《正一法文天师教戒科经》

The Dao (the Way) takes emptiness, yielding, and harmonious peace as its De (Virtue/Power), and does not regard the myriad things as mutually overcoming one another. Therefore, when Heaven and Earth are in harmony, the myriad things can sprout, grow, blossom, and bear fruit; when the state is in harmony, All-under-Heaven is at peace and the people live in security; when the family is harmonious, the father is loving and the children filial, and they receive the blessings sent down by Heaven. Worthy and enlightened people should deeply contemplate this principle—how could they fail to value harmony?

When Heaven and Earth lose harmony, the operations of Yin-Yang become disordered: thunder in winter, frost in summer, floods and droughts out of balance, and the myriad things wither. When the state loses harmony, rulers and ministers deceive one another, the strong bully the weak, foreign peoples invade the borders, warfare is incessant, All-under-Heaven is in chaos, and the people cannot dwell in peace. When the family loses harmony, the father is unloving and the children unfilial, elders and juniors resent one another, grudges and hatred accumulate, even the ghosts and spirits of the household are disturbed, and in the end the family’s fortunes decline. All these resentments and calamities originate in disharmony: disharmony of Heaven and Earth disorders Yin-Yang and brings disaster upon the myriad things; disharmony of the state causes outstanding men to contend for power, laws to fail, and the people to suffer harm; disharmony of the family often arises from greed for wealth and profit, then leads to mutual anger and the brewing of disaster.

The reason worthy and enlightened people explain these principles over and over is that they worry people will long listen to and follow practices that do not accord with the correct Dao, personally commit evil, violate the prohibitions and precepts, and in the end receive punishment yet still not awaken; some even resent the methods of the Dao because of this, and their faults grow ever deeper. Therefore we solemnly exhort everyone to cultivate with a focused mind, to encourage one another, to eliminate past evil actions, and to practice good actions henceforth. When good actions accumulate, one can accord with the Dao; when the mind and Shen (spirit) are settled, the body too is stable. Do not let joy and anger accumulate and stagnate in the heart, do not let evil words come out of the mouth, do not listen to ugly sounds, do not look at deviant and improper sights, and do not concentrate greed and desire in the mind. Rectify the self and cultivate earnestly, and true Qi (vital energy) will come to attach itself, while evil recedes; old faults are eliminated and new goodness naturally appears.

All who wish to practice the methods of the Dao should be diligent. Serve teachers and elders with reverence, serve parents with filial piety, serve the ruler with loyalty, and also cherish one’s own person. The teachings and precepts must not be violated; those of like aspiration and shared Dao should be drawn close. In outward affairs be modest and simple; inwardly be clear, bright, and sincere. Be cautious in speech and take precautions against misfortune. Consult those who understand principle, teach the ignorant; practice humaneness and righteousness, bestow kindness; show compassion to the orphaned, suffering, and weak, help the poor and lowly, and rescue those trapped in hardship. Do not kill living beings, avoid evil matters, abstain from sexual desire, stay far from greed for profit, and be moderate in wine and meat. Honor good people and also exhort the wicked. Worthy and enlightened people should firmly remember these teachings and admonitions.

If a person cannot act in accordance with the laws and precepts, and has no merit or virtue in body or mind, yet wishes to seek Heaven’s blessings, that is difficult indeed. Cultivating good brings blessing; committing evil incurs guilt. Having received punishment, they do not reflect on former faults, but instead say that following the Dao is of no benefit, complain against Heaven, hesitate and withdraw, shift their thoughts, follow the multitude in being deluded by all kinds of deviant theories, form factions for private advantage, and lead people toward the false, the deviant, and the wicked. Those who do this are foolish and ignorant, and grow ever farther from the Dao.

The Dao is vast and boundless, the net of Heaven is spread everywhere, and every person is within it, just as fish swim in a great net without knowing that the net already covers them all around. When the net is drawn in, the fish are caught; when the net is opened, the fish slip free. People who do not understand the vastness of the true Dao are likewise like fish that do not know the net. Fools sometimes abandon the true Dao to follow empty and false theories; they may perhaps gain some benefit for a time, but it will not endure.

Those who betray the methods of the Dao are not immediately punished because the Great Dao is generous and broad, cherishes human life, and allows people to act according to their own wishes. At first a person may feel it is satisfying, but later will deeply regret it—this is not something people of shallow insight can discern. The Dao regards people as people regard insects and ants; the Dao has the power to cause people to lose their lives, yet takes as its root the love of life and aversion to killing, and therefore does not itself take the initiative to kill people. If the wicked do not stop committing evil, there are spirit-officers who record their crimes; when the sins are accumulated to fullness, it is the deities in charge of punishment who carry out the penalty, not the Dao that personally kills. Those who wish to eliminate harm and stop evil should diligently follow the teachings and precepts and must not violate them.

The Dao takes Wuwei (non-action) as the highest. People’s faults accumulate day by day because they stubbornly act willfully and greed for profit at every turn. The Dao practices Wuwei and thus is able to endure long. Heaven and Earth emulate the Wuwei of the Dao and thus accord with the Dao; Perfected Persons emulate Heaven and Earth and observe the teachings and precepts, and thus are able to accomplish the way of the divine immortals. The Dao encompasses all without remainder; if a person can cultivate, hold fast to the teachings and precepts, and accumulate good deeds, then merit and virtue will protect the person, enabling the self to communicate with the Heavenly Dao, and blessings can extend to descendants as well.

This is a principle that worthy and enlightened people delight in pursuing, yet which ignorant people find difficult to comprehend. Those who study and cultivate should diligently encourage themselves. The Celestial Master (Tianshi) established teachings, transmitted precepts, and clarified the methods of following the Dao: those who cultivate superior De can become immortals; those who cultivate middling De can double their lifespan; those who cultivate lesser De can still prolong their years and not die untimely deaths without reason. The precepts say that those who commit evil will have their lifespan reduced, even dying a violent death. How pitiable are the wicked! Why should worthy and enlightened people not cultivate good deeds and seek longevity? Even if one cannot attain middling De, so long as one practices lesser De, cultivating body and mind in the world, cutting off love and desire, and changing the unwholesome customs of the vulgar world, one can still accord with the Dao.

One must not indulge in lust without being able to restrain oneself, nor harbor evil thoughts. This will exhaust the Shen (spirit), damage Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy), leave the hun and po souls unable to remain at peace, and ultimately bring harm to oneself.

