《太平经合校》Vol. 13

Essentials of the Principles of Music

Making music must accord with “sovereign Qi.”

What is meant by “music” is that it should follow sovereign Qi—the upright, life-giving, virtue-aligned current that dominates a year or a region. In inauspicious years, one must not make music casually without proper cause. To make music amid imprisoned or obsolete Qi—atmospheres that run counter to the way Heaven and Earth move—is to go against Heaven, and therefore brings misfortune. Sovereign Qi is where virtue dwells; imprisoned and obsolete Qi are where punitive and decaying forces gather.

Thus a virtuous ruler who cherishes life is allowed by Heaven to make music; a ruler without virtue is not allowed to make music—Heaven makes this plain. Do you, the perfected ones, understand?

The disciple replies: We understand. Today, having asked the Celestial Master (Tianshi), we see clearly how Heaven’s intent relates to making music; before asking, we thought making music was a small matter that ordinary people could do in any situation. Now that we have asked, we dare not act rashly hereafter.

The master says: Good. You grasp the matter and may be said to know the logic of the texts and to align with Heaven’s intent. Great Peace (Taiping) is near; calamitous Qi will soon be exhausted.

The disciple: Respectfully I ask again about what still puzzles me in my heart.

The master: Speak; be direct and hold nothing back.

The disciple: As for Heaven-and-Earth Qi today, half is sovereign and half is resting (Qi of closure and storage)—like day and night alternating without ever fully stopping. Can music be performed all day long? Or may it be made only when sovereign Qi is present in the sovereign direction (the place or season where sovereign Qi resides)?

The master: When you first begin to make music, you must initiate it with sovereign, imperial Qi; you must not initiate it with resting Qi. For a year, a month, a day, or an hour, the principle is the same.

In the Syncretic Collation of the Scripture of Great Peace — Plain-Language Commentary

Students who have not yet fully grasped the scripture’s meaning may still not completely understand its deeper intent; but if they wish to secure a year of smooth fortune, they should know that the year’s qi belongs in the east under the mao branch, and that in the second month of spring one should engage in joyful rites and seek blessing. If they seek good fortune for a single month, they should act according to what is appropriate in each month; for choosing days, use “royal days,” and for choosing hours, use “royal hours.” Only then does one accord with the Way of Heaven, and calamities will naturally disperse. If one does not follow this, one disrupts Heaven’s order and will surely invite misfortune.

Therefore the sage kings of old understood Heaven and Earth’s intent well and did not dare treat ill-omened matters as occasions for joy. When ill-omened things are taken as joy, ill omens increase day by day; when they accumulate beyond a point, nothing can save the situation—so one must never treat the inauspicious as festive. Heaven endows all things with their natures; each has its own category of qi and responsive affinity. Rejoice in good and the spirit of good draws near; rejoice in evil and the spirit of evil draws near—this is the natural order, nothing strange—only fools refuse to look deeply.

The True Person said: Excellent, excellent! If you wish to know the great verification within this, it is like the Way of Heaven itself: clear, light qi delights in returning to Heaven; heavy, turbid qi delights in returning to Earth—each returns to its kind, and nothing is out of place. Thus those who delight in good obtain good; those who delight in the inauspicious obtain the inauspicious—like water flowing downward and fire rising upward, not a hair’s breadth of error. The True Person entrusted this book to a ruler of virtue, to show ordinary people. Now that the qi of Great Peace has arrived, Heaven promotes and uplifts good conduct; all should delight in good and must not again without cause treat inauspicious matters as joy. Those who take the inauspicious as joy make themselves enemies of Heaven and bring blame upon Earth; their fault is hard to erase. Heaven calls such people great rebels; the inauspicious qi of Heaven and the various blames within Earth descend and gather upon their persons.

Question: If suddenly there is urgent business and one must use joyful rites to seek blessing, yet there is no time to wait for auspicious junctures such as “royal township” or “before the Dipper,” what should one do?

Answer: Excellent—you have asked the crux of the matter.

This passage explains how to use music (yue) in harmony with celestial timing and royal qi (wang qi), and why one must stay away from inauspicious sounds and demonic speech.

First, on musicians and the “king’s domain” (wang xiang). The ideal is for musicians to dwell in the wang xiang—the direction or region that aligns with the king’s qi and conforms to celestial timing. If musicians cannot live there, yet the state or the people suddenly need music for an urgent occasion—for example an auspicious event that cannot wait for the usual hour—one cannot rely on habit alone; arrangements tied to wang xiang, “before the Dipper” (dou qian), and similar factors linked to seasonal qi and orientation must also be considered. The question is: what should be done in such cases?

The answer: the question hits the mark. Even if musicians do not reside in the wang xiang, the people may still petition the king and perform music according to fixed pitch and fixed numerical measures; one must also take the person’s name into account and align with pitch and calendar so that sound and qi correspond. Music may thus be made in accord with that person while still following the wang xiang phase of qi, and this too is valid. Whenever this is done, it is applying the Way of Heaven correctly so as to avert disaster. If one does not do so but instead aligns with qi of calamity and imprisonment, inauspicious events will arise.

On raising pitch and leading performance, the emphasis should likewise be on what is auspicious—auspicious sound paired with good affairs. Wang xiang qi is like a king within the person: it does not willingly hear of ill fortune, demonic speech, or inauspicious sound. Why? Wang xiang qi is what August Heaven presides over, using it to nourish and complete good works—it assists Heaven in generating the myriad things; evil sound and ill fortune cannot assist Heaven in generating the myriad things. Therefore wang qi and dou qian qi are both unwilling to be stirred or heard through music. Hence the ancient sages and emperors accumulated good words and good deeds and did not take evil matters into heart or mouth. Such talk is called “demonic speech” (yaoyan); by law it merits execution; sometimes the offense is not capital, yet one may still be killed because such speech is inauspicious, as a warning to others.

(A later passage repeats and is corrupt in places; the gist remains:) sages and emperors gather good speech and good deeds and reject evil; inauspicious demonic speech is forbidden. Do the perfected ones (zhenren) know how weighty this prohibition is? Answer: they know. To know this prohibition early is to long endure; not to know it is the root of death.

Summary: In making music, align pitch and calendar, sound and qi, and the wang xiang phase of qi; avoid pairing with inauspicious qi. Royal qi favors the auspicious and rejects the inauspicious, so emperors valued accumulating good speech and forbidding demonic speech, treating this as the key to following Heaven, avoiding disaster, preserving the body, and long life.

One

First, one must accord with and joyfully mobilize the Di qi (supreme righteous qi of Heaven) of the four seasons of Heaven and Earth. In a given matter, use joy multiplied threefold to make Heaven rejoice; Heaven will then be greatly pleased, the sovereign will enjoy long life, demonic evil will be wiped out, natural disasters will all be removed, the qi of the sun will no longer rage and contend in violence, and the borders of the realm will be secure. Whoever understands this and takes the lead in mobilizing through accord and joy will see the Way of Heaven rise up, true spirits manifest, and those who dwell hidden in caves gladly come forth to assist the right path—how splendid!

Two

First, one must accord with and joyfully mobilize the Wang qi (righteous qi of the king) of the four seasons of Heaven and Earth. Then use joy multiplied twofold to make Earth rejoice; Earth’s qi will be greatly pleased and no longer contend or rage in violence, the ruler will enjoy long life, cunning thieves and warfare will fade away, and the realm will flourish through good governance. The common people below will all gladly follow those above, middling worthies will come forth to help govern the state, and the spirits of Earth will smoothly nourish—how splendid!

Three

First, one must accord with and joyfully mobilize Xiang qi and Wei qi (righteous qi of the minister and of the subtle), so that Zhonghe zhi qi (harmonious qi that is neither biased nor extreme) is greatly pleased. Ruler, ministers, and people will all carefully keep their roles and rest content in their places; then flattery, fraud, and theft will not arise, and the frontiers can be preserved. Thus harmonious qi increases day by day, royal qi flourishes, and the myriad things turn toward goodness.

Four

By all means do not recklessly use joy to mobilize Si po zhi qi (inauspicious qi governing decay and ruin), or you will invite great banditry, many sudden deaths, constant peril and unrest in the realm, and a great increase of evil qi and ghostly things causing severe harm—at its worst this is called luanrao (chaotic disturbance). Extremely yin qi will bring reversal and opposition; be cautious, again and again.

Five

Do not use joy to mobilize Qiu fei zhi qi (inauspicious qi governing imprisonment and ruin), or you will largely invite thieves, prison affairs and punishments in disorder, and find it hard to settle. The people will injure one another, and many will suffer lingering illness that does not heal.

Article Six (Why One Must Not Rashly “Joyfully Attune” to Decay and Rest Qi)

The sixth kind is “joyfully attuning to decay and rest qi without proper movement.” If people follow and act along such decay, rest, and defeat qi, they will draw in many sick people; they will also produce people who love theft and fraud and deceive one another, with much quarreling and slander and many heterodox doctrines, little money in the state, and the common people in poverty.

Joyfully Attuning to the Upper, Middle, and Lower Three Grades of Qi

Regarding “joyfully attuning to the qi of the Lord on High, the upper king, the minister, and subtle qi”—these three grades: if Heaven, Earth, and Humanity all follow their good qi and joyfully attune, then timely rain will be orderly and blessings will reach all things, disasters and the like will be removed—this is called following the good qi of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, and it can accomplish good deeds.

If one “joyfully attunes to the lower three grades”—inauspicious qi such as death, destruction, imprisonment, rest, and decay—then contrary disasters will be drawn in: the seasons will run contrary, excessive rain will become harm, and heterodox harm will be extremely numerous, hard to forbid or guard against. When various kinds of defeat qi are improperly “joyfully attuned to” and stirred and increased, evil qi will pour out greatly; worthy scholars will hide away, government will lose its course, ministers and people will be hard to govern, and troubles will arise in succession—this cannot but be warned against and handled with care.

Heaven and Earth Have Constant Laws

All affairs under Heaven and Earth have fixed laws: in places that have qi, it is fitting to joyfully attune toward honored positions and toward what should be seen; in places without qi, it is not fitting to joyfully attune toward decay, death, and destruction.

The Designations in Heaven for Joyfully Attuning to Good versus Evil

One who joyfully attunes to good is called in Heaven shunzheng (accord with governance); one who joyfully attunes to evil is called niling (contrary to the command). One who obtains shunzheng gains Heaven’s power (tianli); one who obtains niling gains Heaven’s robber (tianzei). One who gains Heaven’s power enjoys long life; one who gains Heaven’s robber invites misfortune and blame.

Heaven governs like a shadow following a form (its influence)—it does not seize the peace people ought to have. Joyfully attune to good and receive good; joyfully attune to evil and receive evil—what more is there to say? Safety and danger, good and evil, each follow its kind and do not err; it is only that the foolish do not reckon with it.

What You Joyfully Attune To, That Gathers

Joyfully attune to the Dao (the Way), and the Dao gathers; joyfully attune to De (Virtue/Power), and De gathers; joyfully attune to martial prowess, and martial prowess gathers; joyfully attune to the upright, and the upright gather; joyfully attune to the perverse, and the perverse gather—is it not so? Therefore I have deeply applied Heaven’s law to admonish the perfected person (zhenren).

Ah! Heaven’s law must not be violated—hence I have repeatedly and earnestly instructed you.

Why “Triple” Emperor Qi and Joyfully Attune to the Worthy

Therefore one should, with triple Emperor qi, joyfully attune to the worthy: Emperor qi is most honored and supreme, like the Heavenly Lord—hence it is doubled in joyful attunement. Heaven controls Earth and humanity—hence it is tripled, representing Heaven, Earth, and humanity.

When Heaven, Earth, and humanity see “joyful attunement” and flourishing principle arise, the ten thousand things each obtain their place, and auspicious responses and good things to the number of twelve thousand will appear accordingly—hence one must first joyfully attune to this.

