《道门定制》Vol. 5

When setting up a “Tomb Litigation Lamp Tablet” (a lamp ritual tablet established to resolve lawsuits and grievances related to tombs), light seven lamps in each row, with three additional lamps in the center representing the Three Palaces. The tablet lists the Lower Realm’s Direct Talisman Envoy, along with the envoys on duty for the year, month, day, and hour. The entire ritual uses eighty-seven lamps.

Each set of seven lamps is dedicated to different deities and beings, with prayers to resolve tomb litigation, enmity, and entanglements:

• Dedicate lamps to the myriad heavens of the Three Realms and the Eight Extremities of the Ten Directions—the celestial regions throughout the cosmos—praying for tomb litigation to be settled and recurring entanglements to be severed.
• Dedicate lamps to the Six Offices of the Celestial Court and the officials who oversee its records, praying that merit and good deeds be entered into the ledgers, names be removed from the registers of the dead, and entries be added to the registers of the living.
• Dedicate lamps to the Three Officials, the Five Emperors, and the officials of the Four Bureaus, praying that enmity be reconciled and dissolved, and that recorded lawsuits be cleared away.
• Dedicate lamps to the Great Emperor of Fengdu and his officials, praying for the ancestors and relatives, and for all wronged and imprisoned souls, to be pardoned.
• Dedicate lamps to the Great Emperor of the Water Palace and his officials, praying that disasters and punishments be dispelled and that entanglements caused by oaths and pledges be severed.
• Dedicate lamps to the Five Sacred Peaks, the Ten Mountains, and their assisting divine officials, praying that lawsuits and pursuits be ended and entanglements brought to rest.
• Dedicate lamps to the presiding City God and the deities listed in the sacrificial canon, praying that souls be released from the prisons of the underworld and freed from curses.
• Dedicate lamps to the suffering souls of every kind in the Nine Yin and the Long Night—the dark underworld—praying that they remember the Dao (the Way), return to their original nature, and be reborn into a pure realm.
• Dedicate lamps to ancestors of earlier generations and deceased family members, praying that their minds be opened and brightened, and that they ascend to the human or celestial realms.
• Dedicate lamps to creditors and adversaries from past and present lives, praying that their enmity be ended forever and that both sides be freed.
• Dedicate lamps to the heterodox spirits who spread disease, ghost kings, and others, praying that they return to right-mindedness and cease using harmful powers to afflict others.
• Dedicate lamps to all beings who are maimed or incomplete and undergoing suffering, praying that they repent of past faults and gain forms complete in body and mind.

Compiled and edited by Hu Xianglong, the Reclusive Adept of Zhenyin at Zhuling

Certificate of the Five Precepts for a Ritual to Change the Register and Replace the Case (a certificate of the Five Precepts issued for a ritual to change a person’s register and replace their fated case)

Certificate of the Five Precepts Altar for the Supreme One’s Ritual to Change the Register, Replace the Case, Continue Life, and Prolong the Years (a certificate for the Five Precepts altar established for a Supreme One ritual seeking to change a person’s register, replace their fated case, and pray for the continuation of life)

According to the person’s account, the relevant matters have been completed. The altar has examined the case and confirmed that their resolve is earnest and their sincerity complete. They are willing to amend their ways, return to the Great Dao (the foundational teaching revered in Daoism), and request guidance and instruction so that they may continue their cultivation. This certificate of the precepts is hereby issued.

Once the rites are complete, carefully examine the person before the altar. If you see that the one seeking the precepts is truly sincere, willing to reform and return to the Great Dao, and hoping to receive guidance and continue cultivating, then, in accordance with the established precept regulations, transmit to them the Supreme One’s Five Precepts. They should practice them diligently and without slackening, so as to receive blessings and avert misfortune.

