《宫观碑志》

The Heer guan zhuan zhi (Record of the Joined Two Contemplation Bricks) is a one-fascicle text composed by Tao Gu of the Song dynasty, Zheng Zipin of the Jin dynasty, and others. It is included in the Record and Biography category (jizhuan lei) of the Dongshen (Three Caverns) division of the Zhengtong Daozang (Daoist Canon of the Zhengtong Era). The "Record of the Renovation of the Palace of the Queen Mother at Huishan in Jingzhou" was written by Tao Gu, who served as Hanlin Academician and as the official in charge of the selection and appointment of civil officials.

The rites of sacrifice hold that "whatever has done the work of teaching and transforming people should be honored with sacrifice." Is it not of great significance, then, to distinguish the quarters of the world and establish ritual law? The spirits each have their own offices, and who could omit any that are fit to show people instruction?

According to the Erya, the land where the Queen Mother of the West dwells is called one of the "Four Wastes." Her story has been handed down for a long time and is recorded in the classics; it is no wild or strange tale. In the fourth generation after the Western Zhou received the Mandate of Heaven, there was a ruler named Wang Man, who reigned fifty years. Riding a carriage drawn by eight horses, he feasted at Jasper Pool, raised a cup of wine to the Queen Mother, and chanted the "Yellow Bamboo" song. In the fourth generation after the Western Han received the Mandate, there was a ruler named Liu Che, who also reigned fifty years. He arranged to meet her at the Ganquan Palace on the seventh night of the seventh month, welcomed the Queen Mother's carriage, and offered her the immortal peaches.

King Mu of Zhou journeyed westward to the farthest reaches. He washed his horses in the Tong River, drank the blood of magpies, passed through the land of Jusou, and climbed Mount Yi, which is why the ancient books unearthed from the Ji tomb include the Biography of the Son of Heaven Mu. Emperor Wu of Han, seeking the protection of the spirits, went to Chaobang while sacrificing at Yong. He built the Feilian Lodge to gaze toward the Xuanpu garden, and so the song "Shang Zhi Hui" remains among the court music.

Alas, the tale of the Spirit of the Xiang playing the zither concerns the two consorts of Emperor Shun, and the tale of the Huanggu star concerns the Weaver Maid beside the Heavenly River. They are known only through the legends of the Chuci, yet they were still placed in the sacrificial canon, given solemn shrines in which to be honored, and received flutes, drums, offerings, and seasonal rites, sharing the sacrifices of the hundred spirits with their animal victims, jade, and silk. The Queen Mother of the West, by contrast, is the Sage Lady of the Nine Radiances. She commands the highest Perfected (high-ranking immortals) among the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing). She wears the jade sword that divides the light and welcomes the departing jewel-bright phoenix. She keeps time to the immortal music of the eight lang and drives a nine-colored dappled unicorn. At one cry or chant of hers, the sea spirits rise and dance; at a raised hand, the spirits of the mountains hurry to her. She assists the Five Emperors of the Golden Gate, examines the Three Officials at the Crimson River, and holds first rank in the Upper Palace, her blessings spreading through the human world. This being so, it is no groundless matter that a temple to the Queen Mother stands in Huizhong.

Yet the years have been long. The temple's beams have fallen, its altar has rotted, and the deserted courtyard is overgrown with brambles. The well is abandoned, the birds are gone, and only crows and kites squawk over the old buildings. Nothing remains in decline forever, and whether it is revived depends on people.

The Grand Preceptor, Duke of Qinghe, received the command to lead the army, raised his banners, and three times held the garrison at Anding. His military merits and governance are recorded on the banners of his army. Anding lies at the upper reaches of the Jing River and commands the key territory east of the Western Rong. Its land suits beans and wheat, and its people are practiced in riding and archery. When it is governed well, the customs bend like grass before the wind; when it is governed badly, the people rise up like water that overturns a boat. If the center fails in its governance, there cannot be a single day of rest. The Duke of Qinghe was sent precisely to govern these three garrisons.

In the second month of spring in the wuchen year, the Duke of Qinghe, holding his jade tablet, went to court and hurried to the capital. The Son of Heaven lit torches in the courtyard to welcome him, had the Sixia played as a mark of favor, came before the hall himself and removed the mats that separated them to put him at ease, and bestowed on him the great linchpin, the ornate pennants, and other ceremonial carriage fittings, along with his formal appointment. When the rites were complete, the Son of Heaven received him several times, then issued an edict sending him back to his former garrison.

After returning to his jurisdiction, the Duke came to pay his respects at the temple. He fasted and was solemn, and moved in heart, as if the spirit too had answered, he ordered the responsible officials to gather craftsmen and repair the temple. They cleared the vines and weeds from the courtyard and planted fine trees. They tore down the collapsed buildings along the eaves and rebuilt them with large timbers. They completed the painted decoration in full brilliance and added splendid patterns to heighten the solemnity of the hangings. The ornament between the painted beams is bright, as if sighing that the western realm of the immortals is so far away; the long waterways wind on and on, as if surprised that the dawn in the east comes so late. The ceremonial guard has been put in order and sincere devotion is lodged here, so why would there be any need, as in the legends, for the Jade Maidens to play pitch-pot on Mount Hua and wait for the bright star to descend, or for Yaoji to appear in a dream and send evening rain down upon Yangtai?

Taken together, these matters are enough to make a piece in praise of the spirit, and perhaps it may do its utmost to show the beauty of the Perfected. My learning is insufficient to understand ancient affairs, and my talent cannot match that of the worthies of my day. Though I have been mistakenly put forward as a court writer in charge of discourse and composition, I dare not let empty words exceed the facts. I have long served in the Golden Bells Hall, where drafting edicts has brought me no merit; I have barely managed to peek through the Vermilion Bird window, and the old story of the stolen peaches makes me feel even more ashamed. Respectfully, I compose this hymn of praise as follows:

The ruins of Mount Kunlun lie beneath rugged, towering heights. The Queen Mother wears a sheng headdress, her hair loose and disheveled, while tigers and leopards serve her. Is this true or false? It is truly astonishing. In the hall of Wang Luan, one who peered at the immortal herb left with nothing gained; one who made a reluctant visit to the Vermilion Bird window felt shame for the theft of the peach. I respectfully compose this eulogy:

The ruins of Mount Kunlun lie beneath rugged, towering heights. The Queen Mother wears a sheng headdress, her hair loose and disheveled, while tigers and leopards serve her. Is this true or false? It is truly astonishing, for she is none other than the Queen Mother of the West. She set out in her carriage from the Cinnabar Terrace, having promised to meet on the night of the Qixi festival. Her splendid phoenix carriage was adorned with colored ornaments and treasures, and her sword and girdle pendants gleamed with light. Her features were fair, her gaze moving, and her bearing dignified, like that of an immortal. Such was she when she dwelt in the Mysterious Capital (Xuandu), and such was she when she descended upon the Han palace. Why do divine beings and sages appear in so many different forms? Their wondrous transformations inspire awe. Consulting the Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Bamboo Annals, one finds that these ancient matters have a long history and were recorded by those who came before.

On mountaintops and by the water's edge, people presented jade and silk and offered gold ornaments to express their devotion in sacrifice. The white clouds scattered, and no one knows where they have gone; the yellow bamboo has withered, and not a single stalk remains. I touch the old stones of Mount Bi and record the immortal shrine beside the Jing River.

"Record of the Chongyang Palace of Attained Dao" (Chongyang chengdao gong ji)

Southwest of Jingzhao (today's Xi'an), at a place called Nanshi in the Zhongnan Mountains, stands the Chongyang Chengdao Palace. In the early years of the Dading era, when Master Chongyang, founding patriarch of Complete Perfection (Quanzhen), first awakened to the great Dao (the Way), the Master dug a pit with their own hands and heaped up a mound several feet high, shaped like a horse's mane, and called it the "Tomb of the Living Dead." Around it the Master planted four pear trees and eight crabapple trees. When someone asked why, the answer was: "In the future, when the Quanzhen way flourishes greatly and spreads in every direction, people should know that all of it began from this tomb."

After two years there, Master Chongyang moved to Liujiang. From then on, groups of three or five Daoists often built small hermitages and kept watch beside the tomb. In the early Zhengda years, Perfected Quanyang, Zhou Quandao Qingming, came from Youzhou to make offerings at the patriarch's tomb at Liujiang. Suddenly it struck Zhou that the place where the patriarch had cultivated, transformed, and attained the Dao must not be left to ruin. The urge to restore it arose and could not be suppressed, as though some spirit were secretly urging Zhou on. Soon afterward someone came to invite Zhou to receive a Zhaijiao (purification ritual) offering. Zhou asked about the visitor and learned that this was a Daoist who tended the hermitage, and went with the visitor to the site. The assembled Daoists asked for help in repairing the temple. Zhou felt that the request matched an unspoken wish, gladly agreed, and said: "In the future I shall live here."

After the change of dynasty, Daoists from every quarter wished to repay the source of their tradition, and so they gathered timber and opened up land. In the yiwei year, Perfected Yin, Grand Master Qinghe, and Perfected Li Zhenchang, head of the order, issued a decree. The Lord Tian, governor-general of the prefecture, also submitted a petition. Perfected Yuanxu, Li Zhiyuan, was appointed to lead the community in a major building program. Everyone worked together, raising donations, felling timber, building walls, and leveling ground, busy and delighted in the labor.

When the work was complete, there were three halls, named the Wuji Hall, the Ximing Hall, and the Kaihua Hall, and five chambers, named the Hall of the Three Masters, the Hall of the Spirit Officers, the Zhanming Hall, the Chaoche Hall, and the Xubai Hall. There were also a refectory, kitchens, storerooms, stables, the abbot's quarters, and dwellings for the community. Eaves, doors, and windows were all repaired, and the decoration was made fresh and bright. The subordinate temples, the Shaliu Quanyang Temple and the Xiuzhen Temple at Wangguo Village, along with the permanent holdings of the estate, are recorded separately on a stone stele. Some parts still remained unrepaired. Zhang Zhigu and other disciples of Perfected Quanyang recalled that their late master, when coming to receive the offering in the early Zhengda years, had said, "In the future I shall live here." They took this to be a design of Heaven, settled long before and not to be disobeyed. So they gathered more than a thousand further people, and with united effort they kept expanding, day after day and month after month, making the place a site for offering blessings and long life for the state. One may imagine that as the palace grows ever more prosperous, its scale will become immeasurable.

