《混元圣记》Vol. 5

His comings and goings, advances and retreats, followed no fixed pattern; he moved freely yet always kept to the true course. He made wisdom appear like dullness and kept his mind empty and quiet, never self-satisfied. The bearing of such a great figure is not something ordinary people can judge. Titles like the “nine ranks” and the like—how could they be worth letting one’s name be burdened by them? He shared in the radiance of the sun and moon and aligned with the five planets; he entered the elixir chamber (the place where internal alchemy was cultivated) and moved within the Huangting (the inner landscape of the body in Daoist inner cultivation). He turned away from the world, renounced music and beauty, and hid his form; he embraced primordial Qi (vital energy), let his spirit transform, and breathed the finest breath of heaven and earth. People could not fathom his origin, yet they knew of his birth and death. The Son of Heaven and his ministers performed rites of sacrifice to manifest his numinous power. People admired his power to extend life; they carved stone to record the event as praise.

In the twelfth month, the emperor again sent Chief Attendant Guan Ba to Ku County to offer sacrifice to Lord Lao (Laozi). In the ninth year, the Zhuolong Palace was built in Fanglin Garden, with the Wen kitchen as the altar platform, pure gold adorning the resonating mouthpieces, canopied seats set up, and music for sacrificing to Heaven performed. The emperor personally sacrificed to Lord Lao and also had the Buddha (Fotu) and the Buddhist tradition (Shi) share in the offerings. The relevant account appears in the Book of the Later Han.

According to the “Treatise on the Western Regions” in the Later Han, the land of Tianzhu (India), also called Shendu or Gandu, practiced the way of the Buddha (Futu). Under Emperor He, envoys once presented tribute. By the second year of Emperor Huan’s Yanxi reign, in the fourth month, Tianzhu again sent tribute many times through border regions beyond Rinan Commandery. Tradition says that Emperor Ming dreamed of a tall golden man with light around his neck and asked his ministers about it. Someone said that in the west there was a god named Buddha, sixteen feet tall, entirely golden. Thereupon Emperor Ming sent envoys to Tianzhu to inquire into the Dharma and had images of the Buddha painted in China.

On the first day of the first month in the second year of Guanghe under Emperor Ling (179 CE, year of the goat), Laojun ordered Taiji Zhenren, Sandong Dashi (master of the Three Caverns) Xu Laile, and others to descend together to Tiantai Mountain. Laojun rode the Eight Treasures jade carriage—the splendid vehicle immortals use—attended by countless followers, with Zhengyi Zhenren also serving at his side.

Laojun styled himself “Supreme Mysterious Unity Zhenren” (Taishang Xuanyi Zhenren). He appointed Zheng Dingguang as Dongjing Gaoxuan Dashi (high mystery master of the cave scriptures) and had the attendant immortal jade attendant Wang Sizhen unroll the Nine Radiance jade decree and promulgate the Scripture of the Great Cavern of Mystery and Spirit Treasure (Dongxuan Dadong Lingbao Jing) in thirty-six sections, which he then conferred on the immortal Ge Xuan. Laojun also transmitted two types of Shangqing fasting ritual (Shangqing zhai): one is practiced in solitary seclusion with focused meditation, called “withdrawal from the crowd and feasting alone,” regarded as a method of entering the sage realm and ascending into emptiness; the other is performed in a pure altar according to liturgy, first seeking blessing and deliverance for the nine ancestors, then for the family, and finally offering confession for oneself.

In addition, Laojun transmitted the Three Registers fasting and the seven grades of fasting. The Three Registers fasting comprises: the Golden Register (Jinlu) fasting, to harmonize Yin-Yang and protect the state; the Jade Register (Yulu) fasting, to bless empresses, marquises, and nobles; and the Yellow Register (Huanglu) fasting, to deliver the nine mysterious and seven ancestral spirits so they may forever leave the dark realm of suffering.

The seven grades of fasting comprise: the Day-Ming True fasting, to deliver wandering souls and resolve various grievances; the Natural fasting, to seek blessing and absolve sins for all beings, also a method of learning immortality; the Three Officials (Sanguan) fasting—referring to the deities who oversee heaven, earth, and water—to confess violations of precepts and petition the Three Officials to lift culpability; the Eight Festivals (Bajie) fasting, held on the eight seasonal nodes of the year, to seek absolution for ancestors and oneself and erase offenses recorded in the dark ledgers; the Cave Spirit (Dongshen) fasting, emphasizing simplicity and sincerity, to seek immortality and bless the state; the Direct Instruction (Zhijiao) fasting, valuing purity and simplicity, to petition the Three Officials for healing and disaster relief; and the Smearing with Ash (Tutan) fasting, taking arduous self-discipline as merit, for repentance and seeking blessings.

He also composed the Scripture of the Wheel of Dharma for Admonition and Precepts in forty-five scrolls, as well as scriptures such as the Limitless Penetrating Wonder and Turning the Spirit and Entering Samadhi, which he transmitted to Xuan and charged him to spread their teaching in the world.

Laozi said: “You should constantly hold in mind the Immortal of Emptiness and Nothingness, the great dharma king of the highest rank—he who in the great thousand worlds is known as Laozi, the great master of the Mystic Gate.”

Xuan’s given name was Xiaoxian. He was born on the eighth day of the fourth month in the seventh year of Yanxi of Emperor Huan of Han, in the year jiachen. His father, Han, had served as Minister of the Interior. When Xuan was born, a lofty adept named Zhi Daoji said to his father: “Yesterday I heard that the Tongxuan Immortal descended from Daluo Heaven; your household will produce a master of immortals and the Way—not an ordinary child.” His father replied: “Immortals are unfathomable in their transformations; I only hope he lives long and can carry on the family line—that is enough for me.”

When Xuan grew up, his intelligence stood out and his nature was keen. He read widely in the classics, histories, and the works of the hundred schools. In his teens his parents died in succession, and he suddenly sighed: “Since there is a constant Way by which one need not die, why not study it?” He then withdrew to famous mountains, sought out extraordinary teachers, took spirit herbs such as lingzhi, and studied the Scripture of the Nine Elixirs, Golden Liquid, and Immortal Way under the immortal Zuoci.

Xuan earnestly observed fasting, purification, and liturgy (Keyi); he was skilled at healing illness and expelling demons, and also practiced breath circulation, guided movement, and single-minded pursuit of the Way. Because of this, Laozi himself descended and transmitted scriptures and methods to him. Laozi also showed him the register of human merit and fault drawn up in the Celestial Treasury—that is, the Treatise on the Responses of the Dao (Taishang Ganying Pian)—and said: “When merit is complete to the measure of three thousand, one may ascend in broad daylight; if there is merit beyond what is required for that, one will still descend to the human realm riding a cloud carriage. Unceasingly expounding the Great Way, one will naturally reach long life without death.”

Xuan kowtowed in thanks. To this day, at Tongbai Temple on Mount Tiantai there is still a Falarin Courtyard and a place where the three divisions of true scriptures are kept, as well as the Shoujie Altar that the Immortal Lord had ghosts and spirits build.

On the noon of the first day of the tenth month, a jiazi day, in the wuwu year of the second year of the Red Crow era under Emperor Wu, Laojun (the Old Lord) commanded the Jade Emperor of the Nine Heavens to present Ge Xuan with the golden book and tin inscription of the Three Heavens of the Supreme Ultimate, conferring upon him the honorific title “Left Immortal Duke of the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji Zuo Xiangong).” The patent of appointment reads:

Ge Xuan of Jurong County, Danyang Commandery, in Yang Province, has for generations practiced ascetic cultivation with bitter diligence, accumulating merit through many kalpas; he has given of himself to aid others and rescued lives in peril; in sacred realms he has transformed his practice, tempered spirit (Shen) and guarded essence (Jing), exhausting mind and strength to seek the root of the Dao. In serving his teachers he has been reverent and solemn, diligent in cultivating the Dao without slackening, and thus has moved the Supreme Ultimate: his name is recorded in the immortal register of Xuandu and entered on the roster of upper immortals.

Ge Xuan is intelligent and wise, born into a family of virtue. His natural endowment is outstanding, his talent and grace fine as orchids; his bearing surpasses the common, standing apart in nobility. His understanding of the Dao is deep and broad, unique among people; he does not chase worldly glory, cherishes plain authenticity, and turns his heart solely toward the path of the true immortals. He holds and guards primordial Qi (yuanqi), single-mindedly keeping to the Dao, with hair loosened in reclusion in mountains and forests, taking caverns as his dwelling, at ease among peaks and woods. He has contemplated the scenes of the immortal isles of Penglai and past midday takes no food; he keeps fasts without missing a day, burns incense, recites scriptures, and performs obeisance without interruption. With a compassionate heart he saves beings without ceasing; he devotes himself to seeking hidden traces of the Dao and is versed in vast and profound methods.

Now we bestow upon you brocade quilts dyed in cinnabar, flying gauze skirts, heavenly treasure feather robes, hibiscus morning crowns, the golden-truth divine tiger staff, and the methods for commanding demons. Whatever you wish in your heart, you may carry out; you can move the sea and summon mountains.

You have sought what is hidden, translated scriptures, long kept fasts, stilled the mind in recitation of the Dao, studied with single purpose, and labored without weariness. Now we bestow upon you the Eight Sceneries jade carriage (bajing yuyu), that you may drive dragons and ride clouds; a round light shall rise upon your crown, and we grant you the golden seal and jade writ, in requital of your past merit, that you may be a model for the Daoist tradition for generations, so that worthy ones of later ages may revere and uphold the teaching of the Dao. This is the honored instruction of the Supreme Ultimate and the decree proclaimed by the Three Heavens.

His virtue, rooted in the Profound Body (xuant), was vast and far-reaching. He instructed people within and beyond the Daoist community, delivering beings of every kind on a broad scale, and opened the Way wide so that they might attain subtle awakening. When his merit was complete, his renown rose high, and many perfected immortals (zhenxian) trusted and revered him. Lofty as a supreme sage, solemn and dignified, his grace reached the ten directions so that beings each obtained what they sought.

He was then granted an immortal rank and enfeoffed as the Supreme Lord Left Immortal Duke of Jade Capital Taiji (Taishang Yujing Taiji Zuo Xiangong), with overall authority over the official retinues of the great demonic kings of the Three Realms and Six Heavens. Five hundred perfected immortals, jade lads, and jade maidens were assigned to attend him. In his left hand he held the nine-luminaries incense and flowers; in his right he bore the Supreme Lord Dongxuan Scripture (Taishang Dongxuan Jing). Two thousand dragons carried him as he roamed the Nine Palaces of Shangqing (Upper Clarity). Three times each year he attended audience at the Golden Portal of the Supreme Lord’s Mystic Capital Jade Capital (Taishang Xuandu Yujing Jinque). The Supreme Lord issued the decree; the Celestial Emperor (Tiandi) received the writ and carried out its commands. All proceeded according to the rites of departure, in keeping with the ancient canon of the Three Heavens.

At that time two śramaṇa, the Buddhist monks Shi Daowei and Zhu Falan, heard from afar that the Immortal Lord dwelt in an immortal palace, thrice yearly attended the Golden Portal of the Supreme Lord’s Mystic Capital Jade Capital, and had received the Supreme Lord’s mandate executed by the Celestial Emperor. They came to take him as their master. After performing obeisance they asked: “We have heard that the Dao knows no before or after and no division between ancient and modern. Do the Way practiced by the Supreme Lord Laozi and the Way practiced by Prince Siddhartha (Śākyamuni, as Buddhism names him) differ, or are they the same?”

The Immortal Lord answered: “The Dao in itself has no high or low, no noble or base, and no difference in bodily form or in name.”

Thereupon he established an altar on Mount Tiantai and transmitted to Daowei and Zhu Falan the True Form Charts of the Five Sacred Mountains (Wuyue Zhenxing Tu)—a scripture depicting the shapes of the five peaks and the bearings of the spirit realm—and told them: “This is a token bestowed by the Supreme Lord. Carry it as you travel the famous mountains of the eight directions; the Three Realms will welcome you everywhere.”

He also gave them ten scrolls of scriptures, including the Supreme Lord Golden Elixir Scripture (Taishang Jindan Jing), the Lingbao Natural Five-Titled Precious Radiance Text, the Three Sovereigns Inner Great Consummation Wondrous Scripture, and the Celestial Master’s Decree Golden Writ Jade Characters, together with a single stalk of the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) dragon-soaring wonder fungus. With immortal officials as witnesses he bound them by oath and commanded them to keep these on their persons. He further ordered his chamber disciple Zheng Siyuan to transmit the oral formulas in full and gave them one pellet of immortal medicine so that they might abstain from grain and the five flavors and wander far among the famous mountains.

After Daowei and the others received the precious scripture and spiritual elixir, they no longer felt hunger or thirst. They hoped to stay longer to serve the Immortal Lord. He said: “If you hold me in mind, you will see me; there is no need to cling. You should ascend Mount Song; in five years the assembled immortals there will again transmit secret methods to you and help you complete your work on the Dao.”

The Immortal Lord once asked several Confucian scholars each to explain the meaning of the classics. Zhang Zhao asked: “Confucius said, ‘I transmit but do not innovate; I trust in and love antiquity,’ and also said privately that he compared himself to Old Peng—what does this mean?” The Immortal Lord replied: “Laozi unfolded the way of nature so that teaching spread under heaven; Confucius traveled through the states, practicing humaneness and benefiting the people. In the end they return to one and the same principle.”

Prince Deng once asked the Immortal Lord: “Zhuangzi said: ‘Beyond the four directions of heaven and earth, the sage acknowledges that it exists but does not discourse on it; within the four directions, the sage may discourse but does not rashly judge.’ Why is this?” The Immortal Lord said: “Within the four directions, bound by form, yin-yang, and number, people can still inquire and understand. Beyond the four directions lies what few ever see—remote and unfathomable, beyond the Great Void; the sage has no way to describe it in detail, so he only acknowledges that it exists and does not discourse on it.” Prince Deng praised this as well said.

In the seventh year, the jiazi year, the Immortal Lord was eighty-one. On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the Supreme One sent attendants on dragon-unicorns to welcome him. Bearing staffs of ninefold radiance and talismans of auspicious clouds, they came in a cloud carriage of nine dragons and eight spectacles, with a canopy above and dragon and tiger banners hanging. The Immortal Lord rose on clouds and halted in the Great Void, leaving three five-character verse poems for the world.

The first poem says: The perfected one long ago left teachings out of pity for those whose hearts harbor doubt. Some with crooked minds and fixed bias refuse to trust the Great Dao, and from this disorder arises. They end with body dead and name extinguished; then regret comes too late. Heavy karma is hard to wipe away; who can bear the fruit they have caused? They sink long in darkness, not knowing when they will escape—perhaps only when the eon ends. Then they may be reborn in poor and lowly homes, even enslaved; sometimes the six roots (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind) are not whole, and they can only gather broken things and beg along the streets. They do not understand this as the retribution of accumulated sin, and instead blame heaven and the spirits for not protecting them.

The Great Dao constantly accords with nature and does not act rashly; to spread the Dao, one must begin with doing good. My rank is lofty now because I achieved merit through cultivating the Dao. Beings of the three realms all bow to me; I dwell at ease in the Purple Palace. Now I pause in the void, driving dragons, with phoenix birds standing beside me. At parting, I exhort the people of the world…

At the hour of his final parting, these words were set down on plain silk, sketching in broad strokes the marvelous events they recount.

