmonious while harboring resentment, boast only of their own attainments, or compete to seek immortality. Such behavior will create enmity and bring them under the scrutiny of the Four Offices, the divine bureaus that oversee and record transgressions; they will then be unable to become immortals.

Those who receive the Shangqing tradition, an important branch of Daoism, should present their master with a pair of gold rings and nine feet of blue silk at the Eight Seasonal Festivals, the important days marking seasonal transitions. These are tokens of their devotion to the master. After receiving them, the master should write the disciple’s province, commandery, county, village, name, and year on the center of the blue silk. Then the master should go to the area of Mount Xuanyue or Mount Jueyue, face north, report the name to the Green Palace, where the celestial bureaus reside, and click the teeth twenty-four times. Next, the master should recite quietly:

“Heaven turns, and Qi streams forth; the Dao of the eight directions sets vital essence in motion. The numbers three and five meet at the appointed time; blessings spanning nine generations are passed down from age to age. The Original Truth is profound, mysterious, still, and silent; its assisting ministers lend aid to the imperial spirits. The jade document has been presented; now I report the name entered in the registers of immortals to the Green Palace. I respectfully bid farewell to the divine spirits of the Nine Palaces and Five Sacred Peaks. Please record the person I have named and report the name to Jade Clarity. In three years, please come to welcome this person, have them ride the chariot of the Eight Radiances, and ascend to the palace of the Supreme Emperor.”

When the recitation is complete, bury the blue silk beneath a steep, rugged cliff. If this rite is performed in this way for three years, the disciple’s name will be recorded and reported to Jade Clarity. After three years, the person will be welcomed, granted a ride in the chariot of the Eight Radiances, and ascend to the palace of the Supreme Emperor.

After completing the ritual, bury the blue silk beneath a sheer cliff. Only after three years may one hope to receive a response and witness the descent of the True Spirit. Once the precepts have been received, if this Dharma name is not entered in the register, one will have no record in the Azure Palace, the celestial administration, and will be investigated by the Four Offices, the celestial bureaus responsible for oversight. The offense is equivalent to theft. If the master has died, or master and disciple are so far apart that the ring token used in the ritual cannot be delivered, one may practice independently, provided the token is sent to the master. If even one part is not delivered, one cannot become an immortal.

Those who cultivate the Upper Way should quiet their minds, settle their spirits, and abide in the Truth. In their daily conduct, they should keep the Dao in mind and make the Dao their very being. With reverence, purification, and observance of the precepts and ritual rules, they should practice regularly; then they can become immortals. They must not give way to anger or agitation, which knot the breath and disturb the heart. Nor should they insult or curse others, or call upon ghosts and spirits. Such acts violate the celestial precepts and bring down investigating officers, the celestial officials charged with examining practitioners.

They should constantly reflect that throughout the heavens in all ten directions, every being—whether bird or insect, already born or not yet born—can attain the Dao and become perfected. They should not seek to attain perfection before others, but wish only for the Dao of Heaven to extend its grace everywhere. When this merit is complete, they can become immortals at the appointed time. They must not harbor rebellious intent or take life; envy those who surpass them or wish misfortune upon others; or do evil and abandon good. These prohibitions are especially strict, and those who break them will be investigated and held accountable by celestial officials.

They should also regularly contemplate the purity of their five organs and six bowels, the peace of their hearts, and the harmony of vital essence within and throughout the body. The Precious Blossoms, an image symbolizing the coalescence of vital essence within the body, should weave together into a network, while spirit and vital energy remain clear and bright. They must not drink to the point of falling into a stupor. Drunkenness scatters the spirits in the five organs and unsettles the mind, making success in cultivation difficult. It also causes inner depletion, brings heat to attack the body, and leads to gradual decline. Such practice only wastes one’s efforts.

They should bathe and wash their hands often, and keep their clothes and footwear clean. If they become soiled, the True Spirit will withdraw, and malign influences may take advantage of the opening. They must not enter unclean places casually, or attend funerals and memorials, mourn, or give way to grief. When going about in places illuminated by the Three Luminaries—the sun, moon, and stars—they must not close their eyes and fall into a daze. They must not expose their bodies or strip naked, lest they show disrespect to the spirits of the body and profane the True Writ. The True Spirit would then depart, leaving only an empty shell.

They must not casually sit or live alongside members of Yin households, families associated with funerals and the dead. Nor should they share clothes or bedding with people whose vital energy is unlike their own, or use one another’s footwear and other belongings. They must not face north while relieving themselves in the place corresponding to their birth destiny, lest they offend Yuchen, a revered celestial deity, and show disrespect to their original nature.

When cultivating the Way of the Imperial Blossoms, practitioners should treat unusual celestial events, such as lunar eclipses and the conjunction at the new moon, as moments when the energies of Heaven clash and the sun, moon, and stars contend with one another. They should follow the methods in the Purple Book to protect and aid them.

Without practicing this method, one cannot cultivate the method of the Sun and Moon.

Anyone who receives the Higher Scriptures must first observe ritual purification, then undertake an oath ceremony before the transmission. If the oath has not yet been taken, the other person should first be told to observe purification and begin reciting the scripture. Once the recitation is complete, the oath ceremony can be held and the scripture transmitted. If the scripture is handed over without an oath, both the master and the recipient will be examined by the Left and Right Officials, divine authorities responsible for investigation and punishment; the restrictions are extremely severe.

In the final age, few people seek the Dao, and the fate of the Three Heavens—the threefold heavenly realm in Daoist thought—is pressing. Worthy people are needed to assist the Orthodox Way. If someone is suited to receive the scripture and obtains it, they should cultivate according to the Supreme Taishang Three Heavens Zhengyi method. Until seven years have passed since receiving the scripture, their name in the Azure Register and Jade Roll, the celestial register of names, and their status in the Mysterious Order, the Daoist rank and qualification for receiving registers, have not yet been confirmed. They cannot immediately become a master.

The Supreme Taishang often separately dispatches the Three Officials’ clerks, divine officers in charge of the Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water, and the Commanders of the Four Departments, divine generals who conduct inspections and assessments, to patrol the world. If anyone is permitted to receive the scripture but reveals its contents, they will be entered into the records of Nüqing, a Daoist underworld register. Their ancestors for seven generations will also be seized and sent to the fiery land and boiling cauldrons for punishment, their souls scorched. They must then cross a mountain of knives, endure ten thousand kalpas, and repay their burden by carrying stones as forced labor. The person who reveals the scripture, as well as anyone who receives it rashly, will suffer the trial of wind knives in this life: they will long to die but be unable to do so. After the punishment is complete, they will still be sent to the mountain of knives, the fiery land, and the Twenty-Four Prisons, where they will endure the Three Paths and Five Sufferings, the many torments of the underworld, through ten thousand kalpas, and continue their forced labor carrying stones.

If the prescribed years of cultivation have not yet been completed, but someone suited to receive this scripture and capable of aligning with the Dao of the immortals comes to ask for it, the scripture should be transmitted to a wise senior ritual master. Do not block the seeker’s path simply because you have not yet transmitted it yourself. If you can guide three people to cultivate and attain the Dao, your merit will reach Heaven. The Jade Emperor will record this merit separately and command the Four Offices—the celestial bureaus responsible for these affairs—to erase your offenses.

Anyone receiving the scripture must make a solemn vow of faith: swear with sincerity and express your commitment through an oath-taking rite, such as one made by cutting the heart and shedding blood. Receiving the scripture without such a vow is called violating the Way of Heaven; transmitting it without an oath of alliance is called divulging Heaven’s treasure. Both the transmitter and the recipient must carefully accept responsibility.

