《混元圣记》Vol. 6

At the water’s edge they finally found a stone casket and a golden chest; inside was a jade tablet inscribed in fine seal script with cinnabar. The emperor ordered the ten sections of court music performed and went in person to welcome the precious talisman—the sacred mandate symbol—from the north gate. The talisman shone with five-colored light inside the carriage, filling heaven and earth with its radiance. The emperor ascended the Danfeng Tower, put on ceremonial robes and cap, held a golden censer, performed the rites of reception, and installed the talisman in the Lingchang Hall.

That night, divine lamps appeared everywhere—above the pavilions and groves, and in the sky. The emperor ascended the Danfeng Tower, wore ceremonial dress and cap, held a golden censer, received the talisman with ritual obeisance, and enshrined it in the Lingchang Hall. That night, lamps of the spirits showed themselves above the buildings and trees and throughout the air.

At that time civil and military officials, imperial clansmen, Daoist priests, and Buddhist monks all submitted memorials of congratulation, holding that these auspicious signs showed spirits and humans responding to one another. The treasures in the golden chest secretly matched the reign title, as if all had been foretold long before—accord with Heaven’s intent, nothing contrary to it. Many asked that a lofty honorific title be added for the emperor, to magnify the grand occasion. The emperor firmly declined and did not accept.

Memorials of congratulation were presented again and again. On the day renshen, the emperor at last issued an edict: “When the spirits bestow blessing, ritual demands thanksgiving; there is no excuse not to respond. For long I have thought on sacrifice and rites—it is right that I lead them myself. Since I took the throne I have promoted the Dao, upheld pure and upright teaching, and spread the spirit of the Mysterious Origin (Xuanyuan), hoping grace would reach the people and the realm would enter a time of peace and long life. Year after year I have labored without slackening. Could this slight sincerity have moved the spirits, so that our forebears’ spirits appeared, Heaven’s mandate was revealed, and the precious talisman was granted? I went to seek it—and indeed received an answer. Now that the talisman has come, extraordinary omens have truly appeared. Such hidden and subtle matters cannot be told in full. Yet for the state, what joy could surpass this?

From this we know that treasures sealed by immortals stand firm with heaven-and-earth’s creation. At first the affair seemed long arranged; after a time the golden chest appeared, and the auspicious signs matched the change of reign title like tally and seal. Receiving this fine fortune, I am reverent and awed. Ministers and the imperial house repeatedly memorialized outside court; the crown prince and princes repeatedly petitioned within the palace; later Daoist priests, Buddhist monks, and elders also pleaded earnestly. Again and again they asked that the reign title Tianbao replace Kaiyuan. But I feel my virtue is thin—how could I bear such an exalted name?”

Since this was an instruction transmitted from Heaven, it ought to be received with reverence; yet people could hardly refuse such a thing. To follow Heaven’s will and heed the multitude is a course that accords with great principle and upholds fairness. Therefore, to defer respectfully to what was requested truly fills me with shame. This was perhaps due to Heaven’s deep protection, the manifest aid of the hundred spirits, alignment with the intent of our sage forebears, and thereby a hidden safeguarding that opened a new calendar and displayed omens of lasting stability. The rites of sacrifice should be followed and ceremonies performed to express gratitude. On the fifteenth of the coming month, the Emperor Xuanyuan of the Mysterious Origin (the Daoist honorific title for Laozi) may be enshrined alongside worship in the ancestral temple.

Thereupon a temple to the Sacred Emperor of the Mysterious Origin was established in Daning Ward; a shrine was also set up at the old residence in Jishan Lane in the Eastern Capital (Luoyang). On the day xinmao in the second month, the Emperor Xuanyuan of the Mysterious Origin was sacrificed to in the new temple, and slaughter was forbidden in the capital. On the day bingshen, Zhuangzi was posthumously honored as the Perfected Person of Southern Huahua (Nanhua Zhenren).

On the day gengzi, the emperor said: “Now that Zhuangzi has been honored as the Perfected Person of Southern Huahua, Wenzi, Liezi, and Gengsangzi should be reconsidered by the Secretariat and Chancellery and reported to the throne.” The chief ministers and others memorialized: “Since Zhuangzi has been honored as the Perfected Person of Southern Huahua, Wenzi may be titled the Perfected Person of Pervasive Mystery (Tongxuan Zhenren), Liezi the Perfected Person of Pervasive Emptiness (Chongxu Zhenren), and Gengsangzi the Perfected Person of Penetrating Spirit (Dongling Zhenren). The writings of these several masters should likewise be designated ‘scriptures’ in accordance with their honorific titles.” The emperor approved.

On the twentieth of that month, the court issued an edict stating: “Heaven shows favor and bestows the Mandate; the ancestors send down their numinous presence. To display auspicious rites of celebration should be recorded in the canon of sacrifice. Zhuangzi, Wenzi, Liezi, and Gengsangzi are all ranked among the true immortals; they realized the way of emptiness, stillness, and pure simplicity, received instruction from the sage of the Mysterious Origin, and spread the Great Dao widely among humanity. Examining their subtle words and profound meaning, compared with the other masters of the hundred schools, they are indeed outstanding. Zhuangzi is honored as the Perfected Person of Southern Huahua; Wenzi as the Perfected Person of Pervasive Mystery; Liezi as the Perfected Person of Pervasive Emptiness; Gengsangzi as the Perfected Person of Penetrating Spirit. The works of all four are henceforth to be called ‘true scriptures’ (zhenjing).” The court also established the School of Venerating the Mystery (Chongxuanxue), with one erudite and one assistant instructor, enrolling one hundred students.

Vice Director of the Chancellery Chen Xilie memorialized: “Your subject…” The text then lists the honorific titles of the Perfected Persons Xuanyuan, Liezi, Gengsangzi, and mentions that the four masters’ writings were renamed true scriptures.

The court established the Chongxuan Academy, appointing one Erudite and one Assistant Instructor, and enrolling one hundred students. Vice Minister of the Chancellery Chen Xilei submitted a memorial stating:

“I have seen the grace edict of the twentieth day of this month, which honors Master Zhuang as the Perfected Man of Southern Florescence (Nanhua Zhenren) and designates his work as the True Scripture of Southern Florescence (Nanhua Zhenjing). What the book expounds are essentials of cultivating the body and nurturing life; it unfolds profound principles. Its subtle utterances number one hundred thousand, continuing the purport of the Daoist canon and embodying five thousand refined meanings.

“I once assisted in lecturing on this scripture and reverently explained its authentic text. When we reached the seventh chapter, Your Majesty turned to me and said: ‘In the chapter “The Nurturing of Life,” I have already grasped the art of longevity; the next chapter, “Signs of Full Virtue”—will it not bring extraordinary confirmation?’ I kowtowed and replied: ‘Your Majesty’s virtue is full within and good conduct appears without. Once these words are spoken, there will surely be great auspicious signs as confirmation; what the following chapter speaks of is precisely “Responsive Emperors and Kings.”’

“Now the Emperor Mystic Origin (Xuanyuan Huangdi, the Tang honorific for Laozi) has indeed sent down a numinous register (lingfu), making clear that the state’s fortune will long endure, and containing the true Dao meaning of penetrating what is to come. The court has honored him with a title and arranged the corresponding rites and images—an exceptional ritual form unheard of since antiquity. I have long cherished deep devotion to this scripture, receiving and reciting it for more than thirty years, performing rites and burning incense in hope of aiding Your Majesty’s transforming influence. Now, having fortunately encountered this extraordinary good fortune, my joy far exceeds the ordinary. I request that this matter be entrusted to the historiographers for record, so that the numinous verification may be displayed.” The emperor granted the request.

In the third month, the emperor issued an edict ordering the historiographers to record Chen Xilei’s words: “I have long cherished deep devotion to this scripture, receiving and reciting it for more than thirty years, performing rites and burning incense in hope of aiding Your Majesty’s transforming influence. Now, having fortunately encountered this extraordinary good fortune, my joy far exceeds the ordinary. I request that this matter be entrusted to the historiographers for record, so that the numinous verification may be displayed.” The emperor granted the request.

In the third month, the court issued an edict ordering that figures from ancient and modern times be entered into the historical records, and that Emperor Xuanyuan (namely Laozi) be venerated as a supreme sage.

On the day wuyin in the fourth month, the emperor issued an edict stating: “The root of teaching and transformation is called the Dao; the function of the Dao is called De (Virtue/Power). The meaning and principle of the Dao and De are exceedingly vast—apart from a sage, who could fully expound them? In the late Zhou, when the age declined, the Dao likewise fell into ruin. My august ancestor, Emperor Xuanyuan, then clarified the deepest root, guided living beings, and composed the five-thousand-word Daodejing (Classic of the Way and Its Power) to remedy the ills of that time. Its principles stand above those of the Xiang and Xi commentaries; its reasoning penetrates the most hidden and far-reaching depths. For ten thousand generations none can compare with it, nor can the Six Classics match it.

Those who followed old practice in the past, because the Daodejing is not long, listed it among the minor classics—something quite unworthy of its subtle, profound intent and exalted status. From now on, in the empire-wide examination for recommended candidates, apart from students of Chongxuan [Daoist study], no others shall be examined on the Daodejing; the relevant offices shall designate another minor classic in its place. The Daodejing shall be divided into the Daojing as the upper classic and the Dejing as the lower classic, to display the honor due to the Dao and the weight given to De, so that people may revere and uphold them. People near and far should all understand Our intent.”

End of fascicle 8 of Hunyuan Shengji (Annals of the Sacred Sage of the Primordial Unity).

In the ninth month, the court established Ziji Palace in Qiao Commandery and, following the precedent of the Western Capital, renamed it Taiqing Palace; the two temples of the Primordial Grand Sovereign and the Primordial Grand Empress were likewise renamed as palaces (gong).

The regulations governing Taiqing Palace (the Tang palace-temple where Laozi was worshipped) stipulated three gates on the south, each with a double leaf, and three gates on the east and west, each with a single leaf. A halberd was placed beside every gate. Eight flights of steps were laid out before and behind the main hall. The temple of the Primordial Heavenly Empress Mother was likewise converted into a government office.

Taiqing Palace also had ritual steps for the mao, wu, and you hours, with arrangements for ritual meals; it had dragon and sand terraces for ceremony, as well as fasting quarters for the emperor’s ritual officers, for dukes and ministers and for officiating clerks, together with the imperial kitchen, the fasting kitchen, and offices for the staff.

On the wuxu day of the twelfth month, the emperor arrived at Huaqing Palace and suddenly saw Laozi appear on Chaoyuan Pavilion; a moment later the vision vanished. Chaoyuan Pavilion was therefore renamed Jiangsheng (“Descent of the Sage”) Pavilion. When the emperor saw that a spirit talisman bore the characters “Tianbao for ten thousand years,” the word Tianbao matched the reign title, so the character nian (“year”) in the era name was changed to zai (“era/cycle”) to align with the talisman. Taolin County was renamed Lingbao County, Tianbao Abbey was established there, and the emperor’s own Inscription on the Spirit Talisman was erected.

On the guisi day of the fourth month of the fourth year of the reign, the emperor issued an edict: “In honoring one’s ancestors, reverence is paramount; in distinguishing ritual and correcting ceremony, what is done must accord with reason. The Great Sage Ancestor, Emperor Xuanyuan (Laozi), mounted the primordial qi and ascended to immortality, long-lived and far-seeing, profound and unfathomable, coextensive with the subtle workings of creation. His true likeness has appeared again and again, and auspicious signs of the Tianbao era have repeatedly emerged. Under his protection, his enduring presence is plain. In past sacrifices at Taiqing Palace, officiating officials all wore full ceremonial robes; the music still used old tune titles, and the announcement of the sacrifice still employed prayer boards (wooden tablets bearing the sacrificial text). These practices were neither the etiquette owed to the living nor the rites suited to welcoming a transcendent. Laozi’s status is extraordinary; the human and spirit realms are divided by light and darkness, and in ritual terms there were indeed improprieties that should be adjusted as appropriate. Henceforth, when rites are performed at Taiqing Palace and its affiliated temples, officials shall wear court dress and prayer boards shall no longer be used. The text of the sacrificial announcement and the hymn titles shall be composed by Us. The responsible offices shall draw up complete ritual regulations and submit them to the throne.”

The emperor also ordered the composition of pieces such as “Descent of the Perfected,” “Summoning the Immortals,” “Purple Subtlety,” and “Escorting the Immortals,” to be performed at Taiqing Palace. He further decreed that the three ceremonial obeisances be changed to three full prostrations, that prayer boards be replaced by qingci (the written petitions used in Daoist ritual prayer), written in red on green paper, with the emperor signing as “Successor Emperor, Your Subject [personal name],” and that this become the fixed rite.

In a certain year of the Tang, on the day bingyin in the intercalary sixth month, the emperor personally visited the Taiqing Palace and elevated the honorific title of the Sagely Ancestor, the Emperor of the Mysterious Origin (Laozi), to “Sagely Ancestor, Great Dao, Emperor of the Mysterious Origin.” On the day bingchen, an edict was issued: “The subtle root of the profound teaching (the refined foundation of Daoist scriptures) is deep and can serve as a model for later ages, transmit learning, and spread the highest instruction. I have sent men to search out Daoist scriptures and, in intervals from governing affairs, examined them myself. Erroneous passages have now been corrected and the chapters put in order; the scriptures should be further expounded to honor and encourage those who study the Dao. Let all Daoist scriptures in the palace be copied by the Chongxuan Guan (Tang office in charge of Daoist affairs) and sent to the regional caifang commissioners, who shall arrange further copying locally. Copies shall remain in the prefecture where each commissioner resides, and they shall personally encourage people to recite them.”

Among the teachings left by sages, none is more important than studying the Dao; to learn the root of the Way, one should also have a teacher. The Duke of Wenxuan (Confucius) and the Sagely Ancestor, the Emperor of the Mysterious Origin, lived in the same era and were both masters of instruction. Though it is not easy to compare their words and conduct, Confucius’s journey to ask Laozi about ritual and Laozi’s personal teaching are matters of record. To show the intent of honoring both teachings and uniting them in one rite, a ritual image of the Duke of Wenxuan should be set up before the image of the Sagely Ancestor in the Taiwei Palace, with the Four True Ones (revered perfected lords in Daoism) arrayed in attendance on either side.

On the same day a general amnesty was proclaimed. The edict read: “The rites of welcoming and escorting the spirits in sacrifice maintain the order of ceremony; ritual forms change with the times and must fit the circumstances. The state takes the immortal Way as its foundation and carries on the work of the Sagely Ancestor; dynastic achievement has flourished and has received unbroken blessing. To have the Sagely Ancestor and the Duke of Wenxuan honored together in sacrifice is to extend a ceremony that must not be lightly altered. Henceforth, whenever rites of welcoming and escorting the spirits are performed, seats and order shall be arranged before the Sagely Ancestor at the Taiqing Palace: above, to show the paired honor due to the profound teaching; below, to fulfill sincere reverence—without going against the Great Dao.

Recently, whenever rites of welcoming and escorting the spirits were held, the regular daily offerings were often suspended. Though this was a temporary measure, it could leave the rites incomplete. Hereafter, when welcome and escort rites are performed, the regular daily offerings shall still use vegetarian fare; three rounds of incense shall replace the three offerings of sacrifice.”

When the Taiqing Palace was first completed, the emperor had craftsmen fetch white stone from Mount Taibai to make ritual implements for the Sagely Ancestor, the Mysterious Origin. (The final sentence in the source repeats the prior rule about vegetarian fare and incense replacing the three offerings at welcome and escort rites.)

When the Palace of the Supreme (Taigong Qing) was first completed, the emperor ordered craftsmen to quarry white stone on Mount Taibai and carve the sacred image of the Mysterious Origin (Xuanyuan sheng rong—the holy likeness of Laozi), as well as a sacred image of Emperor Xuanzong, which was installed on the right. Both statues wore imperial ceremonial regalia and were adorned with colored silk and red jade. Later, jade was carved further to make the holy ancestral image of Lord Lao and the emperor’s true likeness in the Palace for Initiating the Sage (Qisheng Gong).

In the ninth year, the gengyin year, Censor-in-Chief Wang Bo memorialized the throne that the Mount Taibai recluse Wang Xuanyi had seen the Mysterious Origin Emperor (Laozi) in the Baoxian Cave and that there were a Shangqing huguo jing (scripture for protecting the state), treasure tally, and records in a stone casket. The emperor then sent Minister of Justice Wang Chui to investigate, after which these objects were retrieved and presented to the court.