The Supreme One says that among Heaven and Earth there are spirits who oversee people’s faults and good deeds. They record people’s good and evil actions and, on that basis, add to or subtract from their allotted years. The Lords of the Three Platforms and the Northern Dipper—the star deities of Daoism—manifest in many forms and remain above people’s heads, recording their merits and faults. The Three Corpses spirits, said to dwell within the human body and monitor people, ascend to the heavenly court on every Gengshen day to report a person’s faults. At the end of each month, the Kitchen Lord does the same.

On these days, the Three Officials, the Five Emperors, the Great One’s Director of Destiny, the Northern Dipper’s Inspector of Ghosts, the Great One’s Eight Divine Envoys, and others descend to the Three Palaces of Qingling Dongyin and Beifeng. There they assess the living and the dead, people’s sins and blessings, merits and faults, and karmic retribution. The Scripture on Causes and Conditions says that the Celestial Emperor often summons the youths who record people’s allotted years, sending them through the human realm with blue and black registers to investigate people’s sins and blessings, record their good and evil deeds, and report them to the celestial offices. The Director of Destiny then judges according to the severity of each fault: grave offenses result in a reduction of one’s years, lesser offenses in a reduction of one’s life allotment. If any guilt remains, misfortune may also befall one’s descendants. The accounting of good and evil never ceases. When a person does good, the Directors of Destiny and Records extend that person’s life; when a person does evil, the demons of the Six Heavens seize their soul.

It is also said that the earthly offices govern everyone’s allotted years, while the various heavens and emperors consult the registers to determine life and death, without the slightest error. If people know that their good deeds are few and their offenses many, and fear that officials of the Three Realms and the youths who inspect destinies will seize their souls and cut off their vital energy—or that they may be plagued by illness, beset by calamities, face ominous turns of fortune, or be in mortal danger—they should promptly perform rites of deliverance to avert disaster. They should express their sincerity through offerings, reveal the honesty of their hearts, establish a ritual precinct, and report their case to the underworld offices, asking that the registers be replaced and the records revised. They should also repent the offenses committed in this life, bring forth supreme goodness, and receive and uphold the Supreme One’s Five Precepts. In this way, their souls and spirits will become settled and pure; their lives will be prolonged and their bodies kept in health; and the merit they accumulate will be vast and beyond comprehension.

Now, with reverence before the Dao, the precepts are transmitted:

The first precept is to put an end to a miserly heart. Regularly repair palaces and temples (Daoist places of worship), widely accumulate blessings and De, aid the poor and relieve suffering, make images of the gods, and copy scriptures. In this way, one may pray for long life and good health, and for one’s descendants to flourish.

The second precept is to put an end to a greedy heart. Keep compassion and frugality in mind, observe purification fasts, establish an altar and perform Zhaijiao rites, practice the Way and recite scriptures, burn incense, and offer praise. In this way, one may accumulate immeasurable blessings and De and benefit all living beings.

At the passage titled “Third Precept, Second Precept,” it also says: Put an end to a greedy heart; keep compassion and frugality in mind; observe purification fasts, establish an altar and perform Zhaijiao rites, practice the Way and recite scriptures, burn incense, and offer praise, so that blessings and De may be boundless and all living beings may benefit.

The third precept is to put an end to anger. Keep a joyful heart, stay clear of distinctions and disputes between one another, treat everyone with compassion and forbearance, and remain tranquil, detached, at ease, and free. In this way, body and mind will be comfortable, and illness and suffering will not trouble you.

The fourth precept is to put an end to an expansive heart (here meaning a desire for advantage and victory). Regularly reflect and learn to yield; put others first and yourself second; treat people with gentleness and warmth; and guide them with tact and appropriateness, so that all who hear or see may awaken their wisdom.

The fifth precept is to put an end to delusion. Remain upright and pure, contemplate that all things are empty, and keep both the heart and the external world clear and pristine, in accord with the true Dao. In this way, the illusory body may be delivered from suffering, and nine generations of ancestors may ascend to Heaven.