The tokens or valuables offered by a disciple should be divided into three portions. One portion is for aiding recluses in the mountains and people in poverty; one is for purchasing ritual robes and other items for your own practice; and one is to accumulate merit and redeem the offenses of the disciple’s Seven Ancestors—their ancestors across seven generations—by purchasing offerings such as incense and ointment. If a disciple brings a token to the master to request the scripture, but its value falls short of the prescribed amount, the master should keep it. When transmitting the scripture in a later year, the master must not keep the token for personal use, but should deliver it to the immortal master to make up the required amount. Only after the amount has been made up may it be divided into three portions as prescribed.

Those who accept tokens but fail to use them as prescribed, instead concentrating on hoarding and managing wealth, leave the poor without relief and deprive the disciple’s ancestors across seven generations of the merit that could redeem their offenses. They themselves also forfeit the imperial robe, a symbol of a distinguished ritual garment bestowed by the ruler. Such conduct diminishes the spirits’ merit and violates the laws. After three offenses, one can no longer become an immortal.

When wearing talismans and observing precepts and ritual rules, the most important thing is to keep body and mind pure. Do not wander or linger in worldly places, and do not constantly mix with ordinary people to argue, dispute over pride, or bear grudges against one another. Above all, do not speak recklessly about Heaven and Earth or offend the gods and their prohibitions.

On the Eight Seasonal Nodes—the days when the solar terms change, including the four beginnings, the two equinoxes, and the two solstices—as well as on the Tai Sui day and one’s birth-year day, take the fifteen numinous talismans of the High Perfected. They dispel sins accumulated in past lives, avert calamities of wind, blades, water, and fire, and free the practitioner from the Eight Difficulties, the various obstacles described in cultivation. After nine years of practice, one may summon the response of a True Immortal. Even without having received the complete Great Scripture, one may practice this talisman alone, but must separately make a covenant of vows and faith, offer two taels of gold and forty feet of purple-patterned silk, and receive the transmission after observing the prescribed purification rites.

On the appointed day, the recipient of the talisman should enter a room, burn incense, face east, and click the teeth twenty-four times before reciting the incantation:

“Lofty numinous Jade Perfected, Supreme Sages of the Nine Mysteries, I ask you to use the jade script to strengthen my soul and po, protect my body, and settle my spirit. Through three refinements and nine ordeals, may my Dao naturally be fulfilled. May I transcend the Radiant Capital, the underworld realm described in the scriptures, and forever leave behind the mountain of blades, no longer bound by the Three Paths and Five Sufferings, the various torments of the hells. I beseech you to report my name to the Jade Office, the celestial bureau that oversees registers, and enter it in the register of those who have attained the Dao, among the Green Registers and Purple Tablets of the immortals. May I share the radiance of the Three Primordials, stand alongside the Nine Emperors, receive the purple-cloud writ, and ascend to the stars of the Northern Dipper. May blessings extend to my seven ancestral generations, so that they too may attain the rank of High Immortals.”

After reciting, swallow the talisman, then swallow its liquid twenty-four times. Practice according to the ritual method for three years, and the roots of calamity will disperse; in the end, one may hope to become an immortal.

Anyone who receives the Shangqing teachings will never succeed without first encountering and observing the clear ritual precepts. If you wish to cultivate and study them, you must first understand the ritual precepts; by cultivating in accordance with them, you will make steady progress. Carefully clean and prepare the offerings, burn incense, and reverently serve the deities. If you commit a fault, repent at once. Light a lamp in the center of the courtyard and swallow a true talisman—a Daoist ritual talisman used to pray for protection and ward off harm—to dispel your offenses and preserve your body. The Jade Emperor will respond to your sincerity and examine your circumstances anew. The Jade Bureau, which oversees celestial registers and rewards and punishments, will no longer record charges against you, and the Dark Metropolis, the Daoist celestial city of immortals, will no longer record penalties. Heaven will grant you attendants in the form of boys to serve at your side. The Palace of Taiwei will bestow caps and belts upon your seven generations of ancestors, and the Southern Palace will enable them to shed their former bodies and be reborn as immortals. You should diligently practice the wondrous Dao of the Supreme True Ones.

Anyone entitled to the Clear Precepts of the Four Poles will have their name entered in the registers by the Four Administrations and Five Emperors, the divine offices and emperors who govern celestial affairs, and reported to the Azure Palace, a celestial bureau. The High Sage, the Great Emperor, will grant you thirty-six Jade Youths of the Highest Numinous Order to help you be reborn as an immortal. You should diligently practice the wondrous Dao of the Supreme True Ones.

Anyone entitled to the Clear Precepts of the Four Poles will have their name entered in the registers by the Four Administrations and Five Emperors and reported to the Azure Palace. The High Sage, the Great Emperor, will grant you thirty-six Jade Youths of the Highest Numinous Order and twenty-four Jade Maidens of Western Florescence. They will protect your body and spirit, ward off disasters, dispel offenses and misfortunes, correct faults, and reward merits, enabling you to commune with the spirits and attain the state of a perfected person. You should burn incense and bow morning and evening, recite the precepts three times each month, and keep this text at hand. Do not treat the numinous writings with contempt or disrespect, and do not disclose them casually to three people. Otherwise, after death your body will suffer harm, and your seven generations of ancestors will be subjected to hardships such as Knife Mountain and the trials of fire.

This precious scripture should be transmitted for seven hundred years. When a suitable person is encountered, pass it on to them. When conferring the precepts, provide ninety feet each of five-colored silk, forty feet of phoenix-patterned gauze, one golden dragon and one jade fish, and a jade tablet twelve inches long. The recorded precepts are as follows:

In a certain year, under the influence of the Grand Year (Tai Sui), on the first day of a certain month at a certain hour, a male or female official, or a Daoist master named Mr. Yue from a prefecture, commandery, county, or village, called So-and-so and aged a certain number of years, born on a certain day and hour, whose fate belongs to a certain sacred mountain and divine sovereign, respectfully swears before the Nine Heavens beside the rocks of the lofty Dark Mountain, or at a certain lodge. They accept the Illuminated Statutes of the Four Extremes, the regulations concerning the commandments and standards of the celestial realm; uphold the truth of the Dao; and ask that their name be entered in the purple register, a document symbolizing the register of immortals, and listed in the Azure Palace, the dwelling place of the celestial immortals. Should they break the covenant and betray their oath, they dare not hope to become immortal.

The master faces north and knocks his teeth together twenty-four times. He then reports to the gods and spirits: the Great King of the Nine Heavens of High Numinosity and Mysterious Emptiness; the Bright August Jade Emperor; the thirty-nine Perfected Ones; the High and Sublime Saints; the Dao Lords of the myriad immortals; the spirit overseers and envoys; the jade attendants who serve the immortals; the Four Offices and Five Emperors; and the supervisors of the immortals who guide the Perfected Ones.

“Here is a Daoist who has entered the path of learning, Master so-and-so of such-and-such mountain, together with the named male and female disciples. They have practiced and received the methods of the Great Dao and been entrusted with precious scriptures, comprising such-and-such number of scrolls. They remain in the secular world and have not yet transcended it to ascend by flight. Yet they aspire to and admire the realm of mysterious emptiness, and wish to travel among immortal mountains. At present, they are still no different from ordinary people. They have not yet seen the regulations that clearly set out the prohibitions and precepts; or, though they have seen them, they have neglected some of them. In their daily conduct they have committed violations, thereby offending the spirits of the heavenly realm.

“Now, in accordance with our covenant, we present tokens of faith and entrust ourselves wholeheartedly, asking that the precious instructions be granted anew, comprising such-and-such number of scrolls, together with the Clear Precepts of the Four Extremities, which prescribe the rules for practice and transmission. The disciples are willing to swear before the spirits of the Nine Heavens that they will follow the clear written instructions, carefully observe the precepts, keep silent and put them into practice, visualize the spirits and recite the names of the Perfected Ones, in hope of becoming immortals. In accordance with the prescribed period, if they later encounter authentic scriptures, they must first report to the Nine Heavens before transmitting them. They will never dare reveal them casually or show them to others without authorization. This matter is reported above to the myriad spirits and below to the spirits of the Five Sacred Peaks, the Three Rivers, the Nine Sources, and others, so that they may all know of it.

