《太上正一咒鬼经》

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) said: The Great Lord of the Most High (Taishang Dajun), the supreme venerable deity of the celestial realm, is a venerable god of heaven, as well as the Left Supervisor Libationer (a Daoist clerical office) and a True Person of the heavens. On his left he is attended by one hundred twenty flood dragons, on his right guarded by one hundred twenty fierce tigers; before him one hundred twenty Vermilion Birds lead the way, behind him one hundred twenty Dark Warriors follow. He wears a five-colored floral canopy upon his head and treads upon Kui Gang (the stellar positions of the Big Dipper, frequently employed in Daoist rituals of pacing the Dipper). The plain boys and jade maidens (celestial attendants), dressed in robes imbued with Primordial Qi (Yuanqi, vital energy), Mysterious Qi (Xuanqi), and Mysterious Yellow Qi, circle and pass to and fro through the Gate of Life; they shine as brightly as the sun and moon both day and night. Downward he commands the earthly deities (Diqi), upward he answers to the North Star (Beichen, the Pole Star and the celestial sovereign it represents).

He also commands tens of millions of strongmen, boys, and girls, who together wield swords and blades, piercing whatever stands in their path. They ride upon heavenly deer, phoenixes, qilin (legendary auspicious beasts), Qiongqi, Bixie, and other divine beasts, gathering in hundreds of groups; there are likewise flying serpents and fierce beasts, ninety-nine thousand in number, all capable of flight and of coming and going without hindrance. They devour thousands upon thousands of the hundred ghosts and all manner of sprites and monsters, rendering every evil influence afraid to approach unbidden. The divine spell of the Celestial Master, swiftly as the statutes command (invoking the rapid execution of divine power in accordance with the ordinances).

The Celestial Master said: The Mysterious Elder of Great Harmony (Taihe Xuanlao), a venerable Daoist deity, rides a purple palanquin of azure clouds, accompanied by floral canopies and jade-adorned fierce beasts. These ninety-nine thousand fierce beasts are all able to fly and to enter and exit without obstruction; they devour thousands upon thousands of the hundred ghosts and all manner of sprites and monsters, so that no evil influence dares to draw near of its own accord. The divine spell of the Celestial Master, swiftly as the statutes command.

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) said: The Mysterious Elder of Supreme Harmony rode a purple carriage upon azure clouds, furnished with a floral canopy and jade maidens. The carriage body was made of crystal, its sides adorned with gold and silver; nine dragons drew it, their radiance illuminating all the heavens. He wore a deep crimson-purple fur robe, his presence vast and chaotic yet brilliantly shining, his awe-inspiring power shaking the hearts of all.

He commanded the hundred officials, the great gods of the rivers, the dragon kings, and the ghost commanders to conceal themselves among the clouds, to kowtow and strike their faces, and to confess their crimes of their own accord. Heeding none of their defenses, he delivered them to the Prison Lord, who locked them in bronze yokes and iron chains and clamped their throats. The host of evil spirits were thereby terrified and dared not act rashly. He ordered the preparation of sacrificial offerings and bestowed upon me the true spirits. I now go forth to summon the Divine Lord—this Divine Lord has long remained hidden and unseen for a billion years. I shall capture those treacherous and evil gods who receive blood sacrifices, as well as the most ferocious and unusually malevolent evil beings under heaven: they spread demonic rumors and false speech, styling themselves as gods, slandering the Dao Qi (the primordial Qi of the Dao), and envying the worthy. These are all evil spirits who delude people with heterodox arts, performing only false and wicked deeds, unable to discern the orthodox Way. The Celestial Master is charged with instructing the people of the world to return to goodness.

Even armored pythons that seek to advance, or rebellious evildoers who plot to harm others, will be bound with iron chains. I seize your head, behead you three times, then cast you into a boiling cauldron to be cooked. Qiongqi and Bixie (legendary beasts that devour evil spirits) range freely devouring until the evil gods who receive sacrifices are utterly eradicated. Family members and elders, do not approach; nor should you approach when this divine spell of mine is transmitted. Let the command be carried out at once. Quickly, quickly, in accordance with the statutes and ordinances.