One must not be of an irascible nature, easily provoked to anger, venting the resentment in one’s heart through speech, loudly cursing others, swearing oaths and uttering imprecations, or even calling upon heaven and earth in a manner that startles gods and ghosts. Repeatedly violating this precept without reform allows resentment to accumulate in the heart and injures the five viscera. Once the five viscera are damaged, illness becomes difficult to treat. Those who honor the Dao have within their bodies the clerks and soldiers of the Heavenly Bureau (the divine officials and troops of the celestial realm who oversee the registers and inspect sins). If one repeatedly breaks precepts through anger, the mind-spirit cannot remain settled; the clerks and soldiers will go to the Heavenly Bureau to report the offenses. As faults accumulate into sins, the Heavenly Bureau records them on the tallies of life and death: the left tally strikes off years of lifespan, the right tally notes the time of death. For lighter offenses, calamity falls upon the person; for heavier ones, misfortune also extends to descendants.

One must not be hypocritical, concealing malice, outwardly relying upon others while inwardly harboring only the thought of harming them. The mind-spirit is the master of the five viscera; if one is wholly occupied with evil, the mind-spirit cannot be at peace and the other spirits become angry. When the spirits are angry they diminish one’s lifespan—this is the precept that must never be violated. If one does not stop, disaster will descend.

One must not allow the body to become filthy and turbid, nor drink to excess so that the mind becomes confused and the temperament turns abnormal, becoming arrogant, rebellious, and wholly without restraint. Should this cause one to disregard official prohibitions, fail to respect the sovereign and one’s father, pour forth abuse, curse oneself seeking death, leak private matters, remain obstinately deluded and violate the ethical order, even engage in sexual misconduct with blood relatives, curse heaven and earth, act without the slightest scruple, and take up a knife in self-defense, then Heaven will send down calamities so that one suffers the evil consequences.

Fifth, one must not greedily seek money, wealth, and goods. Wealth and goods are like dung and dirt; they should be given to others whenever the occasion arises. In later ages when the ways of the world have declined and grown thin, people treat money as a treasure, single-mindedly pursuing profit, buying low and selling high, constantly watching for opportunities to take advantage and deceiving the common people. When they obtain what they desire, they are filled with joy; when they do not, they become resentful and angry. At times they even fight over the amount of wealth, harming one another with knives and weapons, violating the prohibitions of the Heavenly Dao (the Way) and failing to follow the teachings and admonitions. Greed for wealth harms one's own person, ultimately leading to the destruction of both body and reputation; of what use, then, is such wealth?

Those who hear the precepts all praise them, considering them well said and feeling that they ought not to be violated. Yet those who abandon the precepts and turn instead to the pursuit of profit, if they cannot restrain themselves, will soon give rise to greedy thoughts once more and again take risks in greedily seeking wealth. Greed for wealth harms one's own person, ultimately leading to the destruction of both body and reputation; of what use, then, is such wealth?

Those who hear the precepts often praise them in unison, saying, “Good! They must not be violated.” Yet if they abandon the precepts and turn instead to chasing profit, unable to restrain themselves, and greedy thoughts suddenly arise again, they will often meet with dangers and the disaster of facing the blade, and their lives may even be cut short thereby. Only when they have already failed do they think of repenting; only when their guilt is already fixed do they say the precepts are good. The deed has already been done wrong, and the Heavenly Dao will not save them.

Wealth and sexual desire are like an awl driven into the eye; they invite disasters that injure the body. The wise keep far from them, while the foolish take delight in them. The wise, whether sitting or rising, sleeping or lying down, in every movement and action, are at all times cautious and self-restraining. Those able to restrain themselves, whose body and mind are not pulled by deviant delusions, will naturally see their blessings made manifest.

Look at those who today piously and wholeheartedly devote themselves to the Dao (the Way): there is scarcely a single one. Why say this? Because the ways of the world have declined and grown thin, and customs are as follows: everyone strives to contend and prevail, greedily seeking glory, splendor, wealth, and rank; benevolence and righteousness are no longer practiced, and scheming deceit is taken for cleverness. Fathers and sons deceive one another; rulers and ministers deal with each other perfunctorily; they mutually request favors and intercede, using wealth to bribe and purchase office; they dismiss the loyal and upright and employ the flattering, sycophantic, and wicked. The treacherous form cliques; those close to one another flatter each other; the wealthy and noble chase after one another, while the poor and lowly are abandoned. Clothing, carriages, and horses emphasize ostentation, following worldly fashions. Gentleman and petty person alike do this, and so people of the world cheerfully pursue these things—how then would they still think of the Dao?

Such foolish people, even if they enjoy temporary success and prominence, are not worth envying. Why? The foolish have shallow insight; at the slightest nobility and glory they become arrogant, extravagant, and excessively indulgent, following their own pleasure without carefully observing standards and laws. The Dao is pure, still, empty, and void; it does not receive such people. The Shen (spirits) and deities withdraw far from them, and deviant ghosts take the chance to harm them. Some collude with the deviant and false, abandon the true, and pray to ghosts and spirits for help. The net of Heaven is vast; punishment has simply not yet descended. It is like rice already cooked: even if the stove fire is extinguished, residual heat still remains in the rice and has not dissipated; but how long can this heat last? That the wicked have not yet met disaster for the moment is like the leftover heat in the rice—it cannot endure.

The wise are what people most wish to become. People cherish living and detest dying—is this not so? The Heavenly Dao is fair and upright: it lets the good survive and punishes the wicked with death. Fortune and misfortune, blessing and disaster, come from the obscure and unfathomable Heavenly Dao. Disasters cannot be avoided by the wealthy and noble merely offering a prayer, nor are the poor and lowly deliberately punished simply for remaining in hardship. For those who do good, blessings arrive; for those who do evil, disasters descend. Even if a ruler possesses countless treasures, when he faces peril and, clinging to life, seeks to survive, even if he offers the wealth of an entire city and great quantities of gold to buy his life, how could that possibly succeed?

The wise, even if poor and lowly, need not force themselves to pursue wealth and rank. Bitterly exhausting the mind and Shen harms a person’s spirit, causing them to neglect their proper duties; arrogance moreover disturbs the will, preventing longevity. When people see the wealthy and noble they envy them in their hearts and devise every means to obtain the same; they labor the mind and strain the will, and even if they obtain it, what they gain is not necessarily abundant.

If one has something to seek, one should cultivate oneself and keep the mind on the Great Dao. The whole household, old and young, of one heart and in harmony, should sweep and purify, burn incense and pray, and with upright solemnity state what is sought. The Dao can subdue deviant hauntings—what disasters then can it not dissolve? Prayer and vows require no gold, silk, or wealth; they require no asking others to send gifts and seek favors; nor do they require wine and meat for sacrificial prayer. One need only wholeheartedly return to the Dao, accord with the principle of Wuwei (non-action), and naturally there will be attainment. If what is sought comes to pass as wished, and one then believes this the merit of ghosts and spirits obtained by bribing with offerings, that is merely superstition; even abundant offerings are of no use. If one imitates worldly people, turning from the Dao to pray in all directions, the method is entirely wrong.