The second poem runs: I am about to ascend to heaven, yet I still linger in reluctant farewell with you scholars and worthies. The root of the Dao is empty and still, yet within it lies subtle power. Onlookers call it dark and hard to discern; in truth, where depth is unfathomable, light shows itself. Do not say the Great Way is hollow or absurd—the real question is whether the person has enough sincere heart. Why not climb a famous mountain and recite the Dongzhen Jing (Scripture of the Cavern of Truth)? Chanting and intoning the scripture, its mysterious sound can reach Taiqing (the heaven of Great Clarity). The Grand Supreme reveals a countenance of gold, and the immortals answer in chorus; from the ten directions flowers and incense are scattered, smoke curling, sandalwood drifting. Huang’e performs the “Nine Shao,” phoenixes cry and dance. The dragon carriage veils the sky as it comes to welcome him; the flowered canopy gleams at the edge of the far heavens. The celestial sovereign arrives in the courtyard, and the Eight Kings present the elixir fluid, so that the body grows light and rises. One roams between being and non-being, body and name both radiant. Divine youths stand at either side, naturally paying homage to the myriad spirits.

The third poem runs: Riding the soaring carriage of the eight splendors, flying wheels pass the celestial capital; in the palace of seven treasures one wanders at ease, sharing fine hours. Seven generations of ancestors enter the hall of blessing, and worthy forebears are reborn. If kings and lords are sincere and cautious, in the end they can become models for all under heaven. Those whose virtue is lofty merge with utmost De (Virtue/Power), and the multitude all attain fulfillment thereby.

Thus he wandered freely among mountains and waters, exhaling and inhaling in tune with numinous Qi (vital energy); he refined breath until it neared the Xiyi (the subtle and the oblivious), and quietly recited the Daode (Virtue) text. With single-minded intent he held to the dark and distant stillness, and the hidden resonance now appeared. Mounting the flying carriage and driving nine dragons, he drifted upon purple mist; passing briefly by Penglai Palace, in an instant he ascended to heaven. The Perfected Ones gathered in grand assembly, their forms lofty, riding above the void. The immortal body is firm, enduring endless kalpas without decay; the golden countenance grows clearer with sun and moon. If someone spreads the many mysterious ways, he can lighten the body and fly up, becoming an immortal.

When the song was finished, the cloud carriage slowly rose into the sky and departed.

In the first year of Xianxi of King Chenliu of Wei (264), Laojun (Lord Lao) appeared in Xiangwu County, Lintao Commandery, in Longyou. He stood three zhang in height, dressed in white, with long white hair and a golden crown, and said to a local man named Wang Shi, “Great peace will soon come to the world.” Later, Emperor Wu of Jin accepted the abdication of the throne, and the realm was indeed unified. The emperor then ordered that Taiping Guan (Temple of Great Peace) be built at the place where Laojun had appeared; that site was also the ancestral home of the Li clan. This account appears in the Jin Shu (Book of Jin).

Dai Yang of Wuxing, at the age of twelve, revived after having been dead for five days. He said that when he died, a celestial envoy appointed him wine steward, gave him talisman credentials, attendants, and banners and flags, and that he followed the envoy to places such as Penglai, Kunlun, Jishi, Taishi, Changshan, Lushan, and Hengshan, after which he was sent back to the human world because he had been demoted. From then on, Dai Yang devoted himself to the Dao, and became skilled in prognostication and divination. In the final years of Wu, he served as a clerk on the imperial platform; foreseeing that Wu would fall, he pleaded illness and left office.

On one occasion Dai Yang went to Laixiang. When he passed the shrine of Laozi (Lord Lao), he found that everything he saw matched what he had seen when he was dead. He therefore asked the keeper Ying Feng, “About twenty years ago, was there someone who rode east past the shrine of Laozi without dismounting, and fell from his horse and died before he even reached the bridge?” Ying Feng said that this had indeed happened, and what Dai Yang asked about matched the circumstances of that time exactly. It is clear that Dai Yang had been punished for the fault he committed when he passed the shrine of Laozi on that occasion and was demoted back to the human world.

Emperor Daowu of the Northern Wei loved the Laozi and often recited it without ever growing weary. He many times summoned the princes and court ministers and personally expounded the text for them. During the Tianxing era, Director of Ceremonies Dong Mi presented dozens of chapters of Scriptures on Ingesting Substances for Immortality (Daoist writings on taking drugs to seek long life), whereupon the court established the office of “Doctor of Immortals.”

In the first year of Tianxing under Emperor An of Jin (the renyin year), also the fifth year of Hongshi of Later Qin, the immortal Cheng Gongxing came to Qin territory, met the Daoist Kou Qianzhi, and took him as his master; he then withdrew to seclusion on Mount Hua. The mountain spirit suddenly appeared and said to Cheng Gongxing: “Laojun (Supreme Lord Lao, the revered deity of Daoism) is about to descend to inspect the mountains; you should keep purification and cultivate diligently.” Cheng Gongxing, awed and careful, burned incense and worshipped all the more, gazing at the sky and waiting.

On the night of the twenty-third day of the eleventh month, the wuzi day, the gate of heaven of Ziyang Wenchang in the Dipper’s handle opened wide; Laojun was seen descending slowly on a white qilin, treading lotus blossoms, with twin banners raised three zhang high and many immortals and jade maidens in attendance. After alighting, Laojun turned to Cheng Gongxing and said: “You now cultivate in the region of the Central Peak; you can attain the Dao and become an immortal.” Cheng Gongxing bowed again; when he rose, Laojun had vanished.

In the second month of the guimao year the following year, on the day previously indicated, Cheng Gongxing took his master Kou Qianzhi across the pass to dwell on Shaoshi Peak of Mount Song. Laojun again descended over the Henan valley waters and halted in the air, saying to Cheng Gongxing: “Last year I was on the eastern cliff of Mount Hua; now you have come to Mount Song. You came here of your own accord—what was in your heart?” Cheng Gongxing kowtowed in thanks. Laojun said: “Mount Song, Shaoshi, and the lands of the Yellow River and Luo River are where immortals gather and deep pools where wandering dragons dwell—you must not stay far away.” He then ordered a jade maiden to fetch medicine and bestow it on Cheng Gongxing. Cheng Gongxing bowed again and received the immortal elixir on his knees. Laojun said: “Having taken my medicine, you can nourish the five viscera, open spirit and mind, see clearly, and penetrate all things.”

Laojun added: “Formerly I charged Zhang Daoling to succeed to the Celestial Master (Tianshi) seat, taking over from Gan Ji. After Zhang Daoling ascended, demons rose again and the Daoist lineage in China was broken. Apart from your master, who else could bear this charge?” This account appears in the Book of Later Wei.

According to the “Treatise on Buddhism and Daoism” in the History of the Northern Wei, during the reign of Emperor Shizu of Northern Wei there was a Daoist priest named Kou Qianzhi, courtesy name Fuzhen. He was the younger brother of Kou Zan, governor of Southern Yong Province, and a thirteenth-generation descendant of Kou Gou. From childhood he loved the path of immortality and aspired to transcend the mundane world. In his youth he practiced the Daoist teachings associated with Zhang Lu and took elixir pills for many years without success; his sincere devotion to cultivation eventually moved the divine powers.

A transcendent named Cheng Gongxing, of unknown origin, came to Kou Qianzhi’s maternal aunt’s home to work as a hired laborer. Kou Qianzhi once visited his aunt and, seeing that Cheng Gongxing was strong and tireless at work, invited him home to help with household chores.

After Cheng Gongxing moved in, Kou Qianzhi had him clear thorny fields on the south side while he himself sat under a tree working on calendrical calculations. Cheng Gongxing labored diligently and often came over to watch him compute. Kou Qianzhi told him to stick to his tasks and not bother looking. Two or three days later Cheng Gongxing still kept coming to observe.

Later, when Kou Qianzhi hit a snag while calculating the seven luminaries (the Sun, Moon, and five major planets), he felt at a loss. Cheng Gongxing asked why he was unhappy. Kou Qianzhi said he had studied arithmetic for years but lately his work on the Zhou Bi (an ancient treatise on astronomy and mathematics) never came out right, which shamed him; this was not something Cheng Gongxing could understand, so why ask. Cheng Gongxing then had him set up the calculation as he instructed. Before long the figures aligned. Kou Qianzhi was astonished and full of respect; he could not gauge the depth of Cheng Gongxing’s learning and asked to become his master. Cheng Gongxing firmly refused and said he would only be Kou Qianzhi’s disciple.

Before long Cheng Gongxing said to Kou Qianzhi: “You wish to learn the Dao—can you go with me into seclusion to cultivate?” Kou Qianzhi gladly agreed.

Gongxing had Kou Qianzhi observe ritual purification for three days; then the two entered Mount Hua together. Gongxing had Qianzhi stay in a stone chamber while he himself went out to gather herbs and returned to hand them over. After Qianzhi took the medicine, he no longer felt hunger. Later Gongxing also took Qianzhi to Mount Song. There were three tiers of stone chambers; Gongxing had Qianzhi stay on the middle tier.

After some years, Gongxing said to Qianzhi: “After I leave, someone will bring you medicine. Simply take it; do not doubt or be alarmed.” Before long, someone indeed brought medicine—but it consisted entirely of poisonous insects and foul, unclean things. Qianzhi was greatly afraid and fled. When Gongxing returned and asked what had happened, Qianzhi told him truthfully. Gongxing said with regret: “The master cannot yet become an immortal; he can only be a teacher to emperors.”

After serving Qianzhi for seven years, Gongxing suddenly said to him: “I cannot stay long; tomorrow at noon I must leave. After I die, please bathe my body for me—someone will come to receive me.” Having spoken, Gongxing entered the third-tier stone chamber and then passed away. Qianzhi personally bathed him. At noon the next day, someone knocked on the stone chamber door. Qianzhi went out and saw two youths: one holding ritual vestments (the garments worn in Daoist rites), the other holding a bowl and staff (implements carried by monks and Daoists on their rounds). Qianzhi led them to Gongxing’s body; Gongxing at once rose, put on the ritual vestments, took the bowl and staff, and followed the youths away.

Earlier, the uncle of Wang Hu’er of Bàchéng in Jingzhao had died and had manifested many uncanny events. He had once taken Wang Hu’er to tour a separate ridge on Mount Song. The two saw halls of gold and jade chambers; among them one lodge was especially splendid, yet empty, with an inscription reading “The Lodge of Lord Cheng Gongxing.” Wang Hu’er found this strange and asked his uncle. His uncle said: “This is the lodge of the immortal Cheng Gongxing. He once burned seven houses by accident and was punished by serving as Kou Qianzhi’s disciple for seven years.” From this one knows that Qianzhi’s sincerity reached far indeed—and that Gongxing had originally been an immortal who departed when his term of punishment was complete.

After Kou Qianzhi had served at Gongxing for seven years, he ascended as an immortal and departed. Even so, he kept to his resolve, remained on Songshan (Mount Song), and devoted himself to cultivation without slackening.

On the yimao day of the tenth month in the second year of Shenrui under Emperor Mingyuan of Northern Wei (415 CE), two divine beings suddenly appeared. They wore robes of kingfisher feathers and crowns of purple gold, rode dragons, and carried tally-staffs. They told Qianzhi: “Taishang Laojun (the Grand Supreme Elder Lord) has arrived.”

Before long, music could be heard in the distance. Qianzhi looked up and saw a jade-axle carriage with wheels of vajra diamond, drawn by nine dragons, with a retinue of imposing majesty. Many immortals led the way ahead and behind, filling the sky. The carriage halted on the mountain summit, and five immortal officials stood in attendance before it. Suddenly the gates of the five offices opened and celestial music sounded together. Laojun sat upon a seat of silver flowers and ordered the immortal elder Wang Fangping to bring Qianzhi before him. He said to him:

“In the xinhai year I received memorials from Zhao Hongzheng and others, masters of the Jixian Palace of Songyue’s numinous precinct. The memorials stated that since the Celestial Master (Tianshi) Zhang Daoling passed away, those in the world who diligently cultivated good conduct had no master to transmit the teaching. I considered you upright in character, acting in accord with nature, and possessed of talent sufficient to serve as a standard—you could take on the role of master. Therefore I have come especially to observe you, to confer upon you the office of Celestial Master, and to bestow upon you the Yunzhong Yinsong Xinke zhi Jie (New Precepts of Chanted Regulations from the Clouds).

“My scriptures and precepts have not been transmitted in the world since heaven and earth were opened. Now the time has come for them to be sent forth. You shall proclaim my new regulations, put my teaching in order, assist the state and uphold the mandate of heaven, transform living beings, and remove the abuses of the Three Zhangs (Zhang Ling, Zhang Heng, and Zhang Lu)—as well as rent-rice, tax-money, and the techniques of male–female union of qi.”

Laojun remained in the clouds for three days. He granted Qianzhi nine fascicles of scriptures and precepts, putting ritual and law first, and adding methods such as fuqi (ingesting qi) and bilian (closed refinement). He also sent twelve attendants including the jade maiden Changrong to teach Qianzhi the secrets of fuqi and daoyin (guiding and pulling). From then on Qianzhi’s strength was full and his body light; his appearance became exceptionally handsome.

On the fifteenth day of the first month of dingsi in the second year of Taichang, Laojun descended again and bestowed upon him seventy fascicles of new talisman registers, entitled Bingjin (Advance Together). On the fifteenth day of the tenth month of guihai in the eighth year of Taichang, Laojun again sent the Xuan Sun Shangshi True Person and Li Puwen, master of the Pastoral Earth Palace, to descend to Songshan, summon Qianzhi into the immortal palace, confer upon him titles such as “True Master of the Nine Provinces, Great Perfection and Great Treasure of the Celestial Palace” and “Master for Subduing Ghosts,” and charge him to teach and transform…

Dugong served as Celestial Master (Tianshi) of the Daoist tradition. His father, Du Qi, was a native of Yong in Yong Province; he had been a Buddhist disciple and teacher. Dugong lived on Mount Hua, sustained himself on fruit, and did not eat grain. When Emperor Ming summoned him, Dugong reported to the court that his father had become an immortal on Mount Hua and departed, and that it would be better for him to remain on the mountain than to come to court. The emperor thereupon granted him the rank of Celestial Master. The line of Celestial Masters is recorded from Dugong onward. During the Jiande era, Dugong Tianyue held the position of master of the Five Pecks of Rice (Wudoumi) tradition. His posthumous title and lineage are noted in the records. His grandfather Du Yin had served as governor of Shu Commandery. In Dugong’s generation there were Du Guang and Du Di (uncle and nephew). The emperor bestowed upon him the Celestial Master rank conferred by the Supreme Venerable Sovereign (Taishang Laojun), the seal of the Five Sons True King, and the registers and methods of the Five Sons True King—including those for Celestial Master, auxiliary teacher of the three realms, director of teachings, teacher of the Daoist people, and successor Celestial Master—together with immortal regalia, celestial vestments, talismanic texts and diagrams, ritual altars, and administrative seats. He was also given one hundred fascicles of the Taiping Sujing (Plain Scripture of Great Peace). These scriptures were written in large characters as true script, personally inscribed by the supreme master, who ordered him to enter the realm in a jiazi year to spread the teaching and transform the people. The supreme master further gave him six celestial fruits; after eating them he no longer consumed cooked food. This account appears in the Shi Lao Zhi (Treatise on Buddhism and Daoism) in the History of Northern Wei.

According to the History of Buddhism and Daoism in the Later Wei (Hou Wei Shi Lao Zhi), Li Puwen was the mysterious grandson of Lord Lao (Laozi). He formerly lived at Sanggan in Dai Commandery. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, after attaining the Dao he served as Master of the Pastoral Earth Official (Mutu Guanzhu), overseeing the affairs of humans and spirits across thirty-six regional domains—territory totaling roughly a hundred and eighty thousand li, which approximates the number of “one chapter” in calendrical reckoning. Within this, there were three hundred and sixty districts each spanning ten thousand li in circumference. The broad level lands of Guanghan under Mount Song, ten thousand li square, Li Puwen granted to Qianzhi.

Li Puwen issued a decree: “I proclaim the true law in the celestial bureaucracy. You have cultivated the Dao for twenty-two years; deducting ten years of childhood, you have in fact taught and transformed sentient beings for twelve. Though you have not achieved great merit, you have still borne the toil of instruction and transmission. I now summon you to enter the inner bureaucracy and bestow upon you four grades of ritual register (fulu): Taizhen, Taibao, Jiuzhou True Master, Master for Ordering Ghosts, Master for Transforming the People, and Successor Celestial Master (Tianshi). You must continue diligent practice without slackening; later, according to merit, you may be promoted and granted the Taizhen register of the two truths in the heavens, with which to inspect and summon the hundred spirits, and to transmit to disciples.”

