《太上洞神洞渊神咒治病口章》

Strike the “Heavenly Drum” (Tiangu, a method of quiet cultivation in which one lightly taps behind the ears with the fingers) three times, and begin burning incense and setting up the altar.

Most High Elder Lord of Mysterious Origin and the Five Numina, and Orthodox Spirits of the Three Qi (vital energy), we ask you swiftly to assemble the True Officials of the Five Bodies within us, the Merit Officers of the Three and Five, the Senior and Junior Grandees, the Dragon and Tiger Lords of Left and Right, the Envoys Who Present Incense, the Plain Maidens Who Transmit Words, and the Youths Who Hold the Documents—twenty-four of each kind—and further to summon the Secretaries, the Vice-Directors, the minor clerks who handle communications, and the rest, one hundred and twenty thousand in all. We ask them to report on our behalf to the Great Lord of the Dao (the Way) of Mysterious Origin of the Unsurpassed Three Heavens and to the Most High divinities of the Ten Directions.

We now enter the Chamber of Stillness (Jingshi, the quiet chamber in which practitioners set up an altar and perform ritual methods), burn incense, and present an oral petition (Kouzhang, a memorial submitted to the divinities by recitation or in writing), in order to heal the sick and dispel calamity. May the orthodox Qi of the eight directions enter our bodies, so that what we petition may ascend to the celestial court and be delivered directly before the desk of the Unsurpassed Jade Emperor, the Supreme Thearch.

We then pay homage toward the four directions, beginning from the west and proceeding in order, and finally face east and strike the Heavenly Drum thirty-six times.

We next kneel upright and summon the subordinate officials and military commanders.

With reverence we summon the exalted immortal numina who dwell within our bodies, and the Gongcao on duty for the day—divine clerks charged with transmitting and carrying out commands—120,000 of each; the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Gongcao, the Sanyi Gongcao, the Gongcao who hasten Qi (vital energy), and the healing Gongcao, likewise 120,000 of each; and the minor clerks of the Grand Physician, together with the twelve officials, all of whom come as commanded. We further summon the Gongcao and envoys of the upper, middle, and lower divisions, 120,000 of each; the envoys of the high chariot, the envoys of the red chariot, the envoys of Primordial Truth, the envoys of Primordial Shen (spirit), the envoys of Yang Shen, and the envoys of Yin Shen, 120,000 of each; and the inspectors of the high chariots, 240,000 in all.

We further summon the clerks who seize Qi and devour Qi, seize ghosts and devour ghosts, seize the heterodox and devour the heterodox, seize the baleful and devour the baleful, seize Jing (essence) and devour Jing, seize calamity and devour calamity, and seize illness and devour illness, 600,000 of each; and the healing Jade Maidens of the Most High (Taishang)—goddesses who heal by command of the Most High—together with the presiding officers of the ten directions, the divine offices that govern the ten directions, 700,000 of each. Those summoned set their robes and caps in order, display their vestments clearly, put on caps and sashes, compose their bearing, arrange themselves in due sequence, and stand in solemn dignity.

Before and behind us, and to our left and right, soldiers hold their blades turned outward and grip swords and staves in even ranks. A thousand sing out with one voice, and ten thousand answer in chorus. Three paces from us, the companies watch one another and await the command. The directly commissioned Gongcao wear crowns that reach to Heaven, dress in plain black robes, gird dragon-and-tiger tallies at the waist, and hold adamantine halberds; 720,000 of them are arrayed before us. The Zhengyi Gongcao wear vermilion-Yang headcloths, dress in crimson robes of rank, bear heaven-reaching spears at the waist, and hold night-radiance swords; 780,000 of them are arrayed before us.

The great generals who surge up to Heaven wear five-colored crowns, dress in brocade robes, bear hundredfold-forged swords at the waist, and hold blades of nine folds; 400,000 of them are arrayed behind us. The great generals who rouse themselves crosswise wear dark-Yin vermilion headcloths, dress in black robes of the seven jades, and bear hundredfold-forged black halberds at the waist; 900,000 of them are arrayed on our left. On the right, the Gongcao stand above and the registrars below, the officers of Heaven to the left and the officers of Earth to the right, civil officials in front and military officials behind. Banners and standards of the five colors are ranged in order, and the ceremonial array is grave. Chariots and horses, dragon-and-tiger cavalry, and companies on foot each advance in sequence: the azure company to the east, the white company to the west, the vermilion company to the south, the black company to the north, and the yellow company in the center; shield-bearing infantry in front and archers behind; the bandit-catching clerks on the left and the officers of prohibition and guard on the right.

War drums and signal horns roll and resound. The armies and horses of the Five Marchmounts patrol the streets and lanes; the armies and horses of the Four Seas seal off the Nine Provinces; and the armies and horses of Kunlun and the Jade Capital fill every place. In the void, inner and outer answer one another. The ghost kings are ordered to lead all the ghosts and to command the demon troops, so that each may drive out and slay the ghosts of illness.

There is now a man or woman, So-and-so, of such-and-such a commandery, county, township, and hamlet, who states as follows. We were originally descendants of the hundred officials, ordinary people living by common custom, and only after a thousand years did we enter the gate of the Dao (the Way). As humble folk of a latter age, we belong to the Great Dao, and in our private hearts we are grateful for the grace we have received. So-and-so states that service of the spirits has lacked clarity, that the body has long harbored kao-qi—adverse Qi that brings disaster and illness—and that ill fortune has therefore been incurred. Of late the family’s affairs have not gone well; ominous news has come again and again within the household, and calamities of every kind have followed one upon another. Furthermore, on such-and-such a day of such-and-such a month, So-and-so suddenly fell ill, with symptoms as set forth above, and fears that life itself cannot be preserved.

We have heard that the Great Dao can turn death into life, and that of those who entrust their lives to the Great Dao, none fails to be saved. Once a memorial has gotten through, there is nothing sought that does not receive aid. This grace issues from the Most High, while its concrete enactment rests with the divine officers in charge of affairs. We of the common world are foolish and dull; what we do is only to proclaim the purport of the Three Caverns (Dongzhen, Dongxuan, and Dongshen), the system by which Daoist scriptures are classified. Seeing someone suddenly fallen into distress, we truly cannot bear to leave that person unregarded. Many who suffer have knocked their heads and struck their cheeks before us, speaking with bare sincerity and begging for rescue. To see a mortal life as precarious as a candle in the wind is truly pitiable.

Therefore we prostrate ourselves and knock our heads, offering up one oral memorial—a petition in which a plea is set before the gods by speech or in writing—and placing it upon the jade table before us. We ask that the case be retained and rescue carried out, and that the foregoing statement be reported item by item. We dare not conceal anything on our own, nor add embellishment. We earnestly ask the talisman clerks on duty this day and the divine officers in charge to guide the envoys and proclaim the command. We ask the aides of the offices, the Gongcao of the Plain Maidens of the upper and lower ranks, the gods of the Altar of Soil on the left and the Altar of Grain on the right, and the registrars who bear the table, 700,000 of each, to ascend with the memorial to the Celestial Bureau, the institution of divine officers in the heavens, so that the matter may be examined and the documents transmitted clearly and without error. We ask the minor Gongcao clerks to descend together and hear our statement; when the matter is concluded, let each return to his own palace and resume his former place.

We ask the Celestial Bureau to order the officials, clerks, troops, and horses of every rank to settle this matter at once, without delay. If there is any lag, the clerks and soldiers concerned are to be held to account first. We ask that the command be conveyed in good time, so that the Qi of the Dao may flow downward, protect the one who is ill, and bring the sick person to recovery as soon as possible. After recovery, let the merits of the clerks and soldiers be recorded, reported as achievement to the Celestial Bureau, and repaid with added rank and promotion. We ask the divine officers of every level to pass word to one another, to seize and drive off, one by one, the illness-ghosts between Heaven and Earth that cling to the sick person’s body, and to restore the patient to health.

We further ask the healing Jade Maidens to inspect the case item by item and to administer medicine according to the illness. We ask that an order be given to examine the symptoms and treat them as they require, so that the sick person may recover in a manner clear and plain, and that those whose healing has merit each receive a reward. If any official or soldier charged with healing is unwilling to fulfill his duty and harbors resentment, let him be ordered to prepare needles, medicines, and the other instruments, and, together with Physician Lu and Bian Que, the famed physicians of ancient legend, to lead the physician-kings of the world, the 360 healing Gongcao, the 240,000 minor clerks who preside over life, and the 700,000 jade lads of petition, each coming in response to this memorial, to give aid swiftly, cure the sick person, and restore the power of movement. May that person go with a dragon’s gait and a tiger’s stride, safe and free of harm.

With due care we convey the foregoing plea upward in sincerity, and we ask the Most High to examine this memorial.

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) of the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) tradition of the Great Mystery Metropolis (Taixuandu), administrator of Yangping Parish, a disciple of the Three Caverns (Dongzhen, Dongxuan, and Dongshen) in the lineage of the Central Qi (vital energy) of the Most High, Master So-and-so of such-and-such mountain, respectfully kowtows and submits this memorial:

I respectfully set forth what is recorded in the document. The fellow Daoist male and female officers, So-and-so, of such-and-such commandery, such-and-such county, such-and-such township, and such-and-such hamlet, aged so many years, with so many males and females in the household altogether, present the matter of their prayer as follows.

The whole family consists entirely of persons born from the womb, and they wish their ancestors to protect their own flesh and blood and their descendants. All of them were originally slight and ordinary. Influenced by custom, and only after passing through the cycle of birth and death, they obtained this present life. For a long time they lived amid the grasses and the wilds, unable even to tell the six domestic animals apart. They once believed heterodox teachings and held views turned upside down. Such a condition was not brought about in a single lifetime, but was caused by the karmic conditions of former lives and by circumstances long accumulated. Fortunately they have now been able to enter the transformative teaching of purity and stillness, to encounter and study the methods of the Dao (the Way), and to belong to the Great Dao. Though as humble as the young shoots of grass and trees, they have also been able to become people of Heaven (ordinary people under the protection of the Daoist teaching), and in their hearts they privately rejoice.