To seek blessings and vows, one should diligently cultivate oneself and zealously devote oneself to the Dao. Morning and evening, in purity, burn incense; whether sitting or lying, constantly keep in mind what is wished; do not interrupt the practice, and there will be no blessing or vow that fails to be fulfilled. Those who love to devote themselves to the Dao obtain immeasurable blessings; those unwilling to devote themselves to the Dao follow their own original mind. The Dao is extremely vast, leaving the choice to each person; only the wise can understand this. The worthy, thought after thought, advance diligently, fearing only that they cannot catch up; the foolish grow slack and turn back, fearing only that they are not yet far enough from the Dao. This is the difference between the worthy and the foolish. Those who cultivate and study should encourage themselves to practice diligently.

Households devoted to the Dao sometimes also encounter disasters and anomalies, illness, funerals, official disputes, gossip and conflict, and other unfavorable matters. Why is this? It is all because people are foolish and do not diligently observe the precepts. Although they know the Dao is honorable and wish to devote themselves to it, their disposition and conduct are no different from the worldly; deviant and false thoughts have not been removed, yet they wish to use the deviant and false to disturb the orthodox Dao—in the end this cannot be accomplished.

The deviant and the orthodox are like thieves who, seeing patrols and guards, can only hide and flee, having no place to stand—how would they dare offend dignity? Deviant Qi (vital energy) naturally cannot communicate with the orthodox Dao; how then can one hope that deviant Qi and the orthodox Dao will unite? Such people, though nominally devoted to the Dao and hoping the Dao will protect them, are not received by the Dao. They consider themselves belonging to the Great Dao; when they meet disasters, urgent perils, and illness clinging to the body, although they hope the Dao will come to protect them, the Dao will not save them. Malevolent Jing (essences) and wicked ghosts take the opportunity to harm them, and the Dao will not drive these away on their behalf.

The wicked are foolish and stubborn, never able to restrain themselves, repent and renew themselves, and sincerely return to the Dao; instead they go still further against the Dao, resenting in their hearts that the Great Dao is inefficacious. Such people act without dignity, their intentions waver, they delay the days, hoping only that the disaster will pass and the harm be averted, yet among ten thousand hardly one escapes. Their nature is obstinate and perverse, their hearts never change; by the time they regret after losing their lives, how can it still be in time? The foolish—how truly lamentable they are!

The wise and worthy person must rectify the mind and hold firmly to the Dao (the Way), the fundamental principle revered in Daoism. One must not be negligent or lazy, but should cultivate diligently and steadily. Constantly warn yourself, act with care, and diligently cultivate the Dao. The Dao is supreme and unsurpassed, perfectly complete and all-pervading, without inner or outer boundaries. It encompasses Heaven and Earth, commands the host of spirits (shen), and gives birth to and nourishes the myriad things. Whether flying birds, running beasts, or creeping insects, all living beings that contain vital energy (qi) are generated by the Dao. The power of the Dao is everywhere; it can cause things to gather or disperse and can bring all beings into submission. It holds the key to the movements of Heaven and Earth, drives the hundred ghosts, was born before Heaven and Earth, and endures endlessly without exhaustion.

People live in the world with short lifespans that pass in the blink of an eye. The Dao is generous and vast; taking pity on the brevity of human life, it teaches people to do good and cultivate the Way. Those of the highest cultivation can become immortals, those of the next level can become earthly immortals, and those of the third level can still extend their lifespan. The Dao is so exalted that it asks nothing of people. If a person cannot gratefully remember the grace of the Dao and diligently cultivate goodness—even if they cannot reach the middle level of practice—they should still strive to perform the most basic good deeds. If they cannot even do this, but instead turn away from the correct path, ignore teachings and precepts, and only indulge in desires, wealth, honor, beauty, treasures, drinking wine and eating meat, unrestrained pleasure, arrogance and self-satisfaction, how then would they ever think of the Dao?

If a person does not keep the Dao in mind, the Dao will not protect or remember that person. The relationship between humans and the Dao is like that of fish and water: a fish lives only because it has water and dies once it leaves the water. If a person loses the nourishment of the Great Dao, how can they hope to survive for long? The key lies in diligent cultivation and single-minded remembrance. If the worthy person wishes to preserve themselves, practice the good Way, and bring peace to the family, they should correct past faults and continue to cultivate good deeds. When seeing others err in conduct, they should mutually advise and help them to repent and reform. In this way the accumulated merit will bring immeasurable blessings.

Do not be arrogant or contemptuous of the Dao merely because it is formless and cannot be seen or touched. If one wishes to receive grace and blessings, one must cultivate diligently and maintain purity and stillness morning and evening. When fellow practitioners of like mind encounter difficulties, or when someone falls ill, one should come to their aid. Whether in emergency or in ordinary times, all should support one another. One must not rely on cleverness to deceive the dull-witted, nor rely on power and influence to cheat others, nor use the names of ghosts and spirits to frighten those in distress. One must not, having a little cleverness, become self-righteous and look down on others, still less slander and accuse one another, gossip behind backs, or criticize the worthy and good.

One must not, out of private feeling, greed, or cruelty, honor the noble while humiliating the poor and lowly, or draw close to the rich while abandoning the poor. Nor may one rely on forceful qi, harbor a two-faced mind, and seek blessings by following private desires. The Dao will not heed such conduct, nor will ghosts and spirits allow themselves to be driven by it. Such actions only corrupt the correct teaching and instead invite culpability. One should seek out those of like mind and live in friendship with those who cultivate the same method.

If among men and women there are those who cannot read but who concentrate their minds on the Dao, they may invite a literate person to recite the scriptures (jing) and precepts (the admonitions observed by cultivators of the Way). When people gather in a quiet and clean dwelling or in the hall, they should first sweep it clean, burn incense, and wash and purify the body. Men and women sit separately, rectify their deportment, settle the mind and spirit, concentrate their thoughts, and listen attentively. Do not joke and chatter randomly or behave improperly; do not let the mind wander, be greedy for sleep and lazy, or exhaust the body to the point of weariness—these practices are futile and of no benefit. If one can cultivate diligently without weariness according to the precepts, the household will receive blessings and protection, and the officials and soldiers of the Heavenly Bureau (the celestial officers and troops spoken of in Daoism) will also come to protect them, so that throughout life they remain free from disaster and illness.

Among all things in the world, human beings are the most honored and precious. Living between heaven and earth, people know the day of their own birth, yet they do not know when death will arrive. Whether good or evil, whether rich and high or poor and lowly, everyone hopes for a long life free from disasters, illness, and suffering; no one wishes to reach the end of life first.