Registers were divided into five ranks: first, Great Official of Yin and Yang; second, True Official of the Correct Bureau; third, True Official of the Correct Chamber; fourth, lodging officials and scattered officials; fifth, advanced register initiates. Establishing altars, performing obeisance, and vestments and ceremonial all differed by rank—more than sixty fascicles in all, called the Scripture of Register Charts (Lutu Zhenjing), entrusted to you to uphold in support of the Lord of Great Peace in the north. The celestial Jinglun method was also transmitted in full; if one could undertake it with success, one could transcend and become an immortal.

When the people of the world reach the end of this kalpa, spreading teaching is extremely difficult; one can only have men and women set up altar grounds and perform morning and evening obeisance. If there are elders in the household, merit can extend to ancestors; among them, any who can cultivate the body, refine elixirs, and study the art of long life may become followers of the True Lord. Refining elixirs has its own line of transmission, including methods for smelting golden elixir, cloud essence, and the eighty-three broths—each with oral formulas and essentials. Several pieces were written in Li Jun’s own hand; the rest were copied by the orthodox scribe Zhao Daofu. The scripture was transcribed in ancient script, mixed with seal and clerical styles; the wording is concise and clear, phrasing tactful and well ordered. In broad outline it aligns with secular ritual: in promoting the virtuous, the trustworthy come first, the diligent second.

The scripture also states that between heaven and earth there are thirty-six heavens and thirty-six offices, each office with one presiding lord. Highest in rank is the Unbounded Supreme Lord; next is the Greatest True Lord; next are the true lords who govern heaven covering earth, carrying the load, and the movement of yin and yang; after them is the Hongzheng True Lord. The Hongzheng True Lord’s surname was Zhao, given name Daoyin; he is said to have attained the Dao in the Yin dynasty and was teacher to the Master of the Pastoral Earth Official.

When the Master of the Pastoral Earth Official descended, Chisongzi, Wang Qiao, and others, as well as near-age immortals such as Han Zhong, Zhang Anshi, Liu Gen, and Zhang Ling, all attended as followers. The Master of the Pastoral Earth Official took Qianzhi as disciple and had him become sworn friend with the host of immortals. Matters of the dark underworld are what people in the world do not understand; Qianzhi told them of these things one by one.

In the first year of the reign title Shiguang, in the jiazi year (424 CE), Emperor Taiwu ordered the Master to present the scriptures in accordance with the imperial edict. People from all quarters turned toward the Dao, though the court at first did not fully believe.

Minister of Works Cui Hao was a man of broad learning and penetrating judgment. He felt that what the Master taught was extraordinary, took him as teacher and served him, and then memorialized the emperor: “Your servant has heard that when a sage receives the Mandate of Heaven, auspicious signs appear in the heavens. The Hetu and Luoshu”—the legendary mystical diagrams said to embody Heaven’s mandate—“merely conveyed their portents through patterns on insects and beasts; they are not like today, when a divine being met the emperor in person and wrote characters by hand—clear and plain, with meaning profound and subtle, such as never existed in antiquity. In the past, though Emperor Gaozu of Han was most sage, the Four Ho of Mount Shang still would not submit and follow him; now reclusive immortals of lofty virtue have come of their own accord without being summoned. This is truly a sign that Your Majesty follows the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi) and accords with Heaven’s mandate. How can this be treated as ordinary talk and Heaven’s divine intent be neglected? Your servant is deeply troubled by this.”

Emperor Taiwu gladly accepted Cui Hao’s advice. He at once ordered the appropriate officials to go to the mountain with gifts and to welcome the Master’s other disciples to court. When the emperor saw that the Master did not eat, he treated him with even greater respect; when he saw the fulu (talismans and registers used in Daoist rites for prayer, exorcism, and summoning spirits), his reverence and faith grew deeper still.

The emperor then built the Xuandu altar, constructed the Jinglun heavenly palace, and held a great ritual assembly according to prescribed rite. The Master and his disciples wore immortal robes and celestial caps, their bearing bright and luminous. The emperor wished to grant the Master and his disciples high rank and titles; they firmly declined and would not accept, so the emperor treated them in a manner outside the usual court protocol. He also ordered that the Master and his disciples be ranked above princes and dukes; they would not accept this either and refused to regard themselves as subjects.

Thereafter the court openly proclaimed the new teaching, spread it throughout the realm, and greatly promoted the way of purity and non-action (qingjing wuwei). The emperor also selected one hundred and twenty youths from prominent families who had virtue and learning to serve as Daoist priests.

In the gengchen year (440 CE), Kou Qianzhi set up an altar and performed ritual processions on the high sacred mountain to pray for blessings on the emperor. Lord Laojun had someone confer on the emperor the honorific title “Taiping Zhenjun” (True Lord of Great Peace) and bestow upon him cap, robes, and fulu (talismans and registers). When Kou Qianzhi returned, he reported this to the throne; the court thereupon changed the reign era name to “Taiping Zhenjun” and proclaimed a general amnesty.

In the renwu year (442 CE), Kou Qianzhi memorialized the throne, saying: “Your Majesty now governs the realm in the capacity of the True Lord, and has moreover built the Jinglun Tiangong (Quiet Revolving Celestial Palace, a Daoist temple)—something without precedent since antiquity. Your Majesty should ascend the ritual altar to receive the fu registers, thereby displaying sagely virtue.” The emperor accepted his advice, went in person to the altar to receive the fu registers, and proclaimed a general amnesty. When he traveled, he used full ceremonial escort; the banners all faced east, and green was chosen as the banner color, because green is the color revered in Daoism. Thereafter, emperors upon accession would receive Daoist fulu.

The above account is taken from the Book of Wei (Hou Wei Shu).

Hunyuan Shengji, juan 7, ends here.

On the bingzi day of the fifth month in the third year of Jiande under Emperor Wu of Zhou, he ordered the abolition of Buddhism and the destruction of all Buddhist scriptures and images. He also intended to abolish Daoism and issued an edict asking the Daoist priest Yan Da: “Which is superior, Daoism or Buddhism?”

Yan Da replied: “What is native is host; what is foreign is guest. The host surpasses the guest; the guest cannot match the host.”

Emperor Wu asked: “How do you distinguish host and guest?”

Yan Da answered: “Buddhism came from the Western Regions—surely it is the guest? Daoism arose in the Central Plains—surely it is the host?”

The Emperor said: “Since the guest is going back to the west, should not the host see him off a little?”

Yan Da replied: “If Buddhism returns to the west, it benefits the lands of the Hu peoples; if Daoism stays here, it does no harm to China. Do not chase what leaves; let what remains protect itself—is that not acceptable?”

The Emperor approved his answer. Yet the proposal to abolish both Buddhism and Daoism had already been made, so both were suppressed in the end, leaving only the Daoist temples and shrines on the Five Sacred Mountains.

On the bingwu day of the sixth month, as the Emperor was about to hold court, he suddenly saw an envoy in yellow robes appear from the sky, holding a jade tablet inscribed in cinnabar, proclaiming: “The Supreme Lord (Taishang) has issued a command.” Startled, the Emperor could not but kneel.

The envoy showed him the edict, which read: “To Yuwen Yong: The teachings of the great Dao are vast and profound; from antiquity they endure, sustaining heaven and earth and saving sentient beings—what business is it of yours to abolish them on your own authority? You are ruler of the realm, yet you lightly cast aside the mandate of heaven; this is to cut yourself off from heaven. It is not that heaven abandons you—why do you repeatedly do evil and invite punishment that falls swiftly?”

The Emperor read it over several times. The envoy said: “The mandate of heaven is not constant; it cannot be long delayed.” Then he took back the edict and ascended into the air and departed.

The Emperor was in fear for several days. Afterward he re-established the Tongdao Guan (Passage to the Dao Abbey) in the capital, appointed Yan Da to direct it, and summoned Daoist adepts from all regions to lecture on the Daode Jing (Classic of the Way and Virtue).

On the wuwu day, the Emperor issued an edict stating:

“The supreme Dao is vast and profound, unified and without limit; it embraces being and non-being, its meaning deep and mysterious. Yet once paths diverge, source and branch grow ever farther apart; the simple wind of custom gradually thins, the plain original nature is lost, and then the various schools dispute one another—Confucian, Mohist, and many other lineages each cling to one doctrine; the works collected in the nine streams and seven summaries likewise offer differing views. The great Dao has long been obscured by partial small achievements. Unless these teachings can be gathered into one, debate and examination will not cease.

“Now a Tongdao Guan may be established in the capital. Subtle words of sages and worthies, classic admonitions of former masters, and precious Daoist scriptures and abstruse writings—whatever helps nourish the people and support transformation—should all be expounded and clarified, unified under the great Dao. Then those who see only a mound of earth may yet know the steepness of a great mountain; those who guard pebbles may yet grasp the vastness of the Bohai Sea—is that not well?”

Thereupon the Emperor had the classics of the nine streams collected, selected what accorded with reason, and compiled it together into the Daozang (Daoist Canon).

In the seventh year of Daye of Emperor Yang of Sui (611 CE), the year xinwei, Emperor Yang personally led an army to campaign in Liaodong. The Louguan Daoist Qi Hui said to his disciples: “The mandate of Heaven is about to shift. I may yet live to see it—perhaps only a few more years. What will come next? A descendant of Laojun will rule the realm; after that, our Daoist tradition will flourish greatly, though I fear this body of mine will not last until then.” A few years later, the Sui dynasty indeed fell into turmoil.

In the thirteenth year of Daye, the year dingchou, Laojun (the Supreme Lord venerated in Daoism) descended to Zhongnan Mountain and told the hermit Li Chunfeng: “The Duke of Tang will receive the mandate of Heaven.” Li Chunfeng therefore aligned himself with the Tang. This account appears in the Jin Suo Liu Zhu.

When Emperor Gaozu of Tang rose against the Sui, his daughter Princess Pingyang and her husband Chai Shao also took up arms in response and encamped at Yishou Palace. Qi Pingding, a Daoist priest of Louguan, foresaw that the future sovereign was about to appear and gave the temple’s entire store of grain and supplies to Princess Pingyang’s army.

After Gaozu reached Pujin Pass, Qi Pingding said with joy, “This is the true lord of destiny; he will surely pacify the realm.” He therefore changed his name to “Pingding” (Pacification) to show his allegiance and sent more than eighty priests to the pass to welcome the emperor. Gaozu was much pleased and issued an edict: “We now raise the banner of revolt, establish our headquarters in the west, assign offices and duties, and rely on loyalty of heart. The priest Qi Pingding has left worldly pursuits, devoted himself to cultivation, been indifferent to fame and gain, and dwelt in quiet purity; now he has offered clothing for the army to make uniforms and grain to sustain the troops. Such loyalty and integrity deserve recognition. Qi Pingding shall be appointed Purple-Gold Guanglu Dafu; the other priests shall receive Silver-Blue Guanglu Dafu according to rank, in reward for their righteous service.” Guanglu Dafu was a court title of the time; “purple-gold” and “silver-blue” denoted different grades of rank.

Qi Pingding firmly declined, saying, “I am only a man of the wilds who came to welcome the holy sovereign, honoring the Great Dao in my heart. Priests do not value purple and gold robes, nor does the Mystic Gate seek silver and blue ranks. Though I have received extraordinary favor, accepting these honors would not accord with my intent.” Gaozu said, “For now, Master, please accept; once the capital is taken, we shall make other arrangements.”

At that time the Sui general Song Laosheng held Huoyi and blocked the rebel army. Heavy rain fell for days and military supplies could not get through; Gaozu ordered a withdrawal. Taizong strongly urged him to stay, and Gaozu did not retreat. An old man in white came to the camp gate and said, “I am the god of Huo Mountain. The Supreme Venerable Sovereign has sent me to pay respects to Duke Tang and tell him: when the rains stop in the eighth month, advance from the southeast toward Huoyi, and I will aid you.” Gaozu said, “This spirit will not deceive me, nor will Zhao Yuanxu fail me.” Zhao Yuanxu was the divine name of the god of Huo Mountain.

On the xinsi day of the eighth month, Gaozu led his army against Huoyi, killed Song Laosheng, and took the city. On the eighth day of the eleventh month he sent envoys to Louguan to perform a jiao (Daoist rite of offering and blessing). That night, clouds like a canopy covered the altar, mingling with incense smoke; a pair of white deer also came beside the hall gate, cried out several times, and departed. The courier reported this at once. The next day the Tang army indeed took the capital, and the era name was changed to Yining.

In the first month of the first year of Wude under the Tang (618), Liu Wuzhou sent Song Jingang at the head of a hundred thousand troops to attack Jin and Jiang Prefectures. Prince of Qin Li Shimin approached the palace gate, gave several long cries, and then left. Someone reported this urgently by post station. The next day the capital was indeed taken, and the era name was changed to Yining.

At that time Liu Wuzhou’s army was pressing close to Jiang Prefecture. A man of the prefecture, Ji Shanxing, had always been plain and upright; to escape the chaos of war he was then living at Datong Fort in Linfen County, Jin Prefecture. The people sent him to Yangjiao Mountain to scout the enemy. When he reached a ridge in the northwest, between two willow trees and a persimmon tree, he saw someone on a white horse coming up the slope. Ji Shanxing thought it strange and quickly withdrew into a thicket of sweet-betula trees. The man had already drawn near and called from behind: “Stop—do not be afraid.”

Ji Shanxing turned and saw an old man with snow-white beard and hair, dressed in white and wearing a black cap, holding a red horsetail whisk, riding a white horse whose tail and four hooves were all red. Beside the old man stood two young attendants in blue, with head wraps and red clothes. The old man said to Ji Shanxing: “Pass on my words to the Tang Son of Heaven, Li: he has now attained sage governance, and the state can endure for long. He should establish Daoist images at Jianhua Palace east of Chang’an—then the realm will be at peace.” When he finished speaking, the old man rose into the air and departed.

On the night of the twenty-seventh day of the fourth month, Ji Shanxing was at home and seemed to hear someone summoning him. The next morning, without knowing how, he was again at the place where he had seen the old man before, and once more met him. The old man wore a golden cap; his dress and mount were the same as before. He said: “Do you still remember what I told you last time?” Ji Shanxing answered: “I remember it all.” The old man said: “Go at once to the capital and report to the Son of Heaven; tell him what I said.” Ji Shanxing said: “I have no travel money and no documents—how can I see the Son of Heaven?” The old man said: “The road ahead will take care of itself; do not worry.” Ji Shanxing asked again: “An audience with the Son of Heaven is no small matter. When I reach the capital, what shall I use as proof?” The old man replied: “When you reach the capital, someone will present a stone turtle—you may use that as your credential.” When he had spoken, the old man vanished.

Ji Shanxing went to see He Ruo Xiaoyi, chief secretary of the Jin Prefecture headquarters, and told him the whole affair. It was the third day of the fifth month; He Ruo Xiaoyi kept Ji Shanxing at the headquarters. On the eleventh he brought Ji Shanxing to see the Prince of Qin, Li Shimin, and Ji Shanxing reported in full the old man’s appearance and the message he had been given.

On the thirteenth day, the King of Qin sent Left Personal Guard Commander Du Ang to accompany Shanxing to the place where Shanxing had previously seen the old man, to perform a sacrifice. After Du Ang had completed his obeisance and was about to rise, the old man suddenly appeared just as before and told Shanxing to remain where he was. On the eleventh day, Shanxing was brought before the King of Qin and reported in detail what the old man had said when he appeared.