In the xinhai year, the first year of Emperor Xianzong's reign, the emperor summoned Perfected Li Zhenchang, head of the order, and personally bestowed a golden casket, incense, five thousand taels of silver, and a golden tally. Li was ordered to officiate on the emperor's behalf, to tour the famous mountains, and to pray for blessings and longevity at the peaks listed in the state sacrifices. On an auspicious day in the second month of the following year, Perfected Li came with the imperially bestowed incense to carry out the command. When the ceremony was complete, the court, following precedent for such favors, raised the status of the "temple" (guan) to that of "palace" (gong), and the present name dates from the renzi year.

Lord Li Yuanxu was a disciple of Perfected Quanyang and also a great-great-disciple of Perfected Ma Danyang. Among the five most outstanding disciples of Perfected Quanyang, Lord Li ranked first. The second was Zhang Zhiyuan, Master Dongxu, who presided over the Baiyun Temple at Zoucheng in Dongping, received more than a thousand disciples, and built many hermitages and temples. The third was Liang Shouyi, Master Mingyuan, who presided over the Yufeng Temple in ancient Bin, where Perfected Quanyang had once lived. The fourth was Jia Shouzhen, Master Yunwai. The fifth was Zhang Zhigu, Master Chunhe, who now succeeds Lord Li and directs the affairs of this palace.

This spring, in the second month, Wang Zhiyuan, the palace steward, took documents to the Great Changchun Palace in Yanjing and reported to Perfected Zhenchang, head of the order, requesting that the whole story of the palace's founding be written down and carved in stone. The Grand Master commissioned me to polish and compose the text. I am nearly eighty and have not written essays for a long time, but I thought it improper to decline, and so I have arranged the account according to the facts. The patriarch's deeds have already been praised in a eulogy by Hu Zijin of Yufeng, prefaced by Mao Shouda of Pingshui, and recorded in a biography by Wang Zizheng of Beiping. The four characters "Tomb of the Living Dead" were written by the hand of Hanlin Academician Zhao Xianxian, and the head of the order, Perfected Zhenchang, also wrote a colophon. All of these are carved on the stele. The lives of Perfected Zhou Quanyang, Lord Li Yuanxu, and Lord Zhang Dongxu are likewise recorded in the Jinlian ji and Yanxia lu by Qin Ling and Li Yanrong, and, together with the deeds of the perfected from the patriarch onward, are included in the Xuandu Baozang (Precious Canon of the Mysterious Metropolis), so I will not repeat them here.

In my youth, however, I devoted myself to an official career, and my mind was drawn along by fame and profit, leaving me no energy to study the root of the Dao. Now more than thirty years have passed. My mind rests in plain quiet and is no longer bound by worldly teaching. By drawing in my sight and hearing and turning my gaze inward, I have gradually come to see how the Dao of emptiness and stillness moves and how it withdraws into concealment, and there seems to be a certain pattern in it. The Dao has no beginning and no end. Heaven and earth, however vast, do not go beyond it, and a strand of autumn down, however tiny, depends on it for its form. How could the Dao's pattern be limited by number? What matters is only whether the Dao can be carried out in the world. The Book of Changes says: "If the right person is absent, the Dao will not carry itself out." It also says: "To make the Dao marvelous and clear depends on the person." Therefore, when Heaven wishes the great Dao to spread widely among people, it must first cause to be born into the world someone upright, balanced, of firm character, unshaken by selfish desire, and fit to serve as a teacher to others. Our patriarch was exactly such a person.

The patriarch's natural endowment was extraordinary, far beyond what ordinary people can reach. After meeting one who had attained the Dao and receiving their guidance, the patriarch's mind and spirit opened wide, penetrating and clear, able to stand serenely before all things and yet also to withdraw and keep deeply hidden. The patriarch used this place as the "Tomb of the Living Dead" and cultivated here for two years. The patriarch's miraculous transformations, the guidance given to others, and the work of aiding the world have been handed down from generation to generation, and such flourishing has rarely been seen since heaven and earth were opened. Without accord with the deep principle of Heaven, how could this be done?

Let me take just one episode involving Master Changchun as an example. Long ago, when Yan Hui was about to go to the state of Wei to reform its ruler, Duke Zhe, Confucius worried that although Yan's virtue was deep and reputation high, Yan did not yet understand the local conditions and people's hearts. So Confucius taught Yan the "fasting of the mind" (xinzhai, a discipline of making the mind empty, still, and single-pointed), so that there would be no place Yan passed through that could not be transformed. The state of Wei in the Spring and Autumn period was only a small feudal state. By ancient institutions, the fief of a duke or marquis was about a hundred li square, so a realm ten thousand li across would far exceed Wei in scale. Moreover, the emperor was tens of thousands of li away, north of the desert. As soon as the summons arrived, the National Master Changchun set out at once to answer it, as water naturally flows downward and fire turns toward what is dry. The two responded to each other without the slightest calculation of personal gain.

When the National Master Changchun arrived, the conversation went harmoniously and pleased the emperor greatly. Following the goodness that had only just begun to show in the emperor's heart, Changchun urged the practice of benevolent government, the observance of filial piety, the reduction of desires, the cultivation of oneself, the employment of the worthy, the care of the people, the spreading of kindness, the cherishing of life, and the rejection of killing, so as to accord with the will of Heaven. The emperor listened and did not doubt. One may imagine how many people in the following forty or fifty years were thereby able to survive and be freed from captivity. The great flourishing of the Quanzhen way is also a fact seen by all. The patriarch here merely lived alone in plain quiet and did not seek fame or merit, yet the world still credits real achievement to the patriarch today. Without a spirit that transcends the world and conduct that accords with the Dao of Heaven, how could this be? The deep intention behind the patriarch's planting of four pear trees and eight crabapple trees is also confirmed by this.

Now I rejoice at the completion of the palace and have been entrusted with writing the record for the stele, so I set these things down, hoping that students of the Dao will understand that those who truly received the transmission from the patriarch onward have conformed in every action to the Dao of Heaven. If selfish motives are mixed in, not only will it be hard to accomplish anything, but there will be loss as well. What is it to conform to the Dao of Heaven? It is sincerity. And sincerity is just the "fasting of the mind." The ancients cultivated sincerity within the heart and thereby answered the feelings of heaven and earth, so that heaven, earth, humanity, and the spirits did not oppose one another. This, I suppose, is to have grasped the key to resonance.

Emperor Xianzong (Möngke, Emperor Xianzong of the Yuan) held within himself a marvelous and subtle intelligence whose effects were immense. Applied to military affairs, it left him without rival under Heaven; applied to civil governance, it enabled him to order all the affairs between Heaven and Earth. This intelligence took Wuwei (non-action) as its root and the Dao (the Way) as its gateway, and in the end returned to benevolence, sagacity, impartiality, and penetrating understanding. In ordinary times it kept the pivot of the transformation of all things deeply hidden, like a bright mirror of Heaven and Earth that reflects the myriad things yet cannot itself be fathomed. When it came time to respond to the world and carry out government, it was as deep and wide as a spring-fed abyss, released at the proper moment. His De (Virtue) flowed broad and deep, like Heaven and Earth, like the ocean, so that nothing went unnourished.

The Emperor was in accord with Heaven and Earth and in harmony with the order of the four seasons, and his deeds in following the will of Heaven were too many to recount. Here I begin with just one matter, taken from among his countless daily duties. On the seventeenth day of the tenth month, in winter of the Guichou year, the Emperor summoned the Daoist cultivator and Superintendent (tidian) Wang Zhitan and asked how one might keep the body healthy and prolong life.

Wang Zhitan briefly discussed the way of nourishing life, and then, following the goodwill the Emperor had shown, tactfully ventured: "This is only something that hermits of the mountains and forests pursue for themselves; it is not the urgent business of the Son of Heaven. Heaven and Earth are the parents of the myriad things, and human beings are the most spiritual of all creatures. Because a ruler cannot govern the people alone, Heaven and Earth established the sovereign. As Your Majesty governs the people on behalf of Heaven, you should bring them great benefit and spare them great harm, thereby fulfilling the heart of Heaven. Then the blessings and long life bestowed by Heaven will come as a shadow follows its form and an echo answers a sound. In recent years you eliminated corrupt practices and let the people settle in peace again, and they have already received your kindness. Yet since the founding of this dynasty, war and famine have not ceased, and punishments have at times been fitting and at times not. Who can count those who died with grievances unredressed, whose souls linger in the Underworld without release? I hope that Your Majesty will show compassion, select men of the Dao, and, following the method of the Yellow Register Zhaijiao (Huanglu, the Daoist liturgy for the salvation of the dead), hold universal rites of deliverance, so that the suffering spirits may leave the paths of darkness and ascend to salvation. This would be a boundlessly great blessing."

The Emperor approved of the proposal. That very day he dispatched several dozen palace envoys by post-horse to all regions to carry out the work of raising up the deceased souls. The Jarghuchi scholar Alianbo'erchi and Superintendent Wang Zhitan, bearing a secret decree, arrived at the Palace of Great Changchun in Yanjing. The Emperor specially commanded the Perfected Li Zhichang, Zhenchang Zhide Youxuan Zhenren, head of the teaching, to preside over the jiao ritual as Master of Great Deliverance. The judge Yaruwachi Bujier was put in charge of preparations, and four palace envoys, including the Jarghuchi scholar, served as ritual officers. Along the way, men of lofty purity who possessed the Dao were selected to join in establishing the Universal Great Yellow Register Jiao, with three thousand six hundred seats.

