《洪恩灵济真君事实》

I believe that, from ancient times, outstanding worthy ministers were, while they lived, renowned officials who established merit for the people; after death they became luminous deities, assisting Heaven and Earth in transforming and nurturing the myriad things. Their divine power moves throughout Heaven and Earth, sheltering the people and warding off calamity, reviving withered grasses and trees and causing all things to grow in abundance. They seem to be just above and just beside us, yet they cannot be fathomed by human wisdom or deliberation. The Shijing (Classic of Poetry) says, “When the spirits descend, they cannot be measured—how then could one treat them lightly?” It is precisely this that is meant.

Jiang Wang, Great Immortal of the Golden Portal of the Nine Heavens, who Illumines the Dao (the Way) and Attains De (Virtue/Power), Perfected One who Manifests Spirit and Universally Brings Relief, and Rao Wang, Superior Immortal of the Jade Portal of the Nine Heavens, who Proclaims Transformation and Upholds the Teaching, Perfected One who Displays Spirit and Broadly Brings Relief—their merit is indeed this profound. Both deities were members of the imperial clan of the Southern Tang. In life they achieved merit for the people and the state; after death they were enrolled among the immortals. The two brothers were matched in virtuous conduct, reflecting each other’s splendor like twin blossoms on a single stem. They received their offices from Heaven and, with awesome spiritual power, protect the human world. Whenever the people pray, the deities respond at once, moving as swiftly as thunder and lightning and traveling like the wind in every direction. The people receive their grace and rely on them as on father and mother; kind and benevolent, they bring peace to all things.

Earlier, when I was unwell, I tried many medicines, yet I never improved. The deities secretly applied their spiritual power to guard my person, not leaving for a moment. As soon as I prayed, they responded, repeatedly showing signs of efficacy, and they bestowed spirit talismans together with the wondrous medicines of the celestial physicians, so that I passed from critical danger into safety and from lying gravely ill to rising once more. They thus accomplished the merit of turning peril into peace. This kindness is vast and deep.

When I reflect on myself, my virtue is slight, and I do not know by what I have received such protection. Yet the deities’ grace I have long kept in mind—how could I forget it? This kindness is as deep as the sea and as high as the mountains, beyond all measure. From ancient times the state has observed the constant rule that merit must be repaid. Therefore, by a patent of sacrificial announcement, I confer additional honorific titles on the deities. The elder brother is enfeoffed as “True Lord of Vast Grace, Pure and Subtle, of Dongxuan (Cavern of Mystery), Empty and Void, Wondrously Resonant, Kind and Beneficent, Who Protects the State and Shelters the People,” and the younger brother as “True Lord of Vast Grace, Lofty and Brilliant, Broadly Serene, Profound and Clear, Wondrously Responsive, Humane and Beneficent, Who Assists the State and Aids the People.” Their original titles are retained.

I have ordered the temple to be fully restored, so that it stands lofty, spacious, and bright, fit to serve as the deities’ dwelling. I have further ordered the responsible officials to offer incense with reverence and purity, to perform sacrifice in spring and autumn, to renew each year the clothing and ornaments of the sacred images, and to assign five households to sweeping and upkeep, thereby expressing my sincerity and repaying the deities’ great kindness. Their merit is so profound, while what I can repay is limited. The deities may not reckon such repayment, yet in my heart I truly cannot but offer some expression of gratitude.

The virtue of Heaven and Earth lies in bringing the myriad things to life. The deities embody the Dao of Heaven and Earth and assist Heaven and Earth in transforming and nurturing all things. They pass between the hidden and the manifest; their divine power changes with swiftness; they roam the Taiqing, the celestial realm of which Daoism speaks, inspect the four quarters, and rescue living beings. Their merit extends throughout Heaven and Earth and is plainly visible; within it lie many profundities that words can hardly exhaust. Now their achievements are carved upon enduring stone and set up in the temple, to be transmitted to later ages, and a poem is composed:

Heaven and Earth brought forth persons of brilliant insight and numinous power, making them outstanding figures in the world. They passed between the hidden realm of the shades and the human world as if in a single moment.

In life they established meritorious deeds, guarding Ou-Yue (an ancient name for the region of present-day Fujian and Guangdong). After death they became deities held in reverence, their divine majesty and merit all the more manifest. They sheltered the broad maritime frontier, so that the people had a sure support; they regulated rain and drought, cold and heat, and kept the climate temperate. Winter brought no assault of bitter cold, and summer no torment of scorching heat; harmful sandy vapors were kept far off, and violent hurricanes did not strike.