“If we break the covenant and betray our trust, then my ancestors of seven generations, my parents, and I myself will all be punished for a long time by the two officials on the left and right. We will walk upon mountains of knives, swallow flames, pass through the twenty-four prisons, the Three Paths and Five Sufferings, and endure the torments of myriad kalpas, with no possibility of regret. We earnestly ask the spirits to permit this transmission, so that the Perfected Spirits may descend to protect and assist us, and jade boys and jade maidens may attend and guard our bodies. May the disciples soon transcend and ascend, flying up to Shangqing. All prohibitions and precepts shall be observed in accordance with the covenant document.”

When the report is complete, the master holds the scriptures and precepts in his left hand, while the disciple holds the token of faith in the right. Together they face the sky and say in a low voice:

“High and Sublime Saints, myriad emperors of the subtle void: people below have made this wish and will hold fast to their conviction, never changing it. We respectfully report this matter under the Clear Precepts, to restrain the transgressions of all. The jade scriptures and precious instructions are transmitted according to the prescribed rites of the precepts. After receiving the transmission, the myriad original Qi within body and mind will return to unity; we will endure alongside Heaven and Earth, shining with the same radiance as the three luminaries—the sun, moon, and stars. Dare…”

The High Sages are exalted, distant, and mysterious; the myriad divine emperors are hidden deep within the realm of emptiness and subtlety. People of the lower world who have a wish should hold fast to their covenant without wavering. I respectfully rely on the clearly established ritual regulations and precepts to admonish everyone and investigate all kinds of transgressions. The Jade Scriptures and precious instructions must both be observed with reverence for the authority of these regulations and precepts. By practicing in this way, one may attain deliverance; the myriad forms of original Qi (vital energy) will converge in one place, and one will abide for a long time with Heaven and Earth, illuminated together with the radiance of the sun, moon, and stars. Anyone who dares to disclose the scriptures and teachings will long suffer the guilt of violating the covenant.

After the rite is complete, the disciple should take the oath in person, receive the scripture, bow nine times toward the north, and then depart. This covenant also applies to the transmission of all kinds of scriptures. Although each scripture has its own covenant, all are jointly governed by the Four Extremes—the deities of the far reaches of the four directions.

If a jade tablet, used as a token of the covenant, is unavailable, clean hibiscus wood may be used in its place. After the transmission rite, recite the covenant inscribed on the wooden tablet, then bury it beneath a mountain crag where no one goes. If the rite is held in a lodge, assembly hall, or ritual ground, the tablet may also be taken to the mountains for burial. According to the Regulations of the Azure Palace, if there is no token when receiving a scripture, a tablet must be buried and the matter reported to the myriad spirits. This alone cannot make the covenant reach the spirits, however, so a written covenant token must be prepared and sent to them.

The Aims and Essential Instructions of the Nine True Regulations, Part Four

The Middle Grade: Precepts on Sin and Transgression

First, if someone among the descendants below the seventh generation has committed a grave crime—such as murder, robbery and plunder, plotting illicit sexual relations, committing treason, or colluding within the nine generations of kin to plot rebellion—then, if the practitioner is resolved to encourage and discipline themselves, they should first write down the grave offenses of the Seven Generations of Ancestors, perform acts of generosity and merit, and rescue the souls of the dead in the underworld. Then, beneath the Three Lights—the sun, moon, and stars—they should disclose their own offenses, loosen their hair, and bow their head to the ground. For three years without fail, they should take responsibility for their actions and repent. Finally, they should offer a substantial covenant token and cast it into the Nine Rivers to atone for their earlier transgressions.

Second, if the practitioner has previously committed a grave crime—such as killing someone with their own hands, cruelly abusing people of lower status, killing living beings, plundering the people, plotting illicit sexual relations, colluding among the nine generations of kin, envying the worthy and capable, or betraying a teacher or elder—they should repent earnestly and state their offenses, follow virtuous conduct, and widely perform acts of merit. Beneath the Three Lights, they should disclose their offenses, loosen their hair, and bow their head to the ground. For three consecutive years, they should confess and express remorse, then offer a token of atonement and cast it into a river, thereby redeeming their own transgressions.

Third, anyone who studies the Dao and has received the “Three Marvelous Treasure Texts” and the “Secret Scriptures of Shangqing” (the secret scriptures of the Shangqing school) must not carelessly disclose the titles or contents of the scriptures to make themselves seem exceptional, publicly proclaim their hidden mysteries, or treat these precious texts with contempt. For one to ten offenses, one’s merit in cultivation is reduced and one must suspend practice for three years. Only afterward may one resume cultivation while observing ritual purity. More than ten offenses are grave sins that consign one to the depths of the Ninefold Yin Realm.

The scripture also says that those who have received Shangqing scriptures and methods should let their hair hang loose, bow to the Three Luminaries (the sun, moon, and stars), and prostrate themselves in repentance for three years. They should also perform a river immersion as a penitential offering—a punitive rite of atonement—to redeem their transgression.

Fourth, those who have received Shangqing scriptures and methods must not weep, approach corpses, or come into contact with blood and other defiling substances. For one to ten offenses, their merit is reduced and they must suspend cultivation and related practices for one year. They must then discipline themselves according to the precepts and regulations to expiate their sins, before resuming their duties while observing ritual purity. At twenty-four offenses, they will lose their scriptures and methods, and may even die.

Fifth, those who have received Shangqing scriptures and methods must not associate closely with women or engage in sexual intercourse, lest they mix with or defile the pure original Qi (vital energy valued in cultivation). For ten to twenty-four offenses, their merit is reduced and they must suspend cultivation for three hundred days. They may then resume cultivation while observing ritual purity. Beyond that number of offenses, they will die.

Sixth, those who have received Shangqing scriptures and methods must not harbor thoughts of harming others, act with cruelty, kill living beings, or commit evil. They must not be greedy and plunder, or engage in wicked and deceitful acts. Nor may they envy the worthy and capable, attack or slander fellow cultivators, or bring disgrace upon the masters who transmit the scriptures. For one to five offenses, they may pay the prescribed penitential offering, repent, and suspend cultivation for ten years. Only afterward may they resume cultivating the scriptures and methods they received while observing ritual purity. More than five offenses, up to twenty-four, will bring death.

Seventh, those who have received Shangqing scriptures and methods must not urinate facing north. They must not eat the Five Pungent Foods (strongly flavored vegetables such as onions and garlic) or the flesh of the Six Domestic Animals (common livestock), or drink alcohol to excess, thereby impairing their cultivation of the Dao and treating the precepts with contempt. They must not harbor doubts or fail to devote themselves wholeheartedly to upholding the teachings. For ten to twenty-four offenses, they may pay the prescribed penitential offering in accordance with the precepts, repent before the Great Yin (the divine official who oversees offenses in the underworld), and suspend cultivation for one year. Only afterward may they resume cultivating the scriptures and methods they received while observing ritual purity. Beyond that number of offenses, they will die.

Eighth: Anyone who receives the Shangqing scriptures and methods must follow the precepts, demonstrate sincere intent, report to their master, and observe purification before accepting the scriptures. It is forbidden to read or transmit precious scriptures without first making a covenant before the master; for ordinary people to copy or alter sacred texts in private; to interpret oral instructions according to personal ideas; to corrupt or change ancient pronunciations; or to establish a separate system of methods. Those who commit such offenses are punished according to the regulations: for a first, second, or third offense, they must suspend their cultivation practices for three years, perform self-punishment in accordance with the liturgical rules, cast their tokens into the Nine Rivers, and then observe strict purification for thirty days before resuming cultivation. If the offenses recur until they have reached twenty-four, the offender will die and be punished by the officials of the spirit world.

