《三洞法服科戒文》

Clothes serve to display rank and station. Divine perfected beings of differing endowments and positions each have their own corresponding rules of dress, divided altogether into nine grades. Listen carefully, and I will explain them to you.

The first grade is the Dharma King of the Great Veil Heaven, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning. He wears a nine-colored precious crown capable of myriad transformations in an instant, a cloud mantle formed naturally through a thousand transformations, a splendid azure-brocade skirt produced through tenfold transmutation and nine changes, and precious shoes patterned with seven radiances and fourfold illumination. The immortal perfected who attend him on either side wear the same attire.

The second grade is the Dharma King of Jade Clarity, the Formless Celestial Worthy. He wears a seven-colored precious crown capable of a thousand transformations in an instant, a flying-cloud mantle of a hundred transformations that gathers and disperses freely, a kingfisher-brocade flying skirt produced through ninefold transmutation and seven changes, brocade shoes patterned with seven radiances, fourfold illumination, and flowing aurora, and cinnabar-cloud embroidered shoes formed through the transformation of the seven treasures. The immortal perfected who attend him on either side are the same.

The third grade is the Dharma King of Supreme Clarity, the Nameless Celestial Worthy. He wears a five-colored precious crown capable of a hundred transformations in an instant, a flowing-empyrean mantle formed by the gathering and dispersing of ten kinds of transformation, a yellow-brocade aurora skirt produced through eightfold transmutation and five changes, brocade shoes patterned with seven radiances, fourfold illumination, and flying light, and natural jasper shoes formed through five-colored transformation. The immortal perfected who attend him on either side are the same.

The fourth grade is the Dharma King of Great Clarity, the Celestial Worthy of the Great One. He wears a lotus-essence precious crown capable of ten transformations in an instant, a five-cloud splendid mantle formed by the gathering and dispersing of nine kinds of transformation, a purple-brocade feathered skirt produced through sevenfold transmutation and four changes, cinnabar shoes patterned with seven radiances, fourfold illumination, and mysterious light, and shoes on which a lion pattern appears of itself. The immortal perfected who attend him on either side are the same.

The fifth grade is the Markless Celestial Worthy who teaches and transforms living beings within the Four Brahma Heavens. He wears a floral crown of flowing essence that outshines the sun, a mantle of the dark phoenix and jasper blossoms, a flying skirt of kingfisher brocade and cinnabar feathers, precious shoes patterned with five radiances and scenic clouds, and shoes patterned with transforming flying dragons. The immortal perfected who attend him on either side wear the same attire. Purple mantles with azure skirts, gray-green mantles with cinnabar skirts, green mantles with crimson skirts, cinnabar mantles with yellow skirts, yellow mantles with plain skirts, and crimson-dragon brocade skirts are likewise garments worn by the attendant perfected.

From the Four Brahma Heavens upward, all garments are formed by the condensation of natural wondrous Qi (vital energy), like flying clouds and flowing empyrean. They manifest nine-colored precious light, and from this the myriad things are transformed and brought forth. The length and size of the clothes change with the realm and the bodily form in which one dwells. Some radiate light on all four sides, bright and resplendent like a round wheel, their brilliance visible near and far and transforming of themselves; some are interwoven of nine colors and emit myriad splendors; some display colored patterns of dragons and phoenixes, or flow like mountains and waters, changing without end and difficult to name. City walls and palace towers, halls and pavilions, flowers, grasses, birds, and beasts, carriages, vessels, and implements, banners, curtains, and seats, as well as every kind of ritual object, likewise appear of themselves in response to causes and conditions. They have no fixed substance to begin with, now hidden and now manifest, shifting without constancy.

The sixth grade comprises the immortal perfected and holy hosts in the heavens of the Formless Realm, together with the celestial emperors. They wear flying-cloud precious crowns, nine-colored seamless mantles, splendid kingfisher-dragon skirts, five-colored brocade shoes, and auspicious-luan jasper shoes. These garments all arise of themselves and come in accordance with thought. Palaces and terraces, carriages and implements, objects of enjoyment, gardens, flowers, and fruits, music, and ritual objects—everything required—are likewise so.

The seventh grade comprises the immortal perfected and holy hosts in the heavens of the Realm of Form, together with the celestial emperors. They wear lotus dawn crowns, flying-cloud brocade mantles, flying skirts of crimson empyrean, brocade shoes of flowing radiance, and shoes patterned with jasper phoenixes. Although these garments have form, they are not made by worldly artisans but arise naturally. The places where they dwell, the carriages and mounts they ride, and the ritual objects they use can also appear at the prompting of the mind, transforming freely and unlike ordinary things.