The contents of this document have now been set forth, and it is hereby bestowed upon a certain person. The recipient should respectfully follow and carry out the prescribed rites, so that the Earth Bureau (the divine office overseeing the underworld) may report on their behalf to the heavens, enter their name in the registers of the Ten Pole Divine Kings and the Four Offices of the Three Realms, and then transmit the notice to the underworld. In particular, may the shortened lifespan of those whose years are few be changed and extended; may calamities, suffering, and illness all be dispelled. If one can uphold these precepts without retreating, one will receive the protection of benevolent gods, and one’s blessings, De, and wisdom will grow ever more resplendent. One will renew one’s wondrous merit and virtue, and ultimately realize the Dao of emptiness and nothingness. When this document arrives, it must be carried out without negligence. This notice is hereby issued.

Year, month, day

Bestowed upon a disciple who upholds the precepts, a certain person.

Rank and title of the High Merit Master, the initiator of the transmission

Great Sage Heavenly Worthy Who Upholds Fasting and Protects the World

Great Sage Heavenly Worthy Who Upholds the Precepts and Aids Living Beings

A separate register of the altar community is to be established, and a document submitted to the Eastern Peak.

Name and rank of the High Merit Master

The matter stated above is hereby transmitted by the Great Ming initiator of the transmission, High Merit Master of the rank and title …

Great Sage Heavenly Worthy Who Upholds Fasting and Protects the World

Great Sage Heavenly Worthy Who Upholds the Precepts and Aids Living Beings

A separate register of the altar community is to be established, and a document submitted to the Eastern Peak.

Name and rank of the High Merit Master

The person named above is a native of the Great Ming realm and a devotee of the Dao. After completing the work at the altar, he respectfully performed a Jiao rite (a ritual offering to the gods at an altar) before it, in accordance with Daoist liturgical rules. Before the Most High, he transmitted the Five Precepts (Daoist moral precepts) to the disciple named above, charging him to observe and uphold them, correct his past faults, and cultivate his conduct from now on.

He is concerned, however, that the disciple’s good deeds may be few while his offenses have already accumulated. The reckoning of merit and fault pertains to Mount Dai, the Eastern Peak (Mount Tai), and the disciple may face punishment from the officials of the underworld, lose years from his life, and draw calamity upon himself. Therefore, he submits this petition, respectfully presenting it before the holy presence of the Emperor of Heavenly Equality and Benevolent Sagacity of the Eastern Peak, Mount Tai. He begs the holy emperor, in his compassion, to pardon the disciple’s repentance and order the spiritual officials under his command to amend the disciple’s registers, giving him the chance to reform and begin anew, to have his allotted years entered afresh, and to be freed from calamity, so that one who is near death and decline may regain the breath of life. I, [name], presumptuously submit this petition to the sacred hearing, filled with fear and unease. I respectfully present this memorial.

On [year], [month], [day], [rank and name] submits this petition.

Underworld Writ for the Rite to Amend the Registers

During the Jiao rite, the following items are petitioned for and offered to dispel calamity and restore the breath of life to one who is near death and decline. I, [name], presumptuously submit this petition to the sacred hearing, filled with fear and unease. I respectfully present this memorial.

On [year], [month], [day], [rank and name] submits this petition.

Underworld Writ for the Rite to Amend the Registers

During the Jiao rite, one table, together with one set each of brush, ink, and inkstone, all of fine quality, shall be offered at the Eastern Peak’s jade table. In addition, one hundred sheets of writing paper, seventy-two offerings of money and horses for the Seventy-Two Offices, seventy-two brushes, and seventy-two each of wooden inkstones, counting rods, ink, and writing paper shall be prepared.

The Supreme Mystery Metropolitan Office (a Daoist celestial bureau) issues this altar writ to the underworld, notifying the judges of the Seventy-Two Offices to amend the disciple’s registers.

After preparing the document according to the disciple’s reported place of origin and wishes, it should be carefully examined before the altar to confirm that his wishes are truly sincere. The rite of rescue and protection should then be carried out in accordance with Daoist liturgy. It is said that in the Primordial Lord of Heaven’s method of saving people through talismanic commands, there are accounts of people whose life force had been cut off yet who were restored to life. The Elder of the Five Sacred Peaks, in his Book of the Dragon’s Ascension, also speaks of lives near their end being prolonged. Now, with due reverence, we invite the High Perfected to descend for the disciple and, before the divine beings, transmit the Supreme One’s Five Precepts (Daoist commandments), so that he may uphold them diligently and without slackening, thereby escaping death and prolonging his life.

