《章献明肃皇后受上清毕法箓记》

Our Great Song, in accord with the Mandate of Heaven, had reached the third year of the reign of its fourth sovereign, the Sage Ruler. The Sage Mother, Empress Dowager Liu, was endowed by Heaven with spiritual brilliance and had received the Qi (vital energy) and Shen (spirit) of the Three Origins. She lived in an age of flourishing fortune and clear governance. Within the palace she kept the imperial clan in harmony, and at court she set the affairs of government in order. In the intervals of state business, her mind dwelt in emptiness and stillness, and her spirit rested in a distant, silent realm. It was as though the Golden Consort were dusting her mat in the Hall of Jade-Green Splendor, and Yuhua were scattering fragrance in her chamber of pure quiet.

She also cleared her mind and sat in contemplation, reciting the Huangting (Yellow Court) scriptures of the Two Radiances, and devoted herself to inner cultivation, never wearying morning or night. This was not merely to restrain the hun and po souls. It was to follow the teachings of the high Perfected and the sages, to return to the root and revert to simplicity, and thereby to shelter all the people under Heaven. As a result she was able to visualize the Qi of the Three Whites and to welcome, with proper ritual, the Nine Perfected (the nine Immortals of the Shangqing realm). Efficacious signs appeared one after another. The Perfected Lady of the South seemed to draw near, and the Queen Mother of the West seemed to gaze down from the shadows. The responses grew clearer day by day, and the merit of her practice steadily increased. This shows that the immortal Way can be learned, and that its methods are no empty talk.

The Empress Dowager nevertheless considered her studies still shallow and felt she had not reached the source of the great Dao (the Way). She had heard that Lady Wei, the Primal Sovereign of Purple Void on Mount Nanyue, had received the Shangqing Dadong Baojing (Precious Scripture of the Great Cavern of Highest Clarity) and other spiritual texts and secret records in the jiazi year of the Xingning era of the Eastern Jin (363 CE), from the Perfected Lord Wang of Pure Void, the Celestial King of Xiaoyou. These scriptures were then transmitted to the Perfected Yang, Assistant of the Eastern Florescence and Director of Destinies on Mount Mao, and from him to Xu, the Registrar and Marquis of Highest Clarity. Thereafter the lineage of the Perfected continued unbroken, passing from generation to generation on Mount Mao, and the transmission of the immortals spread far and wide.

The Empress Dowager therefore issued an edict to the feathered adepts of the Yuqing Zhaoying Palace, including the Master of Profound Subtlety, Huangfu Xiji, and others. They were to examine Lady Wei's writings and study the biographies and works of the Perfected Yang and Registrar Xu. They found the three grades of Shangqing divine scriptures, the Hidden Writings of Jade Clarity, and the Secret Canons of the Nine Pures. They also found the records known as the Two Tigers of the Golden Spirit, the Jade Register of the Eight Radiances, the Register of the Jade Names of the Supreme Sovereign and the Primordial Beginning, the Flowing Gold and Fire Bell, the Returning Carriage and the Completed Way, the Jade Tallies of the Three Origins, the Spirit Writ of the Nine Phoenixes, the Purple Pattern and White Sash, the Yellow Book of Great Tenuity, and the Numinous Flight of the Jasper Palace. These came to ten fascicles in all, with a further fifteen fascicles of scriptures such as the Golden Immortal and Jade Horse.

In accordance with the ritual regulations, they prepared the ritual implements and offerings, leaving nothing out. These included the golden dragons, jade fish, golden sheep, and silver horses; blue silk cords with golden fastenings; brocade with phoenix patterns; fine white silk of Nanhe; silks for the Jade-Green Cloud whisk; crimson silk for the covenant oath; the spirit sword of the Four Rules, Bright Radiance, and Quaking Scenery; garments of five-colored silk for transcending the world; Shangqing ritual vestments; covenant documents; and other gifts. First, envoys from the palace were sent to Mount Nanyue with a secret prayer to report to the Primal Sovereign of Purple Void and to ask for her assent from the unseen realm.