The Celestial Master said: I eliminate all disasters for Heaven and Earth, taking form to come among humankind, causing Qiongqi and Bixie to range freely devouring until the evil gods who receive sacrifices are utterly eradicated. Family members and elders, do not approach; nor should you approach when this divine spell of mine is transmitted. Let the command be carried out at once. Quickly, quickly, in accordance with the statutes and ordinances.

The Celestial Master said: I eliminate all disasters for Heaven and Earth, taking form to come among humankind, becoming the Ghost King. He stands one zhang and six chi in height, with a square face, bronze teeth and iron fangs, a sharp blade clenched in his mouth; in his hand he holds a “splitting mill,” and on his head he wears a boiling cauldron. As he moves, thunder peals and lightning flashes, the light of heaven revolves; the stars run amiss, the moonlight turns wan and yellow; fierce winds sweep the earth, the sun’s light is hidden; plants wither and scorch, trees are shattered; mountains collapse and rocks split, bridges over rivers are broken. He drives a carriage laden with iron chains, silver shackles, and other instruments of punishment, posting proclamations of the spell chapters three times each month and recruiting the fierce among the host of ghosts. When evil spirits are captured, he beheads them to remove ominous calamities. I wield this divine spell—who dares to resist? Quickly withdraw a thousand li away, lest you invite disaster. Quickly, quickly, in accordance with the statutes and ordinances.

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) said: I once climbed Mount Tai and paid homage to Huanglaojun (the Daoist deity in whom the Yellow Emperor and Laozi are combined), who taught me the incantation for slaying ghosts and evil influences.

The instant I recite the curse I summon the Jade Maiden (a Daoist spirit) to seize the malevolent forces that bring disaster, causing them to ascend to heaven and be brought under restraint. I wear the Left Contract and the seal upon my person, a floral canopy (the umbrella covering that symbolizes divine majesty) upon my head, and I tread upon Kui Gang (the Dipper star deities commonly employed in the Daoist ritual of pacing the stars); on my left I am guarded by the Six Jia spirit generals, on my right by the Six Ding spirit generals, before me stands the Yellow God, and behind me stands Yue Zhang. The Divine Master punishes and slays the evil influences without regard for those of high rank and power; first he kills the evil deities, then he extinguishes You Guang (the wandering ghosts that roam about spreading disaster). What god dares to come forward? What ghost dares to resist?

I bind you and cast you into the water, throw you into a boiling cauldron to cook; I beat you once every three days and whip you once every five days. The Gate Guardian (the spirit general who watches the door) seizes and binds you tightly, the Jade Maiden interrogates you under torture; my subordinate officials receive the confession, and the Stove Lord (the Kitchen God) reports to the Heavenly Court: so-and-so Jia has committed no offense and a worthy, virtuous person ought not to be made ill. What ghost dares to resist? I bind you and cast you into the water, throw you into a boiling cauldron to cook; I beat you once every three days and whip you once every five days. The Gate Guardian seizes and binds you tightly, the Jade Maiden interrogates you under torture; my subordinate officials receive the confession, and the Stove Lord reports to the Heavenly Court: so-and-so Jia has committed no offense and a worthy, virtuous person ought not to be made ill.

I contain within me the Qi (vital energy) of Heaven and Earth and recite the incantation that slays and extinguishes ghosts and evil: I curse gold, and gold melts of itself; I curse wood, and wood snaps of itself; I curse water, and water dries up of itself; I curse fire, and fire dies of itself; I curse mountains, and mountains collapse of themselves; I curse stones, and stones split of themselves; I curse gods, and gods bind themselves; I curse ghosts, and ghosts perish of themselves; I curse acts of prayer, and the prayers cease of themselves; I curse paralysis, and the paralysis vanishes of itself; I curse poison, and the poison dissipates of itself; I curse imprecations, and the imprecations are annihilated of themselves.

The Celestial Master’s divine curse has already descended; you must not resist or go against it. Depart swiftly a thousand li away. Swiftly, swiftly, let it be executed in accordance with the statutes and ordinances.

