《太上金书玉牒宝章仪》

I respectfully request that the True Officials of the Five Bodies and the Merit Officers within this servant’s own person, together with the Direct Envoy Merit Officers of the Upper Immortals and Upper Spirits, the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Merit Officers, the Left and Right Official Envoys, and the Yin-Yang Spirit Judgment Officials, each dispatch two of their number to set forth. I further request that the Red Talisman Officers of the Ritual Carriage and the Fierce Wind mounted postal officers who deliver memorials on horseback also set forth. When these officials depart, they are to array themselves in proper order, with garments and caps bright and distinct, wearing official caps with hanging tassels, fully equipped with ceremonial insignia, and holding jade tablets in their hands. They are to come before this servant, receive the words spoken from this servant’s mouth, and separately report them to the relevant deities.

Please report this matter to the local Earth God, the True Officials who govern this territory, the Lords of the Altars of Soil and Grain and of the cities and towns, the Two Mysteries of the Dao (the Way), the Three Primes and Four Beginnings, the various Jiazi officials, the Seventy-two Official Lords, the deities of the four directions and all quarters, as well as the Three Primes Lords of Investigation and Summoning, and others. Also present this memorial to the Supreme Lord Lao, the Supreme Elder, and the Five Qi (vital energy) Lords under the gates of the Three Master Lords—the Celestial Master (Tianshi), the Female Master, the Successor Master, and the Lineage Master.

This servant is of dull aptitude, with ears and eyes that are not keen, yet was mistakenly selected by the Mysterious Perfected and granted an official post. When first receiving this mandate, it was pledged that this servant would assist the Celestial Master, proclaim the Orthodox Way, succor the common people, and handle affairs between humans and ghosts and spirits. Whenever anyone comes to pray and seek assistance, there should be no obstruction or refusal.

Now the disciple So-and-so has in recent years repeatedly suffered hardships in the household and frequently dreams of ominous and perilous things. Crows and magpies flock around the dwelling, making a clamor, and strange birds have repeatedly come to cry out. The entire family is therefore frightened and uneasy, as if treading upon ice in a dangerous situation, yet they do not know where to lodge their appeal. Today the disciple has gathered the mind and spirit and calmed the heart with sincere intention, coming to this servant to request that a memorial be submitted in prayer. In accordance with the methods of the master’s lineage, this servant has recorded one memorial on his behalf and placed it upon the altar table. I request that the Merit Officers and Envoys jointly examine and correct it, and that they must present the memorial and send it upward. I respectfully await the review of the memorial text.

Next, the “Zhu Shui Du Zhang” (the memorial text praying for spirits to escort the petition upward) is recited. The disciple kneels, holding the memorial, and presents it to the master, who unrolls the text and reads it aloud. Whenever the names of the deities are invoked, they bow and kowtow. The incense must not be interrupted.

Your servant hereby solemnly commands the Zhen Guan of the Five Bodies (the divine officials who govern the five parts of the human body and protect the cultivator) and the Gongcao generals and officials (the divine officials responsible for transmitting documents and handling affairs): Your servant so-and-so has committed grave sins, with accumulated calamities piled layer upon layer, sins so vast they seem to pervade heaven and earth. Although the memorial has already been presented, your servant still fears it may not be delivered, and therefore once again respectfully invites the Direct Talisman (Zhifu) and Direct Affairs (Zhishi) officials of the Void, of Taiqing, and of the present year, month, day, and hour—the Zhifu and Zhishi being the celestial officials responsible for standing watch, transmitting orders, and handling matters; and also invites twenty Gongcao officials, four chief clerks (Zhubu), twelve assistants (Ganzao), twelve officials for transmitting documents and delivering seals, twelve Golden Light Youth officials, together with the Zhen Guan of the Five Bodies and Gongcao messengers within your servant’s own body, to assist as one.