The eighth grade comprises the immortal perfected and holy hosts in the heavens of the Realm of Desire. They wear crowns of pearl and jade, mantles of the five clouds, flying-blossom kingfisher skirts, feathered shoes of flowing light, and shoes patterned with ninefold light. Some of these garments are taken from things that grow within their own realm, some are obtained from the various heavens, and some are presented by deities and immortals of the lower realms and then woven and made. They do not require the labor involved in making clothes in the lower realms. Their dwellings, palaces, carriages, and ritual objects are likewise so.

The ninth grade comprises the deities of the numinous palaces on the mountains, the various divine immortals in the grotto-residences of the Five Marchmounts and famous mountains, and the numinous officials, perfected officials, and deities who guard localities and each attend to their own duties. They wear crowns of the seven treasures, nine-light aurora mantles, flying azure splendid skirts, cloud-brocade embroidered shoes, and shoes patterned with luan and phoenixes. These garments are all made from the brocades and fine silks of the various heavens and the rare treasures of the lower realms; some are produced through transformation and refinement, and not by the ordinary methods of the world. At times they ride luan and drive cranes, or harness numinous beasts such as dragons, tigers, white deer, and lions; they travel on flying clouds and cinnabar empyrean, in green carriages and jasper wheels, holding banners, drums and cadence-staffs, and Fulu (talismans and registers), entering and leaving the human world and arriving at once whenever the mind is stirred.

Sometimes perfected immortals of the upper realms descend into the world to teach and transform living beings, and according to the circumstances of the moment wear clothing similar to that of the human world. When perfected immortals of the lower realms ascend in audience before the various heavens, the clothing they wear and the carriages they ride approach those of the upper realms and can transform of themselves. Such matters truly lie beyond what the knowledge of ordinary people can fathom.

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) asked further: “Clothes are originally worn by bodies that have form. Now that the supreme sages have no bodily form, why are clothes still provided for them?”

The Most High says that a sage who has reached the supreme realm has no fixed bodily form and originally has no need of clothing. Only in order to manifest traces in the human world does such a sage put on clothes.

The Most High further says that if a sage returns to original truth and abides in the realm of clarity, stillness, and natural spontaneity, not even form or shadow exists, still less any wearing of clothes. Although sages now manifest their traces, they may broadly be divided into nine grades, which come down to two kinds of clothing.

The first is called “the clothing of no-clothing.” It applies to sages above the Four Brahma Heavens. Their wondrous bodies are spontaneous and shift without any fixed pattern; originally they have no bodily form, sometimes withdrawing into concealment and sometimes appearing. In order to receive and guide ordinary people, they temporarily put on clothes and, according to differing circumstances, manifest the teaching. This is called originally having no clothes, yet displaying the appearance of having clothes, so as to show themselves as the same as ordinary people.

The second is called “the clothing of having clothes.” It applies to cultivators of the Dao (the Way) within the Three Realms, down through ranks such as Qixian (Forsaking the Worthy). Their bodies are still relatively coarse and heavy and have not yet fully united with the Dao; therefore, in travel and in dwelling alike, they must observe the corresponding rites. Clothing differs according to the level of practice. There are seven kinds in all, which should be worn according to regulation; even when the fortunes of a kalpa decline, these rules do not change.

Those newly entered upon the gate of the Dao wear a flat crown and a yellow pei. Priests of the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) tradition wear a dark crown shaped like a hibiscus, a yellow skirt, and a crimson he robe. Those who cultivate the way of the Dao and De (Virtue/Power) wear a yellow he robe and a dark headcloth. Those of the Dongshen (Cavern of Spirit) rank wear a dark crown and a blue-green he robe.

Those of the Dongxuan (Cavern of Mystery) rank wear a yellow he robe and a dark crown, with a yellow skirt below. The crown is shaped like a lotus and may have four faces and two leaves. The he robe uses three zhang and six chi of cloth—zhang, chi, and cun being traditional Chinese units of length—and the garment is three chi and six cun long. For women, two zhang and four chi of cloth are used, and the garment is two chi and four cun long. The sleeves, collar, sash, and the parts that cover the body must all be made to fit. The pei is made in thirty-two strips, using two zhang and four chi of cloth; the method for twenty-four strips is the same for men and women.