Yet So-and-so is a worldly person, whose conduct has been full of transgressions and failings and whose offenses are many. He has received severe punishment from the Three Officials (the Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water, who examine people’s merits and faults) and has thereby brought misfortune upon himself. Recently, illness among the old and young of the whole family has not ceased. There have also been disasters, and monsters, demons, and ghosts disturbing the dwelling; wealth has been consumed and lost; and dreams too have been inauspicious. So-and-so’s illness has grown grave, and the suffering endured is as stated above. The members of the household, old and young, have tended one another, yet without effect. Prayers to the myriad spirits and the performance of rites to avert and dispel calamity have likewise brought no benefit. They have now fallen into extremity and fear that they can hardly be preserved. A person in such straits no longer has the heart to rouse himself. Divination was sought on every side, east and west, and the interpretations obtained both by turtle-shell divination and by the Changes all say that the ancestors of this family, thirty-six generations from the great-great-grandfather upward, once committed offenses against Heaven and Earth, the sun and moon, the stars and constellations, the Five Altars of the Soil, water and fire, and the prohibitions of covenants and oaths. The offenses committed by the ancestors have been punished by the Three Officials, and now they wear down and injure the living, so that this family’s livelihood is hard-pressed.

It is further feared that the seven generations of ancestors of this family, while formerly alive, once went against the principles of Heaven and the way of Earth and committed the crimes of great treason and unfilial conduct, killing a ruler and seizing the throne. It may also be that regional governors, officials of the two-thousand-bushel rank, county magistrates and lesser county chiefs, great ministers, the Three Dukes and the Nine Ministers, the Director and Vice-Director of the Imperial Secretariat, and officials charged with sacrifices to the stars and constellations once deceived the gods and spirits, slighted their teachers and elders, and reviled their fathers and mothers; or that they presumptuously speculated upon the intentions of the sages and decided matters on their own authority; that they destroyed true palaces and abbeys, pure and still parishes, the dwellings of spirits, and the shrine halls of ghosts and gods; and that they stole other people’s oxen, horses, livestock, and property. After some were exposed, they went so far as to implicate Heaven and Earth and deceive the spirits, calling upon the sun and moon and pointing at the stars. Beneath the altars of the soil and the shrines they cursed one another, and even practiced heterodox arts until they died one after another. The dead drew one another along; through many kalpas (vast cosmic ages) this did not cease, and in the end it led to destruction. Among the descendants, too, they implicated one another, generation after generation without end. Even after death they found no peace, and the calamity extended to later ages.

It is further feared that when the seven generations of ancestors of this family held office, they unjustly killed the innocent and harmed the good, wronged worthy persons, condemned people to be slaves and bondmaids, plundered oxen, horses, and other property, and carelessly cut short human lives, with no regard whatever for what is right; or that they plotted against uncles and other kin and seized their wealth, committing licentious acts beyond the rites without being known; or that they killed other men’s husbands and schemed to obtain other men’s wives, and in secret sowed discord so that two states went to war. Thus there were those who did not know whose father they had killed or whose son they had harmed, whose husband they had killed or whose wife they had injured, whose state they had plotted to invade and seize, or whose ruler and subjects they had harmed; nor did they know whom they had deprived of a mother, whose child they had made an orphan, which family’s good person they had deceived, which family’s worthy they had killed, whose goods and wealth they had stolen, which family’s ancestral estate they had destroyed, which family’s descendants they had slain, which family’s house they had burned, or which family’s household they had cut off.

If the deceased ancestors of seven generations of this family bore these offenses, they will implicate those who died before them. If any ancestor of the household died by falling into water, it is requested that he be buried according to the method of water burial, with the wish that he be clear and pure within and without. If any was burned to death by fire, it is requested that he be buried according to the method of fire burial, with the wish that he be free and unobstructed, like a radiant flying immortal. If any died by weapons and arms, it is requested that he be buried according to the method proper to death by arms, with the wish that weapons and arms become smooth and favorable and that blessing extend to later generations. If any died in prison or in the marketplace, it is requested that he be buried according to the corresponding method, with the wish that the generations thereafter be secure. If any fell from a cliff or was crushed to death by mountain rock, it is requested that he be buried according to the method of mountain and rock, with the wish that the roads be open and the grasses and trees flourish. If any was injured and killed by tigers or wolves, it is requested that he be buried according to the method of tigers and wolves, with the wish that patterned brilliance appear as in the striped hides and fur of tigers and wolves, and that through ten thousand kalpas he remain open and unimpeded. If any died in sleep, it is requested that he be buried according to the corresponding method, with the wish that purity continue unbroken and that the generations be peaceful and auspicious. If there are those who died of illness, died of suffocation, died by hanging, were strangled, or were cut down by weapons, each is likewise to be properly buried according to the cause of death, so that the deceased may be at peace.

It is further feared that the deceased of former generations died in these ways; that the day of death was inauspicious and the course of the stellar lodges lost its proper measure; and that they were therefore condemned and punished and confined in the twenty-four hells under the Three Officials. Or, because people of the world abandoned the shrines of the soil and the Daoist abbeys, they could only carry sand and bear stones day and night, filling rivers and blocking seas, without rest. The deceased, sorrowful and resentful, appealed to the divine officers in charge of the Celestial Bureau, demanding that the living take their place, and thus caused So-and-so’s illness to become critical, with calamity clinging to him. These things may also have come about because the day of death of the deceased of former generations was inauspicious and brought harm upon the living, and because the deceased went back and forth with the hundred ghosts, drawing them along and wearing down and injuring the living.

It is further feared that, while the deceased were alive, the days on which they took wives, moved house, and were buried offended against taboos; that the day of their death was inauspicious; and that the stellar lodges failed to dispel their ill omen.

We now respectfully invite the star deities of the East—Horn, Neck, Root, Chamber, Heart, Tail, and Winnowing Basket (Jiao, Kang, Di, Fang, Xin, Wei, and Ji)—to remove the calamities, interrogations and censures, and sentences of guilt borne by the deceased of a certain family, their parents of seven generations and their forebears through thirty-six generations, to annul every ruling on their behalf, and to set them free in peace, so that they may be reborn among heavenly beings and naturally enjoy clothing and food. If they dwell amid the Three Paths and Eight Difficulties (evil destinies and all manner of sufferings), we ask that each be rescued and transferred away in turn.

If the deceased parents of seven generations and the forebears of successive ages once turned away from the correct Dao (the Way), entered deviant paths, and erred again and again, so that their burden of transgression lies as deep and heavy as the mountains, and they have still not received pardon—and if they remain amid the Three Paths and Eight Difficulties—we likewise ask that each be rescued in turn. We wish respectfully to invite the one hundred and twenty minor officers of the Great Perfected (Taizhen), together with the officers and generals under their command, to descend as one and carry out reconciliation and healing, and to drive out every seizing ghost and the like, together with lesser ghosts, epidemic diseases, and ghosts not yet struck from the registers, gathering and subduing them all.

If the parents of seven generations of a certain family, those who died earlier and those who died later, once committed the Five Rebellious Crimes, or were guilty of all manner of evil deeds and faults, violating the Dao of Heaven and failing the Earth, so that their offenses are hard to forgive, we wish that all of this be pardoned outright and the judgments clearly struck away. For the parents of seven generations of a certain family, and for all through the thirty-six generations, who died by the disasters of war, by instruments of punishment, in government prisons, or by execution; who were struck dead by wood or stone, or died by dismemberment; who died of swellings, poisons, and malignant sores; who drowned or were burned by fire; or who perished far from home and were never properly buried—we ask that each be fittingly buried according to the place of death.

If the forebears of successive generations of a certain family, when moving house, contracting marriage, or building a dwelling, offended inauspicious star lodges, or, because the day and hour were unsuitable, encountered the baleful killers known as Jiesha, together with the taboos of directional spirit-sha such as the Azure Dragon, the White Tiger, the Vermilion Bird, the Dark Warrior, and Gouchen (names of spirits used in ancient date-selection and geomancy to judge good and ill fortune) and of the Eight Spirits, and thereby drew down misfortune; or if, in moving or in burial, they violated the taboos of the Great General of Release, Taisui (the Grand Year), Taiyin (the Great Yin), and the like, and collided with the Jiesha, we ask that these too be resolved all together.

The scripture then lists the various spirit-sha, classes of ghosts, and taboos held to bring disaster, including the impeaching officers of the Five Departments, the Twelve Directors of Fate, the establishments of the twelve months, the Five Depletions and Six Wastings, the Year Star, the Hidden Dragon within the house, the Seven Prison Officers, and the gods of the well and the stove, together with such divine names as Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Dark Warrior, Six Harmonies, and Gouchen. It further lists star deities and spirit-sha such as the Heavenly Empress, Heavenly Void, Heavenly One, the Merit Officer, the Transmitter, the Great One, Dengming, Tiangang, Congkui, Hekui, Great Auspicious, and Lesser Auspicious. The scripture also mentions the baleful killers of various directions and of days and hours, ghostly hauntings, the calamities of interrogation and censure, and the deviant gods of mountains and forests, waters and marshes, and temples and shrines, as well as spirits that work harm through the killing of living beings, blood offerings, greed for wealth, or deviant impurity, and it prays that each be distinguished and dispersed.

The Three Examiners of the Southern Quarter, the Great King Director of Fate, the gods of the roads, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, General Fuxi, the Five Hegemons, the General of Smiting and Killing, the Governor of the Heart of Heaven, the Great Gods of the Nine Rivers, the Twelve Emperors of the Waters, the General of the Five Paths and his subordinate officers, together with every kind of prohibiting official, ghosts of the hunt, travelers upon the roads, the Five Depletions and Six Wastings, the fierce ghosts of the Five Poisons, and the twelve classes of inauspicious ghosts—all these, too, we ask to be dismissed together. As for the clear Qi (vital energy) and the turbid Qi of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and the various influences brought by the linking of year, month, day, and hour, if ghostly marauders cling and will not leave, we also wish that each be dealt with in turn, so that curses from the four quarters may be dissolved at any time.

Since the Yellow Emperor and the Five Hegemons, the souls of those who died in military defeat or by the blades of weapons and have not yet been released, together with uncanny lights and spectral beings that gather to cause hauntings; the prodigies of mountain stone, grasses and trees, insects and rodents, dragons and snakes, foxes, tigers and leopards, crows and sparrows, and the like; and the ghosts that haunt by attaching themselves to the taboos of the sixty Jiazi stem-and-branch combinations and the twelve double-hours—we ask that all these be driven out together. They chase one another, some riding in carriages or on horseback and some following on foot; they bind the hun and po souls of the living, harm the common people, and summon the dead.

If, among the parents of seven generations and all through the thirty-six generations, there remain unfulfilled oaths and curses, so that the dead beneath the earth draw one another on and even implicate the living, we ask that these too be released. Finally, the scripture asks: From where, in the end, did the deceased of the successive generations of a certain family come? Whence did their surnames and lineages arise, and from what place did their marriages come? In which commandery, county, township, and village did they die? What are the names of the officials charged with burial or with the related affairs? To which stellar officer does each of the deceased belong, and under which star lodge?

