《高上神霄宗师受经式》

The Gaoshang Shenxiao Zongshi Shoujing Shi (Ritual Protocol for Receiving the Scriptures of the Exalted Divine Empyrean Patriarch) says: When the Supreme Sage opened the scriptures (Jing), their light shone like blossoms, and auspicious Qi (vital energy) spread all around. From this the subtle teachings of the True Origin were transmitted, becoming a model that could be followed.

In the first year of the great kalpa of Chiming, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning rode the generative Qi of Chihun, Taiwu, and Lingji—the primordial Qi, prior to Heaven, from which the myriad things are born—and manifested in the various heavens of Beginning Azure in the East. Together with the great gods of celestial perfection of the ten directions, the supreme sages and exalted worthies, the perfected of wondrous practice, and countless other deities, he proclaimed the Lingbao Duren and the various scriptures of Shenxiao (the Divine Empyrean), and transmitted the scriptural texts to the Most High Lord of the Dao of the Jade Sanctum (Yuchen). The Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning further commanded Tianzhen Huangren (the August Person of Celestial Perfection) and the various perfected of Shangqing (Supreme Clarity) to set in order the meaning of the scriptures, divide them into chapters, and establish their headings, compiling in all sixty scrolls so as to correspond to the number of the Six Jia. Each scroll opens with the words “Wuliang duren” (“Immeasurable Salvation of Humanity”). When the scriptures were completed, they were presented to Xuhuang (the August Sovereign of the Void) and stored in the Upper Palace of Ziwei (Purple Tenuity). Later the various perfected again arranged and ordered them, still in sixty scrolls. Thereafter this scripture was entrusted to the Lord Perfected King of Yuqing (Jade Clarity) of Shenxiao and secretly stored in the jade chamber of the Flower Hall at the Eastern Pole, to be transmitted only in a later age.

By the Song dynasty the world was at peace and flourishing, and the fortune of the age accorded with Shenxiao. The Perfected King of Shenxiao was to descend into the human world and become its sovereign. He recommended that his younger brother, Qinghua Dijun (the Imperial Lord of Azure Florescence), administer the divine offices in his stead. The Perfected King received Heaven’s bright mandate, inherited the great enterprise, governed the world and harmonized the various states, made manifest the transformative teaching of the Dao (the Way), and spread the divine, profound, and far-reaching style of the Dao. After the renchen year of the Zhenghe era (1112), Qinghua Dijun often came into the palace precincts for secret audiences. There was mutual resonance with the gods and spirits, and Heaven, humanity, and the divine were in communication—precisely the sign that the heavenly mandate and the fortune of the age were at hand.

Thereupon the Perfected King, through divine powers and transformations, ascended in flight and united with the realm of Ziqing (Purple Clarity), and brought forth the sixty scrolls of the Lingbao Zhenjing (True Scripture of the Numinous Treasure) secretly stored in the jade chamber of Shenxiao. He also recalled the Qi of the Three Primordials, the Numinous Light, and the Jade Net—an image symbolizing the subtle numinous Qi between Heaven and Earth—which he had beheld when he formerly attended the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning and ascended with him to the Yuluo Heaven, and on this basis compiled the three scrolls of the Gaoshang Shenxiao Yuqing Milu (Secret Registers of Jade Clarity of the Exalted Divine Empyrean). These scriptures and registers had been carefully collated by the Lord of the Jade Dawn (Yuchen) in the era of the High Sovereign, and their norms were fixed in the Palace of Ziwei. Through kalpa after kalpa they had been strictly treasured and concealed, and now all had reached the moment when they ought to be transmitted.

