《北游记》Vol. 3

When the imperial edict arrived, the general was appointed Deputy Marshal of the Inspectorate and followed the Patriarch to subdue the demons.

The Patriarch next came to a mountain called Taibao Mountain. Thirteen demons were causing trouble there and called themselves the “Thirteen Taibao.” Each year they demanded that the local people prepare twelve boys and girls as sacrifices, and they had killed many people. The thirteen demons were named, in order, Chaowen, Wu Qing, Zhou Wang, Peng Gan, Fan Yi, Zhang Shen, Li Lu, Wang Li, Wu An, Liu Gang, Tian Neng, Shen You, and Zhu Li. Each possessed supernatural powers. Whenever the celestial troops came to fight, the demons only had to slap their own bodies with their hands, and the enemy soldiers would be overcome with pain and then captured.

On the fifth day of the fifth month, the Thirteen Taibao agreed to go out for an outing. When they saw the Patriarch and his party approaching, they blocked their way. The generals saw the demons and rushed to attack them. The demons simply slapped their own bodies, and all the generals cried out in pain. Seeing this, the Generals Turtle and Snake hurried to carry the Patriarch on their backs. Marshal Ma also came to help him. The Patriarch said, “I have escaped, but these demons will surely pursue us soon. I just don’t know what kind of spirits they are, to possess such powers.” Marshal Ma replied, “I think only the Perfected Ones of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing) know the reason.”

The Patriarch and Marshal Ma immediately went to the Three Pure Ones’ temple to pay their respects and report the whole matter in detail. Perfected Miao Le said, “These demons are no ordinary beings. Their true forms were divine from birth. They now serve as gods on the southern and northern frontier, and their surname is Yin and given name Gao. Only by summoning him can those demons be subdued.” After hearing this, the Three Pure Ones ordered Perfected Miao Le to go to Water-Fire Mountain on the southern and northern frontier and find Yin Gao.

Yin Gao was a divine general who guarded the South-North Boundary Water-Fire Mountain. He asked the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), the three highest deities revered in Daoism, to send him out, and he would then be able to subdue the demons. After hearing his request, the Three Pure Ones ordered Perfected Miao Le to summon Yin Gao from the South-North Boundary Water-Fire Mountain.

Yin Gao was guarding the mountain when he saw Perfected Miao Le arrive bearing an edict. He hurried to greet him. After the formal salutations, Perfected Miao Le conveyed the Three Pure Ones’ command: the embodiment of the Golden Palace—the Great Emperor Zhenwu—had descended to subdue the evil spirits of black Qi. At Mount Taibao, he had encountered a band of demons he could not subdue, and had come to ask for help. The Three Pure Ones ordered Yin Gao to join the fight and forbade him to disobey.

Yin Gao left the boundary mountain and followed his master to Mount Taibao. The two demons Huangfan and Baowei blocked their path. Yin Gao sighed, “You wicked beasts! I have not disciplined you for so long, and now you are causing trouble here!” He used his magic to exhale a murderous force. Golden light filled the ground, and his true form as the God of Tai Sui appeared, with three faces and four arms. The two demons could not move and revealed their true forms: they were the two leopard tails fastened to a spear. Yin Gao collected the tails and went with the Patriarch to Taibao Fort.

There they encountered the Thirteen Protectors. Yin Gao went into battle and fought fiercely against them, but was ultimately defeated and returned to the Patriarch. The Patriarch was deeply worried. Yin Gao reassured him: “There is no need to worry, Patriarch. I may not be able to defeat him, but I have a master, Perfected Sa, who now lives in the Southern Heaven Cave. I will go pay my respects and ask him to come. He will surely subdue this demon.”

“Since you have a master, hurry and ask him for help,” said the Patriarch. Yin Gao took his leave and went straight to the Xuanjiao Palace in the Southern Heaven Cave to pay his respects to Perfected Sa. The Perfected One was seated when Yin Gao bowed. He asked, “Why has my disciple come in such a panic?” Yin Gao told him what had happened at Taibao Fort. Perfected Sa said, “Zhenwu is an embodiment of the Golden Palace, so I can go with you to help him. If it were anyone else, I could not go.” With that, Perfected Sa gathered his magical treasures and went with Yin Gao to meet the Patriarch. The Patriarch was delighted to see them arrive.