They blessed the crops with abundant harvests, year by year removing calamity and driving away inauspicious signs and baleful spirits. Amid morning bells and evening drums, the old and the young alike lived in peace. Lofty Aofeng rises steep and precipitous; its ridges wind about and embrace it, as if fashioned on purpose by Heaven’s own craft.

In spring, people offer fragrant orchids; in autumn, they offer aromatic chrysanthemums. Clear, cold springs flow over white stones, and the deities roam there, feathered canopies following in their train. Flying clouds drift lightly, leading the processional regalia and ceremonial standards. The deities suddenly descend and just as swiftly depart, while numinous Qi (vital energy) comes and goes without cease. When people pray, the deities soon respond; the blessings and aid they bestow are wide-ranging and never interrupted.

Sacrifices are held in all four seasons, with abundant offerings of food and wine, in return for divine grace. Who could compare with their achievements in guarding the sovereign, protecting the state, and securing the people? People vow to inscribe this kindness upon the heart and carve it into the bone, to set down the deities’ beneficence and engrave it on enduring stone, so that it may be handed down through ten thousand ages and shine together with the sun and moon.

The first day of the fifth month, in the fifteenth year of the Yongle reign (1417)

Account of the Two Perfected Attaining Immortality

Xu Zhizheng was born into a family descended from King Yan and was a man of the Southern Tang during the Five Dynasties period. He and his younger brother, Xu Zhi’e, were both exceptionally valiant and distinguished, generous and benevolent, loyal to their sovereign and filial to their parents. They reverently believed in the Three Treasures—the Buddha, the Dao (the Way), and the clergy—delighted in doing good, and devoted themselves to cultivating the Dao. They often held Zhaijiao (purification rituals), Daoist observances of fasting, prayer for blessings, and offerings announced to the gods, and each day they recited the Yuhuang Zhenjing (Jade Emperor True Scripture) and the honorific titles of the Jade Emperor.

Both brothers had served the kingdom of Wu. Later, Xu Zhizheng was enfeoffed as Prince of Jiang and Xu Zhi’e as Prince of Rao, and they garrisoned Jinling. Their defenses were thorough; they pacified and took in displaced people and controlled more than twenty prefectures. Taxes levied on the people were comparatively lenient, while supplies for the army were ample. The various communities living in the mountains and caves, together with the Dan people along the coast, all observed the laws and lived settled lives; the elderly and children played at ease, holding hands and singing. The people bore no resentment, and the inhabitants of Jiangnan were thus brought to stability.

Later, Xu Zhizheng was ordered to lead an army against the region of Min. Fearing that the fighting would harm innocent people, he made a great vow: every day at the fifth watch he would face north and perform baidou, the Daoist rite of worshiping the stellar lords of the Northern Dipper; he regularly took a vegetarian breakfast; and he prayed that hostilities would cease. Wherever the army went, he comforted and reassured the people. When the inhabitants of the various commanderies heard that his military discipline was strict, they opened their cities and surrendered one after another. Local elders carried rice in bamboo baskets and wine in pots and welcomed them along the roads.

When the army reached Xiajiang, it encountered several hundred routed soldiers who had occupied the mountains and risen in disorder. Xu Zhizheng immediately ordered their leaders put to death. The remaining soldiers threw down their weapons, cheered, and submitted, and were incorporated without a battle being fought. The people were all able to live in peace, and the army did not encroach upon fields, gardens, vegetables, or rice. The people then conferred and said, “This is the father and mother who has given us new life.” They built a shrine on Aofeng and offered sacrifice to Xu Zhizheng.

Soon afterward the two brothers attained immortality one after the other and became the Commissioners of Water in the Palace of the Northern Dipper, divine offices charged with the affairs of water. They came and went through the celestial palaces, accumulated merit, and secretly protected the common people, so that all might fulfill loyalty and filial piety and revere the Three Treasures of the Buddha, the Dao, and the monastic community.

In times of drought the people went to the shrine to pray. The pool before the shrine was unfathomably deep. Before long a numinous snake appeared, winding among the offering tables, its body the color of cinnabar. It circled on the surface of the pool and did not disperse all day; the next morning a great rain indeed fell, and that year’s crops yielded a rich harvest.