How to Joyfully Attune Correctly

When joyfully attuning, one must listen carefully with single intent: sit upright and reflect at length, with joy and delight in the heart, pleasantly at ease; with loyalty, faith, and utmost sincerity, without evil intent—as if sitting before an emperor, not daring to be crooked—then Heaven will respond and joyfully attune in return.

When Heaven responds to one’s conduct, demons, evil, disasters, and the like will none fail to depart entirely; because Heaven is honored and because Emperor qi is authoritative, naturally following Heaven and stating the law, bringing about Great Peace (Taiping) is then not difficult.

Response

“Excellent! Excellent!”

Wangqi (King’s Qi) and the Strings

Why are the strings used for Wangqi doubled again (that is, doubled a second time)? Because Wangqi symbolizes the great earth. Earth and human beings share the same realm and exist in mutual dependence, so the music must be performed with doubled strings to resonate with the earth. When earth and people gladly receive one another through music, the myriad things can each obtain their proper place and follow their own inherent order.

Diqi (Sovereign’s Qi) and the Strings

Why are the strings for Diqi increased threefold? Diqi is the most exalted and supreme; it symbolizes the Tianzun (Heavenly Worthy). Therefore the music must be augmented still further (to threefold). In this way the ten thousand things arise together, and beneficent qi can likewise gather in response.

Xiangqi (Minister’s Qi) and the Strings

Why are the strings for Xiangqi doubled again? Xiangqi symbolizes the great earth; earth and human beings share the same realm and coexist, so the music must be doubled. When people see and hear it, they are filled with joy, and the myriad things likewise each obtain their principle and their proper place.

On Earth Having Less “Joy” Than Heaven

Earth occupies a lowly position, so its “joy” (the delight that comes from auspicious qi) is less than heaven’s.

On the Graded Difference Between King Qi and Emperor Qi

King qi is weaker than emperor qi and one rank below it, so the “joy” that corresponds to the king should also be somewhat less. High and low follow in sequence—this is the natural boundary.

On the Line of “Minister Qi and Subtle Qi” and the Person of Central Harmony

Why is the “joy” less for the tier of minister qi and subtle qi? Because minister qi and subtle qi stand for the “person of central harmony.” The emperor qi that such a person receives is one rank below true emperor qi, so “joy” is also less. Again, high and low in order is the natural division.

On Humanity Being Below Heaven and Earth

The person of central harmony is also below heaven and earth, so “joy” is even less. Human beings are the rulers who manage the myriad things between heaven and earth. When people are joyful, they turn toward goodness and the myriad things each find their place; when people are not joyful, they turn toward evil and the myriad things fall into chaos and harm.

On Humanity as Chief Among the Myriad Things

In a state of central harmony, the human being is chief among the myriad things. When the chief is joyful and can govern well, the myriad things are orderly; when the chief is confused, the myriad things are disorderly. Therefore one must first let the “chief” (the ruler) be joyful, so as to accord with the Way of heaven, earth, and humanity.

On Supreme Goodness Qi and “Triple Joy”

Supreme goodness qi is most honored and most good, so it deserves “triple joy” to celebrate goodness. In antiquity, when emperors governed well and accorded with heaven’s intent, they received “heavy joy”—this is clear evidence. Now that great peace qi has arrived, the teaching is for all under heaven to promote joy. Qi of decline and disorder corresponds to inauspicious years—joy must not be promoted. If joy is promoted by force, it is called “promoting joy amid inauspicious decline”; in heaven this is termed great rebellion, the root of disasters and the source of calamity and disorder. How can one not be careful?

On “Double Joy” and King Qi

The next tier is “double joy.” King qi is not equal to emperor qi, so joy should be less. When governance is somewhat good but not greatly good, joy should be reduced accordingly—because the qi has not declined yet has not reached great goodness, one dare not promote much joy; moreover inauspicious qi is mixed in, so one dare not make the celebration complete. It is like a household with seven parts good and three parts evil: can the heart be entirely happy? That is the point.

On Seven Parts Good and Three Parts Evil, and “Pure Joy”

With seven parts good and three parts evil—good outweighing evil—can one be at ease and truly joyful? Though the heart may feel joy, as soon as one thinks there are still three parts evil, one cannot have “pure joy”—that is human nature. Only when all is good and there is not a single worry does true great joy arise. Therefore joy is for rejoicing in goodness, not for rejoicing in evil.

This passage explains that speech sent down from Heaven is like a credential sealed by Heaven itself: what is written in the classics does not err by a single character. Therefore, next after “Imperial Qi” (diqi), one must address the question of joy in “one line”—whether qi is strong or weak, abundant or scarce—so that the heart can be at peace. Human virtue is usually the least; it cannot be compared with the vast, full qi of Heaven and Earth. Hence one should feel joy only in what is small and slight, and rejoice only in what is good, never taking evil as an object of joy.

(The listener responds:) “Excellent! Excellent!”

(The text continues:) That is why joy must be kept small—because human virtue cannot match Heaven and Earth, joy likewise cannot be great. One must observe how far “minister qi” (xiangqi) and “subtle qi” (weiqi) must diminish before they nurture the ten thousand things. The Central Plain, by nature, has more evil than good, so one dare not speak of joy as complete. Otherwise one would wrongly call what is vicious “joy,” for where good is scarce, joy is scarce too. The reason for keeping it small is that one rejoices only in the good within, and dares not rejoice in the vicious within. To rejoice in the vicious is like the petty person: if there are seven parts vicious and three parts good, by right only three parts may be rejoiced in; if there are seven parts vicious, one will instead give rise to sevenfold sorrow, gloom, and unrest—how then could one follow joy? It is so because “ten-tenths is the rule”: taking ten as the full score, several tenths are often discounted as evil. Imperial Qi is “ten-tenths all good”; kingly qi (wangqi) is “two parts good, one part evil”; minister qi is “two parts evil, one part good.”

(Opening) Thus Imperial Qi is like Heaven: Heaven constantly delights in generating and transforming, with no mind to harm, only wishing to bestow. The Three Sovereigns (Sanhuang) modeled this image—they were constantly pure and good, without evil and without a mind to harm others. Heaven is like the Three Sovereigns, and the Three Sovereigns are like Heaven. Therefore the highest good person has not a fraction of evil and wishes only to do good; their image is Heaven, and they are also like the true spirit (Zhen Shen). (Listener:) “Excellent! Excellent!”

Kingly qi is like Earth: Earth constantly nourishes and loves virtue; the Five Emperors (Wudi) modeled this image. Though Earth is named for nurturing, it also has an aspect of “killing” (cutting off, punitive execution), so in the age of the Five Emperors there were at times punishments. (Listener:) “Excellent! Excellent!”

(The text again describes kingly qi as like Earth—Earth constantly nourishes and loves virtue, the Five Emperors modeled this; though Earth is called nurturing, it also contains killing intent, so the Five Emperors at times had punishments.) (Listener:) “Excellent! Excellent!”

Minister qi and subtle qi are like human beings: people have no fixed, unchanging norm; numbers shift, and the Three Kings (Sanwang) modeled this image, hence no constant law. Harmonious qi changes—now advancing, now retreating—so above and below have no fixed standard. The harmonious person follows what is hard when they see hardness, and follows what is soft when they see softness, hence no constancy. Qi of decline, death, imprisonment, and extinction is like the ten thousand things—numbers change in disorder, without a correct aspect, coming and going without fixity; the Five Hegemons (Wuba) modeled this image. Their qi is chaotic and vicious, so there can be no joy. Heaven and Earth by nature take joy in rejoicing in the good, not in rejoicing in evil; the “martial” power (wu) of Heaven and Earth is used to punish evil, not to punish the good. This is the fixed pattern (gefa) of Heaven and Earth and must not be violated. (End)

[Supplement] What follows is additional explanation.

Imperial Qi (diqi) is harmonious and joyful; the Three Sovereigns (Sanhuang—the three sage-kings of high antiquity, often identified as the Sovereign of Heaven, the Sovereign of Earth, and the Sovereign of Humankind) took it as their model; its image is like Heaven.

Kingly Qi (wangqi) is likewise harmonious and joyful; the Five Emperors (Wudi—the five legendary rulers who followed the Three Sovereigns) emulated it; its image is like Earth: cherishing virtue, nurturing the ten thousand things, yet also applying punishment when the season calls for it.

Subtle Qi (weiqi) was the image followed by the Three Kings (Sanwang—usually understood as Yu of Xia, Tang of Shang, and King Wen of Zhou); it has no fixed, unchanging rule.

Qi of decline, imprisonment, and extinction (shuai, qiu, wang zhi qi) was the image of the Five Hegemons (Wuba—the five hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period); their qi was chaotic and disorderly.

Within Heaven and Earth there is inherently martial force (wu)—the power of punishment and military campaign—used to execute the wicked and exalt the good; this point deserves careful reflection.

Questioner: Excellent! I wish to ask: how does one use joy (le) to delight in goodness? I would hear the main points, so that even one as dull as I may understand fully in heart—yet I dare not ask again. May you explain?

Respondent: Do you truly still not understand?

Questioner: I understand a little. But I worry that people of later ages, long steeped in folly and delusion, will still fail to grasp the meaning even when they see the scripture—and may instead transgress heaven’s prohibitions. Therefore I dare not omit asking about the main points that are easy to understand.

Respondent: You ask well; you have hit the mark. Very well—sit properly, and I will explain it clearly to you.

In years of the highest goodness and great joy, all things turn toward the good; everyone is glad; in their hearts they constantly wish to sing and dance; silently they love one another and no longer contend; joy arises naturally. Above and below do not harm one another; each finds peace in joy. Thus “joy” is born from “goodness,” and one takes goodness as joy—this is the way heaven makes all things naturally so.

In years of great calamity, nothing among the ten thousand things turns toward goodness; everyone is hungry and cold, weeping and crying out; they harm one another all the more. Silently in the heart arise grief and anger; there is no joy—how could there be singing, dancing, and delight? They can only silently move toward decline and extinction. Thus in evil years and calamitous times there is no “joy”; heaven makes all things naturally so—without goodness, without joy. This shows: heaven does not take calamity and evil as joy; the proof is clear.

Therefore: Joy is born from goodness, and one takes goodness as joy; martial force (wu) rises from calamity, and one takes calamity as martial force.

From antiquity, when emperors and kings are about to rise, they accord with “delighting in goodness”; when they are about to decline, they accord with “evil”—this is the law of nature.

From this: Joy gives birth to goodness, goodness gives birth to joy; calamity gives birth to martial force, martial force gives birth to calamity; Wuwei (non-action) gives birth to joy, joy gives birth to Wuwei; martial force gives birth to disorder, disorder gives birth to martial force; joy gives birth to song and dance, song and dance give birth to joy; calamity and evil give birth to grief and bitterness, grief and bitterness give birth to calamity and evil.

I set forth this text for people of later ages, that they may reflect and act, act and rejoice. The brief formula ends here.

Questioner: Excellent! Excellent!

Five Music (excerpt)

The music of the Five Tones should be activated in the seasons that correspond to them before and after, so as to align with the intent of Heaven, Earth, and humanity—thereby bringing about great peace, dispelling disaster and treachery, and drawing in harmonizing Qi, until the multitude are willing to reflect on it and take it as their joy. A brief account of this essential teaching ends here. “Excellent! Excellent!”

(There is also a longer essential instruction on how the Five Music should be activated and how, before and after, one attains the intent of Heaven, Earth, and humanity to achieve great peace, remove disaster and treachery, and bring harmonious Qi—that portion is omitted here.)

Untitled (fragment one)

In my scriptures, those recorded as good are all described as “blue-headed and red-eyed.” Why? Because in my Dao, “blue and red” serve as the mark of trustworthiness: blue signifies the sprouting of benevolent De (Virtue/Power) and a benevolent heart; red signifies the sun—the correct color of Heaven. My Dao is a Dao of sunlight and benevolent governance; at heart it does not wish to harm living beings.