From the ninth to the sixteenth day of the third month in spring of the Jiayin year, the rite lasted seven days and nights in all. The relevant offices suspended the submission of criminal cases, and slaughter was forbidden. From the inner treasury the Emperor allocated five hundred and eighty taels of gold, three thousand eight hundred taels of silver, and a thousand bolts of colored silk, to be used as pledges for sealing the altar and as offerings for the rite. Flowers, oil, and candles were also provided, along with offerings of sandalwood, aloeswood, ambergris, and jiangzhen incense. All other expenses were drawn from the state treasury so that the people bore no burden, and a further fifty taels of silver notes were set aside to cover any shortfall.

Nine secret petitions and three jade tablets, written and signed in the Emperor's own hand, were handled under the supervision of ritual officers and envoys. Daoists, scholars, and common people, together with banners and ceremonial guards, welcomed the ritual implements at the Tongxuan Gate and escorted them to the altar.

What the Emperor held closest to heart, and what he wished first to deliver, were his ancestors, the sage forebears, and the spirits of the imperial clan. He hoped that they would return to the Purple Palace (the Daoist realm of immortals), constantly behold the light of wisdom, take their places among the ranks of the immortals, and forever protect the state. As for all the aggrieved souls of those killed in battle, taken captive, or put to death by punishment, whether they had someone to tend their rites or not, he treated them all alike and let none be omitted.

Some loyal ministers and righteous men died in loyalty to their lords. Some rulers of small states, not knowing where the mandate of Heaven lay, violated the "Five Failures" (the list of offenses referred to in the text) and were attacked for defying orders. By ordinary reckoning, both kinds would count as unpardonable enemies. But the Emperor said: "In the time when the contending powers fought, truly many died with grievances. Now that a sagacious ruler has cleared the realm, who is not my subject? I pity those who met violent deaths as I would my own children. How could I, just because I have won, resent those who hunted alongside me?" Therefore all the souls sunk in the Underworld were included in the work of deliverance.

No emperor since antiquity has done such a thing, and the power of the resonance of this deliverance far surpasses anything in the past. Yu the Great once met the lords at Mount Tu, and ten thousand states came bearing jade and silk. According to the Wangzhi, marquisates and earldoms were a hundred li square, and the lands encompassed by the Tushan assembly spanned only about ten thousand li. The territory of the present dynasty extends a hundred thousand li, and its power far exceeds that of antiquity. Thus, in holding this great rite of deliverance, unprecedented in history, the Emperor made it self-evident how vast the number of the dead within the seas must be. Even among the living, many have relatives and teachers who suffered grievances and sank into dark prisons during forty or fifty years of warfare, so how could there be no one who benefits? People are not wood or stone; hearing of this, how could they not be deeply moved? Everyone said: "The Emperor's virtue is as vast as Heaven and Earth, and his heart is the heart of Heaven and Earth."

The Emperor's marvelous intelligence resonated with the harmonious Qi (vital energy), reaching up to the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing, the Daoist heavens), extending through the six directions, and causing the spirits within and beyond Heaven and Earth to commune and blend, silently and without form. Thus all things summon and respond to one another and return to unity, and what is there that could be sought and not accomplished?

The Perfected Li Zhichang led five thousand Daoists in golden crowns and cloud robes, star crowns and purple robes, up to the altar to perform the rites. These were men of pure conduct, versed in the Daoist Jing (scriptures), and strict in observing the rules of fasting and ritual. The officials who presided over the ceremony and the senior ministers of the state were likewise sincere and single-minded, without a trace of falseness. The Great Dao exercises compassion, turning its hidden marvelous function into manifest benevolence. According to the Keyi (liturgy) of the Three Registers, it excels at saving people without abandoning any person, and excels at saving all things without abandoning any thing. Thus the pure breeze and wise sun of the Daoist teaching seemed to light up dark chambers and warm cold valleys, so that the souls lingering in the Underworld received this grace unseen, each awakened and illuminated. Even if some had not yet awakened, those who awakened first could guide those who awakened later, so that the light continued unbroken, each leading the other, all together comprehending the mysterious Dao, and none would sigh that they had been abandoned.

The vast merit of this undertaking extends throughout Heaven and Earth. How could brush and ink record it completely? When the rite ended, the presiding Perfected, together with the officials who had directed the ceremonies and managed the preparations, asked me to record the matter in order to make manifest the Emperor's great virtue.

I consider that among the four great things in the cosmos the sovereign occupies one; this is a subtle teaching of the Daoist Jing. Looking up to observe the signs of Heaven and down to examine the myriad things, one can understand the principles of the dark and the bright, of life and death; Heaven and Earth establish the positions of Yin-Yang, and the sage completes the function by which Heaven and Earth transform and nurture the myriad things; these are words from the Commentaries on the Changes. The Way of the sage is vast and overflowing, nurturing the myriad things, and in its loftiness it is equal to Heaven; this is what the Doctrine of the Mean says. All these teachings show that the sage can expand inner wisdom from the subtle, until his virtue and grace fill Heaven and Earth and his spiritual radiance reaches the four seas.

This deliverance, which embraced both the living and the dead without regard to kinship or distance, is a thousand or a hundred times greater than the benevolent acts of the sovereigns of past ages. It began with a single word from the Daoist Wang Zhitan, which the Emperor, on hearing, adopted at once without hesitation, with a momentum like a rushing river that no one could stop. Had the Emperor not delighted in accepting good counsel, and had he not, beyond the business of governing, always held a sincere and unceasing heart, how could this have been achieved? The foundation of the imperial house is thereby made even more secure, and the Emperor's blessings and longevity are boundless. The protection of Heaven and the support of the people are likewise bound up with the prayers that the Daoists and officials offered for the Emperor's good fortune.

The inscription closes with a hymn of praise:

Among the four great things between Heaven and Earth, the Emperor occupies one. His marvelous intelligence and subtle function lie deeply hidden; strong and pure, once it is put to use it becomes the virtue of cherishing the people. At times it saves the souls sunk in the Underworld; at times it guides people toward long life and well-being. His grace spreads to every direction and fills the four seas; having assisted Heaven and Earth in transforming and nurturing the myriad things, he still keeps doing good with a sincere heart.

The Emperor was constantly concerned that the sunken souls had not yet received grace, and he thought of the matter so much that he could not even rest. So he summoned the Daoists and wished to rely on the power of the Dao and its methods. The Emperor gladly adopted good counsel and sent envoys hurrying in all directions, and universal great jiao rites were held in every region, eagerly saving the departed souls. When the palaces and temples of Yanjing received the secret decree, the hearts of all were joined, like wind meeting cloud. The supplies required were abundant; the patriarch and the Daoists performed their rites and offerings with reverence and sincerity, and the ritual officers and ministers, solemn in bearing, were single-minded in spirit.

By this the Emperor's grace is made known, and the souls in the Underworld should be able to enter the wondrous realm of true emptiness. Whether awakened first or later, whoever can turn their heart toward the Dao in a single moment will comprehend the mysterious principle without end. This is a blessing for the dead as rare as a needle's point meeting a mustard seed, and an opportunity hard to meet even over ten thousand kalpas. This text has been composed to record the Emperor's marvelous intelligence and his accomplishments in practicing benevolence.

Stele Inscription on the Rebuilding of the Taiji Hall (Taiji dian) of the Taiqing Palace at Bozhou in the Yuan Dynasty

While the Emperor was still a prince in the princely residence, he had always revered Daoism and intended to rebuild the Taiqing Palace. In the jiwei year, he issued an edict forbidding commoners to go up the mountain to cut firewood and forbidding passing troops to lodge there, so that the construction would not be hindered. In the second year of his reign, he issued another edict reaffirming the earlier prohibitions. In the fourth year, he sent the Perfected Man Zhenchang, Xiao Jushou, together with the close attendant Halasi, and commanded the Hanlin Academy to compose a prayer text so that sacrifices could be conducted according to ritual. In the fifth year, the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) Hall was completed. The Perfected Man Chengming, Zhang Zhijing, successor to the teaching of Changchun, together with the Left Minister Zhang Wenqian and the Palace Attendant Liu Chengli, submitted a memorial asking to erect a stele recording the date of the hall's construction. The Emperor approved and commanded the Hanlin court writer Wang Ying to compose the account. Having received the command with reverence and awe, I bowed respectfully and now set down the following record.

The Most High Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun, the supreme deity venerated in Daoism) has manifested himself through the ages and been honored by every dynasty. It is said that in the gengchen year of King Wuding of the Yin, he was born in Laixiang in Kuxian. His mother carried him for eighty-one years, and at birth he bore seventy-two marks of appearance. Because his hair and beard were white, people called him Laozi, "the Old Master," and pointing to a plum tree, he took Li as his surname. Earlier worthies have already recorded in detail his changes of name and his manifestations in the world, so I will not repeat them here. What follows speaks only of how the Lord Lao has been honored through the generations and how later ages have carried on the transmission of the Dao (the Way).

The Qin dynasty burned the Odes and the Documents, and the Han combined the methods of the hegemon and the true king. Although there were instances of honoring the profound teaching and building palaces and temples, the original reason for founding a temple here was not preserved. In the eighth year of the Yanxi era under Emperor Huan of the Later Han, the emperor dreamed that Laojun descended into the palace hall, and so he again sent the Palace Attendant Zuo Guan to offer sacrifice at the shrine. The altar was set up with a canopy, the music and dance used followed the rites for sacrificing to Heaven, and the Chancellor of Chen, Bian Shao, was commanded to compose the text and inscription.