Ninth: Anyone who receives the Shangqing scriptures and methods should set aside a quiet room and install a raised platform, four chi and four cun high and five chi wide. They should enshrine the scriptures of the Most High, light lamps and burn incense, and bow and pray morning and evening, making offerings regularly. People whose breath is impure must not enter, nor may women enter the room, lest they offend the divine perfected beings. Clothing, footwear, and other belongings must also be kept separate. Sleeping and resting, sitting and rising must follow rules distinct from those of everyday life. Violators are punished according to the number of offenses: for a first offense through a twenty-fourth, their merit is reduced and they must suspend the associated practices for one year, then resume cultivation under strict purification. Further offenses result in death.

Lower-Grade Atonement

First: For committing the first offense listed among the middle-grade offenses, after a year of self-reproach, cast nine pairs of gold rings and nine gold figures weighing one liang each into the Three Rivers.

Second: Cast one jin of pearls, a writing knife, and nine gold figures weighing one liang each into the Three Rivers.

Third: Sink one gold figure, one jin of pearls, and a writing knife in water.

Fourth: Light thirty-two lamps in the courtyard at midnight.

Fifth: Bathe in fragrant water in the courtyard and light twenty-four lamps.

Sixth: Distribute personal valuables to the poor, and prepare food for one hundred people to feed those suffering from hunger and hardship.

Seventh, offer ten jin of incense, and give it as a gift to ten people who study and practice alongside you.

Eighth, prepare one hu of pure oil and light lamps in the center of the courtyard. The number of lamps is up to you, provided that all the oil is burned. Also prepare ten jin of incense and offer it to the teacher who transmitted the scriptures.

Ninth, light seven lamps before the hall.

The Nine Truths Treatise says: Anyone who receives the highest Daoist teachings but fails to observe the precepts transmitted openly, treating the heavenly prohibitions lightly or neglecting them, will bring calamity upon seven generations of ancestors and suffer punishment themselves. If, having recognized their fault and repented, they accept punishment, strive to reform, and resume practicing the Daoist teachings they received, but then violate the precepts again, their punishment will be doubled. Such a person’s allotted lifespan is incompatible with the ritual practice performed before the hall.

The Nine Truths Treatise also says: Anyone who receives the highest Daoist teachings but fails to observe the precepts transmitted openly and violates the heavenly prohibitions will bring calamity upon seven generations of ancestors and suffer punishment themselves. Even if they repent, accept punishment, and resume practicing the Daoist teachings they received, should they later violate the precepts again, their punishment will be doubled. Such a person’s allotted lifespan is incompatible; their physical form is at odds with the perfected beings, and their soul and spirit consort with ghosts. They can no longer repent and resume practicing the true scriptures. Now the Five Categories of Clear Regulations—the five kinds of precepts transmitted openly—have clearly warned everyone. Whether or not one has previously understood them, once one knows of them yet still violates them, what benefit can there be? Those who uphold these precepts should be vigilant.

Anyone who undertakes the study and practice of Daoist teachings hopes to observe the precepts and ritual rules. Yet the regulations are numerous and life is short, so people fear they may not complete every practice. This leaves them anxious and uneasy, which is truly pitiful. The greatly compassionate divine beings have revealed these teachings and allow people to make choices as circumstances permit. Each person should act according to their abilities and follow the orthodox scriptures with understanding. The scriptures must not be contradicted, and nothing should be chosen or set aside in error. If one makes sound judgments and responds with sincerity, one will surely be able to commune with the Dao.

These nine practices vary in importance and encompass different stages, as well as matters both hidden and manifest. To practice them one by one would take many years. The scripture warns that one’s merit might remain incomplete while one’s guilt has already come due. But trying to practice them all at once to save time raises another concern: one might not accumulate enough merit, and instead violate the ritual rules and invite further trials. Therefore, the essentials have now been selected, and three years are deemed sufficient to undertake them together. Complete all nine practices diligently within those three years, and with utmost sincerity, one will surely receive a response.

If no results appear after three years, then, unless someone has exceptional natural ability, there is no point in explaining profound principles to them. For those unable to grasp such principles, practice is simply futile. Those who do achieve results can attain the merit of an eminent Perfected One. Once they have made progress over three years, all grave offenses can be dispelled, and minor transgressions committed within the allotted period can also be cleansed. Practice in secret, with care and discipline. Do not be negligent or reveal the essential principles; in due time, await the manifestation of spiritual efficacy.

First, when establishing a fast or performing the ritual of dissolving and offering the ring-shaped ritual object, the three Primordial Days—the Upper, Middle, and Lower Primordial Days—are preferred.

Second, for the ritual of dissolving and offering the ring-shaped object, one’s natal day, corresponding to one’s birth year, is preferable. If the year of one’s birth is unknown, one may use a Taishui Jiazi day.

Third, for the ritual of dissolving and offering the pearl-shaped object, a yin day in the Six Jia cycle is preferable. The yin day corresponding to Jiazi is Guiyou; the other Jia days are determined in the same way.

Fourth, for rituals such as establishing a fast or dispelling misfortune, choose a King Day, a Minister Day, and an auspicious hour.

Fifth, for rituals such as establishing a fast or dispelling misfortune, choose a day when the moon passes through the star lodge called Shujing. It is enough if one day during the ritual, from beginning to end, meets this condition.

Sixth, for rituals such as establishing a fast or dispelling misfortune, choose a Three Assemblies Day, when the Qi of the three Primordial periods converges.

Seventh, choose a day of the Twenty-Four Qi, or solar terms.

Eighth, choose one of the Eight Seasonal Nodes: Beginning of Spring, Spring Equinox, Beginning of Summer, Summer Solstice, Beginning of Autumn, Autumn Equinox, Beginning of Winter, or Winter Solstice.

Ninth, choose a Completion Day, one of the twelve days in the traditional system of date selection that signifies accomplishment.

If undertaking a thousand-day fast—ritual abstinence practiced for a thousand days—one must perform the prescribed rites throughout. If the fast has not been formally ended midway, count the days actually practiced and complete the required term; the remaining days may not be shifted elsewhere at will. Demonic obstacles often test and hinder practitioners, so one must be especially cautious.

Anyone who undertakes a three-year fast or one lasting a thousand days must first set aside other affairs and prepare in advance the necessary funds, clothing, food, ritual implements, and other supplies. Those who will practice together must also be chosen beforehand. During the fast, one must not go about pursuing private gain. If public or personal affairs arise, or an unforeseen event involving good or ill fortune or something startling occurs, disrupting the rules of the fast, one should first formally request to end it. Afterward, one must establish the fast anew with even greater sincerity, ask the gods’ forgiveness, reflect on the causes of the obstruction and interruption, and feel shame and reverence. For minor errors, an apology and confession are sufficient; serious transgressions may not occur more than three times. After ending the fast three times, one must not establish it again. This must be treated with gravity and care, and not discussed casually with others. Wicked people and evil spirits may, out of jealousy, undermine a person’s steadfast, upright heart. Only by dispelling harmful influences can the fast hope to reach completion.

Whenever lamps are lit in the open air as part of a fasting rite, the rite must be performed again if wind or rain occurs. If it fails three times in succession, this is a sign of grave sin and serious calamity; one should then confess sincerely and cleanse the heart all the more. It may be repeated at most nine times. Once that number is reached, one should stop; the same applies to similar matters.

Whenever a purification is performed, a “Petition of Repentance to the Three Primal Powers” (a document setting out one’s repentance before the revered deities of the Three Primal Powers) must be used. Its contents may be adjusted as appropriate. It should set out nine matters in order, without unnecessary elaboration. Once a matter has been clearly stated, there is no need to repeat it later. Nothing beyond these nine matters needs to be said. For each of the nine, whether you know or do not know of having committed it, whether you have or have not committed it, you should reflect carefully.