One day, after successive days of violent rain, Yanxi suddenly rose and overflowed, flooding the crops in the fields. Just as the crowd stood panic-stricken, they suddenly saw tens of thousands of laborers holding baskets and iron spades, dredging the waterways and guiding the current all day long. In the end the flood did the people no harm. Later every one of these figures vanished; they had been divine soldiers.

The shoals and rocks of Cangxia were steep and perilous, and boats traveling upstream or down easily lost control. When the boatmen cried out and prayed for protection, yellow banners could be faintly sensed amid the clouds; at once wind and water grew calm, and the boats passed without mishap. If fire broke out in a household through carelessness, or if locusts attacked the crops, one had only to pray to the gods: the wind would turn and beat out the flames, and the locusts would fly away.

They also made Fulu (talismans and registers) and medicines and bestowed them on the people. Those long ill who took them never failed to improve quickly; those who sought offspring and took them likewise obtained descendants, and their lines flourished. Thus the people lived in security, produce was abundant, and the villages were at peace.

When Liu Yi of Min served as an official in the region of Guizhou and Jiaozhi, barbarian armies invaded the frontier and seized Qinzhou, Lianzhou, and other places. Liu Yi was alarmed and uneasy, not knowing how to respond. After he fasted and prayed in silence, the enemy indeed broke and withdrew.

Later, when Han Shizhong fought at Dayi Town and Wu Jie fought at Heshangyuan, they likewise sent troops to defend the realm. They manifested miracles like the numinous appearance of the grasses and trees on Mount Bagong, so that from afar the enemy saw banners streaming in the wind, and in the valleys it seemed as if a million iron cavalry stood arrayed in ranks, their bearing strict and orderly, gongs and drums shaking the plain. The enemy was already routed before battle was joined. Efficacious and extraordinary deeds were too many to record one by one.

One day, during the performance of a Yellow Register Retreat—a Daoist Zhaijiao (purification ritual) established to deliver the souls of the dead, pray for blessings, and avert calamity—heavenly music was suddenly heard. Auspicious clouds circled in the distance, and immortal officials pressed before and behind in attendance; the scene was exceedingly solemn. Thereupon the Celestial Emperor, moved to respond, descended and dispatched divine beings to proclaim an edict of enfeoffment:

The Prince of Jiang was enfeoffed as the “Great Immortal of the Golden Portal of the Nine Heavens, Illuminating the Dao (the Way) and Attaining De (Virtue/Power), Manifesting Numinous Power and Universally Bringing Succor, Perfected One.” He was placed in charge of the Academy of Celestial Texts of Highest Clarity (Shangqing), authorized to act as circumstances required, and charged in an acting capacity with the office of Supreme Minister of the Wenchang Bureau of Emoluments, taking part in deliberating the celestial mysteries and in examining and managing affairs. His wife, Lady Xu, Lady of the State of Jing, was enfeoffed as the “Immortal Maiden of Compliant Assistance and Benevolent Favor,” and was concurrently to oversee the affairs of the Right Perfected Bureau of Taiyi for the Prolongation of Life.

The Prince of Rao was enfeoffed as the “Superior Immortal of the Jade Portal of the Nine Heavens, Proclaiming Transformation and Upholding the Teaching, Manifesting the Numinous and Broadly Bringing Succor, Perfected One.” He was placed in charge of the various offices of the Lower Prime and the Earthly Courts, authorized to act as circumstances required, and charged in an acting capacity with the office of Supreme Minister of the Southern Pole for the Registration of Births, taking part in deliberating the affairs of the Mysterious Bureau of Thunder. His wife, Lady Tao, Lady of the State of Wei, was enfeoffed as the “Immortal Maiden of Skillful Assistance and Kind Virtue,” and was concurrently to oversee the affairs of the Bureau of the Primordial Sovereign of Northern Yin for the Registration of Births.

Their father was further enfeoffed posthumously as the “Perfected One of Loyal Valor,” and their mother as the “Immortal Consort of Benevolent Longevity.”

The passage at the end of the original text, beginning “Of late, I myself have fallen ill, and have silently set in motion…,” repeats what precedes it and is fragmentary in wording, and so cannot be interpreted accurately or coherently on that basis.

Recently I myself fell ill. Unseen, the gods put forth their power, broadly bestowing divine grace and guarding me at my side, never leaving for a moment. They granted numinous talismans and treated me with the wondrous medicines of the celestial physicians. After prayer, the medicine took effect and the illness departed; the response was swift. I had been weak and worn, and my condition critical, yet in a moment danger turned to safety. Stubborn ailments long resistant to cure all subsided, and I was restored as before. The power of this deliverance was as if I had been given life anew. The kindness of the gods I shall remember and never forget.

