《道典论》

The Purple Essence Lord of the Three Primordials of the Purple Void is a Daoist deity, ninety million zhang tall. During the three months of spring, he wears a Ninefold Primordial Flying-Dawn cap with hanging cords and a flying skirt made of red brocade. He wears ornaments engraved with nine-heaven dragon patterns and tiger-shaped talismanic script, and at his waist hangs a precious sword symbolizing the essence of the sun and the protection and prolongation of life. He treads upon a five-colored lotus, while a round halo of the Seven Treasures encircles his head.

In summer, he takes the form of a child, with two loosely arranged, cloud-shaped topknots. He wears a multicolored robe and holds an ornate banner. Radiant and brilliant, he illuminates the Realm of Highest Clarity.

In autumn, he takes the form of a dragon’s head and a serpent’s body. Blue-green and yellow hues shimmer across him, and his light illuminates the Jade Void Realm.

In winter, he transforms into intermingled, hazy rays of purple, blue-green, and white, like moonlight.

The Elder of Primordial True Yang, Lord Xuanyi, is fifty million zhang tall. For the three months of summer, he wears the jeweled Chen Tongjing jade crown, worn by Daoist immortals, and a brocade robe embroidered with clouds in nine colors. He carries the Taishang Order of the Spirit, the Dragon Radiance Cinnabar Inscription, a precious seal symbolizing divine command. He often stands upon purple clouds; when he sits, seven-colored lotus flowers appear beneath him, their radiance dazzling.

For the three months of autumn, he transforms into an infant seated in the Purple Void. He wears a five-colored canopy and holds the Five-Ganoderma Splendid Banner, a ceremonial standard whose design symbolizes sacred fungi. For the three months of winter, he transforms into blue moonlight amid purple clouds and azure splendor, his radiance streaming outward and illuminating the Highest Clarity, the lofty celestial realm in Daoist belief. For the three months of spring, he transforms into radiance in three colors—azure, green, and deep blue—twining and blending like clouds joined together, surging vigorously through the Highest Clarity.

The Celestial Emperor Lord of Great Tenuity is thirty million zhang tall. For the three months of autumn, he wears the Ninefold Origin Flying Tassel Crown and a seven-colored robe of phoenix clouds. He is girded with the Night-Radiance Precious Seal and Intertwined Spirits Plain Ribbon, a white sash symbolizing sacred status. He often stands upon a five-colored lion, his whole body radiating precious light in thirty-two colors, appearing above the Highest Clarity.

For the three months of winter, he transforms into countless perfected immortals, clad in golden light that illuminates the ten directions. They stand upon nine-colored lotuses and hold golden bells. For the three months of spring, he transforms into sunlight, its purple radiance brilliant, hanging above the Jade Void and illuminating the ten directions. For the three months of summer, he transforms into radiance in three colors—white, pale blue, and green—which intertwine and overlap like clouds layered together.

The Lord Qingling Yang’an, a divine lord revered in Daoism, stands fifty million zhang tall. During the three months of winter, he wears a morning lotus crown adorned with the Three Essences and a red brocade flying cloak patterned with clouds. He rides a nine-colored lion and wears a flowing-gold fire bell, with the Seven Primordials as his sash. Seven changing rays of light shine from his whole body, illuminating all above the Jade Clarity. During the three months of spring, he takes the form of an old man, wearing a flying-dragon crown and holding a crescent-shaped ornament in his mouth. Clad in feathered robes and holding a purple sash, he stands upon cinnabar clouds, his radiance illuminating the Jade Clarity. During the three months of summer, he takes the form of a tiger-headed, human-bodied being, his body marked with five-colored stripes and his radiance illuminating the ten directions. During the three months of autumn, he becomes rays of yellow, green, and purple light that spread through the space of Highest Clarity, like a halo around the sun.

The Lord of the Three Primordials of Supreme Originality in the Upper Origin, a divine lord who governs the Upper Origin, stands thirty million zhang tall. During the three months of spring, he wears a feathered crown of precious mystery that supports the dawn and a purple cloud-patterned brocade mantle. He wears a nine-colored brocade skirt patterned with dragons, with a flowing-gold fire bell, a tiger tally, and a dragon writ fastened at his waist. He sits upright in the Great Void. Beneath his knees are clouds of cinnabar, green, and blue, bright with radiance and illuminating the ten directions of the hidden mystery. During the three months of summer, he takes the form of a single body with three heads, wears a seven-tiered jeweled crown and a three-colored brocade robe of flying clouds, and stands upon a nine-colored phoenix, his light illuminating the ten directions. During the three months of autumn, he becomes the Seven Luminaries—the radiance of seven celestial bodies—appearing as exquisite, wondrous jade light that shimmers above purple clouds. Its colors are rich and intense, like the sun’s brilliance. During the three months of winter, he becomes rays of blue, purple, and white light that surge upward, like the gleam of refined metal.

The Most High Lord of Great Simplicity, a revered deity of the Shangqing Daoist tradition, is thirty million zhang tall. During the three summer months, he wears a purple crown adorned with a precious stone and a robe of seven-colored patterned silk. He bears the Seven Luminaries’ Original Insignia of Radiant Release and wears at his waist a tablet for summoning immortals through the Three Treasures. He often stands upon a five-colored lotus, shining with dazzling brilliance.

During the three autumn months, he becomes a dragon-headed figure with a human body, its form patterned in five brilliant colors and its flowing radiance illuminating the four directions. During the three winter months, he becomes a three-eyed deity, his blended light illuminating Shangqing. During the three spring months, he transforms into streams of azure and white light, brilliant and many-hued, shimmering within Original Qi, the primordial breath of the cosmos, above the Purple Empyrean.

The Three Lords of Purple Essence and Threefold Simplicity of Shangqing, revered deities of the Shangqing Daoist tradition, are seventy million zhang tall. During the three autumn months, one wears the Dawn Crown of Penetrating Essence and a tiger robe patterned in five colors. He bears a plain silk sash that joins the spirits and wears at his waist a sword for summoning immortals. He often stands upon a nine-colored lion, a round halo shining beside his neck and illuminating Shangqing.

During the three winter months, he becomes a phoenix-headed figure with a human body, wearing feather robes of azure, blue-green, and purple. His radiance swirls and shimmers throughout the Shangqing realm. During the three spring months, he becomes a dragon-headed figure with a human body, his bright, patterned form illuminating Shangqing. During the three summer months, he transforms into black and yellow lights that coil around and merge with one another, rising like clouds.

The August Pure Lord of the Cavern of Truth (a revered Daoist deity) is fifty million zhang tall. During the three months of winter, he wears a three-tiered Jade Dawn crown, a tiger-patterned fur robe in seven colors, and a flowing golden fire bell. He holds a staff-banner in seven colors and often stands atop the Three Plain Flying Clouds, his radiance illuminating the Jade Void. During the three months of spring, he changes his appearance: he wraps his head in a yellow turban, wears a ritual robe with thirty-two bands, and holds an ornate banner as he stands atop purple clouds. During the three months of summer, he closes his eyes and gazes inward, wearing a canopy crown and standing with both feet on a lotus. During the three months of autumn, he changes his appearance again, wrapping his head in a yellow turban, wearing a ritual robe with thirty-two bands, and holding an ornate banner as he stands atop purple clouds. He also transforms into yellow and white rays of light that shine and swirl through the great void, illuminating the heavens and earth in all ten directions.

The August Sovereign, Fourth Elder Dao Lord (a revered Daoist deity) is seventy million zhang tall. During the three months of spring, he wears the Seven-Treasure Jade Crown of Primordial Truth, a speckled fur robe patterned with phoenixes, and the Huo Luo flowing bell. He carries the bamboo tally for summoning the True Ones and often stands atop a nine-colored lion. Twelve streams of radiant light shine from his whole body, and he resides in the realm of Highest Clarity. During the three months of summer, he transforms into a child wearing multicolored clothes, with the Seven Stars in his mouth, and stands atop white clouds. During the three months of autumn, he transforms into a human-headed, serpent-bodied being, his body patterned in five colors, and resides above the Jade Void. During the three months of winter, he transforms into blue, red, and white clouds of Qi, entwined with one another, and dwells in the Mysterious Void.

The Jade Dawn, Supreme Great Dao Lord (a revered Daoist deity) is ninety million zhang tall. During the three months of autumn, he transforms into a serpent form bearing myriad divine rays, his body patterned in five colors, and resides above the Jade Void. During the three months of winter, he transforms into blue, red, and white clouds of Qi, entwined with one another, and dwells in the Mysterious Void.

The Lord of the Great Dao, Jade Dawn, a revered deity of the Highest Clarity, stands nine hundred million zhang tall. During the three months of autumn, he wears a jade crown adorned with a hundred kinds of divine radiance, and robes that billow like frost pearls beneath a tiger-patterned garment in seven colors. He wears ornaments patterned with nine-colored silk and a bell of morning light and bright moon. He often sits upon seven-colored clouds, his radiance illuminating the realm of Highest Clarity.

During the three months of winter, his appearance changes. He wears a round wheel crowned with seven rays, robes of ritual in thirty-two colors, and stands upon a nine-colored lion. Brilliantly radiant, he dwells above Highest Clarity, within the Great Subtlety. During the three months of spring, he takes the form of Laozi, wearing a horned headcloth and a tiger-patterned garment. Holding a golden talisman, he stands atop the blossoms of the Five Zhi. During the three months of summer, he transforms into purple and yellow rays of light, bright and lustrous, intertwining with one another in the Purple Void.

The Lord of the Central Yellow Elder stands three hundred million zhang tall. During the three months of summer, he wears a precious crown of morning light and robes of nine-colored clouds, tied with a purple sash of intertwined spirits and twelve radiant blossoms. He often stands upon a five-colored lion, his radiance illuminating the realm of Highest Clarity. During the three months of autumn, he transforms into a jade youth, wearing a crown adorned with the seven essences and a flying-sleeved feather robe, and holding a flowered banner. During the three months of winter, he takes the form of a perfected immortal. His whole body is golden, he wears seven-colored robes, and a round wheel shines behind his neck. He stands upon a lotus, surrounded by flowing radiance. During the three months of spring, he transforms into purple, green, and blue rays of light, intertwining with one another above the Jade Void.

The Grand Dao Taiji Lord of Unseen Form, a revered Daoist deity, is thirty million zhang tall. During the three months of autumn, he wears a jeweled crown adorned with morning tassels and a seamless nine-colored ceremonial robe. He carries a divine tiger talisman and seal, wears a jeweled immortal sword at his waist, and has a flowing golden radiance encircling his neck. This golden light illuminates seventy-four directions. He often stands upon the back of a dark tortoise.

During the three months of winter, he transforms into a figure with a tiger’s head and a dragon’s body, displaying five-colored markings that shine with penetrating clarity throughout Shangqing, the subtle and wondrous celestial realm described in Daoism. During the three months of spring, he takes on the appearance of Laozi: his loose hair falls to his waist, he wears a light blue feather robe, and he stands upon purple clouds. During the three months of summer, he transforms into a figure standing on the back of a dark tortoise. He also transforms into interwoven red and blue rays of light, appearing above the Purple Void. Here, “transformation” describes the Daoist idea that deities manifest in different forms as the seasons change.

The Grand Dao Lord of Great Clarity, a revered Daoist deity, is ninety million zhang tall. During the three months of winter, he wears a crown that connects the Nine Origins to Heaven and a nine-colored dragon robe. He carries the Seal of the Three Qi, wears a plain silk sash that joins the spirits at his waist, and stands with both feet upon the Three Plain Clouds. Radiant and brilliant, he dwells above Shangqing.

During the three months of spring, he transforms into a three-headed phoenix with a plain silk sash in its beak and nine-colored feathers across its body. Its markings are vivid, and its radiance illuminates Shangqing. During the three months of summer, he transforms into a circular halo of three colors, pure and deep red, shaped like a wheel. Its light shines above Taiqing. During the three months of autumn, he wears nine-colored feathers, their markings vivid, and his radiance illuminates Shangqing. He also transforms into rays of purple, white, and yellow light, brilliant in color and bright enough to illuminate Shangqing.

The Sovereign Lady of Purple Primordial Origin (Huangchu Ziyuan Jun) is ninety million zhang tall. During the three months of spring, she wears the divine crown of Purple Primordial Origin, a leather garment patterned with three-colored tigers, and the white sash of spiritual power. She treads upon clouds of the Three Su (Sansu). Her radiance shines in every direction, and she can see through the ten directions. She dwells above the Upper Clarity Heaven (Shangqing), within the Eight Subtle Regions.

During the three months of summer, she transforms into a perfected immortal. Her entire body is golden, and a round halo shines behind her neck. Her patterned colors are vivid and brilliant, and her radiance illuminates the ten directions. During the three months of autumn, she transforms into a child of three colors, dressed in multicolored robes and holding an ornate banner. Bright and radiant, she illuminates the Upper Clarity Heaven. During the three months of winter, she transforms into rays of blue-green, azure, and purple light. Their brilliance shines forth and illuminates the Upper Clarity Heaven.

The Supreme Elder Lord, the Central True One of Unmanifested Excellence (Wuying Zhongzhen Shang Laojun), is seventy million zhang tall. During the three months of summer, he wears the Heavenly-Penetrating Jeweled Crown and a garment patterned in seven colors. He wears the Purple Sash of Spirit Flight, and at his waist hangs a sword called the Sword that Reaches the True. Standing upon a nine-colored lion, his radiance penetrates all things and illuminates the Upper Clarity Heaven. During the three months of autumn, he transforms into an old man wearing a yellow headscarf and a yellow-black Daoist robe. He holds a golden staff and stands upon a lotus, his radiance illuminating the ten directions. During the three months of winter, he transforms into the light of three suns, shining brilliantly and illuminating the ten heavens. Three kinds of Qi (vital energy) mingle together, taking the shape of an egg yolk. During the three months of spring, he transforms into rays of purple, blue-green, and white light. Their brilliance shines forth, reaching through the nine heavens.

The Central Scripture of the Nine Perfected says: The Yellow Venerable Lord of the Center was a disciple of the Supreme Great Subtlety Heavenly Emperor. He was spontaneously born in the second year of the Clear Void Supreme Sovereign. At his birth, sunlight shone brightly, its radiance mingling with other lights. Clouds of five colors spread above him like a canopy, while auspicious vapor gathered in the sky.

At the age of seven, he grasped the essentials of long life and the methods of cultivating as a Celestial Immortal. He devoted himself to pondering sublime principles and respectfully received profound truths. His mind and spirit were calm and pure, resting within the wondrous source. He comprehended the hidden regions in all eight directions, could grasp the void and cast forth golden light, and freed himself from the constraints of worldly refinement and splendor, revealing the ease of an unadorned, authentic nature. His vision opened wide as he entered the gate of the Mysterious Origin; with his hands, he seemed to push open layer upon layer of hidden depths. Thus, his innate gifts accorded with the wondrous Dao, and he had long been attuned to its mystery.

Later, the Supreme One bestowed upon him the Scripture of the Nine Perfected and the chapters of the Secret Sayings of the Eight Ways, transmitted by the Emperor. These enabled him to succeed in cultivating the Dao. The Supreme One also granted him scriptures and conferred upon him the title Perfected of the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji).

