《混元圣记》Vol. 7

The emperor ordered divine images to be installed at the Shenxiao Yujing Wanshou Palace and had Zhuangzi and Liezi enshrined as associate deities in the temple of the Supreme Lord Lao (Tai Shang Lao Jun), to express his reverence for the great Dao. This decision is recorded in earlier imperial edicts. Compiler Wang Li submitted a memorial stating that while the court honored Confucius and enshrined Yan Hui and Mencius as associate sacrifices, with all three granted the rank of duke, Zhuangzi and Liezi were still treated merely as figures among the various masters and schools, without special recognition. He asked that the rites for honoring and sacrificing to them be studied and defined, and the emperor issued an edict to that effect.

On the ninth day of the sixth month of the first year of the Xuanhe reign (1119), the emperor decreed: Zhuang Zhou was enfeoffed as the “True Lord of Subtle Penetration and Mastery of the Way” (Weimiao Yuantong Zhenjun), and Lie Yukou as the “True Lord of Reaching Emptiness and Contemplating the Subtle” (Zhixu Guanmiao Zhenjun), with investiture ceremonies performed according to ritual. In the eighth month of the same year, officials compiling the history of the Dao reported on how far that work should extend in time. The emperor ordered that material from the Longhan era through the Five Dynasties be compiled as the History of the Dao (Daoshi), and material from the present dynasty as the Canon of the Dao (Daodian).

On the third day of the eleventh month of the third year of Xuanhe (1121), the emperor issued an edict to the supervisor of the Daolu Academy (the office in charge of Daoist affairs): the History of the Dao then in compilation should not follow the format of ordinary dynastic histories. Where the structures of works such as the Records of the Historian and Book of Han offered useful models, those might be adopted; the category of “tables,” however, need not be set up without good reason. The annals of the Dao were to begin from the separation of Heaven and Earth, opening with the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing). Emperors who had attained the Dao since the Three Sovereigns were to be arranged in chronological “basic annals” (ji). The work was to include twelve “monographs” (zhi), treating respectively Heaven, Earth, palaces and offices, ranks and grades, ceremonial dress, talismans and registers (fulu), ritual norms, prohibitions and laws, cultivation and refinement, elixir and stone, sacred writings, and precious books. Male immortals were to be recorded starting with figures such as Fenghou and Limu; female immortals starting with the Nine Spirit Primordial Lady (Jiuling Yuanjun) and others; and all subjects and common people who had attained the Dao were likewise to receive biographies arranged in chronological order.

The Records of Lord Li, Later Sage of the Golden Portal (Jinque Housheng Lijun Ji), composed by Qingtong Dajun (Great Lord of the Green Youth), immortal officer of Fangzhu Palace, states: as Yin and Yang qi separate and unite, wax and wane, the ordering of the ten thousand things each has its season; the way of Yin and Yang knows deficit and surplus, and human emergence and withdrawal from the world likewise follow the turn of fortune. When the moment arrives, one acts with the trend; when fortune comes, one goes forth to support it.

After the Tang received the Mandate of Heaven, forty-six dinghai years passed; then another fifty-six dinghai years. The power-holders of this span bore the name “Jiu-yi of vertical and horizontal.” After the Jianguang and Yanchang reign periods, by the jiashen years, people of various good deeds appeared in succession; they cleared away cruelty and the plagues of the people. Floodwaters met from above; war and fire encircled from below; evil and violent men were destroyed. Those who loved the Dao hid in mountains and forests; the good climbed heights to leave the world.

On the sixth day of the third month of the renchen year, the Sage Lord of the Golden Portal descended into the human realm, and his light shone upon all. At that time the sage set out from Qingcheng, passed through Longxi and the north of Yun, and surveyed the lands beyond Zhulong.

North of the northern black kingdom stands a mountain that pierces the sky; ice and snow cover it in all four seasons, and by day the sun is not seen. Facing north, the light is instead all the brighter. At night, looking upward, one sees the pole star—that is where Zhulong dwells. Zhulong is the god of the north. The Classic of Mountains and Seas says: Beyond the northwestern sea there is a spirit with a human face and serpent body, red in color; when he closes his eyes, night becomes bright. He neither eats nor sleeps. This is Zhuyin, also called Zhulong—like a torch he can illuminate the four directions.

Patrolling westward to inspect the passes of the nine rivers, he bound them between the dawn and dusk of Fulin; gazing south toward Mount Zhu, he ascended in the Flying Car of Three Pures (a celestial vehicle formed from three clear qi), attended by myriad dragons in procession. Heaven’s light shone everywhere, and the spirits mirrored sun, moon, and stars; thus the wicked were destroyed by fire and water, and the people were nurtured through compassion and good conduct.

Those who first set out on the Dao could become immortals (xian); those who attained the Dao could become immortal officials (xianguan). If one could deeply practice the Dongfang (Inner Chamber) method in the primordial realm of the upper origin, diligently cultivate the Nine Truths (jiuzhen), follow the hidden writings of the Seven Spirits (qiling), and sincerely exhaust the subtle uses of the Basu (eight purity classics), one would pass through the three calamities unharmed and surely witness the renewal of the Great Peace. Such persons would also receive immortal scriptures and become immortal officials, living without death.