At dawn the next day, Yin Gao and the Perfected One went out together to meet the enemy. Their shouts of battle shook the sky. The thirteen men also donned armor and entered the fray, fighting Yin Gao. Just as they were about to cast a spell and capture him, Perfected Sa took a mouthful of water from the ritual basin, his magical treasure, and sprayed it toward them. He then took out a red cord and a white cord and tossed them into the air, stringing the Thirteen Guardians together like beads. They revealed their true forms: thirteen skeletons.

Perfected Sa placed one fire elixir inside each skeleton and instructed Yin Gao, “Wear one skeleton on your head and hang the other twelve around your neck. Then you can follow your master in cultivating the Dao and practicing the arts.” Yin Gao obeyed and bowed to thank the Patriarch.

Perfected Sa took leave of the Patriarch, rode off on a cloud, and went to report to the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor issued an edict appointing Yin Gao “Marshal Yin, Supreme General of Glorious Might, Exalted Spirit of Utmost Virtue, and Earthly Commander of Slaughter and Punishment,” placing him in charge of the gods’ authority to punish throughout the world. After giving thanks for the imperial favor, Yin Gao followed his master away. What happened next will be told in the following installment.

The Patriarch subdues Wang E in Henan.

The Celestial Master Sa, whose personal name was Shoujian, practiced medicine and helped the people. One day, he came to Henan and saw a temple called the Duguan Temple. The temple’s deity, surnamed Wang and named E, demanded that every year on the sixth day of the sixth month, the local people prepare ten sheep, ten oxen, ten pigs, and ten jars of wine for his sacrifice. If they could not provide them, he would unleash an epidemic and harm the people.

The families appointed as local heads to organize the sacrifices were all very poor. They had no choice but to pawn their wives and sell their children, enduring a truly miserable plight. When the Celestial Master Sa learned of this, he set fire to the temple. Wang E saw the divine radiance revealed by the Celestial Master Sa and dared not fight him, so he fled. After burning the temple, the Celestial Master Sa set off for Huizhou.

Wang E then ordered his lesser demons to spread an epidemic. The people of one village suffered terribly, with nine out of every ten households falling ill. At night, Wang E also appeared to the people in dreams and demanded that they rebuild his temple to make amends. If they did not, he threatened to burn down their homes. The people were gripped by fear day and night.

One day, while wandering outside, Wang E saw a household surnamed Sun. The head of the family was named Sun Shou, and he had an eighteen-year-old daughter of exceptional beauty. That night, Wang E took the form of a young man and enchanted her. The girl, whose name was Qianjin, had been under his spell for more than a month and had grown so gaunt she was barely recognizable. Everyone in the family was deeply distressed.

One day, the Patriarch arrived in Henan and stopped at the Sun family’s home to spend the night. He saw that Sun Shou was looking troubled and asked, “We disciples are renunciants. We are only staying one night and will leave tomorrow. Why are you so unhappy, elder?”

Sun Shou replied, “It is not your lodging here that has upset me. There is something at home weighing on my mind.” The Patriarch asked what it was. Sun Shou said, “I have a daughter who has just turned eighteen. I don’t know what demon has bewitched her. It comes to our home every night, claiming to have supernatural powers, and that has left me anxious and distressed.”

When the Patriarch heard this, he flew into a rage and said to Sun Shou, “I will capture the demon for you at once and avenge you.” Before he had finished speaking, a fierce wind suddenly rose. A man appeared in midair, nine feet tall, with a face black as iron and a golden whip in his hand. Sun Shou said, “That is the one.”

The Patriarch immediately ordered Marshal Ma, one of Daoism’s protective deities—here, Huaguang—to fight the demon. Huaguang obeyed, took up his chief spear, and soared into the clouds. He shouted, “Demon, dismount and surrender at once! I will take you in chains to the Celestial Court for judgment. Refuse, and you will die in an instant.” Wang E flew into a rage and attacked with his whip. The two fought in midair for more than three hundred rounds without either gaining the upper hand.

Wang E used his supernatural powers to hurl his golden whip into the sky. In an instant, it multiplied into ten thousand whips that rained down. Marshal Ma threw up a golden brick to meet the attack. They fought for more than fifty more rounds, still evenly matched. The Patriarch drew his precious sword and joined the battle. Wang E gradually lost strength and could no longer hold his ground. He drew back his golden whip and fled. Huaguang sent a fiery chariot, fire crows, and fire pills after him. The Patriarch pointed his sword, and the demon turned into a streak of golden light and escaped.