The seven lunar mansions Jiao, Kang, Di, Fang, Xin, Wei, and Ji are under the charge of the Azure Dragon (symbol of the stellar officials of the East). The East is paired with Jia and Yi and presides over the Azure Emperor, the Year Star (Jupiter), and the Jing (essence) of Wood. It governs the first, second, and third months of spring, together with the years, months, days, and hours of the branches Yin, Mao, and Chen. At the beginning of spring, when the timely Qi (vital energy) of the season is obtained in its flourishing and assisting phase, the Jing of Earth can be eliminated.

The seven lunar mansions Dou, Niu, Nü, Xu, Wei, Shi, and Bi are under the charge of the Dark Warrior (symbol of the stellar officials of the North). The North is paired with Ren and Gui and presides over the Black Emperor, the Chronogram Star (Mercury), and the Jing of Water. It governs the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth months of winter, together with the years, months, days, and hours of the branches Hai, Zi, and Chou. At the beginning of winter, when the timely Qi of the season is obtained in its flourishing and assisting phase, the Jing of Fire can be eliminated.

The seven lunar mansions Kui, Lou, Wei, Mao, Bi, Zi, and Shen are under the charge of the White Tiger (symbol of the stellar officials of the West). The West is paired with Geng and Xin and presides over the White Emperor, Great White (Venus), and the Jing of Metal. It governs the seventh, eighth, and ninth months of autumn, together with the years, months, days, and hours of the branches Shen, You, and Xu. At the beginning of autumn, when the timely Qi of the season is obtained in its flourishing and assisting phase, the Jing of Wood can be eliminated.

The seven lunar mansions Jing, Gui, Liu, Xing, Zhang, Yi, and Zhen are under the charge of the Vermilion Bird (symbol of the stellar officials of the South). The South is paired with Bing and Ding and presides over the Red Emperor, the Dazzling Deluder (Mars), and the Jing of Fire. It governs the fourth, fifth, and sixth months of summer, together with the years, months, days, and hours of the branches Si, Wu, and Wei. At the beginning of summer, when the timely Qi of the season is obtained in its flourishing and assisting phase, the Jing of Metal can be eliminated.

The seven stars of the Center occupy the central position and are paired with Wu and Ji. They preside over Gouchen (the stellar official of the Center), the Quelling Star (Saturn), and the Jing of Earth. In accordance with the seasonal nodes of the four seasons, when Qi is obtained in its flourishing and assisting phase, the Jing of Water can be eliminated.

The twenty-eight lunar mansions and the thirty-five offices are all official bureaus of the celestial realm. The celestial officials to whom the deceased belong will, according to the particular circumstances, dispatch celestial troops to come and deal with the matter. There is also concern that the deceased ancestors of successive generations, and the parents, of a certain family may, ever since the world of Wuji (the Limitless), have committed offenses and transgressions.

The Jiao mansion has three stars and occupies twelve degrees. Two pure generals and two turbid generals command two hundred and seventy persons. Baleful stars ought to be eliminated, and the calamities that accompany them should also be cut off.

The Kang mansion has four stars and occupies nine degrees. One pure general and three turbid generals are appointed, commanding three hundred and fifty persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may every related entanglement be severed as well.

The Di mansion has four stars and occupies fifteen degrees. One pure general and three turbid generals are appointed, commanding three hundred and fifty persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may every related entanglement be severed as well.

The Fang mansion has four stars, together with the two stars Gou and Tie, six in all, and occupies five degrees. One pure general and two turbid generals are appointed, commanding one hundred and fifty persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may every related entanglement be severed as well.

The Xin mansion has three stars and occupies five degrees. One pure general and one turbid general are appointed, commanding three hundred and ten persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may every related entanglement be severed as well.

The Wei mansion has nine stars and occupies eighteen degrees. One pure general and two turbid generals are appointed, commanding one hundred and twenty-five persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may every related entanglement be severed as well.

The Ji mansion has four stars and occupies twelve degrees. One pure general and one turbid person are appointed. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may every related entanglement be severed as well.

The Wei mansion has nine stars and occupies eighteen degrees. One pure general and two turbid generals are appointed, commanding one hundred and twenty-five persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may every related entanglement be severed as well.

The Ji mansion has four stars and occupies twelve degrees. One pure general and one turbid general are appointed, commanding three hundred and ninety persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may every related entanglement be severed as well.

We respectfully invite the Nine Yi of the East (a collective designation for the various peoples of the East), together with their eighty-one official lords and generals, to descend as one at the head of seventy yiwan of troops. We pray that they relieve a certain household of the calamities borne from the parents of seven generations and from the ancestors who died earlier and later, through thirty-six generations. These calamities belong respectively to the seven mansions Jiao, Kang, Di, Fang, Xin, Wei, and Ji. The seven mansions together occupy seventy-five degrees, of which the pure number one hundred and the turbid eighty. May each, according to the mansion to which it belongs, be wholly released and entirely eliminated and cut off, so that the baleful stars are extinguished and every entanglement is severed as well.

The Dou mansion has six stars and occupies twenty-eight degrees. One pure general and two turbid generals are appointed, commanding three hundred and sixty-five persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may every related entanglement be severed as well.

The Niu mansion has eight stars and occupies eight degrees. One pure general and three turbid generals are appointed, commanding three hundred and sixty-five persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may every related entanglement be severed as well.

The Nü mansion has four stars and occupies ten degrees. May every related entanglement be severed as well.

The Niu mansion has eight stars and occupies eight degrees. One pure general and three turbid generals are appointed, commanding three hundred and sixty-five persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may every related entanglement be severed as well.

The Nü lunar mansion (Nüxiu) has four stars, ten degrees (du) in all. It is commanded by three pure generals (qingjiang) and two turbid generals (zhuojiang), who lead two hundred and thirty-five persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may the calamities bound up with them be utterly cut off.

The Xu lunar mansion has three stars, ten degrees in all. It is commanded by three pure generals and one turbid general, who lead two hundred and thirty-five persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may the calamities bound up with them be utterly cut off.

The Wei lunar mansion has two stars, and the Grave mansion has four stars; together they make six stars, fourteen degrees in all. They are commanded by two pure generals and one turbid general, who lead four hundred and eighty thousand persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may the calamities bound up with them be utterly cut off.

The Shi lunar mansion has two stars, and the Detached Palace (Ligong) has sixty stars, one thousand two hundred degrees in all. They are commanded by one pure general and nine turbid generals, who lead one thousand two hundred persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may the calamities bound up with them be utterly cut off.

The Bi lunar mansion has two stars, seventy degrees in all. It is commanded by one thousand pure generals and one hundred turbid generals, who lead thirty-nine thousand persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may the calamities bound up with them be utterly cut off.

We respectfully invite the Five Di Lords of the North (Wudijun, one of the deities of the North) and their twenty-five official lord-generals, leading twenty-nine million persons and seven hundred thousand soldiers, to descend together. We also respectfully invite their chief general, under the command of one thousand pure generals and one hundred turbid generals, who lead thirty-nine thousand persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may the calamities bound up with them be utterly cut off.

We once again respectfully invite the Five Di Lords of the North and their twenty-five official lord-generals, leading twenty-nine million persons and seven hundred thousand soldiers, to descend together. We ask them to release, for a certain household, every entanglement of all who died earlier and all who died later, from the parents of seven generations through thirty-six generations. These dead belong to the Seven Mansions of the Dark Warrior (Xuanwu) of the North—the seven northern lunar mansions Dou, Niu, Nü, Xu, Wei, Shi, and Bi—which together total ninety-eight degrees. Ten thousand pure generals and nine thousand turbid generals each act according to the lunar mansion to which they belong, fully releasing and cutting off every entanglement.

The Kui lunar mansion has sixteen stars, sixteen degrees in all. It is commanded by one pure general and two turbid generals, who lead one hundred and twenty thousand persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may the calamities bound up with them be utterly cut off.

The Lou lunar mansion has three stars, fifteen degrees in all. It is commanded by one pure general and one turbid general, who lead two hundred and sixty thousand persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may the calamities bound up with them be utterly cut off.

The Zhou lunar mansion has three stars, fourteen degrees in all. It is commanded by one pure general and one turbid general, who lead one thousand four hundred persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may the calamities bound up with them be utterly cut off.

The Mao lunar mansion has seven stars, one thousand two hundred degrees in all. It is commanded by two thousand pure generals and one hundred turbid generals, who lead three hundred and twenty persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished, and may the calamities bound up with them be utterly cut off.

The Bi lunar mansion (one of the seven mansions of the Western White Tiger) has eight stars, with a measure of one thousand six hundred degrees. Two pure generals and one turbid general command one hundred thirty-six persons. Baleful stars should be eliminated, and calamities that entangle and interconnect should also be cut off.

The Zi lunar mansion has three stars, with a measure of eleven degrees. One pure general and ten turbid generals command eighty-nine persons. Baleful stars should be eliminated, and calamities that entangle and interconnect should also be cut off.

The Bi lunar mansion (one of the seven mansions of the Western White Tiger) has eight stars, with a measure of one thousand six hundred degrees. Two pure generals and one turbid general command one hundred thirty-six persons. Baleful stars should be eliminated, and calamities that entangle and interconnect should also be cut off.

The Zi lunar mansion has three stars, with a measure of eleven degrees. One pure general and ten turbid generals command eighty-nine persons. Baleful stars should be eliminated, and calamities that entangle and interconnect should also be cut offThe Bi mansion (one of the Seven Mansions of the White Tiger of the West) has eight stars, with a measure of one thousand six hundred degrees. Two pure generals and one turbid general command one hundred thirty-six persons. Baleful stars are to be destroyed, and the calamities that entangle and connect with them are likewise to be cut off.

The Zi mansion has three stars, with a measure of eleven degrees. One pure general and ten turbid generals command eighty-nine persons. Baleful stars are to be destroyed, and the calamities that entangle and connect with them are likewise to be cut off.

The Bi mansion has eight stars, with a measure of one thousand six hundred degrees. Two pure generals and one turbid general command one hundred thirty-six persons. Baleful stars are to be destroyed, and the calamities that entangle and connect with them are likewise to be cut off.

The Zi mansion has three stars, with a measure of eleven degrees. One pure general and ten turbid generals command eighty-nine persons. Baleful stars are to be destroyed, and the calamities that entangle and connect with them are likewise to be cut off.