Untitled (fragment two)

“May I ask: now that the Qi of great peace and the sovereign on high is fully assembled and has arrived, what should Heaven-and-Earth governance do first and what after—may one hear?”

(What follows this question is missing in the original scripture; only the question remains here.)

Heaven’s governing principle is to meet joy with joy and affliction with affliction; when heaven’s law works in this way, the qi of Great Peace (Taiping) arrives. Heaven therefore nourishes the ten thousand things through joy and vigorously abolishes weapons, clubs, and punishments. The earth should follow the same course.

Joy belongs to yang and is heaven’s constant way; weapons, clubs, and punishments belong to yin and express the earth’s wrath. When yin rises, it inevitably injures the nurturing work of yang. Now that the qi of Great Peace has come, heaven and the divine hosts govern together, so punishments, arms, and lawsuits must be set aside, making all affairs clear and open to scrutiny, so that for ten thousand generations no one acts recklessly. Everything is like the sun and moon: nothing can long stay hidden or obscured.

When primordial qi (yuanqi) is naturally joyful, heaven and earth unite and give life together; in gladness, yin and yang harmonize and wind and rain fall in season. When wind and rain are in order, twelve thousand kinds of beings arise in mutual generation. When the ten thousand things rejoice, auspicious omens appear together, refined essence ascends to heaven, and the three luminaries—sun, moon, and stars—shine more brightly and clearly. When the three lights rejoice and align, the four seasons proceed rightly: in spring, joy brings birth; in summer, growth; in autumn, gathering; in winter, storage. When the four seasons are joyful and the Five Phases (wuxing) do not clash, the people flourish; when the people flourish, the sovereign enjoys long life; when the sovereign lives long, the myriad folk rejoice; when all people rejoice, refined beings and demonic influences alike withdraw and hide.

When ghosts and evil hide away, there are no untimely deaths or early loss of life, and the qi of Great Peace arrives. The myriad states do not make war; thieves and the greedy and cunning die out. The sixty thousand spirits of heaven and earth rejoice greatly, and true immortals (zhen xianren) appear in the world. When true immortals emerge, upright qi fully manifests and perverse qi is wholly concealed; the wicked sit and examine themselves, the good each walk their path, the policy books of spirits and humans are fully revealed, and false and corrupt writings perish. No one fails to be pleased and glad; yin and yang harmonize and hearts unite as one household, passing life on from generation to generation. When everything rests in joy, evil has no place. The joy of yin and yang is the beginning of life; the ten thousand things receive their mandate and are born from it.

When things can harmonize in joy, evil does not arise. When yin and yang qi delight in each other and unite, that is the starting point of life; the ten thousand things rise under this mandate of Heaven, and the principle is the same for human beings. When man and woman are joyful and of one mind, they can together bring forth life—nothing fails. When the heart is not joyful, they will not willingly unite; if they join in anger or against their will, danger will follow sooner or later.

This scripture of mine only states the main points and opens the theme here—from joy comes transformation, until joy is lost and things decay; such cases are too many to count. Having shown the benefit of joy, it must also unfold the taboos and norms of “not being joyful”: when the mind is unsettled and finds no joy, people will not join in one effort to nourish yuanqi (the primordial life-breath before Heaven and Earth were divided), and they turn away from the way of nature.

Yuanqi originally accords with nature; if strife comes from lack of joy, body and mind cannot unite in de (virtue/power) or together nurture Heaven and Earth. When Heaven and Earth know no joy, yin and yang contend and cannot merge their qi to run the four seasons and five phases or regulate wind and rain, so they cannot abundantly generate the myriad twelve thousand things (the full count of beings often used in the scriptures). If the myriad twelve thousand things contend and find no joy, many are injured and die, and that year will be greatly inauspicious.

Wherever there is contention without joy, the three luminaries—sun, moon, and stars—lose their light; emperors are afflicted, and the people flee. Good qi is blocked; evil qi runs wild; zheng shen (orthodox spirits) withdraw and ghostly evil rises; the ten thousand things and the people die young. If the myriad twelve thousand states contend and find no joy, punishments flourish and arms are raised; the way of joy is cut off and penalties grow harsher. When the six directions (above, below, the four quarters, and the center between Heaven and Earth) are not in harmony, there is misfortune every day. Disorder in Heaven’s qi begins here. People do not know where the disaster comes from; instead they lay blame on those above and reproach the emperor. They cannot find the real fault, yet from below they turn and accuse those above—all rebellious qi. How can that bring great peace? It only draws misfortune, so punitive qi increases daily and the way of joy is extinguished.

The root of great calamity lies here: since middle antiquity, though teachers and teachings have been set up from time to time, they have opened the gate to marshaling troops and closed the gate to joy and harmony, so wickedness could rise and could not be stopped at once.

Therefore Heaven now sends down Dongping qi (qi that greatly opens and harmonizes), intending to greatly release “joy” and remove punishments, so as to restore the foundation of great peace.

The same holds on earth; there are too many such cases for me to list them all. As for indulgence and the pleasure of union—it can lead to good or to evil. Thus the way of yin and yang reaches up to heaven and down to earth, extending in all four directions without end. Whatever has male and female, yin and yang, must sport and delight with one another; only when minds are united can they together generate the myriad things.

It is the same on earth, and hard to record in full. Indulgence can guide one toward good or toward evil. Therefore the principle of yin and yang runs from heaven to earth, circling the four quarters, inexhaustible. Male and female kinds sport with each other, then unite in one mind, jointly generating and jointly upholding order, continuing heaven and earth’s framework and wielding the law of endless change. If they do not sport together, refuse to unite in one mind, refuse to generate and accomplish together and uphold order together, refuse to continue heaven and earth’s framework and apply inexhaustible arts—even if punishment and force are used to bind them, in time they will still fail. When they turn against each other and fight, yin and yang harm and restrain one another, and nothing can stop it. Even father and son, mother and child, husband and wife at their closest may harm one another when they gather, together disturbing the way of heaven and cutting off posterity. The gravest fault leads to such an outcome.

Plain-Language Interpretation

“Joy” (le) is Heaven’s constant way, like the essence of the sun; “filial piety” (xiao) is Earth’s constant way, like the essence of the moon. Thus joy can initiate, give birth, and harmonize, so that all things succeed. Heaven naturally delights in goodness and in generating and transforming life, and therefore aligns with the Dao of Heaven and shares one qi with it. Only when joy harmonizes can mutual generation occur; within this there should be refined qi at upper and lower levels. Joy occupies the upper position and symbolizes Heaven; filial piety occupies the lower and symbolizes Earth. Earth is below and follows what is above: yin serves yang, the child serves the father, the subject serves the ruler; the ruler in turn serves Heaven, and Earth also serves Heaven—Heaven in turn serves what is still higher—so Earth shares qi with Heaven; that is why joy and filial piety most accord with Heaven and Earth.

The Yi (Change) regulates the qi of yin and yang, takes the eight winds as seasonal markers, shares position with the six jia, yin and yang form one body, and is continuous with Heaven and Earth in body—hence it is the way of spirit. “Punishment” (xing), by contrast, means cutting off, piercing through, yin contending, and disharmonious qi; it often rises with yin-dominated seasons: when yin prevails it is fierce; in spring and summer it withdraws, in autumn and winter it flares. Bandits strike by night, treachery and wrongdoing stir in the dark, various ailments of ghosts and spirits break out from the nether realm, resentment and blame gather in narrow, dangerous places and kill one another—all of these are great signs of not following joy but following punishment. Can one fail to be cautious?

(Answer) The foolish student says: I am in awe of this.

(Scripture) You know awe—that is a sign of long life; not knowing awe is the gate of disaster. I warn you, child—be careful. Therefore when Heaven governs, each realm freely takes joy as the root of transformation, so that everyone transforms one another through joy, sits quietly and reflects on gain and loss—nothing is better than this. When Heaven governs thus, so it is on Earth. Therefore, if you wish quickly to attain peace and good order, you must cut off division, contention, and punitive law, and put advocating joy first—then the qi of imperial peace will arrive at once.

Someone asked: "Since the qi of great peace in heaven will arrive on schedule, people ought naturally to turn toward goodness, and all things ought to be safe and free from disease. Since heaven has its own laws, why must people still take the lead and use music to transform one another?"

The answer: "In all matters, guidance and education must come first. The distinction between good and evil is precisely the forerunner of education — the key that opens the door of ignorance. Therefore, when heaven is about to act, it always first reveals signs in the heavens, and divine writings appear. The sages of antiquity took these signs as their model in establishing the purpose of education.

Thus the Three Sovereigns (Sanhuang) used the Dao to educate: the people all understood the Dao, and so did the ten thousand things. The Five Emperors (Wudi) mostly used De (Virtue) to educate: the people largely followed the scriptures and practiced virtue, and so did the ten thousand things. The Three Kings (Sanwang) mostly used culture and refinement (wen) to educate: the people largely valued ornament and literary elegance, and so did the ten thousand things. The Five Hegemons (Wuba) mostly used military force (wu) to educate: the people largely practiced martial arts, loved anger, and admired strength and courage — this was not the highest form of education. Therefore, in a village of good people there are many good people; in a village of evil people there are many evil people — this is not because they casually swap places with one another. Affairs in heaven and on earth each have their own models and exemplars; those who are transformed, whether people or things, are broadly similar.

Heaven loves life and loves to flourish the ten thousand things. When things do not obtain their proper place, they are unhappy and unwilling to live. Now the qi of imperial peace from the Dongji cavern in heaven has all emerged together to govern; yang essence flourishes, and none of the ten thousand things fail to rejoice. Therefore one should take this qi as a model and broadly practice music, to accord with and assist the way of heaven. When the way of heaven is pleased with this, it is greatly delighted. Now emperors and kings govern in peace and the people live long lives; therefore one may freely enjoy music to serve the way of heaven, and also cause each person to sit quietly in reflection and self-cultivation — why must each cling to one side alone? Furthermore, music belongs to heaven and to yang essence. When yang rises, yin essence lies hidden — just as spring and summer arise while autumn and winter lie dormant; this is the natural pattern."

True persons should act in accordance with what this scripture teaches, and punishments will vanish of their own accord. When teaching and transformation reach this level, they are no different from the work of spirits and gods. That the age is hard to bring to great peace is simply because something has gone wrong with teaching and transformation.

“If the Way of Heaven already has its cycles of flourishing and decline, fortune and misfortune, why still insist that teachers and teaching come first?”

“Heaven and Earth do not speak directly to human beings. That is why, in each age, they bring forth sages and sage teachers to hand down the affairs of the Way. When the heavenly season is still auspicious and joyful, good teachers arise so that good words and wholesome teaching may spread. When the Way of Heaven is about to fall into disorder, misfortune, and decline, do evil teachers then appear?”

(The text repeats and expands:) Heaven and Earth do not converse with people; therefore they continually produce sages and sage teachers to transmit these matters. When heavenly timing is favorable and joyful, good teachers appear and speak well and teach well; when the Way of Heaven is heading toward chaos, calamity, and decay, evil teachers appear and teaching turns corrupt. This is the omen of what presides over teaching and the Way of Heaven—good and evil showing themselves plainly. In years of abundance, good things multiply, the five grains are plentiful and nourish people, and people incline toward goodness; in years of disaster, harmful things abound and good things are few, harmful things injure people, and people’s bearing and complexion turn harsh. These are the clear signs of the teacher who carries transformation. When good teachers stand forth and evil teachers withdraw, that is a sign of the Way’s flourishing or failing—and of what the Way of Heaven itself governs. Now the great cycle of the Way of Heaven is complete, and so I (the lord of this scripture) have descended into the world to speak truly of the deeds of true persons, rejoicing that their transformation becomes supreme goodness; therefore the first topic is teaching. When the Way of Heaven is complete, affairs must be complete, and what is complete must be joyful. You should grasp the meaning: it is like when persons and things are complete—having a household, then there is joy. The Way of Heaven is now complete—what is there that should not be joyful, and yet one still speaks of misfortune? This book shall not change for ten thousand generations; such is the Way of transformation in Heaven!