For faults you know you have committed, repent sincerely and give thanks for forgiveness, cleansing them away at once. For faults committed unknowingly, state each one in turn; these too may be forgiven. If you have committed no fault but still confess and give thanks, that is no hindrance. Trace your reflection back to the most distant past, and consider all that has happened since beginningless time. Whether you know or do not know of having committed a fault, whether you have or have not committed one, think it through carefully, then confess and seek release in the manner described above. Looking back across past and present lives, former and present bodies, there is no one who has never violated these nine categories of precepts. Once confession has dispelled the faults, take care not to commit them again. Persevere in this practice, and you will ultimately attain the Dao; the outcome is clear beyond doubt.

What gives cause for concern in cultivation is knowing the principles but failing to put them into practice; putting them into practice without focus; or being focused but unable to persevere. If you can persist, you will eventually ascend to the realm of the perfected sages and become an immortal of high rank.

All cultivators whose names have been entered in the Registers of the Mysterious Name, the Azure Register, or the White Register—these are Daoist rolls of membership or registers of cultivators—should constantly keep the Dao in mind. They should aspire to follow, honor, and study the Great Dao, and to attain its fulfillment, never forgetting it even for a moment. As for sensual desires, splendor, music and dance, wealth, and beauty, they should neither deliberately pursue them when they lack them nor become absorbed in them when they possess them. They should relinquish attachment and return to the Dao, transforming body and mind so they accord with the Mysterious Reality. They should concentrate on the Dao, maintain Oneness (keeping the mind and spirit unified), and avoid entering deviant paths. All who have this wisdom may cultivate the Way of the sages. Remaining constant and never straying from the right path, they can ultimately become immortals and unite with the Dao.

The Dao has no form, yet it manifests an image in response to what it encounters. The “Great Image” it reveals has no fixed shape; its subtle workings are difficult to express. That is why it appears as the True Writings, the sacred script revered in Daoism. These writings seem to condense in the void, serving to warn people of good and ill fortune, calamity and blessing. Sages and perfected beings copied them down, then explained and transmitted them.

When you read these scriptures, receive them with joy. After receiving them, keep them in mind and put them into practice. Practice must be diligent and sustained. When doubts arise, seek instruction and clarification, and untangle whatever is confused or obstructed until you understand the whole teaching from beginning to end, so that you do not fail your master’s instruction. Do not make far-fetched interpretations, alter the text by deleting or adding to it, slander or damage it, discuss it in private, or presume to seek what has not been given. Receive the teaching from your master, accepting as much as is offered according to the circumstances. Do not treat it lightly or divulge it, and do not skip ahead in your studies.

Skipping ahead brings consequences. Follow your master’s teaching, then gradually broaden your learning so you can deliver living beings from suffering. Keep the titles of the scriptures in mind and distinguish the proper sequence of study. Learning from only one master is not enough: seek instruction from ten, a hundred, a thousand, even ten thousand masters, until your learning is complete. Those whose learning is incomplete are lesser adepts; those whose learning is complete are great adepts. Great adepts grasp the central purpose of the Great Dao and can broadly aid and deliver living beings. They seek the utmost Dao, delve deeply into the source of wisdom, and never depart from the Dao’s teachings, from beginning to end. Using what they have learned to help living beings, they ultimately attain immortality and unite with the treasured scriptures.

The Seventh Method: Keeping the Master in Mind

Heaven and Earth bestow Qi, parents give birth to and nurture the body, and masters and rulers teach and transform people. In this way, people follow the Dao and enter the realm of utmost truth, refining away the ordinary and becoming sages. They punish falsehood and reward truth, enabling perfected beings to ascend to the sacred realm. Without a master’s instruction, this cannot be done.

Do not take your own thoughts as your master and standard, or you will inevitably fail. Unless you are a supreme sage, do not presume that your own judgment is right or act on your own impulses. Even sages who take the mind as their master do not proclaim this state openly. They still keep their abilities in check and treat one another as master and friend. Without a master, ordinary people will ultimately achieve little. Progress in cultivating the Dao depends on a master, so never forget your master. Keep your master in your heart, so that your breath and Qi continue without interruption and your thoughts never forget them; in this way, you will accord with the Dao recorded in the scriptures.

The Treasures of the Dao, the scriptures, and the master are together called the “Three Venerables.” If even one is missing, there is no path to ascending into the realm of the perfected. Revering sages and masters in your heart, honoring your elders, and cherishing the guidance you have received are signs of great wisdom. If you never fail in your obligations to your master, you can enter the mysterious realm and unite with the Treasure of the Master.

When the “Three Scriptures” are cultivated together with the Three Treasures of Dao, Scripture, and Master—the three fundamental supports revered in Daoism—the practice is called the “Three Venerables.” If any one of the Three Treasures is missing, one cannot attain the Real. Practitioners keep the sages and their masters in mind, honor their teachers, and cherish the teachings they have received. This is called great wisdom. Only by preserving this reverence and faith without fail can one enter the mysterious realm and unite with the Treasure of the Master.

The Three Treasures are the source of wisdom. When the source remains unbroken, it can gather and govern its many tributaries. Living beings drift with the current and forget to return to the source. When circumstances awaken them to understanding, each firmly sets a course and eagerly seeks the time of return. Once they have set that time, they begin cultivating the Dao with fearless concentration, reversing the direction of the current and returning to the source. Such people are called “Sages of the Highest Rank.”

Those who wish to learn the practice of the sages must first establish the conduct of the “Three Lives”: the heart must return to the true Dao, vowing never to slacken; the mouth must learn to recite the scriptures, understand them, and resolve every doubt; the body must be careful and composed, avoiding clothes that do not conform to the regulations. Wearing ritual vestments can display De, while explaining the meaning of the scriptures can rescue those in confusion. In this way, true cultivation is kept free of deluded thoughts, and accumulated disorder is dispelled at once. One casts off burdens, preserves peace and joy, and endures without ever again undergoing death; hence this is called the “Three Lives.”

The practices of the “Three Lives” are connected and follow an order. When practicing the Dao and keeping the spirits in mind—that is, visualizing the divine beings during cultivation—one must first put one’s ritual vestments in order. In longing for the true Dao and cultivating its methods, first rectify the heart, then take care with speech, and finally examine one’s conduct. The body and mouth must work together, and the heart must accord with them. When all three become one, De can be accomplished. De is expressed through ritual vestments, which have prescribed times for putting them on and taking them off, marking the distinction between practitioners and ordinary people. Both the inner and outer self are under watch, and every movement and stillness is subject to scrutiny. One must therefore use these practices to make De manifest and allow nothing to diminish it.

When beginning one’s studies, one relies inwardly on the Three Venerables, recites and invokes the wondrous scriptures, and wears ritual vestments. The styles and ranks of these vestments differ. The regulations governing advancement and demotion by rank are outlined below.

Ritual Vestment Instructions, Eighth: hemp headcloth, hemp tunic, coarse cloth robe, cloth skirt, hemp shoulder cape, bamboo hand tablet, and straw sandals.

When a man receives the scriptures, he must wear this kind of ritual garment. “Ritual garment” means clothing made and worn according to the mysterious rules of the Way, and used in its practice. The Dao’s chief purpose is to nurture all things and deliver all beings, bringing people into connection with the myriad things. Hence this clothing is called a ritual garment.

“Ritual” carries the sense of cultivation and accord: wash away defilement and worldly dust, restrain desire, quiet the mind, and focus on contemplating the mysterious Dao. Take the Ten Good Deeds as the standard for cultivation, bring speech and conduct into accord with the Dao, earn the reverence of the Three Realms, and use the proper Way to drive out wrong thoughts. This is why it is called “ritual.” “Garment” carries the sense of bringing people to submit and bestowing good fortune: by following what is right, one draws blessings and delivers body, mind, and spirit. This is why it is called a “garment.” Wearing clothing that conforms to the proper rules gives cultivation its corresponding discipline. By practicing accordingly, one can ascend to the realm of the holy and be freed from all kinds of bondage.