The Shen mansion has ninety stars, with a measure of one hundred degrees. Thirty pure generals and forty turbid generals command eight hundred thousand persons. Baleful stars are to be destroyed, and the calamities that entangle and connect with them are likewise to be cut off.

With care and reverence, the Six Rong Lords of the West (divine generals who command the armies and horses of the West), the thirty-six official lords, and four hundred thousand soldiers are invited to descend together. For a certain household, they are to remove the influence of all the formerly departed and the deceased, from the ancestors of seven generations through thirty-six generations. These dead belong respectively to the Seven Mansions of the White Tiger of the West: Kui, Lou, Wei, Mao, Bi, Zi, and Shen. The seven mansions together amount to eighty thousand degrees. As for the pure generals and turbid generals among them, each according to the mansion and the stars to which they belong, may the related entanglements be removed and cut off together.

The Jing mansion has eight stars, with a measure of thirty-six degrees. Twenty pure generals and ninety turbid generals command seven thousand six hundred persons. Baleful stars are to be destroyed, and the calamities that entangle and connect with them are likewise to be cut off.

The Gui mansion has five stars, with a measure of forty degrees. Twenty pure generals and thirty turbid generals command seventy thousand persons. Baleful stars are to be destroyed, and the calamities that entangle and connect with them are likewise to be cut off.

The Liu mansion has seven stars, with a measure of seventy degrees. Nineteen pure generals and twenty turbid generals command three thousand persons. Baleful stars are to be destroyed, and the calamities that entangle and connect with them are likewise to be cut off.

The Xing mansion has seven stars, with a measure of seven degrees. Twenty pure generals and thirty turbid generals command nine thousand nine hundred persons. Baleful stars are to be destroyed, and the calamities that entangle and connect with them are likewise to be cut off.

The Xing mansion has seven stars, with a measure of seven degrees. Twenty pure generals and thirty turbid generals command nine thousand nine hundred persons. Baleful stars are to be destroyed, and the calamities that entangle and connect with them are likewise to be cut off.

The Zhang mansion has six stars, with a measure of sixty degrees. One hundred pure generals and three hundred turbid generals command ninety-seven thousand persons. Baleful stars are to be destroyed, and the calamities that entangle and connect with them are likewise to be cut off.

The Yi mansion (one of the seven mansions of the Vermilion Bird of the South) has twenty-two stars and governs one thousand eight hundred degrees. It commands twenty pure generals and thirty turbid generals, with a retinue of three hundred ninety persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished and the implicated bonds utterly severed.

The Zhen mansion (one of the seven mansions of the Vermilion Bird of the South) has seven stars and governs seventy-two degrees. It commands thirty pure generals and ninety turbid generals, with a retinue of seven hundred sixty persons. May the baleful stars be extinguished and the implicated bonds utterly severed.

We respectfully petition the Eight Man Lords of the South and their official generals—six hundred forty thousand official lords and generals (eight times eight), six hundred forty thousand attendant hosts, and seventy trillion soldiers—to descend together. We ask them to preside over the dissolution of the implicated bonds borne by the previously deceased of a certain household, from the fathers and mothers of the seven ancestors through thirty-six generations. All who belong to the seven mansions of the Vermilion Bird of the South—Jing, Gui, Liu, Xing, Zhang, Yi, and Zhen—are to be released one by one according to the mansion to which each deceased person belongs; whether pure generals or turbid generals, all are to be cut off, so that the implicated bonds thoroughly disperse.

[Seven characters missing] the seven mansions are located at the center. The seven stars of Gouchen, the Yellow Emperor of Wu and Ji (the deity of the central direction), the Garrison Star (Saturn), and the Jing (essence) of Earth guard the seasonal divisions of the four seasons, so that the Qi (vital energy) of the flourishing and assisting phases dissolves the Jing of Water. The Xuanji and Yuheng (the stellar system for observing celestial phenomena), the Bright Hall, the Crimson Palace, the Seven Stars and the Northern Dipper, together with the stars that make up the twenty-eight mansions in all, course through the celestial circuit of three hundred sixty-five and one-quarter degrees. All pure and turbid Qi, and the official generals who have been petitioned, travel back and forth in circuit, releasing one by one the implicated bonds of the relevant stellar degrees, so that the baleful stars are extinguished and the implicated bonds severed.

It is further necessary to dissolve the Three Yin and the Three Yang, the thousandfold yielding and the myriadfold principles, the thousandfold purity and the myriadfold turbidity, and the implicated bonds linked with the living. From the ancestral forefathers of former generations (the ancestors of the past thirty-six generations) onward, wherever implicated bonds recur in their going and returning, each is released one by one, so that the baleful stars are extinguished and the implicated bonds utterly severed.

One must also release every entanglement bound up with the Three Yin and Three Yang, and sever the hold upon the living of a thousand kinds of frailty, ten thousand kinds of rule and restraint, and the mingling of the clear and the turbid. For a given household, from remote ancestors to near kin, and for all deceased forebears and the dead of the past thirty-six generations, one is to determine the Six Jia, Six Yi, Six Bing, Six Ding, Six Wu, Six Ji, Six Geng, Six Xin, Six Ren, and Six Gui to which they belong, together with the spirits of the Five Paths that correspond to the twelve earthly branches. Whatever belongs to the inauspicious side is to be destroyed; whatever belongs to the auspicious side is to be made manifest; and these bonds are to be cut off completely.

As for the spirits of the twelve earthly branches implicated in punishment—the Five Zi, Five Chou, Five Yin, Five Mao, Five Chen, Five Si, Five Wu, Five Wei, Five Shen, Five You, Five Xu, and Five Hai—the baleful spirits among them are to be destroyed, and the entanglements are likewise to be severed completely. One then invites the great deities of the Six Jia decades, the ten-day periods marked off within the revolving cycle of the sixty Jiazi, together with the great deities of the Six Chang and the Six Yin, to release the household from the burdens of seven generations of ancestors and of all the dead of the past thirty-six generations, so that every one of them may obtain deliverance.

If the deceased have violated the taboos within the Jiazi decade, their guilt and their entanglements are to be cut off completely, and the great deities of the Six Jia decades and of the Six Chang and the Six Yin are invited to release the household from the burdens of seven generations of ancestors and of all the dead of the past thirty-six generations, so that they may obtain deliverance.

If the deceased have incurred, within the Jiazi decade, root offenses of every kind, together with blame and punishment, calamity, ordeal, and fault, one invites the divine general, the Tianpeng Officer Yin Ajun, and the Jade Maiden of Great Mystery to come and explain and dissolve them.

If the deceased have incurred, within the Jiaxu decade, offenses of every kind, root offenses, blame and punishment, and calamity, one invites the divine general, the Tiannei Officer Zhang Bulin, leading four hundred subordinates, together with the Yellow-Plain Jade Maiden, to explain and dissolve them.

If the deceased have incurred offenses of every kind within the Jiashen decade, one invites the divine general, the Tianchong Officer Cheng Zi’en, and the White-Plain Jade Maiden to explain and dissolve them.

If the deceased have incurred offenses of every kind within the Jiawu decade, one invites the divine general, the Tianfu Officer Du Chujun, and the Jade Maiden Hanying to explain and dissolve them.

If the deceased have incurred offenses of every kind within the Jiachen decade, one invites the divine general, the Tianqin Officer Lord Gongsun Tai, and the Jade Maiden Baijing to explain and dissolve them.

If the deceased have incurred offenses of every kind within the Jiayin decade, one invites the divine general, the Tianxin Officer Xu Junyao, and the Jade Maiden Qingyao to explain and dissolve them.

The “Six Jia decades” here are the successive ten-day periods into which the sexagenary day-count of the sixty Jiazi is divided. The scripture (jing) lists, decade by decade, the divine generals and jade maidens corresponding to each, and invites them to explain and remove, on behalf of the deceased, guilt, calamity, and entanglement.

The first month corresponds to the Ji star (the Ji mansion), and is assigned to the Xin mansion. The phrase in the scripture (Jing), “three pure, three turbid, five Yin,” is under the charge of the deity Gongcao. In this way, people born later are no longer implicated, and are not affected by the various offenses within the Jia-Yin ten-day cycle. The divine general, Clerk of the Heavenly Heart Xu Junyao, and the Jade Maiden of Qingyao dispel these calamities.

The first month corresponds to the Ji star and is assigned to the Xin mansion; “three pure, three turbid, five Yin,” under the charge of the deity Gongcao, keeps those born later from being implicated.

The second month corresponds to the Xin star and is assigned to the Fang mansion; “three pure, three turbid, five Mao,” under the charge of the deity Taichong, keeps those born later from being implicated.

The third month corresponds to the Di star and is assigned to the Jiao mansion; “three pure, five turbid, five Chen,” under the charge of the deity Tiangang, keeps those born later from being implicated.

The fourth month corresponds to the Zhen star and is assigned to the Yi mansion; “three pure, one turbid, five Si,” under the charge of the deity Taiyi, keeps those born later from being implicated.

The fifth month corresponds to the Zhang star and is assigned to the Xing mansion; “four pure, five turbid, five Wu,” under the charge of the deity Shengxian, keeps those born later from being implicated.

The sixth month corresponds to the Liu star and is assigned to the Jing mansion; “four pure, three turbid, five Wei,” under the charge of the deity Xiaoji, keeps those born later from being implicated.

The seventh month corresponds to the Shen star and is assigned to the Zi mansion; “two pure, three turbid, five Shen,” under the charge of the deity Chuansong, keeps those born later from being implicated.

The eighth month corresponds to the Bi mansion and is assigned to the Xu star; “three pure, five turbid, five You,” under the charge of the deity Congkui, keeps those born later from being implicated.

The ninth month corresponds to the Wei mansion and is assigned to the Kui star; “three pure, one turbid, five Xu,” under the charge of the deity Hekui, keeps those born later from being implicated.

The tenth month corresponds to the Bi mansion and is assigned to the Shi star; “three pure, two turbid, five Hai,” under the charge of the deity Dengming, keeps those born later from being implicated.

The eleventh month corresponds to the Wei mansion and is assigned to the Dou star; “seven pure, nine turbid, five Zi,” under the charge of the deity Shenhou, keeps those born later from being implicated.

The twelfth month corresponds to the Nü star and is assigned to the Niu mansion; “three pure, eight turbid, five Chou,” under the charge of the deity Daji, keeps those born later from being implicated.

Here “mansion” (su) means a lunar mansion. For each month the text lists the corresponding star names, stems and branches, and presiding divine generals. The meaning is that these generals preside over the rites that avert and dispel misfortune, so that the related calamities no longer implicate people born in later generations.