Yet when the wicked accumulate too many offenses, their sins become full and invite illness; after falling gravely ill they proceed toward death, often remaining completely unaware. Only those who cultivate goodness can receive blessings in return. A person’s lifespan is determined by Heaven’s mandate. The Dao (the Way) of Heaven does not speak, so the sages, responding to the needs of people in the world and filled with compassion, left behind teachings and admonitions. Sages do not remain in the world forever, and thus they transmitted the teaching to later generations. They left these teachings hoping that people would strive toward goodness, persist in cultivation, extend their years, preserve themselves, and thereby make life long-lasting. If everyone can honor and follow the teachings without slackening, they can not only preserve their lives but also obtain the blessing of prolonged longevity. This blessing cannot be obtained by the wealthy through bribing with material goods, nor can it be sought by offering wine and meat in sacrifice to ghosts and spirits.

Persons of the Dao and the worthy respectfully observe the teachings and precepts, concentrating on cultivation and diligently disciplining themselves; they first undergo hardship, and only afterward receive corresponding blessings. Whether worthy or foolish, noble or humble, everyone hopes to obtain what they seek. The person of the Dao has a firm will and therefore can restrain himself with the precepts: in all actions and conduct, and when facing desires, he keeps the precepts without transgression, and his mind does not stray into deviation. Upon seeing beauty or profit, he reminds himself with the precepts so that his gaze does not become infatuated; upon hearing pleasant or harsh words, he constrains himself with the precepts so that his ears are not drawn after them; when facing sweet and delicious food, he curbs the desires of the mouth and belly with the precepts; when the mind greedily thinks of treasures and indulges in passions, he holds this mind in check with the precepts; when wanting to commit wicked, improper, or evil deeds, he stops his steps with the precepts. Only one who can constantly keep the precepts without abandoning them can be called clearly understanding.

One should also exhort the ignorant and unenlightened to cultivate goodness. If they cannot accept and put the teachings into practice, there is no way to force them. The person of the Dao constantly harbors goodwill and delights in bestowing benefit, and therefore the Dao of Heaven confers blessings upon him.

To practice the methods of the Dao (the Way), one must be diligent without pause and assiduously cultivate oneself. Keeping the Dao requires long-term persistence, and one’s resolve must be firm. Cultivating the Dao demands focused effort; there is no such thing as first laboring and later receiving a reward. Only through continuous cultivation can one hope to transcend the mundane world and become an immortal.

Yang Gong practiced the Dao for fifteen years. By the age of sixty he still had received no return, yet he remained diligent in self-cultivation and never grew lax. Not until he reached eighty did his merit become complete and his cultivation outstanding, finally obtaining immeasurable blessings. All worthy persons who practice the Dao should likewise be diligent and wholehearted, just as one longs for food and drink when hungry and thirsty, longs to move to a comfortable place when suffering cold or heat, longs to rest when exhausted to the limit, longs to sleep when weary, and longs for fulfillment when the heart holds a desire. To contemplate the Great Dao, uphold the true Dao, and hope to leave the mundane world, one must feel the same urgency; strive according to the methods of the Dao and never slacken. In this way one can avoid disasters, calamities, illnesses, and worries. What wish then cannot be realized, and what blessing will fail to arrive?

The Great Dao arises from nature and was born before Heaven and Earth; it is called the “Unsurpassed Mysterious Elder Supreme.” The “three blacks blended into one” is the unsurpassed, orthodox, and true Great Dao. The Great Dao is vast and boundless, encompassing Heaven and Earth and transforming into myriad spirits. When subtle it diffuses beyond the eight directions; when deep it conceals itself within a hair’s breadth. It generates the ten thousand things, governs the Three Heavens, and commands thirty-six thousand spirits. So great that nothing cannot be covered, so small that there is no place it cannot enter. The Great Dao is clear, still, empty, and void, conforming to nature, and thus it can endure forever. It encompasses turbidity without being stained, and therefore it is the root of all things.

The Way of Heaven shows no partiality and draws close to no one; it only assists the good. Those who are good and keep the Great Dao can cultivate themselves into immortals. This is not something obtainable only by the wealthy and noble, nor is it denied to the poor and lowly who are despised. As long as one loves the Great Dao with single-minded devotion, sincerely contemplates it, cultivates oneself and performs good deeds, one can unite with the Dao.

Yet most people in the world are foolish. They delight in empty and insubstantial matters, indulge their desires among worldly crowds, greedily pursue momentary pleasures, and satisfy the cravings of mouth, belly, eyes, and ears, yet they are unwilling to endure hardship, apply themselves, and devote themselves to practicing the Dao. Those who practice the Dao should accumulate merit and De (Virtue/Power), treat others with humility and yielding, practice benevolence and righteousness, do good with gentleness and modest withdrawal, and maintain purity, correctness, and Wuwei (non-action). Although the beginning is laborious, blessings will come in the end; this differs from worldly pursuits.

Some people greedily seek only immediate, temporary gain. After death their bodies turn to dust and their hun-spirit likewise decays. The path of those who cultivate the Dao and that of worldly people are far apart: cultivators of the Dao are pure and correct, their names recorded in the heavenly realms; worldly people are defiled and after death belong to the earthly officials. Is the difference not great? Foolish people cling to the worldly and give no thought to practicing the Dao; this may be called a great error.

Everyone possesses eyes, ears, nose, mouth, mind-intent, and two feet, yet the actions of the worthy and the foolish differ. The foolish use their eyes to pursue profit and beauty, their ears to hear words of like and dislike, their nose to greedily enjoy fragrances, their mouth to greedily savor fine flavors, their heart to indulge every desire, and their feet to follow their own will toward evil deeds. The worthy do not act thus: their eyes do not greedily gaze at objects of desire, their ears do not listen to evil speech, their nose does not greedily love scents, their mouth does not greedily seek delicious tastes, their heart does not greedily contemplate the pleasures of desire, and their feet do not walk toward evil. This is what those who cultivate the Dao practice.

Those who cultivate the Dao also know that various desires can bring pleasure, yet they restrain their passions with precepts and therefore commit no evil. They continually accumulate good deeds so that their cultivation accords with the methods of the Dao, and thus they obtain inexhaustible blessings. The foolish clearly know that doing evil quickly invites disaster, yet they cannot concentrate on keeping the precepts; their conduct contradicts the Great Dao, so how can they expect blessings? If one wishes to obtain blessings, why not emulate those who cultivate the Dao?

To practice the Dao one must be pure, correct, and in Wuwei; it is enough to focus diligently, cultivate, and accumulate good. There is no age restriction on cultivating the Dao, nor any fear of water or fire calamities. Being poor and lowly and suffering bullying, being a powerful person who seizes by force, being wealthy and competing for fame and profit, or enduring the toil of labor and heavy burdens—none of these should serve as an excuse not to cultivate the Dao. Why not rouse oneself, devote oneself to practicing the Dao, and diligently cultivate the self?

Those who cultivate the Dao should possess every kind of virtuous De and accumulate a thousand kinds of good deeds. Even if one already has nine hundred ninety-nine good deeds and only one remains unfinished, if at that moment one is moved by private interest, all previous effort may be lost. One must attentively cultivate the self and keep the precepts without lapse in order to transcend the mundane world. Worthy cultivators of the Dao should diligently put this into practice.