The Celestial Master (Tianshi, here referring to a Daoist ritual master) said: “As the teacher of Heaven and Earth, I drive out ghosts and evil spirits as swiftly as wind and rain. In my left hand I grasp the Azure Dragon, in my right I hold the White Tiger; before my chest is the Vermilion Bird, upon my back the Dark Warrior. Above my head are immortals, beneath my feet jade maidens; in my hands are three generals, and my ten fingers transform into marshals. The Gongcao (divine clerks who transmit orders and process documents), receiving their command, bind the ghosts and evil spirits and escort them beneath Kuigang, causing them to wander among the Three Terraces. The divine generals of the Five Stars seize them all, sending them through the Palace of the Floral Canopy and then straight onward to beneath the Gate of Heaven. I command the Office of Mount Tai (the divine bureau that governs the ghosts and spirits of the netherworld) and the envoys acting under orders to arrest treacherous and evil ghosts, as well as the demonic sprites that haunt and confuse; to promptly slay the false and wicked, leaving their corpses exposed by the roadside. The Imperial Censor presents the documents to the Heavenly Bureau (the celestial administrative office); the petition has now been approved, and the Celestial Master’s divine incantation has descended. Swiftly, swiftly, in accordance with the statutes and ordinances!”

The following are the successive invocations (respectful announcements to the deities requesting their descent) of the divine lords and their duties. In the scripture, “a certain household” is the place where a specific residence is substituted during the ritual; “five persons,” “one hundred thousand soldiers,” and similar figures are the quotas of divine generals and troops being summoned.

We respectfully summon the Lord of the Plain Cart and White Horse, five persons, with one hundred thousand soldiers, charged with arresting the ghosts of the Three Mounds and Five Tombs within a certain household. We respectfully summon the Lord of Circulating Qi (vital energy), five persons, with one hundred thousand soldiers, charged with arresting the one hundred twenty ghosts of punishment and slaughter within a certain household. We respectfully summon the Lord of the Capital Bureau, five persons, with one hundred thousand soldiers, charged with arresting the ghosts of the myriad essences and hundred evils within a certain household. We respectfully summon the Lord of Investigation and Summoning, five persons, with one hundred thousand soldiers, charged with arresting the ghosts of lesser officials and residual Qi within a certain household. We respectfully summon the Divine Lord Who Guards the Dwelling, five persons, with one hundred thousand soldiers, charged with arresting the ghosts of malefic forces to be warded off and of thieves within a certain household. We respectfully summon the Lord of the Broad Bureau, five persons, with one hundred thousand soldiers, charged with arresting the ghosts of the twelve months’ Establishment, Destruction, and Killing within a certain household. We respectfully summon the Lord of Northern City Decrees and Counsel, five persons, with one hundred thousand soldiers, charged with arresting the ghosts of the Northern Hours’ Establishment and Flourishing within a certain household. We respectfully summon the Regional Inspector’s Attendants, one thousand two hundred persons, together with five generals of each office and one hundred thousand soldiers, charged with arresting the ghostly evils that come from the five directions, bringing pestilential Qi and harming people, within a certain household. We respectfully summon the Lord of Unsurpassed Great Harmony, five persons and their troops, charged with arresting the ghosts of the Northern Hours’ Establishment and Flourishing within a certain household.

We respectfully invite one thousand two hundred Regional Inspectors and Attendants, each official general commanding five soldiers for a total of one hundred thousand troops, charged with capturing the plague Qi (vital energy) from the five directions that causes illness within a certain household compound, together with the ghosts and monsters that encroach upon people.

We respectfully invite five Unsurpassed Lords of Supreme Harmony, leading one hundred thousand soldiers, charged with capturing one hundred twenty kinds of demonic evils, enchanting ghosts, and heretical-path ghosts within a certain household compound.

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) said: Anyone who wishes to practice the methods of the Dao, nourish the body and cultivate, who wishes to heal disease, prolong life, and avoid calamity, or who hopes to ascend to heaven in broad daylight, enjoy household peace, see farming and sericulture prosper, gain profit in trade, possess numerous servants, advance in official rank, and prevail in lawsuits; who hopes men and women enjoy longevity, descendants remain safe, or women carry a pregnancy in peace, may all offer this prayer.

We now specially invite the Ten Departments of the Capital Bureaus (offices within the Heavenly Bureaucracy that separately administer different affairs) together with the Immediate Officials of Orthodox Qi, the Regional Inspectors and Attendants, the Lord of the Plain Carriage and White Horse, the Lord of Northern City Shao Mandate, the Heavenly Lord Who Supervises Rebels, the Lord of Broad Administration, the Elder Lord of Great Mystery, and other divine spirits. We further invite one thousand two hundred persons transformed from the Qi of Supreme Harmony, each leading five generals, to station themselves in the center of a certain household courtyard, weapons in hand with blades pointed outward, to oversee all inauspicious Qi and ghosts both inside and outside the residence.