The Jing of the Purple Book and Golden Root records that the Sovereign Lord Qingyao was a disciple of the Jade Emperor, the Primordial Sovereign of the Nine Suns. In the first year of the Zhonghuang era, light began to appear in the Eastern Dimension Heaven. The Sovereign Lord Qingyao was born in the Heaven Beyond the Cliffs, in the Jade Kingdom of Xuanzhong, in a secluded place beneath the Seven Treasures of Qionglin and at the edge of the Nine Domains. His birth followed the omens of Heaven’s mandate. At daybreak, nine dragons guarded him, while seven-colored jade phoenixes spread their wings above him. A divine qilin and a numinous fungus came together, revealing a wondrous radiance. Heavenly maidens breathed out Jing, infusing him with true Qi; jade boys scattered flowers to dispel impurity; and divine consorts spread fragrance to cleanse away dust and grime.

He held numinous Qi in his mouth and cultivated himself through embryonic breathing. By nature, he was graceful and beautiful. At the age of twenty-six, his face shone with golden light, numinous talismans appeared on his body, and his words carried the solemn authority of golden inscriptions. Seventy-two colors of light appeared around him, illuminating his jade-like form. Three rays of dawn wound about him, and six kinds of primordial Qi circled like a wheel. A dark numinous canopy of purple rose above his dwelling; its shimmering radiance flowed outward and lit the courtyard. He held true Qi within, possessed an exceptional bearing, and carried himself with natural composure. He responded to change, rising and falling with the turns of the seasons. He dwelt in the realm of luminous clouds and roamed the lands of the Jade Kingdom, upholding the methods imparted by the Primordial Sovereign. Descending to the hills of the Nine Domains, he wandered there freely.

After ages had passed, he returned to the cloud chamber of pure retreat. There, purple clouds formed the roof and blue mists the walls; gold made the halls, and white jade the bed. Five kinds of primordial Qi intertwined, tiered terraces rose high and connected with one another, the jade steps were exquisitely carved, and phoenix towers stood in each of the four directions. Golden boys stood in attendance, while Jade Radiance maidens held out towels. More than five thousand celestial immortals stood in ranks as guards. Auspicious beasts of Heaven filled the place, and feathered riders crowded together like scales. Dragons, tigers, and guardian beasts crouched in pairs. Dark Qi gathered nine times; numinous winds stirred mist and rosy clouds, and fragrance filled the air. A palace of jade seemed to appear from the void, while flowing Jing and the radiance of jade shone across the eight directions of Heaven.

Qingyao was another title for the Sovereign Lord of Purple Clarity. He received the wondrous instructions of the Purple Book from the Jade Emperor, including the most important secret methods among the scriptures: heavenly writings from above the Nine Heavens and hidden characters of the Eight Convergences. The Jade Emperor ordered the Supreme Direct True One, Lord of all Immortals, to compile these precious texts into the Jing of the Many Praises, transcribing them in purple ink and arranging them on golden slips. All these teachings came from the way of the Primordial Sovereign of the Mysterious Ancient Age. They were essential secret methods handed down by the High Sages, gathered into a scroll, and transmitted to the Sovereign Lord Qingyao.

The Jing of Purple Measure and Flaming Radiance says: The Great Emperor of the Celestial Poles of Taiwei, a revered Daoist deity, was born at the edge of Original Azure, a clear, empty, distant realm, and was descended from the numinous spirit Yuan Yao. At that time, primordial Qi, the original breath of the universe at its beginning, had not yet coalesced. His body took shape from flowing, fragrant Qi. Light joined all around him, illuminating the spirits; purple clouds flashed like lightning, dark clouds and mists enveloped him, and vermilion radiance wound about him. His wondrous awareness opened inwardly. He then received and accorded with Heaven’s revelation, allowing pure, harmonious Qi to flow freely, and breathed in and out subtle, profound fluids.

Later, he was born from a womb of emptiness and nourished by numinous substances such as the Great Spring and Curved Zhi fungus.

As soon as his body began to take shape, he studied the way of summoning the perfected spirits. His thought was far-reaching and his observation broad; he meditated inwardly and turned his gaze within. In still meditation, his vision extended without limit, and he could deeply perceive the subtle, empty realm of mystery. At just three years of age, he was already composed and discerning. His true spirit had become manifest, and he could foresee what had not yet come to pass. He could also investigate the realms of Heaven completely: there was no darkness he could not penetrate, no height he could not see, and no depth he could not discern.

At fourteen, golden radiance appeared within him, while jade-colored brilliance shone outward. His wisdom was unobstructed and his spiritual awareness keen; he clearly perceived the principles of emptiness and mystery. He was honored with the imperial title of Pian Tang and charged with clearing the clouds and mists of the Nine Heavens, soaring forth to survey the source of Dongqing, discerning pivotal secrets in the most profound and distant realms, and governing the myriad waters and their currents. The many accumulated responses converged in a gathering of the netherworld, and wondrous efficacy arose of itself. Thus he received the title of Great Emperor. Such an exalted station came from responses accumulated over a long time. Could anyone truly be fit for it from birth?

The Upper Scripture of the Inner Registers of the Three Blossoms and Precious Radiance says: The True One, Forbidden Lord, who presides over the registers of the Southern Pole, a revered deity in charge of its records, on the seventh day of the seventh month in the year Renwu, the first year of the First Emperor, at noon, in the Highest Supreme Meditation of Goodness and Immeasurability…

Beneath the jeweled groves of the Purple Terrace in Fengjing, the Seven-Treasure Cavern of the Jade Kingdom of Shoutian, I bow and pay homage to the Jade Emperor, the Void Sovereign Heavenly Worthy seated in the Jade Hall—a title of the Great Jade Emperor. With reverence, I ask: You inherited the Mandate of Heaven, established the foundations of imperial rule, were entered in the registers of emperors, hold the highest rank in the celestial realm, and oversee and inspect all immortals. Yet you have not received the method for opening and transmitting the teachings that prolong life. May you bestow this precious secret, so that worthy people in later generations may cultivate it.

The Void Sovereign Dao Lord then said to the Supreme Perfected Lord of Prohibitions, Chief Administrator of the South Pole, who oversees the affairs of the South Pole: “The Golden Chamber secret for prolonging life and returning to one’s years is hidden above the Nine Heavens, in the nine-turn chamber of the Golden Terrace and Jade Room within the Great Being Palace. This Daoist method is profound and subtle; Perfected Beings of the middle rank cannot understand or put it into practice. Those who cultivate it will share a root with the nine kinds of primordial Qi (vital energy), shine alongside the sun, moon, and stars, and endure as long as Heaven and Earth. When their practice reaches ten thousand repetitions, they can rise to the rank of Immortal Ministers, ride the clouds and mount the void, and ascend to the realm of the imperial sovereign. I now reveal this method to you. You should cultivate it in accordance with its instructions.”

The Scripture of the Registers of the High Primordial Jade Emperor gives a detailed account of the names of eight hundred Dao Lords. They are not copied here.

Great Spirits

The Scripture of the Most High and Most Perfected Principles says: “Within the great space and the great void, the Great Origin has neither beginning nor end. There is a Great Spirit whose form appears formless, yet is truly real. It possesses wisdom and numinous awareness, and can perceive all living beings. When living beings send forth a response, the Great Spirit descends and answers, becoming the ruler who responds to their calls. For this reason, it is called the ‘Great Spirit.’”

The Precepts of the Scripture of the Lord Lao says: “Spirit beings are those whose nature accords with the Great Dao and who understand its numinous subtlety. They can transform in response to circumstances. They may appear in form despite being formless, and vanish and reappear in an instant. When dispersed, they become Qi; when gathered, they take human form. They come and go without doors, and enter and leave without obstruction. They can ascend to Heaven and enter the Earth, moving through the four quarters between Heaven and Earth. Wherever the Dao is present, they appear. They arrive without traveling and answer without being called. They exercise hidden merit, quietly nourishing all things; their kindness is deep yet unseen. Because their name cannot be fully expressed in words, they are called ‘spirit beings.’”

The Wondrous Scripture of the Supreme Highest Lingbao, of Limitless Deliverance and the Highest Teaching for Delivering People says: “Among them are spirits who save people from the world and make them deathless; the Great Spirit Sima, who oversees the work of delivering people from the world; the honored spirit who dwells in the south and rescues people from calamity; and the limitless Great Spirit who enables people to attain long life and escape the dusty world.”

Flying Heavens

The Classic of the Statutes for Clarifying the True records that the Celestial Worthy then summoned the Great Flying Immortals from the ten directions. Among them were the revered deity who governs the deliverance of the south from calamities, and the immeasurable Great Deities who grant long life and freedom from the world of dust.

Flying Immortals

The Classic of the Statutes for Clarifying the True records that the Celestial Worthy then summoned the Flying Immortals from the ten directions. They opened the jade coffer—the case holding treasured texts—in the deep darkness of the underworld and the Ninefold Abyss, and took out the Statutes of the Daoist Canon of Numinous Treasure to deliver the young.

The Wondrous Scripture of Supreme Rank on Delivering People Without Limit through the Numinous Treasure of the Most High says: “Today, the heavens come to the audience hall to examine and register the names.” This means that the gods of the heavens came to the Celestial Worthy’s court to verify the registers. “Today” refers generally to the morning when purification rites are held on the Three Primordial Days and the Eight Seasonal Festivals. On these occasions, the Flying Immortals from the ten directions and all the Great Sages gather in the Jade Capital, the heavenly city of Daoist legend, to verify the registers of names. The Celestial Worthy also holds a grand court audience on that day.

In the east, south, west, north, northeast, southeast, southwest, northwest, above, and below, there are Limitless Flying Immortal Kings and Great Sages of Long Life, who are charged with delivering living beings. These Most True Flying Immortal Kings of the ten directions are all immeasurable Great Deities who grant long life and freedom from the world of dust. Together they ride flying clouds and travel in red carriages and green palanquins, leading billions of vehicles and tens of thousands of mounted attendants as they descend through the air.

The Jing of the Five Refinements of the Living Corpse of Lingbao (Lingbao Wulian Shengshi Jing) says: At that time, the Celestial Worthy was in the Fragrant Grove Garden at Changle Lodge, teaching 7,240 youths. When the ritual proceedings were largely complete, the most intelligent youth stepped forward and addressed the Celestial Worthy: “Now that clemency has been extended, all things have been renewed everywhere; the Imperial Way is in full effect, and its grace reaches the ten directions. We beg you, Celestial Worthy, since you have bestowed compassion so widely, to bring this blessing to its full measure for us.” When the ritual proceedings were largely complete, this wisest youth again addressed the Celestial Worthy with the same words. The Celestial Worthy then issued a universal command to the sovereigns of the heavens, directing them to open further teachings for these wise youths.

The Jing of Purple Transcendence and Flaming Radiance (Zidu Yanguang Jing) says: In the east is a youth of blue radiance, named Blue-Upper Jade, styled Flying Upright. His body shines with the azure glow of rosy clouds, its brilliance flowing and illuminating all around. In the south is a youth of red radiance, named Cinnabar Radiance, styled Mysterious Record. His body shines with red rosy clouds, whose light illuminates the south. In the west is a youth of white radiance, named Vast Splendor, styled Spirit-Returning Son. His body shines with white rosy clouds, its brilliance flowing and illuminating all around. In the north is a youth of black radiance, named Mysterious Brightness, styled Great Yin Pattern. His body shines with black rosy clouds, whose clear light illuminates and reflects across the north. At the center is a youth of yellow radiance, named Holding Loyalty, styled Yellow Register Son. His body shines with yellow rosy clouds, like the essence of gold, brilliantly radiant.

The Jing of Supreme Wisdom (Taishang Zhihui Jing) praises them:

The Golden Radiance Youths hold aloft the Cavern Scripture. Those who carry incense are all immortal youths. Their whistles and songs resound through the Mysterious Capital, the celestial city of the immortals; their jade pendants ring together as they strike the jade bells.

The Jing of Ascending to the Mystery (Shengxuan Jing) says: There is a Golden Radiance Youth, listed under the heading “Manifesting the Attire of Earthly Worthies.”

The Jing of the Register of the Three Heavenly Lords of Shangqing (Shangqing Santianjun Lieji Jing) says: There is a Youth of the Lesser Wilderness, listed in the contents under “Manifesting the Mountains of Earthly Worthies.”

The Great Cavern Scripture of Truth (Dadong Zhenjing) says: There is a Youth of the Primordial Beginning, listed in the contents under “Manifesting the Mountain Cavern of Earthly Worthies.”

A great adept, a person of profound virtue.

The Shengxuan Jing says: The Most High, the Daoist title for the supreme deity, said to Daoling, “You may exchange greetings with this great adept, a highly accomplished cultivator. His name is Shansheng. He has long practiced purity, his cultivation is complete, and his level is the same as yours.”

The Taishang Taizhen Kejing says: When practitioners of the Lesser Vehicle study an inauthentic path, they are easily assailed and obstructed by evil spirits. As a result, they cannot attain deliverance and remain for a long time under the dominion of the Six Heavens, the realm governed in Daoist tradition by the six demonic kings. Thus, this great adept has long practiced purity, completed his cultivation, and reached the same level as you.

The Taishang Taizhen Kejing also says: A great adept who resolves to cultivate the way of the Greater Vehicle has great merit and deep De (Virtue/Power), and evil spirits cannot destroy him. Even if they come to harass him, they will immediately submit. Once subdued, they will obey his commands and, in a later life, become perfected beings—those who have attained the Dao and become immortals. If they cannot be transformed all at once, the demons can still recommend and protect them, helping those who study the Dao ascend to the Mysterious Realm, the hidden and profound realm described in Daoist tradition.

The Taishang Taixiao Langshu Jing says: Great adepts who cultivate the Greater Vehicle can save living beings on a broad scale. They investigate and seek the utmost Dao, reach the source of wisdom, and never depart from the Great Dao, from beginning to end. Through their own cultivation, they aid living beings and ultimately attain immortality, becoming united with the Treasure—the supreme Dao, revered as a precious treasure in Daoism.

End of Book One of the Treatise on Daoist Canons.

A note explains that the Dunhuang manuscript has another fragmentary passage before the main text, describing several divine beings who change their forms, clothing, and radiance with the seasons. At times they appear as a human-headed tiger, a three-headed phoenix, or other forms; at other times they transform into lights of different colors and dwell in Shangqing (the Daoist heavenly realm). The notes below list several words and variant readings in the Dunhuang manuscript: for example, “emptiness” is sometimes written as “numinous” or “void,” “round wheel” as “wheel of marks,” and “eight heavens” as “ten heavens.” A few individual characters have also been corrected on the basis of the Dunhuang manuscript.