In the tenth year, the xinmao year, on the first day of the first month, yiyou day, the emperor went in person to the Palace of the Supreme to perform the court audience rite. On guisi day he performed the court offering at the Imperial Ancestral Temple; on jiawu day he conducted the combined sacrifice to Heaven and Earth at the southern suburban altar.

In the eleventh year, the renchen year, famine struck the region of the Three Mountains; about five or six out of every ten people died, and many survived on wild kudzu and taro. Suddenly two youths in green (qingtong, celestial attendants) descended into the courtyard of the Daoist nun Wang Fajin in Jianzhou and said to her: “The Great Emperor knows that you were born with the bone of immortals and have never ceased cultivating the Way; he has sent us to escort you to the upper capital to await orders.” Before she knew it, Wang Fajin rose into the air and went straight to where the Sovereign Lord (Laojun) dwelt.

When Lord Lao presided over the ten directions of heaven and protected living beings, he was titled Tianhuang Dadi Yaopobao (Sovereign of Celestial Radiance and Numinous Treasure). Wang Fajin went to pay homage; Lord Lao granted her rosy nectar (xiag jiang, the drink of immortals) and slowly told her: “The people have spurned the five grains and have been punished by the celestial gods. You should return to the human realm and tell the people to repent.” He then ordered a serving maid to give her a scroll of the Lingbao qingzhai gaoxie tiandi yifan (ritual norms for Lingbao purification fasting and thanksgiving to Heaven and Earth) to transmit to the world, saying: “You may gather in secluded places on high mountains to fast and repent; thus past offenses can be removed, and the gods of grain and of silk (the fathers of grain and mothers of silkworms) will bring abundant harvests and mulberry and silkworms. In the year of the dragon and tiger I will summon you again.” Wang Fajin was then sent back to the human realm.

The “Heavenly Lord fasting” still performed in Shu is said to derive from this rite. In the twelfth year Wang Fajin ascended to heaven once more.

In the second month, on the day guiyou, of the thirteenth year of Tianbao (754 CE, during the reign title of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang), the emperor went in person to the Taiping Palace to offer sacrifice. He added to the honorific title of the Sage Ancestor, the Mystic Origin Emperor, the designation “Great Sage Ancestor, Exalted Supreme Great Dao, Golden Gate, Mystic Origin, Celestial Emperor.” He ordered the relevant officials to perform rites of renewal and incense offering every year in the four seasonal “first months” (the opening month of each season) and on the five la days (traditional Daoist observances), with the Taiping Palace following the same ritual schedule; from then on, prefectures and counties throughout the realm were to follow this system.

In the fifteenth year of Tianbao (756 CE), the emperor went to Shu. The Mystic Origin (Laozi) manifested beside the Black Water in Sanquan County, Hanzhong Commandery. The emperor went in person to pay homage. He then ordered a stone to be carved at the site of the manifestation, bearing a true likeness of Laozi, at a place six li south of the Qinwang Post Station.

Another account holds that the Lord on High once passed along a ridge in Yichang County, Lizhou, riding a white deer, then suddenly departed; the deer’s antlers turned white, taken as an omen of the recovery from An Lushan’s rebellion. The emperor decreed that the mountain be named White Guard Ridge, and established the Ziran Guan (Natural Observatory—a Daoist temple honoring the gods) at the place where Laozi had appeared.

Li Bi had cherished the aspiration to seek immortality from youth. He once traveled to Mount Song to seek the Dao and its arts. The Lord on High commanded Anqisheng (a legendary immortal) to admonish him: “The fate of the state is about to face grave peril, and the times are full of hardship. You should assist the ruler with both civil and military means, and broadly rescue the people—only then can you cast off the shoes of the mundane world and ascend to the realm of immortals.” Li Bi then returned and assisted Emperor Suzong in suppressing the rebellion and restoring the imperial house. Thereafter he served three reigns in succession and ultimately achieved immortality.

According to the Taiping Guangji, Li Mi’s mother, Lady Zhou, was pregnant for three years before she awoke and then gave birth to Li Mi. At birth his hair already reached his eyebrows. As a child his body was unusually light, and he could stand on a folding screen. A Daoist once said, “When this child is fifteen, he will ascend to heaven in broad daylight.”

Sometimes a strange fragrance filled Li Mi’s home, or music could be heard; colored clouds would also settle on the trees in the courtyard. The family would prepare food with garlic and ginger and have someone climb onto the roof to sprinkle it.

Later Li Mi traveled to Mount Song and Mount Heng, where he met the Perfected Lord of Tongxiang, Master Xianmen, and Master Anqi, and learned from them methods of longevity, feather-transformation ascension, and ingesting elixirs for nurturing life. They admonished him: “The command of the Supreme Lord is this: the state will fall into crisis and the court will know many hardships. You should assist the ruler with literary and military talent, establish achievements that benefit the people, and only then may you attain the Dao and become a perfected one, transcending the dusty world.”

From then on Li Mi often abstained from grain, practiced qi-ingestion cultivation, and studied Huang-Lao learning and the way of the “valley spirit.” In the eighth year of Tianbao (749), while staying at the home of his cousin Zheng Shuoze, he suddenly fell into a sleep that lasted two days, as if in ordinary slumber. Suddenly his body leaped out from the crown of his head, growing to two or three inches in height; nearby immortal spirits waved their hands and rolled their eyes, as though assisting him. When his feet were about to reach the top of his head, he thought that he still had great tasks unfinished and still felt attached to his family, and hoped first to settle his household affairs. Then the figures beside him all dispersed. Next he saw a man of imposing stature, dressed like an emperor, come forward, with a woman in formal robes kneeling before him. The emperor-like figure rebuked them: “Knowing that he is not yet able to attain the Dao, why insist on bringing him here and troubling so many immortal spirits?” The kneeling woman replied, “It is not so; he should be taught to draw close to the Son of Heaven.” Li Mi then awoke.

In the tenth year of Tianbao (751), Emperor Xuanzong summoned Li Mi to court. He was ordered to compose the “Sacred Fortune Text of Great Tang” and to expound the Daodejing. The emperor also decreed that he associate with the crown prince and the princes as friends among commoners. Yang Guozhong envied him and had him driven from court, sending him to famous mountains.

After An Lushan took Tong Pass, Emperor Xuanzong and Emperor Suzong each went on tour. Prince Hao appointed Li Mi military commissioner of the He-Luo region. People found Li Mi in the area of Mount Song and Mount Shaoshi; at that moment an autograph edict from Suzong arrived. Prince Hao prepared carriage and horses and sent him to Lingwu.

Emperor Suzong honored Li Bi—a Tang strategist who later left the world to cultivate the Dao—both inside and outside the palace. Whether handling state affairs or daily routine, he often consulted him on major matters. When they slept, their couches stood side by side; when they went out, their carriages rode abreast.

Once Suzong discussed with Li Bi the merits and rewards due to his generals. Li Bi said, “My wish is not like others’.” Suzong asked why. Li Bi replied, “Your servant does not eat the five grains and has no household. Salary, rank, and fief are not what I seek. I only ask to sleep once with my head on Your Majesty’s knee, and to have the responsible official report that a guest star is encroaching upon the imperial throne—that would be enough.” Suzong laughed heartily.

Later Suzong traveled south to Fufeng. At each encampment he had Li Bi lead the marshal’s troops ahead, arrange the accompanying officials, take charge of the keys, and report the situation before the imperial carriage arrived. At Baoding Commandery, Li Bi felt somewhat weary and went to sleep first in his own quarters. When Suzong arrived, he did not wake him but mounted the couch, cradled Li Bi’s head, and let him rest on his knee. After a long while Li Bi awoke. Suzong said, “You have already slept on the Son of Heaven’s knee. When will the work of recovering lost territory be fulfilled?”

Li Bi rose at once to thank him and said, “In your servant’s view, with the protection of the ancestral temples and Your Majesty’s authority, things should become as stable as the commandery name Baoding—‘secured and settled.’” Within little more than ten days, armies from the Western Regions, Hexi, and Longyou gathered in the Jiang-Huai region; taxes and transport supplies arrived in succession, and the court then recovered the two capitals.

While Li Bi lived in seclusion in the mountains, he nourished his spirit in quiet woods and kept aloof from worldly affairs; after entering court he took part in secret planning and assisted governance, and his actions often matched the moment. Thus he served four reigns in turn and received exceptionally deep favor. Yet Yuan Zai, Li Fuyi, and others regarded him as an enemy and resented him.

When Emperor Daizong succeeded to the throne, he repeatedly bestowed gifts on Li Bi. Palace envoys came and went without pause, and he granted him the title “Master of Zhongyue on Tianzhu Peak” and the jade tally for audience with the throne. After Li Bi’s death, the court posthumously appointed him Grand Mentor of the Heir Apparent.

Within that month, the envoy Lin Yuan met Bi at an inn in Languan. Bi was riding alone, dressed in plain clothes, on his way for a time to Jie Mountain. When they spoke of affairs spanning three reigns, his manner turned deeply sorrowful; only after a long while did he take his leave. Lin Yuan did not reach Chang’an until he heard that Bi had already died. When Emperor Dezong learned of it, he was especially stricken with grief and wonder.

Bi had assisted four rulers and at last managed to withdraw and go free; the prophecies made about him earlier had indeed come true.

The Kuizhou Daoist priest Wang Faming was born with an abnormally long tongue, so that when he spoke his words were hard to understand. After he entered the Way, he recited the Daode Jing every day. Several years later he suddenly dreamed that Laojun—the deified Laozi honored in the Daoist tradition—shortened his tongue for him; when he awoke, he could speak clearly.

In the third month of the eighteenth day of the third year of the Zhide era of Emperor Suzong of Tang (757), the year dingyou, the people of Tonghua Commandery held a solemn zhaijiao (purification ritual) at Yunlong Cliff to pray for the realm. Suddenly, auspicious clouds wreathed the sky and a strange fragrance lingered long without fading; after a while the cloud-mist gradually parted, divine light filled the heavens, and people saw Lord Lao (Laojun—the deity venerated in Daoism) standing before the mountain, his form reaching from the ground to the sky. Though the mountain was lofty, it did not reach his elbow. His left hand hung down; in his right he held a five-luminosity fan; his bearing was majestic and clear. All together they gazed up and bowed in reverence; only after a long while did Lord Lao vanish from sight.

The people then reported the matter in full to the court and received an imperial order to have an image painted. The Supreme High Emperor composed a eulogy and preface, saying:

My great holy ancestor widely spread myriad wondrous Ways, illumined Shangqing (the celestial realm spoken of in Daoism), left blessings for posterity, and again and again showed hidden protection. By day he appeared in extraordinary form; in the air floated auspicious radiance. He wore vesture symbolizing the seven luminaries and the five lights; his bearing was as solemn as a jade youth or golden maiden; the Daoist gate, the Buddhist gate, and beings of the human realm and the celestial realm all bowed and looked up to him. Formerly, the Zhengao (Daoist writings recording immortals’ transmissions) spread from the region of Yangjiao, and the dynasty’s fortune thus extended without end; now the Son of Heaven’s visage appeared at Longyan Cliff, and demonic vapors were about to disperse. This was not only a sign that teachers had passed down the lineage through the ages and former kings had attained the Dao, but also a symbol that the ancestral temples and altars of soil and grain had received auspicious omens and that blessings for later generations and descendants would stretch long. Therefore he ordered an image painted and displayed to each commandery and each land, so that people might feel as if they were within the palace halls of Liaoyang (Daoist immortal realm palaces), as if personally present in the court of Taiji (Supreme Ultimate).

The eulogy says:

Praise to my radiant ancestor, who in accord with the times spread teaching; in cultivating the self and governing the state, the Way he followed was quiet simplicity. You opened immortal grotto-palaces and let the world look up to your numinous form; you displayed the luminous supreme Dao and governed the ten thousand things by wuwei (non-action). Mountain cliffs and ravines grew yet more beautiful; brushes of cinnabar and green could not exhaust the scene. Divine light shone; auspicious signs long did not scatter; the court held celebration and commanderies came from every side. Fortune extended and flowed on— a thousand years’ span begins from this very moment.

In the second year of the Zhenyuan reign (the jihai year), the emperor dreamed that two boys dressed in green led him by the hand to a palace, where he paid homage to Lord Lao (Laojun). Lord Lao wore a crown adorned with nine phoenixes and robes like clouds and mist; his beard and hair were entirely black. He leaned on a jade armrest and held a horsetail whisk. Around him many perfected persons (zhenren), attendants, jade maidens, and strongmen served and guarded him. The emperor wore deep crimson garments, held a jade tablet, and stood in attendance behind Lord Lao. In the dream he traveled across mountains, rivers, and the sea—an exceedingly long journey.

When day broke, the emperor ordered a search for the divine image he had seen in the dream. It was found that the Hall of the Holy Ancestor (Shengzu) at Guangtian Abbey in Wuguang Ward indeed had a statue of Lord Lao with black hair, exactly matching the figure in the dream. The emperor was greatly pleased. He had his own portrait taken out and installed behind the statue of Lord Lao in the posture of standing attendance, and ordered that images of Lord Lao be venerated throughout the realm.

In the eighth month of the fifth year of the Dali reign (bingwu year)—the first day was the jisi day—on the yihai day the emperor turned and asked his chief minister: “Can one believe in matters of immortals?” Li Fan replied: “Talk of immortals comes from the Daoist tradition. What that tradition holds in highest regard at its root is the five thousand words of Laozi (the Daodejing). The purport of Laozi does not in essence differ from the meaning of the classical teachings. Later, people who delighted in the strange borrowed Laozi’s name to invent stories of immortals. For that reason the First Emperor of Qin sent alchemist-immortal seekers (fangshi) across the sea in search of transcendents, was misled, and in the end gained nothing; Emperor Wen of Han took medicine from a foreign monk and afterward died suddenly of a severe illness. An old poem says: ‘Seeking immortals by taking drugs—many are kept waiting by the very drugs they take.’ That is indeed well said. All a ruler need do is devote himself to governing the state well, so that the people under Heaven are glad to support him and the realm enjoys long stability; then he will naturally attain a long life.”

After hearing this, the emperor was deeply convinced.

On the sixteenth day of the tenth month in the tenth year of the Zhenyuan reign of Emperor Dezong of Tang (the year jiaxu), the female Daoist (nüguan) Xie Ziran of Jinnan County, Guo Prefecture, at Mount Jinquan, having completed her cultivation, was summoned by Laojun (the honorific title in Daoism for the Supreme Old Lord) and ascended in broad daylight. Three months later she came down from heaven and said to Prefect Li Jian: “In heaven there is a highest jade hall where Laojun dwells. Its walls are built of white jade, and on them the names of immortals are written in gold; beneath some names vermilion characters note that this person will be reborn in the human world as emperor or as a chief minister who assists the emperor. When immortals attend upon Laojun, they all perform a fourfold bow. I feared people would not believe in immortals, so I have come down briefly to tell you.” With that she ascended again at once. Li Jian reported the matter to the court, and the emperor issued an edict of praise.

Records in the Taiping Guangji state that Xie Ziran was exceptionally intelligent by nature and from youth did not eat…

According to the Taiping Guangji, Xie Ziran was gifted from birth and, even as a child, would not eat meat or strong-smelling foods. Her mother had her study under the nun Yuehui; after a year she fell ill and asked to return home. Later her mother placed her with another nun, but after a few months she again asked to come home.

The Xie family lived at the foot of Mount Dafang. On the summit stood a stone image of Lord Lao (Laozi). When she went to pay her respects, she turned to her mother and said, “This is where I wish to live.” Her mother agreed, and the whole family moved to the mountaintop. There Xie Ziran often recited the Dao De Jing and the Huangting Neipian (Inner Chapter of the Yellow Court). After some time, when she was fourteen, she found maggots in newly harvested rice and from that day onward ceased eating altogether.

Her father, Xie Huan, had served in office away from home for many years. When he returned and saw that she did not eat, he was greatly angered and said, “Our family has produced scholars for generations—how can there be such bewitching strangeness?” He locked her in a room for more than forty days, yet she grew only more refined in appearance. Only then did he feel astonishment.

Later the Lady of the Eastern Peak of Mount Tai (a legendary female immortal) and other immortals often descended to her home. They had her bathe in fragrant water and especially warned her not to use frankincense. They also said, “In heaven there are true immortals; they are not a kind of ghost or demon. In the upper realm there are no shaved heads—once one attains the Way, all wear caps and shoes and dress in immortal garb.”