Your servant respectfully presents a certain memorial on behalf of so-and-so, laid out upon the table, praying that all of you will cause it to reach the presence of the Jade Emperor of the Sacred Bureau and the gates of the Three Masters (the revered transmitting deities of Daoism). Only, your servant is dull and shallow, of ordinary physical form, unable to bear profound teachings; the writing is clumsy, the characters and lines are not properly aligned, and the wording may contain errors, omissions, or inversions, not conforming to the ritual.

Should such circumstances exist, it is hoped they will be entrusted to the Yin and Yang officials, the subordinate clerks of Yin and Yang, as well as the various departmental officials who examine memorials, the attendants and scribes who register the memorial texts, and the assistant clerks and minor functionaries who transmit documents. Please have them, when presenting the memorial, carefully correct and adjust any disordered parts so that the memorial is amended without error and delivered to the Heavenly Palace.

Should any evil qi from the lower realms or Six Heaven Ghost Thieves (the demonic entities spoken of in Daoist ritual) block the road for delivering the memorial, intercepting the document so that it cannot arrive in time, then please deliver them to the Red Beam Northern Prison of the Heavenly Bureau (the judicial institution of heaven and the prisons under its jurisdiction) to be punished according to law. It is imperative that the memorial presented by your servant be delivered on time.

The Left Lord before the throne of the Most High (Taishang)—a divine clerk who attends upon the Most High and is responsible for transmitting documents—successively requests the Right Clerk, then transmits the petition step by step to the various divine lords, asking them to present the memorialized matters upward through successive ranks, so that the enemies I attack may be defeated, the illnesses I treat may be healed, the things I collect may be obtained, and those I instruct may be convinced. Once the Gongcao (merit officers, divine clerks responsible for transmitting and handling documents) have received the assignment, they should immediately act in accordance with the documents, discern the proper moment, and not delay, thereby making manifest the ordinances of the celestial court.

After I have finished presenting the memorial with bows, I face toward the outer directions and request that the immortal officials, Gongcao, and generals and officers all withdraw and return. Thereupon the host of spirits within my body enter through the Gate of All Mysteries (Zhongmiao Men): those on the left return to the left, those on the right return to the right. The Gongcao envoys are charged with leading, inspecting, and escorting them so that each returns to their original post. When I summon them again on a later day, they come forth once more, all according to established custom.

Knock the teeth and swallow the saliva three times, then softly recite the invocation:

May the Gongcao envoys each return to the golden halls and jade chambers; when the time of summons arrives, they shall come forth again according to established custom. I, so-and-so, kowtow and bow twice.

The Comprehensive Memorial of Reporting Merits (Yan Gong Du Zhang)

Respectfully invite forth the “Five” within my body (the original text does not specify in detail what this refers to). Softly recite the invocation:

May the Gongcao envoys each return to the golden halls and jade chambers; when the time of summons arrives, they shall come forth again according to established custom. I, so-and-so, kowtow and bow twice.

The Comprehensive Memorial of Reporting Merits (Yan Gong Du Zhang)

I respectfully summon the True Officials and Gongcao clerks of the Five Bodies within my person, together with the officials among the Superior Immortals and Superior Numinous Officials that I wear who are charged with eliminating disasters, dispersing calamities, and relieving misfortunes, twelve of each category, to come forth. I further invite the Gongcao officers of the Left, Right, and Capital Departments of the Three Heavens’ Celestial Numina who are responsible for presenting memorial documents, two of each; the Decision Clerks of Yang Heaven, Earth Immortals, Sacred Canons, Ascending Origin, Soaring Carriage, Raising the Dead, Grand Physicians, Upper Selection, and Middle Selection, two of each; two Left Official Envoys, two Right Official Envoys, two Red Talisman Clerks of the Ritual Carriage, and two Fierce Wind Post-Horse Memorial Clerks. In addition I invite the Upper Selection and Middle Selection Decision Clerks, the Left and Right Official Envoys, the Red Talisman Clerks of the Ritual Carriage, and the Fierce Wind Post-Horse Memorial Clerks to come forth once more in the same numbers as before.