On the thirteenth day, the King of Qin again sent Du Ang with Shanxing to the same spot to offer sacrifice. As Du Ang finished his obeisance and was about to stand, the old man once more appeared amid purple clouds, raised his whip, pointed at Du Ang, and asked, “Who are you?” Du Ang replied, “I am the envoy Du Ang, sent by the King of Qin to come respectfully and perform the offering.” The old man said, “I neither drink wine nor eat food—what need is there for sacrificial offerings?” He then pointed at Shanxing and said, “The full course of events is known to this man.” When Du Ang returned, he reported in detail that the divine being had appeared again. The King of Qin thereupon drafted a memorial and ordered Du Ang to take Shanxing on post horses in haste to the capital to report to the throne.

On the nineteenth day of the fifth month, Shanxing had just reached the court gate when the attendant-in-ordinary Zhang Da, who was in charge of affairs in Zouzhou, presented a stone shaped like a tortoise, inscribed with the words “The realm is at peace, descendants will flourish, for ten thousand years.” Shanxing entered the court together with Zhang Da to present their report; Emperor Gaozu was greatly pleased. On the sixth day of the seventh month, Gaozu issued an edict granting Shanxing the office of Grand Master of Palace Leisure and ordered the Master of Communications Liu Xian to build a temple on Horned Goat Mountain.

On the twenty-fifth day of the eighth month, Shanxing arrived at the temple site and again saw the old man: he appeared between two trees, with a large canopy spread open, seated on a couch adorned with ivory, leaning on a jade armrest. A curtain of pearls and patterned silk hung above; two youths in blue robes came forward to attend him, and behind them a strongman in yellow led a horse. The old man asked, “Is the Son of Heaven pleased?” Shanxing answered, “The Son of Heaven is very pleased, but he wonders and does not know the holy one’s name.” The old man said, “I am a supreme immortal, surnamed Li, given name Boyang, styled Lord Lao (Laojun); I am the emperor’s ancestor. In Guyi County, Bozhou, a dead cypress tree has come back to life—this may serve as proof. After the bandits are pacified this year, the realm will be at peace and the dynasty’s fortune will endure.” When he had finished speaking, the old man vanished suddenly.

Shanxing also told He Ruo Xiaoyi about this. Xiaoyi sent Xiangyang County clerk Xi Tong to go together with Shanxing to the site…

In Guyang County of Bozhou, a cypress tree that had already died came back to life; this could be taken as a confirming sign. Once the rebellion was put down this year, the realm would know peace and the dynasty’s fortune would endure. As soon as these words were spoken, the man vanished without warning.

Shanxing reported the matter again to He Ruo Xiaoyi. Xiaoyi dispatched Xi Tong, registrar of Xiangyang County, to ride post horses with Shanxing to the capital and present a memorial. The Grand Ancestor (Gaozu) rewarded Shanxing with an imperial robe and a bundle of silk.

In the fifth month of the second year, the emperor issued an edict ordering the Louguan monastery to rebuild the Laojun Hall, the Hall of the Celestial Worthy (Tianzun), and the temple of Yin Zhenren, and to repair all buildings within the compound so they were spacious and grand enough for visitors to admire. He also granted Louguan ten qing of farmland and land belonging to the Xianyou Supervisorate as an estate; he established the Xianyou Supervisorate beside the monastery, assigned officials to oversee the construction, and appointed Hongfa Dashi Pingding to administer affairs in the monastery.

In the spring of the third year, the emperor went in person to the sacrificial court to offer worship to Lord Lao (Laojun). Pingding led the community of Daoists to welcome the imperial visit and presented a feast sufficient for a thousand people. The emperor summoned Pingding, the fashi (ritual master) Lü Daoji, the jianzhai (officiant for ritual offerings) Zhao Daolong, and others, granted them seats, and ordered all officials to sit and eat as well. He said, “My distant ancestor once descended here in person. As sovereign of the realm, how could I fail to build and restore this place?”

The emperor then issued an edict renaming Louguan as Zongsheng Guan (Monastery of Venerating the Sage), and granted two hundred shi of white rice and a thousand bolts of silk for repairing the monastery’s buildings.

Zongsheng Temple was the former residence of Master Yǐn (a Daoist honorific title). According to the Xuan Shi Zhi, when Master Yǐn was about to ascend, he handed a stone casket to his disciples and charged them: “Inside are fulu (talismans and registers used in Daoist rites and cultivation); you must not open them on your own.”

During the Dali reign period, Cui Weijian of Qinghe served as prefect. After taking office, he heard that the temple held the stone casket left by Master Yǐn and said with a laugh to his staff: “I have seen through Xin Yuanping’s trick.” He went at once to the temple and ordered men to break open the casket. The Daoist Yan Shen reported: “The Master left word that whoever opened the casket would meet great disaster. Please do not break his command.” Cui Weijian grew angry: “Master Yǐn has been dead for nearly a thousand years—how could a stone casket really remain?” He ordered the lock smashed, but it did not budge. He then had a leather cord tied to the casket’s handle, hitched several oxen to it, and had them whipped forward; only then did the casket open.

Inside were dozens of rolls of fulu, written on yellow silk in cinnabar that looked as bright and fresh as if newly inked. After reading them, Cui Weijian said: “I thought there would be some rare treasure inside—that is why I opened it. It is only fulu, after all.” He resealed the casket and left the temple.

That same night Cui Weijian died suddenly; three days later he revived. His subordinates came to visit and ask what had happened. He said: “I have always considered myself clever and had never believed in immortals. When I opened Master Yǐn’s stone casket, I was indeed seized by mingguan (officials of the underworld). At first I saw an officer in purple who said he served in the underworld bureau and had been ordered to summon me—I could not refuse; if I resisted, the disaster would only be worse, and I ought to go at once. I was afraid at first and wanted to decline, but before I knew it I was already following the messenger away.

“We left the prefectural city and walked about fifty li until we reached the underworld court. The presiding official turned out to be the late Chancellor Lü. He asked me: ‘Why did you open Master Yǐn’s stone casket? By Heaven’s command your official salary and allotted lifespan are now to be reduced—what do you say to that?’ Then he summoned the clerk who kept records of rank and longevity and had my register checked. The clerk reported: ‘This man was originally entitled to five terms of office and seventeen more years of life. By Heaven’s written command, all five terms are revoked and fifteen years are cut from his life; only two years remain.’ They then allowed me to return. Two years later, I did die.”

In the third month of the fifth year of the Zhenguan reign, Ji Shanxing came to the temple at Yangjiao Mountain. He saw Laojun seated in the hall, leaning on a jade couch, with immortal officials ranked in attendance, divine soldiers on guard, dragons and tigers following in train, and banners and regalia blotting out the sun. A messenger called Ji Shanxing forward, and Laojun said to him: “The withered cypress tree in the temple at Bozhou has come back to life; my descendants are about to become kings. I have already sent the Duke of Zhou Dan to lead divine troops to help the state suppress Heilan. The campaign is set for the fourth month and victory is assured.”

Xiaoyi also stepped forward and reported the same matter. Xiaoyi then sent Sima Canjun Ma Jingqing to ride post-horses at full speed to the capital to memorialize the throne. The emperor ordered Ji Shanxing to take the relay carriage to the Luozhou garrison to deliver the divine message. On the appointed day, Heilan was indeed pacified. This is recorded in the Tang shu (History of the Tang).

In the tenth month of the seventh year of Zhenguan, the year jiashen (644 CE), the emperor went to Louguan to offer sacrifice to Laojun. Earlier, Gaozu had issued an edict granting Wang Yuanzhi, a priest of Yuqing Guan, the office of Chaosan daifu, and bestowing on him a cap woven with gold thread and a purple silk robe patterned with cloud motifs. This was because Wang Yuanzhi, on Laojun’s command, had foretold in advance the signs that Gaozu would receive the Mandate of Heaven.

Yuan Zhi was a disciple of Tao Hongjing (the Hermit of Tao). When Emperor Yang of Sui was still Prince of Jin and stationed at Yangzhou, he had the Yucqing Profound Altar built for Yuan Zhi to live in. Imperial envoys kept arriving, and Yuan Zhi went to pay his respects to the prince. In a moment his beard and hair turned white; the prince was frightened and sent him away. Before long, Yuan Zhi looked as he had before.

When Emperor Taizong of Tang was campaigning against Wang Shichong, he and Fang Xuanling dressed as commoners and visited Yuan Zhi. Yuan Zhi did not recognize them at first, yet came forward and said, “You will become the Son of Heaven in an age of peace; take good care of yourself.” After Taizong took the throne, he personally received the fulu (talismans and registers—the credentials of Daoist priestly office) that Yuan Zhi transmitted to him, and granted him the title Grand Master for Splendid Happiness Bearing the Blue Bag.

In the ninth year of the Zhenguan era, Yuan Zhi asked firmly to return to the mountains. Taizong ordered the Taiping Abbey built on Mount Mao for him and allowed twenty-seven people to be ordained as Daoist priests. The emperor wrote in the edict, “When I was still a prince, I was fortunate to ask you about the Way. I have never forgotten, day or night, how you spoke and carried yourself then. I have seen your recent memorial asking to go back to the mountains where you once lived; I have already issued another edict so as not to go against your wish. Having the abbey built is to express what I have long felt.”

After Yuan Zhi returned to the mountains, he told his disciple Pan Shizheng, “I have lately seen the registers of immortals and learned that in the past I accidentally injured a child’s lip, so I cannot ascend to heaven. The immortal realm now summons me to serve as Immortal Lord of Mount Shaoshi; I shall go soon.” The next day, after bathing, changing his clothes, and burning incense, he died, aged one hundred twenty-six. The emperor posthumously granted him the title Grand Master for Golden Splendor and Happiness and bestowed the posthumous name Master Yisheng the Perfected.

On the bingwu day of the seventh month of the first year of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong of Tang ordered repairs to the Temple of the Supreme Venerable Lord (Laozi) in Bozhou and the Temple of Master Kong (Confucius), assigning two thousand households to each for sacrificial offerings and maintenance.

On the dingmao day of the second month of the ninth year of Zhenguan, the king of Khotan sent his son to court with tribute. Describing his country, he said that to the west stood a pimo sangharama (Buddhist monastery), traditionally regarded as the place where Laozi transformed into the Buddha (huahu). The local Rong people had gentle customs and submitted to the Way; Laozi later ascended in broad daylight. The people missed him and built this sangharama.

On the twenty-fifth day of the first month in the eleventh year of his reign, the emperor issued an edict:

Lord Lao (Laozi, revered as a Daoist deity) set the model; his teaching aims at clarity, stillness, and emptiness. Shakyamuni (founder of Buddhism) left behind the Dharma, which speaks of cause and effect. In seeking the instruction of both traditions, the paths differ, yet both aim to guide the world; in probing their core aims, both take spreading benefit as their end.

The great Dao has flowed since antiquity; its root lies in the nameless beginning. Its operation surpasses the formed; it moves between heaven and earth, yin and yang (the two modes), and nurtures the ten thousand things. Thus it can govern a state and put affairs in order, and it can return people to plainness and depth.

Buddhism arose in the Western Regions and only entered the Central Plains in the Eastern Han. Its talk of marvels and karmic retribution takes many forms. In recent times faith in Buddhism has grown deep: some hope for blessing in this life, some fear misfortune in the next. Then those stuck in the mundane laugh when they hear subtle doctrine; those who love novelty admire the truth of the Buddha’s teaching and turn toward it in numbers. Buddhist fashion first rose among the people, then spread into court, so that scriptures from abroad became first among the many teachings, while the native teaching of the center was ranked after Buddhism. People drifted with the tide and long failed to turn back—for many years already.

The emperor, in awe and care day and night, recalls the highest Dao and wishes to remove past abuses and bring rites back to rule. Moreover, the imperial clan traces its line to the Keeper of the Archives (Laozi served as archivist for the Zhou court; later generations used this title for him); the state flourishes through the lofty virtue of the ancestors, and the realm’s stability truly rests on the power of wuwei (non-action). Therefore order should be restored and Daoist teaching promoted.

From now on, whenever zhai gong (fasting and offering rites) are held, in seating order and in praise and recitation, Daoist priests and nǚguan (female Daoists) shall be placed before monks and nuns. May the custom of honoring the root and thickening the foundation reach all under heaven, and reverence for the ancestors pass from generation to generation. Let the realm be informed; responsible officials shall carry this out.

In the twenty-first year, the emperor ordered the Daodejing (Classic of the Way and Virtue) in its two parts—upper and lower—translated into Sanskrit and presented to the countries of Tianzhu (ancient India).

When the Tang dynasty was about to receive the Mandate of Heaven, Lord Lao sent down the immortal officer Ma Zhou of Huashan’s Suling Palace to assist the “sacred grandson” in founding the new order. But Ma Zhou gave himself over to wine and wasted twenty years in the mortal world, until he was worn out and starving on the road. Hearing that Yuan Tiankang was skilled in physiognomy, he went to ask him about fortune and misfortune.

Yuan Tiankang looked at Ma Zhou for a long time and said, “Your five spirits have already scattered; you are on the verge of death—what kind of face can still be read?” Ma Zhou was greatly alarmed and asked how to avert disaster. Yuan Tiankang said, “Go straight ahead from here and you will meet an old man riding an ox. Do not press him with questions; only follow behind him, and this calamity can be removed.”

Ma Zhou did as he was told. Just outside the city gate he indeed met an old man on an ox. Ma Zhou followed silently behind him along country paths, climbing a great mountain. At the summit the old man turned, saw him, dismounted, and sat under a tree. He said, “The Supreme One (Taishang) commanded you to assist the sacred grandson in founding the enterprise and saving the world—why have you drowned yourself in wine and brought on your own poverty and hunger? Your five spirits have scattered and your upright qi is failing; within a day or two you will die—why do you still not reflect and correct yourself?”

Ma Zhou remained confused and did not understand. The old man said, “You were originally an immortal officer of Suling Palace; now the Immortal King of Great Mount Hua has sent someone to summon you.” Ma Zhou at once entered the palace halls and came before the great hall. Feather-clad guards (yuyi) stood in solemn ranks, like a place where an emperor held court. He went before the curtain and heard someone announce and rebuke him: after receiving his commission he had not served it with reverence and had neglected the charge entrusted to him, and therefore he was to be sent back to his former post to reflect and acknowledge his fault.

The old man and several supervising officers escorted him to a separate courtyard on the east. Ma Zhou saw his own name on the door; he unlocked it and went in. The brazier, cauldron, bed, and mats were just as in the place where he had lately been staying. He brooded for a long time. Suddenly five people in robes of the five colors stood before him and said, “We are the spirit-gods of your five viscera, sir. You have been lost in wine and wandering freely…”

He meditated for a long time. Suddenly he saw five figures in robes of five colors standing before him. They said: “We are the spirit lords of your five viscera. You have drowned yourself in wine and indulged in dissipation, and your body has been fouled and harmed by it; we have been absent for a long while. Please close your eyes—we will return at once to the spirit chamber (the inner dwelling within the body where the spirits of the five organs reside).”

Zhou closed his eyes. Before long he felt his mind grow clear and bright, and understanding opened within him; he suddenly remembered events from the past, and more than twenty years seemed to have passed in little more than ten days. He returned to where he had lived before, came out from the immortal king’s courtyard, kowtowed to beg forgiveness, and again received the immortal king’s charge to go to Chang’an.

The next day he went once more to visit Tiangang. Tiangang was astonished and said: “What befell you? Your fate has changed. In sixty days you will be promoted; in a hundred days you will rise nine ranks and reach the post of chief minister. Take good care of yourself.”

It was the Zhenguan reign. The court had military officers each submit sealed memorials with proposals for governing the realm. Zhou, in place of the langjiang Chang He, submitted a sealed memorial whose content was exactly the governing strategy Tiangang had spoken of. Emperor Taizong of Tang was greatly pleased; that same day he summoned Zhou, appointed him remonstrance official and investigating censor, and ordered him to accompany the imperial progress. Thereafter he repeatedly held important posts and served several years as head of the Secretariat.