When Xie Ziran ascended to heaven, she wrote on the east wall of the hall: “A message to all my kin: do not grieve or suffer. Diligently cultivate merit and widely sow the field of blessing; keep a pure heart, observe purification, and single-mindedly cultivate the Dao. After passing through a hundred kalpas, I hope we may bind good affinity and soon meet again in the pure land of immortals—then we shall see one another once more.” Her writing was said to remain visible. Li Jian’s stele inscription for the Jinquan ritual site and her biography record her story in detail.

Han Yu’s poem also tells of Xie Ziran: she was a woman of Nanchong County in Guozhou. Young and untutored, she had only heard that immortals exist in the world. She therefore looked lightly on worldly life, went to Mount Jinquan to study the Way, cut off longing for glory and riches, and left behind her parents’ affection. One day she sat alone in an empty room; mist rose within the house, as if the sound of pipes and flutes came from the sky. Daylight dimmed; the wind sighed; light flickered under the eaves and five-colored radiance shone back and forth. Onlookers were terrified, pacing back and forth, not daring to approach. In a moment she rose lightly, drifting away like smoke on the wind. Heaven and earth were vast; there was no longer any trace of her to seek. The village officer reported the matter; the prefect came in astonishment to investigate. When people entered the room, they found only the cap and shoes she had left behind, like a cicada’s cast shell. All agreed it was the affair of an immortal—indeed worthy of belief. The poem is precisely the story of Xie Ziran.

In the seventh month of the first year of Baoli (the yisi year) under Emperor Jingzong, the emperor ordered Left Vice Director of the Imperial Secretariat and Director of Affairs Li Fengji to serve as acting Grand Master of Ceremonies and preside over mid-autumn offerings to the Great Sage Ancestor at the Palace of Grand Clarity (Taiqing gong). In the first month of the second year of Baoli (the bingwu year), the emperor performed the southern-suburb sacrifice and went to the Palace of Grand Clarity to pay homage and present offerings.

As the imperial carriage was about to arrive, Lord Lao (Laojun) transformed into an old man in white robes and told Zheng Weng, chief clerk of Chang’an County: “Along this road there is an abandoned well; you should fill it in at once.” When he had finished speaking, the old man vanished. After the emperor arrived, Zheng Weng reported the matter in full, and the officials all offered congratulations. The emperor issued an edict ordering Vice Minister of War Wei Chuhou to compose the inscription and Diarist-on-Duty Liu Gongquan to write it out; the stele was erected beside the filled well, and the event was entered in the official chronicle.

At the time the stele was being set up, a violent wind suddenly rose and whirled without stopping. Everyone looked up and saw Lord Lao in purple robes, wearing a golden crown and golden shoes, standing upon a white lotus. In his right hand he held a five-bright fan (wuming shan); his left hand hung naturally at his side. Golden light shone in the sky. Liu Gongquan and the stele carvers watched for a long time, then traced the figure on the ground with a tool to record the appearance. When they had finished drawing, Lord Lao suddenly pointed his fan toward the sky; the light scattered in all directions, and at once he ascended into the air. The crowd kept their eyes on him as he gradually receded and finally disappeared into the clouds.

The assembly reported the matter to the emperor. The emperor ordered that the account be written into the stele. That stele is the one inscribed by Liu Gongquan and composed by Wei Chuhou.

In the eighth month of the seventh year of the Dahe era (833), guichou year, Emperor Wenzong of Tang issued an edict stating: “The sages established fundamental norms; in teaching the people, reverence for ancestors comes first. When a ruler honors Heaven in ritual, he should likewise honor his forebears in accordance with ritual propriety. Our holy ancestor, the Supreme Venerable Sovereign (Xuanyuan huangdi, Laozi), opened the nation’s good fortune, protected the Great Tang, brought the realm to great peace, and enabled all living beings to enjoy long life. To preserve this great achievement, we truly depend on the plans left by our ancestors. I have heard that Taixing Palace in Bozhou has repeatedly suffered from flooding and appears to have been damaged. I often reflect that this is the birthplace of our holy ancestor—how could we fail to worship there with devotion? The military governor of the Xuanwu Army, Li Cheng, is hereby appointed concurrently as superintendent of Taixing Palace in Bozhou, to restore the temple step by step, to pay respects there at the proper times, and thereby to express Our mind.”

In the fifth month of the second year of the Kaicheng era (837), dingsi year, the Secretariat Drafter Gao Yuanyu was appointed prefect of Banzhou. Nine li north of the prefectural city, before a small hill on the bank of the Jialing River, he suddenly saw an unusual radiance between the cliffs. Drawing near to look, he found that on the stone the image of the Old Master (Laojun) had appeared naturally—eyebrows, hair, headcloth, shoes, and garments all complete. Beside him stood another figure in wide sleeves, holding an incense burner and offering incense; behind them followed a page boy with hair in twin topknots, respectfully awaiting orders. None of these forms looked as if they could have been made by human painting or carving. Whenever Gao Yuanyu prayed, purplish-black clouds would rise upward, and a numinous spring would gush forth. Local gentry and common people who came to seek blessings likewise saw their prayers swiftly answered. Thereupon they carved inscriptions on the stone and built halls to proclaim this auspicious sign, and a painting of the scene was submitted to the court. The emperor ordered the event recorded in the dynastic history.

Emperor Wuzong of Tang ascended the throne in the first month of the fifth year of Kaicheng (840), gengshen year; in the second month he issued an edict designating the birthday of the Supreme Venerable Sovereign as the “Festival of the Sage’s Descent” (Jiangsheng Jie), with three days of holiday.

On the first day of the seventh month of the fourth year of Dazhong (850), the Old Master sent the perfected Han Zhong to grant the surname Li to Hou Daohua, a Daoist priest of Daojing Abbey in Yongle County, Hezhong, and to bestow the name “Neizhi,” ordering him to reside at Shanjin Court of Shangqing Palace.

According to the Shizhi (Chronicle of Abodes), during the reign of Emperor Wenzong of the Tang, the Daoist master Deng Taixuan, after refining elixir pills, left a casket hidden in the temple courtyard. Later Zhou Wuxian took charge of temple affairs. Hou Daohua worked there sweeping, running errands, and doing every sort of menial task. The other Daoists often treated him like a servant, yet he loved reading the classics and histories and seldom put his books down. When people laughed at him, he answered: “There are no dull-witted immortals in heaven.”

One day Hou Daohua lopped a branch from the ancient pine before the gate, saying, “Before long this will get in the way of my ascension.” Those who heard him were furious. The date was the twentieth day of the fifth month in the fifth year of the Dazhong era. The next morning he left Zhou Wuxian a poem:

“In the casket lay the Great Returning Elixir; for years its color never changed. The night before last I stole and swallowed it—today I rise to the heavens. Deep shame, and deep gratitude to Celestial Master Deng. When you finish the elixir, leave some for Neizhi. My master knows this—hurry the furnace; do not delay. The Three Pure Ones (Sanqing) wait especially for me; the term set in Great Highest Heaven is truly near.”

After the poem he added: “On the first day of the seventh month last year, Master Han graciously gave me the surname Li, the name Neizhi, and lodging in the Shangqing Shanjin Courtyard.” Then beneath the old pine he took off his clothes, hung them on a branch, and ascended into the sky.

The military commissioner Zheng Guang investigated, confirmed the account, and reported to the throne. The emperor granted five hundred bolts of silk and imperial robes, ordered the halls and corridors repaired, and bestowed on the courtyard the name Ascension Immortal Courtyard (Shengxian Yuan).

In the second year of the Dazhong reign of Emperor Wenzong of Tang, the year wuyin (838 CE), the monk Chen Huixu of Mount Tiantai had long resided at Guoqing Temple. One day he arranged with companions to roam the mountains and intended to cross by way of a stone bridge. The water beneath the bridge ran deep, and moss covered the bridge surface, making it very slippery. The others were so frightened their legs trembled and they dared not go forward; only Huixu crossed the stone bridge at ease, went straight up the cliff face, and by evening still had not returned.

Huixu came to the outer edge of the cliff and found a faint path that gradually grew level and opened out. Then he saw palaces and towers, flowers and grass everywhere, and terraces and pavilions stretching in succession for about ten li. Three gates stood facing one another. The middle gate bore the inscription “Hall of Assembly with the Real,” the left gate “Palace of the Golden Court,” and the right gate “Palace of Tongbai.” Inside the gates were golden buildings with jade windows, rising more than a hundred zhang.

After entering by the right gate and walking west, he saw another tall building and a broad gate, inscribed “Palace of the Right Assistant.” Looking around, there were several thousand rooms linked in winding succession; steps were laid like polished jade, and water rushed through channels. Everywhere was splendid and solemn, yet no human figures were to be seen.

He entered another courtyard and saw five or six youths in blue garments leaving together, laughing and talking. Huixu questioned them repeatedly; they replied, “Just go ask Old Zhang.” Before long, Huixu turned and saw an old man coming with a staff and flowers in hand. The old man said in surprise, “You are a person from the dusty world—how did you suddenly arrive here?”

Huixu answered, “I have often heard that beyond the stone bridge lies the Temple of the Arhats, and I have often heard bells on the human realm as well, so I came to seek them. In this life I am fortunate to reach such a place, yet I do not know where the arhats are.”

Old Zhang said, “This is a blessed land where true immortals (zhenxian) dwell, the lower palace of the Heavenly Emperor in the human realm, called the Golden Court (Jinting). It is also the land of deathlessness and a numinous realm for cultivating the true Dao. Its circumference is one hundred and sixty li.”

Elder Zhang said: “This is a blessed land where true immortals dwell, and also the Celestial Emperor’s earthly palace, called Jinting—the land of deathlessness and a numinous realm for cultivating true nature. It extends one hundred and sixty li around, overseen by the Assistant Immortal Lord Wang Jun of Tongxiang. Here are three thousand ranked immortals, three hundred upper immortals, and more than ten thousand divine kings, warrior spirits, celestial emperors, jade maidens, and the like—a somewhat smaller immortal metropolis. The Supreme Venerable Sovereign (Taishang Laojun) descends to this palace three times a year to assess the merit and rank of cultivators throughout the world. This is where immortals gather; it is not where arhats live.”

Someone asked: “Who is Lord Wang?” Elder Zhang said: “He was Crown Prince of King Ling of Zhou and disciple of Master Fuqiu; he now holds the rank of upper immortal.”

Huixu asked: “Can the way of immortals be learned?” Elder Zhang replied: “If one accumulates merit and cultivates virtue, there is hope of ascending in the flesh; the key is firm resolve and persistence. That you could see this blessed land also shows you have hope of cultivating the Dao and becoming an immortal.”

Huixu asked again: “By what gate can one enter the immortal path?” Elder Zhang said: “Inwardly one must nourish spirit and refine qi; outwardly one must take medicinal preparations and elixir pills. All who become immortals have the power of divine elixir to assist them.” What is meant here by “taking elixir and flower” refers to the cultivation method of ingesting elixir pills and related medicinals.

Elder Zhang also said: “You cannot stay here long. The upper immortals have just gone to tour the Eastern Sea; if their retinue and escort return, they may hold you accountable for entering without permission.” He then led Huixu out. After walking a dozen or so steps, Huixu found himself back at Guoqing Temple. From then on Huixu yearned for the Dao and often favored cinnabar and stone [alchemical materials].

In his later years Huixu lived at Pengri Temple on Mount Zhongnan. His body gradually weakened, yet his desire for the Dao grew stronger. He was bedridden for more than a month, extremely frail. Suddenly an old man carrying a medicine pouch entered the temple, calling loudly: “Selling the Great Returning Elixir!” The monks all laughed and, pointing to Huixu’s room, joked that this monk loved the returning elixir and they could sell it to him. The old man went happily and left a few pills. Huixu swallowed them at once.

After the old man left, the monks came together to ask. Huixu said he had already bought the returning elixir and taken it. He pointed at them from a distance and said: “Don’t come near—I feel you have a foul odor on you.”

Someone had asked whether to change into new clothes; then suddenly he flew up onto the hall eaves, waved farewell, and slowly rose into the sky and departed.

In the second month of the first year of Xiantong (860) of Emperor Yizong of Tang, the bandit chief Qiu Fu attacked Yue Prefecture, raiding counties, towns, and villages; officials fled in panic. Qiu Fu then seized Kecheng County. The court ordered troops from eight circuits to join in suppressing him, and the people scattered in flight.

A man named Shen Ying devoutly worshipped Lord Lao at home. Hearing that war was coming, he hurriedly locked his door and fled, but by mistake locked a young servant boy inside. When he returned and tried to open the door, military camps already crowded the area on all sides. Afterward the fighting seesawed back and forth, and the market streets were burned. More than ten months later Qiu Fu was executed and the fighting subsided.

Shen Ying’s dwelling had not been damaged. When he unlocked the door, he found the boy safe and unharmed. Asked what had happened, the boy said that after the door was shut he was not afraid. A blue-robed boy attendant of about thirteen or fourteen came to him and said, “Lord Lao sent me to keep you company and play with you.” The attendant also took him to a great mansion, where he was given food and fruit. The boy had eaten for roughly half a day when he heard Lord Lao instruct someone to add incense (for offering before the divine image). He had just lit the incense when he heard the door. When Shen Ying entered, the incense had not yet gone out.

In the ninth month of the tenth year of Xiantong (869), the Xuzhou rebel Pang Xun invaded Bozhou and led more than three thousand men toward the Great Supreme Clarity Palace (Taiping Gong), intending to use it as their camp. That day more than a thousand scholars and common people taking refuge were all inside the palace. Suddenly they saw…

During the reign of Emperor Xizong of Tang, in the ninth month of the Jichou year, Pang Xun, leader of rebel forces from Xuzhou, led more than three thousand men to invade Bozhou and march straight on Taiqing Palace (Grand Pure Palace), intending to seize the monastery and use it as their camp.

At that time, over a thousand officials and civilians who had taken refuge from the war were inside the palace. Suddenly, everyone saw Laojun (Supreme Lord Lao, the Supreme Venerable Sovereign) rise from within the palace and soar southward through the air. A moment later, black vapor poured from nine wells, lingering and spreading until it shrouded the entire river valley. The rebels lost their way, trampled one another, and Pang Xun himself drowned. When border patrol personnel arrived, the sky had already cleared, and not one rebel remained.

Li Wei, military governor of Bianzhou, memorialized the imperial court. Before long, the court sent envoys to Taiqing Palace to express thanks and issued an edict stating: “Kuxian is the native place of our Sacred Ancestor; his former palace was kept in full splendor, and the divine images were enshrined there. Recently, remnants of rebel forces struck in a surprise attack and set fire to the palace; dark mist veiled the clear sky, the rebels wandered in confusion on the roads and scattered into the wilderness, and the palace was finally reduced to ruins. Deeply reflecting on this mysterious virtue and setting forth this manifestation of divine power, we have specially composed a Qingci (prayer text offered to the deities during Daoist purification rituals) in the palace, offered devout thanks, and shall make this known throughout court and country for the historiographers to record.”

In the third month of the Gengzi year, the first year of Guangming under Emperor Xizong of Tang, Huang Chao attacked and plundered prefectures and counties. The text then repeats the preceding passage beginning with “Deeply reflecting on this mysterious virtue.”

In the third month of the first year of the Guangming era (Gengzi, 880 CE), during the reign of Emperor Xizong, Huang Chao’s army attacked and plundered prefectures and counties across the region. In the seventh month the rebels entered Huainan and prepared to burn Taishang Qing Palace—the shrine dedicated to the Supreme Lord Laozi (Taishang Laojun). Suddenly yin winds rose on every side; the weather turned from summer heat to biting cold. The rebels panicked and broke ranks, and in the end they dared not attack and withdrew.

Later another band of robbers planned to loot the shrine. As they drew near, dark clouds blotted out the sky so that they could not find their way. They had to fall back to the walls of Bozhou and then laid siege to the prefectural city with great force. Prefect Pan Chou burned incense and bowed toward Taishang Qing, praying for divine aid. Before long black mist poured from the palace and wrapped around the city; the stench was foul and terrifying. Then snow fell thick and fast in bitter cold—five or six out of ten of the besiegers froze to death—while inside the walls the sky stayed clear and calm. Spirit crows also flew in carrying objects, and the rebels, seized with fear, lifted the siege; they soon broke up and were destroyed.