The officials who come forth shall straighten their clothing and headdresses, don distinctive official robes, fasten their cap-cords, and let their tassels hang. They shall take their places in ceremonial order before, behind, to the left, and to the right of me, listen to and receive my report, separately notify and memorialize the relevant offices, take my petition, and proceed to present it to the Sacred Bureau.

They shall report to the relevant offices that the matter now being inquired into concerns a certain land and region. The True Officials are requested to inspect the Qi (vital energy) mechanisms therein, to supervise and verify the affairs that are to be summoned, as well as the various officials belonging to the Jiazi cycle, the male and female officers and male and female functionaries, the twenty-four official ranks, the Left and Right Capital Marquis Lords, the Central Official Receptionists, and the official lords belonging to the Qiang, Hu, Di, Yi and other groups. All of this is to be reported together.

The Most High Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun, one of the highest deities revered in Daoism), the Most High Elder (Taishang Zhangren, a Daoist deity), together with the various lords, generals, officers, and soldiers under the Five Qi Lords of the Three Master Lords—the Celestial Master (Tianshi), Female Master (Nüshi), Successor Master (Sishi), and Lineage Master (Xishi)—each have their own designated responsibilities. The officials of the right submit reports at the appointed times, recording in detail the accounts of meritorious service.

Each year on the seventh day of the first lunar month and the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, reports are submitted to the Most High Elder and to the various lords, generals, officers, and soldiers under the Five Qi Lords of the Three Master Lords (Celestial Master, Female Master, Successor Master, and Lineage Master): the affairs administered by each office, as well as the meritorious deeds already entered in the records. The seventh of the first month and the seventh of the seventh month are the days for reporting the name registers of the living and confirming the registers of official emoluments; on the fifth day of the tenth month the Capital Petition Official reports meritorious achievements.

In addition, a certain male official and his associates, holding sincere hearts, first verify according to the established regulations the number of households among the subjects, their affiliated prefectures, counties, townships and villages, together with their name registers, household records and ages, then submit these for registration. I, your minister, respectfully prepare wine, fruit, fermented liquor and other mundane offerings, setting them forth in presentation to express earnest sincerity. I further present paper slips (notes inscribed with names or petitions), reporting and memorializing matters, declaring meritorious deeds, requesting rewards and offering congratulations. I earnestly request that the superior officers in charge, the kitchen supervisors on duty, the overseeing directors, the scribes and the attendants all descend together to preside over affairs at the ritual site (the place where Daoist sacrificial rites are conducted), managing them properly without error or confusion. May the immortal officials and scribes assist at my side. I cautiously unfurl the petition text.

Next one invokes the water deities and transmits the petition document. The disciple, holding the petition, kneels and presents it to the master; the master receives it and recites it. Incense burning should not be interrupted.

I hereby solemnly announce and command the True Officials of the Five Bodies, the Dao Lords of the Three Masters, the various lords and elders, as well as the Five Qi Lords under the Three Master Lords (Celestial Master, Female Master, Successor Master and Lineage Master) and others: the food and drink set out in today’s assembly, together with the consolation and rewards, have now been completed. A modest quantity of silk and copper coins is offered as slight remuneration and dedication. The kitchen supervisors and others have likewise concluded their duties; please each return to the Heavenly Bureaus (Tiancao, the official offices of the heavenly realm).

The Merit Officers, messengers, generals, officers and soldiers within my body: those on the left return to the left, those on the right return to the right, encircling the body and coursing through the meridians and hundred vessels. I earnestly request the superior officials in charge…

Please pardon the thousandfold offenses committed through past accumulated actions within my body. The officers and soldiers within my body: those on the left return to the left, those on the right return to the right, encircling the body and coursing through the meridians and hundred vessels. I earnestly request the superior officials to bestow their grace.