We are concerned, however, that the disciple, so-and-so, may already have been entered in the register of the underworld by the Earth Bureau, which administers life and death among humankind. His offenses have not yet been expunged, and so he may find it difficult to obtain peace and good fortune. We therefore have prepared seventy-two each of brushes, ink, inkstones, counting rods, desks, and sheets of paper, and offer them to the Bureau of the Numinous Authorities. We respectfully petition that the disciple’s registers be changed and a new register established for him. An official transfer document is therefore required.

The contents of this document are as stated above. Please examine the matters presented in detail and handle them in accordance with the teachings. In particular, register the disciple, so-and-so, anew in the register of the living and establish a new entry for him. A transfer document must therefore be issued.

The contents of this document are as stated above. Please examine them carefully and act in accordance with the teachings. In particular, register the disciple, so-and-so, anew among the living, remove him from the register of offenses, and dispel his illness, so that he may pass through calamities and dangers. Record the merit he has gained by upholding the precepts, and grant him blessings in the years to come. Upon receipt of this document, please carry out these instructions. Respectfully submitted.

Submitted on the [day] of the [month], in the [year].

The name and surname of the Senior Ritual Master, the Daoist who presides over the Zhaijiao purification rite: so-and-so. Signature.

Judgment of the True Lord Who Assists the Teaching of the Three Heavens, Zhengyi, Aide of the Mysterious Principle, and Stillness-Responsive: Zhang of the Supreme Mystery Capital’s Bureau.

Duty Roster for the Yellow Register and Other Purification Retreats

Altar of the Yellow Register Grand Retreat:

With regard to the matter presented by so-and-so, the purification liturgy is to proceed until its completion and the closing of the altar. We respectfully observe that the High Saints are exalted and majestic. To conduct a sacred rite requires the participation and reverent cooperation of many officiants. By facing the divine beings and proclaiming the wondrous scriptures, the exceptional purification rite can be brought to completion, fulfilling the requirements of reverence toward the gods. The various offices are listed below.

Presiding Ritual Master: We request that Daoist so-and-so from a Daoist temple in [a prefecture or county] serve in this role.

The Presiding Ritual Master ranks above the Senior Ritual Master and must be someone whose virtue and cultivation are held in high esteem. If no suitable person is available, another arrangement may be made.

Senior Ritual Master: We request that Ritual Master so-and-so, who holds the appropriate title at a Daoist temple in [a prefecture or county], serve in this role.

The Gaogong, the ritual leader among the six officiants of the Zhaijiao (purification ritual), must have received the Dadong Register, an important Daoist ordination register, to serve in this role. If he has not received the Dadong Register, he may also lead the ritual after receiving the Lingbao Zhongmeng Register, an ordination register of the Lingbao tradition. This account in Du Tianshi’s ritual manual states that the Zhai method originated with Lingbao. Another view holds that none of the roles below the Dujing is called a “Master of the Daoist Law”; only the Gaogong bears this title, because he is responsible for transmitting the teachings.

For Dujing, the role of proclaiming scripture during the ritual and assisting the Gaogong, appoint Daoist so-and-so from such-and-such prefecture, county, or temple.

For Jianzhai, the role of overseeing the Zhaijiao ritual and maintaining its prescribed procedures, appoint Daoist so-and-so from such-and-such prefecture, county, or temple.

For Shijing, the role of attending to the scripture scrolls, appoint Daoist so-and-so from such-and-such prefecture, county, or temple.

For Shixiang, the role of attending to the incense, appoint Daoist so-and-so from such-and-such prefecture, county, or temple.

For Shideng, the role of tending the offering lamps, appoint Daoist so-and-so from such-and-such prefecture, county, or temple.

For Zhiqing, the role of striking the Qing and other ritual instruments, appoint Daoist so-and-so from such-and-such prefecture, county, or temple.

The role of Zhizhangbiao is also established. Appoint someone young, clear-minded, and able to recite in a clear, fluent voice. Zhangbiao petitions are an important ritual service within the Jiao ceremony. If someone old and short-sighted, who may falter in responding, is assigned to read them aloud, mistakes are likely. This is disrespectful and may also displease the benefactors.

Roles such as Zhiyanggong, Zhishoulu, Zhitan, and Zuotan may be added as the ritual requires and listed at the end.

We respectfully ask all those appointed to fulfill their duties, observe and proclaim the immortal traditions’ ritual procedures, bring Heaven and humanity into communication, receive a special blessing, and together complete this solemn rite. Let none be negligent or remiss.

Year, month, day

Posted at the Zhai altar

Dujing and Jianzhai are not listed among the signatories, because they are responsible for reprimanding and correcting others.

Signed: Gaogong Master of the Daoist Law, so-and-so.

Signed: Presiding Master of the Daoist Law, so-and-so. “Presiding” refers to the Daoist who holds a leading position in the ritual.

Night Zhai Notice: a notice used for nighttime Zhai rituals.

A night retreat is established to broadly proclaim the scriptures, teachings, and liturgy. Everything performed should aim to benefit all beings across the four forms of birth and the six realms of existence. At any grand Zhaijiao, the ghosts and spirits of both the netherworld and the human realm, along with all sentient beings, should receive benefit. Sponsors and ritual masters should therefore hold the wish to save and aid beings throughout the six realms. They should not simply follow old customs and attend only to the “orphaned souls of the five clans”—the orphaned souls classified and ritually delivered according to older categories. This is the way to achieve great merit.

In the past, there was no proclamation for the night retreat. Later, someone added one, but much of its wording was crude and disordered, with almost nothing to guide or instruct. A new version has now been compiled in the hope that it accords with the original intention of the Most High to save all beings. It was also observed that later additions to the night-retreat proclamation had made it disorderly and coarse, leaving out words of guidance and admonition. It has therefore been compiled anew, in the hope of bringing it closer to the Most High’s original intention of saving all beings.

At some grand Zhaijiao, the deceased are summoned only at the last minute, on the day of the rite. Their seats are placed far from the altar, and, in the haste to bring them over, only a little food is prepared. They are fed amid noise for a short while, after which paper is burned to send them away. This plainly fails to fulfill the purpose of letting them hear the scriptures and receive the teachings. They should be summoned to the altar on the preceding night, as the deceased are summoned for other rites, and given precepts there. On the second night, a food-offering rite should be held to aid and deliver them, followed by words of guidance and admonition before they are sent away. Only then does a grand Zhaijiao fulfill its purpose of delivering beings universally.

The Yellow Register Great Retreat altar (the ritual altar for a Yellow Register retreat and Zhaijiao).

These texts are used in rites of deliverance during a Water-and-Land purification ritual. The ritual sequence must be followed through to its proper completion. Auspicious Golden Registers and White Documents are to be presented on behalf of beings in the cycle of rebirth across the Three Realms and the Nine Springs and Six Paths, as well as the souls of the deceased belonging to the five local clans. Nine Truths ordination certificates are to be issued, and the Supreme High One’s Compassionate Night Purification Rite of Deliverance is to be performed, so that the souls recommended at this altar may be delivered.

There is a concern that if the beings recommended for deliverance are separately listed as those in the paths of heavenly beings, asuras, and humans of the five musical surnames, along with ghost officials, underworld clerks, jailers, and wandering souls in the hells, these categories may overlap. If all beings in the hell path are described as souls suffering punishment, then the human beings of the five musical surnames would also be souls of the dead, creating duplication. Ghost officials, underworld clerks, and jailers are included in the scope of deliverance from the hell path because the heavenly beings and asuras have already been listed above. Similar issues arise with the names for hungry ghosts and animals. “Animals” refers to birds and beasts. According to the account cited here, birds and beasts are born with their heads horizontal, humans with their heads upright, and plants grow downward. This explanation comes from the Commentary on “The Master of Becoming Lawful” in the Zhuangzi.

These beings are deeply caught in the cycle of rebirth, long submerged in the bitter sea of birth and death. Over the passage of ages, each has developed a deluded sense of distinction: heavenly beings grow proud and complacent on account of their superior blessings; asuras are angry and combative, arrogantly showing off their might; people are misled by wealth and poverty, treating their circumstances as fate and no longer cultivating goodness or striving to advance; underworld officials are cruel-hearted and show no compassion; animals have been reborn in other forms and can hardly free themselves; hungry ghosts are insatiably greedy, with hunger burning through them like fire. All these conditions arise because their original nature has not been awakened, leaving beings to sink through the Six Paths.

Now they should perform good deeds to reveal their original nature. All beings should rely on the power of the Supreme High One, earnestly receive the Nine Truths precepts, repent of the wrongs committed over many lifetimes, hold firmly to right mindfulness, give rise to no deluded thoughts, reform themselves, and encourage one another. May everyone at today’s ritual altar awaken to repentance. May beings who have already been delivered use skillful means to guide those who have not yet heard the right way. The retinues of heavenly beings and the officials of the underworld should strengthen their good intentions and rise to higher realms. Beings in the human path should recognize the goodness inherent in their own nature, abandon the false, and return to the true. Though animals and hungry ghosts bear the weight of grave wrongdoing, they too should be allowed to repent. All beings at the purification altar should follow these teachings, leave the cycle of rebirth soon, and together return to a realm of goodness.

There is also concern that some forceful ghosts and beings of heterodox ways harbor evil intentions and refuse to change. They deliberately sow division and will not encourage one another; instead, they foster conflict, frighten the souls of the dead, and disrupt the good work, creating serious obstacles. They must therefore be guided and instructed.

All those named above should heed the warnings given earlier, take the cycle of birth and death as a caution, and quickly return to right mindfulness, setting out forever on the path to transcendence and ascent to Heaven. If fierce and violent ghosts within the region run amok, the local Earth God and regional presiding deity should escort them to the Northern Prison of Tianyi, an underworld institution in Daoism that hears cases involving ghosts. There they should be sentenced and dealt with according to the laws, so that the laws of Heaven may be upheld. Let everyone understand this.

Year, month, day

Posted at the Night Purification altar

Signed and sealed by the High Merit Priest

Conveyance to the Northern Prison

The Northern Prison of Tianyi is an institution that hears cases involving ghosts. Sentences and punishments should be carried out according to the laws, so that the laws of Heaven may be upheld. Let everyone understand this.

Year, month, day

Posted at the Night Purification altar

Signed and sealed by the High Merit Priest

Petition for the Transmission of Registers and the Request for the Teaching (from Rituals for Receiving Scriptures and Registers from the Daoist Canon)

The disciple should personally present a petition for the teaching to the master, expressing reverence and a pledge to practice faithfully without ever disobeying. During the ceremony, the transmitting master splits the covenant document on the altar to signify the transmission of Fulu (talismans and registers). Later, some people began writing parallel prose in four- and six-character lines at the beginning of the register booklet. This, however, is not the same as formally submitting a petition for the teaching. According to proper procedure, the petition should be written before the ceremony begins and personally delivered to the transmitting master.

I, the named disciple, born in [year, month, day] and a native of [place], bow and submit this petition for the teaching. Through karmic ties from past lives, I have been able to follow the Great Dao, and I wish to devote myself to studying the teaching I am granted. If a child is receiving a talisman, the parents should speak on the child’s behalf. If a Daoist is applying for a token of authorization and proceeding to receive further registers, the application should specify which register is sought on this occasion, in light of the registers previously received, and describe each one individually.

I have carefully prepared precious silk, a token equivalent to gold, and respectfully present this petition. I humbly ask you, Master of Transmission, to have compassion for my sincere heart and satisfy my eager longing, so that I may receive and wear the registers, treasuring them forever as my own. If, after receiving the registers, I carelessly reveal the most perfect Dao, or transmit the registers to someone unfit to receive them, I am willing to bear the guilt myself and accept punishment from the Three Officials, the deities who govern the affairs of Heaven, Earth, and Water. I will not blame the Great Dao or reproach my master. If I violate the pledge I have written in my own hand, may I be punished according to the ritual regulations. I submit this petition with due respect.

Year, month, day. The disciple presents this petition to Master of the [name of register] Register, [name], at his residence.

Register covenant document

On the first day of the month, a Jiazi day in the sexagenary cycle of the Grand Duke Jupiter, a certain register master—a master who transmits Daoist talismans and registers—respectfully proclaims this throughout Heaven, Earth, and the Water Court, to the gods who manifest their power in response within famous mountains and great rivers, and to the deities who govern wind, thunder, clouds, and rain. He asks them all to observe and bear witness.

Now, male and female disciples from a certain village in a certain prefecture or county, whose names and ages are so-and-so, take an interest in Daoist methods and resolve to seek long life. They have written out their vows by hand, requesting to receive a certain kind of talisman and register, and promising to carry out its teachings according to the rules. They will not dare to slight their master, neglect the Great Dao, or violate their sworn pledge.

Now the disciple so-and-so and I each hold one half of the covenant document, and we make our agreement before the assembled holy ones of the Three Officials—the Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water revered in Daoism. If the disciple breaks today’s vow, after death they will come under the jurisdiction of the ghost officials. If they encounter the Three Calamities and Eight Hardships—the various disasters and trials described in Daoism—and many troubles press upon them, they must not blame the Great Dao or hold their master responsible, but willingly accept the blame themselves. This agreement shall be enforced in all respects according to the laws and commands of the Most High Lord Lao.

The left half of the covenant text is written in reverse, following the preceding text, so that the two halves can be joined to form a complete talisman. Each half bears five inches of text, with the talisman written in the middle. The right half is made from half a length of yellow silk, one foot and two inches long. The text is written from both ends, in twelve lines. It must be written neatly in cinnabar, without haste or omissions, with even spacing between the lines. The talisman fills the center. Thread blue silk through a gold ring—or a silver ring instead—and place it on the covenant document; then use a carving knife to score the ring. After the master and disciple have made their agreement, divide the document in two. The master keeps the left half and the disciple the right; each must keep their half for life and never break the agreement.

The style of the child’s protective sash

The sash is five feet long and made of blue or purple cloth. Its purpose is for disciples to uphold their master’s teachings together and to have the admonitions written on the sash, so they can remember them and never forget.

Memorial for the Stove God at the Residence-Settling Zhaijiao

A formal document issued by the Northern Pole Court for Exorcising Evil to the Stove God, Controller of Destiny, and the twenty-four Stove Gods.

Considering the circumstances, we fear that the earth used to build the stove may have been unclean, or that its position was unsuitable, and that in our daily lives we may therefore have violated some taboo. Now, as we perform a Zhaijiao purification ritual—a Daoist rite to pray for blessings and avert calamity—we also ask that misfortune be dispelled and past offenses forgiven. We therefore respectfully submit this document, a formal report addressed to the deities.

The contents of this document are as stated above. We ask you to examine our sincerity carefully and promptly drive out the uncanny influences from the dwelling, allowing none to remain. Please also expel all demons, spirits, and strange beings, so that the residence may remain peaceful and pure. We further ask each deity to fulfill their own duties and oversee their appointed jurisdiction, protecting the residents so that they may enjoy lasting peace and good fortune in matters of fire prevention, protection against theft, and both public and private affairs. Wherever an offense may have occurred, please also pardon and dispel it in accordance with the proper law. Upon receiving this document, please carry out these instructions without fail.

Respectfully submitted.

Year and month

Title of the ritual master

End of Book Ten of Daomen Dingzhi.