When they arrived at Huizhou Prefecture, they again encountered the Perfected Sa, a Daoist immortal, performing magic there. Seeing Wang E, Perfected Sa was furious. “This demon is causing trouble here again!” he cried. He raised his command tablet and chanted an incantation. Wang E could not escape; Perfected Sa seized him and handed him over to a celestial general to be taken before the Patriarch.

The celestial general brought Wang E before the Patriarch and said, “I knew the Patriarch had manifested here to remove the dark Qi, so I seized this commander and brought him here for your judgment.” The Patriarch was pleased. He made Wang E swallow a fire elixir, a pill used in Daoist tales to subdue and transform evil spirits, then wrote a memorial to report the matter to the Jade Emperor.

The Jade Emperor issued an edict appointing Wang E Marshal King Huoluo. He bestowed upon him a golden plaque inscribed with the four characters “Loyal and Truehearted,” and ordered him to observe the laws and follow his master in carrying out the Dao. After Wang E had given thanks, the Patriarch warned him, “Your nature is exceedingly fierce. Now that you have turned to the good, how can you live up to the words ‘Loyal and Truehearted’ if you do not change your former ways? If anything in your heart remains amiss, and the Jade Emperor calls you to account, it will be too late for regret.”

Wang E laughed and said, “A real man keeps his word. To know one has done wrong and then mend one’s ways—that is what makes a good person. I will do nothing wrong again. Since my master has taken me in, from now on I will accept no money and show no favoritism. Whoever invokes my methods, I will protect; if anyone extorts money from others, I will beat him to death.”

The Patriarch smiled and said, “There is sense in what you say, but compassion must be your foundation.” Wang E assented repeatedly, accepted the command, and departed.

The Patriarch said to the assembled officials, “I left the Celestial Bureau one day and descended to the mortal world. More than thirty years have passed since then. The dark Qi throughout the regions should now be almost entirely cleared away.”

One night, the Patriarch examined the situation closely and found that only in the west did a cloud formed from demonic energy remain. He ordered Marshal Zhu, saying, “There is still a demonic cloud in the west. Take the Five Poisons Bag and gather it all up, then return.”

Marshal Zhu obeyed and went west. He cast out the Five Poisons Bag, but it could not gather up the mass of black qi. He returned and reported what had happened to the Patriarch. The Patriarch then personally led the other marshals there. They each brought their magical treasures to bear, but the black qi surged even higher. The Patriarch said, “What can we do if this continues? I must ask my master, the Venerable Miaole Tianzun, for guidance and find another way.”

The Patriarch went to see the Venerable Miaole Tianzun. The Venerable asked what had brought him there. The Patriarch replied, “This disciple descended to the mortal realm to gather up and eliminate the demonic energy. Most of it has now been cleared away, but one mass of black qi remains in the west. Neither I nor my marshals can subdue it, so I have come to ask for your guidance, Master.”

The Venerable Miaole Tianzun told him, “That mass of black qi is a demon star. It has now fallen into the heavenly realm of the Buddhist faith and cannot leave, which is why it is so difficult to subdue. You must have a Buddhist disciple who has already attained realization help you; only then can it be gathered up.”

The Patriarch asked, “Where can I find such a Buddhist disciple?”

The Venerable replied, “On the Snow Mountain there is a prince, the son of the King of Chu. He has practiced with great devotion and has now attained realization. First, go to see the Buddha Yandeng, receive a prediction of your future Buddhahood, and become a disciple of the Buddhist faith. Then ask the Buddha Yandeng to bring the Snow Mountain prince here. Only then can you subdue the black qi in the Buddhist heavenly realm.”

The Patriarch thanked the Venerable, then descended to the mortal realm and instructed Marshal Deng and the other marshals to wait there. He himself went west with Marshal Ma to pay his respects to the Buddha Yandeng.

When the Buddha Flame-Lamp saw the Patriarch and Marshal Ma, he asked, “The Patriarch of the Mysterious Heaven has come to pay homage to the Buddha. Marshal Ma is an emanation in the Western Paradise of the Tathāgata Wonderful Auspiciousness, the Buddha-name of the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī. What brings you here?”