Scroll 117

Secret Formula of the Fire Lord on Heaven’s Joy in Obtaining Good People and Entrusting the Text (Section 277)

(Opening) The Celestial Master (Tianshi) said: “Now that you true persons have accumulated goodness and are wise and clear, understanding all affairs, the sovereign qi of the royal cavern of heaven on high is complete. In heaven too there are people who can be taken in haste and put to urgent use—do you know this?” The junior disciple replied: “By nature I am dull and ignorant; I do not reach the Celestial Master’s level.”

The Celestial Master said: “Come, all you true persons, sit at ease; I will explain it clearly for you. Heaven is glad to obtain good people, so that through them it may adjust wind and rain and nourish the myriad things. Since heaven and earth were opened and brought forth, those who do good have been few, and those who accord with heaven’s intent have been even fewer; heaven has often grieved over this. On earth today, those who match what heaven seeks are also not many.” (Closing)

The disciple asked: “Then why does heaven not create people itself, but instead takes them from the earth?”

The Celestial Master answered: “Heaven and earth generate the myriad things; all arise from the pairing of Yin and Yang. What is happening now is the union of heaven above and earth below. Whatever belongs to the Yang category must grow within Yin; that is why people are taken from the earth. Human beings also receive the two qi of Yin and Yang and undergo the transforming nurture of heaven and earth; they must be born from earth and springs, so each resembles the soil from which they spring. Customs of the five directions differ, and even within the small compass of the world, local ways are not the same. (Opening) Therefore among the twelve thousand countries, and within a single domain, human forms are not alike. Do you know this?”

The disciple: “Yes, yes.”

The Celestial Master: “From birth, those who constantly do good are entrusted to the father; good people further upward are entrusted to heaven. Among the myriad things, the finest essence accords with heaven above and becomes the three lights—sun, moon, and stars. Do you know this?”

The disciple: “……” (The original text does not continue here.)

He replied: “Yes, yes.”

The Perfected Person said: If a person keeps a good heart throughout life, that goodness first returns to the father; when the good person rises further, it is entrusted to Heaven. Among all things, what is refined and good ascends to Heaven and becomes the Three Luminaries (sun, moon, and stars). What belongs to the middle level is entrusted to human beings, so they may enter public service and govern the myriad things in accord with Yin-Yang. What lies below is entrusted to Earth, so people may walk upon it and work the land. Do you understand this? He answered: “Yes, yes. Excellent!”

Therefore, when Heaven now regulates wind and rain and nurtures the myriad things, it gladly receives good people, and so sent me down to seek them by document (writ). The scripture is given to the Perfected Person, who passes it to careful common people so they may present it to the “Lord of Fire Essence and Virtue-Power Above” and proclaim to all under heaven that they should ponder the words in my book together. Hence it is entrusted to the Perfected Person: you must not let the transmission break off; you will bear hardship because of this, and must be all the more cautious in conduct. He replied: “Yes, yes.”

Asked: I am dull-witted and take Heaven to be boundless above, upright and singular, matching only this earth below—is that so? He replied: Well asked! Though Heaven moves without limit above, it too has Yin-Yang; yin and yang pair two by two to complete each affair.

(The same point is asked again; he answers: Though Heaven ascends without limit, it too has yin and yang, pairing two by two.)

Asked: Does Earth below likewise pair with Heaven? He replied: Indeed. Earth also extends downward without limit and has its own yin and yang, pairing two by two. Thus one yin and one yang, above and below without end, extending sideways without boundary—the Great Dao takes this as its nature, the Heavenly Norm takes this as its constant rule, and both use one yin and one yang as the pivot. This is the law of great numinous naturalness. The governance of the boundless cycles in rotation returns to the beginning and has no end. I had wished to explain each point in detail for the Perfected Person, but feared you could not take it all in, so I only lift one corner for you, show beginning and end, and mark the great outline—you must draw the threads from it yourself and let the sages and worthies under heaven and on earth understand in their own way. Do you know this? He answered: “Yes, yes. I wish to hear your teaching.”

He replied: Good. Record my words and my admonitions carefully. You may go up and rest now. He answered: “Yes, yes.”

Heaven's Blame: The Four Who Insult the Dao — Section 208

(Question): “What exactly is what Heaven most detests and calls ‘Heaven’s blame’ (tianjiu)? Should those who have long studied the Dao not know it well?”

(Answer): “I do not yet understand; I wish to hear the details.”

(Explanation): “Good. From antiquity to the present, all who truly ‘raise the Dao’ (qidao—who initiate and uphold the Great Way) are models that August Heaven takes as its pattern: the highest name of goodness, crowned as supreme; encompassing yet without outer form, inward yet without inner limit; issuing from the gapless, entering through the poreless—they are the teacher and standard for all affairs under Heaven, the root of life, the elder of the ten thousand affairs, the upright Way handed down by sages past and present. Today, when emperors and kings can align with Heaven’s heart, settle the people in peace, and act as parents to the people, all teaching arises from this. Do you, the Perfected One (Zhenren), know this?”

(Answer): “Yes, yes.”

(Explanation): “The Dao is Heaven: clear and bright, and it does not wish to be defiled and insulted. Yet now many who study the Dao practice the ‘four ruinings’ (si hui)—four kinds of corrupt conduct—together defiling and insulting August Heaven’s divine Dao, and also disordering the norms of the earth; in the end they cannot serve as leaders of transformation, cannot be models and standards, cannot be parents; they all together ruin Heaven’s precious vessels. Heaven names them all and calls them ‘great rebellious sons’ (da fanni zhi zi). Stop! You dwell upon the earth yet do not hold to the teacher’s standard—would August Heaven, settled above, instead hold you up as the standard? If you wish to know how sure this is: suppose such a petty person lived among the people and did not hold to the standard; when he came before the emperor and king, would he rather hold to it or not? If he were placed above yet did not hold to the standard, would August Heaven settled above instead hold him up as the standard? If you wish to know how sure this is: suppose such a petty person lived among the people and did not hold to the standard; when he came before the emperor and king, would he rather hold to it or not? If he were placed below yet did not hold to the standard, while August Heaven instead kept and honored him as the standard—would that mean that in Heaven’s realm and before emperors and kings, the wrong people should be masters who hoard and gather the wicked? Therefore Heaven knows deeply that they have lost the meaning of the Dao; it is not that Heaven arbitrarily hastens blame upon them.”

Notes (to aid reading; not original scripture text):

• August Heaven (Huangtian): an honorific for Heaven as sovereign and source of pattern.
• Those who raise the Dao (qidao zhe): those who truly rise up and practice the Great Way.
• Teacher’s standard (shifa): the norm one may take as teacher and model.
• Conduct of the four ruinings: the four kinds of corrupt behavior that scripture says students of the Dao commit together (specific names are often spelled out elsewhere in the same fascicle).
• Heaven’s blame (tianjiu): the name Heaven records and detests for fault and calamity.
• Great rebellious sons: Heaven’s collective name for those who defile the divine Dao and disorder earthly norms.
• Perfected One / Foolish Student (Zhenren / Yusheng): common dialogue roles in the Taiping Jing—the Perfected One has attained the true Way; the Foolish Student is the beginner who has not yet awakened.
• The closing section uses layered rhetorical questions: on earth and before the emperor one would not uphold the standard, yet one imagines Heaven still does; in Heaven’s realm and before the throne that is even less possible—so Heaven knows they have lost the Way and does not blame them without cause.

The energies of Great Peace from the Lord of the Caverns have now arrived, and Heaven and Earth can no longer tolerate these four kinds of people. They are limited to these four categories—and they have caused everyone in the world who studies the Dao to be looked down upon and even called “evil offspring.” Thus the human way declines day by day and falls into ruin, unable to rise again. Now when all people under heaven do evil together, it is precisely the ruin wrought by these four. Heaven loathes this deeply and therefore intends to choose anew a “seven” (a fresh batch of qualified transmitters of the Way).

Does the Perfect Person understand?

“Your disciple is dull by nature and still cannot grasp it—what does this mean? I wish to hear the details.”

“You cannot understand it at once—how could ordinary people? Very well. Listen closely, and I will explain clearly where the great faults on the Great Way begin, so that later generations who study the Dao may plainly see where they have strayed from the Way.”

First, lack of filial piety; second, failure to keep one’s original nature true and alive, with no worthy peers to pass anything on to posterity (no fit succession); third, eating excrement and drinking one’s own urine; fourth, taking begging and mendicant behavior as one’s occupation.

Together these four have defiled the orthodox Way of Heaven. They are wholly unfit to revive teaching and to serve as models for teacher and law throughout the ages under Heaven and in Heaven above. Even if they attained the Dao and ascended to Heaven, upon inquiry they would still be counted wicked; now they certainly cannot regulate wind and rain or bring forth the twelve thousand kinds of living things, yet they are allowed to act as teachers and leaders.

“How grave! How grave! Your disciple is deaf and blind and did not know there was such a heaven-scale fault. Now I rely only on August Heaven and the enlightened master—I beg to be examined again and explained item by item, in hope that my mind may open further.”

“Good. Listen carefully. I will set out the meaning fully for the Perfect Person, that it may serve as law for ten thousand generations. Later, those who study the Dao with care and goodness will no longer violate Heaven’s prohibitions, will attain the Dao and ascend to Heaven, and Heaven too will rejoice all the more—just as an earthly sovereign rejoices when good people join in governing the realm. Thus what Heaven employs, Earth follows in the same way—is that not excellent?”

“Yes, yes. I obey.”

Dao is the teacher of August Heaven and the treasure Heaven values most dearly. If earthly sovereigns obtain good people who can govern the world together, they too will be glad. What Heaven upholds, earth mirrors—how could that not be a good thing?

“Yes, yes—we hear and obey.”

Dao is the teacher of August Heaven and Heaven’s most precious treasure. Those who practice the Dao should act as Heaven does when it completes the ten thousand things—naturally, in accord with the Way of Heaven. The Dao should be practiced by moving upward; only then will Heaven love and employ such a person.

Yet some today go wrong: people who have obtained the Dao and could ascend to Heaven, when Heaven examines them by its rules, are found to fall short in filial conduct. The Dao is the root of teaching and transformation; Heaven is the model for all laws—how could it turn around and have the master take in and secretly support unfilial “filial sons” under heaven? If children themselves carry such wrongdoing, how would Heaven let them live long and work alongside the Way of Heaven? If so, would Heaven instead shelter these evil people and rebellious children? Earth does not employ them; how would Heaven employ them?

Therefore, those who practice the Dao without being filial—none of them truly ascend to Heaven. Even if they go up, they are only deceived by evil spirits and flattering ghosts. In the end they die in wild lands and desolate places, their bodies punished as a warning. Heaven responds to people like a shadow to a form—how could one do evil and receive good? Such cases have been rare in past and present.

Though earthly kings may practice the Dao and many follow them, few truly measure up or walk the straight path. Today there are too few good people in Heaven to work together; most behave wickedly. If that is so, why does Heaven not kill them at once, but instead lets them fall into wild, deserted, breathless wastes?

Heaven does not destroy them immediately because between Heaven and Earth there is a kind of qi that gathers in many places and can hold and accommodate—this is called “Central Harmony”—like harmony among people, a little of everything can be included. So they are still given some time.

Heaven presides with clarity, as before an emperor—no room for the treacherous. So Heaven was never meant to govern together with such offspring; earth is the same.

Heaven does not govern the world together with “filial sons” who are careless and not upright, just as sage-kings do not govern together with careless filial sons either.

Heaven presides over clarity and fairness, as if standing before the sovereign—there is no room for the wicked. Therefore Heaven naturally does not conduct affairs together with improper filial sons, and the same holds on earth.

Heaven does not co-govern with careless filial sons, and sage-kings do not co-govern with them either. If even sage-kings refuse to govern with such people, how could Heaven alone share governance with them?