The great Dao (the Way) encompasses Heaven and Earth, sustains and nurtures all living beings, and governs the ten thousand things. It has no form, cannot be seen or touched, and is chaotic and hard to name, yet it can give rise to myriad things beyond anything humans can fully describe. Everything between Heaven and Earth is generated by the Dao and is governed by it.

The Dao bestows upon all things a subtle primordial Qi (vital energy), divided into the three Qi of Xuan, Yuan, and Shi: the Xuan Qi appears cyan and represents Heaven; the Shi Qi appears yellow and represents Earth; the Yuan Qi appears white and represents the Dao. These three Qi oversee Heaven and Earth and nourish the ten thousand things, and are therefore honored as most exalted and most divine. All life between Heaven and Earth is born by receiving these Qi. Things that endure for long are able to hold to the Dao, nourish the primordial Qi, and possess Jing (essence) and Shen (spirit), and thus can correspond with the Qi of Yin-Yang.

The Dao gives birth to Heaven, Heaven gives birth to Earth, and Earth gives birth to humans; Heaven, Earth, and humans are all generated through the transformation of the three Qi. The Jing (scripture) uses the phrase “Lü er ru jiu” to indicate that the human body has nine orifices and nine Qi. When the nine Qi flow freely, the five viscera are stable; when the five viscera are stable, the six bowels are harmonious; when the six bowels are harmonious, Jing and Shen become clear and bright; when Jing and Shen are clear and bright, one can draw near to the Dao. Therefore people should do good and hold to the Dao, carefully protect the way of life, and not lose De (Virtue/Power). These three do not leave one another, and only then can one live and grow without cease along with the transformations of Heaven and Earth.

The Yijing says: first there are Heaven and Earth, then the ten thousand things; with the ten thousand things there are men and women; with men and women there are husbands and wives; with husbands and wives there are fathers and sons. Fathers and sons succeeding one another is in order to continue the generations and keep the family bloodline unbroken.

In later ages the manners of the world grew increasingly shallow. People became foolish and shortsighted, craving only the pleasures of sound and color, sinking into deviant and empty affairs, and excessively pursuing women, so that Jing and Shen became disordered. They coveted wealth, the Qi rose upward, and various diseases arose. From the time of the Yellow Emperor onward the common people gradually grew clever, using oxen and horses for plowing and riding, and using wealth to seek official posts. By the period of the Five Emperors customs gradually worsened; in the Three Dynasties of Xia, Shang, and Zhou people pursued worldly profit still more. After the Qin dynasty was established, the feudal lords attacked and slaughtered one another, and those who died in the chaos of war were beyond counting. All of this was because they did not believe in and honor the Dao.

The Dao has served as teacher to emperors generation after generation, yet when emperors cannot honor the Dao there follows the calamity of a state’s collapse and personal peril. In times of crisis, even if one wishes to save the situation, it is often impossible to preserve it. The Dao treasures human life. At the end of the Zhou dynasty it began to appear in the world and was transmitted at Langya to Gan Ji. The Dao of Great Peace arose from the east; at first it sought to rescue the common people from suffering, and so some gradually became willing to believe in the Dao. At first the Dao Qi was still faint, and when people were taught to cultivate, eating and drinking were still permitted; later, as the teaching gradually spread, the scope of offerings also extended to the deceased spirits of parents, brothers, and other kin.

Later the Dao Qi would spread throughout the four seas and be transmitted toward the western frontier. Because the Dao of Great Peace was not yet complete, those who cultivated the Dao still needed to rely on oral secret instructions from enlightened teachers and to discern the tokens of mandate. The Dao also composed the Five Thousand Characters, explaining the essential keys of immortal cultivation, gradually making the prohibitions and precepts strict, and indicating methods of cultivating the body and nourishing life. The related teachings were transmitted to the Pass Guardian Yin Xi. Yet people of the world were mostly foolish, their hearts doubtful and unsettled; the dead followed one after another, and few were able to preserve themselves.

The Dao went west into the lands of the Hu, transmitting the methods of the Dao, with extremely strict precepts that especially emphasized immortal cultivation and the cultivation of the body and nourishing of life. The Hu people at first could not believe in the Dao, but later they turned to cultivate and become true immortals, interacting with celestial beings, roaming the azure clouds, and flying at the shores of the Weak Water. The Hu people kowtowed to seek the Dao, shaved their hair and removed their beards as a sign of their willingness to honor the True Person, and thus the True Dao flourished there. This is not to say that the True Dao is suitable only for the Hu and that the people of Qin cannot obtain it; it is only that the people of the Qin lands had not heard the True Dao.

After the age of the Five Hegemons declined, the Red Han (the Han dynasty) received the Mandate of Heaven. The Dao assisted the affairs of the age and, in a time of chaos, transmitted to Zhang Liang by means of the book of the Yellow Stone. The Dao also manifests in different forms according to the times; who then can distinguish the true from the false? After the Han dynasty was settled, later descendants quarreled without cease, the common people pursued profit, the strong and the weak struggled against one another, and thus the Dao harmed the lives of the people; once it departed, it was hard to recover. Thereupon Heaven bestowed the Dao Qi, causing it to govern the people; this is the newly transmitted Dao of Lord Lao.

Why do people only fear ghosts and not believe in the Dao? Therefore Lord Lao bestowed the Dao upon Zhang Daoling and appointed him Celestial Master (Tianshi). The Celestial Master’s rank is most exalted and most divine, yet he also serves as teacher among humans. You should know that the nobility of the Dao surpasses Heaven and Earth; yet people remain confused and unawakened, day after day, month after month, year after year, caring only to indulge the mouth and belly and give free rein to the ears and eyes, not believing in and honoring the Dao. Those who have died number in the tens of thousands; how can this not cause grief?

In the first year of Han’an (142 CE), on the first day of the fifth month, at Quting Chishi City in Linqiong County of Shu Commandery, the Dao established the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Way of the Covenant with the Powers, made a covenant with Heaven and Earth, and established the Twenty-Four Parishes (the dioceses and seats of Zhengyi Daoism), distributing the three Qi of Xuan, Yuan, and Shi to govern the people. Yet you still do not understand the root of the Dao, do not distinguish true from false, only competing for names and ranks, comparing high and low with one another, going against Dao and De, and following private intentions. People’s hearts delight in chaos, and so Zhang Jue launched the Yellow Turban rebellion. Do you know who Zhang Jue was? Since then, how many tens of millions have died? The Dao commanded later generations to distribute the primordial Qi to govern the people, and this was carried out in Hanzhong for more than forty years. Why would the orthodox primordial Qi, the teachings of immortals, and the methods of instruction that the Dao forbids and precepts be called untrue by Jing such as the Xiang’er, the Miaozhen, and the “Three Numina Seven Words”? And even to turn around and say that the Dao deceives people? This is truly lamentable.