The Perfected King therefore sent the immortal ministers and immortal clerks at his side to rewrite the scriptures and secret registers in writing the human world could understand, to recast them in expressions familiar to ordinary society, and to establish the corresponding procedures of Keyi (liturgy), transmitting them to those who aspired to cultivate the Dao and who kept their integrity while turning toward the Dao. If anyone has the affinity to encounter this Dao and cultivates it diligently, that person is one whose name was long ago entered in the registers of the celestial realm. Their bodily form seems as if painted with the Three Floresences of Thearch Xuan; passing through the refining of the bones by the Five Radiances—terms in Daoist cultivation for the refinement and transformation of body and mind—the inner Jing (essence) and Qi are safeguarded. Such persons are those who, in the renchen year, received ordination and the transmission of the teaching, practitioners who pursue learning in order to become perfected. Across ten thousand kalpas, to meet an occasion such as this is exceedingly rare; how could one fail to cultivate with earnest effort?

The Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun), venerated in Daoism as one of the highest celestial worthies, is the Ancestral Master; the Dao Lord, Primordial Sovereign of the Jade Aurora of Supreme Clarity (Shangqing Yuchen Yuanhuang Daojun), is the Lineage Master; and the Great Lord of Long Life, Perfected King of Jade Clarity of the Most High Divine Empyrean (Gaoshang Shenxiao Yuqing Zhenwang Changsheng Dajun), is the True Master. These three are known together as the “Three Masters of the Great Dao of the Most High Divine Empyrean.”

The Scripture of Salvation of the Numinous Treasure of the Cavern Mystery (Dongxuan) of the Most High, of the Most High Divine Empyrean (Gaoshang Shenxiao Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Duren Jing), comprises sixty scrolls and lists the following titles: the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of the Salvation of the Numinous Treasure of the Cavern Mystery of the Most High; the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of the Golden Statutes of Pure Tenuity (Qingwei); the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of the Jade Regulations of the Yuyu Heaven; the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of the Numinous Writs of the Great Scarlet Heaven; the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of the Great Dao of the Jade Aurora; the Supreme Scripture of the Primordial Jing (essence) of the Great Unity; the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of Solar Essence and Yang Brilliance; the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of Lunar Radiance and Yin Effulgence; the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of the Separation and Union of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water) and the Transformation of the Body; the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of Severing the Root of Embryonic Rebirth and Sealing the Gate of Death; the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of the Soaring Radiance of the Two Effulgences and the Five Stars; the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of the Green Yang of Fusang; the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of the White Effulgence and the Radiant Numen; the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of the Orthodox Qi (vital energy) of the Five Directions; the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of the Five Phases in Harmonious Order; the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of Securing and Stabilizing the Destiny of the State through the Eight Dimensions of Heaven and Earth; the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of Seeking to Prolong the Kalpic Cycle and Preserve the Age in Peace and Prosperity; the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of Sending Forth the Shen (spirit) and Summoning the Numina; the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of the Descent of the Perfected and the Summoning of the Numina; and the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of the Sacred Realms of the Ten Directions.

Within this collection, the section “Illuminating the Body and Pervading It with Qi” lists the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of the Lofty Mystery of the Nine Empyreans; the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of the Immortal Registers of the Nine Palaces; the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of the Divine Union of the Eight Effulgences; and the Supreme Wondrous Scripture of Jade Brilliance and the Cycles of Cosmic Measure. The character 炁 is commonly used in Daoism and denotes the Qi that constitutes the myriad things and circulates among Heaven and Earth.

“The Category of the Red Talisman and Elixir Radiance” (Chifu danguang pin) is the title of this section. It refers to the class of writings concerned with red Fulu (talismans and registers) and with elixir radiance. The titles of the upper-grade wondrous Jing (scriptures/classics) included in it are as follows.