The days marked by the Five Yielding and the Five Firm, the Three Yin and the Five Yang, must no longer be allowed to implicate those born afterward.

Since heaven and earth first opened, the dead have passed through life and death. Some fear that the deceased committed all manner of offenses in life and that, after death, they will be punished and find no pardon. They enter the long-night hells of the Ninefold Darkness, the dark and remote netherworld, and suffer without end: when thirsty they may drink only cold water, and when hungry they can only swallow iron pellets and feed on fire and smoke. Through a thousand years and myriad kalpas they transmigrate among the Five Paths, wandering amid affliction, enduring the Eight Hardships, and suffering every humiliation. Trapped in the Three Paths—the evil destinies of hell, hungry ghosts, animals, and the like—they remain hungry ghosts for ages, with no term set for release from suffering. Unable to bear these torments, the dead implicate the living, so that those of the household grow weak in spirit, nothing prospers, and illness never ceases. The circumstances are too various to enumerate fully. If evil gods are being expelled and ghosts slain within the dwelling, or if an army is on campaign and encamped, a separate and fitting report should be made.

The fierce spirit and ghost-king of the East is surnamed Zhang and named Jiaozi. He stands nine feet and three inches tall, holds a red staff and a black rope, and commands a hundred thousand green troops. He specializes in bringing on abdominal pain and also sends down twelve kinds of green-faced illness. The sufferer’s eyes ache; the head, neck, and body constantly tremble with unease; chills and fever come and go; the limbs grow heavy; one cannot eat, and whatever is eaten is vomited up. There is also a lesser ghost-king named “Zishi, the household kin struck, struck before the Three Officials.” The Stove God, who governs a household’s hearth fire and the fortunes and misfortunes of the home, grows warily wrathful and each day reports the offenses to the celestial court. As for the male and female spirits of calamity and blessing, the twelve seductive vermin, and the ghosts and spirits of mountains, rivers, and local shrines, the matter is confused and unclear. Those above and below, in every quarter, draw one another along and come together to make people ill.

The malevolent ghost-king of the south is surnamed Zhu and named Long’an. He commands eight hundred thousand red soldiers and one hundred thousand troops, and specializes in causing people to suffer dysentery, headache, and other acute illnesses. The course of the illness may last two or three days, or ten days, or it may drag on for three years before death. When someone today vomits blood, passes blood in the stool, and feels vexing pain in the four limbs, it is said that he has summoned the ghosts of the Three Mounds and the altar-shrines, together with those of the mountains and wilds, to attach themselves to the sick person’s body.

The malevolent ghost-king of the west is surnamed Shi and named Guzi. He commands one hundred thousand white soldiers and six hundred thousand clerks and troops, and specializes in causing people to suffer white flux, sudden death, qing illness, and swelling. The course of the illness may last three years, seven years, or ten years, and in the end proves fatal.

The malevolent ghost-king of the north is surnamed Yang and named Jing. He commands five hundred thousand black soldiers and specializes in causing people to suffer cholera and illnesses of the swollen, congested type.

The malevolent ghost-king of the center is surnamed Chen and named Rong. He commands seven hundred thousand beings and specializes in causing people to suffer water illness.

The malevolent ghost-king of the southeast has a surname missing from the record; his name is Da. He commands nine hundred thousand beings and specializes in causing people to suffer wind illness.

The malevolent ghost-king of the northwest is surnamed Lin and named Shizi. He commands six hundred thousand beings and specializes in causing people to suffer tui illness.

The Ghost-King of the Three Heavens is surnamed Shi and named Long. He commands seventy trillion followers and specializes in causing people to suffer swelling. The Great Ghost-King of the Nine Heavens is surnamed Yan; his personal name is missing. He commands ten thousand ghosts and specializes in causing people to suffer toxic illnesses of malign Qi (vital energy), which bring death when they break out.

There is also a ghost-king surnamed Shi and named Shou. He commands seven hundred thousand beings and specializes in causing people to suffer ling illness and in bringing about their death. Another ghost-king is surnamed Zhao and named Ju; he commands thirty million beings and specializes in causing people to suffer malaria.

There is also a ghost-king surnamed Gongsun and named Yue. He commands thirty-six thousand ghosts and specializes in causing people to suffer illness of damp Qi.

There is also a ghost-king surnamed Cao and named Wenzhi. He commands ten thousand ghosts and specializes in causing people to suffer zhu illness.

There is also a ghost king surnamed Huo and named Xiong, who commands seven hundred thousand ghosts and specializes in afflicting people with the disease of thirst.

There is also a ghost king surnamed Yuan and named Jing, who commands three million six hundred thousand people and specializes in making people short of breath.

There is also a ghost king surnamed Yi and named Mingzhi, who commands seven hundred thousand ghosts. He specifically brings the so-called “cloud sickness” (yunzhong bing), seizes young children, and causes people to die suddenly.

There is also a ghost king surnamed Ji and named Zi’ao, who commands ten thousand ghosts and causes people to die shortly after birth.

There is also a ghost king surnamed Guo and named Linzhi, who commands thirty million ghosts and causes people to die by weapons of war or in the streets and markets.

There is also a ghost king surnamed Yang and named Mou, who commands ten thousand ghosts and causes people to die while imprisoned in jail.

There is also a ghost king surnamed Kong and named Shiming, who commands seven hundred thousand ghosts and causes people to die from nightmares.

There is also a ghost king surnamed Ren and named Chang, who commands thirty-eight thousand ghosts. He specifically inflicts disease and drives people to hang themselves.

There is also a ghost king surnamed Luo and named Qian, who commands ten thousand ghosts and causes people to die of the “red sickness” (chibing).

There is also a ghost king surnamed Yan and named Zhun, who commands ten thousand ghosts. He specifically causes women to suffer difficult labor and fetuses to be born in reverse, so that both mother and child die.

There is also a ghost king surnamed Lu and named Qiang, who commands ten million ghosts. He specifically brings madness and causes people to leap into the water and drown.

There is also a ghost king surnamed Lü and named Fuzhi, who commands thirty-nine thousand ghosts. He brings illnesses that confuse the mind and spirit, causing people to die of distress and oppression in the heart.

There is also a ghost king surnamed Huangfu and named Anzhi, who commands ten thousand ghosts. He specifically brings the “chime sickness” (qingbing) and causes people to die of shortness of breath.

There is also a ghost king surnamed Ding and named Shiqi, who commands ten thousand ghosts. He seizes people’s fields and the yields of sericulture, so that neither crops nor silkworm cocoons can be harvested.

There is yet another ghost king, surnamed Tan and named Daozhi, who commands seven hundred thousand ghosts. He specializes in inflicting the harm of fire qi (Qi, vital energy), causing fires to break out in people’s homes, houses to burn, and even people to be burned to death.

There is yet another ghost king who calls himself the “Headless Great General.” He commands ten thousand ghosts and specializes in making people contract illnesses of the heart and abdomen and die of them.

There is yet another ghost king, surnamed Fang and named Chebing, who commands thirty million ghosts. He specializes in making people suffer from yinxiang disease (a disease name given in the original text).

There is yet another ghost king, surnamed Qiu and named Zhongzi, who commands thirty thousand ghosts and specializes in making people suffer from feverish illness.

There is yet another ghost king, surnamed Mu and named Xuanling, who commands ten million ghosts and specializes in making people suffer from madness.

There is yet another ghost king, surnamed Wen and named Jinzhi, who commands ten thousand ghosts and specializes in making people suffer from diseases of the throat.

There is yet another ghost king, surnamed Ji and named Bingzhi, who commands seven hundred thousand ghosts and specializes in making people suffer from retention disease (illnesses of the sort involving difficulty in urination).

There is yet another ghost king, surnamed Gan and named Qi, who commands six hundred thousand ghosts. He specializes in producing “contrary-birth” illness, so that children die young soon after they are born.

These ghost kings, together with the deities of water and fire, the generals of the Five Dippers, the deities of the twelve hours, the strongmen of the Five Marchmounts, and the celestial stalwarts, number two hundred sixty thousand in all. Together with such gods and ghosts as Sima Jizhu, the Director of Destinies in the Clouds, and the Eldest Son Beneath the Earth, they command eight hundred thousand. When their armies march or encamp, they wear down and disturb the common people and bring calamities without cause.

Five million beings from the demon heaven of ten thousand zhang are further summoned to descend, to bind and restrain these ghost kings and not allow them to act recklessly or to kill good people at random. The latter people of the Most High gather these ghost kings in and bring them under control, so that each ceases to haunt. If, after the memorial petition has been submitted, the kao-qi (the lingering qi left by the dead that continues to affect later generations) of a given household’s ancestors of seven generations, and of the deceased over the thirty-six generations since, has still not dispersed, the disasters have still not been brought to an end, and the living are still implicated, then the rescripts of Nüqing are ordered to subdue them one by one.

There is also a ghost king who commands the five directions, surnamed Hu and named Ling. He commands thirty-nine thousand ghosts and makes people unfit to bear children; even if a child is born, the child will die young.

For a person born in a year of the earthly branch zi, if illness comes on a zi day, the ghost that causes it is named Xiang; on a chou day, Shiqi; on a yin day, Lan; on a mao day, Ahu; on a chen day, Wenzhi; on a si day, Ahuan; on a wu day, Shiqiang; on a wei day, Zhangnu; on a shen day, Xiaodu; on a you day, Anhou; on a xu day, Adu; and on a hai day, Ahuan. The text later lists the disease ghosts from the wu day through the xu day a second time, and says that the disease ghost of the hai day is named Wenhou.

The ghost on duty that day is named Changzi and has thirty-six million ghosts under his command. The great ghost king is subordinate to the Grand Commander Zhixun, and Zhixun commands seventy million lesser ghost kings. From this moment on, once these ghosts hear the memorialized kouzhang—the petition text used in Daoism to proclaim commands and to dispatch gods and ghosts—they must all restrain themselves and withdraw.

The Ghost King of the Nine Provinces (Jiuzhou) is surnamed Ge and named Chuan; he commands ten thousand ghosts and harms women. The Qiang Ghost King is surnamed Hu and named Baifang; he commands a single ghost and causes the illness called yingzhun. The Rong Ghost King’s surname is missing from the text; his given name is Cheng; he commands thirty thousand ghosts and causes the illness called baixia. The Ghost King of the Hu captives is surnamed Wu and named Xiao; he commands ten thousand ghosts and causes illness of bewilderment. The Manliao Ghost King is surnamed Lan and named Zhong; he commands ten thousand ghosts and causes pain in the mouth. The Ghost King of the mountain spirits is surnamed Qiu and named Wenqing; he commands ten thousand ghosts and causes pain in the chest. The Ghost King of the Ten Directions is surnamed Zhou and named Ju; he commands thirty million ghosts and causes weakness of the legs and feet. The Ghost King of the water spirits is surnamed Meng and named Ben; he commands ten thousand ghosts and causes blindness and darkened sight. The Ghost King of the Five Marchmounts (Wuyue) is surnamed Yang and named Guanglong; he commands seven hundred thousand ghosts and makes people loathe food and drink, sink into heavy sleep, and fall ill.