The reason ancient sages and worthies did not govern with this sort of person is that they deeply understood the heavenly way and took celestial patterns as their standard in action. To govern together with dull-witted people would greatly anger Heaven. How do we know? When a ruler governs with them, Heaven sends down many calamities and strange omens, and barbarian peoples repeatedly raid—this is clear proof that Heaven detests them.

What difference is there between this and breaking rules or violating a covenant? Now Heaven sees people governing together with such people and already hates and resents it—how could it personally work alongside them? What people detest, Heaven detests; what people cherish, Heaven cherishes all the more.

Therefore ancient sages and worthies, discerning Heaven’s intent in its depth, often modeled themselves on Heaven in conduct and dared not miss by a hair’s breadth, and so they alone often received Heaven’s generous favor and aligned with the heart of Heaven. Failure to align with the heart of Heaven brings great misfortune. Human conduct is already like this—how much more so for one who is now to serve as a jianshi, a scholar selected by Heaven? A heavenly jianshi ought to work with Heaven, governing the inexhaustible arts of the Dao, long united in heart and effort, harmonizing qi.

(Note: jianshi refers to scholars chosen by Heaven who hold office in the celestial realm; the image of violating heavenly law like a broken contract is preserved from the original. The phrase rendered as governing with improper people follows the sense of “not with those who are careless filial sons” where the text may have suffered copyist error.)

(The preceding dialogue)

The Perfected One asked: Do you understand? Have you gone astray? You must watch yourself—I am speaking of pure heavenly intent, which must not be violated; to violate it brings the disaster of losing one’s life. … (The original text is defective here.)

The other replied: Good! Good! I am dull; in my heart I understand only this much.

The Perfected One said: You still grasp only one layer. Ordinary people do not understand; muddle-headedness and dim confusion are exactly that. August Heaven was anxious about this and sent me down with these great treatises to set forth the laws of the heavenly Way as fully as possible. From now on, those who study the Way must be vigilant and cautious!

(On the heavenly Way and “transmission and mutual generation”)

What August Heaven values most is generation passed from one generation to the next, each nurturing the other. Therefore the four seasons all receive the teaching of the heavenly Way—transmission, mutual generation, and transformation—without end, so as to increase and grow all things.

Thus: Heaven presides over initiating life and may be called father; Earth presides over nurturing and may be called mother. Again, taking the qi of the Six Jia, the Twelve Earthly Branches, and the Eight Trigrams (Bagua) as the guiding pattern, they mutually generate and rotate in succession, so the heavenly Way can endure without being destroyed—this is the merit of its constant transforming nurture.

(Criticism of those who study the Way yet turn away from the heavenly Way)

Today, those who study the Way ought to take Heaven as their model, yet in fact most of them leave no descendants, together harming and diminishing Heaven’s line of succession.

Among them, those who hold to correctness still retain something of innate nature, only their strength is sometimes insufficient.

Those who do not hold to correctness forcibly block the Way of Yin-Yang—when transformation ought to occur they do not transform, scattering the “seed” to the four wilds, or on the contrary abandoning and killing, driving away wife and children and leaving—all such people gravely violate the Great Dao. They are not fit to be others’ teachers; how can they in peace carry on the law transmitted by the Celestial Master (Tianshi)?

(Heaven as the root of human relations and good governance)

August Heaven is the chief of all affairs and the parent of all people; sages and worthies under Heaven all take Heaven as their model. How can one treat them the same as those who have lost the Way, act recklessly, and cut off their kind, and work together with such people?

If Heaven governed the world only together with such people, Heaven would amount to protecting the wicked and promoting violent arts—how could that be called sagely or be a supreme teacher who governs the age? Therefore (Heaven and the correct Way) cannot be set aside or stilled (in distinguishing and correcting those who have lost the Way).

In ancient times, sages and great worthies understood what must be avoided and refused to govern or act together with the kind of people who “have no posterity.” When such people are allowed to help rule the world, the heart of Heaven is not obtained at all. That is why the sages valued those who cherish posterity and likewise abhorred those who had none.

The sages deeply knew the intent of Heaven, so they constantly modeled themselves on it alone, not deviating by the slightest fraction—and how much more so when it came to revering Heaven itself! Nowadays Heaven has long been pure yet lacks good people, and so I have been sent to speak these words as a warning and instruction for later generations, so that even the dull-witted may understand for themselves.

If Heaven were to employ such people, would Heaven instead gather and protect those without posterity? If that were truly the case—if they could still ascend to Heaven—would Heaven then love the posterity-less and the life-denying? Therefore they are cast into barren lands, soil where nothing grows, and desolate wilds without human beings, so each may return to the category where they belong.

You do not love life; you oppose Heaven—so you are cast where nothing lives. You love having no people—so you are cast into uninhabited wilds.

Ordinary people, confused and unable to see the truth, say they have already “transcended the world,” when in fact they have not. I dare not deceive the perfected ones: I myself have descended from Heaven and ascended again; what is seen and unseen is like pointing out the sun to the blind—some say one is deceiving them and instead cover their mouths and laugh. Fools are just like that. Perfected ones, take heed. What Heaven detests, the earth detests as well.

“Excellent, excellent! I have been dull all my life and never witnessed such matters of Heaven; today I truly awaken through this.”

“You must strive to do good. My scripture is meant to heal the ailments of Heaven and Earth and to relieve the sorrows of emperors and kings. When your merit is complete and you ascend to Heaven, go up yourself and look—then my words will be fully verified.”

“Yes, yes. I dare not delay; I dare not slacken.”

You must be careful and must not slacken or grow negligent; if upon examination you find slackness and negligence, your great allotted life will be cut off.

“I, the foolish one, am deeply in awe of heaven’s majesty and will earnestly carry this out.”

“Good! Good! This accords with heaven’s intent.”

〈Begin〉 Now heaven is both clear and bright, and the Dao is both pure and white; heaven and the Dao occupy the highest place and are what people ought to emulate. What is clear and bright loves clarity and brightness, so the three luminaries—sun, moon, and stars—hang high in heaven, each according to its kind, gathering together to form shapes. Heaven’s form is like a bright mirror; it is also like a person’s two eyes, penetrating and illuminating the ten thousand things, unwilling to look upon defilement and disgrace. If one compares this to standing before a sage king, one always wishes to be clear and bright—〈End〉 and unwilling to see defilement and disgrace; once defiled and disgraced, the crime of destruction and death will be invited. Do you understand, perfected one (Zhenren)?

“Yes, yes. It will do! It will do!”

“Therefore a person’s head and mouth symbolize heaven; they do not wish to delight in seeing defilement and disgrace, and always desire clarity and brightness and to obtain good things. Thus if people under heaven give others food that is drowned, filthy, foul-smelling, and polluting, heaven will send thunder and lightning down and personally seize them (to punish them). Do you know that this is perverse evil?”

“Yes, yes. I, the foolish one, am deeply in awe.”

“From the great middle antiquity and high antiquity onward, people have called themselves practitioners of goodness, utterly unlike ordinary folk. Yet those who study the Dao have instead often taught one another to eat excrement and drink urine, calling one another ‘plain and upright good people’—heaven and the Dao greatly abhor this. Under heaven such people are called great rebellious sons; heaven does not wish to see their persons. This is where great evil attaches; it is demonic art descended from the essences of dogs and pigs. The Dao gives birth to heaven; heaven possesses the Dao; therefore the Dao is the teacher and elder of the ten thousand affairs. The correct Dao therefore promotes goodness and chiefly consists in eliminating evil.”

Brief glossary of specialized terms:

• Three luminaries (Sanguang): sun, moon, and stars.
• Perfected one (Zhenren): a cultivator who has attained the Dao; here, the disciple receiving instruction.
• Great middle antiquity and high antiquity (Dazhong shanggu): the ideal remote age often invoked in the Scripture of Great Peace (Taiping Jing).
• Plain and upright good people (zhizhi shanren): a sarcastic label in the scripture for certain heterodox groups who styled themselves as “plain, straight, good people.”

Therefore, when the ancient sages and sovereigns were about to rise, they all sought masters and the Dao, receiving their teachers’ counsel and wisdom to instruct the people. Teachers are prized because they can grasp heaven’s intent and act in accord with the Dao (the Way).

Heaven likewise honors those who cultivate the Way well, holding that they can harmonize the vital breath (qi), align with the four seasons, receive the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), regulate wind and rain, assist the sun, moon, and stars to shine brightly, and enable the myriad things to flourish. If anyone today goes so far as to eat feces and drink urine, how could they be fit to serve as a teacher? On earth, an unfilial and rebellious son is already unfit to be called a proper teacher—how much less could such a person match the celestial master (shi) in heaven? Petty people are truly dull; they gravely defile and insult the Dao.

The Perfect Man (Zhenren) who obtains this profound scripture should ponder its meaning deeply: what the earth loathes, heaven also loathes; what heaven loathes, the earth loathes as well. People on earth detest eating feces and drinking urine, and heaven detests it too—hence thunder and lightning are sent down to strike and kill. Such words are chiefly meant to warn those on earth. Heaven’s revulsion is even stronger; if earth still abhors it, how could heaven accept it? Heaven is originally clear and pure—why would it instead accept and gather people who eat feces and drink urine? Even if for a moment they stray and then gain insight in an instant, they still may not ascend to the heavenly realm; they will all die in lands of the five wastes, exhausted qi, defeat, and ill omen, so that their evil conduct is followed through and their guilt made plain, each returning to their proper place, so that people under heaven know they cannot be deceived.

When the Perfect Man’s years are full and his life ends, he should take this as a warning and guard it carefully, to show those who come after. When the “Dong shang huang ping” qi arrives on earth, such evil conduct will not be tolerated; offenders will die—this is already clear. “It can be done! It can be done!” (The Perfect Man knows ●●; each returns to their place, seeking not to be deceived. When the Perfect Man’s years are full and his life ends, he warns and guards carefully, to show those who come after. When the Dong shang huang ping qi arrives, such evil conduct will not be tolerated; offenders will die—this is clear. “It can be done! It can be done!” “The Perfect Man knows ●; this is your awakening. If you do not ●, you share the same guilt; if you know and yet do it deliberately, the guilt is not removed.” “Yes, yes; I dare not, I dare not.”)

(The closing passage is incomplete in the original, with lacunae, repeated lines, and unclear characters. The general sense is: the Perfect Man has awakened; if one does not awaken, one shares the same guilt; if one knows and yet does it on purpose, the guilt is not cleared; the Perfect Man assents repeatedly and dares not violate.)

The nature of the Supreme Heaven always tends toward giving and nurturing growth. Therefore it governs bestowal and governs nurturing life; it governs outward flow rather than inward hoarding, and governs prevailing rather than submitting. If one submits, that is reversal—so the Way of Heaven cannot be coerced or seized by force. Seizing by force brings people to ruin. The Lord of Heaven is benevolent and clear and bright, and does not delight in being sullied or shamed. Heaven and the Dao are titles of what is highest. Emperors and kings act in imitation of Heaven and are called supreme rulers; they dare not fail Heaven. When conduct matches the Way of Heaven down to the finest measure, there is good fortune; when it misses, there is great misfortune. Those who study the Dao today in search of long life should purely imitate Heaven: Heaven loves life, so students of long life should purely guard Heaven’s primordial breath of life, and their conduct should follow the intent of the Way of Heaven.

The Lord of Earth governs humiliation and killing and governs storage and gathering; one should not act according to the Earth’s inclinations. The Dao is the root of the great transformation and the elder and teacher of the great transformation; nothing under Heaven fails to take it as model and come into being. Yet now foolish petty people wish to practice the Dao and instead bring no benefit to the people—they jointly sully and shame the Way of Heaven, which is deeply perverse and outrageous. Heaven names them rebellious sons and greatly inauspicious people; Heaven does not wish to look upon them.