The state is damaged and overthrown, the common people wander and migrate, the dead are counted in the tens of thousands, wounding people’s hearts and wills. Since the time of wandering, the Dao has still often rescued you, sometimes informing you by formulas of Qi, sometimes having former disciples exhort one another to correct their conduct, yet you still refuse to believe; this is truly pitiful. If one wishes to welcome clarity, one must first pass through darkness and chaos; if one wishes to realize Great Peace, one must first pass through calamity. If people cannot remove evil conduct, they will first encounter war, disease, flood and drought, and death. Your fate is hard, and you will precisely meet these disasters. Yet those who do good can ultimately be without blame. In the past, honoring the Dao and cultivating was precisely in order to meet today’s situation; even if one dies without waiting for Great Peace, descendants will still receive Heaven’s grace.

In later ages the manners are superficial and thin, and people’s hearts are not firm. If old and new common people see clearly the changes of worldly affairs, they should correct faults and turn toward good and practice benevolence and righteousness; this is well. Then it is possible to see Great Peace, pass through danger, and become the Seed People of later ages (the good people left for the age of Great Peace). Even if one encounters military disaster, disease, or flood, one can be without blame in the face of danger; this is the Dao. If you keep the Dao in mind, the Dao will also protect and keep you in mind; if you do not keep the Dao in mind, the Dao will not protect and keep you in mind.

Common people, whether men or women, of whatever status, should all conduct themselves uprightly, cultivate themselves, purify their hearts and wills, remember the teacher’s grace, and carry out the methods of the Dao. The manners of the world being so shallow, husbands and wives, fathers and sons, and family members should all the more protect one another and dwell together for a long time; but this must rely on mutual purity and correctness, keeping integrity, filial piety, following the Dao, respecting the teacher, ritually honoring ghosts and spirits, and according with the divine.

Now the world is in turmoil, and in the four directions military disasters, diseases, and evil Qi are prevalent. You should remember the principles spoken of today: honor Heaven and respect the spirits, cherish life, carry out the methods of the Dao, and let the mind and intention strive for sincerity and correctness. Then the Dao will protect and keep you in mind; if you do not keep the Dao in mind, the Dao will leave you and go far away, ultimately causing you to draw near to disaster. Be sure to be cautious; do not wait until after the fact to regret; the bitter fruit of regret will fall upon yourself.

Day and night I patrol within the four seas and beyond the eight directions, hoping that rulers will be humane and generous, ministers loyal, fathers loving, children filial, husbands trustworthy, wives chaste and correct, elder brothers friendly, and younger siblings respectful, so that the world may be at peace. Yet the common people have been turbid and deluded for a long time; even when they hear of the teachings of immortals and long life, their minds remain confused and they refuse to believe. Some people do good but do not understand the correct Dao; foolish people transmit erroneous teachings to one another, and deviant doctrines circulate among themselves. They refuse to remove evil conduct and instead slander one another. Rulers and ministers contend for power, fathers and sons are not close, husbands and wives are not harmonious, brothers are separated; they use public affairs to seek private profit, and men and women are frivolous and dissolute. People thus go against the Dao of Heaven and Earth, ruin the Five Constants, outwardly pretend to be upright while inwardly practicing injustice, and disorder the guidelines of the Dao.

Therefore the Three Heavens (the celestial realms spoken of in Daoism) are enraged, and the Qi of killing and attacking runs rampant; the Five Stars move irregularly, the Great White Star shines conspicuously, in winter strange winds blow and thunder shakes, and comets suddenly rise and fall. Heaven manifests various signs to warn people, yet people do not believe in the Dao. The intention of the Dao is hard to put into words; the Qi of the dead will return to the dark valleys.

The Miaozhen was composed by me; the Huangting and the “Three Numina Seven Words” are all teachings that explain this Jing, the radiant manifestation of the Dao of the Daode. The Dao should not be limited to a particular form or name. The worthy and wise can infer the ten thousand from one point, just as one who understands pitch, hearing a single tone, can recognize the melody. The Dao is within each person’s own self; how could it be only in others?

You study the good Dao, yet do not follow the root spoken of in the Jing, and instead transmit deviant doctrines to one another, abandoning the real and pursuing the false. In the past I recorded disordered brief writings and deviant sayings, and later ordered them all destroyed. The libationers (an office in Daoism responsible for teaching affairs and diocesan matters) acted improperly and even privately hid these writings, which remain to this day. Therefore those of later ages who first study the Dao come to esteem superficial sayings and take false teachings as the True Dao. These actions all violate Heaven’s prohibitions, will certainly meet with harm, cannot bring blessings, and only result in vain toil.

Do not needlessly seek hardship for yourself, as if it were better to follow the heart at will and seek a moment’s pleasure. Do not bring upon yourself Heaven’s tests, and do not rashly violate the laws. Teaching and transformation should proceed toward Great Peace; people should help Heaven carry out the Dao of Great Peace. Heaven sees clearly; people’s intelligence is also bestowed by Heaven. When the correct Qi of the Five Directions is settled, Yin-Yang and the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) will be harmonious; this too will produce responses according to people’s conduct.

From the seventh day of the first month of the second year of Zhengyuan (151 CE) onward, all old and new common people, whether men or women, old or young, so long as they wholeheartedly keep to the good, act according to the teachings, achieving that ministers are loyal, sons filial, husbands trustworthy, wives chaste, elder brothers friendly, and younger brothers respectful, with no double-mindedness within, may be called good people and become Seed People. In hardship, the Seed People should also do their utmost to help one another. All who delight in cherishing life and love the methods of the Dao, whether old or young, so long as they make their minds and intentions correct, assist the state, and protect life—how their good and evil may be, the spirits and deities will of themselves investigate and know. Do not indulge in further wild thoughts, and do not listen to the words of deviant and false people who claim to have obtained the Dao and teach others by means of the Dao.

Gentlemen and ladies holding official positions, the appointments you previously received have not been lost. Since the fifth year of the Taihe era (231 CE), officials of every rank have been establishing themselves, no longer directed by my Dao Qi (vital energy of the Way). The true Dao Qi commands the spirits and selects officials. Some rely on the allotment of fate, some believe in the shadows or dreams of household members, some depend on submitted memorials, and others, compelled by circumstances, do not follow the old rites and acknowledge appointments solely on the basis of special claims. Some parishes (zhi, Daoist dioceses) have appointed numerous high officials, while some offices are empty titles. Those who receive appointments mostly abuse the Qi of Heaven and Earth, handling the documents of the Three Officials (Sanguan, of Heaven, Earth, and Water), yet they only attend to enjoying their own generous stipends.