In the sixth year of the Kaihuang era under Emperor Wen of the Sui, an edict ordered the Prefect of Bozhou, Yang Yuanzhou, to examine the old site and build a temple, and asked the Secretary Drafter Xue Daoheng to write the "Ode to Keting." The Tang, because Laozi shared the imperial surname Li, honored him as the ancestor of the imperial house. In the first year of Zhenguan under Taizong, orders were given to repair the temple, and fifty households were assigned to sweep and tend it. During the Qianfeng era, Gaozong personally went to the temple to pay homage, posthumously honored Laozi as "Emperor of Profound Origin and Supreme Virtue," ordered the building of halls and altars, appointed one magistrate and one assistant magistrate, and had sacrifices held at the proper times. In the third year of Kaiyuan, after performing the Feng sacrifice at Mount Tai, Xuanzong returned to visit Laozi's former home, wrote out the Daodejing (Jing, scripture) in his own hand, and had it carved in stone. In the twentieth year of Kaiyuan, the emperor personally composed the "Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Garment" melody and the "Ziwei Bagua (Eight Trigrams) Dance" for use in the offerings. In the second year of Tianbao, an edict renamed the Ziji Palace in Qiao Commandery the Taiqing Palace. In the fourth year of Tianbao, the emperor visited the Taiqing Palace in person and composed two further pieces, "Descent of the Perfected, Summoning the Immortals" and "Seeing Off the Immortals of Ziwei," to be played when welcoming and sending off the spirits. The sacrificial prayers were changed to green texts (qingci, Daoist ritual prayers written on blue-green paper), signed by the emperor as "Heir Emperor, Your Subject So-and-so," and the relevant offices were ordered to establish this practice as an institution.

In the seventh year of Taihe under Emperor Wenzong of the Tang, the Taiqing Palace suffered a flood and many of its buildings were damaged. The emperor ordered Li Cheng, Military Commissioner of Xuanwu, to serve concurrently as Commissioner of the Taiqing Palace and to repair it step by step, and before long the temple was restored to good condition.

In the first year of Jianlong under Taizu of the Song, an envoy was sent to worship at the shrine. In the fourth year of Chunhua under Taizong, an order was given to rebuild the halls, and when the work was completed in the first year of Mingdao, the Vice Director of the Bureau of Waterways, He Meng, was commanded to compose the stele text; from then on the court specially assigned eunuchs to supervise and manage the palace. In the fifth year of Xianping under Zhenzong, palace attendants were sent to rebuild it, and the number of guards was increased. In the second year of Jingde, it was forbidden to cut firewood around the temple. In the fifth year of Dazhong Xiangfu, the Finance Commissioner Ding Wei was sent to worship on the emperor's behalf; the following year the emperor went in person, and went again in the seventh year, personally presenting the written patent and the jade seal and honoring Laojun as "Most High Emperor of Primordial Chaos and Supreme Virtue."

In the fifth year of Shaosheng under Zhezong, Yu Lu, Prefect of Bozhou, reported auspicious omens at the temple. The court sent an envoy to hold a Zhaijiao (purification ritual) of thanksgiving and ordered the circuit transport office to repair dilapidated offices and halls at any time. When the Chongning era began under Huizong, the Hanlin Academician Zhang Shangying was commanded to compose a stele record in order to fulfill Zhezong's wish. The successive emperors of the Jin dynasty likewise held the Taiqing Palace in special reverence, granting the Daoists tens of thousands of mu of fine farmland and exempting it from land taxes and corvée labor. These are the broad outlines of how earlier dynasties honored Laojun, from which later seekers of the Dao may learn.

Next, let us speak of how later ages have carried on the Dao of Laozi. It is said that Laozi rode a green ox westward, and when Yin Xi earnestly begged him to write a book, he composed the five thousand words of the Daodejing. The book speaks of purity, stillness, and Wuwei (non-action), of not contending and not displaying oneself. It holds that the use of weapons is an ill omen, that governing a state is like cooking a small fish, which must not be stirred too often, and that galloping about in the hunt drives the mind to madness. It teaches that "orphan," "widowed," and "unworthy" are the humble terms by which princes and lords refer to themselves. If the world is governed according to these principles, the Dao of governing a state is already complete. As for rectifying the mind and cultivating the self, the two parts of the Daodejing discuss this fully, and those who study them carefully will gain something from them.

The Daoist community has revered and expounded the Daodejing, passing it from teacher to disciple and following ancient methods, and so there came to be works such as the Dongling, Tongxuan, Chongxu, and Nanhua. Later, as customs declined and heterodox teachings arose, some used the name of Daoism to delude people's minds, while others led it down strange and bizarre paths. Heaven had not yet allowed the great Dao to be cut off, and in recent times Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoism arose. Its followers live simply, keep to themselves, and conduct themselves according to the old norms. Wang Chongyang received the transmission from the Perfected Man Zhengyang and the Perfected Man Chunyang and laid the foundation of the Daoist community, passing it on to six disciples. They went out to spread the Dao in various regions, and their followers grew numerous, the branches and leaves gradually becoming lush.

After the founding of the present dynasty, the Perfected Man Changchun (Qiu Chuji) was summoned to propagate the Dao of the Primordial Origin. Having personally received the Emperor's courtesy, the Perfected Man Changchun inspired all under Heaven to look up to Daoism, so that even remote hamlets and relay stations ten thousand li away came to know to venerate it. The Perfected Man's integrity, cultivation, and hidden acts of virtue all accorded with the teaching of the Most High Lord Lao, and for this reason the court rebuilt the Taiqing Palace.

The Taiqing Palace had once been burned in war, and was later struck by the merging flood of the Yellow River and the Guo River, which swept away almost all of the former immortal palace. Only the Nine Dragon Well, several thousand years old, survived. After the Perfected Man Changchun passed away, the Perfected Man Zhenchang carried on the Dao teachings. At that time, Zhang Rou, Duke of Ansu, was stationed at Bozhou with his troops, and sent officials bearing a petition to ask for the rebuilding of the Taiqing Palace. The Perfected Man Zhenchang first appointed the Master Yinzhen, Supervisor Shi Zhiyu, along with the Master Tongwei and Palace Steward Li Zhimi, to take charge of beginning the work. Zhang Rou also planned wholeheartedly and used his strength to protect the project, his staff and soldiers gladly took part, and he allocated documented temple lands totaling forty li in circumference.

The work had only just begun when the Perfected Man Zhenchang died. After the Perfected Man Chengming took over the administration of the Daoist community, in accordance with the order of Prince Haidu, he invited the Perfected Man Chongdao, Zhang Zhisu, and the Perfected Man Qiyun, Wang Zhijin, to jointly oversee the construction. The Perfected Man Qiyun died soon afterward, but his disciples continued to assist with all their strength, while the Perfected Man Chongdao labored from morning till night and never grew slack. On the old foundation they raised the ground by more than a zhang and built a hall of nine bays, grander and more magnificent than the old design. Within the hall they enshrined an image of the Most High Lord Lao, with statues of the Lord Emperor of the Eastern Florescence and the Perfected Man Wenshi arranged on either side, followed by the immortals of the Dongling, Tongxuan, Chongxu, and Nanhua. All the statues have a solemn expression, and none who see them fail to feel reverence. Although the rest of the work is not yet complete, the existing halls are already sufficient for offering incense and suffice to serve as a place of blessing for this dynasty through the generations. Is this not a splendid event?

The present Emperor's sage virtue grows ever brighter, and the Emperor's decisions are wise and swift. To the west the Emperor pacified Dali and brought the Three Han into submission, rebels in the south were soon put to death, and the princes of the northern deserts have all come to pay court. The court has assigned officials to manage governance, ended warfare, and set literary administration in order, and it is a flourishing age rarely seen in a thousand years. Yet the Emperor still reveres Heaven and solemnly carries out the rites of sacrifice. With the completion of the Taiqing Palace on this occasion, its blessings may be expected to continue for a long time.

I, your subject, hold office in the Hanlin Academy, and having received the Emperor's command, I bow twice and respectfully compose this inscription.

The sage holds no selfish bias, and so the common people grow simple and sincere. Once cleverness and ingenuity arise, every kind of falsehood follows, and the genuine nature is lost. Heaven has never spoken a word, yet it brought forth the Perfected Person. Where was this person born? On the banks of the Guo River. Gifted at birth with a marvelous nature, they cast aside the sagely wisdom that thinks itself superior; content with what is true and unadorned, they resolved disputes and sheathed their sharpness. Unwilling to serve a benighted ruler, they chose to dwell in a lowly place. Later they rode a black ox westward, shunning fame and withdrawing far from the dusty world. The two sections of the Daodejing (Jing, scripture), five thousand characters in all, have been handed down from this. Governing the world through Wuwei (non-action), its Dao (the Way) is profound and far-reaching; its principles of cherishing the people and ordering the state can be put into practice for ten thousand generations. Of whom was this person a descendant? Their origin is older than the Celestial Emperor.

People have long revered the model of the Founder of the Dao, honoring him as the Supreme Virtue of Primordial Chaos (Hunyuan Shangde, an honorific title of the Daoist ancestor). Accordingly, a temple was built on the banks of the Guo River, its halls spreading to either side like the wings of a bird. The complex was named the Palace of Great Purity (Taiqing Gong), and its main hall the Hall of the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate). The realized immortals thereby spread the fame of the place far and wide and added luster to the state of Qiao. Yet the waters of the Yellow River, vast and surging, struck against Guyang, and the lofty halls have now fallen into ruin. Rise and decline follow their appointed measure; when the age of fortune flourishes again, they will be rebuilt.

Chengming Sijiao and others carried on the Daoist cause and held fast to the Dao of true constancy. Zhimi and Zhiyu first chose the site and began construction; Chongdao and Qiyun gladly took over the work, and at last a single hall was completed, solemn and stately to behold from afar. May it endure for long ages and pray for blessings upon the state. That the work reached completion owes most to the efforts of Chongdao. Your servants dare not claim the merit for themselves; if it is not credited to the sovereign's grace, how else should it be praised? The wellspring of blessing has nine wells, and its fortune extends across both rivers. This humble servant Zuo has composed this inscription in place of an ode in praise.

Stele Inscription for the Rebuilding of the Great Tianchang Guan of the Ten Directions in Zhongdu

Composed by imperial command by Zheng Zipin, Hanlin Expositor-in-Waiting, Drafter of Edicts, and concurrently Compiler of the National History.