The Scripture of the Most High, the Supreme Truth says: At the beginning of the creation of Heaven and Earth, the holy perfected immortals proclaimed the Dao’s Qi (vital energy and power), established rules and rituals, and passed down a single lineage. The revered gods of the Most High called them “scholars.” Since they made the Dao their vocation, they were called “those who serve the Dao”; because they achieved something in that service, they were called “Daoists.” Daoists take the Dao as their central duty, carry forward the sacred legacy, and cultivate themselves to attain transcendence. Demons arise because people in the world have shallow feelings and aspirations. Though evil seeks to attack the righteous Dao, it is only when the righteous Dao withdraws that evil Qi can enter through the opening. Those who follow evil become one with its kind, while those who uphold the righteous Dao remain undisturbed. True Daoists cultivate the Dao according to precepts and liturgies; even demon kings respect and protect them. How, then, could evil spirits dare to trouble them? For this reason, those who receive the Dao and cultivate it are regarded as the superiors of the heavenly demons, while the host of heavenly demon gods are their subordinates.

The Scripture on Ascending to the Profound says: The conduct of the worthy is in every respect the opposite of that of ordinary people. They do not look much at external things, and beautiful sights do not stir them. They heed neither slander nor sounds that unsettle the mind. They do not crave fragrant smells or come into contact with foul, impure things. They do not covet sweet flavors or harm living beings through food and drink. In their hearts, they do not cling to desires, wealth, women, or worldly glory. Their hands do nothing improper, and their feet do not walk an evil path. Such is the conduct a Daoist should embody.

The Scripture of the Great Precepts of Original Vows says: A person of the Dao begins by cultivating themselves and does not make demands of others. The scripture’s words, “Cultivate it in the self, and its De (Virtue/Power) will be genuine,” express precisely this principle.

The Scripture of the Cavernal Abyss says: Esteemed Daoists are all reborn from Heaven. Without good deeds accumulated in a former life, one ultimately cannot become a Daoist.

The Jing of the Orthodox Unity Perfected One Expounding the Thousandfold Clarifying Precepts says: A Daoist of upright and pure virtue has already mastered the “Three Vehicles,” the different levels of cultivation described in Daoism. Such a person can teach and transform the people, perform good deeds far and wide, and handle every matter in accordance with principle. Therefore, they may present offerings to the venerable scriptures of the Three Caverns.

The Scripture of the Supreme One’s Jade Book of the High Heavens says: To understand and grasp the Great Dao, one must be single-minded. If one cultivates with undivided attention, there will surely be a response, and one will come to commune with the spirits. Why, then, deliberately seek a response? Set aside both joy and sorrow; devote yourself diligently to cultivation day and night. Vow to persevere without pause and never turn back. A person like this is called a “Daoist cultivator.” One who follows the Great Dao is called a “Daoist.” What does “cultivator” mean? It means understanding how things should be and putting that understanding into practice. When body and mind accord with what is right, one follows the Great Dao wholeheartedly and makes following the Dao one’s code of conduct. That is why one is called a Daoist.

Master

The Scripture of Ritual Conduct for the Purification Retreat says: When a Perfected One expounds the Dao, a student of the Dao who can cast off worldly entanglements, resolve to journey through mountains and waters, and honor the highest teachings may be called a “Master.” A Master often sits in a high seat, recites scriptures, teaches people of different backgrounds, and guides many students onto the path of cultivation. If someone is serene and pure, has deep virtue, and understands subtle and profound principles, their disciples and fellow students may respectfully call them Master, followed by their name. If this person can investigate what is profound and comprehend what is remote, possesses deep learning, and aspires to the Great Vehicle—the path of cultivation that liberates all beings—they may be called “Master of Mysterious Stillness,” “Master Who Wanders in the Mysterious,” “Master of Far Journeys,” “Master Who Proclaims the Dao,” or “Master Who Expounds the Mysterious,” among other titles. There are many similar titles and they cannot all be listed here. A person should be called a Daoist Master only when they truly possess the character and learning such a title implies.

The Scripture of Ascending to the Mysterious says: The Immortal Lord once again knelt before the Supreme Ultimate Perfected One and said, “I sincerely turn to you, Master. I beg you to bestow the grace of your teachings and nourish the hearts of people who have grown parched, so that Daoists in generations to come may cultivate the Way of Perfect Truth and abandon heterodox teachings and arts.”

The Scripture of the Three Origins says: The Lord of the Great Ultimate once received this scripture from the Mysterious Ancient Master, then passed it on to the Immortal King of the Mysterious Capital.

The Scripture of the Seventy-Four Methods of Transformation in the Upper Clarity (Shangqing) says: “The Master of the Purple Palace can cultivate an immortal body. His temperament is tranquil and even; he preserves his innate nature, thinks deeply, and guards his spirit. He has lived for three thousand years. For this reason, he has not yet ascended to Heaven, but remains in his cavern chamber, gathering and selecting the Highest Perfected Ones—perfected beings or immortals of the upper realm.

“The Scripture of the Primordial Beginning’s Transformations: Original Register of Turtle Mountain says: ‘The August Master of the Ten Thousand Beginnings bears ninety million patterns of light. During the three months of winter, he wears a crown of solar essence and a robe of brilliant red-cloud brocade. He wears an ornament patterned with a golden tiger and phoenix, and fastens to himself the purple seal of the Vermilion Sovereign. He often rides white clouds, seated upon a five-colored lion. His radiance flows and flashes, illuminating the Upper Clarity—the celestial realm of the upper world in Daoist teaching.

“During the three months of spring, he transforms into a figure with a human body and a phoenix head, bearing three heads and wearing a tiger robe patterned in nine colors. He often stands above twelve streams of resplendent light.

“During the three months of summer, he transforms into a radiance like three suns, releasing eight rays of purple light. Brilliant and luminous, he hangs above the Upper Clarity, among twelve-colored lotuses.

“During the three months of autumn, he transforms into rays of blue-green, red, and purple light, intertwined like the halo of the sun.”

The Jing of the Purple Dawn of Shangqing says: The Lord of the Purple Dawn, the Master of the Sovereign Above, descended from the “Two Radiances”—the light of the sun and moon. Gathering the essence and Qi of Jade Dawn, he conceived dragon mist in the great void. He embraced the Qi of Purple Emptiness and reached through to the spirits; he dwelt in the realm of the Nine Mysteries, where he nurtured beauty, and condensed vast sweet dew into a spirit.

He harmonized the Three Qi—the three original energies that form Heaven, Earth, and all things—to contemplate himself. Following the laws of the Mysterious Mother, he came into being, underwent transformation through successive kalpas, and responded to an auspicious day by manifesting his radiance. Thus, at dawn on the Heavenly Jia day of the first year of the Sovereign Above, he was born on the shore of the Grotto Abyss, in the central region of Pingqiu, within the Eightfold Radiant Heaven of the Divine Continent.

At birth, his face shone with golden light, and his body gleamed like jade. Five-colored purple markings covered him, and he could transform seventy-two times. A divine dragon washed him with mushrooms of spiritual potency, while a luan phoenix spread its wings to shelter him. The brilliance of the Cinnabar Clouds fell upon the jade palaces, and rosy clouds illuminated the perfected immortals. The sun and moon’s radiance came to rest in the eight quarters of Heaven, while the essences of the seven stars of the Northern Dipper circled back to aid him. Golden Immortals gave off fragrance to harmonize the original energies; divine consorts scattered flowers, stirring up clouds and mist. The Five Planets gathered auspicious signs and descended into the divinely splendid Purple Heaven.

At the age of eighteen, he wandered freely in the Middle Origin realm. He ate essence and Qi, swallowed original energy, breathed in and out spiritual fluids, and nurtured within himself the essence of the sacred mushroom. He focused his Shen and cultivated the embryo immortal, drawing in spiritual Qi and refining original fluids by rinsing his mouth. Keeping still and silent, he remained detached and natural; his thoughts reached into the subtle, and he held the original energy in mind, never slackening in his practice. Through prolonged communion, he penetrated the Dao of the Origin. His name was entered among the Shangqing, he was invested with the title Emperor of the Origin, and he took his place in the Purple Dawn.

Orchid-scented winds rose around him as he followed the transformations and ascended. His spirit governed the Five Luminaries, while his body circled above the Three Origins. Riding the chariot of Flying Clouds, he wheeled through the air and crossed the mists. The assembled immortals opened the way for him; three streams of radiance converged, and flashes of lightning displayed their might. He sped in his chariot through the Nine Mysteries, ascended the jade steps once more, and paid court three times at the Purple Court. He toured the jade palaces, feasted in the realm of the Three Origins, and met with the Five Elders, becoming an honored guest in the Jade Empyrean.

Flying beasts waved their sleeves, divine phoenixes cried out to welcome him, and great dragons steadied the reins of his chariot. Spiritual winds spread their fragrance far and wide, while clouds thickened in the Jade Clarity realm. Golden youths clung to the clouds to attend his chariot, and jade maidens trod through the air to guard the spirit.

The Scripture on the Register of Inked Elixir Slips of the Most High says: If someone has received a rank in the teachings, called “Supreme True One” or “Great One Plain Register,” they may be registered as a “Master.” The star lodge corresponding to their birth year determines the title: those belonging to the East are registered as “Master of the Eastern Peak”; those belonging to the South, as “Master of the Southern Peak”; those belonging to the West, as “Master of the Western Peak”; those belonging to the North, as “Master of the Northern Tree”; and those belonging to the four earthly branches Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei, or to the seven central lodges, as “Master of the Central Peak.” These five kinds of “Peak Masters” are all newly entered into the terrestrial registers, the lists of perfected beings recorded in the underworld. They must possess the corresponding virtues; they cannot be registered arbitrarily on the basis of birth year alone. Without signs of spiritual response and other proofs, their titles must not be entered as empty formalities.

Superior Adepts

The Inner Accounts of the Unsurpassed Perfected says: Once someone’s name has been entered in the Most High’s Mysterious Register, the demons and spirit beings of the Three Realms will all honor them, calling them “a superior adept among the celestial beings.” Daoists should still conduct themselves with humility in daily life. To attain the Dao and become noble and pure is already the highest possible state. These teachings were passed down orally by Master Yin to guide the worthy and wise among the world’s superior adepts.

The Scripture of Questions and Difficulties Among the Assemblage of Saints says: An immortal asked the Immortal Lord, “Earlier, I entered Dongting with a superior adept to visit the Heavenly King’s separate palace. Just as we climbed Mount Bao, I saw a group of immortals ask to accompany the adept on his excursion. What kind of immortals were they, and why were there so many?”

The Immortal Lord replied, “Those immortals were from the grotto-heavens of famous mountains; their number was not especially large. Have you never seen the immortals in the great mountain grotto-heavens of Kunlun, Penglai, Zhongshan, Songgao, Xumi, Lingwu, and the like? There, the immortals are too numerous to count.”

The Scripture of the Immortal Lord’s Questions says: Even the Demon King pays homage and shows reverence to the Most High, the assembled perfected beings, the Heavenly Worthies, and the superior adepts.

The Scripture of the Most High’s Jade Book of the Great Empyrean says: Those accomplished in cultivating the Dao can live among ordinary people without showing their sharpness, temper their edge, and resolve disputes. Outwardly, they are close to ordinary people, yet inwardly they differ from them. They wear talismans and registers, recite taboo characters, practice breathing to take in primordial Qi, accumulate De, and establish merit. These attainments are beyond the ability of ordinary people to discern.

The Highest Learning

The Supreme Marvelous Scripture of Limitless Salvation through the Numinous Treasure says: Those truly accomplished in cultivating the Dao can, by reciting the scripture ten times, save someone on the brink of death and restore a life that has been cut short.

The Scripture of the Dharma Wheel says: I have observed those truly accomplished in cultivating the Dao and found that they do not concern themselves with discerning what is in other people’s minds.

The Scripture of the Eightfold Purity of the Most High says: Numinous scriptures are precious indeed. One must not keep them locked away, yet neither should one transmit them carelessly. Transmission must follow the prescribed intervals and sometimes wait through an entire kalpa. These restrictions do not forever place the scriptures beyond the reach of those truly accomplished in cultivating the Dao. But without the right conditions, one may be left longing in vain, diligently cultivating without attaining anything. Even when the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning opens the way through teaching, suitable recipients are hard to find. Therefore, following the purpose of the mysterious precepts, one should transmit the teachings when a suitable person appears.

Poor Daoist

The Instructions on the True Unity of the Numinous Treasure and Naturalness say: Those who seek the Way of the Immortals should continually accumulate merit. When their merit is complete, they will naturally attain the Dao. Cultivating the Dao is like the way ordinary people worry about being poor: cultivators anxiously fear that their cultivation of the Dao is insufficient. To call oneself a “poor Daoist” means to devote oneself urgently and wholeheartedly to the Dao, constantly struggling with inner desires and suppressing the deluded thoughts that disturb the mind. “Poor Daoist” is also a common self-designation among Daoist priests of the Shangqing school.

The Scripture on Settling the Will says: A Daoist priest from south of the mountain replied to someone who had grown lax in cultivation: “Last night, after I lectured on the scriptures, I dreamed that someone handed you a precious ruyi scepter. You accepted it at once. I think this must be a good omen.”

The Scripture of the Most High’s Jade Book of the Great Empyrean says: When Daoist priests humbly call themselves “poor Daoists,” they mean that they are not yet rich in their cultivation of the Dao; in other words, they are “poor adepts.” Their understanding and cultivation are not yet complete, as though they themselves were deficient and overlooked. That is why they call themselves “poor adepts.” The principle an adept should follow is to make the cultivation of goodness the foundation.

Lineage Master

The Jing of the Great Precepts of Original Vows says: “The Perfected One of the Supreme Ultimate said to the Perfected One of Lofty Mystery: ‘I was fortunate to receive instruction, yet I am ashamed that I do not measure up to that founding master. I will now explain what he said. The founding master I mean is Ge Xian’gong. Since the Most High has already given the command, how could I dare withhold what I know instead of sharing it all?’”

The Jing of the Most High and Supreme Truth’s Regulations also records these words, adding: “The sage and illustrious founding master, moved by compassion, clarified the rules of the scriptures and liturgies, showing how their earlier and later passages corroborate one another. He dispelled doubts and confusion, corrected heretical teachings and upheld the proper Way, making right and wrong, black and white, clear.”

The Jing of the Mysterious Revelations of Huang-Lao says: “In matters of De (Virtue/Power), there is knowing and not knowing; the Dao (the Way) values this distinction. Later generations have all taken what they assume they know to be true knowledge, imitating one another from age to age, without realizing that this is actually mistaking ignorance for understanding. Only those who can let go of such self-assurance deserve to be called founding masters who deeply understand the Way. They always remain settled in not presuming to know.”

Disciples

The Jing of Great Peace says: “The relationship between master and disciple carries great responsibility, like that between parents and children. Once parents have brought up their children, they cannot simply refuse to care for them. Someone may be fortunate enough to be born, yet fail to serve a good teacher; or follow a foolish teacher, be led into wrongdoing and an evil path, and even lose their life and ruin themselves. Their offense may then bring consequences upon their whole family.