O Shangguan Dian, the divine official charged with reviewing and registering memorials, please investigate the thousands of sins accumulated upon my person over the years. I beg pardon and forgiveness so that I may suffer no punishment. Dispatch the relevant immortal officials, heavenly spirits, true officers, lords and generals, clerks, military scribes, attendants and other divine functionaries, each according to their duties, to inspect and dispose of the matter, to erase the sins and pardon old transgressions, transferring my name from the Register of Death onto the Jade Calendar (the register of the immortal realm) and the Book of Longevity, so that what ought to be preserved is preserved, memorials that ought to rise are submitted smoothly, and commands that ought to descend are transmitted without delay.

I further request that the body-protecting generals and the dharma-protecting spirit boys accompany and guard me, inspecting and reviewing every affair as it arises and announcing that the matter has been completed. Thereafter each shall return into my body, entering through the Gate of All Wonders (the portal by which the spirits within the body come and go) and returning to their palaces (the dwelling places of the inner spirits); when summoned again they shall come forth once more to carry out their orders. I, so-and-so, respectfully kowtow and bow twice.

Petition for the Protection of the Infant

I respectfully request that from within my body there be dispatched the True Officials of the Five Bodies (the spirits governing each part of the body) together with two Merit Officers and two clerks; further, two officials of the Highest Immortals and Highest Spirits along with two Merit Officers; and again two Merit Officers from each of the various departments under the Highest Immortals and Highest Spirits, as well as two clerks who transmit memorials; the various departments under the Highest Immortals and Highest Spirits\ldots

I respectfully request the True Officials of the Five Bodies (Wuti Zhenguan, the spirit officials who guard the phenomena of the body) together with the Merit Officers (Gongcao) and clerks within my person, each to send forth two; I further request the two Merit Officers of the Upper Immortals and Upper Spirits, each to send forth two; and I also request the Merit Officers and Document-Ascending Clerks of the upper, middle, and lower divisions of the Upper Immortals and Upper Spirits, each to send forth two. The Left and Right Official Messengers, the Yin-Yang Spirit Central Clerks, and the Ke Che Chi Fu Clerks shall likewise each send forth two; so too the Fierce Wind Mounted Post-Horse Document Clerks and the Five Bodies True Officials’ Merit Clerks, each sending forth two.

I further request the Upper Bright Infant Calamity-Resolving Messengers, the Upper True Infant Destiny-Crossing Messengers, the Upper Life Chengzhong Qingyuan Messengers, the Upper Life Hezhong Life-Calculation Messengers, as well as the Middle True Three Origins Destiny-Crossing Messengers, the Middle True Three Officials River-Attending Messengers, the Middle True Life Official River-Attending Messengers, the Middle True Three Officials Life Messengers, the Lower Prefecture Water Official Dao-De Messengers, the Middle Origin Tonghou River-Shadow Messengers, the Lower Bright Water Petition Messengers, the Lower Life Qingyuan Life-Extracting Messengers, the Upper Origin Heaven Official Sin-Pardoning Messengers, the Middle Origin Earth Official Examination-Remitting Messengers, the Lower Origin Water Official Fault-Remitting Messengers, and the Three Officials Huai-Ji Life-Calculation Messengers, each also to send forth two.

Once these spirit clerks have emerged they are to array themselves with solemn gravity, fully dressed and attired, displaying a majestic and dignified bearing, lining up on the upper and lower sides and mutually supporting one another. They shall petition and transmit announcements to the gate of the Water Official, the Three Rapids and Five Lakes, as well as the various Cao offices of the Huai and Ji rivers and the spirit bureaus amid the rivers and seas, lodging an appeal on one’s behalf to the True Honored Lord of the Dao in the Heavenly Offices (Tiancao, the official bureaus of the heavenly realm):

At present this rite is performed to resolve the calamities and misfortunes of someone’s child, so-and-so. Since the time of his birth disasters have been unceasing. There is further concern that the demons and ghosts of the Six Heavens will run rampant and cause chaos, harming the Three Officials (Sanguan: the Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water); also that the three kinds of baleful sha will seize the opportunity to draw near, causing him innocently to suffer external disasters and internal ghostly infestations. He may likewise be afflicted by such evil influences as the dog-child under the stone, the wet-nurse, cats and mice, soldiers’ and hunters’ qi-ghosts, and the like. With no other recourse at this moment, the entire family can only unite in heart and effort, purify body and mind, and take refuge in the Mandate of Heaven.