Therefore I specially composed an invocation and carried out the investiture. Upon the elder brother I conferred the honorific title “True Lord of Pure Subtlety, Dongxuan (one of the Three Caverns), Empty Void, Wondrous Response, Compassionate Grace, Protector of the State and Shelter of the People, of Vast Grace,” and upon the Lady of Jing State I conferred “Immortal Consort of Faithful Response.” Upon the second brother I conferred the honorific title “True Lord of Lofty Brilliance, Expansive Stillness, Profound Clarity, Wondrous Response, Benevolent Grace, Aid to the State and Help to the People, of Vast Grace,” and upon the Lady of Wei State I conferred “Immortal Consort of Reverent Stillness.” I honored the divine father as “True Lord Who Upholds and Illumines” and the divine mother as “Immortal Consort of Virtuous Goodness,” all former titles being retained in full. In addition, the shrines of the Min region were restored on a large scale, and a branch shrine—a subsidiary temple for the worship of the gods—was built in the capital to house the divinities. I specially commanded the offices concerned to perform the sacrifices with reverence and exact care.

Any minister who can establish merit for the state and bring beneficence to the people will surely be an outstanding person while alive, and after death will become a deity who protects one region. Even after a hundred generations, such a person can still bless the people and secretly assist the moral instruction of the court.

Consider Zhizheng and Zhi’e. Born of an illustrious family, they continued to serve with wholehearted devotion even when their sovereign’s reign had entered its final age. They pacified the disorders of one region and preserved the local people. After advancing into Minzhong, they kept their army under discipline and entered with their troops held in check. They first cleared away the rebel soldiers, so that the people were spared the suffering of blades and arrows and could live in peace. Grateful for their kindness yet unable to repay it, the people built a living shrine (a shrine erected for a person still alive) and offered sacrifice to them. After they had become immortals, they further withstood great disasters and removed severe afflictions, freeing the people from the fears of famine and epidemic so that they might rest and recover. The two True Lords brought their merits and practices to completion, moved Heaven, were granted the title Zhenren (Perfected Person), and were enrolled among the ranks of the immortals. In recent times they have set in motion the workings of creation and transformation, widely bestowed the grace of the spirits, and even cured my illness. The court has therefore conferred additional honorific titles upon them, restored their shrine, and offered reverent worship, in order to repay this divine favor. All of this is the result of the hidden merit (merit that seeks no display and secretly brings benefit) they accumulated over a long time. Their renown is thus illustrious and imperishable, enduring together with Heaven and Earth. How could this be a matter of chance?

One poem says: In serving their parents they fulfilled filial piety to the utmost; in serving their sovereign they gave loyalty with all their hearts. As brothers they came to maturity one after another, like successive blossoms—who could compare with such virtue? Later they diligently cultivated the supreme Dao (the Way), and both were enfeoffed as kings and granted domains.

Another poem says: In those years they garrisoned Jinling, and across ten thousand li south of the Yangtze no warfare was seen. After the army entered Qi Min (the region of Fujian), the people lived in peace as before. How much blessing they brought to the people!

Another poem says: In years of drought, the sacred pool roused the dragon lying hidden in its depths, and sweet rain fell far and wide, bringing a bountiful harvest. The waters of Yan Creek receded, and the people were spared flooding; boats at Cang Gorge could also pass the dangerous stretch without hindrance.

Another poem says: Locusts did no harm to the crops, and fire did not spread. The people of the fields all received abundant grace.

(Lingfu are Fulu (talismans and registers) in Daoism, regarded as possessing miraculous efficacy; Tianyi refers to healers among the deities.) Lingfu are widely bestowed upon the people, so that the population flourishes and descendants multiply; they can also cure disease and relieve grave afflictions that have long resisted treatment.

Further, the True Lord (Zhenjun) manifested his power in Guijun (the name of an ancient commandery) and drove back the bandit enemies of the south. He displayed miracles whose efficacy even surpassed the supernatural legends of the battle at Mount Bagong. A million divine troops filled the valleys, and in an instant the heavy siege was lifted.

Further, Lingfu and wondrous medicines issue from the Celestial Physicians, protecting this humble person of mine and never departing in the slightest. The miraculous merit of curing illness is hard to repay; having received a kindness akin to being born again, I keep it inscribed in my heart.