All who receive offerings, as well as idle officials without documentary duties, should at all times sit and stand correctly. You nominally hold the offices of heavenly officials and constantly occupy the positions of the spirits, yet you do not accord with the proper secular way. You understand not the least of the principles of loyal ministers and filial sons. Upon hearing warnings of disasters and punishments, it is as though you have already suffered the calamity, and instead you harbor resentment and recklessly claim that following the Dao brings no benefit. There are three thousand such offenses; by conducting yourselves thus, you are as if taking the blame upon yourselves.

In the past I have always been anxious, exerting myself to the utmost to save your lives, wishing you to witness Great Peace (Taiping). Must you still seek Great Peace again? At the end of the Han, powerful magnates arose on all sides, the strong oppressed the weak, the people's behavior fell into disorder, and men and women became frivolous and promiscuous. Government ordinances could not remedy the chaos, nor was there anyone in the households to restrain them. Bandits plundered towns, the common folk suffered injustice, they were mutually enslaved, and the people were exploited at every level. The people's hearts grew resentful and wished to rebel; the rebellious Qi offended Heaven, whereupon the Five Stars moved irregularly, comets swept the sky, and Mars lost its attendant stars. Powerful ministers contended, wicked men colluded, and warfare continued for more than a hundred years.

The Wei dynasty arose by receiving the Mandate of Heaven and cleared away the disorder. These events were all determined by fate, recorded in the River Chart (Hetu) and Luo Writing (Luoshu), and manifested in celestial signs. Thus I followed Heaven's Mandate and the times, and as National Preceptor commanded Emperor Wu of Wei to govern the world; the war dead filled the pits and valleys. After the Wei state received the assistance of my teaching, the people no longer suffered the pains of warfare. Some accumulated substantial wealth and enjoyed hereditary nobility, others attained long life. The seven sons and five marquises became the glory of the state, generals and ministers emerged in succession from among them, not a few were enfeoffed as marquises, and the silver and copper awarded amounted to thousands. When fathers died, sons succeeded; when younger brothers perished, elder brothers rose to prominence—all this was the result of bathing in sagely grace. Ought you not remember this kindness and understand the true origin?

In the past I opened the door to instruct you in doing good, yet you would not listen. From this day forward I shall withdraw and hide from the world, entrusting you to the Wei dynasty. The Wei practices clear government and rules by the Dao; one can travel a thousand li alone, tigers and wolves conceal themselves, and doors need not be shut at night. Those wicked ministers have petty minds and do not understand the compliance or resistance indicated by Heaven's Mandate; they forcibly commit demonic and false acts. Those who do so will surely meet with disaster, even to the point of implicating their descendants. Do you not understand the reason?

In recent years epidemics have spread in the four directions; the Heavenly Dao sweeps away the host of villains, killing only the wicked. Those who keep to the Dao and practice good are naturally protected by Heaven: like an infant rescued from peril, or like the tongue that naturally avoids the teeth. Do you still not understand?

Henceforth, officials of all ranks must not presume to appoint themselves. If you again violate my commands, do not resent the punishment you receive. Libationers (Jijiu, the Daoist officers responsible for transmitting the teaching and presiding over religious affairs) who treat illnesses, if the patient recovers only to relapse, and if such a person is wicked, do not treat him further. You should mutually instruct one another among the households, causing people to fulfill loyalty and filial piety: fathers kind, children filial; husbands trustworthy, wives chaste; elder brothers affectionate toward younger siblings, younger siblings respectful toward elder brothers. Morning and evening maintain purity and stillness, cut off greed, abandon the pursuit of profit and desire, and correct evil thoughts; pity the impoverished, care for the aged, delight in giving and yielding; eliminate promiscuity and license, harmonize emotions such as joy and anger, and always cherish harmonious Qi. In this way you can support the state and enhance its fortune. Abandon past evils, begin doing good from this day, and disasters will dissipate, illnesses diminish, and you may become good people of later generations.

The common people should not resent poverty and hardship, nor greedily desire wealth, pleasure, and honor. From what you have seen and heard from ancient times to the present, can riches and honor endure? Some discard their goods on the ground yet themselves die in the marketplace. From this one sees the proverb: “A dead person is inferior to a living mouse.” How one obtains things is a matter of allotted fate, yet seeking them must accord with the righteousness of the Dao.

The Dao is deeply concealed and has no fixed name; to greedily seek fame is like taking an axe and wounding oneself. To do good without leaving traces, not allowing others to see the tracks one leaves, is the practice that accords with the Dao. Cultivating the Dao means cultivating oneself, preserving life, and seeking blessings. If one teaches others to indulge themselves, the acts of indulgence leave traces, and the axe that wounds the body grows sharp. When the axe is sharp, good fortune departs and disaster arrives—how can one not be cautious and fearful?

Heaven and Earth last long because they follow what is so of itself and force nothing. Wuwei (non-action) is not doing nothing whatsoever, but rather not revealing traces of artifice, and thus it can accomplish extraordinary things. You worldly folk are truly ridiculous: no sooner have you done a little good than you want others to know it; no sooner have you something a little distinctive than you want others to praise you. These things benefit the Dao not at all and have already violated the prohibitions.

Now I issue this teaching so that both longstanding and new believers may understand my intention and not fail the instruction.

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) admonishes as follows:

I have specially sent down this seven-character teaching to admonish all libationers, male and female believers, and the common people. Heaven and earth were chaotic, their Qi (vital energy) intermingling like the union of Yin and Yang. The four seasons and the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) circulate in operation, generating and depending upon one another.

If the Yin and Yang of heaven and earth cannot harmonize and unite, there would be no human beings in the world. When the stars move in disorder, anomalous phenomena appear in advance of human affairs. Among the Twenty-Eight Mansions (the twenty-eight stellar regions distinguished by the ancients), stars such as Bi and Shen are displaced; Yinghuo (Mars) and Taibai (Venus) likewise appear abnormally.

If celestial signs first reveal change, the foundation of Great Peace is difficult to stabilize. Thus the world falls into hardship and many things are hard to express; even when one speaks to transmit the teaching, the heart remains troubled and uneasy.

The Qi travels to the farthest reaches of the eight directions and then cycles back again. I observe the people, whether among the Yi, Hu, Qin or other groups, and see no one truly possessed of vitality, only common folk resembling corpses. They give free rein to their hearts and desires, exhausting their Shen (spirit).

Those whose five viscera are empty are like lifeless shells. Their nature and life cannot be redeemed and have already been consigned to the Earth Official (the deity in charge of the deceased). Their bodies will be enrolled among the ghosts and sink into the Yellow Springs. If you reflect on your faults and repent, heed my words, and you can transcend to become immortals.

You should practice restraint and carefully attune Yin and Yang, cherishing and nourishing the spirit. Each of the five viscera and six bowels has its own governing spirit and assigned office. If you can accumulate cultivation without cease in the most subtle matters, you can become a Zhenren (a Perfected person who has attained the Dao).