They are the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Purple Radiance and Elixir Spirit; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of the Void Song of the Azure Empyrean; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Refining Qi (vital energy) and Transforming into an Immortal; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Divine Transformation and the Metamorphosis of Qi; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Generating and Transforming the Root of the Embryo and of Cutting Off Evil Defilement; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Returning the Corpse and Raising the Dead; the Scripture of Enduring Longevity; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Divine Transformation and the Metamorphosis of Qi; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Generating and Transforming the Root of the Embryo and of Cutting Off Evil Defilement; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Returning the Corpse and Raising the Dead; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Longevity and Enduring Vision; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of the Radiance of the Three Dawns for Protecting Life and Prolonging Existence; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of the Descent of the Perfected and the Extension of Longevity; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Protecting the Fetus and Guarding Life; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Dispelling and Ritually Averting Harm for Rulers, Kings, Marquises, and Their Hereditary Lands; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of the Divine Transformations of the Great Unity (Taiyi), the Five Blessings, Protection of the State, and the Aversion of War; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of the Seven Stars Eliminating Demons; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Divine Talismans Removing Calamity; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Dongshen (Cavern of the Spirit), one of the Three Caverns (Dongzhen/Dongxuan/Dongshen), for Averting Disaster; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Prayer and Ritual Aversion for Flood and Drought; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Eliminating Calamity and Pestilence, Protecting Life, and Extending One’s Years; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Removing and Averting Water, Fire, and Drowning; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Relieving and Averting the Miasmic Pestilence of Mountains and Valleys; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Eliminating Sickness, Pestilence, Lameness, and Chronic Illness; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Manifesting Auspicious Signs and Omen-Responses; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of the Generation and Transformation of Yin-Yang; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water) Fully Provided, and of the Realm of Longevity for Living Beings; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Pacifying and Suppressing the Nine Earthly Ramparts, Earth Demons, and Inauspicious Forces; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Praying for Heirs to Continue the Line and for Celebration to Prolong the Standing of the Family; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Dispelling and Transforming the Calamities of Water, Fire, and Pestilence; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Mysterious Brightness and the Cavern Abyss; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of the Southern Palace Prolonging Life; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of the Northern Capital Removing Misfortune; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Praying for Heirs to Continue the Line and for Celebration to Prolong the Standing of the Family; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Dispelling and Transforming the Calamities of Water, Fire, and Pestilence; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Mysterious Brightness and the Cavern Abyss; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of the Southern Palace Prolonging Life; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of the Northern Capital Removing Misfortune; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Beheading the Inauspicious; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Slaying and Destroying the Evil Anomalies of the Five Phases; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Seeking Out and Delivering the Departed Souls of Former Generations; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Release from the Prison of Darkness; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Saving and Ferrying the Souls of the Dead; the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Transforming the Corpse and Receiving Bodily Form; and the Upper-Grade Wondrous Scripture of Forever Severing the Cycle of Rebirth.

These scripture titles concern the refining of Qi (the cultivation of vital breath), the extension of life and the protection of one’s allotted span, prayers for blessing and the ritual aversion of disaster, the elimination of demons and the suppression of evil, and the deliverance of the souls of the dead.

All the Jing (scripture/classic) titles listed above contain the words Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Wuliang Duren Shangpin Miaojing (Wondrous Scripture of the Upper Chapters on Limitless Salvation of the Numinous Treasure of the Cavern Mystery of the Most High).

The Gaoshang Shenxiao Lingbao Duren Jing (Scripture of Salvation of the Numinous Treasure of the Exalted Divine Empyrean), in sixty-one volumes, is said to have come from the Jade Chamber of the Floral Hall at the Eastern Pole of Shenxiao (the Divine Empyrean). It is a scripture secretly preserved through successive kalpas and transmitted from generation to generation. If one is fortunate enough to encounter this Dao (the Way) and cultivates it oneself, one may ascend into the Three Realms; if one cultivates it for others, calamities can be removed and illnesses of every kind cured. When merit and practice correspond in this way, one can in the end be delivered into Shenxiao, and may later also obtain appointment to a divine office as an official charged with overseeing teaching and moral transformation. If people of the world receive and uphold it, recite it, and cultivate and revere it according to the proper method, they may obtain boundless blessings and numinous efficacy, each response being as this scripture records.