Pan Chou had the Daoist priests Ma Hanzhang and Sun Qiuqi submit a memorial stating that since the Qianfu period Taishang Qing had repeatedly been menaced by rebels, sometimes a thousand strong, sometimes more than ten thousand. Some had tried to burn and plunder the shrine, some to storm prefectural and county seats, some to raid neighboring counties—a hundred and eight incidents in all. Laojun had secretly exerted numinous power: now thick clouds, now wind and cloud to block them, now thunder and lightning to strike them, so that the rebel hosts often collapsed and perished shortly after. Laojun’s protection of the people was beyond counting. They asked that the county seat be moved and established beside Taishang Qing.

The emperor replied: “I fear that placing the county administration next to the shrine would lead to much defilement and damage. Let the county seat remain where it is, and promote it to a Chixian—an imperial county in the capital region—following the precedent of Wannian County.” The emperor also issued an edict to announce and thank Laojun for this deliverance. He bowed toward Taishang Qing and sent the envoy on his way.

On the twelfth day of the eighth month, an imperial edict was issued: The Taishong Palace in Bozhou is the place where Xuanyuan (Laozi, the Profound Origin) was born and manifested his sanctity. Through its association with the Daoist patriarch it enjoys great renown and has received blessings and protection. Within the palace stands the Nine Dragons Auspicious Well, whose waters seem to reach the sky; there are also traces left by an immortal deer, as if still visible upon the trees. Auspicious signs recorded through the ages deserve to be written down, and recent manifestations of spiritual efficacy have been especially striking. Such a blessed site ought to be properly maintained—how could its temples and halls be allowed to fall into neglect and desolation?

Pan Chou administered affairs effectively and had long been steeped in Daoist culture. He also contributed a large portion of his salary to restore the entire complex. Palace walls, beams, and scholar trees were all renewed; divine images and mural paintings became clearer and more splendid. After the court examined the maps and verified the relevant records, it was deeply pleased and issued commendations.

Weiyi Daoist priest Wu Zhongxuan, resident of Taishong Palace, was granted purple robes and the honorific title “Master Ningxuan.” Daoist priests Ma Hanzhao and Sun Qiwu likewise received purple robes. Pan Chou was additionally appointed Grand Master of Golden Purple and Glorious Light and honorary Minister of Works. All other matters were to be handled as before.

In the eleventh month, Huang Chao captured the eastern capital, and the emperor’s carriage set out for Xingyuan. Jia Xiang served in the fiscal office and always carried a portrait of Laojun (Grand Lord Lao) with him. Wherever he went, even if he stayed only a single day, he would establish an incense altar to honor Laojun.

After Huang Chao took Chang’an, Jia Xiang fled with his family and lived at the foot of Longjiao Mountain. A band of robbers suddenly surrounded his house. Jia Xiang first went inside to pray to Laojun, then came out to speak with them. The robbers threw their knives to the ground and knelt around him in reverence. When Jia Xiang went back indoors, they remained kneeling, confessing their wrongdoing and begging forgiveness. Jia Xiang took pity on them, gave them cloth and silk as gifts, and comforted and urged them on; the robbers took nothing and left.

When someone asked the robbers what they had seen that made them kneel to Jia Xiang instead, they said: “We saw many divine soldiers around Master Jia, each several zhang in height, mouths open and eyes wide, as if they would swallow a person whole. We were afraid we would lose our lives.” From that time on, the doors of Jia Xiang’s home were never shut, and no one dared to molest them.

Yang Nao’er of Chengdu served Laojun with sincere diligence and never slackened. While he was holding a pass at Jintang he was taken captive and brought to a stockade in the southern hills. Day and night he constantly invoked Laojun, longing to see his parents again. Suddenly one day he dreamed that Laojun bestowed a cloud upon him and commanded a boy to lead the way, guiding him to level ground. When he awoke, he was already outside the stockade, and so was able to return home. On the day he reached home, his parents had already been holding a vegetarian feast and praying for him for a hundred days.

In the seventh month of the second year of the Zhonghe reign (the renyin year), during the reign of Emperor Xizong of Tang, Wang Chongrong, military governor of Hezhong, submitted a memorial stating that, according to reports from Jin Prefecture, on a parasol tree beside the Laojun Hall at Qingtang Abbey on Longjiao Mountain, a miraculous kudzu vine that had once died had sprouted again. This vine was said to have appeared after Lord Lao manifested there in the Wude era; later people built a hall between the two trees. More than a year afterward, kudzu suddenly grew on the trees, extending more than ten zhang and unusually lush. When the Prince of Qi contended for the throne, the vine withered; more than ten days later it revived unexpectedly, and the Prince of Qi was ultimately defeated. When Emperor Zhongzong was restored to the throne and when Zhu Ci plotted rebellion, the vine also withered, and only after a long interval did it grow again.

In the first year of the Guangming era (880), Huang Chao invaded the capital. That autumn the vine died; the following spring its branches and leaves flourished once more. On another tree nearby a new shoot appeared and in little more than ten days reached over five zhang, again exceptionally vigorous. The court issued an edict of commendation and ordered the matter recorded in the official history.

In the sixth month the emperor arrived in Chengdu; in the seventh month the reign title was changed to Zhonghe. In the seventh month of the second year of Zhonghe, the first day of the month was the day xinhai; on the night of bingwu a crimson-black arc of light like a rainbow stretched across the sky from the northwest. When the rebel general Shang Hu attacked Yijun County, heavy snow fell to a depth of more than a foot, the weather was bitterly cold, and two or three tenths of the rebel troops froze to death.

On the twenty-ninth day of the eighth month, the day wuchen, a member of the imperial clan named Li Teli had the Daoist Li Wuwei conduct a Zhaijiao (purification ritual) at Xuanzhong Abbey in Chengdu, at the Qingyang market. Suddenly a red light like a round ball emerged from the bamboo grove southeast of the hall foundation, leaped to beneath a plum tree west of the hall, and vanished. People dug there to a depth of three chi and unearthed a forehead-shaped stone object: one chi one cun five fen long, seven cun four fen wide, one side three fen thick with a patterned surface, the other side one cun eight fen thick, weighing twelve jin. Six ancient seal characters were carved on the stone, each about two cun square and cut three fen deep, the writing clear and polished, not as if made by human hands. The text read: “The Supreme Lord pacifies Zhonghe and dispels calamity.”

This object weighed twelve jin. Six characters in ancient seal script were carved on it, each character occupying a square of two cun on a side and cut three fen deep; the incised lines were smooth and bright, and it did not look like something ordinary craftsmen could have made. The inscription read: “Taishang ping zhong he zai” (meaning that the Supreme Venerable, through the Way of settling and harmonizing the central balance, dispels calamity).

On the day gengchen in the ninth month, Chen Jingxuan, military commissioner of Xichuan and Palace Attendant, submitted a memorial stating:

Your Majesty has examined ancient institutions and aligned with Heaven’s intent, received the Mandate and governed the realm, and held the utmost Dao at heart—precisely when the world was moving toward great unity. Therefore Your Majesty made a progress through the regions to show the spirit of self-examination and acknowledgment of fault. Deep benevolence spread over the land; lofty virtue reached up to Heaven. Propitious commands and tokens appeared again and again, and lucky omens followed one after another. Heaven sent down the command of Taishang Laojun (the supreme deity of Daoism) to assist Your Majesty in quelling the disaster of bandit turmoil in the Zhonghe region, and thus this text was revealed, written in ancient seal script. It shows that baleful influences will soon disperse and that Your Majesty’s life will know no bound; people may know from this that the day when the realm is restored to stability is near—truly a time of universal peace and quiet.

The emperor ordered that this matter be announced to all officials. Zhang Zhaodu, Vice Director of the Secretariat and Grand Councilor; Xiao Rui, Vice Minister of Revenue and Grand Councilor; Zheng Tian, Vice Director of the Chancellery and Grand Councilor; Zhang Zhi, Imperial Censor; Cao Wang Guinian, Director of the Imperial Clan Court, and others submitted a congratulatory memorial stating:

It is said that bandits gathered in the Qupu region, that the emperor was on tour in the provinces, and that natural disasters were widespread—all things every dynasty has faced. Your Majesty issued an edict in the spirit of King Tang’s self-reproach for wrongdoing, and ordered the royal army charged with punitive campaigns to take the field. Those fierce and evil forces will surely be destroyed before long. Peace and stability already appear in auspicious signs, and we also see protection from the unseen realm in these mysterious characters. This is no different from the omen of the red sparrow carrying a text; the dark tortoise bearing the hexagrams can hardly compare with this token of calamity being stilled. Moreover, when the imperial clan performed Zhaijiao (purification and prayer rituals in the Daoist tradition), there also appeared an auspicious light leaping and dancing. These responses were so clear that they may be called repeated revelations.

They submitted again:

Since Your Majesty set out toward the south, the path of the imperial carriage seemed to align with the yellow path of Heaven. When the route crossed mountain roads, six phoenixes flew before the chariot; when it crossed water, a pair of dragons supported the vehicle. A divine sword appeared above a cliff face; lingzhi fungus grew at the temporary palace; the propitious inscription floated on the surface of the Xiang River, and bright sunlight shone together across Shu. All this came from a sage, spiritlike, and martial ruler receiving the protection of the gods. Your Majesty remained humble and did not claim the credit, and so moved Heaven until the earth itself showed auspicious signs.

The old site of Qingyang was where ministers quietly reflected and deliberated on affairs of state; at White Horse, fresh traces appeared, silently unveiling numinous talismanic script. Secret matters of the immortals bore upon the flourishing of the realm and the extension of its blessings. The crowd gathered around the investigation of the “six characters,” which aligned with the fortune of a thousand years. In the early Wei period, someone had charge of palace temples and observances; a jade seal showed auspicious signs. In affairs of the kind recorded from the age of Shun, there were also legends of a golden chariot appearing in a courtyard. Such portents far exceeded what ordinary comparison could reach; later ages could scarcely continue writing deeds of this kind.

Privy Councilor Li Shunrong and Tian Lingzi, Commander of the Twelve Guard Units of the Ten Armies, submitted a congratulatory memorial stating: “Now a frontier minister has come to this immortal abbey; he had barely expressed his sincerity when auspicious signs swiftly appeared. The red light that showed on the ground at this moment was precisely the purple qi seen when the Mysterious Primordial Ancestor of the Way (Laozi, revered in Daoism as the sacred ancestor of the profound origin) passed through Hangu Pass. When the accumulated earth was dug away, ancient writing was indeed found. Seeing the brushwork surge like dragons and serpents, one knew this foretold the pacification of rebellion and the clearing of violent regions. The matter emerged from what was deep and hidden, and the reasoning was altogether clear. Since the Most High has now settled calamity, one may know that the fortune of the Zhonghe era will long flourish. The auspicious light appeared entirely because of the sacred ancestor; the ancient text was unearthed by a member of the imperial clan; examining this numinous sign makes Heaven’s intent plain. Whenever the realm faced repeated hardship, the Mysterious Primordial Ancestor of the Way always displayed extraordinary auspicious signs; these clear portents are all recorded in the standard histories. Formerly at Danfeng Gate the sacred ancestor told Tian Tongxiu the period of the nation’s renewal; now at Qingyang Market he has shown Li Teli the auspicious celebration of Your Majesty’s return to the capital. In these matters nothing fails to make the realm rejoice; we request that this be entrusted to the historiographers for record.” The emperor approved.

On the fifteenth day Li Teli was appointed collator of the Heir Apparent’s palace, and Li Wuwei was granted purple official robes; each was also given two hundred bolts of silk. On the twenty-first day the emperor issued an edict: “The Great Emperor of the Mysterious Origin of the Way once expounded the true scripture with his disciple Master Wen Shi (Yin Xi, traditionally said to be Laozi’s disciple) at the terrace of Louguan, and agreed to meet again later at Qingyang Market; afterward he rode clouds and drove his carriage and together they entered the flowing sands. These events appear in immortalist records and transmitted accounts, and are marked on maps. From King Zhao of Zhou to the present it is roughly more than two thousand years; related visions have long fallen silent, and few traces remain. Now, because of the imperial progress to this place, numinous portents have become conspicuously clear, and strange radiance at …”

From the time of King Zhao of Zhou until now, roughly more than two thousand years have passed. The place has grown desolate, and traces of antiquity are scarcely visible. Now, as the emperor tours the region, numinous signs appear with striking clarity: an extraordinary light flickers before the courtyard, and characters bearing auspicious meaning emerge beneath the trees. The grain in the meal bears an ancient hue, and the writing confirms an omen from old; the calamities of the Zhonghe era are about to subside, and signs of good fortune rise from the deep earth. This is enough to show that Heaven sends protection and the holy ancestor bestows auspicious portents, and also foretells that the turmoil of great banditry will be quelled and the work of restoration will long be proclaimed. Therefore these events should be entered in the historical records, announced to the realm, and entrusted to the official historians. At the same time an inscription should be carved and promulgated to the various circuits and to the armies.

This temple may be renamed Qingyang Gong (Green Goat Palace), with halls and buildings constructed. Fields that once belonged to the temple amounted to about two qing; recently they had scattered among the people. The emperor granted two hundred strings of cash to redeem them and issued official title deeds so that the land would permanently belong to the temple. The clansman Te Li was granted an office, and the Daoist Li Wuwei was given purple robes, in recognition of their merit and to celebrate the arrival of the auspicious sign. Jing Yi stood among the highest ministers, his reputation spreading through the commanderies and kingdoms; he served loyally in the Yanhong period and cultivated his nature in a place that honored the Dao, so that warfare within the territory ceased and treasures appeared from beneath the earth. Such fine omens especially merit reward.

On the seventh day of the tenth month, the emperor issued an edict appointing the high official Zheng Zuntai to supervise the construction of Qingyang Gong, with expenses paid from the inner treasury as an imperial gift. After the auspicious sign appeared, by the day guichou of this month bandits near Shu were captured and executed one after another, and within ten days order was restored. The emperor visited Qingyang Gong and distributed rewards according to rank. Li Te Li was granted purple robes and appointed Recorder of Longzhou (an official who managed local documentary affairs).

In the year guimao, the emperor decreed: The Supreme One (the Daoist honorific for the highest god or the Dao) has sent down an auspicious sign, and Qingyang Gong has also shown numinous portents. By ritual propriety it should be repaired, to repay this special grace. Ziji Gong in each circuit, prefecture, and district should be restored at the discretion of the local chief, and Daoists skilled in keyi (liturgy) should be selected to perform zhaijiao (purification rituals—Daoist rites of setting up altars, seeking blessings, and averting disaster).

On the first day of the fifth month, a day of Bingyin in the sexagenary cycle, Chen Jingyi—Military Commissioner of Jiannan West Circuit and Prefect of Chengdu—carried out an imperial order to perform a zhaijiao (purification and prayer ritual) at a Daoist temple and composed a prayer text.

The text states that the emperor had received Heaven’s mandate and succeeded to the throne; since his accession he had constantly cared for the people and governed with caution, extending his grace to all things under heaven. Although he wished the realm to be quiet and at peace, hard times followed: rebels held the palace precincts, harmed the people, and shook the ancestral temples and the land. The emperor therefore wearied himself in efforts to avert disaster and, in Shu, examined his own faults.

The prayer further says that, relying on the protection of the Mysterious Ancestor (the patriarch revered in Daoism), spirit talismans and auspicious signs were sent down, and a six-character clear inscription proclaimed the dynasty’s lasting prosperity. By then the ringleaders of rebellion had been broken, the capital had been recovered, and the emperor’s return to the capital was expected soon. Chen Jingyi faithfully obeyed the imperial command, followed zhaijiao keyi (the ritual norms for Daoist sacrificial prayer) in setting up the altar and offerings, and submitted jade plaques with his petition, praying that the perfected spirits and myriad zhen descend blessings and that the Great Dao grant protection—sweeping away evil and baleful influences so the state would be secure and warfare would cease.

Later the capital was indeed recovered; Huang Chao, Bing Huangye, and their associates were put to death, peace returned under heaven, and the emperor went back to the palace. After this, Hanlin Academician-in-Attendance and Vice Minister of War Le Penggui wrote the Record of the Green Goat Palace (Qingyang Gong Ji).

During the Tang dynasty, on the eighth day of the ninth month in the fourth year of Emperor Xizong’s reign, the Secretariat and Chancellery received an imperial edict and sent a document to the military governor of Xichuan, ordering that a stele be erected at the palace-temple. The inscription reads:

Golden gates sent down auspicious signs; purple and dark radiance linked in a scene of crossing the pass. A distant altar showed mysterious omens; crimson light rose from the ground. Mysterious script remained in ancient seal characters—at midnight the forms seemed to move like dragons and serpents, and the six characters each gave forth light. Within a year rebellion was pacified and the realm was at peace; the merit of the spirits was thereby made manifest and the cause of revival was opened. Examining the omens and words left by the imperial ancestors, one sees that the merit of the spirits appeared when the state flourished—how could a stele not be raised at the Daoist temple to honor them?