In the third month of the fourteenth year of the Dading era, the Minister of Revenue Zhongyu and the Commissioner for the Encouragement of Agriculture Jinyan submitted a memorial…

In the third month of the fourteenth year of Dading, Zhongyu, Minister of the Board of Revenue, and Jinyan, Commissioner for the Promotion of Agriculture, submitted a memorial: "The halls of the Shifang Da Tianchang Temple have been restored and the divine images solemnly installed. We respectfully report this." On the sixteenth day of that month, the emperor and the crown prince led the officials to the temple to pay reverent homage, and ordered a ritual altar to be kept for three days and nights within the temple to celebrate the completion of the work.

Earlier, the court had summoned Master Yan Deyuan, "Qingxu," the Altar Master of Ordination for the Western Capital Circuit, to oversee the temple's affairs and had appointed him Supervisor of the temple. In the autumn, the ninth month of the nineteenth year, the emperor decreed that a minister well versed in the classics should compose an inscription for the stele. I, Zicong, was then serving at the North Gate and happened to receive this task. I have carefully examined the historical records to trace the temple's rise, destruction, and rebuilding.

From the Tujing (a gazetteer recording local landmarks and geography) and the old steles, I learned that the temple was probably first built during the Kaiyuan era of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang. It was originally named "Tianchang" ("Heaven's Longevity") and was magnificent in scale. After years without repair, its buildings gradually fell into ruin. In the seventh year of Xiantong, Zhang Yunshen, Military Governor of Lulong, repaired and enlarged it. Through the Five Dynasties and the Liao period, it continued to be honored.

In the last years of the Zhenglong era of the Jin, official business and corvée labor were heavy, documents piled up in government offices, and many registered goods were stored in the temple. Later, someone took advantage of the chaos and set a fire, and buildings that had taken hundreds of years to raise were reduced to ashes in a single night.

Yet when things decline to their extreme, a turn comes, as if the age had been waiting for its chance at renewal. After the sage emperor ascended the throne, within only five years the state was stable and well governed, and all regions of the realm were united. Officials performed their duties, the people lived in peace, craftsmen exercised their skills, imperial favor spread widely, auspicious omens appeared one after another, and many abandoned undertakings were revived. In the intervals of governing, the emperor also gave thought to the profound principles of Daoism.

On the twenty-third day of the seventh month in autumn of the seventh year of Dading, the emperor decreed the rebuilding of the temple. The emperor appointed Zhang Zhongyu, then Minister of the Board of Revenue, and Zhang Jinyan, Commissioner for the Promotion of Agriculture, to direct the work, and instructed them not to hurry for quick results. From the start of construction to completion, eight years were spent.

The plaque on the front of the three outer gates reads "Shifang Da Tianchang Temple," and that on the three middle gates reads "Gate of Jade Void." Within the temple stands a three-tiered altar to the Lord of the Void. This altar is the place where Daoist Zhaijiao (purification ritual) ceremonies are held; it has three tiers and is dedicated to the worship of the Lord of the Void.

The central main hall is named "Jade Void Hall" and enshrines the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing). Next is the "Tongming Pavilion," which enshrines the August Heavenly Lord. Then there is the "Yanqing Hall," which enshrines the images of the assembled deities of the natal stars. On the east side are the "Chengshen Hall" and, on the west, the "Shengzhen Hall," which together enshrine the six natal star deities. Also on the east are the "Lingyin Bell Pavilion," which additionally enshrines the Jade Emperor and the Jade Emperor of Emptiness and Nonbeing; the "Daming Pavilion," which enshrines the Sun Lord; and the "Hall of the Five Peaks," which enshrines the deities of the Five Peaks and the Numinous Prince Who Responds and Sustains the State of Mount Changbai. On the west are the "Feixuan Pavilion," which houses the Daoist Canon and enshrines the Precious Lords of the Three Heavens; the "Qinghui Pavilion," which enshrines the Lord of the Moon; and the "Hall of the Four Rivers," which enshrines the spirits of the Yangtze, the Yellow River, the Huai, and the Ji.

In addition there are meditation chambers, Yuma halls, abbot's quarters, and other buildings, one hundred and sixty rooms and more in all. In the timber of the beams and pillars, the painted decoration, the wall finishes, the murals, and the making of the divine images, everything is exquisitely wrought and splendid. The wood used in the beams and columns, the fragrant wood and fine jade adorning the pavilions, and the vermilion colors are all of outstanding beauty.

The cost of the work ran to tens of thousands in coin, yet it all came from goods in the palace set aside for the emperor's use. These goods were sold to the people at fair prices, and so the work was able to proceed so smoothly to completion.

The plaques inscribed in the temple manifest the merit of the divine powers; the cloud-like chariots and horses symbolize the journeys of the Perfected; the precious Daoist scriptures reveal the mysteries of the Dao (the Way); and Daoists in yellow caps and feathered robes gather here. The refectories and secluded chambers also provide lodging for those who live in retreat to cultivate the Dao.

Ah! The whole undertaking cost the state no grain or coin, conscripted not a single commoner, and employed not one soldier, yet it produced palaces of many pillars and beams, soaring towers, and a three-tiered altar, lofty and splendid as if formed by nature. Had the emperor's virtue not moved Heaven and Earth, and had loyal ministers not helped with united effort, how could this have been done?

In my view, the Dao is profound, subtle, and hard to know, and can only reluctantly be called "Dao." When a sage attains the Dao, they can perceive the origin of all things and govern the world, in accord with the humble, self-restraining virtue of the Lord of Tang Tao (the legendary Emperor Yao). Next come the Daoist methods of the great elixir and cloud-essence, ascent to immortality, and long life and enduring vision. Next come the guiding-and-stretching exercises, imitating bears climbing trees and birds spreading their wings, and the arts of expelling the stale and taking in the fresh to prolong life. Next come the arts of commanding ghosts and spirits, quelling plagues, delaying aging, and curing illness. When the Dao is applied in the world, it brings considerable benefit; as for how it is elucidated and put to use, that depends on the person who cultivates it.

In the past, the Li family of the Tang honored Xuanyuan (Laozi), and so achieved the accomplishments of the flourishing Kaiyuan age; the reason they reached such eminence was probably that they first cultivated themselves. Now the emperor, believing that the Dao benefits people, has rebuilt this temple in order to pray for the people's blessings. Cultivating oneself is following the moment; bringing benefit to the people comes from sincerity. Self-cultivation and service to the people, following the moment and utmost sincerity: how could these be set side by side as equals?

I respectfully bow and present the following eulogy:

The Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) described in the Book of Changes (Yijing) manifests as the Heaven of Precious Light. Who governs and established this name? That is the true principle itself. The gateways of all subtle mysteries are profound beyond profound; they nurture the myriad things, so that every kind of being between Heaven and Earth finds its place and keeps turning without cease.

The universe is vast and boundless, and through countless kalpas it does not change. At the dawn of the kalpa cycles of Yankang and Longhan, your subject bows respectfully and humbly presents this hymn:

The Taiji described in the Book of Changes manifests as the Heaven of Precious Light. Who governs and established this name? That is the true principle itself. The gateways of all subtle mysteries are profound beyond profound; they nurture the myriad things, so that every kind of being between Heaven and Earth finds its place and keeps turning without cease. The universe is vast and boundless, and through countless kalpas it does not change.

Yankang and Longhan are called the earliest of ages. The principle of the Dao, wondrous and discerning, placed humanity first, and names such as Yuqing and Taiqing (titles of the celestial realms honored in Daoism) were handed down from that time. Some say these principles and names existed long before Heaven and Earth took shape, when the myriad things were still in embryo. Since the age of the emperors, people have revered them with devotion.

The Perfected One Kongsheng (a "Perfected One" is a revered Daoist adept) founded this place at the start of the Kaiyuan era. He especially valued honoring the ancestral masters and practicing Daoism. He built shrines and halls so that people might enjoy peace and blessing. Now more than five hundred years have passed.

Unexpectedly, a fire struck and, to everyone's grief, burned the halls to the ground. Perhaps the moment had long been arranged: the wise emperor received the Mandate of Heaven and ruled the four quarters, and his kindness spread across the land like sweet spring water. The seas were calm and without waves, the beacon fires sent up no smoke, and every undertaking could go forward. The emperor took pity that this old site alone lay in ruins and ordered it restored. He did so not as in the Tang and Han dynasties, in pursuit of immortality, but in the hope that deep blessings would be passed on to the people.

The emperor trusted his servant, summoned him in person, and entrusted him with the task. The work was arranged sensibly according to circumstances and not rushed. After eight years it was completed smoothly, without missing the deadline. The new temple complex resembles an immortal capital among the clouds, its halls towering, with many great beams sheltering those within. In the broad courtyards, pavilions and upturned eaves join one another without end. Gold and jade glitter in brilliant color, and the magnificent sight, standing beside the long road, is dazzling to behold.

In the building, the people were not wearied, and the state treasury was not drained. This reflects the emperor's virtuous governance and also shows the diligence of his servant. I respectfully present this inscription and have it carved in stone to commemorate the work. May blessings and good fortune come without end, and may songs of praise flow on like a river.

Stele Inscription for the Xuandu Treasury of the Shifang Great Tianchang Temple

Composed by Wei Boxiao, Chengshi Lang, Attendant Scholar of the Hanlin Academy, Drafter of Imperial Edicts, and Compiler at the Wu State Historiography Academy.

When the Great Tianchang Abbey of the Ten Directions (a Daoist temple) was compiling its new Xuandu Baozang (Treasured Canon of the Mysterious Metropolis), the Master of Harmony, Sun Mingdao, who administered the abbey, said to the eminent Wei Boxiao:

Scriptures (Jing) came into being when the Celestial Worthy of the Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun, a supreme Daoist deity) opened the cosmic cycles of Longhan, Yankang, and the rest, and ordered the Perfected Celestial Sovereign (Tianzhen Huangren, a legendary immortal) to discern the secretly transmitted methods of the Dao (the Way), confer them on the host of immortals, and pass them down to later ages. Abbeys came into being when the Queen Mother of the West (Xiwangmu, a legendary goddess) presented a jade image of the Celestial Worthy to the Yellow Emperor, Xuanyuan, who set it on a high terrace and made offerings of incense before it. Seen this way, without abbeys there would be nowhere to store the supreme scriptures, and without scriptures there would be no way to know the supreme Dao. Which of the two could be done without?