The Patriarch replied, “My disciple’s supernatural powers are meager, so I have come especially to pay respects to my honored teacher.” The Buddha Flame-Lamp said, “You are a disciple of the Celestial Worthy of Wondrous Joy, and an emanation of the Golden Palace in Heaven. Why, then, do you still wish to take me as your teacher?” The Patriarch replied, “To attain the true fruition, one should practice the Way of the Fifty-Three Visits—a path of repeatedly seeking instruction and progressing through cultivation.”

After accepting his obeisance, the Buddha Flame-Lamp smiled and said, “Disciple, you have come to pay homage this time because you do not know that you carry the energy of the Western constellations. To dispel it, we must invite the Crown Prince of Snow Mountain.” He then ordered Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra to go and welcome the Crown Prince.

Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra said, “He is only a mortal undertaking cultivation and does not yet know whether he can succeed. How can we bring him here so readily?” The Buddha smiled and said, “Since you do not believe, take the form of animals and test him. Then you will understand.” They accepted the command and set out: Mañjuśrī transformed into a hawk, and Samantabhadra into a sparrow.

When they reached Snow Mountain, the Crown Prince was seated upright in meditation on a meditation platform. The hawk, Mañjuśrī in disguise, pursued the sparrow, Samantabhadra in disguise, which flew to the Crown Prince. Seeing this, the Crown Prince gathered the sparrow into his arms. The hawk caught up and spoke: “I was hunting this sparrow, but you rescued it into your arms. You sit here on the platform cultivating. Would you be willing to cut off some of your own flesh for me to eat, so that I will no longer eat it?”

The Crown Prince replied, “You are hungry, and you want to eat my flesh. There is no knife here. Go find a sharp bamboo stalk, and I will cut the flesh for you myself.” Hearing this, the hawk flew away.

The Crown Prince once again transformed into a tiger and chased a white rabbit here. The rabbit was reborn, and when the Crown Prince saw it, he rescued it into the meditation sanctuary so it could hide from the tiger. The tiger spoke: “If you rescue it, I will starve to death. You cannot keep us both alive.” The Crown Prince replied, “The rabbit is too small to fill your belly. Go down and wait for me. I will jump down and let you eat me.”

The tiger went below to wait. The Crown Prince jumped down from the meditation sanctuary. Just then, another person said, “If you rescue it, I will starve to death. You cannot keep us both alive.” The Crown Prince answered as before: “The rabbit is too small to fill your belly. Go down and wait for me. I will jump down and let you eat me.” Hearing this, the tiger went below to wait again, and the Crown Prince jumped down once more.

In an instant, flowers fell from the sky, and golden lotus flowers suddenly rose from the ground, bearing the Crown Prince up to the Western Heaven—the Western Pure Land in Buddhist teaching—to pay his respects to the Buddha Burning Lamp, a Buddha’s name. After he paid homage and received a prediction of his future attainment, bestowed by a Buddha upon a practitioner, he met the Patriarch again. The Patriarch said, “I trouble you, senior brother, to accompany me down to the mortal world to subdue the demons. Once the task is done, you will be richly rewarded.” The Crown Prince replied, “I have only just arrived in the West and have no supernatural powers yet. How can I help anyone?” The Buddha Burning Lamp said, “The Patriarch is an emanation of the Golden Palace. You can descend to the mortal world with him and gather back all the dark Qi. After that, you can return to the Central Heaven to listen to the scriptures.”

The Crown Prince bowed in gratitude and descended to the mortal world with the Patriarch, where they met the assembled generals.

The next day, at first light, the Patriarch and the Crown Prince shouted across the Western Realm, their cries of battle shaking the heavens as they called on the demon to come out and surrender. Suddenly, a mass of demonic cloud appeared before them. A monk emerged from it and announced himself as “General Ironhead.”

The Patriarch said, “With your shaved head, close-fitting robe, and Buddhist prayer beads around your neck, you seem to be from the celestial realm. Why have you come to the human world, spreading black vapor and harming people everywhere?” The monk replied, “I was staying in my own place. You came looking for me; I did not come looking for you.” With that, he swung an iron alms bowl at the Patriarch, who met him with his sword.