This matter should be carved on a stone stele in Shu, to endure for countless ages and record the deeds of the eighteen generations of emperors of our dynasty. Yue Penggui served as court document officer and was foremost among the close ministers. He skillfully composed the text and had the words cut into stone. The prose is fully developed—even if Cai Yong (Eastern Han man of letters) were alive, he might fear he could not have written it first; the account is complete and nothing is omitted, and Cao Zhi (style name Zijian, Three Kingdoms writer) need not alone be famed for literary talent. The stone should be carved to record this grand occasion, as proof of what the inscription records.

According to research, Chengdu only began to connect with the Central Plains during the reign of King Hui of Qin. When Hunyuan (the Daoist honorific for Lord Lao) traveled west into Shu, Chengdu still lay outside the walls built by Qin. Since Qin opened the roads, many ancient sites were never recorded. Two li southwest of Chengdu prefectural city was the old Qingyang market (Qingyang si); there pines stood tall and bamboo grew thick, and earthen mounds stretched in succession. People lived there and strange events often occurred—it could not be lightly offended. Later the people built houses there, burned incense and made offerings, and called it Xuanzhong Guan (Abbey of the Mysterious Center).

Since the Tang received the Mandate, every trace left by the holy ancestors has been honored. In the north, at Yulai township, Qishan, and Tianshui, official palace-temples were built to display the ancestors’ merit; only Qingyang market had not yet been built and put in order. When Emperor Xizong of Tang took refuge in Shu and received the auspicious signs of the rebellion’s pacification, funds were drawn from the inner treasury to build the palace-temple. The stele record and stone carving still survive, giving a full account of the matter from beginning to end.

In the first year of Emperor Zhaozong’s Tianyou reign, Zhu Quanzhong moved the emperor to Luoyang. In the fourth month of the second year of Tianyou, yichou, of Emperor Aidi, the commissioner of the Supreme Clarity Palace, Liu Can, memorialized that the Supreme Clarity Palace had been fully repaired and requested that its name be changed to the Supreme Clarity Palace (Taiqing Gong); the emperor granted it.

On that occasion the edict read: The deeds of Emperor Xuanyuan (the Taoist honorific for Laozi) and the evolution of his cult have already been fully set down in the canonical records.

In the first year of Tianyou under Emperor Zhaozong, Zhu Quanzhong moved the imperial carriage to Luoyang. In the fourth month of the second year of Tianyou, yichou, of the reign of Emperor Aidi, Liu Can, commissioner of the Taiqing Palace, memorialized that repairs to the Shangqing Palace were complete and asked that its name be changed to Taiqing Palace; the emperor granted the request.

The edict continued: Emperor Xuanyuan opened the sacred foundation and blessed later generations. His line continues unbroken, lasting as long as heaven and earth; the dynastic enterprise stands firm, endless as sun and moon. For this reason our dynasty has honored and sacrificed to him generation after generation—out of the rites of reverence for ancestors, expressly stating reverence, not in order to pursue abstruse truth, and not in the same spirit as the Daoist ideal of quiet emptiness and non‑action.

In recent times the rites for Emperor Xuanyuan have often been modeled on those of the ancestral temple, with a separate palace established for the purpose. Since the move east, the court has wished to restore and maintain worship but could not find the time; sacrifices were therefore held at the Northern Observatory according to local conditions. Each time the music was lavish, yet no careful check was made against what the ancient rites actually prescribed. Those who composed invocations and kept the annals arranged the ceremony poorly; though the one honored in remembrance was Laozi, revered as “still a dragon,” the chancellor’s reverent bow in the main hall was as if pursuing a form that cannot be seen or grasped. Jade and other offerings were displayed, but there were no corresponding ritual statutes to follow.

Liu Can was versed in the old regulations and also held a weighty office; he therefore proposed rebuilding the palace, judging this quite fitting. In doing so, perhaps the ancestors would not be forgotten and the rites would not be lost, so that Emperor Xuanyuan might look down, attend, and receive the offerings.

It was also observed that the mysterious garden (Xuanyuan) seemed to echo Laixiang (tradition’s home of Laozi). The ancient hall was deep and still; trees by the bridge cast dense shade—one could take the Purple Manor (Zifu, the immortals’ realm) as a model, and thus it should be called the “Pure Palace” (Qing Palace). To discard what was unsuitable and adopt what was better was a wise course; to trace the source and restore orthodoxy truly depended on worthy ministers. After deliberation the officials all agreed, and Liu Can’s proposal was well worth commending.

In the wuxu year of the second year of Kaiping in the Later Liang (909 CE), the court renamed all Taqing Palaces, Taiwei Palaces, and Zijing Palaces throughout the realm as Laojun Temples. King Qian Liu of Wu-Yue memorialized the throne, asking that Laojun temples in the Liang-Zhe and Huainan circuits be restored as Zhensheng Guan (True Sage Abbeys), and he personally composed the stele inscription.

The inscription reads: The teaching transmitted by the True Sage takes the Great Dao as its root. The Dao is so elusive that it cannot be fully described; it is empty and without fixed form. It existed before heaven and earth took shape, and it operated before the myriad things were blended and brought forth; it covers the nine provinces and generates the ten thousand beings. The Dao is at once vast and enduring, and so profound that it cannot be exhausted; it is not something that calculation can fathom, nor something that words can fully record.

The Supreme Lord Lao (Tai Shang Lao Jun), one of the highest deities venerated in Daoism, gathered spirit and qi in the utmost simplicity and stored primordial qi at the beginning of chaos. He took on bodily form, tradition says, through resonance with the essences of sun and stars; his lofty virtue established him as ancestor of the Dao. In remote ages—the Lishan clan, Fuxi, and the Yellow Emperor—what he transmitted was one with the way of the ancient sage-kings, differing only in name; in the eras of Emperor Yao, the Shang, and the Xia, though the lines of transmission diverged, the fundamental principle was one. He adapted to the times to set forth norms, serving both as teacher to others and as aide to rulers, spreading the Daoist ethos of clarity and stillness and expounding truths too subtle to be seen plainly.

After the Zhou was established, immortals and sages arose in their season. Lao Jun lodged in the womb of a mysterious woman and appeared in the state of Chu; he pointed to a plum tree to say his surname was Li, and took the shape of an ear as the origin of his personal name. Images such as the twin pillars and three gates expressed his extraordinary bearing; eyebrows like a crane’s and snow-white hair showed his great age. Though near the court, he hid his radiance and once held the office of Keeper of the Archives under the pillar. When Confucius met him, he sighed that he was like a dragon—depth beyond fathoming; Yin Xi, from the cloud-sign at the pass, knew the sage was coming. Tradition holds that Lao Jun expounded and left behind the five thousand characters of the Daodejing (Classic of the Way and Virtue), and that his lifespan reached eight hundred years.

When the Tang was about to be founded, the court traced and honored the sources of Daoism, widely opened Daoist gates, and repeatedly elevated Lao Jun’s honorific titles. Hence Daoist palaces were established everywhere, all named “Zijing,” in the hope that there rites such as fasting and altar offerings would be performed. Locally a Daoist abbey had once stood, but the years had worn it away; later bandits passed through and the palace was set afire. Reflecting that Daoist halls had long lain waste and the pure, quiet Daoist wind had faded, it was rebuilt anew in the hope of extending blessing thereby.

Consulting the classics and examining this history with a calm mind, I see that Lord Lao received the vital qi of empty non-being, merged with primordial undifferentiated qi, and took form in a body of spirit—existing even before heaven and earth were formed. In the eras of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, he called himself Yuhua and Guangshou; in the Yin and Zhou dynasties he served as Keeper of the Archives and royal tutor. He followed nature and appeared at the proper times.

Later, in the Zhou dynasty, Lord Lao was born again in Lixiang, Kuxian. His moral teaching shook the Central Realm and spread to the Western Regions. Yet Lord Lao’s rank was originally above the Grand One (Taiyi); his honorific title was Lord Sovereign (Dijun), ruling the ten directions, nurturing the myriad things, shining with sun, moon, and stars upon heaven and earth, enduring through myriad kalpas without perishing.

The previous dynasty wished to trace the sacred source and attach itself to the lineage of immortals, and would rather call Lord Lao a blood relation of the imperial house—listing him in the clan genealogy for the time being. Yet Lord Lao is the utmost true spirit of the Dao; he is not a collateral ancestor of the Tang imperial line. A sage like the Yellow Emperor still went to Kongtong Mountain to inquire of Guangchengzi, and a benevolent ruler like King Mu of Zhou also sought immortality at Yaoshui. Thus honoring the Daoist teaching and widely doing good deeds truly has its rationale.

Raising crimson gates and vermilion terraces surpasses even the fairy isle of Penglai; building star altars and moon halls and greatly restoring places for burning incense and performing zhaijiao rites—one hopes thereby to accumulate merit so that the blessings of the spirits may be fulfilled. On remaining open ground one may plant pines and bamboo; let white deer and green sheep roam freely on spring hills, and let clear wind and bright moon encircle the autumn river.

Inscribing the name for the temple of the Mysterious Teaching of Haodu makes it endure for a thousand autumns; revising the title of the True Sage of the Purple Palace in Yue State makes it flourish for ten thousand years. This is enough to keep the Great Dao long prosperous and the pure Daoist wind from declining, and to display greatly the teaching of the Mysterious Origin (Xuanyuan), bringing lasting benefit to the state. A stone stele should be carved to make this achievement known.

The Zhen Sheng Guan (True Sage Temple) in Qiantang was renamed Tiānqìng Guan in the Song dynasty. The original stele inscription there still survives. In the second year of Tiancheng under Emperor Mingzong of Later Tang, the court ordered that the Laojun temple renamed by Zhu Wen be restored to its former plaque and again called a palace or abbey.

In the eighth month, Left Remonstrating Official Zhao Mingji submitted a memorial stating: “I observe that palace-temples (gongguan) throughout the realm have long gone without repair. Since Zhu Wen’s usurpation and rebellion, such sites in many regions have been largely destroyed or abandoned. I ask that an order be issued to each circuit (administrative region) to restore in full every palace-temple that our dynasty formerly built and that has recently been torn down, so as to serve the ancestral rites, promote the ethos of governing through filial piety, display Your Majesty’s achievements in restoring the dynasty, and uphold the great foundation of the state—so that the authentic Daoist legacy of our house may be revived and perpetually transmitted. Where palace-temples in the two capitals (the Eastern Capital Luoyang and the Western Capital Chang’an) hold public fields, please exempt them from levies and apportionments, so that income from those lands may supply ritual provisions, and registered Daoist priests may devote themselves to burning incense and cultivation, seeking the protection of Shangxuan (the celestial realm, Heaven above).” The emperor approved.

In the first month of the third year, the Secretariat memorialized on arranging holidays, stipulating three days’ leave for the Descent of the Sage Festival on the fifteenth day of the second month—the birthday of Emperor Xuanyuan (the Daoist honorific title for Laozi, the Dark Mystery). Permission was granted. In the second month of the first year of the Huichang era, the court ordered one day’s leave for that festival; when someone requested that the three-day arrangement be restored, the court assented.

On the day rensi in the twelfth month of the fourth year, the court ordered: “Having already honored the Holy Ancestor, repaired the Daoist palaces, and restored the original names of the palace-temples, we cannot do without inscribed boards. The relevant offices should, according to former regulations, produce and hang the board for Taiqing Palace. Within the capital, Jinzhen Abbey is again to be named Chongdao Palace, and its board should be replaced accordingly.” This was because the Later Liang under Zhu had changed it to a temple-style plaque.

On the day xinmao in the ninth month of the fourth year of the Tianfu era of the Jingaozu reign (the year jihai), the emperor received in audience the Daoist master Chongzhen Dashi Zhang Jianming and bestowed silks and colored brocades upon him. Zhang Jianming was a man of the Yan region. In youth he had read Confucian books and traveled for study north of the Yellow River, broadly engaging the teachings of Laozi and Zhuangzi, so that his inborn nature accorded with the Dao. Later he wore Daoist robes and a star crown, and served…

On the xinmao day of the ninth month in the fourth year of Tianfu (the jihai year) of the reign of Emperor Gaozu of Later Jin, the emperor received the Daoist master Chongzhen, Zhang Jianming, and bestowed silk goods upon him. Zhang Jianming was a native of the Yan region. In youth he studied Confucian learning; later he traveled through the Hebei area and broadly studied the teachings of Laozi and Zhuangzi, so that his inborn nature accorded with the Dao. Afterward he wore the Daoist robe and star crown and practiced the way of naturalness.

The emperor had long honored the Mysterious Origin (Laozi). Shortly after his accession he summoned Zhang Jianming many times. The emperor asked, “Can the Dao be used to govern the world?” Zhang Jianming replied, “What is called the Dao is that by which the mystery of all things is explained; it also gathers up the virtue of the two root forces of heaven and earth, yin and yang. The highest level is attaining the Dao; next come benevolence and righteousness; below that are ritual, wisdom, and trustworthiness. Without these, one cannot count as a true human being. When one reaches the utmost of the Dao, even dwelling in quiet sitting, one can govern heaven and earth—how much more the human realm?”

The emperor then invited him into the inner hall to expound Laozi’s Daodejing, and summoned the chief minister Feng Dao to listen together. Feng Dao said, “When a Daoist master expounds the Laozi, and a monk receives the full precepts of ordination, such honors exist in both ancient and modern times and must not be treated lightly.” The emperor received him with the rites due a teacher and honored him all the more.

Once, when the palace time drum was struck, Zhang Jianming asked the emperor, “Your Majesty, do you hear the drum? The key lies solely in guarding singleness.” He explained that the sounds of the qin, se, metal, and stone each differ; among them only one pitch accords with the Yellow Bell—the first of the twelve standard pitches—while the other fifty-nine do not match, because those sounds arise from different categories. The drum need not be bound by such distinctions: it has none of the five tones—gong, shang, jiao, zhi, and yu—nor any change of pitch, yet it can harmonize with the Yellow Bell. The reason is its singleness. If a person can preserve in the heart a unified wholeness and undivided focus, he can accord with heaven and earth—why worry that the age’s customs will not be pure?

The emperor therefore devoted himself to seeking emptiness and stillness and honored the Dao and De, so that whenever he summoned Zhang Jianming he often bestowed rewards.

In the fifth month of the fifth year of Tianfu, the emperor granted Zhang Jianming the title “Master Who Penetrates the Mysterious” (Tongxuan Xiansheng), ordered the Daodejing and the Daojing carved on blocks for printing, commanded the academician He Ning to write a new preface to stand at the front of the volumes, and promulgated them throughout the realm.

In the sixth month of the fifth year of Xiande (958), year wuwu, during the reign of Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou, imperial robes, cash, and silk were provided to fund construction of Taiqing Abbey.

In the second month of the sixth year of Xiande (959), Taiqing Abbey was completed. The emperor went in person to pay ritual homage to Laojun (Lord Lao). When the ceremony was finished, he noticed the bell that had been bestowed on the abbey and asked about it. Taiqing Abbey stood outside the Qianming Gate. Earlier, the emperor had heard of a bell in Puzhou whose tone was unusually clear; when struck, it could be heard dozens of li away. He therefore ordered it moved and granted to Taiqing Abbey.

In the first year of Jianlong (960), year gengshen, under Emperor Taizu of Song, envoys were dispatched to Bozhou to offer sacrifices to Laojun. A Jianlong Abbey was also built near the Changhe Gate. This was the Taiqing Abbey that Emperor Shizong of Zhou had built; Emperor Taizu of Song renamed it with the plaque “Jianlong Abbey,” while continuing to enshrine and worship Laojun there.

In the seventh year of Taiping Xingguo (982), year rencwu, Emperor Taizong of Song said to his chief ministers: “When I read the Daodejing (Classic of the Way and Virtue), I see the line ‘Fine weapons are instruments of ill omen; the sage employs them only when compelled’—I return to it again and again and take it as a warning. Even when a ruler relies on force to pacify the realm, in the end he must settle the country through good governance; that accords with Laozi’s emphasis on nurturing life.”

In the ninth year of Taiping Xingguo (984), Emperor Taizong said to the chief counselor: “Every day I keep a fixed rhythm: from the chen and si hours (roughly seven to eleven in the morning) I handle state affairs; after that I read until late at night, then rise at the fifth watch. In the hottest midsummer I never nap by day; I likewise do not overeat. Maintaining this for long, I truly feel more alert in body and mind. When one eats too much, drowsiness is hard to avoid; if the limbs have no exercise and one then lies down to sleep, the blood vessels easily become sluggish and many illnesses arise from that. How can one stay clear-headed? Laozi said, ‘My life is in my hands, not in Heaven’s’—a person’s health depends entirely on self-care. You too should take heed and not deceive yourselves in matters of nurturing life.”