More than forty years have passed since the state fixed its capital at Yong'an. Tianchang Abbey has always venerated the divine powers and kept scriptures, but its old collection was damaged and incomplete. Successive abbots drifted along perfunctorily, and none took the completion of the collection to heart. In the bingwu year of the Dading era (1166), I received an imperial order to administer the abbey. At that time Emperor Shizong, amid the press of state affairs, took an interest in Daoist texts. Because the abbey had suffered a fire, he released a great sum from the inner treasury and ordered the old buildings torn down and rebuilt. The holy powers thus gained a dwelling and the many Perfected a place of rest. The long corridors and halls were laid out on a grand scale, and the scripture pavilion, the Zhaijiao altar (the place where Zhaijiao purification rituals are held), the courtyards, and the lodgings each had their allotted place. Solemn, majestic, quiet, and reverent, the abbey became a wonder of the realm. The emperor further granted twenty million coins, to be managed by the Finance Office, with the yearly surplus used to support the Daoists. He also established a Cinnabar-Refining Court on Mount Wuhua and built the Jade Flower Hall there, placing both under Tianchang Abbey as a site where alchemists could refine and sublimate elixirs.

Yet the supreme scriptures remained incomplete. Though my abilities are limited, I resolved to give all my strength to finishing the task. Two years later, the court ordered the printing blocks of the Daoist Canon at the Southern Capital transferred to Tianchang Abbey, and the scriptures kept at Yuxu Abbey moved to Feixuan Pavilion for people to consult. Tianchang's own original scriptures were to be returned to Yuxu Abbey. Any scripture listed in Yuxu's catalogue but absent from Tianchang's holdings could be kept and need not be returned until the gaps were filled, after which it would be sent back.

Later the court bestowed Daoist robes on ten men including Xiao Daoji, and granted a hundred and fifty thousand coins to buy feathered garments; the other Daoists each received thirty thousand. This stirred me to still greater devotion. I reasoned that with a wise and sage sovereign on the throne and Daoism flourishing, the classics and registers should be spread widely to guide the multitude. I therefore submitted a memorial to the court, which was approved, and the court further encouraged inviting eminent Daoists to preside over rituals so that purity and order would be maintained.

In the first month of the following year, just as the alchemical furnace and cauldron were completed, a dragon happened to fly away, and the related edicts have all been preserved. After the new sovereign took the throne, he still held the Daoist teachings in special reverence, considering that Daoism had arisen in the Central Plain and valued purity and stillness. The officials concerned petitioned to proceed in accordance with the earlier edicts, and the emperor consented. On the first day of the third month the altar was opened for the conferral of registers (the ceremony in which Daoists receive their Fulu, talismans and registers). When the rites were fully prepared, a master was invited to present the names and titles in a memorial. Soon three cranes flew in from the northwest and circled above the altar ground, and when the presentation ended they flew off to the southwest. At noon, as the master ascended the altar, four more cranes circled overhead. Just as the exchange with the divine officials took place, a yellow mist suddenly covered the sky, as if a violent wind and rain were sweeping in from the northwest. When the ceremony ended and the mats were removed, the sky abruptly cleared, and the cranes rose together and vanished into the vast heavens. Daoists and common people alike prostrated themselves in astonishment.

On New Year's Day of the first year of Mingchang, the emperor sent a palace envoy to convey an order to the Finance Office: to extend the abbey's grounds on its left side by about a thousand paces and build the Dingmao Ruisheng Hall, to enshrine the guardian deity of the Empress Dowager's birth year. The hall was to be modeled on Yanqing Palace. An official residence north of the hall was also granted to the abbey for housing the printing blocks. Two civil officials were dispatched to collate the scriptures with me, fill in the gaps, and print a complete canon. The court also ordered that one diligent Daoist be chosen to preside for a five-year term, and if the duties were well handled, a purple robe and a Daoist name would be bestowed. From then on, two diligent young attendants would be formally ordained each year.

After receiving the order I had no leisure to rest. I sent Daoists in all directions to search for scattered scriptures, and recruited craftsmen and gathered timber. Zhao Daozhen took the initiative to supply the wood for the blocks, soliciting and collecting it far and wide. In under two years, the materials and scriptures needed were all in hand, skilled carvers had assembled, and the carving and printing were all completed. In total, 1,074 scattered scriptures (juan) were recovered, more than 21,800 volumes of blocks were newly cut to supplement the set, and the holdings amounted to 83,198 volumes. The scriptures are kept in four storehouses with thirty-five bays in all and a hundred and forty shelves.

Afterward I gathered the Daoists to check the categories and formats according to the Three Caverns and Four Supplements (the classification system of the Daoist Canon), compare differences and similarities, and arrange and sequence the texts. In the end a single canon was compiled, comprising 6,455 scrolls in 602 cases (the traditional unit for bundling scriptures), titled the Great Jin Xuandu Baozang. With the work complete, a text was needed to record it so that it might be handed down for ages. I therefore asked Wei Boxiao to write the stele inscription.

Wei Boxiao said, with due caution: The teachings of the Daoists seem to originate in the thought of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi. They take purity, stillness, and Wuwei (non-action) as their principle, and compassion, frugality, and non-contention as their practice, which accords with the essential meaning of the Six Classics. Even a ruler cannot do without these principles. As for the doctrines of immortals nourishing their nature and preserving the genuineness of life, they belong to the cultivation of those who dwell in mountains and forests. Those who study the Huang-Lao way well should understand that governing the state and cultivating the self each have their root and their branches. Shun ruling without action, Emperor Wen of Han practicing compassion and frugality, Emperor Guangwu following the way of gentleness, and Gai Gong honoring purity and stillness were all influenced by Huang-Lao teaching, and one may say they understood where effort should be applied.

Now Mingdao, on imperial order, has restored the old scriptures and gathered many scattered books from across the realm, taking in all kinds, and has at last compiled a great canon. This helps the Daoist teachings attend to both the fundamental and the practical, and so it deserves to be recorded on stone. I respectfully accept this task and compose the inscription as follows:

The original source is empty, still, and silent, and so it is naturally. From nothing arose being, which gradually gathered and formed Heaven and Earth. Once the two fundamental forces of Yin-Yang (yinyang) were settled, the Seven Luminaries, the sun, moon, and stars, began to move.

Heaven and Earth brought forth the myriad things and made them grow and multiply. Life and death turned in cycles, enduring the changes of the kalpas. Some beings became humans, some became creatures, and some may have become ghosts or immortals. Above the Three Realms, before the great cataclysm arrives, there lies another domain.

Above it there is no more form or color, and below it there is no more abyss. Within it lies the Great Brahma (the vast and pure heavenly realm), whose regions stretch far and deep. The Jade Sound (the wondrous music of the heavens) gathers primordial Qi (qi), and spirit winds draw together mist and cloud.

Once the scriptures took shape, their words shone clear and bright. The age of Longhan (an ancient cosmic era in Daoist legend) was vast and boundless, and only when the fortunate time opened were these scriptures transmitted. The Dao (the Way) of heavenly truth was gradually made plain, and the ranks of immortals revered and trusted it with respect.

The scriptures were then bestowed upon the world and became the profound words of five thousand characters. The Daoist canon was divided into the Three Caverns and Four Supplements (the classification system of the Daoist Canon), and was handed down through the generations. After Guan Yin (a figure said to have attained the Dao and transmitted its teachings), the various branches gradually diverged and spread.

The Daoist scriptures recorded in Han dynasty histories numbered two hundred and five. In the Xingning era of the Eastern Jin (363-365), the influence of Daoism reached further still. Through the Tang and Song dynasties, the outline and system of the Daoist canon were gradually completed.

People searched for scattered scriptures, combing mountains and rivers everywhere, and gathered them to be stored in secret halls and adorned with brocade. Later, when the Mandate of Heaven changed hands, the scriptures were taken back along with their masters.

The scriptures had long been bundled away, and they had nearly fallen apart into fragments. In the Dading era (1161-1189), a Zhenren (Perfected One, the Daoist honorific for one of accomplished cultivation) assisted the court and revived Daoism. The scriptures were then rolled up and stored away, prayers and sacrifices were held at the altars, and auspicious days were chosen.

The scriptures were adorned and repaired anew, and gold and coin were bestowed as well. The imperial grace was vast, its blessings like sweet rain falling from heaven. Some said that the scriptures had printing blocks and could be copied and circulated.

So printing blocks were gathered from the lands of Wei and Liang and sent to the lands of Han and Yan. Others said that the scriptures had missing volumes, which could be completed and printed again. Thus the scriptures of Yuxu (the name of a Daoist temple or immortal realm) were used to replace the edition of Feixuan (the title of a Daoist scripture).

Who could have known that just as the work was completed, the sovereign would mount his dragon carriage and soar away? The people could not follow in time and could only gaze up at the dragon chariot, weeping and clutching his bow. The Son of Heaven of the Mingchang era (1190-1196) devoted himself wholeheartedly to the Dao, granted land for buildings, and urged on the craftsmen and appointed officials to handle the matter.

Chonghe (a Daoist honorific title or a Daoist's name) received the commission and carried it out with great diligence. In less than two years, he brought this grand undertaking to completion. Timber gathered in great quantities, and many potters fired sturdy components. All the building materials were prepared, piled up like mountains, and the walls were raised one by one. When the work was completed, miraculous signs seemed to appear as well.

The great Emperor Shizong carried on this undertaking...

Thousands of timbers are gathered to make precious material; clays of every kind are assembled and fired into sturdy vessels. The mountains rise in ordered ranks, their ravines and walls joined together; and when the work was completed, the spirits naturally revealed their confirming signs.

The great Shizong Emperor presented offerings to the Divine Lord at the sacrificial banquet. As the divine carriage was awaited, auspicious light shone from afar. The spirits descended to inspect the work and bestowed abundant blessings.

May the Son of Heaven enjoy long life, lasting for hundreds of millions of years. May his grace extend across the Daoist teaching and spread widely through the four directions.