One day a host of immortals descended upon his residence and said: “Your merit in assisting the state is complete; you may withdraw from public life. Taiyi (the supreme deity revered in Daoism) summons you—do not remain among mortals any longer.” The next day Zhou died without having been ill.

The above appears in the History of Tang. The account in the Taiping Guangji is the same.

In the second month of the second year of the Longshuo era, Emperor Gaozong of Tang came to Luoyang Palace. Suddenly moved in spirit, he asked those around him whether any numinous traces of ancient sages lay nearby. Local elders replied that on the mountain north of the imperial city there had once stood a temple to Laozi, and that whenever people prayed there, their petitions for blessing were answered.

The emperor then ordered Luozhou Administrator Xu Lishi to go to the shrine and rebuild the qingmiao, the hall dedicated to Daoist deities. While digging the foundations, workers found a stone table and an old stele. The stele bore the title “Stele of the True Person Lord Bai”—a monument to the True Person Lord Bai. It had been erected by the immortal Bai Zhongli; the site was also where the Han-dynasty Celestial Master (Tianshi) had established the Northern Yuzhi jurisdiction. The stone table measured four chi in length, two chi in width, two cun in thickness, and eight cun in height, with two legs at each end; its surface was carved with the four characters “Taishang Laojun” (Supreme Venerable Sovereign).

When the hall was finished, a celebratory daochang was held. As the jiao rite—a Daoist service of offering and prayer—drew to a close, white light suddenly flooded the hall, brightening the steps and the ritual platform. Laojun appeared within the light, flanked by two true persons (zhenren); only after a long interval did the figures fade away. At the time, thirteen people including Palace Supervisor Quan Dali and Luozhou Clerk Yang Hushuai witnessed the scene together and submitted a joint memorial to the throne.

The emperor ordered that a propitious image of Laojun be painted according to their report. Officials submitted congratulatory memorials, saying: “The numinous form of Laozi, recorder at the pillar, radiated through hall and altar; immortals stood among the beams and rafters, and wondrous light streamed across steps and courtyard. Such a response belongs to utmost sincerity and matches the virtue of a sage ruler. Old stories—auspicious light in the age of Yu Shun, propitious qi in the Han, spirit birds alighting at sacrificial grounds, rare plants flourishing and receiving enfeoffment—none can stand comparison with this.”

In the time of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, the emperor commissioned Wu Daozi to paint the imperial likenesses of successive sage sovereigns in the hall and to fill the corridor walls with these portraits.

Du Fu’s “Visiting the Temple of the Mysterious Original Emperor north of Luoyang” reads: mountains and rivers wrap around splendid gates and windows; sun and moon seem to draw near carved and painted beams. The Li imperial house had deep roots and spreading branches; old family stories handed down through generations remain in the histories, while moral teaching was passed on to the reigning sovereign. Painters had seen the work of earlier masters, yet Wu Daozi—the famous Tang painter—far surpassed the rest in skill. The painted scenes unfold layer upon layer, as if heaven and earth were turning; their refinement made even the walls of the hall tremble. Five sage rulers ride in linked chariots, with officials ranked in procession; caps and robes stand out bright and clear, and the ornaments on ceremonial regalia flutter in the wind. Laozi withdrew into reclusion, and Zhou lost his support; the Daodejing was handed down, and Han emperors received it with reverence. If one could be undying like the Valley Spirit—the Daodejing image of the ever-renewing Dao—and cultivate the plain, unadorned way, where else would one still need to seek? The poem points to this very temple.

In the Song, Ouyang Xiu, in his colophon on “Visiting the Temple of the Mysterious Original Emperor” in Jigu lu (Collected Antiquities), wrote: Emperor Xuanzong composed and personally wrote the inscription. I once saw Xuanzong’s handwritten Quehong Song (Ode to Magpies and Wild Geese) in circulation; its calligraphy matches this stele exactly. The stele stands on Mount Beimang; Luoyang people call the site Laojun Temple. From this colophon, Xuanzong should also have written an imperial poem; I have never seen it, so it is not included here.

On the twenty-eighth day of the second month, jìwèi, in the first year of Qianfeng (666), after the emperor completed the fengshan rites on Mount Tai, the procession went on to Bozhou to pay homage to Laojun and conferred the honorific title “Supreme Mysterious Original Emperor.” The essay Xuanzong wrote himself opens with “The Great Dao forms as one.” The imperial poem has not been seen to this day and is therefore not included.

On the twenty-eighth day of the second month of the first year of Qianguan (666 CE), the day jìwèi, after the emperor had completed the grand Fengshan rite at Mount Tai, he returned and went to Bozhou to pay homage to Laozi. He bestowed on Laozi the honorific title Supreme Emperor of the Mysterious Origin (Taishang Xuanyuan Huangdi) and personally composed an inscription stating:

The Dao (the Way) is wholly unified, established even before Heaven and Earth took shape; the perfected person is humble and without self-assertion, yet can use subtle words to clarify the myriad things. Laozi is Our imperial ancestor. From the age of Fuxi down to the late Zhou, the marvels he displayed cannot be fathomed and his transformations were many: sometimes riding qi (vital energy) to ascend the heavens, sometimes responding to the sun’s essence to descend among humans; sometimes moving freely between Heaven and Earth, breathing forth wind and clouds; sometimes serving as teacher and companion to sovereigns, using divine teaching to bring about flourishing ages. His Dao is like yin-yang—deep beyond measure; it is also like sun and moon, high and illuminating.

When the world fell into disorder, Laozi withdrew to the Zhou court archive (“under the pillar”), broadly expounding elevated teachings and setting a model for later generations. Though his mind aligned with the Great Void, the principle to which he pointed was the true Dao that governs the myriad things. “Abolish sageliness and discard wisdom” means not to parade sagely wisdom; “settle the spirit and reduce desires” means to steady shen (spirit) and lessen craving. He dwelt in silence and depth, beyond sight and hearing, wuwei (non-action) and at ease. Draw on his Dao and it never runs dry; practice his Dao and it is never exhausted. He grasped the Dao in its wholeness, leading people back to simplicity; he cleansed the hidden heart, freeing people from entanglements. He outlasts Heaven and Earth, transforming and nurturing the myriad beings—supreme beyond naming in words.

Moreover, great sages and worthies aid a flourishing state; following the way of highest de (virtue/power) suits an age of auspicious signs. We have received Heaven’s mandate, ruling the myriad people, holding the brightness of sun, moon, and stars, reverent day and night; bearing the weight of the realm, We dare not slacken even in daily rise and rest. With full devotion We honor the ancestors, extending grace to the hidden realm and the human world, practicing quiet governance and continuing the foundation of great peace. We ascended Mount Tai for Fengshan and received Heaven’s mandate’s symbols in the Bright Hall. Auspicious qi gathered; fortunate signs appeared; cranes answered to ritual music, and the mountains seemed to shout “ten thousand years.” These omens surpass the past; the spectacle crowns all dynasties.

When the great rites were complete, We returned to the capital and respectfully went to Lai Township, Laozi’s traditional birthplace, to offer sacrifice in person. Gazing at the legendary auspicious paulownia, We stood long in contemplation; by the sacred spring, We chanted for a long while. Feeling that Laozi was almost present, Our filial devotion to the ancestor grew deeper. The profound meaning at the root of the teaching should be made clear, and the merit of the Mysterious Sage displayed. Therefore Laozi was posthumously honored as Emperor of the Mysterious Origin (Xuanyuan Huangdi), and his mother as Primordial Empress Dowager (Xiantian Taihou); orders were given to build halls and temples, with one ling and one cheng appointed to oversee sacrifice and offerings. At the same time, Guyang County was renamed Zhenyuan County (Source of Truth).

In the third year of the Yifeng era, the Wuyin year (678), on the fourth day of the fourth month, the emperor ordered Daoist priest Zheng Yuanyin to proceed to the Qing Temple on Mount Yu in the north of Luoyang, where he joined twenty-four others including Luo Wuxian in setting up purification rituals and performing liturgical processions. Zhai refers to the purification rites performed before Daoist ceremonies of sacrifice and prayer for blessings; xingdao denotes reciting scriptures and performing obeisance according to liturgical protocols.

On the first day of the fifth month, at the chou hour (1–3 a.m.), the priests arrived at the eastern gate of the hall and saw the Supreme Old Lord (Taishang Laojun) riding a white horse with a vermilion mane, accompanied by two attendants in blue robes, descending together upon the altar platform. Auspicious light illuminated the surroundings. The Supreme Old Lord gazed at the priest Kou Yi and conversed with him at length before vanishing. Sun Rui, Supervising Censor of the Palace Park to the north, inspected the altar and confirmed horse hoof prints, which he reported to the court.

The officials submitted a memorial of congratulation stating: "The Mysterious Origin Emperor (Xuanyuan Huangdi, i.e., Laozi) manifested within the temple, his august countenance as solemn as gold and jade, the radiance of the white tuft between his brows surpassing the light of night pearls; the white horse with its red mane left traces of a divine steed's passage. Attendants in blue robes led the way at dawn, arriving to the rhythm of jade bells; purple clouds filled the sky, shrouding the Milky Way before rising high. This clearly foretells the flourishing of the imperial lineage and the renewal of the Mandate of Heaven, and will extend the court's laws so that the people receive radiance. Thus the teachings of the Dao surpass those of all previous kings, blessings extend through myriad generations, the foundation of the state is secured in lasting peace, and boundless good fortune is enjoyed."

The emperor was greatly pleased and ordered that Daoist priests henceforth be placed under the jurisdiction of the Court of Imperial Clan (Zongzheng Si), ranking after the imperial princes. The above account is recorded in the memorial submitted by Supervising Censor Sun Rui.

In the fifth month of the third year of the Yifeng era, the emperor issued an edict: From this time forward, the Daode Jing (Classic of the Way and Virtue) shall be classified as an upper scripture (shang jing), and all candidates for the imperial examinations must demonstrate proficiency in the Daode Jing as well.

In the first year of the Zaitian Wenming era, the Jiashen year (684), Emperor Zhongzong was demoted to Prince of Luling, while the Wu clan prepared to enfeoff princes. Thereafter, the Daode Jing was classified as an upper scripture, and all candidates for the imperial examinations were required to demonstrate proficiency in the Daode Jing.

In the first year of the Wenming reign of Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang (684 CE), the year Jiashen, Wu Zetian deposed Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian and reduced him to Prince of Luling, while planning to enfeoff members of the Wu clan as kings. On the eighteenth day of the second month, Hao Yuanchong of Yuzhang, traveling to court under imperial summons, reached Huangtianyuan in Longtai Township, Quexiang County, Haozhou. There he suddenly saw six immortals, each riding a red dragon and dressed in variegated robes. Two of them held pearl-adorned ceremonial insignia; four carried colored banners and brocade parasols. They flew toward him from multicolored clouds in the northwest, bowed their heads, and said to Hao Yuanchong, “The Supreme Venerable Sovereign (Taishang Laojun) is coming.” With that they departed.

Before long, a rich, unusual fragrance filled the air. Hao Yuanchong saw three boys in blue robes passing through the clouds, each carrying an incense burner in his hands; then two more boys in blue, smiling as they went by, one holding a red horsetail whisk and the other a ruyi scepter.

Next, four immortals, each mounted on a green dragon and holding a talisman-tablet, said to him, “The Supreme Venerable Sovereign is coming and wishes to speak with you,” and then left. Shortly afterward, four more immortals on green dragons appeared in five-colored clouds, likewise holding talisman-tablets, spoke the same words, and departed.

After a while, Hao Yuanchong saw a Daoist priest emerge from five-colored clouds: he wore pale yellow robes, his temples and hair were entirely white, he wore a golden flower crown, and he rode a white strange beast like a mule, with a tail bright red. The priest leaned down and said to him, “I am the Supreme Venerable Sovereign, the ancestor of your sovereign.” Hao Yuanchong immediately prostrated himself. The Sovereign said, “Come with me; I have something to tell you.” Before he knew it, Hao Yuanchong was in the clouds, several zhang above the ground.

The Sovereign instructed him to relay a message to Empress Tianhou Wu Zetian: “The destiny of our Great Tang is long-lasting; you must not rashly alter the imperial line by elevating a different surname to the throne.”

Hao Yuanchong also saw behind the Sovereign six immortals riding dragons, wearing swords, crowned with splendid flower headdresses, robed in dazzling, many-colored garments that shone with extraordinary brilliance, each holding objects he could not identify, arrayed to left and right of the Sovereign. Behind them came a cloud-chariot, richly adorned, bearing a great canopy with hanging floral ornaments, surrounded by five-colored cloud vapors; countless attendants followed on dragons, carrying talisman-tablets and ceremonial regalia. The attendants were all of towering stature, and a musical ensemble led the procession at the front.

At that time, more than five hundred people who were passing through and the commoners and officials of Que Township all witnessed the event with their own eyes; none failed to bow from afar. In an instant, Guo Yuanchong found himself back on the ground. After he reached Chang'an, he reported the matter in full to the throne. Empress Wu was displeased and had him placed under confinement.

Before long, the court converted the Que Township traveling palace into the Hall of Serving the Immortals (Fengxian Guan). Later, Empress Wu still feared this prophecy and did not dare to install Wu Sansi as emperor; she eventually restored the throne to Emperor Zhongzong. For this reason the reign title was changed to Shenlong; the following year it was changed again to Jinglong, and an edict ordered every prefecture in the realm to establish a Jinglong Guan. Later the Jinglong Guan was renamed the Zhongxing Guan, and in the third year it was renamed again as the Longxing Guan.

During the Kaiyuan era of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, the court issued an edict stating: “Guo Yuanchong of Hongzhou, during the Wenming period, conveyed to Empress Wu a divine pronouncement from the Eminent Sovereign of the Mysterious Origin (Xuanyuan Huangdi), declaring that the fortune of our state would know no end and would endure through myriad generations of rulers. For this he was confined, and he later met an untimely death. Had he not been a man of loyalty who was moved by great principle and surpassed ordinary men, who could have defied the threat of death and offended the Empress to deliver the divine command? Offices should be conferred posthumously to comfort his spirit in the nether world. His son Guo Qiong should also be granted an official post according to his qualifications.”

The edict further stated: “The late Guo Yuanchong of Hongzhou, when summoned to court, suddenly encountered the Eminent Sovereign of the Mysterious Origin on the road. The Sovereign lifted him into the empty sky to converse with him and ordered him to admonish the Empress, making clear that the state would know a great renewal and that its fortune would be long and without limit. Guo Yuanchong then wholly disregarded his own safety, came forward to deliver this message, and in the end was imprisoned—a matter truly lamentable. Had he not exhausted his loyalty and devotion in service to the throne, who would have dared in those days to offend the Empress? An office should be conferred posthumously to comfort his departed spirit. He may be posthumously appointed Prefect of Di Prefecture.”

In the first year of the Wansui Tongtian reign (696) of the Wu Zhou, the monk Huicheng of Fuxian Temple submitted a memorial asking that the Laozi Huahu Jing (Scripture on Laozi’s Transformation into the Barbarian) be abolished and destroyed. The court ordered the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Punishments to convene scholars from the Directorate of Education and the Hongwen Academy for a detailed discussion. The Grand Master of Palace Attendance, Acting Vice Minister of the Ministry of Punishments, and Upper Pillar of the State Liu Ruxuan stated his view as follows:

Li Er (Laozi) and Shakyamuni share the same origin and are not fundamentally different. The Dharmakaya (the true body of a sage) and the body of the Dao (daoti) can each appear in different forms; they descended to the world and manifested in their own ways to teach. Laozi set out from the east and traveled far into the western regions. Although we do not know where he finally went, his deeds are recorded in early histories.

I have consulted the Book of the Later Han, which says that Laozi entered the lands of the barbarians and transformed himself into a futu (Buddha). The Biographies of Eminent Men says that Laozi civilized the Rong people and made them into futu. The court’s official chronicle records that five hundred li west of the kingdom of Khotan there is a bimogalan (Buddhist monastery) traditionally said to have been built when Laozi transformed into the Hu (barbarian). When Laozi reached that place he ascended to heaven in broad daylight; on parting he told the Hu people: “I once ascended to heaven and compiled the registers of humans and ghosts; I shall soon descend again.” Thereupon the people established a shrine on that spot.