Those who study and cultivate should cast off adornment and esteem simplicity. If they have not yet obtained a full set of clothing, they must still not go naked. They may gather old clothes and scraps of fabric, wash them, and sew them into garments; there is no need to cut new cloth. They should avoid extravagance and make do with patches of old fabric. The garment’s style and number of panels should embody the rules and symbolize the two Qi of Yin-Yang. From these, one should grasp their meaning and contemplate Wuwei (non-action). Acting in accordance with Wuwei brings one into accord with the Dao and with truth. What is the true Dao for? It is to deliver all things and allow them to proceed without hindrance.

Beginners may find it difficult to gather enough old fabric at first, and scraps may be hard to come by. If coarse cloth is available, they need not reject it even if it is new; they need only make the garment with the prescribed number of panels so that it conforms to the proper teaching. If a boy lacks a headcloth, he should follow the same rules for his other garments. When he reaches the age for capping, he should have a headcloth made according to the regulations. Capping was part of the ancient rites by which a man came of age.

Once the garments are finished, one should inform one’s master and report the Dao one is cultivating. After receiving instruction and completing the process, one should give thanks for the grace of the Three Venerables, the three divine beings revered in Daoism, and undertake purification and abstinence. Do not become absorbed in feasting and drinking, or gather people to make music. Music played on the sheng, xiao, or qin, and singing, may each follow the examples of Ziqiao, Qin Shi, Yu Shun, and Shuangcheng, with the melodies attuned to the yun’ao, an instrument used in Daoist music; such practice is not forbidden by the rules.

Those who cultivate the Way may dispense with the jiao offerings performed in secular ceremonies. As for paying respects to the honored gods, one should do so with gratitude and reverence, never carelessly. When matters such as marriage or taking office need to be reported, the ceremony need only be performed at the time of capping.

When a woman receives the Way, she should at first follow the corresponding rules for clothing; all her other garments should likewise follow the regulations for men. Once she has received the Way and her resolve is settled, she should organize and copy the scriptures, and prepare the ritual garments and implements. Nothing should be missing, and she must not borrow items at the last minute just to make up the required set. These should be made in advance and presented to her teachers and fellow practitioners for careful inspection. If they do not conform to the rules, they should be altered, so as not to mislead later generations. Garments that meet the regulations should be entered in a register. After the rite of receiving the Way is complete, she should take off her previous clothes and put on the ritual garments.

The garments handed down from earlier times were originally also the ritual garments of the ancient sage-kings. They gradually became corrupted in later transmission, so the standards of the present lineage should be followed. Today the school follows the rules of the Old Lord: when the Old Lord wore coarse cloth and carried a treasured jade as he left through the pass, he also wore a hemp headcloth and a plain robe; the attendant jade maidens wore long robes and brown skirts. Although the sages leave no fixed trace, they leave accounts of their deeds to instruct the people. By following the sages’ example, people can naturally look up to and accord with their intentions; when the heart returns to what is natural, this way of ordering things is supremely excellent. The ritual garments used in the Three Caverns, the three main divisions of Daoist scriptures, are broadly alike. Any occasional differences are simply distinct prescriptions within the Old Lord’s rules.

Those who have attained the Dao and ascended into the mysterious realm may naturally wear celestial robes. The clothes they wore while practicing in the world may be left to later Daoist practitioners. If their cultivation and merit are not yet complete when they die in the human world, and they have no suitable ritual garment with them, their clothing should be handled according to their status at death.

The clothing worn on the body should consist of a single robe, placed in a bamboo chest. If someone held an official post and was still in office at the time of death, they should be dressed in the official robes of that post. If they had once been an official but had returned to ordinary civilian life before their death, or had held a position while remaining a civilian, and had not been granted official robes at death, they should wear only a single robe, placed in a bamboo chest, and must not wear ritual garments. Ritual garments, scriptures, talismans and contracts, registers, and similar items should be returned to the person’s original master—the teacher who transmitted the Dao. If the master has died, they should be given to a friend who had stood surety for this purpose, or to a descendant or disciple suited to receive them. If no suitable person can be found, they should be disposed of according to the prescribed final methods.

There are three prescribed methods of final disposal: sinking the items in deep water, concealing them in a mountain cave, or burning them in a clean, secluded place. If a Daoist practitioner has lived for a long time in the mountains, or has traveled through the human world without ever marrying or serving as an official, they may wear a headcloth and coarse robe, the customary dress of Daoist priests. Their clothing should be reused rather than newly made, and they should neither wear nor keep more than necessary. Those who married or served as officials before leaving home to cultivate the Dao, or couples who study together without craving worldly honors and live very differently from ordinary people despite remaining in the human world, may also wear a headcloth and coarse robe. Women and concubines wear a long-sleeved gown at home and a coarse robe after leaving home. Women who practice the highest Daoist teachings at home and often enter the mountains to prepare elixirs may also wear a coarse robe. If their cultivation and merit are incomplete and they die because of the circumstances of their fate, their clothing should still be treated as that of a woman who died at home, even if they undergo corpse liberation—a Daoist form of death in which the body transforms and is cast off. Men should wear a single robe.

If Daoist practitioners follow worldly rites while living in a way very different from ordinary people, they may wear a cap and headcloth with a coarse robe. Their remains need not be placed in a coffin; they may be laid beside a flat stone on a mountain or deep in a wood, covered with a quilt, or placed directly on the ground without bedding. In ancient times, remains were taken to the open countryside, covered with thick clothing and firewood, and then burned, so the clothing was consumed in the fire as well. In later times, people built tombs, piled up earth, and planted trees, largely to satisfy worldly sentiment: relatives and friends, unable to bear parting with the body, kept it, only for ants, foxes, and crows to disturb it until it eventually turned to dust and returned to the earth. Tombs built with stone blocks and oyster-shell lime have long been ridiculed; wrapping the remains lightly in a cloth sack has always been more highly praised. Cultivating the Dao is a way to deliver the spirit; the body may be forgotten. Insisting on building a tomb only burdens both the living and the dead.

One must never take sacred Daoist texts away on one’s person or cling greedily to ritual garments and refuse to return them. Doing so leads to sinking into the netherworld and brings calamity to both Yin and Yang. Arrangements should be made separately for disposing of the remains, as well as for the rites of refinement and protection of the corpse—Daoist ceremonies for settling and delivering the deceased—in order to transform misfortune and turn ill omens into good fortune. Yet even these refined rites bring hardship. Knowing how difficult they are, one should practice the Dao diligently while still in one’s prime, so that both Shen and the body may be preserved.

“Wu” carries the meaning of awareness and is also another name for Shen; “wo” means a brief moment and is also another name for the body. The body departs in an instant, while the aware Shen can endure. When Shen remains, the body can be settled; when the body is settled, Shen and body unite. One who can unite Shen and body is a person of the highest attainment. If Shen and body separate, yet one can calmly let go of attachment to staying or departing, life or death, and rejoice even while being reborn through the cycle of existence, one is a practitioner of the middle level or above. Those who do not understand the principles of life and death and are separated from the body, or who grieve bitterly before the body has departed, are of the lowest order. Practitioners of the highest order can teach and transform those of the lowest; once transformed, the latter can follow their example. Even if Shen and body do not unite at once, they can be brought into harmony, prolonging life and accumulating merit until they unite naturally. The ability to preserve this One depends on a person’s talent and insight.

An enlightened ruler who teaches the people should have them all accept the Daoist teachings. Ritual garments are most important because they restrain conduct. Consulting one’s master and discussing the Dao restrain speech; studying the scriptures and investigating their principles restrain the mind. When the scriptures restrain the mind, no deviant thoughts arise; when the Daoist teachings restrain speech, evil words cease; when ritual garments restrain the body, no act contrary to the rules is performed. Practicing according to the teachings and preserving the One must begin with wearing ritual garments. The One here includes the Three Ones, the True One, the Great One, and the Mysterious One; the methods studied by different traditions vary greatly. Some practitioners go naked and deliberately behave unconventionally to spur the people, appearing in strange ways in response to the times. Figures such as Jiao Xian were therefore not bound by rules of dress.