Next, the Empress Dowager commanded officials of the Palace Attendants Bureau, Kang Congzheng, Jiang Deyong, and others, together with several Daoists. These were Li Zhisun, Assistant Registrar of the Right Street and Director of the Yuqing Zhaoying Palace; Shi Zhizhang, Abbot of the Shouning Abbey; and Zhou Suiliang, Vice Steward of the Yuqing Zhaoying Palace, along with the abbots Huangfu Xiji and Xue Qinghe. They carried the written announcements to the spirits, including the green-script prayers and yellow silk memorials, together with the ritual offerings, to the Chongxi Abbey on Mount Mao in Jiangning Prefecture. There they set up the Shangqing Imperial Altar and held a retreat of seven days and nights to open the Jade Registers in advance.

During the retreat, on the days of lesser purification, they set out three hundred and sixty offering portions according to the Keyi (liturgy) and transmitted the registers. After the transmission was complete, they held a further three-day rite of thanksgiving and performed a great fast for all the Daoists and female Daoists of the mountain. In the course of the rites, they cast golden dragons, jade tablets, golden rings, and jade fish into the Huayang Cave, the Wu Cave, and the water palace of Mount Jin. By this they sealed their covenant with the Seven Sages and offered their sincerity to the Nine Pures, completing the rite of conferring and receiving the registers and fulfilling the proper courtesies between master and disciple.

At the start, on the day of departure for Mount Mao, spirit cranes flew low to greet the procession. On the night the retreat was established, clouds spread far across the sky. The Daoists wrote the true script with dew, sought a response, and first set forth their sincere prayers. The lamps burned brightly, the stars and moon shone, the hundred spirits bestowed blessings and auspicious signs, and the spirits of the Five Peaks protected the rites and sent down good fortune.

At midnight a light breeze suddenly rose, followed by a passing shower. Soon the Milky Way shone clearly and the moonlight was bright. People said that the Wind Lord had swept the altar and the Rain Master had sprinkled and cleansed the mats. Judging by these signs, it seemed that the ritual had truly been answered.

On the day the registers were transmitted, a radiance like the Nine Mists shone and flickered, and the Qi of the Three Whites turned to light smoke drifting in the air. Cranes gathered, rainbow-like banners gleamed, and the procession of the immortals seemed to appear while the myriad spirits stood in reverent silence. As the ritual objects were distributed and the covenants signed, white cranes flew above the altar and crimson clouds ringed the sky. A fragrant wind swept over the crowd, and a wondrous perfume filled the fields. The onlookers stood as thick as a wall, and none failed to marvel and rejoice.

The paths of the Daoist arts are many, yet their study follows an order. The marvelous Way has no fixed form, yet sincerity moves it without delay. All this shows how single-minded and unflagging the Empress Dowager's devotion was. Her conduct accorded with the principles of Yin-Yang, firm and yielding. She won the reverence of both humans and spirits, drew down the immortal powers, and harmonized with the profound and subtle Way. Without virtue accumulated over long ages and a supreme foundation perfected over many lifetimes of cultivation, who could attain such a state?

From this we know that a good beginning is precious, but only one who plans well and perseveres to the end is truly complete. If one follows the great Dao, why worry about failing to achieve what is good? Continuing thus, she will receive in succession the treasures of the immortal realms: the flying-mist carriage of the Eight Radiances, the banquet of flowing clouds of the Three Origins, the delicacy of the Ten Essences of returning waters, and the feast of the Nine-Colored Phoenix marrow.

We look up in reverence at the Empress Dowager's sagely intention. She carried out the secretly transmitted scriptures in order to make solemn announcement to Heaven, to keep the true sovereign in peace, to secure the lasting continuation of the dynasty, to bring bountiful harvests to the people year after year, to end warfare forever, and to let all share in prosperity and long life. As for the Empress Dowager's own long life, her endless blessings, the flourishing of the imperial line, and her grace toward all living beings under Heaven, these too should follow in the same way.

Surveying the great events of this age, and examining matters that earlier rulers left unrecorded, I have respectfully and truthfully written this commemorative inscription. Recorded on the twenty-third day, gengchen, of the fourth month of the jiazi year, the second year of the Tiansheng era (1024 CE).

A record of Empress Zhangxian Mingsu receiving the Bifa Registers (Bifa lu) of the Shangqing tradition.

"Shangqing" (Highest Purity) is one of the major branches of Daoism. The "Bifa Registers" refer to the Fulu (talismans and registers) conferred by the Daoist tradition, symbolizing that the recipient has obtained the corresponding transmission of Daoist methods as well as the status that comes with it.