Record of Auspicious Responses to the Universal Grand Jiao at the Great Tianchang Abbey of the Ten Directions

On the guimao day of the second month of the first year of Mingchang, the Empress Dowager felt slightly unwell. The next day, jiachen, the Emperor went to the Longqing Palace to inquire after her health. As he came out through the bedchamber gate, his steps were unsteady, and he had not even put his shoes on properly. Morning and evening he personally attended her and looked after her meals, sought medicines and methods of care everywhere, and did not even loosen his sash. He held that praying to the spirits of Heaven and Earth was an established precedent recorded in the classics.

On the renzi day, the Emperor ordered that a "Universal Grand Jiao" (a large-scale Zhaijiao, or purification ritual, offered to the spirits of Heaven and Earth) be held at the Great Tianchang Abbey, lasting seven days and nights, to pray for the Empress Dowager's long life. The Emperor granted five million cash, together with two hundred eighty catties of incense, including sandalwood, aloeswood, and jiangzhen incense, and five taels of borneol. He also appointed Dazhong Yin, General of Valiant Courage, Commander of the Guard, and concurrently Commissioner of the Reception Bureau; Zhang Ruyou, Commissioner of the Western Upper Gate; and Wanyan Aluhan, Left Zhensu, as the officials presiding over the ceremonies.

The Emperor also issued an edict to Sun Mingdao, Master of Harmonious Emptiness, who administered the affairs of the Tianchang Abbey: "The Daoism of Laozi is the native teaching of China, and differs from the Buddhism that came from the foreign lands of the West. From now on, no ritual implements are to be used in the Jiao rites." That same day, a Qingci (a petition written on blue-green vine paper for use in Zhaijiao prayers) for the Universal Grand Jiao was issued, which read:

"Your servant, the heir to the Heavenly throne, respectfully memorializes the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), the Four Emperors, and the Two Empresses: I have inherited the great line of succession and rely on the loving kindness of my Mother, the Empress Dowager. Each day I serve her and exert myself in her care. By the fortunate protection of Heaven, I have been able to pray for longevity and good fortune. Unexpectedly, the seasons fell out of balance, and the Empress Dowager suddenly became slightly ill. I have therefore come to this secluded and tranquil abbey to solemnly hold a secret Zhaijiao rite. I hope that my filial devotion may move the spirits, that the divine carriage may descend and discern my sincerity, and that long life and blessings may be granted, so that all the people under Heaven may likewise enjoy lasting protection. With utmost sincerity I pray, and respectfully submit this memorial."

On the xinyou day, the Emperor came in person to the Tianchang Abbey to burn incense and pay homage. After the ceremony, he returned to the palace. The ritual officials and the Gaogong Grand Master of the Law (the Daoist priest who presides over the Zhaijiao liturgy) reported and submitted the documents, and the Emperor observed a seven-day fast. On the guihai day, nine Qingci in the Emperor's own hand were sent from the palace, along with four catties of aloeswood and sandalwood and ten taels of borneol.

On the yichou day, as the Zhaijiao liturgy (Keyi) was being performed at noon, nine white cranes flew in from the northwest, followed by ten more. They flew slowly, circling above the ritual altar. Before long, thousands of white cranes arrived from all four directions, covering the sky, wheeling back and forth in the air, and only gradually flew away between the hours of noon and the shen hour. The weather was clear at the time, and red light from the southwest shone upon the altar and the halls. The people of the capital gazed upward and bowed in reverence, praising the sight with one voice, all taking it to be an auspicious sign brought forth by the Emperor's filial devotion moving Heaven and Earth.

On the bingyin day, the Empress Dowager sent Gao Shou, Supervisor of the Longqing Palace, to give the assembled Daoists fifty taels of silver and four bolts of colored silk so that they might perform the rite of repentance and thanksgiving. At noon that day, as the rites were being conducted, four white cranes again flew in from the northwest, followed by more than fifty in succession, circling over the altar for a long time.

On the dingmao day, the Emperor further ordered Lu Ji, Left Commissioner of Court Reception, to perform the rites on his behalf. When the liturgy was held at noon, five white cranes flew in from the northwest and circled above the halls and pavilions. As the Daoists ascended the Tianbao Altar to burn incense and pay homage, a great crane suddenly swooped down, brushed past the eaves of the Yuxu Hall, and then flew off, dancing above the altar and pavilion. At midnight, as the prayer documents were being burned, a light breeze rose from the northwest, lifting the paper ashes and sending them spiraling hundreds and thousands of feet into the air, straight into the clouds. Soon afterward, red light illuminated the halls of the abbey, and the onlookers marveled, looking up and bowing in reverence.

On the wuchen day, the Zhaijiao concluded. Less than ten days later, the Empress Dowager recovered her health and was as she had been before. Xu Wuzhen, the incense attendant of the Yuxu Hall at the Tianchang Abbey, witnessed these events with his own eyes. He asked craftsmen to carve onto wooden blocks the "Illustrated Record of Responses to the Universal Grand Jiao at the Great Tianchang Abbey," and recorded the whole affair in detail, entrusting Zhu Lan, Compiler of the Bureau of National History, to enter it into the national history.

I privately consider that in the Western Han, when yellow swans alighted at the Taiye Pond and thirty white cranes passed over the altar at Mount Dai, these may originally have been mere coincidences with no special meaning; yet the historians of the time still recorded them as auspicious omens and entered them in the histories of the Western Capital and the Eastern Pavilion. Now, the sagacious Son of Heaven has moved Heaven and Earth and communicated with the spirits through his utmost filial devotion, and the confirming signs are so clear and manifest! I, Zhu Lan, hold office as a historian, and it is my duty to record the matter truthfully: inwardly, to write it into the historical annals for the historians to draw upon; outwardly, to proclaim the sovereign's virtue and assist in the moral transformation of the realm. I therefore dared not refuse Xu Wuzhen's request, and have arranged the materials he recorded into this text, entitled "Record of Auspicious Responses to the Universal Grand Jiao at the Tianchang Abbey."

The Book of Documents says: "To establish benevolence, begin with one's own kin; to establish reverence, begin with respect for elders. Extend it from the family to the state, and finally to all under Heaven." From this it can be seen that when the subjects of the realm hear of the Emperor's filial virtue, they will surely be transformed by it and follow his example. If everyone practices the filial conduct of Zeng Shen and Min Ziqian, then the customs of the age of Yao and Shun, when every household inclined toward goodness and every person was worthy of reward, may perhaps return in our own day.

On the wuwu day of the fifth month, your servant Zhu Lan, Gentleman for Managing Affairs, Drafter in the Hanlin Academy, concurrently Compiler of the Bureau of National History, bearing the borrowed scarlet robe, respectfully bows and records this account.

Since ancient times, the sage-kings revered Heaven and Earth and stood in awe of the spirits and deities, and the rites of prayer and sacrifice already appear in such classics as the Book of Songs and the Book of Documents. People set up altars as places of sacrifice, offered livestock and goods, used incense smoke to convey their breath, and had liturgists and scribes read out prayers, seeking to dispel calamity and illness and to prolong life, as well as making particular petitions to the gods. In later ages these rites were sometimes performed and sometimes abandoned, and people gradually stopped inquiring into their origins. Yet the work of praying for blessings and averting misfortune came to rest mainly with Daoism. Daoist fasting follows established norms, and the jiao (醮, an offering ritual of prayer) follows set liturgical procedures: fasting is used to atone for transgressions and dispel disaster, while the jiao is used to resolve hardship, and through them one seeks the blessing and protection of Heaven, Earth, and the spirits. From the Han and Tang dynasties onward, these ritual methods became ever more complete. Although they differ from the ritual institutions of antiquity, the underlying intent, purity through fasting and sincere reverence in performing the rites, is the same.

In the second month of the first year of the Mingchang era (1190), the Empress Dowager fell ill. The emperor attended her in her chambers every day, examined prescriptions, and did everything a son could do in caring for his mother, yet her illness did not improve. Deeply anxious, the emperor ordered his attendants to go everywhere offering sacrifices and prayers. Judging that, among all methods of prayer, those of Daoism were the most solemn, and that the "Putian Great Jiao" (普天大醮, Great Offering for All Under Heaven) was more complete than the other jiao rites, the emperor issued an edict granting five million cash to the Tianchang Guan (a Daoist temple), commanding it to erect an altar and perform the jiao, and further bestowed sandalwood, aloeswood, borneol, and other incenses, more than four hundred jin in all.

The emperor specially appointed Da Zhongyin, Commander of the Imperial Guard and Commissioner of Guest Affairs, Zhang Ruyou, Commissioner of the Western Upper Gate, and Wanyan Aluhan, Left Zhensu, to oversee the ceremony together. The emperor also admonished Sun Mingdao, the temple's Supervisor and Master Chonghe, saying: "The Dao of Laojun (Lord Lao) originated in China and values above all stillness and purity. It is not like Buddhism from the Western Regions, which makes a practice of clashing cymbals. From now on, do not use cymbals at the altar." The emperor fasted for one night, then on the following day came to the altar in person and offered incense. After returning to the palace, nine secret prayers were sent out from within, all written in the emperor's own hand. The Empress Dowager likewise sent a palace envoy to bestow silver and colored silks as an expression of repentance and gratitude. On the day the altar opened, the daily meals in both palaces were changed to vegetarian fare, and this continued for seven days until the rite concluded. The offerings were fully prepared, and the sincerity behind them was profound.

On the third day of the jiao, as the ceremony was proceeding in full solemnity, great banks of crimson cloud appeared in the southwest, their radiance lighting up the altar and halls. Nine white cranes flew in from the northwest and circled above the altar. Then more than ten others arrived, and soon they gathered from all four directions in numbers too great to count, perhaps several thousand, wheeling up and down through the sky. From midday until evening the flocks gradually dispersed. At that moment the Daoist priests were leading the rites; startled one another, they all bowed together below the altar. The elders and common people of the capital looked up in wonder, and many raised their hands to their foreheads in reverence, believing that the emperor's filial devotion had moved Heaven and Earth.