Examining the various classics on this basis, the relevant accounts are clear and visible; one can know that Laozi’s transformation into the Hu (huahua) truly occurred and that the Huahu Jing is not a fabrication. Futu is the Buddha; when Laozi transformed local customs, would there not have been scriptures in circulation? When sages establish teachings, they naturally take different approaches for different audiences. Moreover, ordinary people and superior gentlemen differ in innate disposition; the gates of Dao and Buddha teach in accord with those different dispositions. To let both teachings circulate widely—is that not fitting?

Zhang Sidao, Attendant Gentleman of the Xuande Bureau, Right Remonstrator, and Scholar of the Hongwen Institute, commented: Lord Lao (Laozi), honored in Daoism as the sage Laozi, once manifested in the east and later went west to teach and transform—accounts preserved in earlier classics and older records. The tradition of his “Hu transformation” (hua Hu) indeed has textual support and is not mere invention. The teaching Lord Lao expounded embraces the root of things before Heaven and Earth arose, and goes beyond what ordinary literary convention can fully express. At times he received beings with a gentle, yielding manner and opened the path of softness and humility; at times he discerned right and wrong and corrected faults, thereby restraining hardness and aggression. He adapted his teaching to each situation; his intent was subtle and beyond full measure, like a physician who prescribes according to the illness—the sage’s efficacy cannot be guessed in advance.

Zhang Yuanjian, Gentleman for Dispersing the Court, Grand Master of the Crown Prince’s Household, and Scholar of the Hongwen Institute, commented: The Great Dao (Da Dao) is complete and unobstructed; it responds and appears according to different lands and circumstances. Whether in the lands of the Hu or in the Han heartland, it is always a transformation of the self to meet the need. In the Central Plains it spread the pure, authentic Dao; in the Western Regions it displayed divine transformation and wonder.

Zhang Taiyuan, Gentleman of the Palace Cadet Service, Master of Ceremonial for the Crown Prince’s Kitchen, and Upper Pillar of the State, commented: The root of the Dao originated in China, while Buddhism was established and spread in the Western Regions. Because the regions differ, they set forth different methods of teaching; the substance is one, only the names differ. Moreover, Lord Lao’s transformations have no fixed form: he can change countenance and role—at times in heaven he becomes a celestial sovereign, at times among people he becomes a teacher—manifesting a body as beings require; such numinous responsiveness cannot be fathomed. Even if historical writings do not preserve conclusive records, one cannot on that account deny any connection between Buddhism and Lord Lao.

Wang Fanghui, University Scholar of the Directorate of Education, commented: The Records of the Grand Historian states that when Laozi passed through the frontier pass he lectured on the Dao De Jing of more than five thousand characters for Yin Xi, after which his whereabouts were unknown. Liu Xiang’s Biographies of Immortals says that Laozi was skilled at nourishing qi (vital energy), valued not chasing reputation, and after long cultivation entered Great Qin (Da Qin). From this one knows he was a true sage. The Account of the Western Regions also says that Laozi and Yin Xi together reached the shifting sands, after which nothing further is known of them.

Doctor Wu Yangwu of the Directorate of Education for the Imperial Academy of the Grand Unity said: The Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) records that Laozi was a native of Chu, born in the Shang dynasty, and served as Keeper of the Archives (shoucang shi), an office in charge of canonical texts and archival records. When Confucius went to Zhou, he sought instruction from Laozi on ritual. Laozi said to him: “Those men of whom you speak—their bones have long since turned to dust; only their words remain. I have heard that a skilled merchant keeps his precious goods hidden so that he appears to have nothing; a gentleman of deep virtue may look dull and slow-witted on the outside. You should put aside arrogant airs and excessive desires—neither serves you well. That is all I can tell you.”

When Confucius returned, he said to his disciples: “Today I saw the Old Master—he is perhaps like a dragon!” Later Laozi left through the pass; Keeper Yin of the Pass requested of him: “You are about to withdraw from the world; I hope you will write a book for me.” Laozi then composed the Daodejing (Classic of the Way and Virtue) in more than five thousand characters; after that, no one knew where he went. Some say Laozi lived one hundred sixty years; others say one thousand two hundred years—it cannot be determined which account is correct. Liu Xiang’s Biographies of Immortals (Liexian zhuan) further states that Laozi was skilled at nourishing qi (vital energy), valued not seeking fame, and in time went far to Great Qin (an ancient name for the region of the Roman Empire). From this one may know he was a sage, and so forth.

Academician of the Hongwen Hall, recipient of the purple robe and gold fish tally, Yuan Banqian said: I have examined Fan Ye’s History of the Later Han (Hou Han shu), the “Biography of Pei Kai” and the “Account of the Western Regions” in the Brief History of Wei (Weilüe), as well as the “Account of the Western Regions” in the History of the Northern Dynasties (Beishi), together with more than ten works of history and biography from the Zhou, Sui, and other periods—all say that Laozi went west into the drifting sands (the deserts of the far west), and call what he did there “huahu” (the tradition that Laozi went west to transform or convert the barbarians), and so forth.

Grand Academician of the Hongwen Hall and concurrent tutor to the princes, Cui Yuanwu said: According to Buddhist scriptures such as the Lalitavistara Sutra (Puyao jing), the Sutra of Auspicious Responses (Ruiying jing), and the Dirgha Agama (Chang ahan jing), as well as the Zhongyuan ji, the Biographies of Eminent Men (Gaoshi zhuan), and more than ten works of history and biography from the Jin, Song, Qi, Liang, Zhou, Sui, and other periods, the Buddha was born in the ninth year of King Zhuang of Zhou—that is, on the eighth day of the fourth month of the guisi year, and so forth.

In the first year of the Wansui Tongtian era (695), on the fifteenth day of the sixth month, the court issued an edict stating that the story of Lord Lao’s transformation among the barbarians—the legend that Laozi passed west through Hangu Pass and guided non-Chinese peoples—was already recorded in canonical texts, so how could Buddhist monks be allowed to request its deletion at will? From this it is clear that one-sided claims cannot be trusted; the matter should be checked against sources, debated in assembly, and judged fairly. If there were no basis in historical records, how could officials charged with court business have rashly agreed? Since it was known that the Hu transformation narrative had real standing, it should not be dismissed as empty talk.

According to the Tang Shu, Yiwen Zhi, section Bing, there was one fascicle of Yihua Hu Jing Zhuang (Memorial on the Debate over the Laozi Hu Jing). It records that in the first year of Wansui Tongtian, the monk Huicheng submitted a memorial asking that Laozi Hu Jing be destroyed; Wu Zetian ordered the vice minister of the Autumn Board, Liu Ruxuan, and others to deliberate the case.

Ye Fashan was a native of Chuzhou. When he was seven, he fell into water and his family believed he had drowned. Three years later he returned. When his parents asked what had happened, he said: “A blue attendant took me away, gave me cloud nectar to drink, and led me to pay homage to the Supreme Old Lord. The Old Lord kept me in his service, which is why I was away so long.”

After Ye Fashan reached adulthood, he stood nine chi tall, with a simple and pure disposition, and ate no meat. He often lived alone in quiet chambers, and sometimes wandered among mountains, forests, lakes, and marshes. It is said that after he returned from the immortal realms, he already knew methods for commanding ghosts and spirits; he therefore chose to settle on Mount Maoyou. A huge boulder blocked the approach to the mountain gate; he cast out a talisman, and the stone flew aside in an instant, to the astonishment of all who saw it.

He once traveled to Kuocang Mountain and White Horse Mountain, where in a stone chamber he met three divine beings. They wore brocade robes and jeweled crowns and said to him: “We are sent by the Supreme Old Lord to convey a secret decree to you. You were originally Left Immortal Minister of the Great Ultimate and Purple Subtlety (a post in the celestial bureaucracy); because your work cataloging scriptures was not diligent enough, you were demoted to the human realm. You should quickly establish merit, rescue the people, and assist the state; when your merit is complete, you may resume your former office. We now transmit to you the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Three-Five Method—apply yourself to cultivation.” When they had finished speaking, the three divine beings departed.

From then on, Ye Fashan eliminated evil and demonic forces, and wherever he went he took saving others as his aim. Emperor Gaozong summoned him to the capital and offered him the post of Superior Minister, but he declined and asked instead for an ordination certificate to become a formal Daoist priest. After Empress Wu summoned him to the Divine Capital (Luoyang), Zhongzong was restored to the throne, yet Wu Sansi still held power. Ye Fashan repeatedly detected signs of demonic interference and protected Zhongzong, the Prince of Xiang, and Emperor Xuanzong; for this Wu Sansi resented him and had him exiled to the South Sea. More than a year later he entered the West Mountain of Hongzhou to nourish his spirit and cultivate the Dao.

On the ninth day of the third month in the fourth year of Jinglong (the xinhai year), the three divine beings of Kuocang Mountain descended again and delivered the Supreme Old Lord’s command: “You should assist Emperor Ruizong and the Sage Emperor of the Kaiyuan era; do not hide any longer in cliffs and caves and neglect the charge entrusted to you.” Then they left. At that time neither Ruizong nor Xuanzong had yet ascended the throne, yet their temple names and reign titles were announced in advance. In the eighth month of that year, the court indeed issued an edict summoning him to the palace.

Later, after Empress Wei was overthrown, the Prince of Xiang took the throne, and Ruizong and Xuanzong succeeded one after another. When the court faced matters of fortune or misfortune or planned major actions, Ye Fashan often reported them in advance. Once, Tibet sent envoys bearing tribute; on the casket was written: “Your Majesty must open this yourself—do not let others learn its secret.” Everyone at court fell silent; only Ye Fashan said: “This is a malign casket—the Tibetan envoys should open it themselves.” Emperor Xuanzong followed his advice. A crossbow mechanism inside the casket suddenly fired and killed the Tibetan envoy, exactly as Ye Fashan had said.

Before long, Ye Fashan was appointed Silver Gleaming Light Minister of the Imperial Household, Minister of Ceremonial for Foreign Affairs, and other offices; he was enfeoffed as Duke of Yue and appointed abbot of Jinglong Abbey.

According to the Taiping Guangji, this account matches what is described here in every detail.

In the sixth month of the fourth year of the Jinglong era of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang (710 CE), Consort Wei (Empress Wei) killed Zhongzong and seized control of the court, and also plotted against Emperor Ruizong. At that time, Ming Huang (the future Emperor Xuanzong of Tang) was still Prince of Linzi and was planning to quell the turmoil at court but could not decide what to do. Laojun then transformed himself into an old man dressed in white and set up a divination stall outside Chunming Gate.

The Prince of Linzi asked the old man for a reading. Before long, a stalk of cao grass suddenly flew out of the hexagram and stood upright in midair. The old man smiled and said: “This hexagram shows that taking the realm and becoming sovereign is auspicious; all other matters are inauspicious. Action should be taken within three days.” The Prince of Linzi then consulted with Liu Youqiu and Zhong Shaojing, executed Empress Wei, and enthroned Ruizong. He afterward sent men to look for the fortune-telling old man but could not find him, nor did they know that he was Laojun. The people therefore built a temple on the spot where the old man had appeared, calling it the “Temple of the Uncle.” The Prince of Linzi personally composed and wrote the inscription. The people of Chang’an still offer sacrifices at this temple to this day. This is also recorded in the Luozhong Jiyi.

On the fifteenth day of the second month, dingmao, in the third year of the Kaiyuan era of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (715 CE), Xuanzong fixed Laojun’s birthday as the “Xuanyuan Festival” and personally composed the Eulogy to the Emperor Xuanyuan: “There is a sage of supreme De, born already long-lived. White hair hangs to the shoulders; purple qi fills the sky. He holds light within and keeps silent, passing through endless ages. He is the patriarch of ten thousand teachings, honored as Xuanyuan. In the east he instructed Confucius; in the west he converted the Golden Immortal (the Buddha). Emperors of every age take him as their model; sages of every generation transmit his teaching. The scripture remained west of Hangu Pass—five thousand words in all. If the Dao were a constant Dao, it would not be the eternal Dao; the Dao is deep and subtle, layer upon layer without end.”

The emperor personally wrote the eulogy in bafen script on a red-powder board and placed it on the plaque of the precious canopy in the hall of Laojun. He issued an edict renaming Mount Yangjiao Mount Longjiao, redesignating the temple as Qingtang Guan (Celebrating Tang Abbey), and personally composed its stele inscription. The abbey also had imperial images sculpted of the six emperors—Gaozu, Taizong, Gaozong, Zhongzong, Ruizong, and Xuanzong—arranged to attend beside the image of Laojun.

The emperor traveled to Laozi’s former residence in Bozhou to pay homage to Laozi. He personally copied the Daodejing (Classic of the Way and Virtue), had the text carved on stone, erected a large stone dhvaja pillar (a stone column bearing scripture), and built an octagonal pavilion, placing the pillar before the Hall of Emptiness.

In the first year, xinyou, an ancient cypress at Laozi’s old home in Bozhou had withered, and the Daoist priests planned to cut it down. On the chips of wood, five characters—“Qian, Yuan, Heng, Li, Zhen”—appeared written in cinnabar, with exquisite brushwork; every piece of wood bore them. When this was reported to the court, the emperor issued an edict: “The auspicious tree showed numinous signs, and extraordinary writing appeared of itself. This manifests the great celebration of the state and blesses the grand fortune of the realm. It aligns with the five virtues of the Yijing (Book of Changes) and ushers in auspicious fortune for ten thousand generations. Sincere proclamation and thanksgiving rites should be performed, and the matter recorded by the historiographers.” The wood fragments were stored in the inner treasury and also bestowed upon princes, chief ministers, and the Daoist community.

In the third month, the stone pillar was installed at Jinglong Guan (Viewing the Dragon Abbey). The emperor ordered the Tiantai Mountain Daoist Sima Chengzhen to copy Laozi’s Daodejing in the three script styles used on Cai Yong’s stone classics, after which the text was carved on stone. Today, the lacquer-written version preserved at Chongdao Guan on Tiantai Mountain is also in Ziwei’s (Sima Chengzhen’s style name) own hand.

In the guihai year of the Tang, Puzhou reported that while the Xuanyuan Temple was being built locally, workers unearthed a piece of jade shaped like a half-moon, with a pattern on the back of immortals pounding medicine. When struck, its tone was clear and far-reaching. The emperor ordered it sent to the Xuanyuan Abbey in Taiyuan Prefecture, where it was called the “Reclining Moon Chime.” Such chimes (ancient percussion instruments made of stone or jade) were to be struck only during Zhaijiao (purification ritual).

Later, Zhang Qi, military commissioner of Shu Capital, memorialized that during repairs at the ancient Xianju Abbey in Lushan County, Ruzhou, a piece of jade was found whose sound, when struck, could be heard for several li. The emperor had it placed for use on the ritual altar in the Hall of the Holy Ancestor at the Taiqing Palace. The cloud-plate type of ritual implement used today is said to derive from this.

When a Daoist abbey was being built in Quzhou, a fish three chi long was dug up, shaped like iron, with a color slightly purple-blue and a luster like jade, carved so finely it seemed not human-made; when struck, the sound was very loud. No one could name it, so it was presented to the court. The emperor showed it to the officials, and none could identify it; it was named the “Auspicious Fish Chime” and kept at the Taiwei Palace, to be struck during Zhaijiao or scripture lectures. Thereafter, abbeys vied to copy the object in wood or stone to summon assemblies. The use of wooden fish in abbeys is said to have begun at this time.