The Patriarch could not defeat the demon. Just as he was about to close in and fight at close quarters, the demon sensed the Patriarch’s true Qi drawing near and fled into Iron Robe Cave. The Patriarch ordered his generals to pursue and surround the cave entrance. They each used their magical weapons to attack from within, but none could harm the demon. The Crown Prince activated his skull weapon, making the demon dizzy and disoriented inside the cave. Forced to flee outside, the demon was immediately seized by Marshal Li and brought before the Patriarch.

The demon still refused to submit. Marshal Ma said, “This wicked creature will not yield. Iron belongs to Metal, and Fire overcomes Metal. I’ll use fire to refine him to death.” But the demon said, “How fun, how fun! Go ahead and refine me with fire. I’ll never submit to you.” The generals then said, “If fire cannot burn him, surely iron must fear mud. Have the Mud Star conjure a pile of yellow mud, light a fierce fire beneath it, and throw the monk inside.”

Hearing this, the demon sighed. “No, you can’t do that. I submit, I submit.” The Patriarch was delighted. He gave the demon a pill of fire elixir to swallow, then sent the Crown Prince back to the celestial realm to pay a visit to the Buddha of Flaming Lamp and hear the teachings. An imperial decree from the Jade Emperor soon arrived, appointing the demon “Mighty Iron Marshal” and ordering him to carry an iron staff and follow the Patriarch in cultivating the Dao and practicing its methods. What happened afterward will be told in the next installment.

After leaving the western road, the Patriarch traveled on to a place called Shilei Mountain. Many Thunder Gods dwelt in the mountain and often appeared before people. They included the Thunder Generals of the Five Directions, the Cloud and Thunder Messengers of the Eight Directions, the Rain and Thunder Messengers of the Five Directions, and the divine generals of the Thunder Bureau who commanded the thunder.

An elder named Yuan lived at the foot of the mountain. He had two daughters: the elder was sixteen, and the younger fourteen. One day, while the sisters were eating at home, they cut open a winter melon and tossed its seeds into the channel beneath the stove. A Thunder Messenger saw this from the sky and mistook the seeds for food. He judged the sisters guilty and ordered the Thunder General to strike them dead with thunder. Only after looking more closely did the Thunder General realize they were winter melon seeds, not food—but by then it was too late to undo what had happened. He told the Thunder Messenger what he had discovered.

“Since things have come to this, we can only make the best of our mistake,” the Thunder Messenger said. “I’ll take you into the celestial realm. What are your names?” The elder replied, “My name is Zhu Peiniang, and my younger sister is Zhu Bonniang.”

The Thunder Messenger then put the two sisters in charge of a pair of mirrors of lightning. He gave the elder the title “Shadow-Blade Lady”: before thunder struck and harmed anyone, she would first cast a flash of lightning to illuminate the scene and make it clear. He gave the younger sister a skeleton and a fan, and named her “Moon-Obscuration Lady,” so she could frighten and overpower people, leaving them unable to move.

When the Patriarch arrived at Shilei Mountain, he heard thunder roaring and saw flashes of lightning. He stepped forward, pointed his sword at the Thunder Gods, and shouted. The Thunder Messengers appeared at once; when they saw the Patriarch, they fell to their knees. He asked what had brought them there. “We brothers could not bear to be separated,” they replied. “So the Jade Emperor decreed that we undergo a tribulation here.”

The Patriarch asked whether they were willing to submit to him. “We brothers have no one to rely on,” the Thunder Messengers answered, “and we have heard that you are an incarnation of the Golden Palace. How could we refuse to follow you?”

Pleased by their reply, the Patriarch said, “Since you are willing to submit, I will take you on as my generals. You brothers do not want to be separated, so from now on you may command thunder in the south during spring and summer, and in the north during autumn and winter. This will preserve the bond between you.” The Thunder Messengers joyfully bowed in thanks and pledged themselves to the Patriarch. He then wrote a memorial to report the matter to the Jade Emperor.

When the Jade Emperor’s decree arrived, Zhu Peiniang was appointed the Lightning Mother of the Thunder Bureau, the goddess in charge of thunder and lightning, and Zhu Bonniang was appointed the Celestial Lord Moon-Obscuration, one of the divine generals of the Thunder Bureau. The Patriarch also summoned the Masters of Wind and Rain from the northeastern celestial realm, ordering them to accompany him in spreading the teachings with their wind and rain commands. He appointed the Thunder General as the Great General of Thunder from the Nine Heavens. The Patriarch was greatly pleased.