“Some people are born unable to learn and eventually become foolish. Those without understanding can only suffer and grieve alone. Even after death, when they reach the underworld, their souls cannot find ease or peace, nor can they become benevolent ghosts. A good teacher’s instruction can turn even the most foolish person into a good one. If they continue cultivating after becoming good, they can become worthy people; if they continue cultivating as worthy people, they can approach the state of a sage. Even after becoming a sage, if they do not cease their cultivation, they will ultimately come to know the true Way…”

Cultivation of the Great Dao must never cease. Only then can one become an immortal who lives forever. After becoming an immortal, one must continue cultivating to become a Perfected Person. After becoming a Perfected Person, one must continue cultivating to become a spirit. After becoming a spirit, one must continue cultivating until reaching a state equal to Heaven. Even then, one must not stop: only by continuing can one unite with primal Qi, the source of the force through which Heaven and Earth bring all things into being.

Once united with primal Qi, one can embrace Heaven and Earth. The eight lands and eight directions all receive one’s Qi and flourish, and one’s De covers Heaven and Earth in every direction. One’s spirit communicates with Heaven and Earth, and all beings under Heaven offer food and drink in worship, sharing in the sacrificial offerings. Yet they still fear that their reverence is not enough to reach and move this presence. Such is the merit achieved through the teaching of the Most Perfect Venerable Master and the devoted cultivation of good disciples.

The scripture also says: A disciple should be respectful and careful at all times, follow the master’s teachings, and make no mistakes, however slight. The disciple should not speak carelessly, disrupt the master’s conduct, or bring the master worry. After receiving the master’s instruction, the disciple should not do what ought not to be done, speak harmful words, or go against the master’s wishes. This is what makes a truly good disciple.

What the Perfected One Yi said is much the same, but it does not yet describe a truly good disciple; it describes one of middling rank. A truly good disciple, after receiving the transmission of Daoist methods from the master, often reflects on the master’s kindness: the disciple was able to grow to adulthood, remain for a long time in the company of worthy people and immortals, and conduct themselves according to proper standards. Some, in this way, attained official positions and could repay their parents; others devoted themselves deeply to cultivating the Dao and learned how to nurture themselves.

People are born through their parents, develop their virtue through their master, and also receive honor and favor from their ruler. Whenever a disciple is alone somewhere and thinks that the ruler, parents, and master are all growing old, yet there is nothing they can do to repay them, they often consider finding special methods and books for the master as a way to return the master’s kindness. Each time this thought of regret arises, it pains them deeply. So they continue their studies, serve worthy people, and send messages to the master through others. At times, they also help the master become a worthy adviser to the state, thereby benefiting the emperor’s governance. Such a person may truly be called a good disciple in the sense described by the ancients.

The Lingbao Great Precepts Scripture says: “My master has transmitted ten precepts to me, and I should follow twelve principles. By putting them into practice, I become a sincere and faithful disciple of the Great Dao. In this life, I can be free from worry and distress and escape all manner of suffering. My body enters into light, my body and mind become clear and upright, and I can summon and direct ghosts and spirits and subdue demons and monsters.”

It is also said that the Flying Immortals were originally people who had not yet attained the Dao. They were disciples who cultivated the Dao through ten successive lives. Able to fly through the air, they drove the chariots of the gods of the heavens. After passing through ten lives, they could rise to become Flying Immortals. Even in their first life, they could become Flying Immortals if they practiced diligently, remained steadfast without slackening or turning back, performed good deeds on a broad scale, observed fasting and ascetic practices for a long time, and labored without weariness from morning to night. If they continued their cultivation thereafter, they could transcend the Three Realms—the Desire Realm, the Form Realm, and the Formless Realm—and become Perfected Persons of Highest Clarity, attained beings of the Highest Clarity realm.

The Scripture of the Eight Purities of the Most High says: Anyone who follows the Three Luminaries—the three methods of cultivation or states of attainment described in Daoism—may be called a disciple of the Three Realms. Only after having guided three people across, entrusted this matter to teachers and friends, and then transmitted it to others may one be called a master or teacher of the Three Luminaries. The title of Perfected Person may be received only through the arrangement of one’s teachers and elders and the recommendation of friends. No one may claim the title on their own without first submitting a formal petition.

Corpse Liberation

The Scripture of the Chapters on the Generation of Life by the Nine Heavens says: Those who cultivate the Highest Dao and yearn for immortality will ultimately return to the Immortal Way, even if they later die through Corpse Liberation—a Daoist transformation in which one leaves the physical body and changes form to become an immortal—and enter a new course of life. Their body and spirit will not be separated, but will enter together into the true realm of the Dao.

The Scripture of the Rules for the Illumination of Truth says: If in this life one diligently studies and practices the teachings of the scriptures, swallows essence and Qi, and never slackens; if one perseveres in fasting and consuming special preparations, practices breathing techniques to refine and nourish oneself, accumulates merit, and widely extends benevolence, so that one’s name is entered in the registers of Highest Clarity, then one can attain Corpse Liberation and become a lower-ranking immortal, wandering among the Five Sacred Mountains. Later, one will be reborn as a human, continue to receive the teachings of the scriptures, and become a teacher to others. After cultivating the Dao through many successive lives and bringing one’s practice to completion, one may ultimately become a higher-ranking immortal, ascend in flight by day, and hold an honored position.

The Scripture of Golden Tablets and Jade Characters of Great Subtlety says: Anyone who, after Corpse Liberation, becomes a lord of the underworld must, according to the Rules of the Four Poles, wait one hundred and forty years before being appointed to fill a vacant post as a true official. Only then may they fly upon a flowered canopy, drive a team of dragons, ascend to Taiji, and travel through the Nine Palaces.

The Upper Scripture of the Treasure Sword of the Perfected Person of Taiji on Flying Immortals says the same: Anyone who, after Corpse Liberation, becomes a lord of the underworld must, according to the Rules of the Four Poles, wait one hundred and forty years before being appointed to fill a vacant post as a true official. Only then may they fly upon a flowered canopy, drive a team of dragons, ascend to Taiji, and travel through the Nine Palaces.

The Upper Scripture of the Precious Sword of the Taiji Perfected One Who Soars as an Immortal says: “Corpse liberation” means that the physical form undergoes change. It is the transformation brought about by cultivating one’s true nature, a change in the body’s material form in which its five constituent elements disappear and transform. Although corpse liberation ranks among the lower grades of immortality, the endowment and transmission it entails need not be shallow.

Some people do not wish to ascend to Heaven and instead choose to live in seclusion in famous mountains. Some wish to spread teachings in the world and put an end to the path of birth and death. Others wish to sever their attachment to close relatives and descendants. The Way of the immortals is difficult to attain, and some wish to observe the changes of the world for a long time, yet fear the burdensome duties of celestial officials. Once the mysterious Way is attained, each person has a fitting place, whether high or low. One therefore cannot judge a person’s rank or destination solely by the outward signs of life and death. This is called “concealing the radiance of the Three Luminaries, sinking into the earth in broad daylight”: disappearing in the light of day as though sinking beneath the earth.

It also says: Apply “Form-Recording Spirit Pills” to burning charcoal, and to onlookers the body will appear to have been burned to death. This shows that every level of cultivation has its own fitting place; one cannot judge a person’s rank or destination solely by the outward signs of life and death. This is called “concealing the radiance of the Three Luminaries, sinking into the earth in broad daylight,” meaning to disappear in broad daylight.

It also says: If the elixir called “Spirit Pill for Changing Form” (a pill said to alter the appearance others see) is smeared on hot charcoal, people will see the practitioner burn to death. This is called “Corpse Liberation by Fire.” If one swallows a pill with water, then embraces a piece of wood and lies down, people will see the practitioner die in an empty house, wounded by weapons. This is called “Corpse Liberation by Weapons.” After corpse liberation, one may come and go freely and eventually return to one’s original place, but one must change one’s name and appearance.

In the past, someone practiced this method on Mount Linlü for thirteen years, then returned home. Those who achieve the great “lower corpse liberation” must never look back toward their homeland. This is the way of “upper liberation”: one’s name is entered on the Purple Register, the roster of immortals, and one is placed under the jurisdiction of the Three Officials (the Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water). From then on, one must not pry into the affairs of the human world or falsely claim to have died. Accounts of corpse liberation describe people who died and then revived; people who were beheaded yet appeared elsewhere; people who departed before burial, their bodies vanishing with them; people whose human form remained but whose bones were gone; people who left only their clothes behind as their bodies departed; and people whose bodies vanished after their hair fell out. Departure by day is called “upper corpse liberation,” departure in the middle of the night “lower corpse liberation,” and departure at dawn or dusk “the Underworld Official.” The traces left by these forms of corpse liberation do not disappear completely and can easily arouse suspicion. Even if one manages to withdraw from the world, one cannot return home if worldly wishes remain unfulfilled; instead, one wanders from place to place without a fixed dwelling.

Officials

The Scripture of the Supreme Ultimate Perfected’s Flying Immortal Treasure Sword says: After death, those who are supremely loyal and filial are all appointed to become “Underworld Officials,” divine beings who serve in the underworld. Only after one hundred and forty years may they receive instruction from a lower immortal, gradually cultivate the Great Dao, and ultimately fill a post as an immortal official. Examination for promotion is permitted only once every one hundred and forty years.

The supremely filial can move ghosts and spirits, causing all kinds of birds and beasts to flee from their graves. The supremely loyal can speak truth impartially and, with upright hearts, offend those in power; their sincerity seems to reach through to the light of day. Some even cut open their bellies and expose their hearts, sacrificing their lives to move their rulers.

Those whose virtue reaches the level of the sages receive documents from the Three Officials—the Daoist Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water—after death. They first serve as masters of the underworld, overseeing its affairs. After a thousand years, they rise to become one of the Five Emperors under the Three Officials, or serve as Illustrious Lords of the East, West, South, or North, governing spirits and ghosts. After another fourteen hundred years, they are finally able to roam the Great Clarity, the high celestial realm in Daoist teaching, and become one of the middle immortals of the Nine Palaces.

Those of exceptional talent and renown, who also cultivate a noble, expansive spirit and do not seek wealth or status, receive documents from the Three Officials after death and become benevolent ghosts. After four hundred years, they rise to become masters of the underworld. Thereafter they advance gradually, rising one rank every three hundred years.

Those whose nature is exceptionally honest and steadfast receive documents from the Three Officials after death and become pure ghosts. After two hundred and eighty years, they rise to become masters of the underworld. Thereafter they advance gradually, receiving appointments as immortal officials and rising one rank every two hundred and eighty years.

To be exceptionally honest means not eating food that does not belong to you and not wearing cloth that is not yours. To be exceptionally steadfast means that wealth and status cannot shake your upright resolve, and power cannot alter your reputation or integrity. If an ancestor performed meritorious deeds for the Three Officials, the resulting blessings and virtue extend to their descendants. Even if those descendants pass through many transformations, take different surnames, and are reborn, the ancestor’s hidden virtue benefits later generations like branches and leaves connected to their roots.

When such people die, they should leave behind a foot bone to be given to the Three Officials; the rest of their bones are to move with the body. Men should leave the bone of the left foot, and women that of the right. Both can receive documents and become masters of the underworld; after two hundred and eighty years, they can further cultivate the Way of the earthly immortals. If, at the moment of death, the body still looks as it did in life, and after death it does not stiffen, the toes do not turn blue, and the skin on the hands does not wrinkle, such a person is said to have lived virtuously and naturally attained corpse liberation—the Daoist transformation in which one leaves the mortal body and becomes an immortal.

Slander

The Scripture of the Dragon Script in the Hidden Book of the Highest Clarity says: People in the world are often false and shallow. They do not understand the most profound principles, their impediments from past actions are deeply rooted, and they doubt the true principles. If they hear subtle teachings, they may instead give rise to slander, treat them with contempt and neglect, and refuse to believe them. They will therefore fall into evil realms and suffer torments like wind and knives cutting their bodies; even after many kalpas, they will find it difficult to escape.

The Scripture of Ascending to the Mystery says: The Most High (a Daoist honorific for the highest divinity) declared that anyone who slanders this scripture, treats it with contempt and neglect, and refuses to believe it will fall into evil realms and suffer fierce torments like wind and knives, finding it difficult to escape even after many kalpas.

The Scripture of Ascending to the Mystery also says: The Most High declared that anyone who slanders this scripture will enter hell after death, where the Three Officials (the Heavenly Official, the Earthly Official, and the Water Official in Daoism) will examine and question them. While still alive, they will also suffer from leprosy.

Dou Ziming said: People in the world are confused and unenlightened. They crave without restraint and indulge themselves, fail to recognize the true principles, and flatter and deceive others, using slander to curry favor. Some envy the worthy and capable and disparage one another. Some compete for beauty and sensual pleasures, secretly cursing and harming others. Some rely on their strength to bully the weak and vulnerable. Some believe only they are right and criticize everyone else. Others perform a small good deed and, after only ten days or half a month, before their sincerity has had time to deepen, eagerly demand to see results. When their wishes are not fulfilled at once, they suddenly stop believing in the principle of past and future lives and conclude that good and evil bring no consequences. This is like a farmer who sows grain in spring and can harvest it only in autumn. If they expect to cook and eat the seed as soon as it is sown, without knowing how to wait, they will starve to death. Cultivating blessings and doing good are the same: accumulated De brings good fortune, while accumulated wrongdoing brings calamity. These principles are as clear as daylight, yet people refuse to believe them. Is that not tragic?

Insult and Humiliation

The Scripture of the Regulations for Clarifying the True says: In the limitless world, men and women living among others should conduct themselves according to the Dao and De. If they disparage and insult the Heavenly Perfect Ones (the divine perfected beings revered in Daoism), refuse to believe the scriptures and teachings, speak well while their hearts say otherwise, and secretly plot wrongdoing, their offenses are grave. After death they will endure suffering; even if they are later reborn as human beings, their fate remains cause for sorrow.

The Jing of the Rules for Clarifying the Real says: Men and women in the limitless world—the boundless realm described in Daoism—who behave improperly in life, pass judgment on morality at will, slander the natural Dao, refuse to follow the scriptures and teachings, say one thing while thinking another, and secretly plot evil deeds, bear grave guilt and must suffer after death. Even if they are reborn as human beings, they will be born in remote, uncivilized lands. Though they have human bodies, they will lack human feeling and compassion. All manner of evil consequences will fall upon them as repayment for resentments and karmic debts incurred in the past. They will be cut off from the human path for a long time, with no knowing when they may return. They will sink and turn within the burden of their offenses, their births and deaths uncertain.

Attacking Others

The Jing of the Rules for Clarifying the Real says: Men and women in the limitless world who, while alive, judge all kinds of people and attack the gods and celestial beings will face harsh retribution after death and sink for a long time into evil karma.

The Jing of Ascending to the Mystery says: The Dao teaches that people are allotted a fixed lifespan in life. Those who refuse to follow the scriptures and teachings, slander the spirits and perfected beings, indulge their thoughts, kill and punish at will, curse Heaven and Earth, and attack perfected beings will be reported by the ghosts of the Dark Bureau, the divine office that keeps records of the underworld, and the news will reach the Great Void. The Dao will then order the Director of Destinies, the deity who governs lifespan, to send them to Fengdu, the Daoist underworld, and reduce the years allotted to them. If they never change their conduct, they will be deprived of descendants, and their family’s ancestral sacrifices will come to an end.