We pray to the Three Venerable Lords of the Dao (the three supreme deities honored in Daoism), Taishang Laojun, and the True Three Officials of Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) (the Three Officials worshipped in the Zhengyi tradition), earnestly requesting the protection of all deities. Whether it is intrusion by the three kinds of fierce evil spirits, unprovoked encounters with external calamities, hauntings by household ghosts, or frequent harm from evil Qi (vital energy) and ghostly entities such as stone-dwelling pups, wet nurses, cats and rats, soldiers and hunters, all leave one at a complete loss. The entire family therefore unites with sincere hearts, exhausting their utmost efforts, purifying their inner selves, and committing their lives to the deities.

Once more we pray to the Three Venerable Lords of the Dao, Taishang Laojun, the Zhengyi Zhenren, He Shang Laozi, the Jade Maiden Spiritual Immortal of the Lake, and other deities to oversee all matters. We pray that the Lingguan will eliminate disasters and resolve misfortunes for people, that the venerable deities holding Fulu (talismans and registers) and the messengers in charge of documents will go forth to present the memorial on my behalf, washing away calamities and clarifying grievances for me. In accordance with the Keyi (liturgy) regulations transmitted by the former masters, I respectfully write out and record the memorial and submit it, placing it upon the altar. We earnestly request the heavenly officials, generals and clerks, soldiers and attending guards to transmit the memorial at any moment; we pray they remain at my side, whether I am walking or standing, allowing me to inspect and verify the memorial.

Next comes the ritual of the memorial text for water invocation: The disciple kneels and presents the memorial to the master, who receives it and recites it. The incense smoke in the burner must not cease; after recitation, names are announced, followed by two bows.

Respectfully we again command and invite the True Officials and messengers on duty, the left and right Shuzuo (divine clerks who assist in handling documents), the petty officials who manage affairs, as well as the deities of duty Fulu and duty affairs, and the gods of the Solar Palace, Lunar Palace and Stellar Palaces, to oversee the Three Rivers and Four Seas, the remote lands of the eight directions, the waters of the Five Lakes, as well as the Jade Maidens of the rivers and the immortal officials who undertake affairs. I respectfully submit on behalf of a certain family one great memorial for protecting an infant, and seal the memorial. After the matter is completed, fearing encounter with inauspicious days and hours that might prevent delivery of the submitted content, or that the wording might be disordered with erroneous sentences, we therefore request the immortal official messengers and the twelve Shuzuo to trim and arrange the memorial using long-haired sharp brushes, collating it line by line; then with dragon swords and writing knives to cut away excess, correct wrong characters, ensuring the document has no omissions and can be delivered promptly.

In order to proclaim the efficacy of this memorial to those on high, there is concern that the karmic obstacles accumulated by a certain person over previous lifetimes may be so grave as to implicate both men and women and bring disaster upon the household. Should there also be evil karma contracted in former days, calamities will descend in succession, and the consequences will not be light. Lest anything be omitted in the transmission of the memorial text so that it cannot reach above in time, we therefore once again respectfully invite the various spirit officers to escort the memorial: thirty-six Direct Talisman officers and Direct Affair officers each from the two locales of Nonbeing (Xuwu) and Great Clarity (Taiqing), as well as thirty-six Direct Talisman officers and Direct Affair officers each of those on duty for the year, the month, the day, and the hour. (The Direct Talisman officers and Direct Affair officers are spirit clerks in Daoist ritual charged with transmitting documents and conducting affairs.)