In the second year of Chunhua (991), year xinmao, the court sent eunuch officials Li Shoulun, Li Tingxun, Luo Huaizhong, and others to the prefectures and military commissions of the Liangzhe region to select capable persons and rebuild the Taiqing Palace in Bozhou. Thereafter, whenever flood or drought occurred, the court would send envoys to pray there.

In the second year of Chunhua (the xinmao year), the emperor dispatched palace eunuchs Li Shoulun, Li Tingxun, Luo Huaizhong, and others to select suitable personnel in the prefectures and military circuits of the Two Zhe regions and rebuild the Taiqing Palace in Bozhou (a temple complex dedicated to the Supreme Venerable Sovereign Laozi). From then on, whenever flood or drought occurred, the court sent envoys to offer prayers, and efficacy was repeatedly reported.

In the third year of Chunhua, the emperor read Laozi’s Daode Jing and said to his attending ministers: “Governing the realm by the principle of quietude and wuwei (non-action) is the deep intent of Huang-Lao learning (the Daoist tradition associated with the Yellow Emperor and Laozi); I should do my utmost to put it into practice. In the past, Ji An governed Huaiyang from abroad, and Mi Zijian (an official of Lu in the Spring and Autumn period) governed Danfu while playing the zither—these both embodied the way of Huang-Lao.”

Grand councilor Lü Duan said: “When Huang-Lao’s way is applied, great peace can be achieved, and the effect comes quickly.” Lü Mengzheng said: “Laozi said that ruling a large state is like cooking a small fish—if you turn it too often, the fish falls apart. Recently many have memorialized asking to change institutions; I hope Your Majesty will promote a teaching of quietude and wuwei.” The emperor said: “I do not wish to block the channels by which people offer advice. As for the opinions of the mediocre, the wise will naturally sort them out—that too is an ancient principle.”

In the fourth year of Chunhua, the emperor sent a eunuch to lead craftsmen to build the Taiqing Palace. The work was completed in the tenth month of the first year of Zhidao. Thereafter the court appointed two officials to administer the Taiqing Palace and the Dongxiao Palace (dedicated to the Pre-Heaven Empress). The Dongxiao Palace had originally been a shrine built in the first year of Yongxing of the Han; in the Tang it was renamed a palace (gong). The administering officials were rotated every three years. Every year on Laozi’s birthday, on the Three Primordials (shangyuan, zhongyuan, and xiayuan festivals), and on the emperor’s birthday, zhaijiao (purification rituals of fasting and altar prayer) were held—a practice that continues to this day.

In the fifth year of Xianping (renyin) of Emperor Zhenzong, he sent the eunuch Chen Yanqing to restore the Taiqing Palace and the Dongxiao Palace and assigned soldiers separately to sweep and maintain them. In the second year of Jingde (yisi), the emperor issued an edict forbidding woodcutting in the areas around the two palaces.

In the second year of Dazhong Xiangfu (the jiyou year, 1009), the emperor issued an edict ordering the Left and Right Avenues—the offices that oversaw Daoist affairs in the capital—to select ten Daoist priests to collate the classics of the Dao Canon (Daozang). In the third year, he further commanded officials of the imperial library to carry out detailed collation at the Chongwen Academy, with Chancellor Wang Qinruo in overall charge.

Earlier, Emperor Taizong had searched for and collected Daoist scriptures, obtaining more than seven thousand scrolls. He had ordered Attendant Cavalier Xu Xuan and Drafting Secretary Wang Yuchong to collate them, remove duplicates, and have clean copies made for delivery to palace temples; the final tally was set at three thousand three hundred and thirty-seven scrolls. On this occasion Wang Qinruo followed the existing catalogue of the Three Caverns and Four Supplements (Sandong sifu), expanded it, and included in all four thousand three hundred and fifty-nine scrolls. When the catalogue was completed and presented to the throne, the emperor bestowed upon it the title Comprehensive Record of Precious Writings (Baowen Tonglu).

The emperor personally composed a preface, which reads: Before heaven and earth were divided and the world had not yet opened, this was called “the nameless”; once writing appeared, things received designations. The profound intent and pure, subtle resonance embodied in Daoist scriptures take nature as their model and arise from the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji); they therefore record the primordial age, clarify the principles of heaven and earth, proclaim teachings of utmost truth, and guard the welfare of living beings.

If Daoist scriptures were carved on fine jade, threaded with golden cords, sealed in cases of langgan jade, and further protected with precious stone, then myriad spirits would guard them and they would be observed for long ages; people across countless generations could revere them like pearls strung together, their radiance undiminished. They can endure—where even hard bedrock may wear away in time; they are also wondrous beyond measure—even fierce fire cannot destroy them. This is the most numinous within the numinous, the greatest within the great.

Looking back from antiquity through later ages, sovereigns who founded realms and governed states, as well as ministers who assisted the court and won the people’s esteem, all upheld the admonitions of the Daoist scriptures so that the realm was settled and harmonious; the court above and the people below likewise followed Daoist teaching so that it spread far and wide.

Practitioners should conserve their vital energy, settle the spirit, cleanse the inner heart, and refine conduct, steadily accumulating De (virtue) and good deeds. In this way they may penetrate the deepest mysteries and discern the subtlest principles; above, they can become guests of the Nine Pure Realms (the high heavens described in Daoism), and below, they can extend their lifespan. Things in the world cannot fully describe these states in words; only in the realm before heaven and earth took form can one see them with one’s own eyes.

Since the founding of our dynasty, we have received the Mandate of Heaven and reverently upheld the root teachings of the Dao. The founding emperor (Yizu) instructed the people through the way of deep stillness; Emperor Shenzong governed the realm through the way of quiet clarity, and the empire flourished. The court honors Daoist scriptures, widely gathers jade registers and silver-inscribed titles, and the collections gathered surpass those of earlier ages in scale. My own talent is slight; I can only reverently inherit this auspicious legacy: looking up to receive the Hetu (the legendary chart that reveals Heaven’s mandate and cosmic order), bowing to welcome the immortal presence; emperors have performed sacrifice, records remain at Deng, the Guo River region has aligned with Heaven’s seasons, and rites have been held at the southern suburban altar of the capital. The people have returned to simplicity and sincerity, and the myriad things no longer suffer decay and ruin.

Is this only the blessing of ancestral spirits, making the state prosper? It is also that the vast assistance of the empty and nameless Dao has widely descended, bringing many auspicious signs. Now we wish to clarify the orthodox lineage of the Dao, proclaim its profound intent, arrange and display it in the canon, to awaken the world. Moreover, Daoist rites and offerings reach far back in time, and the texts are extremely numerous; to say this material was transmitted by Di Ku and Bo Yu (Yu the Great) may come close to the truth; to say it circulated in the Longhan and Chiming kalpas (ancient cosmic ages in Daoist cosmology) places it even further in the past. What is so remote in time must be ordered and edited—how else can reverence for the Dao be fully expressed?

Accordingly the court decreed that nearby ministers should oversee the work and select skilled collators, each fulfilling their duty: gathering precious texts from the Dan chamber (Daoist scriptural repositories), seeking hidden collections from the Zitai (the legendary celestial archive); correcting variant forms in ancient seal script and examining local dialects wherever the imperial carriage traveled. They searched out hidden meanings and collated characters with traditional methods using lead powder and yellow paper; then classified and arranged the material so that the order from first to last was without error. This compilation far exceeds the ninety-three titles recorded in Ban Gu’s “Bibliographical Treatise” in the Book of Han, and goes beyond the thirty-six methods found in hagiographies of immortals.

The work passed through three rounds of collation, and the transmission of the teaching completed one full cycle. Thus the classics are meant to reach later ages and circulate widely through unbroken writing; now they are freshly polished and compiled so they may be preserved for long ages. Shouqiu (where the Yellow Emperor is said to have been born) nurtured the root of imperial rule; Laozi ascended at Hangu Pass—truly the patriarch of the teaching. Looking up at these writings, all discuss the way of Heaven and human affairs; to lump them with the various masters of the hundred schools would be improper. To list them as precious classics is the fitting classification.

The celebration at Shouqiu should be honored, for it opened the line of emperors; the exalted status of Hangu Pass should likewise be upheld, as the place where the Daoist tradition took its source. Looking back at earlier writings, some passages on the relation between Heaven and humankind are mixed among the books of the various masters—hardly a fitting arrangement. To compile them into a precious canon is the proper course.

From youth the emperor revered the Dao and issued edicts establishing clear norms meant to endure. Wang Qinruo, Privy Councilor, Minister of Personnel, Grand Mentor with inspection duties, and Associate Grand Councilor, held high office and all the more cherished reverence and goodness of heart. Diligent in duty and never slack, he also wished these texts to pass to later ages and add luster to the tradition. He memorialized the throne, presenting this catalogue and asking the emperor to fix prefaces and introductions and to observe the rites on schedule with careful compliance. He held that to carry forward the great Daoist stream between Heaven and Earth, however long its course, was worthy of veneration; to inherit the former organization of the Qionggang (the older arrangement of Daoist scriptures) could make human culture shine the brighter. Thus posterity might be instructed, while he himself felt deep awe. The work was therefore titled Bao Wen Tong Lu (Comprehensive Record of Precious Writings).

Wang Qinruo held that the Daodejing and the Yinfu Jing were composed by Lord Lao (Laojun, the Daoist honorific for Laozi) and should be promoted from the “Four Auxiliaries” section into the “Dongzhen” section (a division of the Daozang, the Daoist Canon). At first the emperor ordered that mutual slander in Daoist and Buddhist scriptures be excised. Wang Qinruo submitted that the Laozi Huahu Jing (a Daoist text on Laozi transforming into the Buddha and teaching in the western regions) was a trace of the ancient sage and should not be removed; the emperor decreed that it be retained.

In the fourth year of Dazhong Xiangfu (xinsi), the emperor sacrificed to Houtu (the Earth deity) at Fenyin. When the imperial procession reached Hangu Pass, the emperor personally composed the Du Guan Ming with preface. The text continues: “All sages…”

In the fourth year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1011), in the xinhai year of the reign, the Emperor performed sacrifice to Houtu (the Earth Goddess) at Fenyin. When the imperial procession reached Hangu Pass, the Emperor personally composed the Inscription on Crossing the Pass with Preface:

The mind of a sage is penetrating and does not fix on any single extreme; traces left by divine transformation sometimes vanish and sometimes appear. When the achievements of those who came before remain clearly visible, the people hold them in reverent esteem. Hangu Pass is the route by which Laozi traveled westward on his ascent to immortality.

Laozi embraced the true Dao and was a person of profound virtue; he clarified teaching yet reluctantly gave it names in words. He once devoted himself to cultivating the true within the archive chamber, and also crossed the region of shifting sands, concealing his tracks. After Confucius inquired of him about ritual, he left subtle utterances; when Yin Xi received his scripture, he had already perceived its inner meaning beforehand. These matters are recorded in documents of earlier ages and have been handed down to later generations. As for Laozi’s boundless longevity, his Dao reaching the divine, and his attainment of the realm of “subtle being”—how could such things be easily expressed in language?

The region of Mount Hua and the course of the Yellow River were both places where immortals’ chariots passed, as if their wheel ruts remain to this day. Establishing a pass here shows how perilous the terrain of the Xiao Mountains and Hangu region is; recording this county seat displays the excellence of Lingbao (the sacred objects revered in Daoism). Truly, though the person has departed, his teaching endures; though affairs change, the place long remains.

We reverently perform sacrifice to the great earth that bears all things, and therefore journey here, long gazing upward in remembrance of Laozi’s quiet and profound bearing. We dare not abandon the principle of governing rooted in stillness, and we honor Laozi as our founding master. Now we revive his legacy and command that this inscription be carved on jade.

The inscription reads: The ancestor of teaching hid the true Dao; his virtue could be compared to a divine dragon. About to journey in spirit to distant realms, Yin Xi silently understood, in perfect accord with his path. The sage’s words shine forth in the world and become the people’s standard. Gazing toward Hangu Pass, Laozi’s chariot tracks seem still close at hand. The mysterious Dao is boundless; the radiance of purity never ends. Rituals of fasting and the teachings of the scriptures long endure; steadfast, imperishable stone will record all this.

In the fifth year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1012), the court dispatched the Commissioner of the Three Departments, Ding Wei, to the palace complex to perform rites of observance and veneration. In the autumn of the sixth year, the Emperor issued an edict to proceed to Bozhou to pay homage at the Grand Pure Palace. At that time, the ancient cypress known as the “Ascension Cypress” had long been withered; in this year it sprouted anew.

In the first month of the jiayin year, the seventh year of the Kaiyuan reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (719 CE), the emperor went to the Palace of Grand Purity (Taigong, the temple where Laozi was enshrined) to pay homage. He personally presented the ceremonial document and offerings and honored Laozi as “Supreme Venerable Sovereign Emperor of Primordial Source Upper Virtue (De).” The emperor himself composed the Eulogy to Lord Lao with Preface, which reads:

What existed before the formation of yin and yang in heaven and earth and gave birth to the myriad things is called the “Utmost Dao (Way)”; what governs the sun, moon, and stars and dispenses the primordial qi (vital energy) of heaven and earth and the mandate of heaven is called the “Lofty Heaven.” The Utmost Dao dwells at the utmost of the Great Dao; its stature is as exalted as heaven. It lies within the sphere of heaven and earth’s operation—people may ponder it yet cannot fathom it; its efficacy surpasses the crafting and nurturing of the myriad things—people may perceive it yet cannot fully express it in words. When it appears in response to the times, through wuwei (non-action) nothing fails to be accomplished; when it hides its form, there is nowhere it is not present and nowhere it may not go.

Therefore people preserve and venerate the numinous traces Lord Lao left behind and imagine his spirit’s wanderings and transformations: at times he appears in a trance-like way, at times he withdraws into the deep and distant. He dwells in the Nine Clarities (the high celestial realms in Daoism), honored equally with the Primordial Celestial Worthy (Yuanshi Tianzun); for myriad generations all look up to him, call him the Supreme Venerable, and receive his blessings.

Laozi is truly a perfected person (zhenren), so nowhere in the world does anyone fail to depend on his grace. This place in particular is a clearly manifest blessed land—the homeland where the emperor was born again; the solemn and flourishing immortal shrine is where numinous qi manifests. It is well suited to gathering refined essence and praying for great protection. In accord with the people’s hopes, they recall Lord Lao and choose an auspicious day for devout sacrifice.

The Palace of Grand Purity lies within the territory of Qiao (around present-day Bozhou, Anhui), near the Guo River. It was originally the famous site where the sage was born and a pure gathering place for the perfected. It borders the domain of the ancient state of Cheng Tang and lies close to the old ruins of Taibo. Local customs are simple and honest and the land fertile; high hills and ridges stretch on, and for a thousand li the terrain unfolds before the eye; dense groves and fine trees keep a lush, flourishing aspect in every season. Such a setting is fully adequate as a secluded, deep courtyard and palace for immortals to dwell.

As for the Supreme Venerable Sovereign Emperor of Primordial Source Upper Virtue: he penetrates the breath of undivided chaos, holds within himself profound and subtle refined essence (jing), receives the transformation of primordial qi without limit, and is the root and beginning of all living beings’ lives. Thus he existed before the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate—the primordial state before heaven and earth were divided and yin and yang distinguished) took form; after the Taiji was formed, he transcended form and could not be seen. He ended before ages yet to come and yet endures through ages that follow.

According to legend, Laozi’s mother conceived by responding to the essence of the sun; at birth he pointed to a plum tree, and for this reason he was regarded as the ancestral founder of the surname Li. His true body was formed from primordial Qi—boundless and without limit—nurturing the ten thousand things and serving as the root of life. Tradition says he existed before the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) and, after the Taiji, returned to nothingness; that he ended before one reckoning of years and yet endured beyond the next—meaning that he transcended the usual order of time.

Legend also holds that he could speak as soon as he was born, and that before he had even grown into a child his hair was entirely white—signs of one possessed of the utmost spiritual brilliance. He once lived in seclusion beneath a tree, traveled far to the land of shifting sands, exchanged ritual courtesies with Confucius on the road, and transmitted the classics to Yin Xi. These were all deeds by which he displayed and spread his teaching. From Fuxi and Shaohao down through the Shang and Zhou dynasties, supreme persons appeared in the world, and extraordinary traces were always spoken of—this is the virtue of wondrous transformation.