Gaoshang Shenxiao Yuqing Milu (Secret Registers of Jade Clarity of the Exalted Divine Empyrean)

The Shenxiao Yuqing Milu was compiled according to the Keyi (liturgy) of Taiwei. In subtlety it may rank equal with Dongzhen (the Cavern of Perfection, one of the Three Caverns), and it is also an important model among the scriptures and registers of Shangqing. It can assist cultivation of the scriptural grades of the Great Cavern. When receiving, upholding, and wearing it, one should follow the prescribed regulations; what the practitioner obtains is in each case as this register states.

Explanatory Commentaries

The Meaning of the Two Classics of the Dao and the De (Virtue/Power) of the Emperor of Primordial Origin and Supreme Virtue, and the Guide to the True Meaning of “Free and Easy Wandering” in the Nanhua Zhenjing, were both personally written by Emperor Huizong of the Song, the Daojun Emperor.

Supplementary Commentaries

Li Yude explains the principles of the Lingbao Duren Jing (Numinous Treasure Scripture of Universal Salvation), and the True King Lord composed a preface setting forth the true meaning expounded by this commentary.

The Supreme Divine Empyrean True King proclaimed the Hymn of Cherishing Life and Refraining from Killing in the Heavens of the Five Directions. This hymn comes from the Shenxiao Dongji Huatang Miaoji Jingke (Scripture and Keyi [liturgy] of Wondrous Deliverance of the Flower Hall at the Eastern Pole of the Divine Empyrean). Reciting it can help remove sudden calamities brought on by the taking of life, and accumulate merit for cherishing life and not wantonly killing living beings.

The imperially authored Jinlu Zhong Keyi (Middle Liturgy of the Golden Register) of the Zhenghe reign is a ritual canon used when the state performs Zhaijiao (purification ritual)—Daoist rites for praying for blessings and averting disasters—and seeks blessings and protection.

The Dadong Zhaozhen Tongwei Miaozhang (Subtle and Wondrous Chapters on Summoning the Perfected through the Great Cavern), the Buxu Yuqing Yue (Music of Pacing the Void in Jade Clarity), the Shangqing Yue (Music of Supreme Clarity), the Taiqing Yue (Music of Great Clarity), the Sanhua Yue (Music of Scattering Flowers), the Baihe Yin (Prelude of the White Crane), the Zhaozhen Tongwei Miaozhang (Subtle and Wondrous Chapters on Summoning the Perfected), the Shou Tian Mingming Ge (Song of Receiving Heaven’s Luminous Mandate), the Jinque Shiqing Buxu Gezhang (Song-Chapters of Pacing the Void at the Golden Portal of Primal Azure), the Gaozhen Daode Buxu Gezhang (Song-Chapters of Pacing the Void of the Lofty Perfected on the Dao [the Way] and De [Virtue/Power]), and the Youdao Taiwei Buxu Gezhang (Song-Chapters of Pacing the Void of Youdao and Grand Tenuity), together with the Xia Ji Diqi Jiangge Chuxian Ji (Record of the Earth Spirits Descending to Their Places and Appearing at the Summer Sacrifice), the Gaoshang Shenxiao Zhenwang Changsheng Dadi Jiangsheng Ji (Record of the Descent and Birth of the Supreme Divine Empyrean True King, Great Thearch of Longevity), the Shangqing Yushu Zhenfu Zhaoyan Zhu Ji (Various Records Verifying the True Talismans of the Jade Writ of Supreme Clarity), and the Dong Si Tianzhen Jianglin Shixian Pin Ji (Record of the Section on Celestial Perfected Descending and Manifesting at the Winter Sacrifice), are all secretly transmitted writings recording the sacred traces of Shenxiao. These accounts tell how the Great Lord of Longevity and the Thearch Lord of Azure Florescence manifested one after another, descended into the palace precincts, and displayed deeds of the transformations of divine Shen (spirit).