Seeing that the dark Qi gathering in the Middle Realm—the human world—had dispersed and the people were living in peace and prosperity, the generals went to the Thirty-Three Heavens, the tiers of the celestial realm, to pay their respects at the Jade Court. They summoned the Masters of Wind and Rain, giving them the command tokens for regulating the wind and bringing rain, and had them accompany their revered master down to the world below to carry out his teachings. They also appointed the Lord of Thunder as Great General of Thunderbolts of the Nine Heavens. The Patriarch was greatly pleased.

Afterward, the Patriarch and the generals entered the Thirty-Three Heavens to pay their respects to the Jade Emperor and report what had happened. The Jade Emperor was delighted. He bestowed an embroidered stool on the Patriarch and invited him to sit beside him. The Jade Emperor said, “Now that the dark Qi has fortunately been quelled, you may lead the generals to guard the Southern Heaven’s Precious Virtue Pass. Do not delay, lest demons descend to the world below and cause trouble.” The Patriarch thanked him for the favor.

The Five Emperors elevated the Patriarch with the title “Jade Void Preceptor and Minister, Dark Heaven Supreme Emperor, Lord of the Primordial Origin, Nine Heavens, and Ten Thousand Methods, and Heavenly Worthy Who Quells Demons,” and ordered him to command thirty-six heavenly generals. Each year, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, the Patriarch and the generals make a circuit through the world below to observe good and evil. The Jade Emperor bestowed on the Patriarch two cups of golden-wave imperial wine from the Celestial Court and personally escorted him from the hall. The Patriarch thanked him, took his leave, assembled his subordinate officers, and went to assume his post. He held a feast to reward the three armies, then guarded the Gate of Heaven and received offerings from believers in all directions. “Boundless Life Buddha” is a blessing used to conclude the passage.

The titles bestowed by imperial decree upon the generals under the command of the Dark Emperor are as follows: Xu Zhenjun, Lord of the Ten Thousand Methods and of Divine Power and Sublime Deliverance; Bai Zhenjun of Haiqiong; Fu, the Patriarch and Yuanjun of the Teaching of Fruitful Solemnity and Subtle Deliverance; Xin Zhenjun, Lord of the Dongxuan Teaching; Wei Yuanjun, Lord of the Qingwei Teaching; Lu Zhenjun, Lord of the Hunyuan Teaching; Marshal Zhao, who holds authority over the Golden Wheel of Fulfilled Wishes; Guan Yu, invested as Marshal Guan of Manifested Efficacy; Longxing and Yutian, invested as the two marshals Huangfeng Gou and Bi; the Tortoise and Serpent, as the two generals of Water and Fire; Zhang Jian, invested as Marshal Zhang of Utmost Loyalty; Pang Qiao, as Marshal Pang of Hunyuan Qi; Fu Ying, as Deputy Marshal of Inspection; Marshal Ma, the Zhengyi Divine Official; Zhu Yanfu, as Marshal Zhu, who punishes those who do not believe in the Dao; the two generals Cui and Lu; Li Fulong, as Vanguard Marshal Li; Yutian, as Marshal Yu, who subdues demons and wards off evil; Deng Cheng, Xin Jiang, and Zhang An, as the three marshals Deng, Xin, and Zhang; Ren Wubie and Ning Shikua, as the two Grand Protectors; Liu Jun, as the Jade Palace’s Celestial Lord Liu; Lei Qiong, as Marshal Lei of Awe-Inspiring Efficacy and Pestilence; Shi Cheng, as Marshal Shi of Divine Thunder; Guangze, as Marshal Zhou of the Wind Wheel; Xie Shirong, as Marshal Xie of Fire Virtue; Shang Wei and Shi Kuang, as the two Worthies of Wisdom; Kang Xi, as Marshal Lian of Benevolent Sainthood; Gao Yuan, as Marshal Gao of Bestowed Birth; Meng Shan, as Marshal Meng of Fengdu; Wang Tie and Gao Tong, as the two Tiger Mound marshals, Wang and Gao; Wang Zhi, as Marshal Wang of the Vast Expanse of the Nine Provinces; the Thunder Duke, as Great General of the Nine Heavens’ Thunderclap and Marshal Zhang of Fengdu; Yang Biao, as Marshal Yang; Yin Gao, as Marshal Yin, Director of the Earth and Lord of the Year; Iron Head, as Marshal Tie of Fierce Might; Zhu Peiniang, as the Thunder Mother of the Thunder Department; and Zhu Bonniang, as the Celestial Lord of the Lunar Eclipse.