The Jing of the Dharma Wheel says: The Dao teaches: “I once surveyed all the heavens and saw men and women who wantonly damaged their roots and defied their rulers, slandered and attacked the worthy, flattered and harmed the loyal and upright, and even took other people’s lives. The souls of the dead repeatedly lodge complaints against them. These offenses are extremely grave, and so they bring suffering upon themselves in this life. After passing through ten thousand kalpas, they will still be reborn in remote, uncivilized lands: though they have human forms, they will lack human feeling and compassion.”

Excessive Drinking

The Supreme Lord’s Scripture on Wisdom and the Dispelling of Demons says: The Supreme Lord teaches: “Wine is formed from the essence of water and grain. Drunk in moderation, it can circulate Qi, blood, and bodily fluids, help connect one with the spirit, and strengthen one’s character. But excessive drinking disorders the spirit and damages life. To become so consumed by it that it leads even to death is not wise.”

The Jing of the Covenant with Majesty says: The Supreme Lord teaches: “When a person of exceptional intelligence becomes wholly absorbed in wine, the fumes of alcohol and ferment permeate the heart, overturning one’s character, destroying the Ten Good Deeds and encouraging the Ten Evils. The ability to perceive in the four directions is thereby impaired, and the six spiritual powers are blocked. One should give it up at once.”

The Jing of Lord Lao’s Commands on Proper Conduct says: A gentleman drinks to celebrate, but a petty person drinks and uses alcohol as an excuse to cause trouble. Even someone of outstanding talent, if wholly given over to drink, will have alcohol cloud the heart and reverse the natural disposition, destroying the Ten Good Deeds—the ten kinds of virtuous conduct—and encouraging the Ten Evils. The senses and mind will also become disordered and blocked. Such a person should therefore give up drinking at once.

The Jing of Lord Lao’s Commands on Proper Conduct also says: A gentleman drinks to celebrate, but a petty person drinks and provokes quarrels. The scripture lists twenty-four faults of drinking and requires everyone to observe these precepts. Anyone who violates them does not qualify as a disciple:

First, when drunk, a subject may show disrespect to the ruler, who may then become arrogant and tyrannical; a wife may disobey her husband, and children may fail to honor their father. Second, drunkenness destroys moral conduct, leading to flirtatious and unrestrained behavior. Third, a drunk person speaks without thinking, uses disrespectful language, and disregards distinctions of rank. Fourth, a drunk person cannot sit or stand steadily, and sways. Fifth, a drunk person lies down without control and vomits everywhere. Sixth, a drunk person loses reason and all restraint, even wanting to wrestle a tiger or leap into water or fire. Seventh, a drunk person reveals other people’s private affairs. Eighth, a drunk person has no restraint in speech and dares to say anything. Ninth, a drunk person lies as if dead, without any awareness. Tenth, when a drunk person comes home, everyone in the household, young and old, avoids them as though they were a tiger or a bandit. Eleventh, drunkenness can bring illness and leave the face sallow. Twelfth, a drunk person may collapse alone beside the road and lose their belongings. Thirteenth, craving alcohol may lead someone to sell the family’s possessions and drive the household into poverty. Fourteenth, a drunk person may curse the heavenly deities, run about naked, and pick fights with anyone they meet. Fifteenth, a drunk person may steal indiscriminately, without regard for whether the victim is a relative or a stranger. Sixteenth, a drunk person cannot distinguish good from evil. Seventeenth, a drunk person damages household property. Eighteenth, a drunk person neglects household affairs and gives no thought to spouse or children. Nineteenth, a drunk person neglects official duties and may lose their position. Twentieth, drunkenness brings calamity: if a military commander makes mistakes because of drink, the army may be defeated and military intelligence delayed. Twenty-first, a drunk person may fall from a horse, injuring the face. Twenty-second, drunkenness leaves the mind confused and work neglected, so that the fields and silkworms yield no harvest. Twenty-third, prolonged drunkenness damages the stomach and intestines and endangers life. Twenty-fourth, drunkenness harms the spirit, disorders Qi (vital energy), and damages De (Virtue/Power) and one’s true nature. How could anyone fail to be cautious?

The Code of Clarifying the True (a Daoist text on precepts) says: In the realm of Limitless, when people conduct themselves and go about their affairs, indulgence in alcohol and sexual pleasures makes the mind dazed and the disposition confused, throwing feelings and thoughts out of balance. Once drunk, they are driven by desire to do evil without realizing it. They curse and shout without stopping, cause trouble for no reason, assault good people, defile the Daoist teachings, slander the scriptures, and turn away from the right path to follow falsehood and corruption. They also break their promises and deceive and mislead the four communities of Buddhist and Daoist monastics and lay followers. Such conduct turns against the Dao and incurs grave offenses. After death, the offenders will face severe retribution: their souls will suffer greatly and be sentenced to draw water day and night between the rivers, filling the Four Great Rivers. Wearing silver restraints, handcuffs, and shackles, they will be dragged along through the dark, endless night for countless eons, never to be released. Afterward, they will be reborn into lowly circumstances—as poor, ugly, or ill people, despised by all—as payment for old grudges. Their good fortune will recede, their offenses will continue to accumulate, and they will find it difficult to receive salvation or escape their suffering.

The Hymn of the Flying Immortals says: Those who are greedy for drink will lose their original nature and send the Five Spirits (the five spiritual forces within the human body) into disorder. After death, they will endlessly draw water from the underworld sea and pour it into the Four Rivers (the four great rivers).

Dissolute Conduct

The Scripture on Karmic Retribution for Those in the Womb says: Some people outwardly honor the Three Treasures (the Dao, the scriptures, and the masters), yet their faith is not wholehearted. They indulge their desires and become consumed by lust. They even invoke the scriptures to pursue fame and profit, using them to gather crowds and confuse right and wrong. Such people will face severe punishment: after death they will fall into the Three Evil Paths and remain there for a long time without release.

The Scripture of Great Precepts of the Numinous Treasure says: The Celestial Worthy cautions against greedily gazing at beauty and indulging in lust. One should keep one’s gaze in check and guard one’s thoughts. By steadying the eyes, contemplating the true Dao, and remaining calm and pure, one can attain wisdom and perceive the emptiness.

Lack of Compassion

The Scripture of the Standards for Clarifying the True says: In the world without limit, if men and women on earth lack compassion and kindness, slaughter the six domestic animals, harm living beings, kill animals recklessly, or poison other creatures, their offenses are grave. After death, they will endure harsh retribution: swallowing fire and eating charcoal, being scorched by flames, with their heads and faces burned and their whole bodies rotting until they lose human form. They will bear iron staves and carry a volcano on their heads, suffering unbearable pain and punishment beyond endurance. They will receive no deliverance, and will not know when they may return to the human world.

The Hymn of the Flying Immortals says: Those without compassion cruelly harm living beings. After death, their souls bear iron staves and carry a volcano on their heads through ten thousand kalpas.

Lack of Filial Piety

The Scripture of the Standards for Clarifying the True says: In the world without limit, if men and women on earth fail to honor their parents, insult them, or harm their kin, their offenses are grave and they will face harsh retribution after death. Even after ten thousand kalpas, they will be reborn as domestic animals, left to be slaughtered by people in repayment of the debts of resentment they incurred in the past. From then on, they will lose the human form and sink for a long time into evil karma.

Three Obstacles

The Scripture of Correct Contemplation and Liberation through Primordial Wisdom says: “Dao Lord, you should understand that the three poisons—greed, anger, and delusion—give rise to three kinds of obstruction: first, afflictions; second, various forms of karma; and third, karmic retribution. Under the influence of these three obstructions, practitioners find it difficult to cultivate true contemplation in the proper way.

“The obstruction of afflictions means that craving and distorted views remain in the heart, preventing right understanding from arising. The mind and spirit become entangled and attached to all kinds of conduct. The obstruction of karma means that good deeds performed with a grasping mind, as well as harmful deeds, both create heavy karma and inevitably bring worldly results of suffering and pleasure. This prevents people from cultivating practices that transcend the world and obscures right wisdom. The obstruction of retribution means that those born in the three evil realms—hell, the realm of hungry ghosts, and the animal realm—are pressed by suffering and have difficulty cultivating precepts and wisdom. Those born among humans or in the heavens are prone to attachment to pleasure; they fail to understand that worldly things are impermanent, are blinded by craving, and find it difficult to let go, day and night. If they are poor, beset by hardship, or afflicted with illness, they also lack the conditions needed for cultivation. All these circumstances prevent people from practicing the right path beyond the world; this is called the obstruction of retribution. Those with wisdom understand these obstructions and make skillful use of expedient methods to transform them.

Three Things to Fear

The Scripture of Ascending to the Mystery says: “The Most High told Daoling that people in the degenerate age face three matters that warrant caution and should be carefully discerned. First, it is fearful when the Dao’s teachings are met with envy. Second, it is fearful to be slandered. Third, …”

Greed is frightening. If those who cultivate the Dao envy people more virtuous than themselves, the teachings of the Dao scriptures cannot be spread. Slandering masters who transmit the teachings weakens the people’s faith in Daoism. Craving wealth and sexual pleasure, meanwhile, earns people’s hatred and contempt. Of these three faults, two show themselves outwardly, while one remains hidden in the heart. Only after removing all three can one transmit the Dao. One should encourage people to uphold and study its teachings.

The Most High then sang another verse: “Those who envy people better than themselves, slander the worthy and wise, and crave wealth and sexual pleasure cannot teach my scriptures. If the three faults remain uncleared, how can they speak of entering the underworld after death? They pretend to cultivate the Dao, seeking only offerings and gain, while their hearts are never sincere. When they see others honoring the virtuous, they feel a desire to harm them. Such people are despised by ghosts and spirits. They leave behind an evil name in life, and after death go to the Netherworld, where they are interrogated and imprisoned in the prisons of the ghosts. They pass through cycles of rebirth for billions of eons, enduring every kind of retribution for their sins.”

The Three Poisons

The Scripture of Primordial Beginning, Right Contemplation, and Liberation says: The Lord of the Dao asked the Celestial Worthy, “What are the manifestations of affliction?” The Celestial Worthy replied, “Affliction is generally called the Three Poisons: greed, anger, and delusion. They harm the Dharma body and the life of sentient beings, and so they are called ‘poisons.’

“Greed means taking without restraint, being immersed in desires and attachments, and clinging without end. Whether one pursues worldly affairs or cultivation beyond the world, any single-minded pursuit of pleasure is greed.

“Anger means harboring resentment toward sentient beings or inanimate things and erupting in rage, blazing like a fierce fire. It burns up the roots of goodness and creates deep enmity. This is called anger.

“Delusion means failing to believe in or understand the true teachings of the Three Treasures—the Dao, the scriptures, and the master, which Daoism reveres. It includes arrogance, flattery, and distortion, as well as a lack of clear understanding of things and principles. The deluded do not know when to stop even when they meet with setbacks, refuse to heed advice, speak uselessly, often do evil, and act against the right path. This is called delusion.”

The Four Illnesses

The Shengxuan Jing says that the Most High (a revered Daoist deity) told Daoling: “You should know that there are four more harmful practices in the world. They are the hardest to abandon and are grave afflictions for those who cultivate the Dao. People should be made aware of them. What are the four?

“First, ordinary people refuse to take a person who has attained the Dao as their teacher, and are ashamed to ask others for guidance. Second, after cultivating the Dao for many years, their understanding remains shallow; when they see someone surpass them, they are ashamed to keep learning. Third, they claim to be learned and refuse to listen to or read other scriptures. Fourth, they look down on those who began learning the Dao later, saying they know nothing.

“Even if people with these four failings study the Dao, they are only wasting their effort. They will not attain the Dao or understanding, nor will they receive signs of spiritual efficacy. What meaning is there in such hardship? From the beginning, they did not seek the Dao sincerely; they only wanted fame and offerings.

“Such people are always greedy for offerings. They swallow the bitter fruit of their misdeeds, like fire and poison, and use other people’s wealth to clothe and support themselves. That wealth is like swords, blades, halberds, and spears laid against their bodies. They crave only immediate gain and do not know how heavy the retribution for their sins in the next life will be. After death, they will fall into hell, where molten iron and copper are poured over them; garments woven from iron needles are put on their bodies; and they are beaten without cease, day and night. After enduring countless kalpas of tribulation, they may be reborn as humans, but they will often occupy lowly positions, serving as slaves, soldiers, or laborers.

“When sages and saints teach and expound the scriptures, they will be unable to attend and listen. Even if they wish to study again, they will have no control over their circumstances. I now see countless such people before my very eyes, and it truly grieves me. Those who instruct future generations must be cautious, cautious!”

The Five Desires (the five kinds of desire that make people crave and become obsessed).

The Scripture Teachings of Lord Lao says: Human desire has no end. Desires arise one after another, too many to recount individually, but they can broadly be grouped into five kinds. First, the eyes crave the sight of every color; excessive indulgence tires the hun. Second, the ears crave the sound of every kind of music; a welter of sounds harms the po. Third, the nose craves every fragrance; overpowering scents dissipate Jing and Qi. Fourth, the mouth craves every delicacy; excessive eating and drinking cloud the spirit. Fifth, the body craves unrestrained pleasure; bodily and mental idleness scatters the will.

A scattered will harms the spleen and leads to conduct without restraint. A clouded spirit disturbs the mind and leads to improper speech. Dissipated Jing and Qi weaken the kidneys, bringing confusion and agitation. Harm to the po damages Lung Qi and diminishes hearing. An exhausted hun leaves Liver Qi depleted and harms the eyesight. When the five desires intermingle and cloud the mind, the body declines and life is put at risk. If these five desires can be purified, the body can be preserved and life prolonged.

The “Five Turbidities” are five kinds of disorder: the turbidity of life, the turbidity of views, the turbidity of affliction, the turbidity of beings, and the turbidity of time.

The Scripture of the Jade Instructions of Lingbao records that the Most High Lord of the Dao told those diligently cultivating the Dao that the Five Turbidities are the turbidity of life, the turbidity of views, the turbidity of affliction, the turbidity of beings, and the turbidity of time.

The Juejing of the Jade Instructions of the Numinous Treasure records that the Lord of the Dao Above the Highest bestowed these words upon Wang Longci, a scholar devoted to cultivating the Dao: “I received the ancient scriptures from the Perfected One of the Primordial Beginning, a revered deity of Daoism. When we use the ancient scriptures to explain present circumstances, and then use ancient events to confirm the principles at work today, those principles prove truly trustworthy.

“The scriptures say that, after enduring countless kalpas, one should return to the unsurpassed Heaven of Wanli. This refers to the time and circumstances in which the age of the Five Turbidities arrives.

“To be born into misfortune refers to the turbidity of life span. This means not only having a short life, but also having an impure record of deeds in previous lives. Whether male or female, those who do not encounter the teachings of the scriptures often remain in the evil paths.

“When the mind is obscured by mistaken views, people do not believe in right principles and slander the true Dharma. Their karmic offenses become grave, and they fall into hell for a long time. Their lives are short, and they are often beset by sorrow and distress, suffering many injustices and sudden calamities. This refers to the turbidities of views and afflictions. Greed, anger, and delusion can also bring people worry and fear, and even burden those who practice the Dao.

“People are continually born and die, passing through the Five Destinies—the five realms into which beings are reborn—and falling into the Three Evil Paths and Eight Difficulties, the unhappy realms and various obstacles to practice. This refers to the turbidity of beings.

“When people surrender to the rise and fall of fate, they suffer hardship in the cycle of rebirth. The right path is blocked; calamities and karmic grievances become entangled with one another without end. The separation of birth and death comes to all, regardless of rank or status. This refers to the turbidity of the age. As the great kalpa nears its end, evil consequences have all come to fruition, and calamity falls upon people everywhere. This is truly heartbreaking.

“I now speak of these afflictions in order to save those who can be saved. Set your mind aright and listen carefully to my words.” The Lord of the Dao Above the Highest then provided a commentary on the scripture. Wang Longci bowed low and respectfully received the teaching. The scripture says that, moved by compassion, the Lord of the Dao Above the Highest transmitted these instructions, dispelling the obstacles brought by the Five Turbidities and safeguarding the peace of the present age.

The Jing of the Regulations for Clarifying the Truth says: “If people in later generations cannot see the precepts and admonitions, how will they make their way through the poisonous cauldron of the Five Turbidities? They will encounter disasters and calamities and find it difficult to keep themselves safe.”

In the Jing for Delivering Souls through the Numinous Writ (Lingshu Duming Jing), the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning says, “After I leave the world, the true scriptures will vanish into obscurity, and the course of the age will grow turbulent and unsettled. In the Age of the Five Turbidities—a time filled with all kinds of defilement and distress—people will fall into disorder and rivalry, and one evil deed after another will arise. They will not know gratitude or turn toward the right path. Though born into such a world, they will willingly commit sins, be reborn again and again in the Five Destinies, the five realms into which beings are reborn, and endure for a long time the Eight Obstacles, the many hindrances to cultivation and hearing the teachings. They will harm one another, while grief and distress press close upon them. They will encounter neither the scriptures and teachings nor the sacred texts handed down by the sages, and can only let fate take its course as they drift through birth and death. This is truly sorrowful.”

“Seven Injuries”

In the Jing of Returning to Heaven through the Nine Heavens (Huitian Jiuxiao Jing), the High Sage Emperor Lord says, “Anyone who cultivates and studies, whose name has been entered in the Mystery Gate—the lineage to which Daoist practitioners belong—and who has also shown the signs of an immortal’s natural endowment, ought naturally to accord with the true Dao. Yet even such a person may still suffer seven kinds of corruption.”

“Seven Injuries”

The Scripture of the Nine Heavens of Returning to Heaven says that the High Holy Emperor Lord taught: Anyone who cultivates the Dao, and whose name has been entered in the registers of the mysterious, who also shows signs of an immortal, should naturally accord with the True Dao. Yet seven kinds of transgression can bring harm.

The first transgression is to cultivate the True Dao in appearance while practicing falsehood in reality. Indulging in lust depletes the spirit, causing the soul-fluid to leak away and Jing and Qi to dry up. The breath disperses, the hun and po souls weaken, and the body is diminished. The gods weep in the depths; the offense reaches the Heavenly Court. True immortals withdraw, and demons seize the chance to intrude. Such a person forms an evil bond with the Nine Hells and draws near the evil gods of the Six Heavens, falling forever into suffering. How could they still become an immortal?

The second transgression is to appear to cultivate the Dao and speak of seeking the True, while harboring malice within. One wishes others harm, envies those of talent and virtue, speaks pleasantly but inwardly holds resentment, argues over gain and loss, recklessly fabricates accusations, slanders fellow cultivators, and attacks one’s own school. The Three Officials, the deities who govern Heaven, Earth, and Water, record these deeds and place the person among evildoers. True immortals depart, and evil spirits invade the body, throwing form and spirit out of balance and dispersing the Shen and Qi, until the person ultimately suffers a sudden calamity. When the accumulated offenses are complete, the body turns to ash and sinks into the underworld. Even if one’s name is in the registers of the mysterious, how can the foundation of cultivation be preserved?

The third transgression is to drink excessively and become stupefied with intoxication. This damages primordial Qi and dissipates one’s spiritual nature, harming the Five Viscera—the five inner repositories where Daoism says the gods of the body reside—and alarming the gods within. The hun and po souls grow disordered, and both body and mind are ruined. The inner chamber, where the gods are stored and Qi cultivated, becomes empty; the Red Child, a symbol of the inner original spirit, cries in sorrow. True immortals depart, and evil spirits take advantage of the emptiness to enter the body. Cultivating the Dao in this way only wastes one’s sincerity and vitality; even a name in the registers of the mysterious cannot preserve one’s status as an immortal. The consciousness rises to the celestial palace, while the body turns to ash in the underworld. In a daze, one may seek long life, but how could one abide in it for long?

The fourth transgression is to refuse to treat others generously while demanding their respect. One harbors anger, quarrels aloud, is quick to curse, and lets joy and anger go unchecked, with a disposition turned against its proper course. This stirs the movement of Qi and scatters the Shen and Qi; the inner True Spirit disperses, the hun and po souls leave the body, and every part of the body declines. The root of this lies in an impure temperament and improper conduct. True immortals depart, and outside illness and harmful influences enter the body. What can one hope to gain from cultivating the Dao this way? Even if one possesses a mysterious chart—a Daoist talismanic diagram or cultivation manual—one cannot escape these calamities. The hope of becoming an immortal grows ever more distant, while the final destination after death draws ever nearer.

The fifth transgression is to reveal a mysterious chart or obtain precious scriptures; or, having had the good fortune to meet a numinous teacher and receive divine texts, to violate the covenants of the liturgy and reveal Heaven’s secrets. Before completing the prescribed nine years of observance and presenting one’s name card at a famous mountain, so that the Azure Palace, where celestial immortals and officials reside, can enter one in its register and the Golden Portal, the palace of the Heavenly Court, can add one to its rolls, one passes the scriptures to others and lets them circulate among the world. Disrespecting the True Dao and divulging its treasures brings punishment upon oneself and implicates seven generations of ancestors. Though such a person may bear a name in the registers of the mysterious, the immortal path withdraws; after death, they sink into the underworld and bear the duties of a ghost for a long time, remaining unforgiven through countless kalpas.

The sixth transgression is to let the body become impure and the breath foul, with neither inner clarity and emptiness nor an outer fragrance. Murky darkness obscures one’s nature, leaving the gods unable to dwell in peace. The breath is disturbed, Jing and Qi become turbid, and spiritual radiance is lost. The Five Gods, the gods of the body’s five viscera, disperse; the Red Child drifts away; and evil spirits seize the chance to intrude, harming both inner and outer aspects. One hopes to attain something by cultivating the Dao in this way, but instead invites harm. True immortals depart, leaving only an empty shadow to wander alone. Sunk in murkiness, how can one speak of becoming an immortal?

The seventh transgression is to eat the flesh of the six domestic animals and crave rich, strongly flavored meat. Its rank odor fills the viscera, while taking life also harms one’s own life. True Qi is disturbed at the numinous gates, the spirit stirs the Red Child, and the hun and po souls leave their palaces within the body. Impure Qi clings around the mouth and teeth. True immortals ascend to Jade Clarity, a high celestial realm in Daoism, while the person sinks into the underworld. Even if one’s name is in the registers of the mysterious and entered in the Emperor Lord’s immortal rolls, death cannot be avoided.

Eight Difficulties

The Lingbao Zhenyi Ziran Jingjue says: “‘The Dao’ speaks: For lords and nobles, Daoists, and ordinary people to be reborn as human beings, leave behind a female body, and become male is one difficulty. After becoming male, to be exceptionally intelligent and far-seeing, with all the senses and parts of the body sound, a handsome and dignified appearance, a voice clear as jade, and a breath fragrant as precious incense is also rare. To have bright eyes that bring joy to all who see them, while remaining humble inwardly and free from complacency, is likewise rare.

“To have every kind of good deed complete and also be born in a country that honors the Dao; to encounter a wise ruler and parents, with everyone steadfast in their reverence for De, is one difficulty. To live in poverty yet love the Dao, always cherishing the wish to give and help others without growing weary, is one difficulty. To live in wealth and status yet believe in and respect Daoists, reverently uphold the scriptures without growing weary, is one difficulty. To bear the malice others direct at you without contending with them, while disciplining yourself and cultivating your life so it does not deteriorate, and ultimately transcend the mundane world and attain the immortal Dao, is one difficulty. To encounter and honor the Three Caverns—the supreme scriptures of Dongzhen, Dongxuan, and Dongshen, three categories of Daoist texts—and recite them and make offerings of incense, is one difficulty. To encounter immortal sages and perfected beings as they teach and transform others, and to meet people who share your aspirations, is also one difficulty. These are the Eight Difficulties.

“The Zhongzhen Jiejing records the words of Lord Wang of Xicheng: ‘For a person to escape the three evil paths and be reborn as a human being is very difficult.’ The commentary on this scripture explains that the three evil paths are states in which one cannot be reborn as a human being, but can only become a creature such as a bird, beast, or insect. After being reborn as a human, to leave behind a female body and become male is one difficulty; once male, to have sound senses and limbs is one difficulty; once the body is sound, to be born in China—here meaning a land of civilized teaching—is one difficulty. To live in China and encounter virtuous parents and a virtuous ruler is one difficulty. After encountering a ruler who follows the Dao, to seek to study the Dao and possess a kind and benevolent heart is one difficulty. Once this good heart has arisen, to believe in De and the path to longevity is one difficulty. After believing in De, to be born in an age of peace and prosperity is also rare. How could people fail to strive in their cultivation?”

Seven Afflictions

The Jing of the Great Precepts of Original Vows says that a perfected person—a person who has attained the Dao—preached: “To be born as a human being is a rare good fortune. Since you already believe in the Dao and De, and have been born in a peaceful age, you should cherish this all the more. How can you fail to encourage yourself to make progress?”

Seven Causes for Concern

The Jing of the Great Precepts of Original Vows says that a perfected person preached: “There are seven causes for concern in human life.

“First, although you have been born as a human being, you do not cultivate De or nurture your inner nature, and so cannot preserve your life. Second, you hear the scriptures but do not believe their teachings. Third, you receive the scriptures but do not study, discuss, or recite them, and do not practice as they require. Fourth, you do not cultivate yourself. Fifth, you take medicines in your cultivation but grow lax before their effects appear. Sixth, before your Dao practice is complete, you boast of seeking ascension. Seventh, although you still your mind, observe purification, and recite the scriptures, you cannot endure the hardship of living in seclusion deep in the mountains.

“These seven causes for concern may arise in anyone. If you do not remain vigilant, it will be difficult to save yourself. That is why the scripture says, ‘The greatest trouble has fallen upon me’: it speaks of these very things. How can you fail to reflect seriously? How can you fail to reflect seriously?”

Five Forms of Corruption

The Scripture of the Numinous Writ in Purple Characters says that the first way to corrupt the immortal Dao is to indulge in sexual desire and licentiousness. This causes Jing and Qi to leak away and the vital essence to be depleted, damaging the hun and po souls. The bones grow thin and the marrow becomes impure. The hun—the soul that embodies a person’s spirit—cries out in grief within the Numinous Palace, its voice reaching the Jade Palace in heaven. The Qi of the Three Palaces—the upper, middle, and lower Dantian (energy centers) described in cultivation—falls into disorder, and the Embryonic Essence, the numinous being nurtured within the body, is distressed and confused. This is the first sign of corrupting the immortal Dao.

The second way is to eat the meat of the six domestic animals without abstaining from it. This causes the body’s Qi to stagnate and become foul-smelling, while the spirit Qi grows turbid and obstructed. The face turns yellow, the teeth become brittle, and the spleen gives rise to deathly Qi. The hun can no longer bear true Qi, while the po produces a disorderly, malign Qi. The body sinks into the abyss, and the bones are buried in the earth. This is the second sign of corrupting the immortal Dao.

The third way is to eat the Five Pungent Vegetables—strongly flavored plants such as scallions and garlic—without abstaining from them. This makes the Qi in the Five Viscera foul, scatters the Three Florescences—the essences of Jing, Qi, and Shen—and prevents the spirit Qi from rising. The Essence Embryo, the inner foundation of Jing and Qi in cultivation, sinks; the hun and po separate; the Red Child, the pure and undivided original Shen within the body, grows weary and agitated; the flying numinous Qi loses its protection, and its radiance fades. This is the third sign of corrupting the immortal Dao.

The fourth way is to kill insects and other living beings. This creates enmity with all things, binding oneself and bringing the calamity of bloodshed. The body is injured, the hun and po perish, and the Qi of the hun comes into conflict. The Embryonic Spirit wanders in distress, and the Infant—the original Shen within the body, or the numinous embryo formed through cultivation—flees. The Muddy Pellet, the spirit chamber in the head, is disturbed by malign forces; the Red Child abandons the body, which in the end falls like a corpse into a boiling cauldron and is cooked to pieces. This is the fourth sign of corrupting the immortal Dao.

The fifth way includes relieving oneself while facing north; looking up at the sun, moon, and stars; combing one’s hair or removing one’s clothes while facing north; and spitting or cursing in that direction. These acts violate the taboo of the “Destroyer King.” “Destroyer” refers to the year’s earthly branch, a prohibition associated with the cyclical signs of the current year.

The Scripture of the True Registers of the Most High says that the Lord of the Dao Most High held that the demon kings and evil spirits had all been deposed. Even if they become active again, they are only the malign Qi of old.

The Dao De Jing says, “Racing about in the hunting grounds drives the heart to madness.” This means that galloping at full speed and becoming engrossed in the hunt make the heart and spirit unrestrained, tending toward disorder and madness.

The Classic of the Registers for Clarifying the True says: In the world of Nonbeing, there are men and women who spend their whole lives without cultivating the Dao or harboring thoughts of goodness. Each spring, they go hunting, driving dogs and releasing hawks, setting nets and snares, and setting fire to hillsides. They shoot and kill wild animals, harming living beings. Their sins and karmic burdens are grave. After death, they must endure severe calamities: burdened with iron staffs, they are assailed by every kind of pain, driven to run about without even a moment’s rest. Their departed souls suffer unbearably. After passing through ten thousand kalpas, they must be reborn as beasts, often burned by fire or cut by knives, to repay the debts of enmity they incurred in the past. Even if they are later reborn as humans, they often encounter wicked people and are beaten with whips. Sorrow and distress cling to them; they drift ever farther from blessings, while their sins and karmic entanglements grow day by day, making release difficult. For a long time, they remain sunk in darkness and pain.

The Scripture of Ascending to the Mystery records a verse by Daoling: Those who lack compassion, go hunting, and kill living beings bear grave sins and will ultimately suffer fitting retribution. Only after being burned in raging flames may they attain release, yet they must still endure a long period of suffering.

The Scripture of Ascending to the Mystery records a verse by Daoling: Those who lack compassion, go hunting, and kill living beings bear grave sins and will ultimately suffer fitting retribution, their bodies consumed by raging flames.

Fishing and Trapping

The Scripture of Correct Contemplation and Liberation through Primordial Beginning Wisdom says that the Celestial Worthy preached: Some people, after being born into the world, make their living by fishing. They block rivers and cut open channels, cast nets and angle with hooks, harming aquatic creatures in every way. They then boil, roast, and butcher them, just to fill their own stomachs or sell them for profit. After death, such people fall into hell and receive retribution corresponding to their deeds, enduring all kinds of torment, including cauldrons of boiling liquid and mountains of knives and trees of swords. Afterward, they are reborn as livestock to repay the debts of enmity they incurred in the past. Even if they have the chance to be reborn as humans, their lives will be short, and they will often be afflicted by illness and distress. Killing living beings with one’s own hands, ordering others to kill, or paying to buy living creatures to be killed all count as killing if one takes pleasure in and approves of it in one’s heart; the sins are no different.

Cruel Torment

The Scripture of the Bright and True Precepts says: People in the world beyond the Limitless, while alive, behave without restraint. Whenever a thought arises, their first impulse is to do evil. They are merciless in their cruelty and falsely accuse and harm the loyal and worthy. After death, they suffer retribution: they become creatures with ox heads and animal bodies, enduring ceaseless interrogation and torture day and night. Their pain is beyond words; their bodies decay until no human shape remains. Only after ten thousand kalpas are they reborn in distant lands among foreign peoples. Though they have human bodies, they lack human nature and feeling. They lose forever the way of being human and sink for a long time into sin and suffering, passing through the Five Sufferings and Eight Hardships without release. Even after millions of kalpas, they cannot return.

The Hymns of the Flying Immortals say: Those who cruelly frame the loyal and slander the worthy will, while alive, fall into distant lands among foreign peoples. After death, they will also suffer the retribution of becoming creatures with ox heads and animal bodies.

Improper Sacrifices (worship that violates the proper Way, offering sacrifices to spirits and gods who should not be worshipped)

The Scripture of the Orthodox Unity Perfected One’s Explication of the Thousand Bright Precepts says: Sacrificing to spirits and gods who are not one’s own is called “improper sacrifice”; it causes people to fall into deviant ways.

The Scripture of the Most High’s Most True Precepts records the words of the Lord of the Dao: The demon kings and evil gods have all been deposed. Even if they become active again, they are merely evil influences left over from the past. These influences bring disaster and harm living beings. If living beings fail to awaken and instead join with them, they will kill living beings for amusement, set up altars and make sacrifices, sing and chant, and frighten one another. They will also greedily consume bloody offerings, while the sacrificial objects lie scattered and polluted, and their sins grow deeper by the day.

The Scripture of the Bright and True Precepts says: People in the world beyond the Limitless, while alive, defy the proper Way, kill living beings, and perform improper sacrifices. They pray and make offerings to evil gods, and summon demons and spirits with songs and dances, calling themselves “gu lang.” They harm the people and consume their wealth, undertake needless constructions, and greedily seize property, piling up sins. After death, they suffer retribution: their souls become prisoners and wander from place to place…

The Scripture on the Luminous Truth says: Among the men and women of the boundless world of Non-Ultimate (a vast, limitless world in Daoist thought), some committed evil deeds during their lives. They killed living beings, performed improper sacrifices, prayed and made offerings to evil spirits, and served demons through song and dance, calling themselves “gulang” (people associated with sacrifices to evil spirits). They harmed the people and acted recklessly without cause. Once their offenses had accumulated to a certain point, they suffered retribution after death: their souls became prisoners and were driven about and punished in the netherworld under the Three Officials and Five Sacred Peaks (the realms of the dead governed by Daoist deities and mountain spirits). They were whipped three times a day, enduring indescribable pain. After ten thousand kalpas, they were reborn as people of low status, or in bodies that were disabled and uncared for. They remained sunk in sin for a long time, trapped in a dark and endless night, unable to be saved or to find the path of blessing and goodness.

The Hymns of the Flying Immortals (Daoist verses) say: Those who curse the innocent, perform licentious sacrifices, or dance to worship evil spirits will, after death, wander through the netherworld under the Three Officials. After ten thousand kalpas, they will be reborn in lowly bodies.

Plotting Rebellion

The Scripture on the Luminous Truth says: Among the men and women of the boundless world of Non-Ultimate, those who during their lives kill a ruler or their father with their own hands, plot rebellion against their teachers and elders, destroy scriptures and teachings, or insult practitioners of the Way will, after ten thousand kalpas, be reborn in lowly bodies.

Plotting Rebellion

The Scripture on the Luminous Truth says: Among the men and women of the boundless world of Non-Ultimate, those who during their lives kill a ruler or their father with their own hands, plot rebellion against their teachers and elders, destroy scriptures and teachings, or insult the Heavenly Perfected (divine perfected beings revered in Daoism) will suffer retribution after death. Their bodies will be cast into a cauldron of boiling liquid and cooked until their limbs and bodies are no longer recognizable. Then they will be drenched with the juices of a hundred poisons, enduring unbearable pain. After ten thousand kalpas, they will be reborn as domestic animals or people of low status, deaf, blind, or afflicted with multiple disabilities; they may even take nonhuman forms, subject to slaughter and disposal by others, to repay the debts of resentment from their former lives. Thus they will grow ever more distant from the path of blessing and goodness, their roots of sin growing ever deeper. They will be unable to be saved, sinking for a long time with no way back.

The Hymns of the Flying Immortals say: Those who plot rebellion, harm rulers and fathers, and insult and destroy the Heavenly Perfected will, after death, be thrown into a boiling cauldron and suffer unending torment, unable to escape.

Inherited Burden

The Scripture of Great Peace says: Whenever ordinary people are punished for their failings, it is because they have not properly cultivated themselves or handled matters with due care, and have lost the guiding principles they should uphold. This is why there is the burden of “inherited responsibility” (in Daoist thought, faults and responsibilities borne by later generations). It is like the consequences of parents’ loss of virtue continuing down through the generations…

Inherited Burden

The Taiping Jing says that people often suffer wrongdoing and calamity because they fail to cultivate themselves properly and uphold fundamental principles. As a result, they bear responsibility for the deeds of those who came before them. It is like parents who act without Virtue and offend their neighbors, after which their descendants are harmed by those neighbors. This is the burden of inherited responsibility: the mistakes made by earlier generations are borne by those who come after.

In ancient times, when rulers governed the realm in ways that failed to accord with the will of Heaven and Earth, it was not just one person who disturbed the celestial order. Heaven grew angry and displeased, sending down all kinds of illness and disaster. Those who ruled later also bore the responsibility left by earlier generations. That is why the great sages of antiquity understood the importance of self-cultivation: they made few errors in governing and were less likely to create such inherited burdens.

Later, some teachers who passed on learning often concealed what was genuine and taught only empty, showy claims. By going against the Dao, they made later students shallow, unable to cultivate themselves properly or care for their own lives. As this went on, people drifted ever farther from the Dao. Some even came to believe that there was no way for the world to preserve life, and calamities from inherited responsibility followed.

This is like a great tree on South Mountain, with branches and leaves spreading over hundreds of paces. Its branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit flourish, but its roots are not firm. When a strong wind comes, the branches, leaves, and fruit are all damaged and wither. This is how plants suffer calamity by bearing the burden of earlier faults: the fault lies at the root, not at the tips of the branches and leaves. To punish the tips instead would be unjust, would it not? In the same way, people who have done no wrong may still suffer calamity because they bear inherited responsibility. Can we therefore blame those who came later?

The burden of inherited responsibility sometimes falls on people living in the present. People are naturally glad to live and willing to do good, yet they may gradually become unworthy and do evil. How can this change be explained? It is a clear sign of the influence of inherited responsibility. If everything is blamed on people living now, governance cannot be fair. When people have long been taught and have absorbed false and distorted doctrines, how can they readily correct themselves? Heaven takes pity on them, and so the Way of the Sovereign of Antiquity—the way practiced by the sage rulers of the ancient past—appears in harmony with the Primordial Qi.

This concludes Volume Three of the Treatise on Daoist Texts. Volume Four of the Treatise on Daoist Texts follows, under the title “Wondrous Auspices.”

The Lingbao Scripture of the True One’s Naturalness and Its Instructions records: The Perfected of Zhengyi said that people in the world who uphold the scriptures and aspire to the Great Dao can also receive genuine responses. At times they may smell the lingering fragrance of incense smoke, hear the sound of zithers, or hear an elegant chant of the scriptures coming from the sky. At other times they may see a round radiance like the sun, or visions of Perfected Ones, the Celestial Worthies of the Ten Directions, flying immortals, and other beings. To encounter such wonders is to receive a genuine response through sincere and devoted cultivation. As long as one continues to make diligent progress without becoming lax, one may hope to attain the immortal Dao.

The Taiping Jing says: When a ruler does good within, the world outside will have favorable weather and timely rains. Auspicious responses therefore arise from the human heart. Whatever one seeks in one’s heart may bring forth a corresponding auspicious sign—how could there be no response? When a person reaches utmost sincerity, they can move August Heaven and cause Yin and Yang to change. Who brings about this change? It is not the person’s physical body that goes forth to make it happen; rather, the utmost sincerity deep within the heart reaches Heaven.

The Taiping Jing also says: What is called an “auspicious sign” means clarity, stillness, uprightness, integrity, and single-mindedness. The human heart accords with Heaven and Earth and does not go against the seasons. The nature of Heaven and Earth has been the same from ancient times to the present: good deeds bring good results, and evil deeds bring evil results; uprightness brings upright results, and perversity brings perversity. This is the natural order; there is nothing strange about it. Thus, when a person’s heart is upright and tranquil, and utmost sincerity reaches Heaven without any evil thoughts, auspicious signs and good things appear one after another. The sages of antiquity kept their minds pure and single-minded, and so they were able to attract auspicious signs.

The Hymns to the Perfected Assembly of Great Sages in the Inner Sounds of the Heavens says: By subtly aligning with nature, one can reach a response; numinous wonders and auspicious signs emerge from the depths of still emptiness. When the world declines into disorder, a shadowy period of calamity begins, obscuring the light of the sun and moon. The deep darkness lingers and does not lift; night seems impossible to dispel, and people in all four directions stand in reverent solemnity. The wondrous workings of transformation reveal their signs of their own accord, and in an instant the vast sky grows bright.

The Taiping Jing says: Since Heaven and Earth first came into being, baleful and deviant Qi has never ceased. It subsides, then rises again. Why is this? Its roots reach far back, to times long before. At first, when the ancient kings governed their states, they attended only to immediate concerns and lost sight of the principles of good government. Disasters then occurred without end, passed down from one generation to the next, and accumulated until great treachery and wickedness arose, bringing profound calamity. Strange occurrences and upheavals followed one after another, bringing ill omens and harming the myriad states under Heaven. The origins of these calamities, when traced back, are truly ancient.

The rulers did not understand their causes. From generation to generation, they inherited and perpetuated the calamities left by their predecessors, unable to stop them. The people suffered injustice and cried out in grief, their resentment rising to Heaven. The right way lost its means of being put into practice, the ruler’s governance was impaired, and good government often received little in return. People’s hearts were no longer upright, making them ever harder to teach; baleful Qi thus seized its opportunity to arise. Though emperors were troubled and wished to stop it, they were powerless, like a thirsty person unable to find water to drink. What could be done? Even a ruler with the benevolence of ten thousand people could not bring the calamities to an end, for they were disasters left behind by former kings.

Some therefore came to believe that doing good brought no benefit, and that the Way of Heaven knew nothing of good and evil among humankind. Rulers forbade the people to do wrong and worried that they could not be taught, yet turned instead to harming one another and hastening to impose punishments. When one person committed an offense, the whole neighborhood was made to suffer. More and more people were wronged, and baleful Qi accumulated. As a result, people came to think that morality and the classics were useless, and abandoned them. Each person relied on their own abilities, seeking only profit and office, and treating those who gained an advantage through contention as victors. Such governance violates the order of the Way of Heaven and has no proper laws. How could it accord with Heaven’s intent? Heaven has long been deeply concerned by this. The loss of balance between Yin and Yang is clear evidence.

Only when governance accords with Heaven’s intent can evil be removed; how could such governance be achieved easily? People should now be taught to practice the “First Way of the Rise of Great Peace under the Supreme Sovereign” (the fundamental Daoist way upheld in the ancient age of purity and peace), and it should be put into practice as soon as possible. Then evil can be eliminated. Heaven’s aid to good conduct is plainly evident. The calamities left behind by former kings and accumulated over generations, however grave, can be removed in an instant.

Today, even though emperors live secluded within palace walls, if they put morality and benevolence into practice, the people within ten thousand li can all receive their beneficence: fathers fulfill their duty of loving care, sons follow the way of filial devotion, and every household has enough to live on. Then people will not do evil.

Strange Omens

The Taiping Jing says: Heaven’s Dao protects those who are easy to teach, utterly sincere, cautious and compliant, quick to understand, and receptive to instruction. It also treats rulers generously, which is why it imparts teachings and admonitions to them. Heaven’s Dao is unwilling to favor those it does not wish to treat generously, and so it refuses to instruct them. This is like the deep affection between two people: only then will one teach the other what they know. If their bond is not deep enough, they will not pass it on.

When someone receives instruction but does not follow it, Heaven’s Dao grows angry that its words were not heeded in time. It then ceases its admonitions and no longer offers repeated guidance. Calamities and strange omens consequently stop appearing as warnings to people. In this way, even the worthy and the sages become deaf and blind, knowing nothing; their intelligence and insight are obscured, and the spirits of Heaven and Earth no longer admonish or restrain them. In ancient times, sages and worthies took calamities and strange phenomena seriously. They used them to discipline themselves and correct their faults, and so they never went astray.

Dream Omens

The Taixiao Langshu Jing says: When preparing to sleep alone at night, one should hold the “Emperor’s Seal”—a talisman made of jade—in mind. Then the True Immortal of Great Darkness, from the hidden realm, will come to protect one’s body, appear in a dream, and speak with one. In fewer than nine years, one will meet him in person.

Perfected Ones

The Wushang Zhenren Neizhuan says: When Yin Xi served as the Keeper of the Pass, he often dreamed of Perfected Ones from Heaven. Sometimes he dreamed that he traveled with them beyond the Four Seas. His mind was clear, as though he had understood something. He thus secretly attuned himself to the mysterious sacred Dao and naturally resonated with it, thereby drawing a response from Lord Lao.

The Housheng Jiuxuan Daojun Lieji Jing says: The mother of the Lord of Later Sainthood initially dreamed that dark clouds, the sun, and the moon entwined around her body, and through this portent she became pregnant. While he was growing up, groups of dragons also spat water into a vessel filled with water, which was used to wash him.

The Lingbao Zhenyi Ziran Jingjue says that the Perfected One of Zhengyi taught: When someone is about to receive the Lingbao scriptures, auspicious spiritual signs will appear first. They may dream of a Celestial Worthy or a Perfected Immortal, or of a person cultivating the Dao in the mountains, cloud chariots and jeweled canopies, or dragons and phoenixes. They may dream of climbing a mountain and seeing a palace where sages dwell, flying through the air, encountering precious objects such as seven-jeweled pearls and jade, or ascending to the heavenly realm and meeting the Heavenly Kings and Imperial Lords. These signs appear in advance because, in a former life, the person was connected to the Dao.

The Ci Yi Wulao Jing says that the Perfected One of Taisu taught beginners a method for warding off bad dreams. Recurring nightmares may be caused by “Po demons,” “trials of the heart,” or “corpse thieves.” The method described in the scripture is meant to suppress and dispel their influence.

After waking from a dream, press the philtrum with the left hand twenty times, then gently click the teeth twenty times while quietly reciting the incantation:

“Great Cavern, true and mysterious: strengthen and refine the Three Hun. May the First Hun quickly guard the Seven Po; may the Second Hun quickly guard the Niwan; may the Third Hun submit to the direction of the heart. Quickly report this to the Three Primordial Lords of Taisu. Just now I encountered an inauspicious dream: wandering corpses of the Seven Po came to intrude; they are the source of the myriad evils. Quickly strengthen the Three Hun: First Hun, hasten to guard the Seven Po; Second Hun, hasten to guard the Niwan; Third Hun, heed the commands of the heart spirit. Quickly report this to the Three Primordial Lords of Taisu. Just now I encountered an inauspicious dream: wandering corpses of the Seven Po came to intrude; they are the source of the myriad evils. Quickly report this to Taokang, the Protector of Life, and inform the Imperial Lord, the Five Elders, and the Nine Perfected, so that they may all guard the gates of the body. Divine Master of the Yellow Portal and General of the Purple Door, take up your iron bells and destroy the baleful Qi. Turn misfortune into good fortune, and let no calamity of life or death ensnare me.”

After the incantation, if you fall asleep again, you will receive an auspicious response. The Qi that caused the bad dream will be sealed beneath the Three Passes. For the next three years, dreams will come only when the divine beings respond to a revealed intention. In this way, you will be able to foresee what is to come and no longer worry about inauspicious events.

Dreaming of good things during the night is also an auspicious sign. On waking, if the dream feels beautiful, that is an auspicious response. After waking, rub your eyes twenty times, click your teeth twenty times, then quietly recite the incantation:

The Highest Clarity (Shangqing), the Daoist realm of pure and empty immortals, takes the most subtle and wondrous essence and Qi as its foundation. The elixir spirits of the Three Emperors make the Crimson Palace, where the heart spirit resides, bright and clear. Auspicious responses convey the heart’s intent, and the souls of the Three Origins—the original Qi of Heaven, Earth, and humanity—are gentle and harmonious. After receiving the scriptures and teachings, the Celestial Emperor finds harmony and success wherever he goes. He ascends to the Highest Clarity and often gathers with the Jade Perfected in the Purple Court. This concludes the account. These are the secret teachings of the Great Cavern, transmitted to those just beginning to enter the gate of cultivation.

The section “Auspicious Omens” says:

The Scripture of Great Peace says: “Study morning and evening the principles that lead toward great good fortune, and you can attain middling good fortune. Study the Way of middling good fortune, and you may attain minor good fortune. If you study only the Way of minor good fortune, you have already set out on a perilous path.”

It also says: “If a ruler deeply understands Heaven’s intent and receives the protection of the Supreme Dao, a hundred auspicious things will come to pass, and not one inauspicious thing will occur.”

The section “Ominous Signs” says:

The Scripture of Great Peace says: “Evil conduct brings death and calamity. Therefore, if ordinary people do not diligently study the Way of auspicious goodness, they will gradually enter an ominous path. ‘Ominous’ is a name for what all under Heaven detest. What is called ominous is hated by Heaven, Earth, humanity, and all things; it cannot endure. It is the root of great calamity and the gateway through which disasters arise.”

The section “Taking Elixirs and Nourishing Substances” says:

The Scripture of the Supreme Lord’s Great Perfection says: “When taking medicines and nourishing the body, there is no need to prepare an excessively lavish meal.”

The Scripture of the Supreme Lord’s Great Empyrean, the Jade Book says: “Cultivating the Dao requires casting off desire and extinguishing selfishness, together with methods such as taking substances and practicing breathing exercises. Various cultivation methods, including the Five Teeth of Red Essence and the Mysterious Su of the Golden Elixir, can support practice. Use them flexibly according to your circumstances; do not become fixated on any one method. Without continually cultivating merit and accumulating good deeds, merely thinking about long life will ultimately bring no result. People in the world often become attached to one particular method. When they see it described in a book, they think it especially miraculous, but in actual practice it has no effect.”

It also says: “False and fanciful techniques are merely aids to cultivation; the key to practice lies in eliminating desire. If desire cannot be eliminated, people will be misled by techniques and forget the meaning of the scriptures. The ancient scriptures say that those who transcend the world feast on rosy clouds and take in vital Qi, transform the form of their bodies, and become feathered immortals among the clouds, roaming together with the spirits.”

The Wufu Jing records that a Perfected One told Yu the Great, “Your merit has reached the spirits, and the divine beings in Heaven are helping you as well. But your life is nearly over, and your situation is perilous!” The Perfected One then orally taught him the Way of long life and passed on precious methods of ingesting substances and cultivating the body.

The Batan Simen Gaoshang Jing says: “The wondrous, numinous gateways govern the Three Origins—the sources of Heaven and Earth, the human body, and other levels as understood in Daoism. Jing and Qi transform and form the Five Spirits, the five spirits within the body. After nine refinements, a body like jade forms within the inner chambers; transformation unfolds, revealing the Way of nature. When Yin and Yang separate and unite, come and go, and shift in turn, Jing and Qi gather, and one can become an immortal. Ingesting cultivation substances nourishes the Nine Numinous Spirits within the body. With a tranquil mind and focused inner vision, the Jade Pavilion, a tower in the immortal realm, will descend.”

The Mingzhen Ke Jing says: “While alive, cultivate the true Way and ingest divine elixirs. Use the Five Stones, the five minerals used in alchemical preparation, to protect life; through the Five Treasures of the body, become an immortal. Ingesting cultivation substances nourishes the Nine Numinous Spirits. With a tranquil mind and focused inner vision, the Jade Pavilion will descend.”

The Mingzhen Ke Jing also says: “While alive, cultivate the true Way and ingest divine elixirs. Use the Five Stones to protect life, and cultivate the divine treasures of the five organs. If one’s cultivation is still shallow, one’s De (Virtue/Power) insufficient, and one’s time has not yet come to ascend to Heaven, then even after the physical body dies, the bones will continue to give off fragrance and will not decay through countless aeons. If both spirit and body are preserved, one will receive Jing and Qi again and be reborn as a human being. At that time, one will be intelligent and perceptive, able to foresee good and ill fortune, understand numinous mysteries, see through hidden things, and command ghosts and spirits. In this way, the cycle of life and death continues without end. Ultimately, one may hope to receive a celestial scripture and become a Perfected One of the Nine Palaces.” A verse says: “Through hard practice, cultivate the Way of long life; ingest medicines and refine the essence of the sacred fungus. Though the physical body dies, its form does not decay; the bones naturally give off fragrance.”

Guiding the Self

The Ershisi Shengtu Jing says: “Lush five-colored cloud fungi shine with hidden, mysterious light and release a jade-like radiance. Numinous fluid gathers and fills the Palace of Cavernous Spirit, moving back and forth through the palaces of the Sun and Moon. The Qi of five colors harmonizes the High Perfected Ones, while its essence spreads and pours into the ten directions. Practice breathing without growing weary, and you can accompany the gods who fly through Heaven and those with golden immortal forms. Through daoyin—guiding the body while regulating the breath—draw in numinous Qi and nourish the six viscera with mysterious Qi. With focused inner vision, communion comes more readily; seated in stillness, one can see the empty caverns of the immortal realm.”

In the Laojun Guanshen Jing, Lord Lao says, “Unless one is in a palace…” The text continues: “The Qi of five colors harmonizes the High Perfected Ones, while its essence spreads and pours into the ten directions. Practice breathing without growing weary, and you can accompany the gods who fly through Heaven and those with golden immortal forms. Through daoyin, draw in numinous Qi and nourish the six viscera with mysterious Qi. With focused inner vision, communion comes more readily; seated in stillness, one can see the empty caverns of the immortal realm.”

The Laojun Scripture on Contemplating the Body says: Laojun taught, “If not a sage of exceptional wisdom, who could nourish the spirit, cultivate one’s nature, and pass through adversity by guiding the breath? If one can cultivate life and guide the breath, giving the spirit a place to rest so that it can leave suffering behind, and thereby cultivate the body and nourish Qi, then one can pass through the calamities of the world. Such a person is a perfected sage of the highest attainment, far-sighted and discerning, able to perceive the subtle and foresee the right moment.” Those who cultivate the Dao should cultivate life and guide the breath so that the body is nourished.

The Laojun Scripture of Wondrous Truth says: “The Dao teaches that those who cultivate the Dao should understand that the Qi circulating through the body’s five organs, whether vigorous or subtle, arises from emptiness. Therefore, fullness is inferior to quiet emptiness, being is inferior to nonbeing, and haste is inferior to ease.”

The Scripture on the Inner Transformation of the Heavenly Soul by the Great One, the Lord of Heaven says: “If one regularly practices the method of ‘the Nine Mornings illuminating the Grotto Chamber and Niwan’—visualizing the light of the Nine Mornings entering the Grotto Chamber, Niwan, and other parts of the brain—one can restrain the hun and po souls and subdue all kinds of malign Qi. Practiced in tranquility, this method can summon the descent of the Qi of the immortals into one’s sleeping chamber. This is the cultivation method known as guiding the radiance of the Three Lights and Nine Stars, the heavenly luminaries, to shine upon the hundred spirits within the body.”

Embryonic Breathing

The Supreme Scripture on Mount Jade Capital says: “Set the harmonious, empty, and still Qi of Great Harmony in motion, and breathe in and out saliva like flowing rosy clouds. Through embryonic breathing, which imitates the way a fetus breathes in the womb, quiet all the body’s apertures, and investigate the principle of the ‘Three Conveniences’ in profound stillness.”

A commentary explains that the method of ingesting Qi calls for breathing only through the nose, not the mouth, and continuously nurturing the breath; this is called embryonic breathing. Going further, breathing without relying on the nose is called “great embryonic breathing,” like a fetus in the womb that does not need to breathe through the outside world. It is said that one who achieves this can remain underwater for a long time without becoming short of breath, and that prolonged practice makes the body light enough to rise and fly.

The Upper Clarity Scripture of the Chronicles of the Three Heavenly Lords says: “By holding the breath and quietly regulating it, one can protect the hundred spirits within the body, open the Chamber of Grottoes and numinous power, and firmly guard the Three Real Ones—the three true spirits or forms of Qi spoken of in Daoism. Ingest the radiance of the sun and moon and swallow saliva; nourishment will come naturally. The body will not die, and in the end one may become a terrestrial immortal, an adept who cultivates immortality on land.”

The Scripture of Great Peace asks: “Why is it that a fetus in the womb eats nothing yet can live by means of breath? This is because the Way of Heaven is inherently…”

The Taiping Jing says: “I ask: Why does a fetus, though it eats nothing in the womb, live by means of Qi? The Dao of Heaven has the Qi of natural existence, as well as the Qi of waxing and waning transformation. The Qi received in the womb belongs to the natural Qi of the Dao of Heaven. After birth, life is sustained by breathing in the Yin-Yang Qi; this belongs to the Qi of waxing and waning transformation. If people hold fast to the Dao and practice diligently, they can return to natural Qi, and only then can they attain long life. If they rely solely on the Qi of waxing and waning transformation, they will ultimately die. Thus, those who attain the Dao can gather Qi within themselves and prevent it from dispersing outward. By nourishing their nature with internal Qi, they return to an infant-like state and restore the foundation of life. Therefore, they should cultivate internal Qi and use it to nourish and protect the body from within.”

It also says: “In ancient times, realized people who had attained the Dao observed the heavenly spirits cultivating by consuming Qi. They, too, learned to consume Qi, and the true spirits then came to assist them. The place governed and inhabited by the true spirits is within the abdomen of the realized person. The bodies of ancient transcendent immortals were called the abodes of realized people.”

The Taishang Zhenren Miyao Jing says: “Heavenly Qi is the vessel upon which the spirits depend, and the source of clear and turbid Qi. When it exists in the mysterious realm, Heaven is clear and bright; when it exists within the human body, people can live. Life and death, decline and fullness, depend in large measure on how people follow and regulate it.”

The Dadong Yu Jing Zhu Miyao Jing likewise says: “Heavenly Qi is the vessel upon which the spirits depend, and the source of clear and turbid Qi. When it exists in the mysterious realm, Heaven is clear and bright; when it exists within the human body, people can live. Life and death, decline and fullness, depend in large measure on how people follow and regulate it.”

The Dadong Yu Jing Zhu Jue says: “Absorbing the Qi of the Mysterious Root—the wondrous and fundamental primordial Qi—can make the inside of the body clear and unobstructed, allowing the spirits to reach in all eight directions. The body shines with radiance, the face is lustrous as jade, the eyes are bright, purple Qi fills the teeth, and the intestines, stomach, and internal organs grow strong and full, enabling long life and far-reaching vision. Practitioners who take in Qi and absorb the morning Qi and fluids can set aside provisions and abstain from grain. The essential secret of the Dao lies in Golden Nectar, the precious sweet dew of the immortals; the wonder of cultivation lies in Jade Water, the pure and sweet fluids. This is how one exhales and inhales the naturally arising Qi of great harmony and puts the numinous Qi of the Nine Essences to use. In practicing the Dao, what matters is following what is natural; in cultivating De, what matters is peaceful composure and joy. Gather natural Qi to fulfill one’s true nature, and hold to tranquil stillness to correct deviant thoughts. Then no adversity or disturbance will arise, and calamities that befall one unexpectedly will dissipate on their own. This is the essential teaching of the Dao.”

The Wufu Jing says: “Those who have long practiced ingesting the breath should understand how to regulate the true Qi. Those who remain tranquil and detached, and set their thoughts straight, will suffer no harm from adversity; calamities that come unexpectedly will also disperse on their own.” This is the guiding principle of the essential methods of cultivation.

The Wufu Jing also says: “Those who have long practiced ingesting the breath should speak little, desire little, and gather in their Shen.”

“Cloud buds” refers to the cloud Qi of the five directions. Once these five kinds of Qi are understood, they can be compared to the tender shoots of soft grasses and plants; hence the name “cloud buds.” Daoist practitioners draw on the Qi of the cloud buds to nourish and strengthen the five viscera and six bowels. The related methods are numerous and intricate, and cannot all be set down here. For details, see the Wufu Jing. The following is an excerpt.

The Lingbao Yujue Jing says: “The five primordial Qi—the original vital energies of Heaven and Earth—often gather at the Upper Palace of the Dark Capital on Lingbao Jade Mountain at cockcrow. Just as sunlight begins to appear, …”