Thereafter the sage lord would further examine their talents and select them to fill posts in the immortal realm: some would rank as immortal lords (xianbo), others would be enfeoffed as immortal marquises (xianhou), assisting the sage lord in governing the myriad beings, regulating qi, and bestowing grace; some would be charged with a city, others entrusted with a whole country.

If one could practice Yuyi (solar cultivation associated with the sun deity) to summon the sun and perform rites; borrow Jielin (lunar cultivation associated with moon essence) to gather moon radiance and recite incantations; cultivate the Great Cavern (Dadong) methods and contemplate the turning patterns of the seven transformations; follow the true scripture of the Golden Gate Palace (Jinque), wear the great Divine Tiger talisman (shenhu dafu), apply the methods of the eight directions to bind spirits, open the Purple Scripture (ziwen) to command flight, recite the Golden Root scripture (jingen) for lasting existence, and receive charge over a nation; and further establish the Nine Vermillion (jiuchi) to seal mountains, command Qusu to summon spirits, employ the Zidu method to reveal the hidden, hold the qi of the Five Phases (wuxing) to call ghosts and gods, embrace Langgan jade in sustained practice, pass trials without doubt or fear, and face blades, fire, and water without dread—such persons could all take rank as left and right immortal lords (xianggong), left and right grand masters (dafu), or serve as ministers and chancellors, or become immortal marquises of a superior state.

The sage lord rode myriad dragons from the void in order to inspect the immortals and assign offices according to each one’s capacity. Though he ruled billions of people and looked down upon all living beings, he could still roam freely at the Golden Gate, dwell in the halls of Highest Clarity (Shangqing), rest his form in the Great Void, wander the Five Cities (wucheng), and illuminate the ten directions so that all lands returned to Great Peace. The closing note repeats that the dragon throngs in attendance displayed the immortals and that offices were granted according to each person’s talent.

Although the Holy Lord (here referring to the Supreme Lord Lao) was enfeoffed to govern vast numbers of people, he still cared for all beings under heaven. Therefore he departed from the carefree Golden Gate (immortal palace), dwelt in the upper pure halls and abodes, his form resting in the Great Void (the vast, formless expanse), roaming the Five Cities and surveying the ten directions of heaven, so that everywhere might know peace.

Those in the world who can behold scenes of peace are people of compassionate hearts, thick kindness, and steadfast good deeds. Some are students of the Way who cultivate to realization and can teach and guide others; some are spirit-persons who have received books from heaven, who guard essence-qi and nurture fetal breath; some are immortals who have attained the Way through sincere, devoted practice; some have their names recorded on the mysterious registers (heaven’s rolls), with seven generations of ancestors virtuous, blessing extending to descendants, fated by destiny to become immortals; some are born with “green bone” and can connect with spirits and receive the true; still others are naturally outstanding, quiet and transcendent, with pure and exceptional nature, loyal, filial, upright, and incorrupt. Grades of immortality rank high and low; subdivided, they number in the hundreds. The Holy Lord assigns each person duties according to capacity, making them greater or lesser immortal lords; each lord has a rank and title and governs the corresponding host. Once a year the lords ascend to the upper pure court to pay homage to the Holy Lord and receive their charges; every five years the Holy Lord descends to tour the lower realm, visiting the lords, inspecting the people under their care, and examining governance in the immortal realm.

It is said that in the future Lord Lao will descend in person as the True Lord of Great Peace—hence he is also called “the Later Holy Lord of the Golden Gate.” When people submit memorials, present calling cards, or offer petitions in writing, they all ask that documents reach “His Majesty the Jade Emperor of Great Peace, the Later Holy and Mysterious Primordial Way, Supreme Lord Lao of the Grand Clarity.” This is because Lord Lao is honored as lord of the twelve hundred official lords and also as chief deity of the twelve hundred kinds of memorials and petitions. When sealing documents they use the seal of the “Nine Elders, Lord of the Immortal Capital”—also because Lord Lao is called Lord of the Nine Elders of the Immortal Capital.

Superior adepts (high-level cultivators who have achieved the Way) clarify mind and spirit, focus contemplation, and after praying receive a response. Such efficacy is close at hand, even visible and audible to people; yet what gets written down is no more than a speck of dust on the great earth. Lord Lao travels the three realms, saving boundless beings; the forms he shows are sometimes immortal auspicious signs, sometimes fleshly bodies; sometimes he flies, sometimes walks; sometimes he is noble, sometimes humble; sometimes he appears at court, sometimes among common folk; he can manifest in answer to requests and vanish just as quickly. When he comes there is no trail to follow; when he goes, no one knows where; appearing and hiding, he pervades all places. True body and transformation bodies ultimately return to the inconceivable realm of subtle being.

Words of praise cannot fully express the reverence owed to him, and written accounts cannot exhaust all his deeds. Here we have provisionally drawn on old reports from scriptures and historical records and arranged them into the True Record.

End of juan 9 of the Hunyuan Shengji (Sacred Chronicle of the Primordial Origin). Collation note: Certain characters in the text were corrected or supplied according to the Jiyao edition.