Ghost-kings of this kind command multitudes of ghosts who roam unchecked through the human world, watching for moments when people grow weak and then seizing the chance to harm the living. Today a memorial petition is presented, commanding the evil ghosts and malign deities of the mountains and rivers, the forests, grasslands, and marshes, and the village shrines of the world, together with the heterodox deities lodged in talisman temples, all to flee far off and scatter like collapsing sand and crumbling tiles, to be destroyed in accordance with the petition. Let the illness of this household be healed, and let the many spirits come to its aid. If any kin or elders of this household have been imprisoned or subjected to punishment, let them likewise be released and sent home.

The great ghost who holds the Duty Talisman of the East is named Qingcao. He commands seventy million ghosts and specializes in afflicting people with pain in the lower back.

There is another ghost-king, surnamed Qiang and named Dang, who commands twenty million eight hundred thousand ghosts and specializes in causing loss of Qi (vital energy), as well as continual bloody stool that drips without ceasing.

Another ghost-king, surnamed Yuan and named Wenxuan, commands seventy million ghosts and specializes in making people lose the hun-soul and draw near to death; when the sick person is gravely ill, no one else can draw close enough to give aid.

Another ghost-king, surnamed Xu and named Jing, commands seven hundred eighty thousand ghosts and specializes in causing loss of the po-soul.

Another ghost-king, surnamed Le and named Yu, commands six hundred thousand ghosts and specializes in raising tumors and swellings on the body.

Another ghost-king, surnamed Rong and named Qi, commands one hundred ten thousand ghosts and specializes in throwing the mind and Shen (spirit) into confusion.

Another ghost-king, surnamed Cui and named Shishan, commands thirty thousand ghosts and specializes in causing swelling of the private parts and bleeding from below.

Another ghost-king, surnamed Ma and named Xiang, commands thirty-seven thousand ghosts and specializes in making people kill their parents, teachers, and fellow disciples, burn others’ grain, wheat, houses, and ritual altars—the places where an altar is set up and methods are performed—and also afflict people with malignant illnesses that are hard to cure. When these ghosts enter a person’s heart, they cause that person to do these things.

Another ghost-king, surnamed Wu and named Ban, commands three thousand ghosts and specializes in causing reddish-yellow bloody discharge.

Another ghost-king, surnamed Ming and named Changsheng, commands one hundred twenty thousand ghosts and specializes in making husband and wife loathe one another.

There is also a ghost king surnamed Xie and named Langzhi, who commands six hundred thousand ghosts and specializes in making men and women loathe one another and in causing people to fall ill.

There is also a ghost king surnamed Xie and named Mingzhi, who commands five hundred thousand ghosts and specializes in making it difficult for people to conceive, so that they give birth to children with cleft lips.

There is also a ghost king surnamed Lan and named Jinzhi, who commands seven hundred thousand ghosts and specializes in causing people to bear children who do not turn out as they wish, and in filling the household with strife.

There is also a ghost king who specializes in making it difficult for people to conceive, so that they give birth to children with cleft lips.

There is also a ghost king surnamed Lan and named Jinzhi, who commands seven hundred thousand ghosts and specializes in causing people to bear children who do not turn out as they wish, and in filling the household with strife.

There is also a ghost king surnamed Tang and named Lu, who commands thirty thousand ghosts and specializes in afflicting people with malign-Qi illness—that is, disease brought on by inauspicious, evil Qi (vital energy).

Ghost kings of this kind command the zhu ghosts of the five directions—the pathogenic evil spirits named in the scripture: the Green Zhu of the East, the Red Zhu of the South, the White Zhu of the West, the Black Zhu of the North, and the Yellow Zhu of the Center. There are also zhu that cause death in the morning and zhu that cause death in the evening; zhu ghosts that come from one li, two li, or three li away, and from as far as a thousand or ten thousand li; and zhu ghosts that harm men or women and male and female servants, whether from near at hand or from far away.

There are zhu ghosts of the five colors—green, white, red, black, and yellow—together with the generals of the zhu ghosts of the five directions; zhu ghosts great and small, of high places and of low places; zhu ghosts that harm the six domestic animals (livestock), birds and beasts, and grasses and trees; zhu ghosts associated with the sun, moon, and stars; and zhu ghosts that come from regions or peoples such as the Rong, Qiang, Hu, Lu, Wu, Shu, Yi, Di, Man, and Liao. There are also thirty-seven thousand kinds of zhu ghosts, zhu ghosts that bring ill omens or good omens, and zhu ghosts that trouble the gates of a household.

The scripture then lists the zhu of the sun’s wandering and the moon’s course, the zhu of the Great General, of Taisui (the spirit of the year), and of Taiyin (the year spirit set opposite Taisui), the zhu of the Five Phases (Wuxing) and of the turning of the four seasons, and zhu ghosts bound up with funeral carriages, with Doujia, and with the directions of death.

There are, moreover, zhu ghosts connected with a person’s xingnian (the fortune attending one’s age in a given year), benming (the stem and branch of one’s year of birth), the sanxing (the relations of punishment and overcoming in the calculation of fate), and the color red; male and female zhu; and zhu ghosts that encroach on one another when their personal names coincide, that offend one another when their eye colors correspond, and that draw one another on when their surnames are repeated.

The plague-infusing Qi (vital energy) that comes from the east is cut off by means of Metal; that which comes from the south is extinguished by means of Water; that which comes from the north is driven back by means of Earth; that which comes from the west is dispersed by means of Fire; and that which comes from the center is ritually expelled by means of Wood. The Qi of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) each carries out this subduing according to the direction in which it is found, so that the plague-infusing Qi ceases of itself and is destroyed.

If in the east there is a fierce and malign black Qi, one then invokes the Azure Emperor Lord to take command of ninety million people and to lead seven hundred thousand azure troops to come and ritually expel and destroy it.

For the plague-infusion that comes from the south, one then invokes the Red Emperor Lord to lead eight hundred thousand troops and horses and seven hundred thousand red soldiers to eliminate it and drive it back.

If in the east there is a fierce and malign black Qi, one then invokes the Azure Emperor Lord to take command of ninety million people and to lead seven hundred thousand azure troops to come and ritually expel and destroy it.

For the plague-infusion that comes from the south, one then invokes the Red Emperor Lord to lead eight hundred thousand troops and horses and seven hundred thousand red soldiers to eliminate it and drive it backPlague-infusing Qi (vital energy) that comes from the east is cut off and subdued by Metal; that which comes from the south is extinguished by Water; that which comes from the north is driven back by Earth; that which comes from the west is dispersed by Fire; and that which comes from the center is exorcised and removed by Wood. The Qi of the Five Phases (Wuxing; Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), each according to the direction in which it resides, carries out this subjugation, so that the plague-infusing Qi ceases of its own accord and is destroyed.

If there is malign black Qi in the east, one petitions and invites the Azure Emperor Lord to take command of ninety million people and to lead seven hundred thousand azure troops to come and exorcise and destroy it.

For plague infusion that comes from the south, one petitions and invites the Red Emperor Lord to lead eight hundred thousand troops and horses and seven hundred thousand red troops to eliminate it and drive it back.

For malign black Qi that comes from the east, one petitions and invites the Azure Emperor Lord to take command of ninety million people and to lead seven hundred thousand azure troops to come and exorcise and destroy it.

For plague infusion that comes from the south, one petitions and invites the Red Emperor Lord to lead eight hundred thousand troops and horses and seven hundred thousand red troops to eliminate it and drive it back.

For plague infusion that comes from the west, one petitions and invites the White Emperor Lord to lead six hundred thousand troops and horses and nine hundred thousand trillion white troops to eliminate it and drive it back.

For plague infusion that comes from the north, one petitions and invites the Black Emperor Great General to lead five hundred thousand troops and horses and seven hundred thousand black troops to come and exorcise it and drive it back.

For plague infusion that comes from the center, one petitions and invites the Yellow Emperor Lord to lead one hundred twenty thousand troops and horses and seven hundred thousand yellow troops to descend, and to cut it off completely and eliminate it.

If the pestilential evil Qi of the five directions, the seventy-two ghosts known as the “Yellow Slave Brothers,” and the ghosts that spread disease ride the wind and travel on sparrows into people’s homes, taking advantage of human weakness to harm the young, they are all to be captured and subdued, cleared away, and their harm cut off, so that they are driven out beyond ten thousand li.

There are also plague-infusing ghosts of the five directions who call themselves Meng Tian, Chi Jing, Ji Liang, and Wang Zu. Each leads a thousand people into dwellings, harms the young, and causes people to contract malaria.

There are also evil ghosts of the five directions who call themselves Emperor Wu, the King of Han, Zixu, the Duke of Zhou, great ministers, and the like, coming from beyond ten thousand li.

There are also plague-infusing ghosts of the five directions who call themselves Meng Tian, Chi Jing, Ji Liang, and Wang Zu. Each leads a thousand people into dwellings, harms the young, and causes people to contract malaria.

There are also evil ghosts of the five directions who call themselves by such titles as “Emperor Wu,” “King of Han,” “Zixu,” “Duke of Zhou,” or great ministers, and who specialize in making people suffer from abdominal distension.

There is also a kind of “zhu-ghost” that claims to be an ancient great king or a great general commanding all the armies under Heaven. Coming into the human world, it pretends to be the sick person’s kinsman or father-in-law and deceives people, bringing disaster on the young of the household and filling the residence with inauspicious events and disease.

There is also a ghost king surnamed Yan and named Gaozi, who commands thirty thousand ghosts and brings an illness that makes people weep wildly. There are likewise zhu-ghosts of the Five Directions and the Five Emperors who call themselves Zhang Yuanbo, command ten thousand ghosts, and bring malaria that alternates between chills and fever and recurs again and again.

There are also zhu-ghosts of the five directions who call themselves Jiaodan Wugu Zhiyang, command three thousand ghosts, and specialize in killing young children.

There is also a killer-ghost of the five directions who calls himself Liu Yuanda, commands seven hundred thousand ghosts, and regularly brings seventy kinds of pestilence.