Those of the Dongzhen (Cavern of Perfection) rank use thirty-six chi of purple gauze for the he robe and the pei, and the length of the garment follows the regulations of the Dongxuan rank. The inner lining is blue-green, and the sleeves, collar, and sash are all made as required. The outer layer has twenty-five strips and the inner layer fourteen, together making thirty-nine strips. With these they wear a skirt of soaring blue-green blossoms and a precious lotus crown, which may have four faces and three leaves and is called the “Crown of the Primordial Beginning.” A woman’s he robe uses two zhang and four chi of purple gauze and is two chi and four cun long, with twenty-three strips for the body and sixteen for the two sleeves, together making thirty-nine strips. She wears a blue-green gauze skirt and the Crown of Flying Clouds and Phoenix Qi (vital energy).

Masters who expound the teaching of the Three Caverns wear Shangqing (Highest Clarity) vestments, and further adorn the garments with patterns of nine colors. The sleeves and pei may also be decorated with five-colored clouds and roseate mists, or with designs of mountains and waters. They wear the precious Crown of the Primordial Beginning, jade ring-pendants, hold a ceremonial tablet, and wear shoes patterned with lions. All of these together are called “ritual vestments.” Heavenly men and heavenly women, jade lads and jade maidens, all attend and protect those who wear the ritual vestments. One must not falsely assume this costume or wear it amiss. The various heavens will revere it, and the host of demons will likewise be constrained by it. Those who cultivate the Dao should be careful and diligent.

“Pei” is, in Daoist dress, a long panel of cloth draped over the body; “he” here means the outer robe worn by a Daoist priest. The details in the original concerning measurements, numbers of strips, and the like are the concrete requirements by which the vestment regulations are fixed according to different ranks.

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) asked, “What kind of ritual robes should Daoist priests who inherit the sacred teaching in later generations wear?”

The Most High (Taishang) replied, “In the future, men and women who cultivate my methods of the Dao (the Way), abandon secular life, and leave the household should receive and uphold the Fulu (talismans and registers), scriptures (Jing), and precepts of the Three Caverns (Dongzhen/Dongxuan/Dongshen—the three classes of Daoist scriptures and methods), and wear ritual robes (fafu) according to these regulations. The ritual robes must correspond to the rank of the scriptures and precepts one has received; one must not claim them falsely, wear them in error, or confuse the grades of immortals and perfected beings. In daily life one should keep them clean, burn incense beside them, and not allow the ritual robes to be stained with filth, lest one profane the immortal spirits.

“The crown (guan) means ‘contemplation’ (guan). Wearing the crown reminds one to contemplate inwardly: to cherish one’s own person, to sustain oneself by the Dao, to restrain the six emotions (joy, anger, sorrow, delight, love, and aversion), to curb craving, to make the mind empty and still, to wash away the dust of worldly toil and distracting thoughts, to hold sincerity and reverence at every moment, and to strive to attain the fruit of the Dao. One should also contemplate the myriad things outwardly and understand that none of them belongs to oneself; if one rashly gives rise to craving and attachment, one will confuse and disturb the original mind. Therefore one should discern the mysterious principle and constantly keep oneself free of desire. Cultivated in this way, De (Virtue/Power) becomes manifest in one’s person. Emulating the three luminaries—the sun, the moon, and the stars—one makes the inner and the outer clear and bright, like a lotus born into the world yet untouched by defilement. The flower is the beginning of the fruit; the crown worn upon the head symbolizes perfect completion and unobstructed penetration.

“The cape (pei) means ‘to drape and spread forth.’ Inwardly, one should open one’s heart and harbor no impurity; outwardly, one should proclaim the Dao and De and awaken living beings, so that inner and outer communicate and each receives aid. One should at all times teach and deliver living beings, giving every being a refuge—this is what matters most.

“The coarse robe (he) means ‘to check’ and ‘to cut off.’ Inwardly, one should restrain passion and desire so that they do not show themselves, and sever the faculties (the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind that perceive the external world) so that desires no longer arise. Outwardly, one should check greedy grasping and not allow external things to enter the mind, and cut away attachment to the myriad things so that afflictions are ended forever. When both inner and outer can be checked and cut off, one forgets the distinction between things and the self. When one cultivates the Dao and recites the scriptures, the coarse robe is indispensable.

“The skirt (qun) means ‘the multitude’ (qun). Inwardly, one should cut off every kind of delusion; outwardly, one should remove every kind of entanglement, and gather in and teach the myriad things, bringing them into the One Vehicle (the single method that guides living beings toward liberation), so that they leave bondage forever and all alike attain liberation.