All residual Qi of the yin realm, ghosts that receive blood offerings as sacrifice, evil deities that bewilder people, every kind of essence-spirit and malevolent haunting, as well as earth essences and poisonous Qi within the soil, must be captured, subdued, and executed. All leftover inauspicious Qi arising from the construction of dwellings, the raising of beams and setting of pillars, the repair of garden plots, the renovation of houses, the relocation of wells and stoves, the alteration of doors, the mending of fences, the arrangement of walls and hangings, the digging of wells and cellars, or the filling of holes, shall likewise be cut down and eliminated.

In addition, capture the so-called “Five Remnants and Six Thieves” and “Twelve Demonic Delusions” (the various evil hauntings named in the scriptures) within a certain household, together with disasters befalling men and women, leftover calamities inherited from ancestors, ghosts formed from curse-killings, wicked residual Qi, lingering disaster-demons and charming spirits, parasitic ghost-hauntings, the Five Voids and Six Consumptions (ghosts and spirits that symbolize depletion and inauspiciousness), twelve kinds of injected maledictions (heretical techniques that cause illness or misfortune through cursing), nightmares produced by wild heretical arts, and calamities connected with official lawsuits and disputes of the tongue.

Moreover, extinguish the calamities that implicate relatives both within and outside the clan, as well as the various ghosts of those who died first, those who died later, men and women who suffered successive misfortunes, those who died without guilt, those who died as sojourners in strange lands, those who died in battle, those who died untimely deaths, those who died of disease, including ghosts slain by curses and all manner of anomalies. Whenever owls, crows, magpies and other birds cry without cause, a hundred birds clamor in confusion, dogs howl uncannily, or there appear blood-light, metal-light, fire-light, water-light, wood-light, luminous clothing, luminous hair and similar portents; whenever house doors open and close with sound, steamers emit cries, pots and tripods resound, as well as essences of metal and iron, heavenly bees, green flies, insects and serpents, wild beasts, foxes, domestic animals and the Qi of the five poisons—if these conceal themselves within the house and refuse to depart, we respectfully request that the Most High command the Heavenly Bureaucracy to behead, capture, and administer them according to the incantation. Just as prescribed in the ghost statutes of the Mysterious Capital, none may defy or fail to execute the divine incantation of the Celestial Master. Swiftly, swiftly, in accordance with the statutes and ordinances.

I once again respectfully report to the Most High Lord of the Great Dao (Taishang Dadaojun), the Most High Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun), and the Most High Elder (Taishang Zhangren), together with the lords, generals, clerks, and troops under the documentary offices of the Three Ancestral Masters—the Celestial Master (Tianshi), the Successor Master (Sishi), and the Lineage Master (Xishi)—and I request that the Celestial Master’s divine generals of the Six Qualities, Six Uprights, Six Extremes, Six Offerings, and their like heed this command: Swiftly, swiftly, in accordance with the statutes and ordinances.

I once again respectfully report to the Most High Lord of the Great Dao, the Most High Lord Lao, and the Most High Elder, together with the lords, generals, clerks, and troops under the documentary offices of the Three Ancestral Masters, the Six Qualities, Six Uprights, Six Extremes, Six Yin, and the twenty-four lord-spirits. I, so-and-so, kowtow and bow again, and submit this memorial, saying:

The ways of the world have now declined, and the destined kalpa is drawing to a close. The common people are violent and rebellious; they imitate one another, and this has long since become an entrenched habit. Outwardly they practice goodness, yet inwardly they are like jackals and wolves; they wish only to do evil and refuse to act with compassion. Behind others’ backs they say one thing, and to their faces another, plotting against one another. Among ten thousand people, is there not even one who is willing to seek the Dao (the Way) of longevity?

People harbor malice in their hearts and conduct themselves improperly; all that they do is that which invites death. They indulge their desires and lust after beauty, and they chase after fame and profit. They look down upon the orphaned and the suffering, and they bully the poor and the weak. The strong oppress the weak; rulers and ministers campaign against one another; fathers and sons turn against each other; brothers kill one another; mothers and daughters curse each other; mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law live in mutual fear; husbands and wives scheme against each other; and even those of the same flesh and blood slaughter one another, disregarding the bonds of kinship. For this reason the Qi (vital energy) of the Dao no longer shelters the people of the world, and heavenly disasters descend upon the Nine Provinces, so that for a thousand li the land is strewn with white bones. Even among those who were originally good, scarcely any survive.

The text then goes on to accuse certain people of relying on strength to bully the weak, of abducting and selling women to serve as concubines, of living in luxury and pleasure without restraint, and of practicing heterodox arts without distinction of age. They turn to treacherous and wicked ritual masters and employ arts to harm one another. Some record the appearance of others and call out their names, leaving these things for long periods at the shrines of the God of the Soil or the God of the Stove, or casting them into springs, so that people suffer pain wherever they turn. They also offer fragrant and delicious vegetarian sacrificial foods to the God of Destinies, seeking to make men and women grow weary of others and fall in love with themselves, to change their hearts and attach themselves to the practitioner, taking pleasure thereby. They offer sacrifices at any time and in the end walk the heterodox path. Although they seem to profit in the immediate present, later they will suffer calamity. Those who harm the sons and daughters of others will in the end have the retribution fall upon themselves, even to the point of family ruin and death, bringing disaster upon later generations. Such heterodox arts delude and harm people; they are by no means the work of the Orthodox Dao.

Because of these treacherous and wicked deeds, I have specially listed the charges and submitted this memorial, taking refuge in the Most High Dao Lord of the Three Heavens. I earnestly request that the Most High issue a command to the Heavenly Bureau, dispatching the Six Jia generals, the spirits of the Six Ding, and other clerks and troops to cut down the Qi of the heterodox arts in accordance with the divine spells, and to exterminate the heterodox and the false. In accordance with the statutes of the Most High, they are to slay ghosts and evil beings in order to protect the common people. I request that the clerks and troops needed for the orthodox methods of the Great Dao be granted to assist me in this campaign, so that the evil influences may be extinguished at once, as stipulated in the Ghost Statutes of the Mysterious Capital. Swiftly, swiftly, in accordance with the statutes and ordinances.

Note: The original text contains repetitions and a number of characters that appear to be corrupt or garbled; the meaning of some sentences cannot be determined with certainty. The above is a fluent reading based on context. The “Six Jia” (Liujia) and “Six Ding” (Liuding) are names of divine generals summoned and employed in Daoist ritual arts.

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) said: Today, by means of the spell “Jia piercing the wild,” I slay the evil Qi (vital energy) of the wild Dao, eliminate evil spirits, and destroy falsehood. This is the law of the Most High, used to suppress ghosts and demons and protect the common people. The orthodox methods of the Great Dao dispatch the officers and soldiers (divine troops who uphold the law and expel evil) to me, assisting me in campaigning against the evil spirits so that they are immediately annihilated, just as prescribed by the Ghost Statutes of Xuandu (the celestial ordinances governing ghosts and spirits). Swiftly, swiftly, in accordance with the statutes!

The Celestial Master said: Today, on a Jia day, pierce the flanks of the wild Dao; on a Yi day, sever the hair of the wild Dao; on a Bing day, sever the shadow of the wild Dao; on a Ding day, sever the form of the wild Dao; on a Xu day, sever the hands of the wild Dao; on a Si day, sever the spleen of the wild Dao; on a Geng day, sever the liver of the wild Dao; on a Xin day, sever the lungs of the wild Dao; on a Ren day, sever the heart of the wild Dao; on a Gui day, sever the tail of the wild Dao. Slay the wild Dao and cause it to die. There are three wild Daos in heaven and five wild Daos on earth; those who are not kin of the master of this household must not remain here. I hold a divine spell and command you to depart at once, going into the rivers and seas. There Qiongqi (a legendary fierce beast) together with Bixie wait in attendance, and Xianchi (a mythical name or place, unexplained in the original) will devour the flesh of the wild Dao and gnaw its skin. If you do not leave at once, you shall die beneath the divine spell of the Heavenly Marshal. Swiftly, swiftly, in accordance with the statutes!

The Celestial Master said: Today is a Six Yi day—wild Dao, depart at once; on Six Bing and Six Ding days, the wild Dao brings punishment upon itself; on Six Wu and Six Ji days, the wild Dao may not rise; on Six Geng and Six Xin days, the wild Dao loses its spiritual power; on Six Ren and Six Gui days, the wild Dao perishes of its own accord. The Six Jia Generals and the spirits of the Six Ding slay the wild Dao and forbid it to approach human beings. The Celestial Master’s divine spell: swiftly, swiftly, in accordance with the statutes!

The Celestial Master said: Today, encountering Yin and Shen days, the wild Dao loses its spiritual power; encountering Mao and You days, the spirits that withhold longevity slay the wild Dao and forbid it to approach human beings. The Celestial Master’s divine spell: swiftly, swiftly, in accordance with the statutes!

The Celestial Master said: Today, encountering Yin and Shen days, the wild Dao loses its spiritual power; encountering Mao and You days, the wild Dao may not long endure; encountering Chen and Xu days, the wild Dao must depart at once; encountering Wei and Chou days, the wild Dao’s life will not last long. The Celestial Master’s divine spell: swiftly, swiftly, in accordance with the statutes!

The Celestial Master said: On Five Yin and Five Mao days, slay the wild Dao; on Five Chen and Five Si days, slay the wives and children of the wild Dao; on Five Wu and Five Wei days, slay the demons, goblins, and sprites of the wild Dao; on Five Shen and Five You days, slay the parents of the wild Dao; on Five Xu and Five Hai days, drive the wild Dao into the sea; on Five Zi and Five Chou days, sever the head of the wild Dao. The Celestial Master’s divine spell: swiftly, swiftly, in accordance with the statutes!

Here “wild Dao” refers to the evil spirits or the qi of heterodox methods indicated in the spell text. Throughout the passage, commands to expel and slay the evil spirits are issued repeatedly according to days reckoned by the heavenly stems and earthly branches. “Swiftly, swiftly, in accordance with the statutes” is a closing formula commonly used in Daoist talismans and spells, indicating that the command must be carried out immediately according to the statutes. Certain phrases in the original, such as “Jia piercing the wild” and “three wild Daos in heaven, five wild Daos on earth,” are semantically unclear; the above follows the wording literally.

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) said: Today is the Jiachen day, and the wild Daoists (those who deviate from the orthodox path and harm people with heterodox arts) possess no supernatural powers; today is the Jiaxu day, and all wild Daoists will reveal themselves. On Yi days and Geng days, wild Daoists cannot act; on Bing days and Xin days, wild Daoists will be slain; on Ding days and Ren days, the hearts of wild Daoists will be shattered; on Wu days and Gui days, wild Daoists will be put to death; on Jia-Si days, wild Daoists will be killed and their corpses abandoned in the marketplace. The Celestial Master's divine curse is to be executed immediately according to the statutes and ordinances.

The Celestial Master said: The wild Daoists of the east transform into azure dragon-jiao, those of the south into fierce blazing flames; the wild Daoists of the west are slain. On Ding days and Ren days the hearts of wild Daoists will be shattered; on Wu days and Gui days they will be killed; on Jia-Si days they will be slain and their bodies discarded in the marketplace. The Celestial Master's divine curse is to be executed immediately according to the statutes and ordinances.

The Celestial Master said: The wild Daoists of the east transform into azure dragon-jiao, those of the south into fierce blazing flames, those of the west into roaring white tigers, and those of the north into the Black Warrior swinging its tail. For the wild Daoists of the center, the Yellow Emperor shall drink your blood dry; as the blood flows forth, the poison too is expelled. I know your names. The Great God of the North Sea has transmitted a petition: your body is three zhang tall, your head three chi long, your teeth like curved chisels of gold; your face is three chi wide, and the center of your forehead and neck is white. You devour three thousand in the morning and swallow eight hundred at night. If the wild Daoists are not utterly extinguished, they shall be investigated and hunted down. The Celestial Master's divine curse is to be executed immediately according to the statutes and ordinances.

The Most High Lord Who Circulates Qi (vital energy) to Relieve Calamities (the divine lord who presides over the circulation of Qi and the dispelling of disasters) commands a host of a million; the Unsurpassed Lord of the Great Center has three thousand six hundred persons; the Unsurpassed Nine Emperor Lords have three hundred and ten thousand persons.

The official generals under the Unsurpassed Lord of Great Harmony, together with the guards of the Nine Palaces and Twelve Camps, the spirits throughout the void of all the heavens, and all the common people of the world: if anyone among them is ill and suffering, this matter is to be reported to the disciples. The Great Unity Supreme Mysterious Primordial Qi (the original primordial Qi of Daoist teaching) commands thirty trillion libationers (Daoist leaders of all nations). Now the names of people of every surname in China are registered on official documents and submitted to the three hundred and ten thousand of the Unsurpassed Nine Emperor Lords.

The unsurpassed Taihe Sovereign officer-generals, together with the guardian spirit-generals of the Nine Palaces and Twelve Camps, pervade all the heavens and the void. Among all the common people of the world, those who suffer from illness and pain should inform the various disciples: the Great One Supreme Mystery Primordial Qi (the original primordial vital energy spoken of in Daoism) together with the libationers of the three hundred trillion countries now list the names of people of every surname in China upon the documents, and according to those names slay and eradicate the ghosts that work mischief.

If in a person’s place of residence there are mountain ghosts, forest ghosts, grass ghosts, wood ghosts, ghosts of burial mounds and graveyards, household ghosts or incoming ghosts; ghosts of the waterside, ghosts of the roadside, indoor ghosts or outdoor ghosts; ghosts that haunt during eating and drinking, ghosts that haunt during sleep; ghosts of the five colors cyan, vermilion, yellow, white and black; tall ghosts and short ghosts, large and small ghosts upon the earth; ghosts skilled at confusing people, ghosts that enter dreams to cause hauntings; ghosts that haunt at dawn, ghosts that walk at night; walking ghosts and flying ghosts; ghosts that inquire into human affairs, ghosts that call out to people, ghosts that injure people, ghosts that harbor anger to harm people; ghosts that rush about spreading epidemic poisonous Qi (vital energy), as well as the Five Plague Ghosts (the ghosts and spirits who preside over pestilence) and flesh-picking ghosts, one must immediately recite this incantation so that the ghosts and demons collapse and perish of themselves.

The Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Zhenren (Perfected One venerated in Daoism) tells all the libationer disciples: If you are able to receive and uphold this scripture of mine, whenever you encounter sudden headache, dimness of vision, or disharmony of cold and heat, recite this scripture often. The demonic sprites will then be shattered, not daring to withstand my incantation; if there are lawsuits, they too will dissipate of themselves.

The Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Perfected One (the ancestral master or honored deity of the Zhengyi school) addressed the various jijiu (libationers who transmit the teaching in Daoism) and disciples: If a person is able to receive and uphold this Jing (scripture) and encounters sudden headaches, dizziness, or imbalances of cold and heat and similar ailments, frequent recitation will cause demonic sprites to be annihilated so that they dare not withstand the mantra power within the Jing.

If one encounters lawsuits and imprisonment, floods or fires, this Jing may likewise be recited; if there are ghosts in the household, it may also be recited. The name of the Yuanjun (an honorific title for a goddess) should likewise be handled through recitation of this Jing.

In the world there exist various ghosts and spirits of great height, breadth, and length that harm the common people and cause them suffering; they also give rise to illnesses, plagues, and the circulation of qi (vital energy). The Jing enumerates many names of ghosts, including outer ghosts, thought ghosts, paralysis-and-disability ghosts, wangliang ghosts, flickering-confusion ghosts, wandering-and-suppressing ghosts, curse ghosts, lurking-corpse ghosts, as well as ghosts named according to various causes of death, locations, or appearances, such as palace-and-house ghosts, military-camp ghosts, prison-death ghosts, marketplace-death ghosts, wood-death ghosts, fire-death ghosts, water-death ghosts, road ghosts, soldier-death ghosts, mountain ghosts, water ghosts, well-stove-pond-marsh ghosts, hundred-insect ghosts, impostor ghosts, and others.

All these great and small sprites must not harm the bodies of the men and women of a given household or cause them to fall ill. If the ghosts do not obey the mantra command, their heads shall be smashed into fragments and their bodies and heads reduced to powder. Merely by reciting this Jing and chanting the names of the ghosts, the illness will be healed and whatever one undertakes will proceed smoothly and unobstructed.

The meritorious virtue and sacred power of this Jing are beyond measure. Thereupon the various jijiu admired and praised this numinous text, respectfully received the dharma instruction, resolved to uphold and recite it, performed the rites of bowing, and then withdrew.