Another tradition tells that Laozi rode the wind in a chariot to Lu Qing Capital, presided over the immortals, and spread a harmonizing Qi—his achievement in shaping and completing nurture and transformation. His teaching is unfathomably subtle, with tranquility and stillness as its foundation, proceeding from the natural and arriving at the realm of mystery. Applied to governing the state, it can align policy with the mean; applied to self-cultivation, it can lead a person to long life; extended under Heaven, it can restore the age to plain simplicity; used to instruct the people, it lets the multitude receive blessing. For this reason Laozi is called the root of the ten thousand things and the forerunner of all teachings.

The Han dynasty honored his doctrine and applied it in penal governance; the Tang revered his Dao and thereby brought about great peace. His surviving teaching ought indeed to be widely promulgated and long preserved. The state receives a deep and enduring mandate from Heaven and opens a flourishing enterprise for generation after generation; the root of its rich and steady governance begins precisely in this mysterious Dao.

The Taizu emperor was divinely valorous yet did not kill indiscriminately—like laying aside weapons until the four quarters submitted. The Taizong emperor was clear and upright, establishing instruction through Wuwei (non-action). They added to virtue until their renown surpassed rulers of old; they spread the profound sacred Dao and left later sovereigns a pattern to follow. How could we fail to cherish kindness and frugality, hold to humility and quiet, and revere the five thousand words of the Daode Jing so as to settle the myriad people? May every place reached by chariots and horses turn toward benevolence and long life, and every region illuminated by sun and moon receive governance that is pure, harmonious, and beautiful. Through utmost sincerity moving Heaven and Earth, auspicious signs have indeed appeared in response.

Divine spirits sent down auspicious signs, and the court deliberated on holding a grand sacrificial ceremony. Sincerity and pure, abundant blessing gathered together, as if spirits descending from the nine heavens had arrived within the palace city; accumulated auspicious omens from successive ages also reached the imperial clan. The emperor reverently received the blessings granted by Heaven and responded to the spirits’ responsive communion with respect—and indeed auspicious signs appeared, proving that the sincerity of the rites had reached the divine realm.

Thereupon the emperor prepared to choose an auspicious site and, in spring, perform a solemn rite of thanksgiving. He thought of the founder of the supreme teaching, and of how its subtle efficacy extends through the three powers—Heaven, Earth, and humanity. On the lofty ground outside Jing Bo stood a numinous sacred precinct. The emperor personally planned to go in reverence; while ministers were still consulting preparations, regions far and wide had already voiced shared expectation. Reflecting that hearts were united, the emperor was deeply pleased and decided to tour the locality to accord with the people’s wishes.

He then issued an edict instructing the responsible officials to fix an auspicious day and proceed to the sacred temple (guan). When the day came, thousands of chariots and myriad riders moved slowly along the imperial highway and halted their carriages before the immortals’ dwelling; officials each performed their duties, and envoys from many lands assembled at court. Before the sacrifice they bathed and purified themselves, observing the rules of ritual abstinence; at dawn they offered wine to the spirits, with a reverence as if the divine were present before their eyes. Bells and chime-stones sounded in harmonious music, and the offerings were clean and complete. A precious register was presented beforehand to honor the spirits’ titles; afterward an altar was set up to await their descent.

The Milky Way lay deep and remote; the palace halls were still and secluded. People hoped the spirits would come riding the wind in their chariots, as if the isle of Penglai were near at hand. The grand ceremony was performed to seek blessings that were real and trustworthy. Later rites would also be held at Taishi: facing the sunward position, offering the jade scepter and silks, presenting sacrificial victims, honoring the ancestors, and jointly offering to Heaven and Earth—to fulfill the state’s goodness and repay the deep protection of Heaven, Earth, and the spirits.

I know my own capacity is shallow, yet I have been fortunate to study profound doctrine, reverently following the sage’s words and strictly observing the secret ordinances of the Daoist teaching. I do this not from indulgence in occult arts or pursuit of immortality, but from admiration for the formless, nameless Great Dao (Da Dao), hoping thereby to teach the realm, recall the simple customs of old, and broadly shelter the people.

When the Six Temples received auspicious portents from above and the three numinous powers spread their efficacious influence, the sage’s teaching could be reverently followed and the secret purport of the Daoist tradition made manifest. This was not indulgence in arts of the bedchamber or pleading for transcendence as an immortal; it was to honor the subtle, unfathomable Great Dao, to transform the realm, to look back to an age of plain sincerity, and to shelter the people broadly. Once the Six Temples had received their omens and the three numina had appeared, the court could receive Heaven’s blessing and dwell in harmony with the spirits. Grand sacrificial rites were therefore held again and again, and deeds of luminous renown were displayed for all to see. From fasting and retreat in the palace compound to reverent visits on Mount Tong, all was done according to ritual. The Great Dao was upheld and teaching carried forward; virtue was exalted and the people instructed. When the imperial procession set out on its return, ceremony and bearing were fully arranged; the stele was inscribed in concise, dignified script so that this example might long endure unchanged.

The encomium runs: The land of the Qiao capital and the banks of the Guo River are a blessed domain where the sage ruler was born. He embodied myriad mysteries and sheltered the people. Laozi once expounded ritual in the archive chamber; the Master (Nifu, Confucius) took benevolence as his guide. When Laozi passed Hangu Pass, purple qi appeared and the gate warden Yin Xi recognized his numinous quality. Though the imperial carriage has long since departed, responsive omens still seem fresh. The blessed ground remains; the former worthies’ influence knows no bound. Gazing up at the precious halls, the ruler also heeded the people’s wishes; the procession came to pay homage, following ancient precedent from afar. At Xiaoyou the offerings were solemnly set out and sincere reverence expressed. Name and deed were examined and found complete; bright responses were hoped for and gathered together. May divine authority and efficacy never be obscured; may blessings continue to descend. To proclaim these excellent norms, they were provisionally carved in stone that they might endure. Three cypress trees concentrate auspicious signs, displaying virtue through ten thousand springs.

An order followed to paint and decorate the hall, and the emperor himself composed “Encomium and Preface to the Ancient Jade and Stone Image of Lord Lao,” which states: The traces of the holy perfected one truly reach everywhere without fixed place; numinous ground must also show exceptional signs. This image was fashioned by ancients; its eyes and form invite veneration, and its auspicious marks are conspicuous. It shines forth in accord with a fortunate age; the hall beams are adorned to show devout intent. Clouds seem to linger for those who look up; patterns on the image were carved and painted in the hope they would never perish.

The encomium runs: The great teacher Laozi was born in this spirit-filled land. He unfolded and spread the teaching of the Daodejing and hid himself in empty subtlety. Now the image remains here and auspicious proof has indeed appeared. It emits numinous light answering signs of good fortune.

Poetic and historical accounts record that at that time a palace was built and stone was carved in commemoration, to celebrate the grandeur of the rites. It was the twentieth day of the first month: a double solar halo appeared in the sky, sweet dew fell, cranes flew, and clouds of five colors showed themselves; yellow clouds hung down like a ceremonial canopy. When the procession returned, auspicious qi filled the sight; purple clouds bore up the sun, and the sun displayed five hues. The court then ordered a general amnesty throughout the realm.

At that time Li Shu, son of Li Ruogu, vice-prefect of Bozhou, was only twelve years old. He submitted a eulogy describing this great ceremony. The emperor summoned him to the place where the imperial entourage was encamped to answer in person and on the spot commanded him to write a poem on paying homage at the Taiping Palace. Li Shu finished at once; the emperor was much pleased, sent a palace envoy to escort him to the Secretariat, and again granted him the status of a “youth examination graduate” (tongzi chushen).

Originally, north of the Hall of Emptiness (Wuxu Tang) stood a large cypress whose branches stretched southward and directly blocked the front hall then under construction. Craftsmen feared it would interfere with the eaves and reported to the officials, intending to lop the branches. After a night of thunder and rain, by the next morning that great limb had turned toward the north. When the emperor saw this he was deeply astonished, lingered long before the tree, and named it the “Imperial Beloved Cypress” (Yu’ai Gui)—the cypress the emperor cherished.

Many people in earlier times wrote poems about this tree; Shi Manqing’s was held to be the finest, and Lin Hui of Futang (in the Fujian region) also wrote an excellent one. The poem runs: When the ancient hall was about to be built, / the coiling cypress’s high branches blocked the eaves; / none dared take axe to trim it, / yet heaven’s wind and thunder turned its boughs for it. / The tree’s hue mingled with spring; / moonlight too made the night fair. / Emperor Zhenzong once halted his imperial carriage to gaze upon it; / henceforth the fame of the “Imperial Beloved Cypress” has flowed through ten thousand ages. The poem tells exactly this tale.

The preface to the Supreme Pure Heaven Boy Protects Life Scripture, personally composed by the emperor, states: The source of the Dao is subtle and far-reaching, impossible to exhaust; the most authentic Dao responds fittingly to the ten thousand things. The Dao can be spoken of in words, yet it is not the Dao in the usual sense; through wuwei (non-action) it governs, yet nothing fails to be accomplished. Therefore the scriptures spread precious instruction on fine bamboo slips and in jade caskets; secret texts are written in fu (talismans and registers) and phoenix-seal script (the distinctive talismanic seal script of Daoism), making precepts and norms clear and depicting the creation and transformation of heaven and earth, so as to proclaim vast benefit, assist the workings of heaven and earth, serve as an entryway to cultivating goodness and teaching, and lead sentient beings to know the Great Dao.

I have received the Mandate of Heaven and nurture the people; I wish to spread the true teaching and secretly nourish the ten thousand things. The Heaven Boy Protects Life Scripture is a secret admonition transmitted from Supreme Purity (Taiqing, the pure realm revered in Daoism), and a precious talismanic mandate of the Golden Gate (the immortal abode in Daoist cosmology); from antiquity it has shown signs of efficacy and is recorded in other texts as well. If one recites it with a pure heart and upholds it with single-minded devotion, one can indeed avoid pestilence, dispel evil influences, and attain peace, harmony, and extended life. It is like the Yijing (Book of Changes), which clarifies principle through hexagrams and covertly supports the divine; or like the treasure vessels of the Xia, which drive off demons so that people do not meet the chimei (spirits of mountains and forests), dissolve calamities from the six directions and the farthest reaches, and gather every kind of auspiciousness.

Therefore the emperor ordered this scripture copied and promulgated, the title inscribed and this preface written, in the hope that all within the four seas might share vitality and blessing.

At first, Emperor Zhenzong of Song had no heir for a long time, so he ordered the Daoist priest Zhu Ziying of Mount Gouqu (Maoshan) to submit a memorial praying for a son. Zhu Ziying focused his mind in meditation and prayed with sincere devotion until his spirit ascended to the palace of the Heavenly Emperor. Suddenly he saw the Three Mao Lords (Mao Ying, Mao Gu, and Mao Zhong, three revered Daoist deities) each riding a divine chariot, descending along the celestial Yellow Path. Zhu Ziying prostrated himself and stepped aside. Before long he heard someone in the chariot ask, “Why have you come here?” Zhu Ziying replied, “I am praying for a holy heir on behalf of Emperor Zhenzong.” The Mao Lord said, “This too is a great matter for the human realm.” Soon afterward his memorial reached the throne. The Supreme Lord (the highest deity in Daoist worship) issued a decree: “Mao [the Lords] have a heart that cares for the state and loves the people; a son should be granted to the Son of Heaven of Song.” The next year a prince was indeed born—this was Emperor Renzong.

In the early Tiansheng era, the court summoned Zhu Ziying to the palace; both emperors (Zhenzong and Renzong) treated him with great honor and bestowed upon him the title Guanmiao Xiansheng (Master Who Observes the Subtle). The court also built Qianyuan Abbey and Tiansheng Abbey to honor his merit.

According to the Epitaph for Master Guanmiao, Twenty-Second Patriarch of Mount Sanmao, Master Zhu: “Just as the imperial house was about to receive auspicious signs for three generations, the successor to the throne had not yet been settled; the court sacrificed to Gaoxin (the deity who presides over marriage and childbirth), praying for the gift of a son; and the grotto-heaven for a time suspended the appointment of the Siming (Director of Fates).” This refers to the events described above.

In the fourth year of the Tianyou era (the bingyin year), Emperor Renzong’s chancellor Wang Zeng remarked that some of the language in scriptures of the Daozang (Daoist canon) was plain and coarse. The emperor replied: “Most of what is in the Daozang deals with smelting metals for elixirs and compounding medicinal formulas—how could every chapter read like Laozi’s five-thousand-word Daode Jing (Classic of the Way and Virtue)?”

Chancellor Zhang Zhibai said: “The Daode Jing teaches the way of governing through quiet purity; it is not the same as other Daoist scriptures.” The emperor said: “In gathering Daoist scriptures now, they should be carefully examined and collated before being included in the Daozang.”

In the first month of the second year of the Zhihe era (the yimao year), the emperor fell ill. He summoned Liu Congshan, a priest of Jianlong Guan (Jianlong Abbey), to the Dadian Hall to perform zhaijiao (a purification ritual with an altar for offering to the gods) and to submit zhang (memorial petitions to the divine). He ordered the chancellor to perform the rites on his behalf. That night, while Liu Congshan was prostrate in prayer, the emperor’s condition suddenly worsened: his eyes closed and he lost consciousness for a considerable time, and court and commoners alike were deeply alarmed.

After a long while Liu Congshan rose and said: “The memorial has been received; the Supreme One (Taishang—the highest deity in Daoist address) has issued a command to save him, and the emperor’s soul has returned.” Before long the emperor awoke and sent word asking: “What deity is General Ge?” Liu Congshan answered: “He is the Zhongyuan General under the gate of the Three Heavens, who oversees the review of memorial petitions.” The emperor sent word again ordering that a spirit tablet be set up and worshipped at once.

The next day the emperor’s illness was cured. It is said that afterward the emperor recounted how he had seemed to come out through a gate and heard someone say: “The emperor ought not to have come yet—quickly find a horse and send him back.” Then he woke.

At that time the court ordered that Ge General Guan (Ge General Abbey) be built specially west of the suburban altar, and Liu Congshan was granted imperial garments and a large gift of gold and silk.

When Fan Zhongyan (courtesy name Xiwen, posthumously honored as Duke of Zheng) served as vice prefect of Chen Prefecture, the prefect’s mother fell ill and the prefect asked a Daoist priest to perform the rite of submitting a memorial (shangzhang) to Heaven. Fan Zhongyan remarked, “How could an ordinary person actually deliver such a memorial all the way to the Celestial Emperor?”

Later, when he went to visit the prefect’s sick mother, he had the priest perform the memorial rite. The priest lay prostrate on the ground for a long time without stirring. Someone touched his body and found it had gone stiff. Not until the fifth watch did he rise and tell the prefect, “I have received the decree of the Supreme Lord (Taishang, the highest deity in Daoist worship): the Lady still has six years of life; you need not worry over her illness.”

Fan Zhongyan asked why he had remained prostrate so long. The priest replied, “When I had finished the memorial and was about to return, it happened that the list for the next year’s jinshi examination was being posted. The immortals had all gathered to look, and the crowd was so dense that I could not get out—hence the long delay.”

Fan Zhongyan suspected he was fabricating the story and asked, “Did you see the list?” The priest said, “How could I not have seen it?” Fan asked again, “Who was the top laureate?” The priest answered, “His surname was Wang; in his given name the upper character was gong, the lower character had been smeared with ink, and another character was added in a marginal note. Heaven’s gate is lofty and distant; from afar one could not make it out clearly.”

The following year Wang Gongshou indeed ranked first on the examination. The emperor personally changed his name to Gongchen.

In the seventh year of the Jiayou reign, the emperor fell ill and dreamed of three divine beings who announced their surnames and titles, attended as if by personal guards. When he awoke, his illness was cured. He then ordered a wide search for temples dedicated to these deities, but none matched. Later he found them in the Tai Shang Zheng Yi Lu (Orthodox Unity scripture) he had received in transmission: they were the Three Generals.