We request that these spirit officers encircle the memorial so that it will surely be delivered. Once the memorial has been submitted above and the affairs concluded, may the Merit Officer messengers, lords and generals, and clerical troops within this minister’s body all return to the Golden Halls and Jade Chambers within the minister’s body (referring to the palatial chambers visualized within the body). Those originally on the left return to the left; those on the right, to the right; those in front, to the front; those behind, to the rear. They enter through the Gate of All Marvels, wind about the entire body, pervade between Heaven and Earth, encircle the four limbs, and course through the meridians. When they are to be summoned, they come forth again to attend to the matter at hand. All is carried out according to the established rites. This minister, so-and-so, knocks his head, knocks his head again, and performs the rite of double bowing.

Memorial for Slaying Evil and Destroying Ghosts.

I respectfully request that the True Officials of the Five Bodies and the Merit Officers, clerks, and spirit generals within the body of this subject so-and-so (the ritual master’s name) be dispatched. I request the Unsurpassed Three Heavens—the Qingwei Heaven, Yuyu Heaven, and Dachi Heaven—together with the Unsurpassed Nine Heavens Red Yang Three-Five Merit Officers, the Supreme August Perfected Ones, the Twelve High-Carriage Primordial Spirits, the Red Qi (vital energy) Red-Carriage Envoys, the Mysterious Primordial Original Qi Envoys, the Yin-Yang True Qi Envoys, and other such spirits, to come forth. I also request the lords, generals, clerks, and soldiers who hold the Yellow Book Contracts and Commands, the Lords of Yin-Yang Generating Qi, and the lords and clerks charged with transmitting the Dao (the Way), dispelling disasters, scattering misfortunes, and resolving calamities. I further request that the transforming spirit-lord soldiers and clerks amid heavenly changes and delusions, the Mid-Embryo Perfected Ones, the Red Pine Lords and Generals, the Mid-Embryo True Officials, and the Red-Carriage soldiers and clerks each send twelve persons.

I further request that the Direct Envoy Merit Officers of the two offices of Upper Immortals and Upper Spirits within this subject’s body each send two persons, along with the Mid-Embryo Perfected Ones, Red Pine Lords and Generals, Mid-Embryo True Officials, and Red-Carriage soldiers and clerks, each sending twelve persons. I request that the two Qin-clan offices, the Three Departments’ Merit Officers, the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Merit Officers, and the Former Register clerks each send two persons. I request that the clerks of the Upper, Middle, and Lower Three Departments charged with collecting and recording evils, as well as those charged with collecting and recording harms, each send two persons. I also request that the Urgent Qi Merit Officers and the clerks charged with collecting harms and capturing rebellious ghosts each send two persons.

I further request that the envoys of the Upper, Middle, and Lower Three Departments and the clerks who collect hun souls and record po souls each send two persons. I request that the clerks responsible for reverse-binding ghost heads, twisting hands and severing heads, supervising executions, capturing, and escorting, together with the Red-Carriage and High-Carriage Envoys, the clerks who shave heads and cut ears, those who sever heads with long blades, and those who enforce the law by capturing rebels and beheading them, each send two persons. Let them array their ceremonial processions in proper order, don their caps and bind their sashes, let their cap tassels hang down, form their ranks of guards, receive this subject’s report, and submit the matters separately upward.

I now respectfully set forth a certain petition: I request the arrest of the outer □ certain ghosts and their kind. These ghosts have repeatedly come to invade, disturb, and offend this subject. This subject respectfully follows the statutes of the Celestial Master (Tianshi), upholding the principles of cherishing life and abhorring slaughter, rewarding good and punishing evil, and promulgating the teachings of the law, and on behalf of ordinary people presents this earnest plea. Following the master’s methods, this subject respectfully presents a red petition beneath the bright stars, reporting the matter of the outer □ certain ghosts and others. I earnestly request that the relevant heavenly officials, generals, clerks, and soldiers, together with the local Earth True Officials of such-and-such place, the True Officials who infuse Qi and supervise, the lords of the village domains and settlements, and others, unite their efforts to arrest these wicked rebellious ghosts.