In the ninth month of the fourteenth year of the Tang, the emperor issued an edict: “The Mysterious Origin Emperor is immortal sage and patriarch, and also the root lineage of the state. In the founding of the realm, he once manifested signs of the mandate. Gaozu followed this omen, built a temple where the spirit descended, and renamed the local county Divine Mountain. Recently the temple has repeatedly shown auspicious signs; protected by the spirit, reverence and gratitude have grown deeper. This prefecture shall select seven devout Daoist priests to keep fast and burn incense at the Longjiao Mountain temple, expressing respect and sacrificial devotion.”

On the eighth day of the fourth month of the seventeenth year of the Tang, the edict again mentioned protection by the spirit, gratitude for its efficacy, and ordered this prefecture to select seven devout Daoist priests to keep fast, burn incense, and reverently worship at the Longjiao Mountain temple.

On the eighth day of the fourth month in the seventeenth year of the Kaiyuan era of the Tang dynasty, the Xinxing Nunnery in Xinjin County, Shuzhou, held a vegetarian feast. A Daoist priest arrived later and took a seat. The monks looked down on him and did not provide him with feast food. The priest slowly rose, entered the hall, and did not emerge for a long time. When the feast ended, everyone entered the hall to search for him but could not find him.

Before long, on a hall pillar appeared a clear image of Laozi (the Old Master), as if emerging from the wood grain. When the people scraped away the surface wood with knives, the image only grew more refined. The eyebrows, beard, and sideburns were as fine as if painted; he wore a lei-buy crown and robes of rosy clouds, with ornaments on the crown resembling mandarin ducks. On his feet were square-toed shoes, with lotuses beneath them, lotus leaves behind the flowers, and turtles on the leaves. From the cloud patterns, lotus, and flame-like light behind his left elbow rose a dragon’s head; before his right shoulder a tiger turned its head to look toward the left. Fire-light encircled the figure; above the cloud-leaves and celestial flowers was a great blossom like a canopy shading his body.

Zhang Jingzhong, Chief Administrator of the Metropolitan Prefecture of Yizhou, memorialized the throne: on a pillar of the Buddha hall at the Xinxing Nunnery in Xinjin County, Shuzhou, the sacred image of Laozi had naturally appeared in raised wood grain; above his head was a flowered canopy, and before and behind his feet were thirteen cloud-leaves and celestial flowers in all. He sent Judge Wang Dazhong to verify the matter, and together with Prefect Li Zhongxun, Vice-Prefect Lu Fang, Magistrate Li Shao, and one hundred thirty Daoist priests, monks, and nuns, they attested that Laozi’s true countenance had manifested naturally from the wood grain in a wondrous and miraculous way; the more they washed and scraped, the clearer the features became—something neither painting could achieve nor carving could equal.

The memorial also stated that the Supreme Old Master (Taishang Laojun) is the supreme sage who existed before Heaven and Earth, changing without fixed form, appearing and hiding beyond all measure. Auspicious flowers encircled him, signifying enduring fragrance and radiance; the raised canopy displayed precious spiritual clarity. That Laozi’s sacred image appeared on a hall pillar recalled the legend of his transformation and journey west to teach the barbarians. Even if legend told of a phoenix nesting in a pavilion or a qilin crouching in the Zhou court, how could that compare with the immortal ancestor’s descent and a sage successor receiving Heaven’s mandate? The memorial asked that the event be recorded in the official histories, proclaimed to the realm, and that Laozi be included in ancestral temple worship.

After the memorial was submitted, on the twenty-fourth day of the fifth month the court sent the inner attendant Lin Zhaoyin to Shuzhou to fetch the pillar bearing the manifested image. It was carried in a precious carriage to the capital and venerated with worship in the Datong Hall for three days. When the great feast ended, the court ordered the Director of the Imperial Guard to move it to the Dongming Abbey for display and veneration, allowing the people to come and pay respect. Subsequently the Daoist abbeys on both main streets of the capital each hosted it for seven days before it was brought into the palace.

The emperor issued an edict: “The substance of the Dao has no boundary; its profound teaching responds to the world. Laozi’s image appeared on a pillar, and the Xinxing Abbey became renowned for it. The ancestral temple received an auspicious sign, and the people would share in its blessing. This matter should be entrusted to the Historiography Office for record and proclaimed to the four quarters.”

In the tenth month of the eighteenth year of the Kaiyuan reign (730), the emperor ordered Chen Xilie and other scholars of the Jixian Academy to expound the Daode Jing in three palace halls.

Chief Minister Pei Guangting and others memorialized the throne, saying: “Yao and Shun governed the realm through yielding; Tang of Shang and King Wu of Zhou achieved their achievements through force of arms. Some of these paths cost heart and body; others bound the will in worry and strain. Though the people thereby glimpsed ages of peace, they had not yet reached the wuwei (non-action) spoken of in the Great Dao. Now Your Majesty transforms the realm in accord with the Dao, lessening deliberate exertion and extending wordless teaching—seeking to strip away ornament and return to the root, to discard the false and keep the real. Such a way of governing is precisely the learning of Dao and De set forth by Laozi and Zhuangzi.

“Your Majesty therefore appointed Chen Xilie, Academician of the Jixian Academy and Secretariat Drafter; Wang Huizhi, Remonstrance Official; Kang Ziyuan, Lecturing Academician and Vice Director of the Imperial Clan Court; and Feng Chaoyin, Senior Advisor on Good Conduct, to lecture in the three halls, clarifying the true meaning of the classic and recounting the tale of the Seven Sages of Xiangcheng and the Four Hermits of Mount Guye. Applied to governing the state, this can spread a climate of quiet purity; applied to self-cultivation, it bears on the path of long life. When sagely teaching moves in what is subtle and hidden, the realm is secure and at ease, and the people receive its influence day by day without being aware of it. This is truly a rare event in the annals of the ages. We who are privileged to serve in office beg that this be entered in the historical record and made known to all under Heaven.”

The emperor personally drafted an edict in reply: “We reverently guard the enterprise of our ancestors, receive Heaven’s mandate, and day and night hold ourselves in caution and fear, lest We prove unequal to the charge. We seek worthy ministers and entrust them with planning and counsel; We invite academicians and consult them on broad learning, to remedy Our deficiencies and harmonize the court. Now within and without are settled, punishments are clear, and litigation has subsided. Seated in governance, We have been able to turn Our mind to the writings of antiquity and hold that the Dao is the subtle root and De the foundation of teaching. Hence We discourse on its refined intent and examine its profound chapters. We wish that affairs be accomplished without rash intervention and that the ten thousand things each find their place without Our personally directing them—how could We claim that Our virtue matches Yao and Shun, or Our achievements rank with Yu and Tang?

“Yet one must first rectify the inner mind and reflect deeply, so that teaching reaches near and far; We strive to order custom and also wish to convey these principles to the people. If all can return to quiet purity and together uphold the silent, wordless Dao, that would be well indeed. What you have set forth We shall compile and publish—truly it shames Us deeply.”

“The three halls” refers to three halls within the palace. “The Seven Sages of Xiangcheng” and “the Four Hermits of Mount Guye” are stories from antiquity about sage-kings and recluses in connection with the Dao, used to illustrate the way of quiet wuwei in governing and in self-cultivation.

On the night of the fifteenth day of the second month in a certain year, the emperor dreamed of a divine being who said to him: “I am an envoy of the Nine Heavens, sent by command of the Xuanyuan Zhengzhen Jade Emperor (a supreme deity in Daoism). The ‘Emperor’ in this matter is your ancestor, the Supreme Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun, a supreme Daoist deity). He has appointed me General Inspector in Attendance upon the Turning of Fate, charged with surveying the Nine Heavens, the Nine Earths, the ten directions, and the Three Realms (a divine office that patrols heaven and earth and oversees affairs throughout the Three Realms). The Director of Destiny of the Nine Heavens resides on Mount Qian in Shuzhou; the Old Man of the Nine Heavens resides on Mount Qingcheng in the land of Shu; and I reside on Mount Lu in Jiangzhou. At each of these places a temple may be established. Five hundred years hence, blessings will reach all living beings.”

When morning came, the emperor rose, burned incense, and bowed toward the heavens in gratitude. Before long the divine being appeared again in the clouds, attendants gathered round, and mist filled the sky. The emperor then ordered Wu Daozi to paint the deity’s likeness according to what he had seen, and dispatched envoys with funds to the three mountains to build shrines.

In the spring of the twenty-first year, on the gengzi day of the first month in the guiyou cycle, the promised blessings were understood to extend to all living beings. Again the emperor rose in the morning, burned incense, and bowed toward the heavens in thanks. Shortly afterward the divine being reappeared amid the clouds, surrounded by attendants, with mist spreading across the heavens. The emperor again commanded Wu Daozi to depict the vision and sent envoys with resources to the three mountains to erect temple buildings.

In the spring of the first month of the first year of Kaiyuan 21 (733), year guiyou, the emperor issued an edict: “Laozi’s Dao De Jing should be kept in one copy in every household of scholars and common people. From now on, whenever the annual civil-service examinations are held, one or two questions on the Laozi may be added at discretion among the policy questions on the Documents and the Analects, so as to honor the root of the Dao and extend the source of teaching. This edict too should be kept in one copy in every household; people should often reflect on its meaning, to grasp my intent.”

Chief Minister Pei Guangting and others memorialized: “We have seen yesterday’s edict, instructing the officials and reaching all the people under heaven. Your Majesty’s grace is as vast as heaven; after bestowing benefit, you also teach and encourage—everyone wishes to do good and knows which direction to follow. We hold high office yet have done nothing useful for the state; suddenly we receive Your Majesty’s commendation, as if mist were cleared and all became bright. Even the virtue of Fu Xi, Xuanyuan, Yao, and Shun in antiquity did not surpass this act. The realm is truly blessed. We ask that this edict be entered in the dynastic history, to show posterity.”

The emperor replied: “The teaching of the Mysterious Origin (Xuanyuan—the honorific title for Laozi and his Daoist doctrine) is what the governance of the state relies upon. This is not done to honor an ancestor alone, but to reaffirm the root of the Dao. Therefore the choice fell on the first day of the year, in accord with springtime governance, so that a policy of clarity, stillness, and Wuwei (non-action) might serve as a model for later ages.” The emperor also said he hoped that when the chief ministers appointed officials, they would give priority to selecting people who were plain, honest, and sincere.

In the twelfth month, after Lecturer Academician Chen Xilie and others had finished their exposition, Vice Director of the Yellow Gate and Associate Director of the Secretariat and Chancellery Pei Yaoging and others memorialized: “We respectfully observe that Your Majesty has completed the reading of the Documents, the Changes, the Dao De Jing, the Zhuangzi, and the Liezi. Your Majesty’s mind expands the Way; the state’s teaching honors Confucian learning, and the quiet, clear wind of Daoism will likewise spread far from this. Your Majesty’s heart embraces the myriad regions; after handling affairs of state by day, you still read in the inner hall; you also tour the traveling palaces and guide custom through literary teaching. The tale of a Han emperor reading through the night cannot compare with Your Majesty. Your Majesty has grasped the purport of Laozi and Zhuangzi; with a spirit that equalizes all things you practice benevolence and forbearance—and you always keep the people of the realm in mind.”

The Emperor, after attending to state affairs by day, would also retire to the inner hall to pore over the classics; the shift in customs and the opening of society were reflected as well in his lecturing on learning at the traveling palace. No emperor of Han accomplished in a single night what surpassed this diligence in study.

The Emperor grasped the purport of Laozi and Zhuangzi, could regard all things as equal, and treated people with benevolence and generosity; he also governed the realm with the mind of Yao and Shun, examined ancient institutions, and brought laws and standards to completion. He probed profound principles to a state where seeming unhurriedness yet yielded swift results; he also refined and transformed the multitude so that the myriad things each found their proper place—a cause for joy. The Emperor spread the Great Dao, so that the radiance recorded in the classics might shine far into the future.

We your ministers have had the good fortune to take part in discussion and memorials, respectfully hearing the Emperor’s instruction; the joy and reverence in our hearts exceed by far what we feel on ordinary days. We beg that this be recorded and published by the historiographers, so that the Emperor’s splendid virtue and fair fame may be handed down to later ages.

The Emperor personally replied by edict: “The elegant admonitions of the Book of Documents and the profound principles of the Book of Changes—from youth I studied them under teachers, yet I have not exhausted their inner meaning; therefore I often have them expounded. The Classic of the Way and Its Power stands in mutual relation with these texts; when one probes its intent minutely, one can extend the understanding by analogy—its content is exceedingly rich. I have sought the Way from Guangchengzi and been assisted by Fangming. Such an opportunity as today is rare in a thousand years; therefore I spread these principles to instruct you.”

The civil and military officials, the Right Grand Counselor and Concurrent Academician of the Jixian Academy Xiao Song, and others memorialized: “We observe that since last year the Emperor has ordered Academicians of the Jixian Academy—the Vice Minister of Works Chen Xilie, Remonstrance and Advice Grandee Wang Huizhi, and Secretariat Gentleman of the Board of Ceremonies Feng Chaoyin—to attend daily and expound the Classic of the Way and Its Power of Xuanyuan Huangdi (the honorific title for Laozi), together with the Book of Changes, Book of Documents, Zhuangzi, and other classics. On the twenty-fourth of this month the course of lectures has concluded.

We have heard that Yao gathered the documents of former ages and thereby perfected sage virtue; Shun examined the symbols and models of antiquity to display bright virtue. From this one knows that the Way is worthy of reverence and that ritual and law are not set aside because of exalted rank. Lecturing is not only for accumulating knowledge—it also serves to regulate human conduct. Your Majesty’s Heaven-given intelligence and conduct in accord with the sages’ Way have widely spread transforming influence; literary culture is already achieved—yet you still unceasingly add to innate wisdom and diligently amass learning…”

We, your ministers, respectfully observe that Your Majesty is intelligent and penetrating, endowed with sagely brilliance, and practices the way of the sages so that moral teaching spreads widely and civil culture flourishes. Your Majesty still seeks knowledge broadly and accumulates learning without cease, examines ancient texts in all matters, and in reading pursues what is subtle and profound. Your Majesty honors the ancestors and also studies the Laozi; discerns the way of Heaven and also observes the hexagrams of the Yijing. In tracing the teachings of Guangchengzi, Your Majesty consults the relevant passages in the Zhuangzi; in examining the old rites of Tang Yao’s suburban sacrifice, Your Majesty reads the Yao dian with care.

Recently Your Majesty sacrificed to the God of Earth in the north and then traveled east to the hot springs. At times the route passed through wind and sand; at times cold snow was about to fall—yet the lecture hall was always set up and the tent palace remained as usual. From this one may fully see Your Majesty’s love of learning and the display of diligent virtue. Even Fuxi’s drawing of the trigrams and Yu of Xia’s receiving of the Hetu and Luoshu—how could they compare with Your Majesty? We, your ministers, are fortunate to stand among the court officials and to hear the sagely way; we respectfully ask that this matter be entrusted to the historiographers for record and proclaimed throughout the realm.

The Emperor wrote in his own hand in reply: “I have heard that the Hall of Assembled Worthies gathers Confucians and Daoist priests to lecture, and that after court there is reading and exposition—this has always been the regular practice. Over time I have also read a number of chapters, lines, and phrases. I use the ancient canons and admonitions to examine affairs past and present; as for the Daode jing, I take its truth and do not adopt its school as a sect. Is not this precisely the gist of governing the state? Entrust this matter to the historiographers and act in accordance with your request.”

On the day guimou in the third month of the twenty-third year of Kaiyuan, the emperor personally annotated the Laozi and composed eight fascicles of commentary (exegesis clarifying the meaning of the scripture); he also compiled thirty fascicles of Kaiyuan Wenzi Yinyi (Glosses on Characters and Pronunciation in the Kaiyuan Era). These works were distributed to ministers, scholars, commoners, and readers in both Daoist and Buddhist circles, and all were invited to speak frankly in evaluation.