There is also a ghost king who calls himself Zhong Shiji, commands six hundred thousand ghosts, and causes people to suffer from five kinds of diarrheal illness.

There is also a ghost king who calls himself Zhao Gongming, commands thirty thousand ghosts, and causes accidents in the household in which an axe injures someone.

There is also a ghost king who calls himself Shi Wenye, commands seven hundred and twenty thousand ghosts, and makes people swell, fall ill, and die.

There is also a ghost king who commands thirty thousand ghosts and causes accidents in the household in which an axe injures someone.

There is also a ghost king who calls himself Shi Wenye, commands seven hundred and twenty thousand ghosts, and makes people swell, fall ill, and die.

There is also a ghost king who calls himself Du Zhou, commands seven hundred thousand ghosts, and presides over causing people to die on account of imprisonment and legal cases.

There is also a ghost king who calls himself Zong Wenhou, commands three thousand six hundred ghosts, and causes fires to break out in people’s homes.

There is also a ghost king who calls himself the Ghost of King Hao, commands ten million ghosts, and causes people to fall into water and die.

There is also a ghost king who calls himself Tian Daozhe, commands seven hundred thousand ghosts, and causes people to sicken from anxious brooding and die.

There is also a ghost king who claims to be the ghosts of Wang Qian, Bai Qi, Deng Ai, and others, commands thirty thousand ghosts, brings all manner of diseases, and harms people’s lives.

There is also a ghost king who calls himself the “Great Imperial Shen” (spirit). Entering a household, he drives out the ghosts originally dwelling there and demands blood offerings—sacrifices of livestock or of flesh and blood. He also summons ghosts that bring baleful calamity, ghosts associated with warfare, hunting, and sacrifice at the altar of the soil and at shrines, as well as spirits that come to intrude and harass.

Thereupon, seven hundred thousand Qiongqi ghost-devouring officers (a class of divine functionaries commanded to swallow ghostly evils) are invited to descend together, to seize and devour the ghostly evils one by one, letting not a single one escape.

A certain ordinary mortal (referring to the person who is ill), whether man or woman, old or young, each recounts the course of a lifetime: though fortunate to be numbered among the people of the Dao (the Way), they have failed to resonate with a sincere heart and to practice the Great Dao, and so possess no good deeds by which to defer their guilt, bringing the whole household into discord. Now this person is beset by illness and worn by distress, fearing they cannot free themselves. They have heard that the Dao is vast and there is nothing it does not succor, and that all who entrust their lives to the Dao receive its grace. Only their own master is far away, and there is no time to go and report; seeing us, who cultivate the Daoist method together, hurry to the house, they therefore request to be healed by an oral petition (a memorial read aloud by the ritual master in person, submitting a report to the deities on another’s behalf).

We, your servants, hold ritual office and preside over the rites, receiving the Qi (vital energy) of the Daoist method and discharging our duties. Seeing an ordinary mortal suffer calamity, we venture, at the risk of blame, to prostrate ourselves, and on this person’s behalf reverently submit one oral petition, to be delivered to the Celestial Bureau (the heavenly office that administers documents), and we perform a sacrificial jiao (a rite of setting up an altar and offering to the deities) in order to announce it to the Five Emperors. We earnestly beseech the Most High Lord Lao, the Most High Elder, the Celestial Master (Tianshi), the Succeeding Master, and the Continuing Master—the Three Master Lords—together with the twenty-four worthies and twelve holy perfected ones of the household of their consorts, and the lords of Qi such as the Compassionate Father and the Holy Mother, to bestow the Qi of the Dao so that it descends upon this household and protects the ordinary mortal.

We, your servants, carefully follow what is set down in the Model Petitions of the Celestial Master’s One Thousand Two Hundred Officials, and respectfully invite one hundred twenty thousand Great Generals of the Five Canopies in the void of the Most High, together with two thousand officers and generals; we further invite one hundred twenty thousand Great Generals of the Five Divisions, one hundred twenty thousand Great Generals of Firm Vigor, and one thousand two hundred officers and generals. We also invite the Central Palace of the Crimson Heaven, the great troops of the Southern Encampment, the crimson soldiers of the cyclical sign bingzi, and seven hundred thousand bold and vigorous officers and troops, to take charge of gathering and treating the deviant Qi and ghostly evils in this person’s residence; if there be malign Qi from the five directions, or ghosts that transmit infusion-illness, let the root of each be cut away in turn.

Next, one invokes Lord Pingqi (Pingqi Jun), the Shen (spirit) who governs peaceful and harmonious Qi (vital energy), together with his one hundred twenty thousand officers and commanders, and summons the clerks who seize and devour Qi, the clerks who seize and devour ghosts, the clerks who seize and devour the heterodox, the clerks who seize and devour baleful forces, and the clerks who seize and devour illness—sixty million of each—to descend together upon the household of so-and-so, there to seize and swallow deviant Qi, ghosts and specters, heterodox hauntings, malevolent sha, and disease. Should ferocious demons or evil ghosts be present, they are to be swept away and destroyed as well.

One further invokes nine hundred thousand Great Generals of the Eastern Garrison to take station at the eastern gate of the household; eight hundred thousand Great Generals of the Southern Garrison to guard the southern gate; six hundred thousand Great Generals of the Western Garrison to guard the western gate; five hundred thousand Great Generals of the Northern Garrison to guard the northern gate; and one hundred twenty thousand Great Generals of the Central Garrison to guard the central court.

One further invokes the Qiongqi ghost-devouring clerks—spirit officials whose office is to swallow ghosts and heterodox beings—a host seven hundred thousand trillion strong, to descend together and devour, within the household of so-and-so, the ghosts of the five old women and the encounter-contracts.

If the Generals of the Five Contracts, the Front-Hunt General, the Rear-Hunt General, the Left-Hunt General, the Right-Hunt General, the Lady of the Encounter-Contracts, the parents of the Five Contracts, the male contracts, the female contracts, the child contracts, the grandchild contracts, and the five thousand six hundred presiding contract officials—if these ghosts and spirits gather to plot harm against the old and young of the master’s household—they are all to be driven out and forced to withdraw ten thousand li, scattering like crumbling sand and soil and shattering like broken tiles. One then invokes once more one hundred twenty thousand generals of the immortal officials and one thousand two hundred officers and commanders, charged with seizing throughout the world those ghosts that call themselves the “Five Wilds and Six Poisons” and the spirits of the “One Hundred and Twenty Baleful Blasts,” taking them all into custody and driving them off, purging this residence of heterodox hauntings, and rendering everything pure and luminously clear.

They further summon the Great General of True Heaven, leading one hundred and twenty thousand soldiers and one thousand two hundred officers and commanders, to descend upon the residence of a certain household, seize and drive out the ghosts and demons that falsely take the names of deities and perform malevolent sacrifices, and repel them all to a distance of ten thousand li.

They further summon the Lord of the Plain Carriage and White Horse from the Palace of the Most High, leading one hundred and twenty thousand soldiers, one thousand two hundred officials, and seven hundred and twenty thousand garrison troops, charged specifically with seizing and slaying the baleful killers and evil ghosts of the four directions.

They further summon the seventy million soldiers under the command of the Inspectors of the Nine Provinces and the imperial supervisory postmasters, to be stationed severally within the gates of a certain household, there to seize and slay the ghosts and demons that descend from the five directions, bring evil omens, and begin to harm people, exterminating them all.

They further summon the Lord Who Shakes Heaven and Moves the Earth, from the Qian Palace of Unsurpassed Heaven, leading eight hundred thousand soldiers to descend together upon the residence of a certain household, seize and slay the ghosts and demons gathered in the house and the zhusha Qi (vital energy)—the afflicting, killing breath—that comes from the five directions, and drive them all away.

They further summon the Great Drums of the High Demons, the Generals of the Five Hu, and the soldiers of Red Yang, seven hundred and eighty thousand in all, to descend together upon the residence of a certain household, clear away the assembled ghosts and demons of calamity, every kind of evil ghost and marauding monster, and the wangliang demons, and cut them all down.

They further summon the Great General Who Slays Ghosts, leading one hundred and twenty thousand soldiers and one thousand two hundred officers and commanders, to descend together upon the residence of a certain household, seize and slay the ghosts and demons that harm the sick, and break them all apart and scatter them.

They further summon the iron-faced great cavalry that devours ghosts, the cavalry of the teng-serpent and the White Tiger, and the Great General of Expulsion, leading seven hundred thousand soldiers to descend together upon the residence of a certain household, seize the assembled ghosts of the Five Wen, together with every kind of noxious haunting in the house, the sprites that work mischief, and the ghosts and demons, drive them all out, and bludgeon and cut them down to destruction.

A further seven hundred thousand soldiers descend together upon the residence of a certain household, seize the assembled ghosts of the Five Wen, together with every kind of noxious haunting in the house, the sprites that work mischief, and the ghosts and demons, and bludgeon and cut them all down to destruction.

Here, “a certain household” is the formula used in the ritual to designate the residence of the person being treated. Expressions such as zhusha and yangzhu refer to baleful Qi believed to descend and cause disaster and illness. The text repeatedly summons commanders and hosts of troops from the celestial realm to descend, expressing the ritual intent of driving out ghosts, eliminating evil, and protecting the residence and the sick.

We further invite the Great Ghost of the High Heavens, ten thousand zhang in stature, the King of the Hundred Ghosts, together with one hundred twenty thousand ghost hosts and seven hundred thousand officers and generals, to descend as one upon the courtyard of a certain household, there to seize and drive out the hundred ghosts, the yellow-slave plague-ghost bandits, and every evil spirit gathered in that place.

We further invite the Lord Who Prolongs Life and Delivers from Calamity and the Lord Who Supplements and Substitutes, each leading two thousand two hundred followers, to descend together upon a certain household, there to replenish and continue the lifespan of the sick, to bear calamity in their stead, and to dissolve the adversities that come from the five directions, so that they may lengthen their years and increase their longevity, pass through disaster, and preserve their lives.

Next, fifteen Merit Officers for the treatment of illness are invited, together with the Celestial Physicians, the officers of the Imperial Physicians, Physician Lu, Bian Que, the medical officers, and the Jade Maidens, one thousand two hundred of each, to descend together. They are asked to bring out excellent prescriptions, fine medicines, divine decoctions, sacred pills, and the instruments of acupuncture and moxibustion, to enter the body of the person concerned, regulate the Qi (vital energy), and renew life. What calls for the needle receives the needle; what calls for moxibustion receives moxa; what calls for a decoction is given a decoction; what calls for pills is given pills. According to where the illness lies, they treat and nurse with all their care, so that the illness may be cured; they harmonize the five viscera and set the breath in motion. What calls for the needle receives the needle; what calls for moxibustion receives moxa; what calls for a decoction is given a decoction; what calls for pills is given pills. According to where the illness lies, they treat and nurse with all their care, so that the illness may be cured; they harmonize the five viscera, clear the hundred channels, settle the hun and po souls, and have the host of spirits guard the body.