“The crown emulates Heaven and symbolizes the three luminaries—sun, moon, and stars; the skirt emulates Earth and symbolizes the Five Peaks; the cape emulates Yin-Yang and embodies the merit of transforming and generating the myriad things. Together these are called ritual robes, that is, the garments of those who leave the household to cultivate the Dao. To wear the ritual robes inwardly is to regulate one’s own six faculties and three karmas (the actions of body, speech, and mind) and to cultivate physical form and spirit (Shen); to wear them outwardly is to rescue living beings, so that humans and celestial beings in the three paths of suffering and the five destinies (the various realms of suffering and the destinations of rebirth) all receive aid, extending alike to sages and ordinary people. When one understands the principles symbolized by the ritual robes, one can revere them and put them into practice.

“The ritual robes also symbolize the garments of the Celestial Worthies, the sages, and the perfected immortals, and they bear the work of upholding the scriptures and precepts and of teaching the human world. Masters and disciples should transmit and practice them in succession, so that the true Dao may be handed down. The cultivator takes off secular clothing and puts on the dress of the immortals. The Dao can guide the myriad things, and De in one’s conduct can serve as a model for others. For this reason they are called ‘ritual robes.’”

The Most High (Taishang, the honorific by which Daoism addresses the supreme deity) said: “In former times I wore a cape of sunlight and read the Precious Scripture of the Cavern of Perfection (Dongzhen); I wore a cape of moonlight and read the True Scripture of the Cavern of Mystery (Dongxuan); I wore a cape of starlight and read the Immortal Scripture of the Cavern of Spirit (Dongshen). Only by putting on the ritual vestments can one bear the Dao (the Way); only by possessing De (Virtue/Power) can one become a model for others. For this reason, these garments are called ritual vestments (fafu).”

The Most High said further: “In former times I wore a cape of sunlight and read the Precious Scripture of Dongzhen; I wore a cape of moonlight and read the True Scripture of Dongxuan; I wore a cape of starlight and read the Immortal Scripture of Dongshen. Wearing a nine-colored liluo cape, I expounded the Great Vehicle scriptures of the Three Caverns; wearing a five-colored cloud cape, I taught and transformed the human world; wearing the cape of spontaneity, I toured the various heavens; wearing the cloud cape of myriad transformations, I ascended to hold audience in the Daluo Heaven; wearing the radiant precious cape, I descended into the world to save and deliver beings in the Three Paths of suffering (Santu—hells, hungry ghosts, animals, and other places of misery). One should always have two hundred and forty jade maidens and jade lads take charge of tending the ritual vestments, keeping them clean and offering incense before them.

Daoist priests should have a complete set of ritual vestments, set their appearance in solemn order, and, after bathing, put on the cap and ceremonial dress, so as to pay court and serve the celestial perfected (Tianzhen—the divine perfected of the heavens) and to teach and transform the people. They must not part from the ritual vestments for even a moment, nor lose a grave and dignified bearing; still less may they allow unqualified persons to wear the ritual vestments, lest they violate the relevant precepts.”

The Celestial Master (Tianshi, a Daoist honorific) bowed to the ground in salute, accepted these instructions, and undertook to observe them.

After receiving the ritual vestments, the Celestial Master at once proclaimed forty-six codes and precepts and transmitted them to later generations. The first of these provides that, without wearing the ritual vestments, one may not ascend the altar or enter stillness (entering the chamber of stillness to cultivate), nor perform rites and offer prayers, petition the deities, confess faults, or seek pardon and grace. The second reads: “Without the cap of the rite, one worships and carries out the practice.” The original text does not here explain the specific meaning of “not wearing the cap of the rite” (bu guan fa).

The Text of Liturgical Precepts on the Ritual Vestments of the Three Caverns (Sandong Fafu Kejie Wen) stipulates that when Daoist priests wear ritual vestments (Fafu)—the special garments worn in Daoist rituals—they must observe the corresponding rites and taboos.

Without ritual vestments, one may not ascend the altar or enter quiet retreat (that is, enter the meditation chamber for cultivation), perform worship and prayers, invoke the deities, or repent and seek grace. One may not approach, expound, recite, or propagate the scriptures (Jing) and precepts; nor may one observe purification fasts and precepts, or receive the worship and food offerings of others. When paying homage to one’s teacher or to elders of virtue, and when receiving the homage of disciples, one should also wear the ritual vestments. When leaving and entering one’s dwelling, walking in the world, associating with ordinary people, and when having an audience with the ruler of the state, one’s parents, and people at large, one must likewise wear the ritual vestments. When performing invocatory prohibitions and talismanic impeachments (Zhujin and Fuhe—Daoist rites of prayerful aversion, restrictive bans, and the ritual methods of Fulu, talismans and registers), and when submitting memorials and written petitions, one must also wear the ritual vestments.

When sleeping and resting, bathing and laundering, or using the toilet, one should remove the ritual vestments; on encountering mud, rain, or filthy conditions, one should remove them as well. When serving one’s teacher or parents, inspecting construction works, preparing purification offerings of flowers and fruit, planting, and similar tasks, one should not remove the ritual vestments. If, however, one is in prison, afflicted by illness, or in other special circumstances, these too are situations in which the vestments may be removed.

When the hands or feet, utensils, bedding, or carriages are unclean, when the body is exposed, when one comes into contact with birds, beasts, insects, or fish, when one’s breath is foul, or when one is in the company of persons outside one’s own lineage, one must not wear the ritual vestments. When first preparing to leave household life, one should have the ritual vestments ready beforehand. When preparing to receive the scriptures and precepts, when going to one’s master to request transmission of scriptural texts, Daoist methods, precepts, or registers (Lu—the credentials by which Daoism records and confers office), and when asking a master to pray for blessings or to relieve calamity, one should in every case put on the ritual vestments.

In making ritual vestments, one must not use cloth of the five colors, brocade, embroidery, patterned silk gauze, or materials of improper origin, and they must be made according to the regulations. Ritual vestments may not be borrowed from others, tossed aside at random, placed on a bed, or sat or lain upon; nor may they be trodden underfoot, washed, or beaten. Damaged ritual vestments should be disposed of by the rite of purification by fire. At most three sets may be kept, and any surplus should be given to others. Damaged vestments and other old articles may not be altered for uses contrary to the regulations, nor passed on for ordinary people to wear.

After the ritual vestments are completed, one should burn incense and make announcement of them, worship the Three Treasures (Sanbao—the Dao, the Way; the scriptures; and the masters venerated in Daoism), and first offer them to the Three Treasures and to the host of immortals, perfected ones, and sages; only then may they be worn. If ritual vestments have been placed near scriptures or sacred images, one must not wear them among the people or into places of defilement. They should be washed frequently, purified with burning incense, stored in chests and hampers, and kept in a clean chamber. One must not wear the ritual vestments to the “five kinds of households” (the original text does not specify what these are), nor may one remove them without authorization and secretly wander among the people. In everyday conduct—sitting, rising, sleeping, and resting—one should observe the relevant liturgical precepts.

The Celestial Master (Tianshi), Zhang Daoling, whom Daoism venerates, said: A Daoist ought to guard the ritual robes—the garments a Daoist wears according to ceremonial regulation—as carefully as one protects one’s own eyes, hands, and feet. Why is this so? Without eyes, a person cannot see the myriad things of heaven and earth, nor distinguish good from bad or right from wrong; without hands and feet, one cannot move, cannot travel far or near, and cannot stand or sit. For a Daoist, the ritual robes are equally indispensable.

If a Daoist does not observe the regulations governing the ritual robes, he will lose ten kinds of reverence and incur ten kinds of contempt: the beings of the various heavens, the various demons, ghosts and spirits, emperors and kings, parents, brothers, sisters, kin, the eminent, and ordinary people will none of them revere him; and the beings of the various heavens, the various demons, ghosts and spirits, emperors and kings, parents, brothers, sisters, kin, the eminent, and ordinary people will all despise him. Wherever he may be, he will lose supreme blessed merit. The scripture (Jing) further says that in a past life he was reborn as a pig or a dog.

If one is able to guard the ritual robes, then wherever one may be, one will receive the corresponding karmic fruit. Those who in a past life were born among the various heavens, whether men or women, would rather take off their own clothes than remove the ritual robes of one who has left the household; would rather risk being harmed by a venomous snake than violate the ritual robes of one who has left the household; and would rather sit in a great pit of fire than sit together with one who has left the household.

If a Daoist treats the ritual robes as a means of seeking worldly glory and splendor, his blessed merit is about to be exhausted. Even if he enjoys a moment of prominence, it will not last, and he will soon meet with evil retribution: in a past life he fell into the hell of freezing ice, and afterward was reborn as a person naked and exposed. Why is this so? Because this person chose, of himself, to sink into ruin.

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) said: If one fails to wear the ritual vestments that ought to be worn, or wears clothing that ought not to be worn, the Four Offices—the divine bureaus in Daoism charged with examining and recording merits and faults—will interrogate the hun and po souls and deduct one thousand two hundred years from the allotted lifespan.

The Celestial Master said: A Daoist priest’s clothing, bedding, and sitting mats must not use such colors as blue-green, green, deep blue-green, deep crimson, red, jade-green, black, or white, nor may they be made of brocade, decorated with embroidery or painted designs, or inlaid with pearls and jade. Those who violate this will have their hun and po souls interrogated by the Four Offices and will have eight hundred years deducted from their allotted lifespan.