Divine thought is sorrowful and peaceful sleep is hard to find; the divine intent wanders among the five viscera of the people and then converses with the Zhenren. The Zhenren within the heart can thereby ascend to the heavenly realms.

Clad in a single crimson-yellow robe, wearing a three-seamed cap and bearing a jade tally bestowed by Heaven, they kneel before me to report the Dao cultivation of the people and the circumstances of the myriad folk. Merits and faults, advances and retreats are all clearly recorded, causing sorrow and making sleep difficult; the divine intent wanders among the five viscera of the people and then converses with the Zhenren. The Zhenren within the heart can thereby ascend to the heavenly realms.

Clad in a single crimson-yellow robe, wearing a three-seamed cap and bearing a jade tally bestowed by Heaven, they kneel before me to report the Dao cultivation of the people and the circumstances of the myriad folk. Merits and faults, advances and retreats are all clearly recorded.

Yangping Parish.

Regarding the Twenty-four Parishes (Ershisi Zhi, the twenty-four districts of Celestial Master Dao), the Five Qi and Central Qi (Wuqi Zhongqi, a qi-method term in the scriptures), those who lead the spirits in the four departments of circulating qi, the left and right supervising spirits, the head libationers of the parishes, the directors of separate parishes, as well as men and women of every age and the common people of all parish locations, I now admonish you.

On the first day of the fifth month in the first year of Han’an I received the Dao (the Way) from the divine qi of the founding emperor-king of Han, taking five pecks of rice as a token of faith. I originally hoped that all those with the affinity to obtain the Dao and capable of becoming immortals would be delivered and ascend to immortality. Yet you people are truly difficult to teach and cannot be properly conversed with: you take what is right as wrong and what is wrong as right. Even if a once-in-a-millennium opportunity arrives, what is to be done facing the likes of you?

I accompanied the Supreme Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun) touring the eight directions, inspecting the human world in search of those who could receive the methods of the Dao, but never found any. People, among you there is none who can respond to the Great Dao and accept its teaching. You only covet wealth and honor, money, grain, cloth, brocade and silk, thinking solely of supporting your families. You seize others’ land taxes, extort money and goods from the populace, conscript the people and treat them as your own household registers; you occupy yourselves only with farming and privately forging utensils to feed wives, concubines and servants. You think only of yourselves and not of others, pursuing reputation, rank and personal enrichment, greedy for wealth, so that even your own homes find no peace.

You gossip among yourselves and slander one another, words filling the roads; you say one thing to a person’s face and another behind the back, accounts differing, mutually accusing, yet you neither fear ghosts and spirits nor cherish the Heavenly Dao. This disorders the workings of qi (vital energy). Who is responsible for these offenses? Each of you produces so-called secret transmitted teachings and argues over old events; I can no longer tolerate you.

I intend to examine you according to the documents—do you know how you ought to act? The libationers, directors and men and women of all ages each harbor resentment in their hearts and are indistinguishable from worldly people; they speak fair words with their mouths while holding other intentions in their hearts. Outwardly you are human, inwardly like insects; men and women in their chambers know no restraint, indulging lust, and they do not mutually admonish or regulate one another.

You thus nurse grievances, quarrel and mill about in confusion, yet shift the blame onto the Dao of the Master and Lord Lao the Supreme, dredging up old matters. Now the regulations of the teaching must be reorganized. For those holding office as directors and the libationers of the various parishes I shall punish three or four out of every ten, sending them back to the Heavenly Bureaus (the administrative offices of heaven) for interrogation, examination and punishment. You must be cautious. Circumstances will soon grow urgent; at latest within one, two or three years you will hear the news and see the results with your own eyes. How can you fail to take warning?

Among you libationers and directors, are there still those who have not experienced the old teachings? From the first year of Jian’an and the first year of Huangchu onward, the directors and libationers have each claimed to carry out the teaching orders and each set up a parish of their own, yet they no longer act according to the old methods of the Dao. Did I not instruct you to follow the teachings I transmitted at Yangping, Lutang and Heming? Of all that you now do, which accords with the old rules? This is truly inauspicious. Why am I so urgent? Precisely because the matter is pressing, the teaching orders must be transmitted to every parish and then you must be admonished level by level.

The Supreme Lord Lao is mutually overseeing, hoping that each of you will apply your mind, be diligent and exert yourselves, once again encourage yourselves, devote yourselves fully to the Dao, and exhort and instruct the common people.

“Qian San” is a sequential method of recitation or cultivation in stages. The poem discusses in order Qian Yi, Qian Er, continuing up to Qian Qi.

After Qian San comes Qian Yi, like brushing aside the clouds and mist to reveal the bright sun. Cultivation can dispel the three calamities and the entanglements of impurity, enabling a person to restrain themselves and hold fast to centrality and correctness.

After Qian San comes Qian Er: worldly glory, wealth, and honor are not worth pursuing greedily. To enter the “Five Difficulties” (the various arduous trials described in the course of cultivating the Dao (the Way)), one must have a resolute and sincere will.

After Qian San comes Qian San: the flavors of wine and meat cannot truly satisfy. One must purify the originally unsullied nature of the mind, allowing oneself to be tempered through hardship, just as plain silk is dyed vermilion or azure, practicing in accordance with the teachings.

After Qian San comes Qian Si: the marvelous methods of the Dao are deep, subtle, and concealed. One must sincerely gaze upward in hope of the spirits’ descent, applying the mind with complete concentration and without divided attention.

After Qian San comes Qian Wu: the Daoist steps forth from a humble thatched hut, casting off the fetters of the physical body. Who, then, can truly perceive that profound and mysterious realm?

After Qian San comes Qian Liu: time slips away and cannot be called back. Even lacking any special inborn gift, one should still receive instruction and, because of it, practice with diligence.

After Qian San comes Qian Qi: one aspires to enter the “Nine Chambers” (the sacred halls or inner states spoken of in Daoist cultivation). Opening the heart to receive the numinous and wondrous instruction, one can thereafter comprehend all matters.

The profundity of the Great Dao is not far off; whether it can be made to flourish depends upon the individual. Loyalty and good faith, bringing the Qi (vital energy) of body and mind into single-minded unity, offer the prospect of transcendence and self-deliverance.

The time of the three calamities’ coming is already close at hand. One ought to abandon profit and desire at an early date, so that the inner Jing (essence) and Qi gradually grow firm, and thereby pass through the disasters.

The faults within the heart should be carefully eliminated; so long as one exerts every effort, accomplishment is possible. Once the Five Difficulties are traversed, a multitude of wishes may also be fulfilled.

Regrettably, one possesses no inborn talent for cultivating the Dao and remains bound by worldly ties. One wishes to return to the Dao of longevity, and perhaps thereby be numbered among the worthy.