《洞玄灵宝道士受三洞经诫法箓择日历》

The Dongxuan Lingbao Calendar for Selecting Days When a Daoist Priest Receives the Scriptures, Precepts, Methods, and Registers of the Three Caverns explains how a Daoist priest should choose a suitable date for receiving the scriptures, precepts, ritual methods, and Fulu (talismans and registers) of the “Three Caverns” (Sandong). The Three Caverns are the system by which Daoist scriptures are classified. Jing (scripture/classic), jie (precepts), fa (methods), and lu refer respectively to the classics, the precepts, the ritual methods, and the registers that record a Daoist priest’s name and official duties. The work is included in the Zhonghua Daozang, in the section on precepts and ritual protocols. Originally attributed to Zhang Wanfu, it consists of one juan, and its base text comes from the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) section of the Zhengtong Daozang.

I have examined the scriptural teachings of the Three Caverns (Sandong) and the ritual texts of the Four Supplements (Sifu). All of them are classics spoken by the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun) and transmitted by the Lord of the Dao (Daojun). The host of sages cultivates these classics, and the assembly of the perfected worships and recites them. They are secretly preserved in the Three Realms and have also circulated throughout the ten directions. Through countless ages, a span of time too long to reckon, the classics are like the sun and moon, or water and fire: seen in common and used in common by ordinary people and sages alike. Although the methods are many, the norms by which they are followed do not differ. Worldly affairs may change, yet the rules of ritual remain ever the same.

Those who leave the household and enter the Dao must receive and uphold the scriptural teachings; masters of great virtue ought to transmit them and guide one another. When a disciple comes to receive the teaching, the master should prepare the corresponding Keyi (liturgy). In principle, one ought to revere and uphold the scriptures, abide by the norms of the codes, and ensure that neither the “Three Covenants” (Sanmeng, the oaths sworn when the teaching is received) nor the “Six Witnesses” (Liuzheng, the six witnesses in the ritual) is lacking. To study the Dao one must have a teacher’s lineage, and in upholding and reciting the classics one must not violate the precepts. Once the covenants have been accepted, and the purification fast and the presentation of memorials already have their appointed terms, one should, according to the method sought for transmission, select an auspicious day in advance. The date for transmitting scriptural teachings is of great consequence and cannot be changed at will; it must therefore be carefully distinguished and must not be confused.

Of late, some masters have held the jiazi day to be the most auspicious, and others have taken the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Calendar for Receiving the Dao and applied it indiscriminately to the transmission of the scriptures of the Three Caverns. Yet the jiazi day suits such methods as those of the Daode and the Three Sovereigns (Sanhuang), while the Calendar for Receiving the Dao is used for matters of administration, the receiving of registers, talismanic charts, and the like. As for the two traditions of Shangqing and Lingbao, each has its own auspicious days—how can they be treated as one, without distinction? Nevertheless, in the regions of Wu and Shu, and around the capital Luoyang, people have followed one another in using these practices, and for a long time nothing has changed.

I, Wanfu, look up with admiration to those who accumulate goodness and cultivate the Dao, and I wish that their blessings might also reach an ordinary person such as myself. Having taken my place in the Daoist order, I have also come into contact with the secret methods of the perfected. Nearly fifty years have passed since I entered the pure realm of the Dao, and more than forty years since I formed covenants and swore oaths in company with my teacher. I have ventured to consult precious texts and privately to recite important scriptures, and in the intervals of burning incense and lighting lamps I compiled this material, hoping only to use it in guiding the disciples of my school, and not yet daring to circulate it beyond.

The various precepts of the Three Caverns have already been compiled above in twenty-one scrolls. Fearing that the scrolls are too numerous for readers to preserve and consult, I now set out separately what in this scroll is actually put into practice, in the hope that disciples will remember it.

Zhengyi Immortal and Numinous Fulu (Talismans and Registers), and the Like

On the Jiazi day, harmony and accord; on the Yichou day, the upper overcomes the lower; on the Bingyin and Dingmao days, harmony and accord; on the Wuchen day, self-punishment; on the Jisi day, harmony and accord; on the Gengwu day, the lower overcomes the upper; on the Xinwei, Renshen, and Guiyou days, harmony and accord.

Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Immortal-Spirit Fulu (talismans and registers) and the Like (rituals of immortal-spirit Fulu and the like used by the Zhengyi tradition):

On the Jiazi day, harmony and accord; on the Yichou day, the upper overcomes the lower; on the Bingyin and Dingmao days, harmony and accord; on the Wuchen day, self-punishment; on the Jisi day, harmony and accord; on the Gengwu day, the lower overcomes the upper; on the Xinwei, Renshen, and Guiyou days, harmony and accord; on the Jiaxu day, the upper overcomes the lower; on the Yihai day, harmony and accord; on the Bingzi day, the lower overcomes the upper; on the Dingchou day, mutual generation; on the Wuyin and Jimao days, the lower overcomes the upper; on the Gengchen day, mutual generation together with self-punishment; on the Xinsi day, the lower overcomes the upper; on the Renwu day, the upper overcomes the lower; on the Guiwei, Jiashen, and Yiyou days, the lower overcomes the upper; on the Bingxu day, the upper generates the lower, and harmony and accord; on the Dinghai day, the lower overcomes the upper; on the Wuzi day, the upper overcomes the lower; on the Jichou day, purely harmony and accord—this is an auspicious day; on the Gengyin and Xinmao days, the upper overcomes the lower; on the Renchen day, the lower overcomes the upper; on the Guisi day, the upper overcomes the lower; on the Jiawu day, the upper generates the lower; on the Yiwei day, the upper overcomes the lower; on the Bingshen and Dingyou days, the upper overcomes the lower—these are inauspicious days; on the Wuxu day, purely auspicious—this is the Gate of Heaven (Tianmen), and one does not enter the oratory (jing); on the Jihai day, the upper overcomes the lower together with self-punishment; on the Gengzi day, harmony and accord; on the Xinchou day, the lower generates the upper, and harmony and accord; on the Renyin and Guimao days, the upper generates the lower, and harmony and accord; on the Jiachen day, the upper overcomes the lower together with self-punishment; on the Yiji day, the upper generates the lower—this is an auspicious day; on the Bingwu day, purely Fire together with self-punishment; on the Dingwei day, the upper generates the lower—this is an auspicious day; on the Wushen and Jiyou days, the upper generates the lower together with self-punishment; on the Gengxu day, the lower generates the upper—this is an auspicious day; on the Xinhai day, the upper generates the lower together with self-punishment; on the Renzi day, purely Water—this is an auspicious day; on the Guichou day, the lower overcomes the upper; on the Jiayin and Yimao days, purely Wood—these are auspicious days; on the Bingchen day, self-punishment; on the Dingsi day, purely Fire—this is an auspicious day; on the Wuwu day, the lower generates the upper together with self-punishment; on the Jiwei day, purely Earth—this is an auspicious day; on the Gengshen day, purely Metal—this is an auspicious day; on the Xinyou day, purely Metal together with self-punishment; on the Renxu day, the lower overcomes the upper; on the Guihai day, purely Water together with self-punishment.

Here, good and ill fortune in the selection of days is marked according to the ganzhi (stem-branch) days. “The upper overcomes the lower” and “the lower overcomes the upper” refer to overcoming between the upper and lower parties; “mutual generation,” “the upper generates the lower,” and “the lower generates the upper” indicate relations of generation. “Harmony and accord” means that the relationship is well coordinated, while “self-punishment” means that the stem-branch combination is regarded as bearing a relation in which it punishes and overcomes itself. “Purely Wood,” “purely Fire,” “purely Earth,” “purely Metal,” and “purely Water” are markings made according to affiliation with the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water). In rituals such as receiving the Jing (scripture/classic), receiving the precepts, or conferring registers, Daoist priests consult these markings when choosing a date.

The original text contains repetitions and characters that appear to be corrupt. For example, the passage from “Dingwei …” through “Gengxu …” is repeated both before and after, and “Yiji” does not conform to the usual sequence of the stem-branch cycle. What is given above is retained according to the original; no characters have been altered, and no inferences have been drawn, without authorization.

Whenever the methods of the Dao (the Way) are conferred and received, days on which what comes before and after accord with each other, and what is above and below generate one another, are greatly auspicious. Dedicated days and days of lesser auspiciousness are also acceptable. Days of self-punishment, or days on which above and below overcome one another, are inauspicious; on them one must not transmit methods and registers, scriptures (Jing), or precepts.

For the Twenty-four Parishes (zhi), including Yangping and Lutang, and for the itinerant lodging parishes (Daoist parish seats or related places of sacrificial rite), the days are chosen as follows:

First and second months: the zi day, fiftyfold; the chou day, twentyfold; the yin day, “kills the son”; the mao day, “kills the wife”; the chen day, greatly auspicious; the si day, unchanged; the wu day, ninefold; the wei day, “kills the self”; the shen day, “kills the wife”; the you day, lesser auspiciousness; the xu day, seventyfold; the hai day, fiftyfold.

Third and fourth months: the zi day, fiftyfold; the chou day, “kills the mother”; the yin day, greatly unobstructed; the mao day, lesser auspiciousness; the chen day, slightly inauspicious; the si day, tenfold; the wu day, the master brings calamity on himself; the wei day, thirtyfold; the shen day, thirtyfold; the you day, fiftyfold; the xu day, twentyfold; the hai day, twentyfold.

Fifth and sixth months: the zi day, “kills the mother”; the chou day, “harms the mother”; the yin day, greatly inauspicious; the mao day, “kills the father”; the chen day, “kills the mother”; the si day, slightly inauspicious; the wu day, “kills the son”; the wei day, “kills the son”; the shen day, “kills the mother”; the you day, fiftyfold; the xu day, twentyfold; the hai day, inauspicious.

Seventh and eighth months: the zi day, greatly unobstructed; the chou day, greatly inauspicious; the yin day, slightly inauspicious; the mao day, “kills the father”; the chen day, “kills the mother”; the si day, twentyfold; the wu day, “kills the mother”; the wei day, fiftyfold; the shen day, “kills the son”; the you day, “kills the mother”; the xu day, twentyfold; the hai day, fiftyfold.

In the text, expressions such as “kills the father,” “kills the mother,” “kills the son,” “kills the wife,” and “kills the self” are terms of day selection. They indicate that the day is unfavorable to the person concerned; they do not mean that the day itself causes an actual killing. The original does not explain the specific meaning of “-fold” (bei).

In the ninth and tenth months, the fortune of the days is as follows. On a Zi day or a Chou day one may carry on as usual. A Yin day is slightly perilous. On a Mao day the force of inauspiciousness is increased twentyfold, on a Chen day fivefold, and on a Si day sixtyfold. A Wu day is greatly inauspicious. A Wei day is thirtyfold inauspicious, and a Shen day and a You day are each twentyfold inauspicious. A Xu day will harm one’s children, and a Hai day will harm one’s wife.

In the eleventh and twelfth months, the fortune of the days is as follows. A Zi day will harm one’s children, and a Chou day will harm one’s wife. A Yin day is slightly perilous. A Mao day and a Chen day are each fifty times inauspicious. A Si day will harm one’s wife, and a Wu day will harm one’s father. A Wei day is seventy times inauspicious, and a Shen day and a You day are each thirty times inauspicious. A Xu day is greatly inauspicious, and a Hai day will harm one’s wife.

The above are the twelve kinds of circumstances that must be ascertained when a day is chosen. In carrying out an affair one should not transgress two of them. This account comes from the Zhengyi Fawen Dulu Duzhi Yi (Ritual for Conferring Registers and Administering Parishes in the Statutory Texts of Orthodox Unity (Zhengyi)). “Conferring the Way” (dudao) refers to rites of the kind that transmit the methods of the Way (Dao) and bestow registers of those methods.

The Laojun Jinniu (Lord Lao’s Golden Knob), together with catalogues of scriptures, scriptures (Jing), and the like

Whenever one receives the methods of the Way or performs a purification ritual (Zhaijiao), it is fitting to choose a Wangxiang day, one’s natal day, a Jiazi day, the first day of the month, or the day of the full moon. This account comes from the Laojun Chuan Yizhu Jue (Lord Lao’s Oral Instructions Annotated on Transmitted Ritual) in the Taixuan division.

Divine incantations, talismanic covenants, illustrated scriptures, and the like

It is fitting to choose the first Jia day of the first month, and the Mao hour or the You hour on the first and the fifteenth of each month. This account comes from the Shenzhou Jing (Scripture of Divine Incantations).

The Dongshen Sanhuang Futu Jing (Scripture of the Talisman Charts of the Three Sovereigns, of the Cavern of Spirit (Dongshen)), and the like

When a purification ritual is held or a transmission is conferred, one should in every case choose a Wangxiang day, one’s natal day, a Jiazi day, a Jiashen day, or a Jiayin day. These days are regarded as the most auspicious days among the Three Primordials. This account comes from the fourteenth scroll of the Dongshen Jing (Scripture of the Cavern of Spirit).

The natural covenant, the scripture of the central covenant, the true writs, and the two registers of the Numinous Treasure of the Cavern of Mystery (Dongxuan), the numinous slip, the divine staff, and the like

In spring one chooses a Jiayin day or a Yimao day; in summer, a Dingsi day or a Bingwu day; for the seasonal terms corresponding to the end of each of the four seasons, a Wuchen day, a Wuxu day, a Jiwei day, or a Jichou day; in autumn, a Gengshen day or a Xinyou day; in winter, a Guihai day or a Renzi day. When a Jianwang day is encountered, one ascends the altar and performs the rite.

Five methods

When the Six Jia talismans—Fulu (talismans and registers) associated with the Six Jia—are transmitted and received, a jiazi day should be chosen; a chen day, a wuxu day, a jiwei day, or a jichou day is also acceptable. In autumn one chooses a gengshen or xinyou day, and in winter a guihai or renzi day. When a day marked “Jianwang” occurs, one ascends the altar and carries out the rite.

Five Methods

For the transmission and reception of the Six Jia talismans, a jiazi day should be chosen, and the rite held at night on the altar ground in the courtyard; if wind and rain arise, it is moved indoors. The Scripture of Mountain Prohibition says that the offering is set at midnight, without stating a specific date; when sacrifice is made to the deities of the Five Marchmounts, the beginning of the month is chosen and the rite is performed at midnight. The Scripture of the Three Sovereigns says that at midnight mats are spread at the courtyard altar, again without stating a date. The Scripture of the Five Talismans says that an auspicious day should be chosen and that, in the quiet of midnight, mats are laid at the courtyard altar. This account comes from the Ritual Transmission of Lord Tao.

Nowadays, the practices concerning the Six Jia in the Scripture of Laozi, the Scripture of Mountain Prohibition, and the Scripture of the Three Sovereigns are classed under the Dongshen (Cavern of Spirit) method, while the practices of the Five Marchmounts and the Five Talismans follow the Lingbao method.

Precious Register of the River Chart

When this method is performed, it is best to choose the night of New Year’s Day. The third and the twenty-seventh of each month are days on which the Honored Sovereign descends; jiazi days, jiawu days, gengshen days, one’s benming day (the day corresponding to the stem and branch of one’s own birth), the Taisui day, and the eight nodal days—Beginning of Spring, Spring Equinox, Beginning of Summer, Summer Solstice, Beginning of Autumn, Autumn Equinox, Beginning of Winter, and Winter Solstice—are likewise days of great auspiciousness. Related accounts appear in the Offering Ritual of the Nine Sovereigns, the Catalogue of the Seven Fascicles of the Shangqing Scriptures, the various methods of scriptures and registers, and records such as the “Purple-twisted Crossing Sash of the Mysterious Capital of Great Simplicity.”

The dates are the ninth and tenth of the first month, the eighth and ninth of the second, the seventh and eighth of the third, the sixth and seventh of the fourth, the fifth and sixth of the fifth, the fourth and fifth of the sixth, the third and fourth of the seventh, the second and third of the eighth, the first and second of the ninth, the tenth and eleventh of the tenth, the eleventh and twelfth of the eleventh, and the twelfth and thirteenth of the twelfth.

These days are called “days when the Heavenly Pass opens ninefold,” and are also known as “days of audience before Great Simplicity.” Tao says: “This year, when a certain zi day falls on chen, the Heavenly Pass opens ninefold.” There is only one such day in each month. At the end of the original text the dates of the eleventh and twelfth months are repeated, and the wording appears corrupt or incomplete; here the sense is retained according to the dates listed above.

The days set out above are called “Days of the Nine Openings of the Heavenly Pass” (Tianguan jiukai ri), also known as “Days of Audience with Great Simplicity” (chao Taisu ri). Tao said: “When, in the present year, a certain zi day falls at the chen hour, that is a Day of the Nine Openings of the Heavenly Pass; there is only one such day in each month.” Zang Zongdao said: “In transmitting the scriptural methods of the Three Caverns (Sandong), one should choose a Day of the Nine Openings of the Heavenly Pass. This statement appears in the Shangqing Jing (Scripture of Highest Clarity) and the Zhen’gao (Declarations of the Perfected).”

Whenever the Dao is received, there are three covenant-oaths. At the first reception, one must arouse one’s resolve in sincerity and good faith. There must also be six witnesses, to oversee the rite, keep the ceremony correct, and set right whatever is lacking in it. People’s capacities differ, some keen and some dull, and the methods (famen) they receive likewise differ in being higher or lower. Practice divides into gradual progress and sudden awakening, and diligence and slackness are not the same. One should therefore guide people from the shallow to the deep and from the near to the far. The sages left their teachings in order to receive and lead the multitude in a manner suited to their condition. When methods are first requested and received, each has its grade and sequence; one should proceed in due order and must not skip a rank.

Daoists in the world are commonly entangled by the need for clothing and food. They think only of the life before their eyes and have never considered what comes after death, and those truly willing to turn toward the Dao are few. Even when their initial resolve is bold, they find it hard to persevere to the end. If they are not guided, one fears they will cut off the path by which they might take refuge. For this reason, different methods are sometimes transmitted within a single altar, and within the three covenant-oaths what is received may also differ from one to another. If every person had to receive the methods separately, and every method required an altar of its own, not only would masters and disciples be worn out, but the immortal officials would be harassed by repeated summons. This arrangement is intended to give both past and present something to follow, and to suit both ordinary people and sages: affairs are carried through according to principle, while regulations are set according to the person, at once according with the sages’ intent and accommodating the wishes of ordinary people. It expresses the broad mind of the Celestial Worthy (Tianzun), skilled in expedient means of salvation, and of the supreme Dao, which embraces and nurtures all beings. If one clings stubbornly to a foolish opinion and will not adapt, one fears losing the way of rescue and guidance, and causing people to lose their faith.

As for those who use the methods of the Dao to seek profit, deceive both the worthy and the ignorant, recruit believers by inflating their reputations, and recklessly invent ritual models and empty rules, they are not discussed here. The author notes with distress that irregular practices of many kinds were then commonly seen: men and women mixed together in one altar to receive the methods; master and disciple not keeping the purification retreat (zhai) in common, or each going out separately; people presenting themselves only after the retreat had been closed; the text of the oath not being submitted; master and disciple failing to observe the purification with single-minded attention; the master borrowing another person’s scriptures and methods, or putting up money to buy methods on someone’s behalf; several masters transmitting methods at the same altar; memorials and name-cards not being written, and tokens and covenants not being drawn up separately; the order of the methods thrown into confusion, and auspicious days not chosen; guarantors falsely listed, or notables widely named as witnesses. All of this is more than one can bear.

There are also people who possess no scriptures or methods, yet, relying on wealth, power, or reputation, and ashamed that others do not come to affiliate with them, forcibly recruit followers and transmit methods in others’ stead. Some have received only one or two methods, or only the Ten Precepts of the Dao and De (Virtue/Power), yet declare that every Daoist method belongs to their own lineage. Some know only a little of minor arts such as Fulu (talismans and registers) and binding spells, yet claim that they can come and go in the celestial court. Others are at the disposal of the rich and powerful or, because the common people believe in them, enjoy ample clothing and food and keep servants, and then send people out in every direction to publicize, recruit disciples, and transmit scriptures and methods. Still others, trading on advanced age and respected virtue, suddenly don the cap and set themselves up as teachers and models. People of this sort are found everywhere. Do they not fear that guilt in the unseen world will descend upon them? They may be willing to suffer themselves, but how are they to face the Seven Ancestors and the Nine Mysterious Ones (that is, the ancestors of successive generations and the remote forebears), together with the father and mother who gave them birth? If the world contains people who slay their fathers and murder their rulers, defy Heaven and Earth, and bring destruction upon themselves, what wonder is it that others are appalled?

If different methods are to be conferred together in one and the same altar, the more exalted method should be taken as primary: one first announces the purification, fixes the term, and chooses an auspicious day. The shallower, minor methods among them may be transmitted during the period of purification. The author once traveled through the Jiang-Huai region, the land of Wu, and Shu, and saw that the statutes of transmission between master and disciple were observed very carelessly, and that the purification retreat was not kept with concentration. People devoted themselves only to arranging jiao offerings and sacrifices, and often laid out the rites at night. Of late this fashion has gradually spread to the capital and Luoyang, perhaps because quite a number of the Daoists maintained on stipend have followed this vulgar practice and carried it into the capital.

There are also those who say that, when one enters a Daoist abbey (daoguan) to observe purification, one must avoid the taboo days of the “Dao-parents” and may not enter the oratory (jing) to burn incense. The ignorant admire sayings of this kind and take them for some extraordinary secret. The so-called “Dao-parents” and “oratory taboos” were originally regulations used by the Libationers of the Upper Prohibitions (shangjin jijiu) and others for sacrifice, the submission of memorials, and the performance of jiao; they do not apply to the higher methods of the Three Caverns. As for days such as wuchen, jisi, wuxu, and jihai, they are fixed merely according to the revolving cycle of days and hours. The Ten Days of Purification, the Eight Nodes, the Five Communications (Wutong), the days when Great Simplicity holds audience in the mountains, and the like, are auspicious days appointed by Heaven, and important dates in the quest for immortality. If on these days one can meet the host of sages, how could there be any reason not to come into the presence of the True Divinities? Practices such as these are only minor ways of aiding the world; they are not the superior methods of self-cultivation, and disciples ought to understand this.

The Ten Days of Purification and the Eight Nodal Days, being days on which the host of sages make their rounds and record merit and fault, may also be regarded as auspicious days. Although the scriptures (jing) do not set this out in explicit provisions one by one, whenever one does good and transmits the Dao, the day chosen ought naturally to accord with the sages’ intent. There are, furthermore, the “Days of the Supreme Thearch’s Punitive Slaughter,” which are said to be unsuitable for all manner of activities. Taboos of this kind apply only to such matters as the compounding of medicines and building works; they do not hinder reception of the Dao. Still, it is better if beginners can avoid these days. Those who have long awakened to the higher methods of the Three Caverns are naturally not bound by these restrictions. On consulting the Jinming Daoke (Golden Radiance Code of the Dao), one finds that, so long as everything the ritual requires has been fully prepared, one may ascend the altar, observe the purification, and proclaim the covenant; there is no requirement that a day be selected. Those of discernment may examine this with care.

Calendar for Dongxuan Lingbao Daoist Priests to Receive the Scriptures, Precepts, Methods, and Registers of the Three Caverns and Select Auspicious Days: This is a calendar for choosing auspicious days on which Daoist priests receive the Jing (scriptures/classics), precepts, ritual methods, and register texts of the “Three Caverns.” The “Three Caverns” (Dongzhen, Dongxuan, and Dongshen) refer to three categories of Daoist scriptures and lines of transmission. The original provides only the title, with no specific scriptural passages, so at present only the title can be explained.