On the sixteenth day of the third month of the eighth year of Jiayou, the emperor issued an edict: “The way of the spirits is deep and subtle, yet it must manifest in what is plain; sincerity at its utmost can reach what is finest. The voice and form of the spirits meet human beings; omens and responses accord with one another. The highest immortals hide their traces; General Tang ranks among the upper spirits and can transform by flight; General Ge was commanded to act directly and could ascend and become perfected; General Zhou holds rank among the immortals and is recorded in the registers of the perfected. Recently, when my body was out of balance, I was moved by the spirits and received their protection, and thus recovered as before. If we do not honor their splendid titles, their renown cannot be shown; if we do not build solemn halls, their august presence cannot be enshrined. Therefore General Tang is granted the title ‘True Lord of Dao Transformation,’ General Ge ‘True Lord Who Protects the Correct,’ and General Zhou ‘True Lord of Settled Will,’ and halls shall be built in the capital’s palaces and abbeys to express my sincerity and repay the spirits’ clear protection.”

In the third year of the Yuanfeng reign, guichou year, Emperor Shenzong adopted Zhang Junshan’s memorial: from then on, when selecting and appointing Daoist clergy, candidates must be examined on the meaning of the Daode Jing, the Lingbao Duren Jing, and the Nan Hua Zhen Jing.

In the fifth year of Yuanfeng, honorific titles for immortals were further increased. The emperor also ordered that in Buddhist shuilu rites (assemblies offering vegetarian feasts and scripture recitation for the dead), the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing) and other exalted Daoist deities must not be placed alongside netherworld ghosts and spirits, as that would profane the highest perfected ones (gaozhen). Local authorities were commanded to enforce this strictly.

In the fifth year of the Shaosheng reign, Emperor Zhezong increased the honorific titles of immortals. He again ordered that Buddhist shuilu rites must not place the Three Pure Ones and other exalted Daoist deities alongside netherworld ghosts and spirits, holding that this profanes the highest perfected ones, and commanded local authorities to forbid it strictly.

On the night of the fifteenth day of the second month in the fifth year of Shaosheng under Emperor Zhezong of the Northern Song (1098), year of the Earth Tiger (wuyin), Daoist priests at Taiqing Palace in Bozhou were performing rites of worship when a red light suddenly welled from between the eyebrows of the statue of Lord Lao (Laojun). The glow gradually filled the hall, passed through the roof tiles, rose straight into the sky, and reached the rear hall of the Primordial Great Sage at Dongxiao Palace. Before long the radiance split into three beams: the left and right shone like crimson clouds, the center gleamed like white silk, all linked together like a rainbow bridge spanning the heavens. For several hundred li around, it was bright as day. People near and far left their homes to look up, burn incense, and bow in reverence. After the second watch of the night, the light and shadow shifted gradually, then vanished through the Gate of Heaven.

Zhang Jingxian, Master of Contemplating the Mysterious and abbot of Taiqing Palace, together with one hundred forty priests including Han Weiji; Wang Jingsu, abbess of Dongxiao Palace, with eighty-one female practitioners; Li Xiang, who concurrently supervised the palace and the wine tax at Guyang; and one hundred eleven townspeople including Wang Jing—all submitted reports of what they had seen. Prefect Yu Lu and others also witnessed this extraordinary spiritual light with their own eyes and memorialized the throne. The emperor issued an edict ordering a one-month Jinlu ritual enclosure (a Daoist zhaijiao service for blessing and averting calamity) at Taiqing Palace. He appointed Prefect Yu Lu to perform the bowing rites on his behalf, with Jia Shanxiang, superintendent of the Left Street of the Daoist registry, leading the priests under his authority.

Jia Shanxiang had come to Taiqing Palace and, at the assembly’s request, expounded the Du Ren Jing (Scripture for Salvation). While he was lecturing through it a second time, a blind person’s eyes were restored. Among those listening was an old woman of more than seventy who had been blind for thirty years; after hearing the meaning of the scripture, she suddenly regained her sight. On the night the jiao ritual was held, she dreamed that the spirit officers conveyed a command from the Most High, bestowing immortal vestments upon her and appointing Jia Shanxiang as director of affairs at Taiqing Palace. A few days later she passed away. Zhang Shangying recorded this affair in detail in his Record of the True Journey (Zhenyou Ji).

On the dingmao day, the eighteenth of the third month, the emperor promulgated a qingci—the prayer text presented to the deities in Daoist zhaijiao— stating: “The heir and Son of Heaven, your subject, respectfully dispatches Su Gui, palace attendant of the Eastern Head of the Inner Service and officer of the Imperial Pharmacy, to request thirty-seven priests to proceed to Taiqing Palace to conduct the ritual service.”

On the eighteenth day of the third month, the day dingmao, the emperor issued a qingci (a written statement of wishes presented to the deities during Daoist zhaijiao): “The successor Son of Heaven, your subject, respectfully sends Su Gui, palace attendant of the Inner Service and imperial pharmacy, to invite twenty-one Daoist priests to open a month-long merit ritual at Taiqing Palace (the temple dedicated to the Supreme Old Lord). When the ritual concludes, a Universal Heaven Grand Zhaijiao (a major ceremony directed to the gods throughout the realm) shall be held, with three thousand six hundred ritual positions (seats for the honored deities).”

Your subject respectfully addresses the Most Transformative Old Lord, Emperor of Mixed Primordial Supreme Virtue, Jade Sovereign of Grand Clarity: the regions of Qiao and Bo are secluded and numinous, and dwelling places of the sage and true. Auspicious signs arise there; blessings descend; divine light reaches the sky, appears between the brows, and illumines the thousand realms. Your subject knows his virtue is insufficient yet has received Heaven’s favor, and therefore day and night maintains reverence and caution, daring no slackness.

On the evening of the twentieth, your subject ascended the hall holding the gui (the jade tablet used in sacrifice) to burn incense, and suddenly saw light issue from below the Old Lord’s eyes like two round, bright pearls; it did not disperse until the si hour (roughly nine to eleven in the morning). On the ninth day of the fourth month, the pearl-light appeared again as before.

Memorials of congratulation from the prefectures said: “A thread of radiance shone forth, at first lighting the hall and courtyard in five colors intertwined; shortly it also joined the clouds above, as if dense celebratory clouds wound about it, while in the center something like white silk unfurled.” They also said: “The spirit’s teaching arrived in secret, without form or trace; yet blessing thereby appeared in the world. Strange colors in the drifting clouds are an event the historiographer should record with solemn care, to display the great felicity brought by sagely rule and to match the auspicious sign of the emperor’s long-lasting dynastic fortune.”

In the tenth month of Chongning year five, bingxu, Emperor Huizong decreed: “One who governs All under Heaven ought to honor the Supreme Lord; the charge received is weighty—how could one fail to be devout and reverent?”

In the fifth year of the Chongning era (1106), on the fifth day of the tenth month, Emperor Huizong issued an edict stating: One who governs the realm ought to honor and serve the Supreme Lord; imperial commands are weighty and solemn, and how could one fail to be reverent? Buddhist monks, when building and conducting Buddhist rites, had on their own placed the Heavenly Lord among ghosts and spirits—a excess no less grave than what appears in the Shenyu Fen. How could this accord with the intent of revering the Supreme Lord? Officials were ordered to investigate and remove such arrangements, so as to express the emperor’s reverence and caution.

The edict further stated: In the Buddhist water-and-land ritual platform (a ceremony to deliver the dead), seats were set for the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), the Jade Emperor Supreme Lord, and other divinities—how could the high perfected ones of the three realms be placed on a par with netherworld ghosts and spirits? The late Emperor Shenzong had already forbidden this in the Yuanfeng era; this was now to be verified and enforced accordingly.

The edict also stated: In the past, Buddhist monasteries often took images of the three teachings as names for gates and halls, placing the image of Shakyamuni Buddha in the center, the image of Lord Lao on the left, and the image of Confucius on the right. This did not accord with the court’s purpose of sacrificing to the celestial gods and promoting Confucian teaching. Shenzong had likewise forbidden the practice in the Yuanfeng era; it was now to be verified and carried out. Images of Lord Lao and Daoist offerings were to be moved back to Daoist temples, and images of Confucius (the Sagely Proclaimed) were to be moved to local academies, so that titles were correct and the icons of each teaching were clearly distinguished.

In the first year of the Daguan reign (1107), on the fourth day of the first month, the Department of State Affairs was ordered to draft regulations stipulating that Daoist priests (daoshi) were to be ranked above Buddhist monks, and female Daoist practitioners (nüguan) above Buddhist nuns.

In the second year of the Zhihe reign (1112), a commoner named Liang Guangying in Jiankang Prefecture had long suffered from a skin disease (traditionally referred to as lai disease, encompassing conditions such as leprosy). Fearing contagion, his family abandoned him. Liang Guangying then entered monastic life at the Yuchen Abbey on Mount Mao, where he daily carried water to support the community and slept at night outside the mountain gate, beneath the statue of the Dragon and Tiger Lords. After several years of this, one day while delivering water, he suddenly saw an elderly man with white hair, dressed in white, riding a white horse with a red mane; purple clouds enveloped the elder, and a brilliant light emanated from his person, illuminating the mountains and rivers.

Two men preceding him held tally-staffs and called out loudly: "The Supreme Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun) has arrived!" Liang Guangying immediately prostrated himself and kowtowed. The Lord Lao said to him: "I have a scripture called the Scripture of the Heavenly Child for Protecting Life (Tiantong Huming Miaojing), which has circulated in the world for a long time. Have you heard of it?" Liang Guangying replied: "I have not heard of it." The Lord Lao said: "I now transmit it to you; you must memorize it. Recite this scripture and bathe with the water over which you have recited it, and your illness will be cured. You may also use it to help others." Thereupon the Lord Lao recited the scripture. The Scripture of the Heavenly Child for Protecting Life that circulates in the world today is said to be this very text.

In the eighth month of the sixth year (1116), the court issued an edict stating: The honorific title "Supreme Lord of Primordial Virtue" (Hunyuan Shangde Huangdi) of the Supreme Lord Lao, the character "Er," the style name "Boyang," and designations such as "Dan" all appear in scriptures and biographies; yet now many among scholars and commoners use these as personal names, which is highly disrespectful. Henceforth, the use of these names is strictly forbidden.

The edict of the eleventh month states: When the Zhou dynasty declined, a sage appeared in China who left ninety-nine works for later ages. He lived in quiet ease, keeping company only with the divine; how could ordinary people glimpse the depth of his attainment?

Sima Qian and Ban Gu of the Han dynasty both had limited vision and were swayed by private bias. In their accounts of Laozi they ranked him with figures such as Han Fei and Shen Buhai; in the “Table of Ancient and Modern Figures” they even placed Liezi, Ziyou, and Zixia ahead of Laozi. Laozi should now be honored anew. The “Biography of Laozi” in the Records of the Grand Historian should stand first among the biographical chapters, in a rank of its own; the “Table of Ancient and Modern Figures” in the Book of Han should likewise place Laozi in the category of “supreme sage,” and existing versions should be corrected accordingly.

Regarding the recent annotation of the Daodejing (classic of the Way and Virtue), the Tang precedent may be followed: ministers should be ordered to divide the text by chapter, punctuate it, have it written and carved in stone, and set it up at the Shenxiao Wanshou Palace in the capital, so that it may be preserved for posterity.

In the Shiji Suoyin (Searching for the Obscure in the Records of the Grand Historian), Sima Zhen held that Sima Qian’s pairing Laozi and Han Fei in a single biography was a mistake, because their teachings diverged completely and they ought not to share one account. Earlier scholars had already said as much, which is why the preface states: Laozi (style name Boyang) took quietude, emptiness, and wuwei (non-action) as his teaching, while Han Fei advocated harsh, meticulous codification of laws; one revered stillness, the other valued activity, and their positions on rule by virtue versus rule by punishment stood opposed.

Today, placing the Keeper of the Archives (Laozi, who once served as archivist of the Zhou royal storehouse) together with the Master of Qiyuan (Zhuangzi, who once served as clerk of Qiyuan) in one biography, while ranking the Master (Laozi) alongside Lord Shang (Shang Yang)—would that not be more fitting? Now, by imperial order Laozi’s biography has been raised to the head of the biographical section and given a rank of its own, which is all the more appropriate.

In the preface to the “Tables of Ancient and Modern Figures” in Han Shu (Book of Han), Ban Gu divided figures past and present into nine grades and placed Laozi in the third grade. Bian Shao of the Eastern Han said that Ban Gu took Laozi’s “abolish the sages, discard wisdom” and his view that “ritual is the root of disorder” as grounds to demote him below Confucius, ranking him with Zixi of Chu. Their judgments differ sharply—truly, when paths diverge, it is hard to plan together. Bian Shao also said that the stature of great men is not something ordinary people can fix with grades; how could a nine-rank list harm Laozi’s renown?

Lu Xisheng of the Tang likewise said that Confucius went in person to see Laozi and asked him about ritual—a fact beyond dispute—yet Ban Gu still lowered Laozi to the third grade. Even if rank could be lowered, how could the value of the Dao (the Way) be diminished on that account? These are views the world broadly accepts.

Hence Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang once issued an edict elevating Laozi’s biography in the Shiji to the rank of “Supreme Sage”; our dynasty has now issued a similar decree. One may say that the intent of sage rulers of earlier ages and of later ages is one and the same.

The Dao is not present everywhere in the same way. Since the Han dynasty, people have divided various teachings into different categories; worldly customs gradually became shallow and vulgar, so the great Dao as a whole could no longer be seen, and the Dao thus fell into obscurity. I intend to reorganize and revive this matter, trace teaching back to its roots, and allow the doctrines of the Yellow Emperor, Laozi, Yao, Shun, the Duke of Zhou, and Confucius to coexist in the present age. Students in schools throughout the realm may add to their study of major and minor scriptures and choose what to pursue according to their own inclination.

Major scriptures include the Huangdi Nejing (Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic) and the Daodejing (Classic of the Way and Virtue); minor scriptures include the Zhuangzi and the Liezi. From now on, those who wish to enter study of the Dao must be verified by their prefecture or county and receive a certificate stating that they have not been punished by law and have not committed the ten abominations (traditionally defined grave crimes), debauchery, theft, or violations of the eight virtues (eight kinds of moral conduct), before they may be permitted to study in prefectural or county schools, in accordance with the current school system.

Scriptures to be studied take the Huangdi Nejing and Daodejing as major texts, the Zhuangzi and Liezi as minor texts; in addition they must also master Confucian classics so that their learning forms one integrated whole. Daoist scriptures and the Yijing (Book of Changes) are listed as major scriptures; the Mencius is listed as a minor scripture.

In the past there were only titles such as “Master,” “Dharma Master,” “Recluse,” and “Great Master,” but corresponding official ranks were few. Since the titles were honored, they ought to have matching official grades, yet immediate promotion was not easy. Therefore, besides retaining the old designations, persons selected from the schools may be granted scholar status according to the following grades and entered into the official rank system:

Yuanshi (Primordial Scholar) at regular fifth rank; Gaoshi (Exalted Scholar) at secondary fifth rank; Dashi (Great Scholar) at regular sixth rank, Shangshi (Upper Scholar) at secondary sixth rank; Liangshi (Good Scholar) at regular seventh rank, Fangshi (Method Scholar) at secondary seventh rank; Yishi (Retired Scholar) at regular eighth rank, Jushi (Lay Scholar) at secondary eighth rank; Yinshi (Hidden Scholar) at regular ninth rank, with “Zhi” (Aspiration) at secondary ninth rank.

Daoist officials received their salaries and material supplies according to their respective ranks and grades. The directors (zhiguan) and deputy directors of the Shenxiao Jade Pure Longevity Palace, Tianqing Temple, and other temples were all appointed from among those who had passed the civil service examinations and held formal educational credentials. The Ministry of Rites registered them, compiled the rolls, and arranged appointments, following procedures modeled on the Ministry of Personnel’s system for assigning government posts. As for recluses in the mountains and forests who cultivated lofty purity, the surveillance commissioners and prefectural and county magistrates were ordered, in accordance with the “Eight Conducts” method (a standard for assessing moral conduct), to invite them with due ceremony to enter the prefectural schools and to report their names upward.

Later, Minister of Rites Xue Sichang submitted a memorial proposing that the Ministry of Rites issue authenticated documents bearing official seals to its subordinate agencies; the emperor approved with an imperial rescript.

On the same day an edict was issued: icons of Zhuang Zhou (Zhuangzi) and Lie Yukou (Liezi) were to be installed in the Shenxiao Jade Pure Longevity Palace, and places for their associated sacrifice were to be assigned. This matter was also reported for the record.

Later, Minister of Rites Xue Sichang submitted a memorial proposing that the Ministry of Rites issue authenticated documents bearing official seals to its subordinate agencies; the emperor approved with an imperial rescript.

On the same day another edict was issued concerning Zhuang Zhou and Lie Yukou.