During the following days, white cranes continued to arrive, sometimes five or four at a time, sometimes dozens. Finally, one great crane descended slowly, passed low over the eaves several times, and circled for a long while above the halls before vanishing. On the night the prayers were burned, the sky was clear and a cool breeze blew; the ashes and smoke of the incense drifted upward, no one knew where. Suddenly a red light illuminated the altar, and the crowd exclaimed in joyful amazement that the immortals and sages were not far from the human world.

Soon after the jiao concluded, the Empress Dowager's health gradually recovered, and court and country alike exchanged congratulations. Zhu Lan, Compiler of the Bureau of National History, recorded the events, and many Confucian officials composed poems in praise. Master Sun then asked me to write an inscription to be carved in stone and handed down.

Jue Huaiying says: The Way of Heaven is profound and remote, and the principle by which Heaven and humanity communicate with each other may not be something we can know for certain. Yet when a person cultivates themselves, Heaven responds, and this is a necessary principle. The crane is a bird that soars high and travels far, dwelling in deep forests and haunting marshes; when people draw near, they beat their wings and fly away. Then who made them come here? I once heard that Daoism regards the crane as the mount of immortals; if that is indeed so, then these responses are plainly evident. Confucius said: "One who serves their father with filial piety comes to understand how to serve Heaven; one who serves their mother with filial piety comes to understand how to serve Earth," and from this one can penetrate all affairs. The Book of Documents says: "The spirits do not accept sacrifices from any fixed party; they accept only the offerings of the utterly sincere." When the subtle teachings of Dao and De (Virtue) are joined with rites of stillness and purity to express the sincere heart of a wise sovereign who cherishes his mother, it is not hard to understand why a swift response should appear.

I have set down what I heard, and add a eulogy below:

The Celestial Emperor dwells on high, revered by the myriad spirits. His hearing and observation seem remote and profound, yet without a sincere heart one cannot communicate with him. The great deities act in accordance with the Dao (the Way) of purity, tranquility, and non-contention, so that the Son of Heaven's sincere love and reverence for his kin may ascend to Heaven, and thus the response came with such speed. Having recorded what was heard, I append this hymn:

The Celestial Emperor dwells on high, revered by the myriad spirits. His hearing and observation are remote and profound, and without a sincere heart one cannot communicate with him. The great deities inherit the mandate of Heaven and establish the great Dao. The Son of Heaven made his supplication to Heaven for the sake of his own kin, and so he commanded that prayers be offered according to Daoist ritual. The Daoist canon gathers together the learning of the Dao, and its teachings are rooted in the mysterious Dao. Through it he prayed in purity, tranquility, and non-contention, hoping to move Heaven to respond. The altar was arranged with solemnity and gravity, and the memorials and written petitions addressed to the celestial spirits followed secret methods. The spirits of the upper realms, mindful of old bonds, bestowed blessings and brought auspicious omens.

Then an auspicious vapor appeared, resembling neither cloud nor smoke. It descended from the sky, joining the altar to the halls, its bright radiance flowing. Hundreds upon hundreds of immortal birds also appeared; as if trained, they skimmed past the eaves, seeming to answer the prayers. On the very day the Son of Heaven held the rite, the spirits manifested their response, and blessings descended upon the palace of his gracious mother. The Son of Heaven praised the Daoist master, saying, "I commend you, Master." The Daoist master bowed his head to the ground and replied, "All this is due to the Son of Heaven's sincere filial devotion to his kin." May the Son of Heaven enjoy blessings and longevity for ten thousand million years, and may he further enrich and sustain the Xuanjiao (the Mysterious Teaching, that is, Daoism).

Record of the Rebuilding of the Shangqing Palace of the Ten Directions in the Central Capital

Taishang (the "Most High," an honorific Daoism uses for the supreme sacred being) is the source of primordial chaos. At the beginning he transformed into the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing, the three supreme deities revered in Daoism), from Jade Purity to Great Purity. The Nine Qi then took form, from Immeasurable to Without Love. Pure Yang Qi divided upward into thirty-six heavens, from Great Yellow Heaven to Great Net Heaven, while pure Yin Qi divided downward into thirty-six earths, from Runse Earth to Dongyuan Earth. All of these lie within Taishang's jurisdiction.

Though Taishang dwells above the Cinnabar Terrace and within the Purple Palace Gates, he commands a vast host of immortals, perfected beings, and divine officials: three Great Immortals, nine Great Emperors, twenty-seven Celestial Lords, eighty-one Grandees, one thousand two hundred immortal officials, twenty-four thousand spiritual bureaus, seventy thousand immortal youths and jade maidens, and five hundred million celestial soldiers and spirit kings. The Ten Great Grotto-Heavens, thirty-six Cave Dwellings, seventy-two Blessed Lands, thirty-six hermitages, and twenty-four parishes likewise belong to his dominion.

Taishang is untouched by the calamities of the "Yang Nine and Hundred Six" (the cyclical disasters of Daoist teaching), and he transcends the immense ages described by the metaphors of the rock brushed away and the city of mustard seeds. At times he attends the Celestial Venerable of the Primordial Beginning to review the registers of immortals ascending and descending in the Nine Palaces. At other times he calls on Jade Dawn to consult the ledgers of life and death for all beings in the Three Realms. Sometimes he walks upon radiant clouds, his body golden; sometimes he sits within a lotus leaf, his face shining like the sun. He wears the cloud-glow crown of the Seven Luminaries and the flowing robe of the Nine Splendors. At times he rides a jade carriage of the Eight Effulgences drawn by five-colored divine dragons, raising the crimson tally of the flowing empyrean and spreading the crane canopy of nine lights. At other times he sits leaning on an armrest amid jeweled curtains, or wields a whisk with pearl-adorned banners shading him. Sometimes he wears a black cap and white robe, riding a white horse or driving a red-scaled creature. Sometimes he appears with a body of jade and a golden countenance, driving a blue rainbow and white beasts.

Taishang has appeared under many names and in many forms. When he questioned the Void Sovereign, he was called the Sovereign Lord of the Golden Gate Tower. Dwelling in Taiwei, he was called the Great Emperor of Heavenly Sovereignty. In the Longhan era he appeared as the Master of the Mysterious Center, and in the Chiming era as Master Yougu. He was also called Yuhuazi, who is said to have drawn the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) for Fuxi, and Dachengzi, who is said to have helped Emperor Yan sow the hundred grains. He was called Guangchengzi, who lived in seclusion on Mount Kongtong, and Wuchengzi, who dwelt on Mount Guye.

He gave the twenty-four diagrams to the Perfected of Pure Void and bestowed thirty-six scriptures (Jing) on the Celestial Perfected August Man. He concealed cinnabar writings in jade cases and precious cabinets, and kept purple-character texts in the jeweled halls of his jade chambers. He transmitted the numinous texts to the Lord Green Lad, so that the teaching began to flourish, and he left his true image with the Queen Mother of the West, whereby Daoist temples were first established.

Later, Taishang was born again in the Shang dynasty. It was the reign of Yangjia, in the year gengshen, and he took shape in Ku County. Secretly driving a carriage of nine dragons and radiating pearly light of five colors, he descended in a body of spirit flight, emerging from his mother's left side after eighty-one years in the womb. At his birth, seventy-two auspicious signs appeared. Pointing to a plum tree, he took "Li" (plum) as his surname, and because his hair was white from birth, he was called "Laozi" (the Old Master). He was also known by the names Boyang, Grand Historian Dan, Yuan, De, Ya, and Shi, and by the courtesy names Sheng, Guang, Wen, and Shi; his names numbered far more than thirty-six.

Tradition holds that Laozi had river-shaped eyes and a mouth like the sea. His brow was shaped like the sun's horn and his eyes like moon-pools; his nose bore twin pillars, and his forehead showed three "li." His cheeks resembled reclining mountain ridges and his chin a level hillock. He stood nine feet tall, had ten lines on his hands and square pupils, and his face was full and smooth, marked with white birthmarks and brocade-like patterns on his body. His extraordinary features likewise numbered far more than seventy-two.

From the time of King Wen and King Wu of Zhou onward, Laozi served as Keeper of the Archives, Pillar Historian, and in other posts. Knowing that the Zhou's virtue was waning, and troubled that the customs of the western barbarian lands had yet to be civilized, he passed through Hangu Pass, intending to travel to the Flowing Sands. At that moment purple Qi stretched across the sky and his green ox halted its cart. The Pass Warden begged him to leave a written work, and so he composed his book. By this, the body of Xu Jia, long dead, was restored to flesh and blood. This happened on the jiazi day of the seventh month in the twenty-fifth year of King Zhao of Zhou.

Today the ruins of the Shangqing Palace in Luoyang still remain. An ancient tree coils skyward there in the shape of a dragon or serpent, and it has a hollow in its trunk, said to be where Taishang tethered his cart. After our dynasty raised Henan Prefecture to the status of Central Capital, the Regent Wanyan Echu invited the Crow-Gate Daoist Wu Dashun to take charge of this public monastery (shifang gong). Wu Dashun began to summon Daoists from all quarters, enabling them to sweep and tend the palace and carry on their cultivation there, which is a most fortunate undertaking. He asked me for a text to be carved in stone to record the matter. Fearing that people might not understand why Taishang came to this place, I have set down the whole course of events in detail.

As for the parable of the brooding swan that Taishang told when instructing Gengsangzi, Confucius's praise of Laozi as "like a dragon" when discussing ritual, Laozi's traces at the Green Ram Market, and his later ascent to the White Deer Palace, these are all later legends. They are recorded in the Daozang (Daoist Canon), so I omit them here.

Respectfully recorded by Sun Chunfu.

People sigh in wonder that Laozi was as mysterious and unfathomable as a dragon. Legend holds that he was born at Qingyang Si (the Green Ram Market, a place traditionally associated with Laozi) and later ascended to Bailu Gong (the White Deer Palace, the name of a Daoist temple). These are all later legends, and the accounts concerning them appear in the Daozang (Daoist Canon), so they are omitted here. Respectfully recorded by his descendant, Sun Chunfu.

Temple Stele Inscription (a stele text that records a Daoist temple and its history)