The Eastern and Western Terraces of the Jade Bureau of Shenxiao keep the secretly transmitted writings concerning the various immortal ministers, recording how each immortal minister cultivated the Dao and attained perfection, and how they held office in the Shenxiao Bureau.

The inner repository of Shenxiao preserves the scriptures (Jing) of the Three Caverns (Dongzhen/Dongxuan/Dongshen) and the Four Supplements (the system for classifying Daoist texts). Some scriptures have circulated since ancient times and have already been seen by many in the world; another one thousand two hundred scrolls are treasured scriptures that have passed through successive kalpas and still not been made public. These scriptures are divided into six grades and twelve classes, and are further arranged in three ranks—upper, middle, and lower—and stored in the Eastern and Western Flower Halls. After the renchen and gengzi years in which the destiny of Great Peace was opened, these secretly stored scriptures will gradually appear in the world.

If someone possesses and practices one scriptural method of the upper rank, he is called “Ritual Master of Cavern-Effulgence of the Royal Heaven of Shenxiao, True Minister of the Vacuous Origin Who Unifies Transformation.” After his cultivation succeeds, he may serve as Upper Chancellor, Upper Steward, or True Earl of the Jade Bureau, and in offices of this kind.

If he possesses and practices one scriptural method of the middle rank, he is called “Ritual Master of Cavern Transformation of Shenxiao, True Minister Who Protects, Saves, and Unites with Brightness.” After his cultivation succeeds, he may serve as an immortal minister or immortal marquis of the Eastern and Western Terraces.

If he possesses and practices one scriptural method of the lower rank, he is called “Ritual Master of Primordial Transformation of Shenxiao, True Minister of Numinous Subtlety Who Penetrates the Origin.” After his cultivation succeeds, he may serve as a senior immortal official or a True Governor of the Nine Palaces on the Eastern and Western Terraces.

The ritual vestments of these ritual masters include a precious crown of the Cloud Terrace of Jade Clarity; a hairpin of purple numinosity and green jade; a thirty-six-strip cape of flying clouds, dense mist, and green light; a brown-yellow robe and a flying-cyan skirt; vermilion shoes; a blue-jade tablet of cavernous numinosity; a jade pendant in which the three Qi (vital energy) intermingle in radiance; and a precious sword three chi and six cun long, bearing the meaning of quaking brilliance that dispels demons. When performing ritual, they ascend the altar of the nine Qi.

If, among the scriptures of the upper, middle, and lower ranks, the scrolls one has obtained are incomplete, or if one only concurrently practices one or two scriptural methods from the Three Caverns that already circulate in the world, one is called a “Disciple of Shenxiao Who Assists the Transformation of Great Peace.” After cultivation succeeds, one may be ranked among the immortal perfected of the various heavens, or appointed to fill a post as an unattached official or immortal clerk of the Divine Bureau; yet one cannot on this account be assured of an exalted station in the Jade Heaven of Lofty Clarity, nor guaranteed authority over the superior office of divine talismans.

The ritual vestments of such disciples include a cyan crown of plain jade with three blossoms, or a primordial crown of the three plain colors; a hairpin of purple Jing (essence) and rock crystal; a thirty-six-strip cape of plain purple; a yellow lower garment of bluish brown and a green-cyan skirt; a yellow-blossom jade tablet; vermilion shoes; a jade pendant; and a precious sword three chi and two cun long, bearing the meaning of the five Qi and cinnabar Jing. When performing ritual, they ascend the altar of the three luminaries and eight wefts.

If someone receives these scriptural methods and is already furnished with all three ranks—upper, middle, and lower—then, once cultivation succeeds, he may ascend to the station of High August Lord of the Dao of the Three Heavens and stand alongside the sages.

Except, however, on ritual occasions such as presenting memorials and submitting petitions, attending audience with the true sages, and consulting the registers of names, these ritual vestments may not be worn at will. The numinous officials will investigate those who violate this and cause the merit of their cultivation of the Dao to be impaired.