Anyone, male or female, high or low in status, who has not yet put the Great Dao into practice—or who has entered the Daoist path but has not yet received the scriptures and teachings—may make clothing according to local custom, choosing colored or plain fabrics and adjusting the expense to the times.

After turning from secular life to the Daoist path and receiving instruction, one must still observe the customs and rules of the local community. Those who have not yet become formal disciples count as such only after receiving registers (Daoist ritual registers), taking part in rites, and receiving scriptures and images. Their clothing then begins to differ from that of ordinary people. When first seeking to receive ritual teachings, they may wear a long robe or a short jacket and trousers, cover their heads with cloth, and dress in coarse fabric. They may wear boots, shoes, or straw sandals, and salute with clasped hands or by holding a tablet. Each region may teach the customs gradually in keeping with local practice; there is no need to change all one’s clothing at once. Men who receive registers wear a single-layer robe. Headcloths and soft caps may be worn interchangeably, and whether to change one’s headwear is left to the individual.

In ancient times, those who held official duties wore the same style of clothing. They wore an official’s cap of rank, later adding a headcloth beneath it, along with a leather belt, pouches, and a sash, and carried a tablet and wore shoes. After the Celestial Master (Tianshi), the Daoist leader, entered Luoyang, the title “official who communicates with Yang” came into use. He changed to a dark cap and dispensed with the sash. The cap was made of black patterned cloth, black gauze, or hemp fabric. Shaped like a headcloth, it had stitched edging; its hairpin and ties were similar to those of other caps, and it was worn at a slight angle.

According to ritual rules, the dark cap was not worn for mourning. Yet during the time of Emperor Wu of Wei, people wore plain dark caps when mourning, and the custom remained popular for many years. Once, while reading a scripture seated among the trees, Minister of the Secretariat Xun Xu had his cap caught by a drooping branch, which dented its crown. The cap style now called “qiefa” is said to have originated from this incident.

The earliest ancient headwear was the hemp ritual cap; the headcloth came later. It was made from fine, closely woven cloth, two chi wide and four chi, five cun, and six fen long. Folded crosswise and sewn along both sides, it was left open at the bottom to expose the hair knot, while its ends hung behind to cover the shoulders. In hot weather it could be cut shorter. Ordinarily it was wrapped around the hair knot; during fasting, it was untied and then fastened again with a forehead band. Later, because fine cloth was laborious to make, people substituted silk or hemp fabric, and the headcloth gradually became narrower and smaller. Confucius said, “Nowadays they use silk, which is frugal; I follow the common practice.” He meant that silk ritual caps were more economical, and that he was willing to follow what most people did.

The scripture also says that at the beginning of the creation of Heaven and Earth, everyone had a fleshy topknot, with fine, short hair that hung down in a dense covering. This was called “cold hair,” because it kept out the cold. After Fuxi, customs grew more lax, and the fleshy topknot gradually disappeared. As hair grew longer, it became inconvenient: people in remote regions tied it up or cut it short, while people in the Central Plain gathered it and coiled it into side locks, gradually adding ornaments in later times. To keep warm, people covered their heads with headcloths, and caps arose from this practice.

On the fleshy topknots of immortals, fine hair flowed like clouds. In the time of the Yellow Emperor, Xuansu, a legendary immortal, descended. Clouds rose high above his head and reached the heavens. He taught the Yellow Emperor the subtle Dao and urged him to make garments and caps. Thus crowns and caps came into being. As the times changed, systems of ritual and law changed as well, and different ranks came to wear different kinds of headwear.

In the time of Emperor Yao, there was a beast that could distinguish right from wrong, called the xiezhi, a legendary one-horned creature said to discern what was just. People modeled a cap on its horn, calling it the “Yao headcloth.” It was worn by those in charge of official duties and punishing wrongdoing. The dividing line on the cap also had its own name. Emperor Yuan of Han had unusual hair on his forehead and did not want it seen, so he added a forehead band to the edge of his cap. Some people wore a headcloth beneath the cap, leaving a gap in the cap itself, and tied the forehead band at the back. Later, people sewed the gap closed. When Wang Mang lost his hair, people began covering the top of the head as well and wearing a crown over it. From then on, the system of crowns and caps also marked distinctions of rank.

The flat-topped crown is the ancient mian crown. Worthy people and those who pursued learning wore the zhangfu, an ancient ceremonial cap, or the Huashan crown. These garments arose from the fashions of the age and also distinguished civil officials from military officials. Since ancient times, the foundation of the Dao has been one, but in the course of transmission it gradually became distorted: clear and upright principles were replaced by confused and muddled claims. Some people delight in killing and give themselves over to disorder, then seek favors through rites that violate reason. Such conduct goes against the Dao and brings no blessings.

Evil spirits, little ghosts, and fierce demons can also mislead people. Some possess a measure of intelligence. When they see someone doing good and their De about to flourish, they claim that the good fortune came from their own favor. When they see someone’s good deeds nearing their end and calamity approaching, they falsely speak in a supernatural voice to warn that disaster is coming. Fools believe them. A few of their predictions may happen to come true, but even one in ten may not prove accurate; this is no basis for treating them as holy spirits. If people pursue the uncanny single-mindedly, then grow angry and resentful when they fail to obtain it, their dispositions become distorted and their moods erratic. This is what is meant by “vulgar.” The vulgar is bound up with desire: desire makes people stagnate and become trapped, so it should be cast aside. The Great Dao regards freedom from desire as its subtle excellence. Those who cultivate the good Dao should lessen selfishness and reduce their desires; whether desire is abundant or slight makes a difference to the state of the mind.

When urging people to cultivate the Dao, one should also distinguish one’s clothing from that of the secular world. Ordinary people do not wear Daoist headcloths; these are Daoist ritual garments modeled on ancient forms and valued for their reverence for the mysterious Dao. The original headcloth had horns, without a split at the center; the centrally split style appeared later. The horned headcloth with oval-shaped tips is said to have originated with Guo Tai. His courtesy name was Linzong. During the Later Han, he was summoned as a man of the Dao but did not answer the call, and he often wore a horned headcloth. Once, rain caught him on the road and bent its tips down. People admired his virtue but did not know what had happened, so they all began bending down the tips of their own headcloths. Over time, the tips took on an oval shape, like the leaves of Mount Song.

Later, the headcloth was folded to form three horizontal ridges, modeled on the ridges of the jin-xian crown, an ancient cap that indicated an official’s rank. The number of ridges carried different meanings: one ridge symbolized the appearance of a one-horned beast and signified the unification of the realm; two symbolized a two-horned beast and signified fairness in legal judgments; three symbolized a three-horned beast and signified that the ruler’s laws were clear and the Three Lineages each held their proper place. These auspicious beasts were said to appear in response to virtue, so those who studied the Dao wore this kind of headcloth as well.

Among flowers and leaves, the lotus is the most abundant. Daoism values what it symbolizes and also makes headcloths in the shape of lotus leaves. The height and size of the headcloth can be adjusted to suit the wearer. Those with little hair can use it to secure their hair without hanging down tassel cords. This style is collectively called the lotus headcloth. There is also a lotus crown, called the weimao in the Zhou dynasty. Its decoration and form differ slightly, but its use is broadly the same.