“What does this mean? The foolish person’s mind is closed and knotted, and has not yet reached this understanding.” “Excellent—your question! The messenger of Heaven makes the child speak; open your ears wide and listen. Do Heaven and the Dao not love bestowal, love life, and love what is rightly named? If you act for others, why not use divination and prescribe medicine for the people’s good, and let the spirits heal people so illness is firmly stopped? These three kinds of people may all be called teachers, yet they do not benefit the Way of Heaven and dare not sully or shame it. The Way of Heaven does not deceive people; one should always be utterly sincere in one’s service.”

Heaven’s Way (the law of Heaven) brooks no deceit. Whoever treats Heaven’s Way with fraud, in time grows ever more ill-fated and declining.

The path Heaven walks does not love defilement or humiliation, nor being used for private gain. Heaven in itself is supreme; the Dao honors and takes Heaven as its model. The Dao may be called the teaching that the Celestial Sovereign follows— lofty in standing and in resonance with Heaven. Therefore Heaven and the Dao preside over setting right all affairs and being chief among the myriad things, and so can harmonize Yin-Yang, regulate wind and rain, set day and night aright, and array the stars in their courses. Between Heaven and Earth, nothing fails to receive Heaven’s grace, inherit Heaven’s mandate, and find its proper place.

Now the deeply foolish who study the Way instead practice fraud, arrogance, and wild obsession, together confusing Heaven’s Way and ruining the root of Heaven’s transforming instruction. They turn to begging and demanding goods from people, bring no benefit to the common folk, yet stain and shame Heaven’s Way—which ought to benefit the people inwardly and cannot be taken as a model for teachers. They also teach later generations to pass these ways to one another; each generation claims to be transmitting the Way, making people obsessed, arrogant, and deceitful; they again practice humiliation and begging, and from these acts take their name, called “the way of the obsessed begging mendicants.” In teaching the people, it cannot serve as a model. They again make later generations teach one another; each generation claims to be transmitting the Way, making people obsessed, arrogant, and deceitful; they again practice humiliation and begging, and from these acts take their name, called “the way of the obsessed begging mendicants.” They also lead ordinary people together to revile Heaven and together to belittle the correct Way, cutting off great nurturing transformation. Heaven deeply abhors this; the Dao deeply detests it; in Heaven their forms are not wished to be seen.

Now in Heaven the supreme orthodox qi (zhengqi) fills all; sun, moon, and stars line up in renewed brilliance; the Dao should together with Heaven adjust wind and rain and harmonize Yin-Yang, so that the myriad things each find their place. Yet if people of earlier times chanced to attain the Way and ascend to Heaven, Heaven still had no posts to give such persons. Heaven questioned their faults—they all had faults and could not work together. You still dwell on earth and are still called the way of the obsessed begging mendicants; unfit to be teachers for emperors and kings, how could you be fit as teachers in Heaven? Heaven hates them; the great Way declines and is abandoned; blame falls on the ancients below who learned from one another without law or measure. Heaven suffers and grieves deeply over this. Heaven’s Way is blocked; therefore I am sent down to discuss together with Realized Ones (zhenren), sorting out the gains and losses of the Dao. May all under Heaven awaken at once, all know Heaven’s intent, change their conduct and renew their hearts, and no longer violate Heaven’s prohibitions—then those who study may succeed.

If people still go on as before without changing, cultivation of the Way will have both gain and loss. If everyone under heaven awakens together, understands Heaven’s intent, changes conduct and heart, and no longer violates Heaven’s prohibitions, then those who study the Way may truly succeed.

If they still cling to old ways, Heaven will not promote them and will cast them down again; they will die in the “five shames” and their lives be handed over to the “five filths” of earth—utter desolation with no people, a land of folly and madness, with no sun, moon, or stars above, and no good earth to dwell on below.

Question: Why is it so? How heavy is the guilt?

Answer: It is not merely demotion. The Way of Heaven is law; each kind follows its kind; what must be taken away, Heaven removes from below.

Question: Why not kill them at once, but let them fall to this state?

Answer: Heaven also wishes to destroy them immediately, but the person still claims to seek long life and utmost faith; if killed midway, they cry out to Heaven and beat the earth, calling themselves deeply wronged, not knowing where their fault lies. So Heaven first examines and torments them, then casts them into the land of five shames, folly, and madness, so they see for themselves.

You should know the truth: it is like a wise king judging guilt—unwilling to kill at once, still sending people into great or lesser prisons according to the crime, so they submit, know themselves, and then die without hatred or complaint. If the case is not fully laid out, they will surely cry injustice and die with resentment. Thus under the Five Hegemons, many subjects and people died with resentment. You should know: Heaven’s punishment works the same way. Do you, Realized One, understand the heterodox path?

Answer: Excellent! Excellent!

To know “alarm” (the original text has a missing character here) is the gate of life; not to know it is the root of death. Heed my words: my words are truly Heaven’s soldiers—they must not be slandered. Slander harms people; small slander, small harm; great slander brings extinction.

A warning to Realized Ones in one phrase: people of later ages pile up folly, trust their ignorant hearts, and still say “it is not so,” trapping themselves in ruin. I personally practice the Way of Heaven; those below should know that… (the scripture is defective from here)

Brief glossary of terms

• Five shames, five filths: In the Taiping Jing, names for places of extreme evil, filth, no three lights, and no good earth—images of where karmic retribution leads.
• Three lights (Sanguang): Sun, moon, and stars; images of Heaven’s grace and clear sight.
• Examination (kao): Testing and trial, not punishment alone.
• Heaven’s soldiers (tianbing): Here, the awe of the Way of Heaven and upright speech—not to be treated lightly.
• Five hegemons (wuba): The Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period; image of rule by force and a people full of resentment.

The scripture admonishes the Zhenren (the Perfected Person—in Daoism, one accomplished in cultivation who can receive the Celestial Master’s [Tianshi] teachings) with these words: people of the Lower Antiquity (the later degenerate age) have accumulated ignorance over long ages and trust their own unenlightened minds; if someone says it is otherwise, they instead entangle themselves in hardship. I have personally walked in Heaven, and therefore know below the affairs of the human world without the slightest error. I do not dare deceive you; if I deceived you, it is not the Zhenren I fear but the majesty of Heaven. Thus my words are trustworthy, ever trustworthy. The reason I state them over and over is that I fear people will be obstinate and make mistakes, and so I repeat them. Matters of Heaven are indeed distant and hard to know, and so the scripture repeatedly descends to accord with Earth. Doing good on Earth is good in Heaven; doing evil on Earth is evil in Heaven. When people do good in the world, Heaven also responds with good; when people do evil in the world, Heaven also responds with evil—this is because their Qi communicates upward. The Five Qi (the Qi of the Five Phases) are linked, and above and below are the same; the Six Jia (the six Jia cycles in the sexagenary reckoning, broadly denoting celestial timing and cycles) belong to one another, and above and below are the same; the Twelve Branches (the twelve earthly branches) combine, and above and below adhere to one another; whether near or far, all communicate. When below is good, above is bright; when below is evil, above is ominous. Therefore when the Five Phases (the Qi of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth) arise below, the Five Stars (the five associated with metal, wood, water, fire, and earth) shine above. This is what Heaven uses to make things clear to all under Heaven. The Three Luminaries—sun, moon, and stars—are all like this. Heaven above and Earth below communicate through the Three Luminaries: when the Three Luminaries shine below, so too do they in Heaven; when they shine above in Heaven, so too do they on Earth. Corresponding in pairs, they harmonize and form the constant Dao; great goodness in Heaven is likewise on Earth. Just as Heaven has the Six Jia and Twelve Branches, so does Earth; just as Earth has the Six Jia and Twelve Branches, so does Heaven. Thus above and below always correspond, without the least discrepancy—not off by even a zhu or fen, the tiniest measure. The Zhenren must be cautious. Although my words are profound and far-reaching, do not hide them away; they should be shown to students. When transmitting them, one must observe fasting and purification and be thoroughly careful. Take the scripture as the standard, and do not secretly recite it on your own. The Zhenren respectfully replied: Yes, yes. May I venture to ask: since Supreme Antiquity and Middle Antiquity (from high antiquity and middle antiquity onward), many of those who teach one another to cultivate the Dao have instead often left home, abandoned relatives, and cast aside wife and children; often become beggars, mad, or feign deception, and even eat excrement and drink urine.

The gist of this passage is as follows:

Later generations of Daoist practitioners mostly taught and guided one another; each had a lineage and rules, and did not speak lightly or say things without foundation.

(Someone) says: Well asked! Are you asking about those who act like beggars, feign madness, use fine words to deceive people, or even parade foul practices such as eating excrement and drinking urine to show off? Later Daoist practitioners also mostly instructed one another and all had a master’s method; likewise they did not speak at random.

(Another reply) Well asked! Your question hits the crux. Heaven presses urgently—is it not teaching you to distinguish orthodox from heterodox and to inquire properly? Why do you ask only at this level, and so cleverly? Why do you fix on these alone?

(The questioner) says: I have been puzzled for a long time, with no one to consult seriously, and my heart is often heavy.

(Note: The original has repeated sentences before and after, likely overlapping copies from different manuscripts. The middle reference to “beggars, feigned madness, eating excrement and drinking urine” mostly points to people of that time who borrowed the name of cultivation to deceive or take heterodox paths, contrasted with orthodox transmission that “has a master’s method and does not speak emptily at random.”)

The Celestial Master (Tianshi, the teacher in Daoism who transmits the Dao and instructs disciples) said, “Good! Has Heaven truly caused you to come and preside over the questioning? Very well. Prick up your ears, and I will explain it to you one by one. When Heaven first revealed the true Dao (the Way, the pure path of cultivating the Dao), it was not as it later became. At that time people were filial and supported their parents; they took wives, had children, and continued the lineage; they were upright in appearance and demeanor; they did not pretend to be foolish or play the idiot, nor did they eat excrement or drink urine. Everyone acted according to the Dao, and every movement and action conformed to the norms. People of the highest grade served as teachers and assistants to emperors, transmitting the Dao and teaching; those of the same kind nurtured one another, and none harmed one another. It was as if the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors (sage rulers of high antiquity) were present in the world: all acted according to the true Dao and strove for mutual benefit without mutual harm. Thus the true Dao could be put into practice, and one did not need to conceal oneself.

When the age of the Three Kings (the founding rulers of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties) arrived, order fell into disorder, and the Five Hegemons (the five hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period, by extension the hegemonic way of contending by force) were about to rise; rulers, ministers, and common people deceived and slighted one another, so some feigned madness. Still afraid of being found out, they went begging, ate excrement, and drank urine—these were acts of dire poverty and distress, and also a way of speaking born of dire poverty and distress. The Dao also has its flourishing and decline, just as the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the Three Kings, and the Five Hegemons succeeded one another. In lower antiquity the hegemonic way was often seen: begging, abandoning kin, casting off wife and children, eating excrement and drinking urine—this is the decline of the Dao and the rise of the hegemonic way.

Therefore many of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were able to attain the Dao and ascend to Heaven; some underwent shijie (corpse liberation, one Daoist way of becoming an immortal, leaving the bodily frame behind and departing as an immortal), some underwent xingqu (departure in form, when the bodily frame leaves the world and ascends to Heaven). The Three Kings could only end their lives at their natural lifespan; none of the Five Hegemons attained the true Dao, and all died in the wilderness through battle. People of lower antiquity today who adhere to this hegemonic way will also all die in the wilderness—this is what that means. I do not deceive you, Zhenren (in Daoism, one who cultivates truth and attains the Dao; here, the disciple asking the question): this situation is also the hegemonic way within the Dao, no different from that of the hegemonic rulers; how could one ascend to the heavenly realm?”

The Zhenren said, “Good, good! This foolish person’s mind has truly understood; I never imagined that the Dao also has a hegemonic way. After the Celestial Master’s explanation, I now know it.” The Celestial Master said, “Indeed so! You may be said to have become enlightened.” The Zhenren then asked, “May I ask, what should those who study the Dao today do?”