This passage lists Daoist divine generals and the titles conferred upon them. “Zhenjun,” “Yuanshuai,” and “Tianjun” are honorific titles for deities. “Tortoise and Serpent” refers to the tortoise and serpent generals beside the Dark Emperor; “Fengdu” is one of the underworlds described in Daoism; and “Tai Sui,” or Lord of the Year, is a deity associated with the calendrical cycle of Jupiter. Some names and titles in the original are difficult to parse; the list above follows their original order.

The Patriarch descended to the human world once more to relieve suffering.

It is said that around Wudang Mountain and the Yangtze River lurked several demons: the Water Snail Demon, the Horse Demon, the Snail Demon, and the Bamboo Cable Demon. While the Patriarch was among the people, they dared not cause trouble. But when they heard he had returned to Heaven, they stirred up storms on the river and attacked traveling merchants and others, bringing complaints from all sides.

At Baode Pass, the Patriarch witnessed this and grew furious. “When you pull weeds, you must remove the roots. I descended to the human world for four years, sweeping away evil spirits. I thought I had rid the land of its troubles, yet these four demons were still hiding among the rivers and mountains. Now that I have only just returned to Heaven, they have begun wreaking havoc among the people again. As the old saying goes: ‘If you pull weeds without removing the roots, fresh shoots will grow again.’”

The Patriarch then performed a spell, creating eighty-two doubles. He left one double with the assembled generals to guard Baode Pass, while his true body left Heaven and went straight to Wudang Mountain to rescue the people.

The Patriarch came to the banks of the Yangzi River, performed a spell, pointed toward the water, and summoned the Samadhi True Fire to refine the river dry. When the demons saw that the water had disappeared, they rolled and scrambled onto the bank to investigate. There they saw the Patriarch performing a rite with the Seven-Star Sword in his hand. At once, the demons fled. The Patriarch pursued them and killed them in fewer than ten exchanges. Only the Snail Demon and the Cable Demon escaped; he could not catch them, and no one knew where they went.

Deeply troubled, the Patriarch had no choice but to return to the Celestial Bureaucracy in Heaven, where he commanded the generals and guarded the Heavenly Gate. He sent an emanation, a divided form of himself, down to the human realm again to guard against the two demons at Mount Wudang and help the people. Whenever an official vessel faced danger while crossing the river, the Patriarch would let down his hair, take up his treasured sword, and appear in midair to rescue those aboard. The Dragon Kings of the Five Lakes and Four Seas in the river came to pay their respects, and officials and merchants were often saved as well.

People then made an image of the Patriarch at the foot of Mount Wudang and built a temple to honor him. The Patriarch appeared to the people in a dream and told them to make images of thirty-six heavenly generals too. The generals held Seven-Star Swords for subduing demons and stood with their feet upon a soaring serpent and a Bagua Tortoise. When officials and commoners crossed the river by boat, the Patriarch often manifested to protect and rescue them, and all were brought safely to shore. Everyone who came to the riverbank to cross would enter the temple to burn incense, and the incense offerings never ceased.

In the third year of the Yongle Emperor’s reign in our dynasty, the Yellow-Haired Tatars rose in rebellion. The emperor was greatly alarmed and sent troops to meet them, but the army was defeated and forced to retreat. Just as…

In the third year of the Yongle Emperor’s reign in our dynasty, the yellow-haired Tatars rose in rebellion. The emperor was greatly alarmed and sent troops to meet them, but his forces were defeated and forced to retreat. At this moment of crisis, a god suddenly appeared in midair, holding a precious sword and accompanied by thirty-six celestial generals. He commanded divine beasts such as the wind, thunder, and yellow hornets, and charged straight into the enemy ranks. The enemy leaders Daliqing, Dalihe, Gaomuer, and Deng Jiahu were all killed. The Yongle Emperor did not know who the god was. After returning to court victorious, he sent for the Celestial Master Zhang at Shangqing Palace, a revered figure in Daoism who oversaw its affairs.