The civil and military officials, together with Right Chancellor Xiao Song and others, memorialized the throne: “Your servants, having received the imperial order to consult the various departments and to issue the books to clerics and lay readers alike, find in the responses we received unanimous praise: the exposition of subtle and profound doctrine is thorough, and the philological glosses are comprehensive; once published, these works suffice as models for posterity. Readers may thereby apprehend the subtle and recognize the constant Dao, clarify past doubts and errors, and correct them item by item. These writings fully illuminate Daoist teaching, extend Confucian moral transformation, are already capable of instructing the people, and show the weight of setting right what is fundamental. Although wider solicitation of differing views might still be possible, at present script and speech are unified throughout the realm, opinion is of one mind, and there is truly nothing further to say. Your servants request that these works be entered into the historical record and deposited in the palace secret archive.” The emperor granted the request.

In the twelfth month of the twenty-seventh year of Kaiyuan, Chancellor Niu Xianke and Li Linfu memorialized:

“Your servants have read the December deyin (imperial pronouncement) that the Crown Prince forwarded to the Historiography Office. We understand that Your Majesty had planned to tour north of the Wei River on the fifth day of last month. That night Xuanyuan Emperor (the honorific title for Laozi) appeared to Your Majesty in a dream and said: ‘Tomorrow you wish to travel north? The numinous presence is not there; this journey should be halted. At the fifth watch there will be confirmation. Moreover, you have governed the realm for many years—why choose this day in particular?’

“Your Majesty issued an edict that very night, in the second watch, canceling the tour north of the Wei; at the fifth watch, a violent gale indeed arose and did not subside until evening. Your Majesty has penetrated the subtle; your virtue and achievement are supreme; in sagely governance of the empire, none can compare. Thus you have moved the numinous realm and brought sage and spirit into accord. The dream foretold what could hardly be known and indicated the hour when fulfillment would come—and afterward the great wind occurred as foretold. This numinous dream displays Your Majesty’s blessed fortune and presages blessings without end, enduring with Heaven and Earth, like tally and seal in agreement, the signs clear and distinct.

“Your servants have searched broadly through records since the opening of Heaven and Earth; among instances in which emperors received felicitous omens through divine manifestation, none has been so striking as this. Your servants are fortunate to serve as close ministers at the center and also to hold posts as historians; having heard this edict, our hearts are deeply stirred.”

In the fourth month of the twenty-eighth year of the Kaiyuan reign, the emperor dreamed that Laozi (Taishang Laojun, the Supreme Venerable Sovereign) told him: “I have a statue more than a hundred li southwest of the capital. You may send people to search for it. I will meet you at Xingqing Palace, and you will encounter great auspicious celebration.”

The next day the emperor said to his chief ministers: “In nearly thirty years of governing the realm, I have never failed to rise at dawn, bow before the true image, and pray for the people’s welfare. Recently, during one such session before daybreak, I dozed while seated and dreamed of Xuanyuan Huangdi (Laozi’s honorific title as the Mysterious Origin Emperor). I therefore dispatched envoys together with Daomen Weiyi Xiao Yuanyu—an official charged with Daoist ceremonial protocol—to seek it out. When they reached Louguan Mountain in Aowu County, they saw purple clouds hanging over the peaks and white light piercing the sky. Passing through the cloud-light to look, they indeed found a jade image of Laozi about three chi tall, brought it back, and presented it.

That day I happened to be at Xingqing Palace. I went out in person to receive and bow before it, and installed the jade image in the inner hall. It was exactly as I had seen in the dream. I then ordered the chief ministers to enter the hall and view it. They submitted a memorial of congratulation, saying:

“The Mysterious Origin Great Sage has revealed his true form—this is a sign of divine response and truly matches Your Majesty’s sagely virtue. Your Majesty has grasped the way of utmost truth, honored the root of stillness and purity, and constantly kept a sincere heart of reverence, praying for the people—therefore the true image entered your dream and made clear the spiritual response of the ancestral sage. Your Majesty’s dream directed a search to the southwest, and the outcome matched the dream completely.

Xingqing Palace was the former residence of the ‘hidden dragon’ (where the emperor lived before ascending the throne) and the place where royal fortune arose. The deity here foretold the day of meeting, which also accords with the auspicious meaning in the palace name. This is Laozi descending upon the Purple Chamber (the immortal realm in Daoist cosmology), protecting our dynasty, opening boundless fortune, and displaying the omen of great celebration.

Your Majesty has yielded the main hall to serve as the ritual hall (the sanctuary where divine images are enshrined and Daoist rites performed)—such reverence in rank is supreme. Extraordinary favor will descend together with myriad blessings; grace will reach all under Heaven, so that hundreds of millions of people may rejoice as one. We were fortunate to go in person to gaze upon and bow before the image. Its countenance is naturally dignified and fine beyond words. Since the opening of heaven and earth, nothing like this appears in the records of the classics. We ask that this matter be proclaimed within and outside the court and entered into the historical annals.”

The emperor replied in his own hand:

“When the dream is upright, one may say one is in communication with the divine. Laozi’s sacred image indeed appeared through the response of sincere heart—how could my virtue alone have drawn it? It is truly the flourishing of the Great Dao. Reflecting again on this divine revelation, the words still seem to ring in the ear; it will bestow merit and blessing, extending without end from generation to generation.

At first the dream spoke of the traveling palace, yet the jade image came straight to the inner hall; moreover it coincided with great celebration—this is truly auspicious fortune fallen upon my person. I have consulted the Daoist scriptures and consider this a precious omen. Hereafter we should nurture the people and repay the divine in practical deeds. You are all pillars of the court and should share my heart in proclaiming this auspiciousness—I dare not decline.”

On the gengxu day of the fifth month, the emperor ordered the relevant officials to paint sacred images and distribute them to various regions. He then issued an edict stating:

The Great Dao formed in undifferentiated unity before Heaven and Earth; the sage established teachings to clarify the supreme root of the Way. Thus Daoism can reveal the subtle origin, broadly deliver sentient beings, awaken those who aspire to the Way, and show the lost the path of return. By saving the world with this teaching, no one is left behind. Who could undertake this mission? Surely it was my ancestor, the Mysterious Origin Emperor (Laozi, whom the Tang honored as an imperial ancestor).

Having inherited the throne, I have renewed the promotion of the profound Dao. Since my accession, morning and evening I have often cleared distracting thoughts and concentrated my spirit, purified body and mind through fasting, and bowed before the sacred image of the Mysterious Origin Emperor—often finishing before dawn—for nearly thirty years. I have done this to seek greater blessings for the people under Heaven.

I did not expect that my modest sincerity would reach Heaven’s hearing, or that the sacred image would manifest in response. Recently, while resting briefly, I suddenly dreamed of the sacred image; on waking, I clearly saw its form, which matched what I had seen in the dream in its extraordinary appearance. I sincerely believe that the immortal realm has secretly sent down this sacred image to guard the human realm for long ages, and to announce boundless blessings to me. The gracious teaching still rings in my ears—clear proof of an extraordinary auspicious event.

That the holy spirit has appeared is the result of Heaven’s hidden protection and the accumulated blessings of the ancestral temple—not something my shallow virtue could have brought about. To leave this matter unattended would fail the spirit of reverence toward the holy. The relevant officials are therefore commanded at once to paint sacred images, send them to the regional inspection commissioners of each circuit, and install them in the Kaiyuan temples of each prefecture. Local Daoist priests shall welcome the images according to ritual and liturgical form. When an image arrives, on the seventh night they shall hold a fast and perform Daoist rites, and each shall receive money as expenses for the ritual observance.

From now on, the Daoist scriptures shall be expounded regularly and their subtle meaning clarified; the Daoist academies established in the regions shall be encouraged and supported with greater care so that they may flourish. Thus it is known: the truth is profound, and its spread depends on people; without advocacy, how can the world be exhorted and custom revived?

Among all classes, those who are versed in the Daodejing and texts such as the Zhuangzi, Liezi, and Wenzi shall be sought out and selected by the appropriate superiors, their names registered and reported upward; I shall examine them personally and grant separate rewards.

Now that the sacred image has appeared—an event unheard of since antiquity—blessings may begin with the state, but the joy should be shared by officials and common people alike. Princes, princesses, commandery princesses, and civil and military officials inside and outside the court shall receive money as appropriate; on days off they may eat vegetarian food to express the celebration. Circuit military commissioners and their troops shall follow the same practice. Elders in the two capitals and in each prefecture shall also receive money as appropriate so they may rejoice together; the funds shall come from local government stores.

From ministers and grandees down to ordinary people, all should strive to honor the profound teaching and return together to simple authenticity. Let this edict be promulgated far and near so that all may understand my intent.

I have heard that the Doctrine of the Mean says: “When there is sincerity within, it will manifest outward; when it manifests, it will become clear and prominent.” Human dreams are probably one form in which sincerity shows itself. King Gaozong of Shang, reverently and quietly pondering how to govern the realm, dreamed that Heaven bestowed upon him a worthy minister—and later he indeed sought out and obtained Fu Yue. Legend says that Emperor Xuanzong of Tang often bowed and paid homage before the true images of immortals, and thereby was moved to dream of them; this is an instance of inner sincerity manifesting and then becoming plain to see.

Later, Xuanzong grew weary of handling state affairs, entrusted government to unsuitable men, and gradually brought on the disaster of An Lushan’s rebellion and the fall of Chang’an. Some blamed this on his being fond of the Way like the First Emperor of Qin and Emperor Wu of Han—I privately find that doubtful. Cultivating the Way takes purifying the mind and reducing desires as its root, and aiding the people and benefiting the myriad things as its practice; yet these three rulers harbored many desires within and waged great wars abroad, while hoping to obtain immortals through prayer and sacrifice alone—how could that succeed?

Emperor Wu of Liang emptied the treasury to build Buddhist temples and pagodas, even offering his own person as a temple servant; he cut off feasting and pleasure, ceased supplying banquets to the six palaces, and stopped offering sacrificial animals at the ancestral temple. He honored Maitreya Buddha, personally expounded the Dharma, and had the holy monk Baozhi jointly protecting him—yet he still could not avoid the disaster of Taicheng (during the Hou Jing rebellion, Liang Wudi was trapped in Taicheng and died there). Was that too because he was fond of the Way?

Emperor Xuanzong issued an edict on the dingchou day of the first month of the twenty-ninth year of his reign (729 CE):

In the age of the Three Sovereigns, the people were plain and honest because their rulers used the Dao to teach and transform them. After that, each dynasty’s way of ordering public affairs differed. Our ancestor, the August Emperor of the Mysterious Origin (Xuan Yuan Huangdi—the Tang honorific title for Laozi), was endowed with sacred virtue and deeply grasped the marrow of the Great Dao. He wrote the five-thousand-word Daodejing to correct the abuses of his time. The book’s principles rise above the Xiang commentary and Xici appendix of the Book of Changes, and go beyond what ordinary clear language can convey.

I have already ordered that every household study this book, in the hope that all may act according to the Dao, that government may be well ordered, and that there may be ease and stability without coercion. Because scholars of humble rank may not fully penetrate its subtle meaning, I now explain it again so that they may awaken: even if they have wandered in the ways of the world, they may still know how to return to the right path, and may spread kindness broadly without limit.

In the two capitals and in every circuit, one temple to the August Emperor of the Mysterious Origin shall be established; each year zhaijiao (purification ritual) shall be performed there according to Daoist liturgy. Chongxuan Academies shall also be set up, and suitable students shall be chosen locally to study the Daodejing, Zhuangzi, Wenzi, and Liezi. When their training is complete, each year they shall be recommended to the Department of State Affairs for examination by the same method used for the Mingjing (Classics) category. One assistant instructor shall be appointed in each place; the prefect shall carefully search among people of various backgrounds, appoint someone suitable, and grant appropriate generous support.

In the same month, Bozhou reported that from the nine wells in the temple of the August Emperor of the Mysterious Origin, qi (vital energy) gushed forth, gathered into clouds, and shone in interwoven hues of five colors.

On the xinmao day of the second month, the emperor composed the Nishang Yuyi Qu (Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Robe Dance) and the Ziwei Bagua Wu (Purple Forbidden Eight Trigrams Dance). He offered them at Taiqing Palace (the temple dedicated to the Supreme Venerable Lord), with ritual rank above the Nine Temples (the ancestral shrines of the imperial clan). Later he visited Huai Prefecture’s Kaiyuan Temple and Que Township’s Fengxian Temple. At the request of officials and commoners, he personally paid reverence to the upper and lower chapters of the Daode Jing, and had a pair of large stone dhvaja pillars (stone columns inscribed with scripture or records) erected in each temple, modeled on those at Taiqing Palace.

In the ninth month, the emperor ascended Xingqing Gate Tower and personally presided over the examination for candidates in the Daode Jing, Zhuangzi, Wenzi, and Liezi. He posed policy questions to the examinees, saying: “In my spare time from governing, I often read the Daode Jing, Wenzi, Liezi, and Zhuangzi. These works use simple language yet convey profound meaning; their words are lofty and their intent far-reaching—they can govern the state and preserve oneself. I honor these teachings and wish to use them to assist in governance. I commend you gentlemen for studying these classics.

Times and circumstances differ between past and present; literary styles and social customs also change. If one insists on wuwei (non-action) and freedom from external influence, mechanically copying ancient governance, that will not suit the present age. You should adapt to the times and set forth appropriate measures. Rites, music, punishments, and administration are the institutions of statecraft; sagehood, wisdom, benevolence, and righteousness are the norms of human relations—if all these are discarded, what is the reasoning? The Daode Jing says ‘when learning is abandoned, there is no worry’—this seems to contradict the teaching of cultivating virtue and advancing in one’s work. Liezi, ‘Force and Destiny’, says ‘what can you do about external things?’—this seems to conflict with the aim of punishing evil and encouraging good. Which of these two views is right? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each?

The Wenzi says, ‘When gold is piled up, its edges and corners are worn away; when fine jade is wrapped layer upon layer, it suffers no loss’—please explain this fully. The Zhuangzi says, ‘Tranquility and wisdom nourish each other’—please clarify this with explicit arguments. How can different principles be brought into harmony, both teachings be taken into account, and an unalterable standard be established? I await your statements with an open mind.”

Yao Ziyan, Zhan Neng, Yuan Zai, and others passed the policy examination and were each granted office.

In the twelfth month, the emperor issued an edict: “I constantly think of the people and never forget them day or night, wishing every household abundance—wealthy and long-lived. There is no better way to broadly aid the people than the Daoist teaching. The Way of Heaven is luminous and sets forth standards; its subtle words shine with clarity. To follow and practice this teaching—will its effects not be near at hand? The new year approaches; all things are about to grow—this is the time when yang qi flows smoothly and nurturing kindness should be applied. I order Daoist temples throughout the realm, from the first day of the first month of next year until year’s end, to recite the Benji Jing regularly. This scripture was transmitted by Lord Lao; its aim is to make the state rich and the people at peace.”

The granddaughter of the Han Celestial Master (Tianshi), Yulan, dreamed that red light descended from heaven and entered her mouth; upon waking she was pregnant. People doubted her, so she cut open her abdomen to prove her innocence. Inside was something like a lotus flower, from which she took a book in golden seal script on plain silk—the Benji Jing.

On the jiayin day of the first month in the first year of Tianbao (742 CE), purple clouds suddenly descended outside the Danfeng Gate. Laozi (the Supreme Old Lord), riding a white horse and attended by two immortal youths, halted in the clouds and spoke to Tian Tongxiu, staff officer in the household of the Prince of Chen: “When I was about to travel westward to the flowing sands with Yin Xi, I hid a Golden Casket Spirit Talisman—a secret talismanic scroll—in the old site of Taolin Pass, at Yin Xi’s former residence. You may report this to the emperor so that the talisman may be retrieved and used to protect and guard the realm.”

Tian Tongxiu reported the matter to the emperor. The emperor then sent the palace attendant Li Zhizhong to accompany Tian Tongxiu to search at the old site of Hangu Pass, south of Taolin County in Shanzhou. Before long, purple clouds and a white hare appeared beside a withered mulberry tree west of Yin Xi’s former house. The party at once began to dig, and downward…