In the great cycle of the Heavenly Dao, the round is now complete; from here on, things differ from antiquity. If one still tries to cultivate by the old “hegemonic” methods of the middle ages, the true Dao cannot be attained. Realized persons must be vigilant and careful!

To live long, one must keep to my (the Taiping Jing’s) teaching in writing. Fall short by the slightest measure and life will not be whole—how could one not keep to it? At the root of the Dao, the imperial way has risen; it advances by the “fire-light” course, and the path of hegemony is cut off. Though heaven is vast, it has its own divisions and principles; it uses written instructions for ordinary people so that all may consult together: what belongs above goes above, what belongs to the middle goes to the middle, what belongs below goes below, and what should be jointly deliberated above and below is jointly deliberated—why not look at whether each person is sincere, as if speaking face to face with heaven?

(The other replies) Excellent! The seasonal qi is already in harmony.

(Ask) How does the Realized Person know?

(Answer) When one sees heaven personally dispatch the Celestial Master (Tianshi) to deliver words, one knows the heavenly qi is already balanced.

(Praise) Excellent! You have grasped the meaning.

(Wishing to ask one or two things more)…

(Order) Continue.

(Ask) From now on, how should one seek the Dao?

(Answer) All should seek it in a quiet chamber, without leaving parents or abandoning wife and children. Cultivate step by step, and improper “deviant leaks” (private chaotic practice, crooked shortcuts) will cease. If the heart is not good and one follows deviant leaks, not only is there no benefit—one loses life first. Each person must examine himself truly and act without failing heaven. People may be deceived; heaven cannot be deceived; there is no need always to worry that others do wrong. Let everyone govern themselves by this: those who dare not walk the Way are evil people, people who would deceive and feign. Judge by this one criterion and you will not miss. If learners are like this, cunning dies out and the good and the evil are clear at a glance. This is called the “Imperial Heaven’s Book for Selecting Scholars”: those at the top may transcend the world; those in the middle may serve as aides to kings and emperors; those below, though dull and without knowledge, may still be careful folk among the people. Realized persons must deeply know this principle.

(Answer) Yes, yes.

(Ask) I wish to hear: what is meant by leaving through deviant leaks after obtaining the Dao?

(Answer) It is like this—the Dao must be complete before one leaves; if the Dao is not yet complete, day by day one stays with parents and protects the household, advancing gradually, acting in stillness, and one will naturally understand the meaning within. The worthy jointly established this saying.

(Answer) Yes, yes.

This passage is mainly the title, table of contents, and summary of scripture names for Volume 118 of the Taiping Jing (Geng Section, Part 16), not a continuous lecture-style main text. The phrase “Jin Shao Shanlin Jue” (Precept Against Burning Mountain Forests), which appears repeatedly, is an important prohibitory rule name within this volume.

The first line (“Right: heavenly register of scholars, text on promoting the Dao, cutting off and abandoning hegemony, continuing life, people changing their own hearts, treachery and cunning eliminated, guarding kin and protecting wife and children”) is mostly a brief catalog note from the Daoist Canon or court compilation: it strings together several themes of the volume for retrieval. It can be understood as relating to heavenly name-registers and scholarly phrasing, and summarizing later themes—promoting the Great Dao, cutting off and abandoning hegemonic ways, continuing full life, everyone changing heart, treachery and cunning subsiding, guarding kin and protecting the household.

“Jin Shao Shanlin Jue, number 209” (or a similar serial number): refers to a jue text (rule, precept, or mnemonic-style teaching) in the Taiping Jing that forbids burning mountain forests. The scripture often treats burning forests as harming creatures, damaging De, and offending Heaven and Earth—contrary to the ideal of a Taiping (Great Peace) age in which “nothing is harmed”—so this jue is set apart to forbid it.

The remaining scripture-title phrases mean roughly the following:

• Xing Dao: to raise up and practice the Great Dao (Taiping governance and the correct path of cultivation).
• Duan wei qi ba: to cut off and abandon hegemonic, tyrannical rule and overbearing conduct.
• Xu ming: to preserve life in accord with the Dao of Heaven; also extending good governance for the state and family and prolonging qi and fortune.
• Ren zi yi xin: people should themselves change their wrongful hearts and turn toward loyalty, trust, and following the Dao.
• Jian hua xiao: treachery and stubborn cunning subside.
• Shou qin bao qi zi: to uphold human ethics, settle the household, and guard wife and children (one strand of family ethics within the scripture’s “Three Bonds and Six Norms”).

Volume 118 in the table of contents belongs to Geng Section, Part 16; like neighboring volumes, it mostly uses jue, precepts, and political-moral teaching to connect the Dao of Heaven, governance and instruction, ethics, and prohibitions (such as not burning mountain forests).

The disciple asked: “I beg to inquire of the Master above the Imperial Heaven, at the utmost depth of the Cavern: you have been compassionate toward one as dull and unworthy as I, and have even told me of matters in Heaven—something I truly had no right to hope for. Now that I have received your instruction and had the path opened for me, so that I may know heavenly affairs, I wish to hear what Heaven delights in and what it forbids, and only ask to receive the precepts. Your disciple sincerely ponders their meaning day and night and dares not transgress, so as to show posterity.”

The Master answered: “Well done—your question has grasped the essential point. The Perfected One is seated; I will expound the Way for you. It may be transmitted for ten thousand generations, without end.”

The disciple said: “Yes, yes—I accept your weighty charge.”

The Master said: “Do not thank me. You raise doubts on behalf of Heaven and Earth; my Lord expounds the Way for Heaven—it is not your private affair but entirely a public duty. Why thank me?”

The disciple said: “If I do not wish to thank you, I fear slighting the Way and troubling the Master; if I thank you, I fear violating a taboo and failing in humility.”

The Master said: “I only fear that the more words there are, the harder they are to understand, and so I restrain the Perfected One from speaking overmuch. Words are the handle of the Way and the source from which texts arise—do not worry; I will now explain separately for you.”

The disciple said: “Yes, yes.”

The Master said: “As of now in Heaven, the qi of the Upper Imperial Cavern-Plane has fully flourished; the yang sun is bright; deviant qi has ceased; correct qi circulates; what is in decline has been exhausted.”

The disciple said: “Yes, yes.”

The Master said: “As of now in Heaven, the qi of the Upper Imperial Cavern-Plane has fully flourished; the yang sun is bright; deviant qi has ceased; correct qi circulates; what is in decline has been removed; De and the Dao belong to yang.”

The disciple asked: “Why does Heaven so urgently forbid burning mountain forests and thickets? I wish to hear the reason.”

The Master said: “Indeed. Mountains belong to the great yang (the solar yang); they are the backbone of the land and its sovereign. Among things rooted in the earth, trees are foremost—they too are sovereign and belong to yang. Fire is likewise the sovereign and chief among the Five Phases, and also belongs to yang. When the three sovereigns and three yangs meet one another, they mutually weaken and harm. Therefore Heaven urgently forbids burning mountain forests and thickets: when wood is not burned, yin remains within it. Yin is called the Mother, and thus rests below.”

The Master said: “The reason Heaven now sends out the first three earthly branches—zi, chou, and yin—with the greatest impetus is that when impetus is abundant, Fire reigns; when Fire reigns, the sun grows still brighter.”

Bing and Ding belong to fire and correspond to wood in the forest. If wood is not burned by fire, it remains in a yin state. Yin is called the “mother,” so its nature tends downward, toward stillness, and toward concealment.

Someone asked: Why does Heaven first let Zi, Chou, and Yin “rise” and flourish most abundantly? When flourishing is great, fire flourishes; when fire flourishes, the day grows brighter. Once Bing and Ding have flourished, why do Si and Wu also rejoice?

The answer: This is Heaven’s pattern and Heaven’s nature. When the mother’s qi is strong and holds sway, the child’s qi follows in accord. When the child follows, it receives qi from the mother for a long time and can extend life; therefore Heaven sets limits here. When yang is strong, yin and harmful influences daily wane; when yang weakens, yin and harmful influences daily rise. Cunning people often act at dusk and in the night—precisely when yang weakens and cunning rises. This is a clear sign. Heaven wishes to remove such harm, so it imposes restrictions; this is the natural order. What holds in Heaven holds on earth as well.

Another asked: When the three yangs mutually accord, why is the outcome instead inauspicious decline?

The answer: Well asked—you grasp the point. The three yangs mean heavenly yang, earthly yang, and human yang. If all three are purely yang without a trace of yin, all three are rulers without ministers, all three are male without female, this is called the path of extinction and the way of no posterity—classes cannot be passed on and mutual generation cannot continue, hence inauspicious. It is like having Heaven without earth, sun without moon, above without below, outside without inside; in Heaven this is named a “record of immediate collapse,” so it is regarded as evil and forbidden.

Another asked: This foolish student asks about this and is deeply afraid.

The answer: To know fear is the root of life; not to know fear is the gate of misfortune.

Answer: Yes, yes.

Someone asked: “May I ask: can the grass in the lower fields be burned?”

The answer: “Heaven does not forbid burning; it should be burned.”

They asked again: “Why must it be burned? I would like to hear the reason in detail.”

The answer: “It is like this. Grass is the Yin aspect of Wood, corresponding to the heavenly stem Yi. Wood corresponds to the heavenly stem Jia. Jia belongs to Yang and is of the same kind as Wood, so they correspond to each other. Yi belongs to Yin and is of the same kind as grass, so it corresponds to Yi. Yi fears Metal, for Metal can harm Wood; when Wood is harmed, Yang qi declines, and when Yang qi declines, deceit and wrongdoing arise—therefore the grass should be burned.

Furthermore, Heaven also says: Yi is Yin, grass is Yin, and the lower field is again the Yin of Earth. When three kinds of Yin gather together, they easily give rise to wickedness in mutual generation. Therefore Xuanwu dwells in the Yin position at the northern pole—when Yin reaches its extreme, Yang is born again in turn. Fire belongs to Yang; when Yin obtains Yang, things go smoothly and auspiciously, and good deeds can arise. Thus Heaven teaches people: burn the grass in the lower fields in order to welcome Yin and revive Yang—that is why it must be burned. Heaven acts in the same way.

Jia is Wood in Heaven, Yi is grass in Heaven. What is the relation of Yin and Mao? Yin also belongs to Yang and is Wood on Earth; Mao belongs to Yin and is grass on Earth. These four all govern movement in the east. Only the Yang side is called Wood, the Yin side is called grass—this is the principle of nature and also the meaning of Heaven’s scriptures. I dare not deceive the True Person. You inquire of Heaven to resolve doubts; I speak for Heaven. The two of us share one office, jointly ordering Yin and Yang, removing the ailments of Heaven and Earth, so that the sovereign need not suffer distress, and the myriad ten thousand things each find their place, all going forth with joy, without lingering grievance or entanglement.”

The questioner: “Excellent, excellent!”

The answer: “The True Person may be said to understand.”

Question: “I dare not, I dare not.”

Answer: “To learn and then inquire about the Dao—what is there to thank for?”

“Wei wei.”

(A respectful assent) “Yes, yes.”

“Tie it to the chest and heart; let it never leave.”

You must bind what you have received—teaching and principle—firmly in breast and mind, and not let it slip away for a moment.

“Excellent, excellent! Study has hit the right measure.”

Splendid, splendid! Learning has already matched the proper degree and proportion.

Heavenly Spirit’s Examination of Past Conduct and Correction of the Three Harmonies Secret (No. 211)

(Title sense: heavenly spirits review what has passed, adjust what is off, on the secret of “three harmonies”—the 211th item.)

“Today the good and gentle qi from heaven has arrived; they constantly worry over the people in their seasons.”

Now that benign, peaceful qi from above has come down, the spirits are always concerned for common people in each season of their lives.

“Excellent, excellent! Study has hit the right measure.”

Splendid, splendid! Learning has already matched the proper degree and proportion.