The emperor asked, “When I fought the Tatars, I was first defeated and found myself in grave danger. Suddenly I saw a god appear in the sky. His hair hung loose, and he held a precious sword. He had a pale face and a long beard, and was accompanied by thirty-six celestial generals, along with divine creatures such as the turtle and serpent. They came from the north to save me, killing the enemy so that I could return to court. I wish to repay this god for saving my life, but I do not know which deity he is. That is why I summoned you. You must recognize him.”

The Celestial Master Zhang reported, “If his hair hung loose and a turtle and serpent accompanied him, then he was none other than the True Ancestor Emperor of the North.” Hearing this, the emperor rejoiced and said, “You recognize this Dark Heaven Emperor. Where is he worshipped now?” The Celestial Master replied, “This deity attained the Way and brings aid to all the people. When they face calamity or hardship, he comes to their rescue; he also often saves ships in danger. Merchants in various places once built a temple for him at the foot of Mount Wudang.”

The emperor said, “Even the common people know to repay a kindness. How could I forget that this deity helped safeguard my realm and save my life? Since you say there was once a temple on Wudang, tomorrow I shall go there myself to offer incense and pay my respects before the divine image, and build a temple in gratitude.” He then issued an imperial decree and led the court’s civil and military officials, together with the Celestial Master Zhang, to Mount Wudang on the banks of the Yangtze River.

The emperor personally went to the temple to offer incense. Seeing that the Patriarch’s appearance resembled the figure he had seen before, he was overjoyed. After completing the rites, he returned to court and held a banquet for the civil and military officials. He issued an edict ordering General Jin to oversee the project and the Marquis of Longping to lead thirty thousand craftsmen to Mount Wudang. They were to build the Golden Hall, fashion a golden statue of the Patriarch, and construct thirty-six halls and seventy-two palaces. Lu Ban, the legendary master craftsman, descended to help with the work. In less than a year, all the halls, temples, and statues were complete. General Jin and the Marquis of Longping returned to court and reported that the project was finished. The emperor was delighted, promoted General Jin by three ranks, and selected forty-eight virtuous Daoist priests from across the realm to serve as Daoist officials.

The emperor then ordered the Celestial Master (Tianshi) to preside over a seven-day, ten-night grand Daoist prayer ritual (Dajiao). He went in person to offer incense and pay his respects. The Marquis of Longping stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty has now completed the temples and had a statue of the Patriarch made, which shows your sincerity. But in time, as the number of people coming to offer incense grows, the temple will need provisions, and those who serve the gods will need stipends. Without these, it will be difficult to sustain the temple. I humbly ask Your Majesty, in your great compassion, to grant the temple the income and provisions from a parcel of land, so that the incense offerings may continue for generations.”

The emperor readily agreed and issued an edict granting the temple five hundred qing of land for incense and lamp offerings, and one hundred qing of land for wheat and rice. Any damage to the fields was also to be repaired, so that the temple’s incense offerings could continue for generations. The emperor was preparing to host a banquet for his ministers on Mount Wudang when someone suddenly reported that a bell had risen from the river and was drifting slowly toward them. He ordered General Wu to have the bell carried into the main hall. It was a bronze bell cast from the Seven Treasures, whose sound could be heard a hundred li away. The emperor was delighted. He then left Mount Wudang, had his carriage prepared, and returned to court with the civil and military officials.

The Patriarch enshrined on Mount Wudang displayed great divine power. When disaster struck, he came to the rescue; when danger loomed, he brought deliverance. He calmed the winds and waves across the realm, and the people were all grateful for his divine grace. Dutiful sons and daughters prayed for blessings for their parents, while those seeking children also came to pray; none found their prayers unanswered. The Patriarch’s renown spread throughout the two capitals and thirteen provinces, and countless people came to offer incense and pray for blessings.

Some devoted worshippers would see a length of bright red silk drift down from the sky and land on them. This was called “receiving a sash,” a sign regarded as an auspicious response during a pilgrimage to offer incense. People across the land, young and old, women and men, came in great numbers; some prostrated themselves at every step, chanting, “Boundless Life Buddha.” Their prayers were answered. Even now, more than two hundred years later, the incense offerings remain as abundant as ever. The Patriarch continues to receive worship through the ages, and peace has prevailed throughout the realm.