If the patient cannot hear in the ears and all is dim before the eyes, twelve Lords of Clearing the Sight and one hundred twenty officers and generals are further invited to descend together, to treat deafness and blindness in particular and restore hearing and sight to clarity.

The Generals of Celestial Firmness and the Demon-Slaying Officers are then invited, seven hundred thousand of each, every one holding a battle-axe for beheading ghosts, together with peach broth, sand and stones, and other ritual implements, to descend together into the household and drive out the baleful infusions of the five directions, the five pestilential deviant essences (Jing), sprites, goblins, and wraiths, the subordinate officials and stale Qi, and the malign gods and evil ghosts within the dwelling that harm people, beheading and eliminating them all and cutting off the root of calamity.

If the deceased of seven generations in a certain household—ancestors, parents, uncles, and others—while alive committed the five covenants and seven curses, or the five heinous crimes; or were neither kind nor filial and killed the worthy and the good; or became bandits who seized property, stole oxen and horses, lured away bondservants, bound innocent people and trafficked in human beings, killed the parents, spouses, and children of others, injured masters or other people and extinguished clans; or stole scriptures (Jing), insulted the orthodox Dao (the Way), and defiled sacred writings, turning from the orthodox Dao to enter deviant ways and abandoning the true to follow the false; or cursed with evil words, deceived without cause, and spoke recklessly in contempt of gods and ghosts; or, beneath the sun, moon, and stars, within village altars, talisman temples, and spirit shrines, under trees and in the open wilds, beside wells and next to stoves, jointly practiced suppressive sorcery and prayer; or burned incense and swore oaths in Daoist abbeys and Buddhist monasteries, invoking Heaven and Earth and lodging complaints with the gods, claiming to have suffered injustice and to deserve to be vindicated, yet received favor and forgot righteousness and offered no repayment to the gods—then after death these departed ones fall into the Three Paths (the hells, hungry ghosts, animals, and other places of suffering) and undergo interrogation and punishment. Suffering and unable to free themselves, they appeal to the Celestial Bureaus and implicate those still living.

These departed ones may bring the ghosts of the “three dossiers and five dossiers,” together with cursing deviant gods, invade the dwelling, and recklessly work harm without cease. It is prayed that, after this memorial text, these afflictions be released and destroyed one by one, so that ghosts who bring disaster and the deviant gods of the wild ways no longer harm the household. If departed ones since the thirty-six generations still cling and will not be released, twelve Lords of Lifting Prohibitions of the Five Directions and one hundred twenty officers and generals are invited to descend together, to dissolve for the household the retribution of curses and suppressive sorcery accumulated through the generations, dispersing and reconciling it so that it no longer harms the living.

If any are unwilling to depart, the Lords Who Punish Calamity and one thousand two hundred officers and generals are invited to come together to the household, to seize and remove the subordinate officials and stale Qi, the malign gods, evil ghosts, and all deviant beings, and drive them all out into the mountains and wilds, not allowing them to remain. Should they still act with violence and evil, it is prayed that, after this oral memorial has been submitted, the sick person quickly recover, the whole family be safe and well, wealth and treasure enter the gate, blessings and good fortune grow more abundant day by day, all that is wished for be realized, and every affair proceed smoothly.

As for the lords, generals, officers, and hosts of soldiers who have been invited, if they have merit in the work of arrest and of relief, it is wished that on the auspicious days of the Three Assemblies of us, your servants (the auspicious days of the three regularly fixed purification offerings), their merits be gathered into memorials, their achievements reported and promotion requested, in no way contrary to the vow. The Most High is earnestly begged to extend grace, examine this matter clearly, and bestow compassion.

We, your servants, foolish and reverently cautious, rely upon the divine officers—the Direct Envoys of the Inner and Outer Two Bureaus, the Merit Officers of Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity), the Messengers of the Left and Right Offices, the Officers of Yin-Yang Divine Decision, the Red-Talisman Officers of the Statute Chariots, the Mounted Dispatch Officers of the Firm Wind, and the Post-Horse Officers Who Submit Memorials—one hundred twenty of each, to present the documents. We, your servants, respectfully pray on behalf of so-and-so, the men and women of a certain household: the parents, brothers, wives, and children of the household are not well; a certain person is ill, the illness severe, life in critical danger, and survival feared unlikely. We now bow and petition the celestial officials to release the Qi left behind by curses and suppressive sorcery since the thirty-six generations, causing it to pass beyond the barrier-limits of the stars and constellations, to extinguish the contamination of disaster, and to cut off the root by which calamity links itself again; to restrain and pacify the demon kings, subdue ghostly beings and treat the illness, and on behalf of the sick person repair and prolong life and seek a way to survive.

One text of an urgently presented oral memorial is now submitted and sent to the Bureaus of the Three Heavens of the Most High, and a proclaimed reply is respectfully awaited. I, so-and-so, in fear and trembling, knock my head to the ground and bow again, and report this matter.

The servant’s surname, and the commandery and county to which he belongs, are to be filled in according to the actual circumstances.

Everything is to be carried out in accordance with the regulations of Taiqing (Great Clarity).

On such-and-such a year, month, day, and hour, within the place of so-and-so (the location or related information is to be entered as prescribed).

We, servants so-and-so, carefully and reverently present this announcement to the Most High Lord of the Great Dao (the Way), the Most High Elder, and to the Celestial Master (Tianshi), the Female Master, the Successor Master, and the Continuing Master—the Three Master Lords—together with their consorts. The business of our submitting the petition has already been completed, and the matters we report have likewise been fully stated. We now once again respectfully invite the talisman officials and the duty officials on watch: the officers on duty this day, this month, and this year, together with the direct-talisman officers and direct-duty officers of the Five Emperors and the Four Seasons, thirty-six of each kind; twelve Lads of Golden Light and twelve Jade Maidens; twelve attendants charged with transmitting the petition; twelve aides charged with handling the petition; and twelve petition clerks responsible for the petition document on this day. We ask that they descend together.

We ask the gods of the Left Altar of Soil and the Right Altar of Grain, together with the local deities of the earth, to ascend with the petition and to give their response in the Celestial Bureau (the office in the heavenly realm that handles documentary affairs), so that the submission of the petition will surely get through. If the petition is not written correctly, is defaced so that it cannot be made out, or if what comes before does not join with what follows, then please take up the dragon-headed writing knife and the long-haired sharp brush and carefully strike out, revise, and set the text to rights: correct the wrong characters and supply those that were omitted, so that the petition agrees from beginning to end, and do not let the superior officials who oversee documents find fault with us on this account.

If the stale Qi (vital energy), the deviant Jing (essence), and the ghost-bandits of the lower realm intercept the petition on its way and keep it from arriving, seize them, deliver them to a nearby prison, and punish them according to the law. Please have the oral petition (a petition stated aloud or conveyed by oral instruction) that we submit delivered directly before the Limitless Great Dao and the Most High Lord Lao. Let the Lord of the Left pass it through each checkpoint in succession, and the Lord of the Right present it upward stage by stage, while the officers transmit it in turn and each attends to his own part.

We are ignorant and of little learning, and we do not fully understand the liturgical statutes; we fear that we may have given offense. In the advances and withdrawals of the rite there are also many things that do not accord with the rules. We therefore pray for the vast favor of the Most High, that each such fault may be forgiven. If wicked persons of the four directions rashly hatch schemes and spread idle talk, let all of it be ritually expelled.

We earnestly beg that what has been reported may ascend, that the gracious permission we seek may come down, and that the spirits we have summoned may arrive; that what should be transformed may be transformed, what should be healed may be cured, what should be put to death may be put to death, what should be suppressed may be subdued, what should scatter may scatter, and what should be released may be released. We ask the envoys of the Merit Officers to distinguish good from evil and the grave from the slight, to close their mouths and still their breath, to ascend and convey the report, and on no account to delay. We lie prostrate awaiting the announcement, continuing to hold our breath for about as long as it takes to eat three meals. The business of our presenting the oral petition is now complete.

Next: Recalling the Officials

The envoys of the Merit Officers (officials who transmit divine commands), the generals, and the officer-soldiers who were previously summoned forth and stationed within our bodies now each return into our bodies. They enter through the Gate of Myriad Wonders and resume their places in order. The Merit Officers on duty arrange matters: those who should return to the left return to the left, and those who should return to the right return to the right. They coil about the body, pass through sinews and bones, course among the hundred vessels, and circulate throughout the whole body; above they reach Heaven and Earth, below they enter the Dantian (energy center—the cultivation site in the lower abdomen), and they ascend to the Niwan (the cultivation site in the head), attaching themselves once more within our bodies.

They are to dwell securely in our five viscera and six bowels, in the Seven Governors and Nine Palaces, in the twelve palace chambers, and in every place corresponding to the four seasons and the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), settled in their duties and each occupying its regular station, without disorder. The generals and officer-soldiers previously summoned likewise all return into our bodies and enter the Golden Hall and Jade Chamber (symbolizing the dwelling places of the divinities within the body). When on a later day we summon them again, they will come forth once more and carry out their charge according to established custom.

Next: Restoring the Incense Burner

Envoys of the Incense Officials, please summon the Dragon Lords and Tiger Lords at our left and right, and swiftly call the envoys of the five directions. We have already submitted the oral petition (a memorial presented by recitation). Let there naturally arise within the Jingshi (the quiet chamber in which a Daoist priest cultivates the rites) such immortal medicines and auspicious signs as golden liquor, cinnabar and azure, and the flowering essence of the numinous mushroom, manifesting them before this incense fire; let us obtain the true Qi (vital energy) of the attainment of the Dao (the Way), enjoy long life and passage beyond the world, and let all people be able to ascend as immortals. Please strike our names from the register of the dead and enter them anew as names of the living, together with the reckoning of our lifespans.

May the plain lads and lasses, the jade lads and lasses, and the boy and girl attendants of the ten directions (immortal youths and maidens who serve the divinities) all stand guard beside the incense smoke, so that the memorial we have submitted may be conveyed directly into the presence of the Limitless Great Dao of the Three Heavens and the Most True Jade Emperor, the Supreme Thearch.