Heaven’s harmonious positive qi has now arrived, and the Most High constantly fears that people will deliberately violate the seasons and harm the qi that links heaven and earth. At present the spirits of heaven jointly register by name those who habitually take life—hunters, trappers, and fishers—who do not follow the Way of Heaven, do no good deeds, and persist in killing. Heaven reproaches them deeply, earth loathes their conduct, and the host of spirits likewise deem it wrong.

There is now concern that petty people, steeped in stubborn folly, can no longer be restrained and together defile and ruin the peaceful positive qi. Hence what heaven most urgently commands today is that the spirits of every department jointly record faults, noting each day’s actions, down to the smallest matters, and holding them to account. A mid-term review comes every three years, counting intercalary months together; a major review every five years. Heavy guilt is punished; lesser faults shorten life and deduct one’s allotted span. Three generations bring great order; five generations bring extinction. Therefore heaven now gathers the written mandates of the Three Dao and has the spirits jointly record transgressions, cutting off the love of killing and the abuse of punishments—and in their place raising peace and ease.

The same holds on earth. You, the True Person, are fortunate in doing good and always wish to have virtue before the August Heaven; you also pity the sovereign’s anguish and the disharmony of the seasons—yet the root calamity lies in people’s love of killing, hunting and trapping, fishing, and jointly imposing punishments, always harboring a heart at odds with heaven and earth. Hence long disorder and unrest, and sovereigns who never find lasting peace or ease—this is a grave offense. If you, True Person, wish always to merit heaven and show grace to the sovereign, know that heaven has already stored up the deep poison of disaster. The host of spirits instructed me to speak these words; therefore the scripture is now entrusted to you, the True Person, to be given to the ruler of virtue and shown to the world. Once people receive the scripture, each should look deeply within, reflect on their faults, and heed the words of heaven within it. The good and peaceful qi have now arrived; heaven does not delight in those who act as “jealous wrongdoers” (jizei). I know that heaven has issued this teaching; I dare not withhold it. Yet if I do not speak, I fear becoming a jizei myself and bringing calamity upon my own person—I dare not offend, and so report the truth. You True Persons must be careful. If you, True Person, do not speak, the calamity falls on you; if it is shown to ordinary people and the foolish choose to violate it, the calamity falls on them—heaven will not again lay the heavier blame on you, the True Person.

Brief gloss: Taiping jing—a major early Daoist classic; liangshan pingqi—the auspicious, harmonious qi sent from heaven; True Person (zhenren)—in the scripture, the practitioner who receives heaven’s revelation and transmits the teaching to the human realm; jian nian duo suan—shortening life and deducting one’s allotted “count” of years; jizei—in the scripture, those who oppose the Way of Heaven, especially through habitual killing.

Therefore, in all conduct there is sure retribution; all you Perfected Ones must be careful. If a Perfected One does not speak out and explain, the harm will fall upon the Perfected One; if one makes it plain to ordinary people and fools still choose to violate it, the harm rests on that person, and Heaven will not excessively blame the Perfected One further. From now on, Heaven will greatly deploy the host of spirits to carry out examination and governance of human affairs. In Heaven there are also three paths for gathering and recording documents of faults; spirits likewise have three paths for issuing documents that record faults; humans equally have three paths for issuing documents that record faults. Thus humans take Heaven as their model, and Heaven also takes humans as its model. Heaven, Earth, and humans each have their own tasks, emulating the spirits and also emulating their standards in practice. Therefore the vital essences of ghosts and spirits admonish people when admonition is needed, and they often rise together with Heaven, Earth, and humanity. Thus spirits respond to the qi of Heaven and move; essences and things respond to the qi of Earth and arise; ghosts respond to human government and contend. These three are emissaries sent by the central harmony of Heaven and Earth; they move with spirit and qi, come and go according to the season, pass through without obstruction, and where they travel cannot be fathomed. Therefore the Way of Heaven now transmits methods of governance utterly unlike those of antiquity: using present methods to divineness about ancient matters mostly misses; using ancient methods to divineness about present matters no longer hits true. Thus old scriptures decay and can hardly be used further; applied, they no longer align, while there are also gathered and preserved authentic scriptures in full. Therefore Heaven says: examine and verify the earlier, later, and middle portions, and take what is relatively better to clarify affairs so they accord with Heaven’s intent. After this, the Way of Heaven is upright, the kingly Way is complete, evil is wholly removed, emperors and kings greatly rejoice, the realm is without turmoil, and people themselves are careful to accord with Heaven’s intent. Perfected One, do you know how weighty this matter is? “Yes, yes.” “Excellent! You understand its meaning.”

Summary of this passage (right-hand scripture title)

This section belongs to a class of admonitions about “Heaven forbidding fire to promote life, cutting off punishments and killing, stopping hunting, and not going against the seasonal timing.” To violate the qi of the proper season is what Heaven detests; the meaning is recorded in talismanic mandates such as the “Scripture on Knowing Chu's Initial Reception of the Talisman and Renewal.”

Question from one of inferior understanding

“We who are dull and slow dare to ask: if the Dao of Heaven ought now to be complete—having nothing it lacks and nothing it excludes—what exactly does Heaven see? Why on one hand must all things be allowed to live and flourish, and on the other hand are punishments applied so urgently?”

Answer (on behalf of Heaven / the Dao)

“Well asked—you have hit the mark. I have always welcomed your questions; your words often lift up my intent and allow this Dao to flourish and spread.”

“If even you cannot question this deeply, who else could? For this reason the Dao of Heaven has long been cut off and blocked, and Heaven suffers greatly because of it.”

“I have brooded in sorrow for a long time, wishing to speak yet finding no one to hear me; thus the Dao of Heaven has lost its proper order—not for a single day, but year after year, right down to today. The turning of Heaven's mandate, in seeking to bring forth sages, has suffered for this as well.”

“When Heaven's turning brings forth sages, it is precisely so they may open their mouths and speak, and fully lift the ‘illness’ of Heaven.”

“Therefore True Persons (zhenren)—those who have received the Dao of Heaven and speak on Heaven's behalf—come of themselves to meet with me, and only then can I set forth the whole message of the Dao of Heaven for all to hear. You alone often penetrate Heaven's intent most deeply. Please sit at ease; I will explain this Dao to you in detail. I would not wish to say much, for I fear Heaven's awesome authority (tianwei); yet since you have asked, I cannot but speak, hiding nothing. The True Person understands this as well, does he not?”

True Person: “Yes, yes (wei wei).”

Good—you have understood.

Heaven now fully favors the growth of all things because the Way of Heaven (Tiandao) has always contained the law of the “three qi.” The first qi favors birth and is called Yang; the second favors completion and is called He (harmony); the third favors “killing”—that is, reaping and storing—and is called Yin. Heaven therefore presides over generation; human beings preside over nurturing and bringing things to fulfillment; once fulfillment is reached, there must be “killing,” meaning harvest and storage. Heaven, Earth, and humanity share one task, bound together and depending on one another: without Yang there is no birth, without He there is no completion, without Yin there is no storing. The three qi are like one household—never to be parted even for an instant—and together they give form to the ten thousand two thousand kinds of things. This is the root, the middle, and the outcome of the Way of Heaven.

From the first opening of the Way of Heaven, the great cycles turn and return, and in the end they converge upon “the human” and converge upon Yang. Yang loves life and hates killing; the living must dwell in peace and ease before heart and heart can unite and give birth to one another. If killing qi intrudes in the middle, it harms people and mutual generation cannot occur. To see whether this is true, compare it to a child in the womb: the slightest injury can destroy life; once dead, it cannot live again; if one is cast away, harm spreads without end, the line is cut off and there are no descendants, and the whole house loses its succession. That is why Heaven is especially urgent about “punishment and killing.” The Way of Heaven is not always like this, but the present situation is extremely pressing, so the Perfected One (Zhenren) must distinguish it again in detail, so that people of later ages may truly awaken to the Way of Heaven. The intent now is not to desire killing anymore; therefore the Perfected One must explain again. If ordinary people only chase literary polish and clever speech, that will not do—so the proof of “executing Heaven’s mandate” (or the verification of heavenly punishment) must be set forth for them again.

Counting from Jiazi: Jiazi is the correct alignment of Heaven—day-qi at the winter solstice first returns to the root; Yichou is the correct alignment of Earth—all things send out roots and shoots; Bingyin is the correct alignment of Humanity—at daybreak a person first rises and opens the door to take up office. All three belong to the affairs of Heaven, Earth, and humanity. Hence the verification of executing Heaven’s mandate must be stated again.

Yichou is the day of “earth beginning”; the ten thousand things here spread their root-qi. Bingyin is the day of “human beginning”; at the hour of dawn people should rise early and open the door to their duties. These three—Heaven, Earth, and Humanity—are each the opening of first birth and the root of the ten thousand things. First birth belongs to Yang; Yang is rooted in the original qi of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity together.

Therefore Qian, Kan, Gen, and Zhen (four trigrams) lie on the northeast side; the qi of “harmony” gathers between Kan and Gen, and Yin and Yang unite to be born at the center. Whoever carries a pregnancy has the head above and feet below, the belly in the middle; fetal qi dwells slightly below the place of central harmony. What belongs to Yang and unites goes out first, issuing its form-qi and casting toward the other direction—this is exactly where the three qi of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity first arise and where the ten thousand things renew; between above and below there must not be punitive-killing qi dwelling within.

(In the scripture, “stop” and “rise” mark section breaks.) One should place virtue-qi and Yang-qi there so the ten thousand things can fully live; if there is baleful qi within, harm follows at once—hence punitive-killing qi must be driven outside.

Now the Great Cycle of the Dao renews: above and below are governed by pure Yang, so punishments must be cut off urgently. Heaven is called spirit (shen); Yang is also called spirit—so today spirit governs people. True person, do you wish to know whether my book-text accords with Heaven? From now on, whoever violates my book-text and delights in punitive killing—[as said:] the Great Cycle renews, pure Yang governs Heaven and Earth, punishments are cut off urgently; Heaven is called spirit, Yang is called spirit, spirit governs people. True person, do you wish to know if my book-text accords with Heaven? From now on, those who violate my book-text and delight in punitive killing will also be examined in Heaven.

People on earth will examine all the more urgently; spirits will examine too. Though Heaven above and earth below are in different places, they conspire in one affair; though ghosts and spirits do not share a household with people, they will conspire together—this is because the qi of Heaven’s balance is about to arrive. Heaven’s first qi renews beginning in Heaven above; earth’s first qi renews beginning under the earth; humanity’s first qi renews beginning at the center. These three qi are just when all begin to be born together—they do not wish to see punitive, baleful, or fierce qi; all wish to see joyful qi—hence from now on Heaven and Earth rejoice and cut off punishment. True person, do you understand?

Answer: Yes, yes. This dull student is in the dark—I thought Heaven above was swift with people because evil forbids punitive killing.

Unexpectedly, heaven, earth, and humanity all dwell within the “qi of gestation in the womb”—this is the primordial root from which the myriad things begin anew. On hearing the Celestial Master speak thus, the disciple was deeply fearful and unsettled. The Celestial Master said: “You know fear—that can be called awakening; you also grasp the meaning of the Dao of Heaven. Well done! Those who understand must cherish this admonitory text and must never break or lose it, for that would bring harm upon themselves.” The disciple answered again and again, “Yes—I dare not, I dare not.” The Celestial Master said again: “Go—and take care to honor it repeatedly. When ordinary people pursue learning, they do so for their own sake; they must comply with the patterns of the Dao of Heaven.” The disciple assented humbly. He said again: “Take this heavenly prohibition out into the world; do not hoard it privately.” The disciple assented humbly. The disciple asked: “May I ask why the Dao of Heaven especially treats the present as the Great Cycle and the primordial beginning, and still uses a greater reckoning to verify and correct the statutes?” The Celestial Master said: “Your question is good—you truly can receive the intent of Heaven. Now is the time above the five yang, when yang qi is on the rise; it is also the start of the five fires. The uppermost layer of fire corresponds to Heaven—the color in which sun and moon appear. