《道门十规》

I have respectfully heard that the sages established their teaching by means of wondrous principles, and that the Most High Lord Lao took emptiness and non-being as his fundamental tenet. Daoism has broadly expounded and promoted its doctrines; since heaven and earth first opened, its transmission has grown ever more manifest. Tracing it to its source, although the teaching is divided into the Three Treasures of the Dao (the Way), the Jing (scripture), and the Master, it began when the Most High Lord Lao transmitted the five thousand words of the Daodejing to Yin Xi, Guardian of the Pass, and set forth the tenets of Wuwei (non-action) and non-contention.

Before the Shang and Zhou dynasties, Guangchengzi received the Yellow Emperor’s inquiry into the Dao on Mount Kongtong. Tracing still further back, the establishment of the Dao in every case originated with the Most High Lord Lao. For cultivating oneself and practicing the way of inner sagehood and outer kingship, there remain the recorded words of such figures as Guanyinzi, Wenzi, Zhuangzi, and Liezi; for ordering the affairs of the world and embodying the teaching of clarity, stillness, and Wuwei, there is the good governance of Master Gai and Cao Can as clear evidence.

In the Eastern Han, our ancestral Celestial Master (Tianshi), Zhang Daoling, founded the religious order; the Immortal Lord Ge (Ge Xuan) and Xu Jingyang (Xu Xun) further transmitted Daoist lineages during the Wu and Jin periods. The schools are divided into Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) and Quanzhen (Complete Perfection), and the methods include such categories as Qingwei, Lingbao, and the Thunder Rites. If one does not trace these lines of transmission back to their source, one will forget the root and chase only the branches.

Our Dao had already flourished in the Song and Yuan periods. In the present dynasty, we have been favored by the fact that the Hongwu Emperor, Taizu, personally composed a commentary on the upper and lower chapters of the Daodejing, set a model for the Daoist order, and reorganized and supported Daoism. He said that the establishment of Daoism has a long history: the Yellow Emperor once visited Guangchengzi on Mount Kongtong, and the ancestral Celestial Master once refined elixirs on Mount Longhu, commanded ghosts and spirits, and warded off disasters. Thus the transmission has continued unbroken through successive ages, prayers have often been answered, and most of what was sought has received a full response. In the early years of the Yongle reign, we were again favored by imperial grace, which once more affirmed and solemnly charged the Daoist order that it must follow the regulations laid down by Taizu. From this it can be seen that the flourishing of our Dao far surpasses that of former ages.

In the summer of the fourth year of Yongle, I, your subject Zhang Yuchu, received the command to compile the Daoist canonical texts and to gather the relevant materials into the imperial library collection. My abilities are ordinary and my virtue shallow, and my learning is limited. I am truly fearful, worried that I am hardly equal to so heavy a charge. Although I feel uneasy, I cannot decline an imperial command. I have received the edict twice and have often been summoned by the emperor for inquiry. When I consider that my talent is insufficient, my shame grows all the deeper; when I consider that I have met with such an opportunity, joy and anxiety come together.

I further reflect that in recent times the guiding norms of Daoism have steadily declined. Moral instruction has been hard to carry out; the substance has been lost and only the name remains; leaders have grown weak and the Daoist ethos has fallen into neglect. I have long wished to revive Daoism, yet I have never had the chance to put my aspirations into practice. Now a sagely and enlightened emperor has ascended the throne. With wisdom he governs the realm, halts warfare and promotes culture and education, pacifies disorder and accomplishes great achievements. His sacred virtue accords with the will of Heaven, and auspicious signs continually appear. The emperor’s decrees win the trust of the realm, and moral transformation therefore flourishes. This is truly a once-in-a-millennium opportunity for the Daoist order, and a fitting moment to leave, for an age of great peace, canonical texts that will not be abandoned for ten thousand generations.

Therefore, day and night I have gathered the regulations established in former ages and the norms left by the various patriarchs, and compiled the Ten Regulations of the Daoist Order, hoping thereby to revive the Daoist ethos, make manifest sagely governance, provide a standard for later generations to follow enduringly, and give the Daoist order something on which to rely. In this way, above, one may not fail the court’s grace in supporting Daoism, and below, one may offer those within the Daoist order a path of cultivation and learning. I hope further to promote the teaching of Xuanyuan (Laozi), extend the Daoist tenets of clarity, stillness, and Wuwei, quietly assist the blessed destiny of the state, vigorously restore the guiding norms of the religious order, and lay down enduring standards for the future.

The transmission of Daoism had already begun long before the Yellow Emperor sought the Dao (the Way) from Guangchengzi. Tradition holds that Laozi—honored in Daoism as Taishang, the Most High—was born at the end of the Shang and held office early in the Zhou: under King Wen of Zhou he served as Clerk Beneath the Pillars, and under King Wu he was transferred to Keeper of the Archives. The book he wrote is the Daodejing (the Classic of the Dao and of De [Virtue/Power]), in its upper and lower sections. His teaching influenced Guanyin, Wenzi, Zhuangzi, Liezi, Kangcangzi, Baiju, and others. Daoist writings treat, each in its own way, self-cultivation and the ordering of the household, the governing of the state, enriching the country and strengthening its arms, ordering the world and relieving the people, and withdrawing from the world to cultivate the Dao. The Grand Historian (Sima Qian), commenting on the Daoists, said: “The Daoist school can make the spirit concentrated and unified; its discourse is broad yet easy to put into practice.” These words already capture its character. To claim, therefore, that the Daoist tradition predates Huang-Lao and the Six Classics, or to class Huang-Lao learning with the school of forms and names, is in either case one-sided.

What are called Yuanshi (Primordial Beginning) and Lingbao (Numinous Treasure) arise from the transformative generation of the Three Qi (vital energy)—Xuan, Yuan, and Shi—when primordial chaos first opened; their root is in fact one. Among those who later expounded and spread Daoism were the Ancestral Celestial Master (Tianshi; Zhang Daoling), the Perfected Lord Xu (Xu Xun), Immortal Elder Ge (Ge Xuan), and the Perfected Lord Mao (Mao Ying). After long ages, people gradually ceased to inquire into Daoism’s source and each honored a different lineage: the line of the Ancestral Celestial Master is called Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity), that of the Perfected Lord Xu is called Jingming (Pure Brightness), that of Immortal Elder Ge is called Lingbao, and that of the Perfected Lord Mao is called Shangqing (Highest Clarity). These are merely different names under which the teaching was established; at root they all derive from Taishang.

Fulu (talismans and registers), the scriptures, Zhaijiao (purification rituals), and the methods of the Dao have been handed down from generation to generation. Each lineage has added to, cut, or selected from what it received, so the details are not necessarily the same, yet their source and course are one. Directed inward, cultivation includes the transmissions of Neidan (internal alchemy) and Waidan (external alchemy). The early writings of the masters do not discuss these; the arts of refining cinnabar and medicinal substances were later presented as methods for cultivating nature and life, together with Shen (spirit) and Qi. From the Qin and Han onward, fangshi (masters of technical arts) appeared in great numbers. Figures such as General Wencheng and General Wuli sought immortality by means of metals, minerals, and plants, and the outcome was often fatal to themselves; the world therefore called activities of this kind fangshu (technical arts). Directed outward to benefit the age, there are rites of prayer, the averting of calamity, sacrifice, and invocation. Kou Qianzhi, Du Guangting, Ge Hong, Lu Xiujing, and others caused teachings of this kind to flourish. Later, some teachers and disciples added, deleted, and embellished in pursuit of fame and profit, and the world came to regard Daoism as heterodox.

Yet Neidan, Waidan, and the rites of prayer and sacrifice were none of them fully manifest when Taishang first established the teaching. If later people do not trace matters to the root or seek out the source, they easily follow the current and forget the origin, are misled by strange doctrines and lose sight of the common source, and drift ever farther from the marvel of emptiness, clarity and stillness, Wuwei (non-action), and teaching without words, which Taishang prized in founding the teaching. All who study Daoism should rely on the scriptures, investigate origins and transmission, and strive to return to the correct Dao. They should not be disturbed by deviant teachings and empty phrases, still less incite and mislead one another, lest they depart gravely from the tradition of the ancestral masters. A scripture says: “Empty nothingness and natural spontaneity are the source from which the Dao emerges; the True One is without a second; its inherent nature is limpid and at rest, perfectly luminous, sufficient in itself and lacking nothing.” This shows that empty nothingness and natural spontaneity are the foundation on which Daoism establishes its teaching and the starting point of cultivating the Dao, and they should be grasped with care before all else.

The scriptural registers of the Daoist order, and the various classics of Taishang’s Three Caverns (Dongzhen, Dongxuan, and Dongshen), are traditionally said to have been spoken by the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, the Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure, and the Most High Celestial Worthy of the Dao and De, transmitted across successive world-ages, and expounded and promoted by teachers of later generations. Of the scriptures spoken by the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, the Duren Shangpin Jing (Scripture of Universal Salvation, of the Highest Grade) should stand first among them; of those spoken by the Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure, the Dingguan Jing (Scripture on Stabilizing Contemplation) and the Neiguan Jing (Scripture on Inner Observation) are essential; and for the teaching established by Taishang, the Daodejing should be the standard followed in daily practice. For cultivating oneself, one may give particular study to the Xuhuang Sishijiu Zhang Jing (Scripture of the Void Sovereign in Forty-Nine Chapters), the Donggu Datong Jing (Scripture of Ancient Caverns and Great Penetration), the Shengtian Qingjing Jing (Scripture of Birth in Heaven through Clarity and Stillness), and others. For aiding the world and delivering the shades—relieving the living and liberating the dead—one may study the Huangdi Yinfu Jing (Yellow Emperor’s Scripture of the Hidden Talisman), the Yushu Jing (Scripture of the Jade Pivot), the Beidou Jing (Scripture of the Northern Dipper), the Xiaozai Jiuku Jing (Scripture on Dispelling Calamity and Relieving Suffering), the Wuchu Shengshen Jing (Scripture of the Five Kitchens for Generating Shen), the Yushu Chaotian Jing (Scripture of the Jade Pivot for Audience in Heaven), the Jiuyou Chan (Penitential Rite of the Nine Darknesses), and others. All these classics are steps for entering the Dao and paths for cultivating the True.

Thus one who cultivates the Dao should first revere the gods and spirits, burn incense and practice, accumulate the recitation of scripture, and take refuge in the great Dao, thereby clearing away the karmic defilements of the past and planting good causes that invite blessing. The scriptures say that all divine immortals and perfected beings attain the fruit of the Dao by means of supreme essential words. Immortal masters also say that reciting scripture can gather in the mind and Shen and concentrate one’s thoughts; if one can burn incense and recite morning and evening, persisting without interruption, this helps to dispel demonic obstacles and increase one’s affinity with the Dao. It is truly one of the most convenient methods of practice.

Those who recite scripture should discipline body and mind and wash away stray thoughts, concentrate the Shen and recite in silence, holding sincerity and reverence as if face to face with the Lord on High. Let mind and Shen respond to the text, with attention undivided, words and phrases correct, and voice and breath in harmony. Only then can there be effect, so that the sound of recitation accords with the breath and numinous resonance communicates of itself, helping heaven and earth to be at peace, customs to grow pure and generous, and the people to receive instruction, with blessings gathering, calamities dispersing, and both the living and the dead receiving favor.

If one merely recites with the mouth while the heart contradicts the meaning of the scripture, the body remaining in the rite while mind and Shen wander—neither sincere nor reverent, but slack and distracted—then even if one recites hundreds or thousands of scrolls a day, what benefit is there to oneself? And how could this dispel calamity or resolve misfortune? When reciting on behalf of others, one should likewise maintain reverence and a sincere heart, so as to fulfill the respect of the rite’s patron and convey the devotion of the faithful. Only then does one not receive the retreat offerings and donations in vain, and only then can one pray for their blessings and the remission of their faults. If, while reciting, one jokes and chats idly, lets the mind lose its focus, or reads in a defiled place, one not only fails to help the patron but may bring fault upon oneself. All such conduct should be earnestly guarded against.

Over long ages the wording of the classics inevitably suffers corruption and disorder, and the commentaries of later teachers may also be mistaken, so that some people grow slighting toward the classics. If doubts arise and one’s own faith is not firm, one should hold fast to sincerity and reverence, and not echo the talk of the frivolous and deluded or presume to slight and slander the texts, lest one bring fault upon oneself.

Among the various scriptural registers of Taishang, those received by the Ancestral Celestial Master include the Mengwei (Covenanted Authority), the Dugong (Inspectorate of Merit), and other ritual registers; those received by Immortal Elder Ge include the Zhongmeng (Middle Covenant), the Sixian (Four Immortals), and other ritual registers; and those received by the Perfected Lord Mao include the Shangqing Dadong (Great Cavern of Highest Clarity) and other ritual registers. The remaining kinds of Fulu are very numerous, all intended to bless the state and prosper the people, and to secure the household and preserve the person. Through the ages, those who have upheld them and taken refuge in them have often obtained a response, and what they prayed for has frequently shown corresponding signs of fulfillment. This shows that the teaching established by Taishang is not empty or baseless.

The classics, however, have been transmitted across great spans of time, and both written forms and phrasing inevitably fall into disorder. One must not on that account reject the classics altogether, still less go about slandering them. If there are learned teachers who can carefully collate and set the texts in order, and who submit the corrected versions to the tradition for publication, this too is a good deed of benefit to Daoism.

Sitting quietly in the enclosed chamber—a dwelling set aside for the practitioner’s closed retreat and still cultivation—and keeping the mind clear and still is the foundation of entering the Dao (the Way). The Most High (Taishang, the honorific by which Daoism addresses the Dao) established the teaching to deliver people precisely so that they might rise above illusory transformations and awaken to life and death. If one cannot fully fathom original nature and thoroughly penetrate nature and life—a person’s innate nature and vital existence—how can one be called a student of the Dao? The Jing (scripture/classic) says: “Accumulate good intentions and good deeds, cut off worldly desires, give rise to no delusive thoughts, take on no defiling attachments, cling neither to being nor to non-being, and wholly transcend birth and extinction; such a person is a True Person.”

In recent times some have regarded the Chan school as the learning that cultivates nature and Daoism as the learning that cultivates life, holding that the Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) school practices the dual cultivation of nature and life, whereas the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) school studies only Keyi (liturgy) and methods of instruction—the rituals and transmissions of Daoism. In truth, how could the root of studying the Dao ever be separated from nature and life? Even the establishment of liturgical instruction is, in the end, for the sake of cultivating nature and life. To cultivate oneself and benefit others, to rescue the dead in the dark underworld and deliver people in the world—if one does not understand the foundation of nature and life, how can the cultivation of merit be brought to completion?

Moreover, from high antiquity onward the Most High has passed through kalpa after kalpa and appeared in incarnate form, and the patriarchs who cultivated and attained the Dao all began from the work of quiet sitting and entering absorption; only then could the work of the Dao be accomplished and spiritual powers freely mastered. At the beginning of the Song and Jin periods, Patriarch Wang Chongyang received the transmission of Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin and first founded the Quanzhen teaching. The Jing says: “Nurture that formless body, and thereby its embodied nature attains Complete Perfection.” Hence the Quanzhen teaching still takes quiet sitting and the guarding of stillness as essential. The Five Patriarchs are the Most High, the Imperial Lord of Eastern Florescence, Zhongli Quan, Lü Dongbin, and Liu Haichan; the Seven Perfected are Qiu Chuji, Liu Chuxuan, Tan Chuduan, Ma Yu, Hao Datong, Sun Bu’er, and Wang Chuyi. Thereafter the lineage of the Dao continued, down to Wang, Miao, Qi, Wan, and others.

Those who study the Dao today are many, and all should take genuine cultivation and concrete practice as their foundation. On first entering the Dao, one should choose an enlightened teacher and pay respects, asking the master for guidance that opens original nature; one should carefully observe the Ten Precepts of Cultivating the True and the hall regulations established by Patriarch Bai, Venerable Master Feng, and others, draw in body and mind, uphold moral integrity, and study the Jing in depth. Once one understands the gateway into the Dao, one then chooses a place of clear and graceful mountains and waters, complete in its terrain and settled in its Qi (vital energy), on which to build a hermitage, raising a thatched hut that seeks only to keep off wind and rain. The practitioner eats in the wind and lodges in the open air, drifting about like water and cloud. One then joins with companions on the Way, keeping company only with the sincere and the plain, looking after one another morning and evening and providing food and drink. Wearing clothes of grass and eating coarse food, one lives as simply as with a single basket of rice and a single gourd of water, seeking only to still hunger and ward off the cold.

Cultivation must pass through a hundred days of laying the foundation, ten months until the embryo is complete, and three years until the work is accomplished. When this is finished, one may remain in the quiet chamber and continue to cultivate, or one may emerge from absorption; in every case one must cut off worldly affairs, let passion subside and dusty entanglements be wholly severed, and attain freedom in coming and going. If a person of ample means donates grain for the retreat, the practitioner, in accepting clothing and daily necessities, may take only what is enough to support oneself according to one’s capacity, and must not covet or take more, still less invent extravagant words to shock the world and fish for reputation. Mending clothes against the cold, begging for food and clothing, living in austere hardship, and gathering in body and mind like withered wood and dead ashes are all the proper work of tempering oneself. Only thus does one not fail the Four Kindnesses—the four debts of gratitude that ought to be repaid—nor bring calamity upon the Nine Ancestors, one’s ancestral kin. If one slackens and turns back, one will be obstructed by demonic hindrances.

In providing for companions on the Way who cultivate in closed retreat, one should spare no effort in tending and supporting them. Whether in severe cold or fierce heat, or in illness and distress, one must do one’s utmost; this too accumulates one’s own merit and brings others’ good deeds to completion. One must not use the Chan school’s staff and shout—striking with a staff or crying out in rebuke so as to spur awakening—to contend over strength and victory and to reckon what is one’s own against what is another’s, thereby drawing the criticism of the world.

The alchemical scriptures to be studied include the Shibi Ji (Record of the Stone Wall), the Longhu Jing (Scripture of the Dragon and Tiger), the Cantong Qi (Seal of the Unity of the Three), the Wuzhen Pian (Awakening to Reality), the Cuixu Pian (Folios of the Emerald Void), the Huanyuan Pian (Folios on Returning to the Origin), the Zhixuan Pian (Folios Pointing to the Mystery), the Dadao Ge (Song of the Great Dao), Cui Gong’s Ruyao Jing (Mirror for Compounding the Medicine), the Four Hundred Words on the Golden Elixir, and the recorded sayings of the various immortals. All of these are gateways leading people to cultivate the True and enter sagehood; they should be studied with undivided attention if one is to avoid going astray. The discourses of heterodox side-paths must not be read or given any heed, lest one mislead oneself and confuse others. If one goes further and slanders the Jing, and on that basis proves the Jing wrong, one will certainly incur condemnation from the unseen realm.

The method of purification (zhaifa)—the regulations for communicating with the deities through fasting and ritual—was the ceremony of high antiquity in which one prayed and reported to the celestial gods and performed the Yue sacrifice. Ever since the Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure (Lingbao Tianzun) received the exposition of the Jing (scripture/classic) from the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun), this method has been the foundation upon which the teaching of the Dao (the Way) was established. The related subjects are numerous, and the canonical writings are vast.

Descending from the three patriarchs—Perfected Xu of Taiji (Supreme Ultimate), Immortal Elder Ge the Perfected, and Perfected Zheng of Zhuyang—there were also renowned ritual masters such as Du, Ge, Lu, Ning, Xiang, and Kou. Later, transmissions associated with Lin, Tian, Jin, Bai, and others branched off, forming schools such as Donghua and Nanchang. Although the schools differ, their source is one. The Fulu (talismans and registers) and incantatory formulas they use therefore differ little. All are ways by which later virtuous masters each founded a lineage and guided students who came after; they were never originally two different Dao. Those who abandon these transmissions yet claim to be orthodox are, for the most part, unfit to be taken as models.

Books circulating in the world, such as the Inner Texts of the Three Registers, the Jade Mirror of the Golden Script, the Established Regulations of the Gate of the Dao, and the Ready-Made Liturgy, already record fixed rules. Those who cultivate the methods of the Dao must investigate them broadly, grasp the root of cultivating nature and life, accumulate genuine merit over a long time, and carry it out in practice. When Zhaijiao (purification rituals) and similar rites are held, one must fast and remain pure, with robes and cap in solemn order, cleansing oneself and rectifying one’s thoughts. Only by first cultivating oneself can one deliver the souls of the dead. Fasting and purification are for communicating with the deities: outwardly one sets aside worldly affairs, and inwardly one cultivates body and mind. Apart from ritual duties such as Fulu and documents, one should not casually take other matters in hand.

When ascending the altar to honor the deities, one must be wholly sincere and reverent, concentrated in silent prayer, and a model for everyone present. Only then can one, above, move Heaven, Earth, ghosts, and spirits to respond and, below, not fail the suffering souls in the dark underworld.

The three kinds of register Zhaijiao each have their proper patrons. The Golden Register rite may be established only by the emperor; the Jade Register rite is for empresses and consorts to establish; the Yellow Register rite may also be established by scholars and common people. The scale of the ceremony must follow status and regulation and must not overstep rank or fall into disorder. In every case one observes the norms of the Ready-Made Liturgy instituted by Emperor Taizu. Fulu and documents likewise must not be added to, deleted, or altered without authorization.

The rites of the altar and the statutes of Keyi (liturgy) all intend to accord with Yin-Yang and to take the order of Heaven and Earth as their model; they must not be devised at will. If one does not take sincere reverence and solemn dignity as the root, but only beats gongs and drums, hangs banners and flowers, and pursues splendor and bustle, with joking speech and frivolous conduct, how can one face the Lord on High and express sincerity to the deities of the Three Realms? Not only will this fail to invite good fortune; it will instead increase one’s karmic offenses.

As the ancients said, ghosts and spirits do not always partake of the offerings; only when the one who sacrifices is sincere do they descend to receive them. The principle is perfectly clear. Thus even the water plants of streams, pools, and marshes, and ordinary greens such as duckweed, white southernwood, pondweed, and algae, may be used to sacrifice to ghosts and spirits and to offer to the Lord on High. From this it is evident that one who serves as gaogong, the high-merit ritual master, must select like-minded persons of upright conduct who are familiar with the Keyi, and set up the altar and perform the rite together with them. In this way one both avoids bringing fault upon oneself and can remove the sins of the patron of the rite and bring blessings.

The musical instruments proper to the rite are limited to “cloud music.” Others, such as nao cymbals, bo cymbals, bells, and clapper-bells, must not be mixed in at will; to do so is to treat the rite with disrespect.

As for men such as Zhao Guizhen and Lin Lingsu, they were once honored and courteously received by rulers of the world, yet later wealth, rank, and status turned their heads. They lost the proper measure between ruler and subject, spoke exaggerated and untrue words, and did not restrain themselves with compassion and frugality. They were therefore criticized by many in their own time and in later ages. These matters should serve as a warning to those who come after.

In the transmission of the methods of the Dao (the Way), the Qingwei school, one of the ritual schools of Daoism, originates with the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, and the Shenxiao school, one of the schools of Daoist thunder ritual, originates with the Perfected King of Jade Clarity. Handed down through successive generations, the Qingwei school, from the two masters Wei and Zu onward, includes such lineage masters as Zhu, Li, Nan, and Huang, and its transmission has flourished. Most of the literature on talismanic petitions—Fulu (talismans and registers) together with memorials—on the scriptural Dao, Jing (scripture/classic), on purification rites, namely Zhaijiao (purification ritual) and Keyi (liturgy), and on thunder methods was elaborated and transmitted by Master Huang.

The Shenxiao school, from the two masters Wang and Wang onward, includes such lineage masters as Zhang, Li, Bai, Sa, Pan, Yang, Tang, and Mo, and its transmission has likewise flourished greatly. As for the materials on celestial thunder and Fengyue—ritual arts and texts connected with the Thunder Ministry, Fengdu, and the deities of the mountains and peaks—each school transmits them through its own line of teachers. Sometimes one and the same spirit general is assigned to several different ritual schools, and sometimes the Fulu and incantations used within a single school also differ. Distorted and inauthentic content, and the concealment of what is true in order to fabricate spurious teachings, therefore often arise from one another in this way, and in turn give rise to slander and confusion.

In the original text, the sentence to the effect that “as for celestial thunder and Feng, most was elaborated by Master Huang” is incomplete in wording, and the later phrase “Shenxiao, from the two masters Wang and Wang downward” appears more than once; the above is rendered according to the meaning that can be discerned.

Those who cultivate the methods of the Dao (the Way) ought first to keep the precepts and set their conduct right, and then take the investigation of Daoist methods as their chief task. They should first seek out teachers who dwell secluded in mountain valleys and understand the principles, together with practitioners who live simply and frugally, and ask them to clarify the foundations of the various methods. They themselves must also earnestly venerate the incense offerings, and devote themselves to cultivating a single method, a single register (the credential conferred by the Daoist teaching upon a ritual master), and a single office. If they can refine Shen (spirit) and nourish Qi (vital energy) morning and evening, persist in practice without slackening, enter into resonance with the deities, and commit no fault in word or deed, then they need not worry that their arts will fail or that the spirit generals will not protect them; even if their office is not high and the methods they have learned are few, there will still be efficacy.

If one pursues only empty reputation, chases after fame and profit, and is bent solely on taking as teacher someone eminent in the present age, so as to boast of one’s name and dazzle the world, yet does not venerate the incense offerings and neglects cultivation, then even if one wears many registers of the methods, one is merely like a merchant carrying goods about to sell them. If one seeks only lofty registers and offices, makes a display of pomp everywhere and aims at show, indulges in wine and food, and is boastful, self-conceited, resentful, and greedy, one is no different from the wu and xi of the streets and lanes (those who make a living by praying to spirits and by divination). Such people never keep the deities in mind, yet they readily boast that their talismans and spells are efficacious, call companions together, lure others into their company, and flatter and delude one another; they even, on the pretext of thanking their teachers and rewarding the spirit generals, demand wine and food from people. This truly obstructs the invocation of the deities and gravely violates the regulations of the teaching.

There are also those who presumptuously take disciples and set themselves up as teachers: they themselves do not understand, yet they lead others down the wrong path. Inwardly they have no merit of cultivation; outwardly they stir up disputes. This is the great prohibition that must above all be guarded against. Practitioners of truly lofty character seek only a mind that is empty and still, preserve purity, give rise to no stray thoughts, and let every attachment subside. Through their original nature they realize the Dao of Heaven and the methods; through the mind they apprehend the methods of thunder. They do not fall into worldly entanglements, but inquire only into the true tradition of a higher order. These alone are practitioners of the highest rank.

As for such heterodox teachings as yuanguang (manifestation by means of a so-called numinous light), possession by spirit generals, fuluan (inviting deities to descend and give instruction by means of the planchette), and zhaoshui (divination by gazing into water), those who cultivate the orthodox methods should not speak of them, nor be deceived by heterodox teachings, still less use them to entice the multitude and harm the methods of the Dao.

Those who practice talisman water (deploying methods by means of Fulu [talismans and registers], and treating illness with talisman water) ought to take the relief of others as their foundation, and they may also employ cinnabar and the arts of medicine in giving aid. They must not recklessly take wealth, lest they thereby incur the resentment of ghosts and spirits and cause their arts to fail. Nor may they casually transmit the methods of the Dao or rashly divulge profound mysteries. Even those who have entered the Dao, and those who revere the Daoist teaching, if their words and conduct lack gravity and they are negligent toward the incense offerings, should be treated with caution, and the methods should not be transmitted to them lightly. How much more so those in the marketplace who make their living by slaughter and by fishing: if, seeking only profit and empty reputation, one accepts them as disciples and indulges their exaggeration and deceit, one will in the end only incur the punishment of the precepts, and the offense will be hard to pardon.

The abbots of famous mountains and blessed lands, of jinglu (Daoist residences for cultivation), parish seats, monastic communities, and temples—whether they succeed in rotation according to the jia-yi order or are recommended by their own mountain—must be persons advanced in years and rich in De (Virtue/Power), upright and correct in character. They should be dignified in word and deed and broad in learning, worthy to serve as models for the Daoist community and as a support for practitioners, setting an example for later generations and demonstrating the standards of cultivation established by those who came before. One who serves as abbot must be compassionate and kindly, diligent and thrifty, and broad-minded, and in handling affairs must keep to the rules and act with impartial fairness.

The abbot must first be skilled at receiving and instructing others, guiding the unenlightened and gathering the Daoist community. Next, he must carefully fulfill the duties of burning incense in cultivation and of conducting the Daoist daily offices, praying for blessings on people’s behalf and removing their faults. In praying for the peace of the state and invoking good fortune, what matters most is to repay what is fundamental; in honoring the Jing (scriptures/classics) and expounding the teachings, what matters most is to carry them out with a sincere heart.

In governing the Daoist community, one must first strictly observe the precepts and regulations, and caution everyone with the principles of karmic retribution and of transgression and blessing. Fields and grain are to be properly managed by the storehouse supervisor; taxes are handled by those responsible for the accounts of landed property; food and drink, repairs, and the like are each entrusted to designated persons. Morning and evening one should reverently serve the deities, and keep the upkeep of the temples constantly in mind.

When eminent Daoists and Daoist priests from various places come to register for temporary residence, or to pass the winter here or observe the summer retreat (a period of settled cultivation in summer), one zhitang—the officer charged with arranging the community’s meals, lodging, and affairs—should be appointed to receive them widely. They should take vegetarian food and plain clothing as their ordinary way, dwell according to circumstances, and keep body and mind at ease and free of care; only then can a foundation be laid for cultivating the Dao (the Way). For those who cultivate with particular diligence and hardship, their needs should be supplied as fully as possible.

Those who enter the mountains to give alms should offer joyfully as circumstances allow. If they sponsor a fast or hold a jiao (a Daoist rite for invoking blessings and averting calamity), or seek blessings and deliverance for ancestors and kin, they should act according to their means and follow the Zhaijiao (purification ritual) and Keyi (liturgy). Whether the scale is large or small, the benefit of the many should come first, and one should not reckon how much is given. The Jing say: “All merit and virtue arise from a joyful mind; all giving should spring from a heart of joy. From this are planted every kind of good fruit, and the reward of blessing is without limit.”

When officials and distinguished guests come and go, they are to be entertained with only a single vegetarian meal. If night falls, they may be lodged overnight, but they must not interfere in the temple’s public affairs, nor should they be kept too long, lest disputes be invited. On the first and fifteenth of each month, clear admonitions should be proclaimed to instruct and encourage the community. One must cultivate the inherited style of one’s own tradition and devote oneself to the work of one’s own lineage, neither craving wealth and rank nor becoming absorbed in bustle and excitement.

An abbot must not take the lead in pursuing luxury—wearing fine clothes, eating rich food, living in grand houses, and using delicate felt mats and bedding. He must not harm the common property to enrich himself, go out mounted with attendants crowding before and behind, or curry favor with the powerful. Otherwise teaching and moral transformation cannot be carried out, and the ethos of those above and below will decay. In serious cases one may sink into sensual indulgence, keeping up an outward appearance while inwardly violating moral principle, failing to revere the deities of the incense fire and the sacred altars and historic sites, privately keeping secular dependents, and profaning the gods. If abbots of the temples under jurisdiction behave in these ways, the matter should be reported to the responsible authorities, dealt with according to the regulations, and they should be ordered to leave the mountain. One must not, out of ignorance or partiality, indulge them and thereby undermine the rules.

If those of the younger generation fail to observe the rules, behave frivolously, do not study the teachings of their own tradition, and seek only to act willfully and overbearingly, thereby incurring faults, they should be dealt with strictly according to the precepts, so that the rules may be clear and strict and the teachings may be made known. If one indiscriminately shows favor and indulges them, the one who condones them should also bear the corresponding blame. Of late, in the Daoist temples of some prefectures and counties, the bearing and conduct of the community have not met proper standards and discipline has grown lax. These must be set in order and corrected, and the established regulations observed in every case.

Wandering in the manner of clouds and water (yunshui canfang) means traveling from place to place in search of renowned teachers. One who leaves the household must, above, depart from parents and kin and, below, set aside the duty of continuing the ancestral offerings. Such a person resolves to rise above the secular world and leave behind the toil of dust, and ought to take as the goal the transcendence of illusion and insight into life and death. If one still, as before, sinks into the dusty world and rushes about day and night, seeing no way out toward liberation, how does one differ from an ordinary person?

The scriptures say that one who cultivates the Dao (the Way) takes clarity and stillness as the root. Deviant paths are to be regarded as one regards an enemy, and desire and attachment are to be kept at a distance as one avoids filth. One must remove the root of suffering and vexation and cut off clinging to family and to love. Therefore, after leaving home, one should sever emotional ties, abandon the false and return to the true, and make the investigation of the inner mind and the cultivation of one’s inherent nature the essential task. One should strictly keep the precepts and temper body and mind; in daily life a bamboo hat, a bamboo basket, and coarse fare are enough, and one moves freely like a solitary cloud or a wild crane.

If one comes upon a famous mountain or a grotto residence, one may settle there, lodge and cultivate, and call upon teachers of insight, drawing near to them to inquire of the Dao. One should probe deeply into the root of nature and life (xingming), discern the essentials of the Dao and of De (Virtue/Power), thoroughly grasp the purpose of one’s own tradition, and carefully take in the teaching transmitted by the teacher. Fame and profit are not to be set upon the heart, nor wealth and rank clung to. Even when hunger, cold, wind, and heat press upon the body, one does not change one’s integrity; even in poverty, lowliness, and hard circumstances, one does not shake one’s resolve. One must bear insult and be forbearing, be modest and gentle in word and deed, and handle affairs in a quiet and yielding way, so that the spirit (Shen) is unified, the heart remains humble, and a hard, competitive temperament is cast off. One should dwell in mountain forests, cliff caves, and places seldom visited by people, sustain life with coarse clothing and plain food, keep the Dao in nest and grotto chamber, and cultivate one’s nature according to the teacher’s transmission.

When going out to seek the Dao, the practitioner must eat in the wind and sleep in the open, endure cold and hunger, wear straw sandals, carry a traveling bundle and an alms bowl, and not fear a road of ten thousand li, intent on visiting renowned teachers. A single sentence of guidance may bring sudden awakening, and the fruit of cultivation over successive lives may then be brought to completion. Whether setting out or returning to dwell, one should observe the hall rules and the monastic norms of conduct established by Patriarch Bai, Venerable Teacher Feng, and the various teachers; if a fault is committed, the corresponding penalty should also be accepted.

If one has not truly awakened and has not practiced solidly over a long time, if the temperament is not yet clear and the dust has not yet been worn away, yet one likes to style oneself a teacher and put on airs, one should not rashly take such a person as master. One must not merely covet empty fame, fawn upon the prominent, and sink into reputation and profit while doing no real cultivation; otherwise the work of the past may all go to waste, leaving only karmic obstruction.

Companions on the path of cultivation should also share the same interests and the same mind of the Dao, so that crooked and deviant thoughts do not easily arise and the wish to cultivate the Dao can be fulfilled together. Before forming friendships one should choose with care, and thereby keep oneself watchful. If one can meet a suitable teacher and companions of the Dao, cultivate with firm resolve and diligent effort, and broadly aid living beings while rescuing those sunk in the dark underworld, then to serve the Three Realms—the three layers of heaven spoken of in Daoism—and to pass beyond the farthest reaches of the eight directions will not be a difficult matter.

Establishing Daoist monasteries and ordaining people to leave the household are the foremost matters in carrying on the transmission of the Daoist tradition. The grotto abodes of famous mountains, the Cavern Heavens and Blessed Lands, and the Daoist altars where ancient immortals and perfected ones left their numinous traces are all places where the numinous traces of immortals and perfected ones reside. If one wishes the incense offerings to continue for a long time, the first task is to select suitable persons to ordain and transform. One should choose those of unblemished family background and sincere, substantial natural endowment, for only then are they easy to instruct. If one does not examine whether they have the aptitude for cultivating the Way (Dao) and admits them indiscriminately, some may prove worthless and may even run rampant in wrongdoing and fail to keep the precepts. This will not only stain the reputation of the Daoist tradition but will also harm its rise and its decline. If their backgrounds are mixed and their origins improper, it may even damage the good name of Daoist priests; still greater caution is required.

After the candidates have been chosen, one must also listen to their words and observe their conduct, carefully verify the circumstances, and only then enter their names in the Daoist register (the roster of Daoist priests) and the la register (the register that records a Daoist priest's years of seniority since receiving the precepts). The order of senior and junior among the Daoist community should be arranged by age; one must not practice favoritism, nor alter the registers without authorization. All should jointly examine and test their studies so that they become thoroughly familiar with the scriptures (Jing) of the Daoist tradition. Those responsible for keeping the name registers must submit the lists to the Daoist Office (the institution that administers Daoist affairs). When the system of ordination certificates (the credentials authorizing one to leave the household and become a Daoist priest) permits it, one applies again according to the regulations; only after the court has examined the case and issued the credentials may one don the cap and robe and become a Daoist priest.

After the Daoist cap and robe have been put on, those who keep the name registers should inspect and supervise regularly, and those newly entered into the Way should revere their teachers and elders, receiving instruction morning and evening. They must observe the pure regulations, revere the deities, burn incense, and recite the scriptures. All the liturgical texts (Keyi) and canonical works of one's own lineage, the scriptural books, the Daoist methods of the purification ritual (Zhaijiao), and the wordings of the rites and the proclamation notices should be mastered with skill, studied in depth, and continually practiced in everyday speech and conduct. If, when one has energy to spare, one can also understand the Confucian learning of nature and principle and the Chan school of Buddhism, and fuse them into a thorough comprehension, one may all the more be called a cultivator of the Way of the highest order.

In leisure, one may preside over ritual services, burn incense and discourse on the Way, and inquire into the cultivation of perfection; one may also chant poetry and play the qin for one's own enjoyment, or wear the ritual registers, sit quietly in practice, and thereby investigate principle. When one encounters scripture-and-offering rites (Daoist rituals of reciting scriptures and setting up purification offerings) that ought to be performed according to circumstances, one must observe fasting and abstinence with a sincere heart and follow the instructions of those who came before.

Eating coarse, plain food, covering oneself with a paper quilt, and wearing cloth garments are the ordinary conditions of the life of one who has left the household. A Daoist priest must not blend in with the secular world, violate the rules, become addicted to gambling and drinking, or associate with deviant and perverse persons; nor may one allow the order of senior and junior to collapse or the lineages to split. If the examination of one's studies is unsatisfactory, if the chanting in ritual services is not in good order, if one treats the liturgical canons as mere decoration, regards karmic retribution as empty talk, chants and discusses seductive and alluring words, sinks into fame and profit, covets wealth, rank, and splendor, and does not inquire into the fundamental tradition of one's own lineage, then one will day by day ruin the foundation left by the ancestral masters. Where the case is relatively light, punishment may be deliberated and a chance given to reform; where it is serious, one should deal with it according to the precepts, order the person to leave the mountain, and remove the name from the Daoist register. Only thus can those who come afterward be warned, so that Daoist communities in every direction observe the rules together.

The fields and grain of a Daoist monastery come mostly from lands granted by successive imperial courts, ancestral estates established by virtuous masters of earlier generations, and donations from patrons (tanyue, benefactors) through the ages. These resources are set aside exclusively to support the Daoist community and to maintain the incense offerings.

The Changzhu treasury hall (changzhu kutang, the storehouse that manages the monastery’s communal property) should appoint designated persons to oversee income and expenditure. Each residential compound (liaoyuan) must also observe the rules of the Changzhu (the permanent communal endowment), with elders and juniors managing it in turn. The Changzhu’s rents, taxes, and ledgers of receipts and disbursements are supervised and kept by the duguan (chief supervisor) and the shangzuo (senior elder); the accounts of the compounds are the responsibility of the house heads. Other members of the community take their turn at management only in order of their years in the monastery and their place in the generational ranking.

The year’s taxes and labor services, the construction of halls, the repair of buildings, the spring and autumn sacrifices, the timely recitation of scriptures to commend the dead, condolences and congratulations for mournful and joyful occasions, and precautions against fire and theft—all these matters should put the support of the community first and take lasting maintenance as their aim. Receipts and disbursements must pass jointly through the hands of the community, and the accounts must be clearly recorded. Private affairs must not be passed off as public business; property must not be hidden away or parcelled out for private occupation; and public funds must not be diverted without authorization.

The elderly should be kept secure and the young set at ease, so that what is needed to maintain the incense offerings never runs short. Sacrifices should be offered at the proper times, repairs carried out with diligence, and taxes prepared in advance. Only then can those above and those below live in harmony, the incense offerings endure, public and private affairs alike avoid hardship, and the monastery not fall into decline. When members of the community fall ill, they should aid one another; when someone dies, the rites of commendation and farewell should be simple and frugal. In no case may communal property be embezzled, or accounts concealed for private use, deceiving the gods and spirits merely in order to secure food and clothing. Nor may rents and taxes be concealed, or building, repair, and sacrifice neglected, so that taxes and labor services go unborne and superiors and subordinates are left uneasy. If theft or other improper conduct goes further still, it violates the religious law and betrays the wishes of the benefactors.

If the fault lies in the public treasury, the officers responsible should deal with it jointly; the abbot (fangzhang) should then convene the community to establish the facts, settle on a penalty, and dispose of the case according to its gravity: in serious cases the person is removed from office; in lesser cases a doubled fine is imposed, and the fine is paid into the public treasury for communal use. If the fault arises in a residential compound, the senior elders preside and likewise convene those concerned to investigate. The weight of the penalty follows the rules of the Changzhu and is reported to the abbot, who judges impartially and, when necessary, expels the person involved. If the responsible officers shield one another and cover up private gain, or if the senior elders indulge the offense and conceal it, the fellow residents of the compound should also put forward their views on how the matter ought to be handled. Through public deliberation it is clearly decided who is to stay and who is to go, so that one person is punished and the many are warned.

By established custom the fields of the Changzhu may not be sold, nor may private contracts be drawn up to sell or transfer them without authorization. In bearing taxes and labor services, the established system should be followed, and a zhenji Daoist (zhenji daoren, the Daoist charged with landed property, deeds, and related affairs) should be appointed to see that what is due is met, lest administration fall into disorder and bad practices take hold. This matter must be treated with care, for the gods and spirits observe with perfect clarity, and all should strive to comply.

Famous mountains and blessed lands are the places where, in the Daoist view, true spirits dwell and offerings of incense gather. Monasteries should not be left open to the taint of filth, disorder, and a climate of decline. Members of the Daoist community should be cautious and self-restrained, for the deities see all things clearly, and each person must spur himself on.

The monasteries on these famous mountains and blessed lands were mostly built in the Song and Yuan dynasties and in the present dynasty. They serve both to pray for blessings upon the state and to provide the community with places in which to live, cultivate, and assemble. A monastery should have shrine halls, a lecture hall, a refectory, living quarters, a cloud hall (a place where members of the community live together or practice in quiet), a Daoist lodge, covered corridors along both sides, and facilities such as kitchens and storehouses. Yet some monasteries, though they have income from landed property, suffer from incompetent managers who conceal the land rents, line their own pockets, and act as they please, until sacred images are destroyed and buildings collapse. Some proceed under the pretext of expenses for taxes and labor service, and even sell off vessels and buildings held in common by the monastery, until the site becomes a wasteland of rubble and is never restored. Others keep private wealth, set up households of their own, and live apart, so that a custom of imitating one another gradually takes shape.

Now, by the gracious authorization of the court, these affairs are to be cleared up and set in order. Ancient remains and numinous altars left by the true immortals of former ages must not be abandoned and must be repaired at the proper times. Each monastery should verify the landed property and grain rents registered in its name, ascertain the yield of the fields, whether the taxes are heavy or light, and cases in which the property has already been transferred while the tax remains charged to the original place, report these matters promptly to the responsible government office, and erect inscribed stone steles so that the records will not be lost.

The income and expenditure of a monastery’s common treasury should be managed by those who share responsibility for them. The first tasks are to repair the monastery and to provide for the community. One year-director (a Daoist office-holder responsible for the affairs of the current year) and one treasury keeper (the person in charge of the stores and of receipts and expenditures) should be specially appointed. Each year they are to mend leaks and damage, restore walls and fences, sweep the paths, clean the altars and halls, and tend the mountain forests, so that the deities have a place on which to rely and both the community and visitors may dwell at ease.

If income from land rents is not enough for repairs, funds may be raised through scripture-and-jiao rites (Daoist services such as reciting scriptures and arranging jiao offerings) or by soliciting donations and recording pledges, after which the community may carry out repairs according to actual conditions. One must not, however, use repair as a pretext for forming connections outside with officials and men of power, for drawing in merchants, or for compelling others to take part in schemes. If the undertaking does not arise from a sincere wish to do good, it may instead provoke disputes and bring trouble upon the monastery.

If income from land rents and incense offerings is already sufficient for building and repair, yet someone thinks only of enriching himself and will not undertake repairs—or deliberately opens the mountain forests, damages the fengshui, and cuts timber for his own use—the Daoist office-holders who live together should supervise one another. When such conduct is discovered, it should be reported to the Daoist authority in charge and dealt with according to the rules. Only if the person concerned repents and reforms may he continue to live in common residence; if he remains obstinate and will not change, the case is to be handed over to the responsible government office. Abuses must be rooted out and management renewed, so that monasteries are repaired year after year, do not fall into ruin, and the regulations of former times can be carried on. All who belong to the Daoist community of the Mysterious Gate should observe these requirements.