I request that all the spirit clerks hook and restrain the ghosts’ bodies, seize their ears, apply clamps and bindings, and escort them to the capital for interrogation and disposal. I request that the clerks on left and right charged with pursuit and capture seize them, and that the clerks charged with hanging heads, shaving hair, and severing heads stand guard on both sides. Let all the clerks array themselves in orderly ranks before and behind this subject, awaiting this subject’s orders, and listen as this subject recites the petition text.

Subsequently one recites the prayer over the Water Salvation Petition (a memorial used to pray for the elimination of disasters and the resolution of misfortunes). The disciple kneels while holding the petition aloft and presents it to the master. The master receives it, presents it onward, and recites it; incense must be kept burning continuously so that the smoke is never interrupted.

Your servant cautiously issues a further command to the True Officials of the Five Bodies, the Merit Officers, the generals and soldiers, the secretaries and minor clerks, together with the various divine functionaries such as the Lords of the Five Qi under the gates of the Three Masters—the Celestial Master (Tianshi), the Female Master, the Successor Master, and the Lineage Master. On behalf of a certain person your servant respectfully memorializes, requesting the elimination of disasters, the resolution of harms, the beheading and subduing of vicious rebellious ghosts, and hereby presents this Ghost-Breaking Petition. The petition is dispatched to the Sacred Offices beneath the Gate of the Three Heavens. We pray that the presiding officers dispatch the True Officials of the Five Bodies within your servant’s person, the minor clerks of the Three and Five, the Twelve Secretaries, the Merit Officers and the envoys, commanding them to wear the Penetrating-Heaven Crown, to be adorned with the Night-Luminous Jade Disc, to gird themselves with five-colored sashes, and to hold jade…

By command issued from the Sacred Office beneath the Gate of the Three Heavens, I dispatch the True Officials of the Five Bodies within my person, the minor clerks of the Three-Five, the twelve scribes, and the Gongcao envoys. They wear Tongtian crowns, bear night-shining jade discs, fasten five-colored sashes, and hold jade tablets. Once fully attired, they grind the ink and dip their brushes, then descend at the appointed hour to compose and settle the petition on behalf of a certain household, thereafter conveying the document to the Heavenly Bureau so that demons and evil may be seized and arrested.

Should noxious Qi (vital energy) of the lower realms, ghosts and sprites, or brigands block the road, intercepting my petition and preventing it from ascending, I carefully summon once more the thirty-six Zhifu (duty-talisman officers) and Zhishi (duty attendants) currently on daily rotation, together with thirty-six Zhifu and Zhishi each of those on duty today, this month, this year, and through the cycle of the four seasons. I further invite the Zhifu and Zhishi of the offices of Yin-Yang, the stellar lodges, the Five Emperors, the Six Jia, the Three-Five, Tianyi, Taixu (Great Void), Taixuan (Great Mystery), Taishi (Great Beginning), and Taiqing (Great Clarity), thirty-six of each.

I additionally summon two Gongcao, four Zhubu (chief recorders), twelve clerical aides, twelve minor clerks, twelve Golden Light Lads, six officers of the Five Palaces, as well as two Yunzhong Fuzhang Duyouli (cloud-dwelling petition-escorting inspectors), two Congshi (functionaries), two Anzhang (petition examiners), and two Jizhang (petition bearers). I request the Left She (God of Soil) and Right Ji (God of Grain) to protect and uphold my petition and to present it to Heaven.