Further, the True Lord responds as soon as he is called, and the response is fulfilled in a moment; his workings communicate with the laws of creation and transformation. Harnessing Qi (vital energy) and riding the wind, he roams the eight directions, now descending to the celestial palaces, now coming into the human world, and displays the majestic power of the spirits.

Further, in life the True Lord was a renowned general and established outstanding merit. After his merit and virtue were brought to completion he became an immortal, and his blessed recompense has its own origin. At Aofeng in the capital he has long received sacrifices; the court bestowed an honorific title upon him by vermilion rescript, attesting that he has attained the status of an immortal perfected being.

Further, the True Lord’s divine might is illustrious and boundless, and his achievements in guarding the state and bringing peace to the people are all the more manifest. His fame will not only shine together with the sun and moon, but will also endure as long as heaven and earth.

Memorial Recommending the True Lord

(“Memorial Recommending the True Lord” is the name of a document submitted to the court or to the deities, requesting that the True Lord be commended and enfeoffed and recommending him for honor.)

His blessed recompense has its own origin.

At Aofeng in the capital the True Lord has long received sacrifices; the court bestowed an honorific title upon him by vermilion rescript, attesting that he has attained the status of an immortal perfected being.

Further, the True Lord’s divine might is illustrious and boundless, and his achievements in guarding the state and bringing peace to the people are all the more manifest. His fame will not only shine together with the sun and moon, but will also endure as long as heaven and earth.

Memorial Recommending the True Lord

Wang, Attendant of the Golden Gate, who conducts the Nine-Spirit Flying-Step memorials and commands the thunder and lightning as a subordinate official (a protector deity-general of Daoism), respectfully submits this memorial. Your servant holds that the Dao (the Way) has its beginning in Wuji (the limitless, before heaven and earth were divided). It is profound and remote, and ordinary minds cannot fathom it. Only after the Perfected Man of Heaven (a legendary immortal of high antiquity who transmitted Daoist books) fixed the written characters with his purple brush could students of the Dao seek its source, trace its streams, and compile the Keyi (liturgy) texts and sacred writings (the ritual canons of Daoism). Now there is a certain spirit in the world who takes fasting and the keeping of precepts as daily practice, and who has vowed to deliver the dead and rescue the living. The words this spirit has issued all accord with the liturgical canons. Among talented and virtuous scholars, none fail to vie in reciting them. How could the Heavenly Court not be informed of this?

Your servant observes that Xu Zhizheng, Perfected of the Golden Watchtower of the Nine Heavens, and Xu Zhie, Perfected of the Jade Watchtower of the Nine Heavens, are unrivaled in reputation in their age, and that their merit and virtue have benefited the common people. Judging by their inner character and outward deeds, their very bearing and bone structure accord with the immortal path. They are intent on accumulating good deeds and establishing merit, and they hold firm faith in the Three Treasures (the Dao, the scriptures, and the masters). Without a bond from past lives, and without the ability to probe the divine mysteries and comprehend the workings of creation, who could be so? The liturgies they composed, among them the Transformative Texts of the Nine Perfected's Wondrous Precepts, the Liturgical Rules of the Divine Lamps of the Nine Peaks, and the Liturgy for Protecting Horses of the Three Realms, all derive from the profound words of the Supreme One. They probe the subtle and extract the essential, and they take shape naturally as complete compositions, with a numinous and wondrous cadence and a lingering aftertaste, enough to serve as a bridge across vast kalpas. They devoted themselves to writing these works, and it is not known how many years passed in the effort. Besides these there are the Liturgy for Numinous Salvation Offerings, the Texts of the Original Vow, and the Liturgy of the Lamps of the Seven Governors. They do not dare claim these as their own achievement, for they wrote them in response to requests from the people.

Your servant is dull by nature and humble in standing, and was granted office and promoted in the immortal ranks only because my achievements and abilities were assessed. I now humbly beg that Your Sovereign Majesty, in compassion, grant approval to this memorial and have the liturgical canons composed by Xu Zhizheng and the others reissued. Wherever the Three Realms are concerned, let each place follow and carry them out, inspecting and verifying their implementation. In this way, the merit of numinous salvation and deliverance will be made manifest, the prestige of our Daoist order will be strengthened, and the hopes of the people will be comforted. I respectfully await Your Majesty's decision.