It is said that such crowns were originally worn by the holy beings among the gods of the heavens and by those of high virtue. They formed naturally from the vital essences of purple clouds in three colors, clouds in seven hues, or radiance in nine colors. Placed atop the fleshy crown of the head, they made the body’s spirits flow freely and become clear. The body’s spirits are said to resemble flesh, bone, skin, blood, sinews, and vessels, yet also to be both present and absent. They act without attachment; though embodied, they are not constrained by their forms. They may seem diverse, but in truth they are all true Qi. True Qi is originally one; it transforms into many forms. Form and spirit join and never separate, so there is no distinction between destruction and completion. Thus the wondrous body of the Most High, who remains forever in the Jade Capital, the Daoist celestial city, possesses the Dao-eye and naturally sees these realms. Ordinary people cannot see them with physical eyes; only through study and diligent cultivation can one eventually reach understanding. When resonance is achieved, spirit officials descend with gifts, and wondrous beings appear. For this reason, robes and crowns are regarded as precious.

It is said that the Celestial Perfected Sovereign once bestowed such a crown upon Emperor Ku. When Lord Mao received the Nine Bestowals, the highest honor granted by an ancient emperor, he too was given this crown. Anyone who has received the Three Caverns scriptures and methods may wear it. Those who have only just begun studying the Dao and whose De remains shallow must not presume to wear it.

Even without receiving a register—a credential and ritual rank bestowed on Daoist priests—one may receive scriptures, study the precepts, build up virtue, and practice as the scriptures teach. In this way, one can realize the truth of the Dao; receiving a register is not essential. If one cannot yet fulfill all of this, one should understand the “Six Paths” (different levels or ways of practice) and proceed step by step, receiving a register of ritual jurisdiction when the time is right. After receiving a register and becoming a Daoist adherent, one is expected to pay the prescribed “rent” (a required offering or fee). Without paying it, one cannot complete the registration. Yet lacking this payment does not prevent one from receiving scriptures. Receiving scriptures and wearing ritual vestments each follow distinct rules and grades of practice. Just as Yin and Yang each have their categories, officials together serve one sovereign, while those who cultivate the Dao share one lineage.

The designs and colors of ceremonial dress, and the ways it is worn, each have their own rank and significance. The relevant details appear in other texts and are too extensive to recount here, so only the general meaning is given. The ceremonial crown (mian) signifies urging oneself to establish virtue and avoid the calamities of the mundane world. The cap (guan) allows the beauty of one’s virtue to be displayed for all to behold. The headcloth (jin) signifies cleansing and gathering in; it serves to keep body and mind pure and to open communication with the divine. The hat (mao) signifies covering, protecting the head and body like clouds and mist. Some hats take the forms of mountains and forests, others follow the patterns of the sun and moon. They vary in shape and size, being round or square according to the wearer’s status.

Ornate ritual vestments, such as dragon-patterned robes, are suited to those whose virtue merits them; plain tunics, by contrast, may generally be worn by anyone. The tunic was originally a deep robe (shenyi), worn to cultivate inner rectitude. When the mind comprehends profound principles, one can ultimately enter the source of the Dao. Later generations adopted a simpler practice, allowing the plain tunic to be worn during purification rites as well. It could therefore serve as the inner garment beneath formal robes, and was called the “middle tunic” (zhongdan). The coarse robe (he) signifies restraining wrongdoing and upholding goodness. The shoulder cape (pei) signifies spreading the Dao’s transforming influence and teaching all things. The skirt (qun), also called the “lower garment” (shang), symbolizes the gathering of every blessing and the enduring presence of the Dao. Wearing it reminds one not to stray from the right path; by keeping to that path, one attains what endures. The women’s long robe (guiyi) likewise serves to preserve the truth of the Dao and ward off evils, and has the same meaning as the coarse robe. The meanings of all garments can be understood in this way.

The non-Han peoples of distant regions—the Man, Yi, Rong, and Di—also decorated their clothing and wore ritual vestments for serving the Dao and honoring the gods. Local customs differed, and the forms of their caps varied even more: some were flat, others pointed; some high, others low; some shaped like birds or beasts, others like insects or fish. Though their forms varied in elaboration, their ornaments all carried symbolic meaning. Rituals such as kneeling, bowing, and yielding also differed from place to place. Joining the hands and holding the hu (a ceremonial tablet held during formal rites) could likewise follow the customs of a particular time and region. Tradition says that before the Three Sovereigns, people showed respect by keeping their hands together; after the Five Emperors, they showed reverence by holding a hu.

What is a hu? The word “hu” (which sounds like “suddenly” or “remember”) carries the meaning of a reminder, something not to be forgotten. In the time of the Xuanyuan clan, hu tablets were made of bamboo. They were two chi and four cun long, three cun wide, and three fen thick, ornamented with ivory and fish whiskers. They were held in the hand, with a writing brush tucked into the top. When a ruler gave an order, people feared they might forget it, so they wrote it down to prevent omissions and then carried it out. Once the matter recorded on the bamboo slips had been dealt with, the writing was erased; when similar matters arose, they followed precedent. By the time of the Three Dynasties, affairs had become so numerous and fine bamboo so scarce that other materials came into use. The Son of Heaven’s jade hu had a slightly different form: it was either three chi or two chi and six cun long, the same width, and five fen thick. A brush was tucked into it, and the tablet was held beneath the arm.

In the early Han, meritorious officials argued fiercely over who deserved the greater credit, at times even drawing their hu tablets and striking one another with them. Emperor Gaozu of Han had Shusun Tong establish ritual rules to eliminate this abuse. The hu was therefore made smaller and its dimensions standardized: one chi and two cun long, one cun and six fen wide, and three fen thick. It still served to record the ruler’s commands and reminded its holder to perform rites respectfully, but was no longer used to strike others. Thus, scholars both within and beyond the court should carry a hu. May the Lord of the Dao grant us instruction, so that we may copy it down and follow it without neglect. During lectures, each person should hold a scripture scroll and have a board to support it; it should not be set down casually. The scroll should be wrapped in a clean cloth and never left uncovered. When it is opened, a cloth should be placed beneath it as well, to keep dust from settling on it.

What does “footwear” (lü) mean? It signifies putting principles into practice: if something is not in accord with ritual, one does not do it; if it is unreasonable, one does not pursue it. In one’s actions, one takes sound principles as the guide and acts in accordance with ritual. In this way, one accords with reason, enters the Dao, and realizes the truth. The high shoe (xi), by contrast, signifies removing impediments from one’s movements and conduct. From these explanations, one can reason by analogy and understand related matters without confusion.

Through cultivating the Seven Luminaries (a Daoist practice associated with the sun, moon, and stars) and training the Six Supernatural Powers (the six abilities attributed to cultivators), one eventually sees results. Over time, Qi—the vital breath of life and primordial energy of the cosmos—fills the body, revealing a rounded aura, flame-like colors, and natural, wondrous hues. These form the radiance of ceremonial crowns and robes, and Qi can also reach the heavens. Footwear, boards, and the many garments and ritual implements are all said to take shape from Qi, appearing in response to spiritual resonance; nothing is lacking. In the world there are also other ways of making and using hu tablets, with some differences in ritual detail. Such ceremonial practices help people do good and do not obstruct cultivation of the Dao.

All those who receive scriptures and ritual offices wear headscarves and simple garments, as well as cloth skirts and coarse clothing. Those who live and practice in the mountains as monastics wear deerskin headscarves and garments, keeping company with herds of deer so that wild animals are not frightened.

People of virtue can transform others. When hunters encounter such a person in the mountains, they are moved by his virtue and offer him the things they have gathered. Of these, deerskin is the most precious. By offering it, the hunters wish to express their respect for his virtue. If the recipient understands this respect and honors the hunters’ intentions, he may accept the gift rather than reject it. He can then gradually guide them, helping them understand the principles involved. Wearing the deerskin is meant to put the givers at ease; it is not because he covets it for his own use.

Even those who shave their heads and practice naked, with their hair hanging loose in secluded places, can keep company with dragons and chimei spirits. Why, then, must they keep company with muntjacs and deer? Hunters often wear deerskin simply because they do not wish to disturb wild animals, but that intention is fundamentally at odds with the Dao. Once they have been transformed and awakened, they will understand that the Dao is worthy of reverence.