Note: In the original text the phrase “妖□” contains a missing character; the graph “佡” may likewise be a variant arising in transmission or reading. The original likewise repeats “six persons” and certain titles among the Zhifu and Zhishi; the rendering above preserves the sense of the source without unauthorized omission or alteration.

Supreme Limitless Great Dao (Dao, the Way; the highest and most exalted Great Dao), Supreme Lord Lao, all lords, elders, and senior ones, the Newly Emerged Lord Lao, Taiqing Xuanyuan, the Supreme Three Heavens, the Supreme Great Dao, the Supreme Celestial Venerable, the Supreme Elder: I request that the Jade Maidens who review documents before the Jade Emperor's desk convey this petition and present it above.

If the petition contains wrong or omitted characters, uneven handwriting, inverted or confused phrasing, or unclear order, let it be handed to the Gongcao (Gongcao, the divine officials in charge of transmitting documents), who shall handle and relay it according to the four sections of the petition. The assisting clerks shall then inspect it. These clerks, like elders bearing dragon-headed writing knives, shall pare away what is superfluous and supply what is lacking. If errors, omissions, uneven handwriting, inverted phrasing, or unclear order remain, it shall pass again to the Gongcao to be verified and relayed, and the clerks shall again delete and supplement: the excess removed, the deficiencies still corrected, with reports made to the Gongcao at every stage. The Gongcao shall hold the brush in their mouths and hands, correct and finalize the text at once, and not allow the superior officials in charge of documents to reprimand or return it.

If any malign qi (Qi, vital energy) from the palaces and offices of the lower realms obstructs or intercepts the petition, it shall be seized and confined in the Northern Prison of Tianyi (the northern prison of the heavens, used for punishment), judged according to law, so that the rules of Heaven may be made plain. At this moment, close the mouth and hold the breath, and go straight up to the presence of the Supreme One without delay. The divine lords on the left shall pass it through the gates in order, and the officials on the right shall report it in turn. All the divine lords shall relay it level by level, each handling it in proper sequence. Let what is requested be delivered, let those summoned arrive, let those to be seized submit to the law, and let what must be eliminated be destroyed.

I humbly await a reply, until the matter of this petition is concluded. Afterward, let the three or five Gongcao lords (the divine generals within the body who oversee the transmission of petitions) sent forth from my own person, together with their officers, soldiers, and troops, enter through the Gate of All Mysteries (the mysterious and profound passage), proceeding in order. The Gongcao directly dispatched shall arrange them and check the records: those on the left return to the left, those on the right return to the right, encircling the body and flowing through all the meridians. When they are summoned, they shall come; when their work is finished, they shall withdraw and carry out their duties. All shall be done according to established precedent. Your subject, so-and-so, bows with forehead to the ground and bows again.

The offerings consist of fifty plates of cakes and fruits, two jin of dried venison, one jin of dried fish, one dou of clear wine, three liang of fine incense, five lengths of colored silk for warding and protection, one thousand two hundred cash coins, one bolt of silk as a token of faith, one bow, five arrows, one dou and two sheng of life rice, a pair of silver rings, twenty-four chi of five-colored thread, and one knife. An additional set of each of the items listed thereafter—the silk token of faith, the bow and arrows, the life rice, the silver rings, the five-colored thread, and the knife—is also prepared.

An altar is set up on the riverbank, a high seat is placed there, and incense fires are arranged in the five directions. After the memorial (the written document presented to the deities) has been completed, the text of the memorial is sent to the Heavenly Gate and burned. An image of the ghost is drawn, placed inside a casket, weighted down, and sunk to the bottom of the water so that it remains submerged and does not float up again. If it is inconvenient to perform the rite in a river, three dou of clear water are taken and the casket is sunk into the water according to the ritual.

A writing brush, one inkstick, and one hundred sheets of paper are also prepared. Every item must be reverently purified one by one. The paper used for writing the memorial is first fumigated with incense and then left exposed before the sacred image for three days; it may be used only if it has not been blown down by the wind or soiled by rodents during that time.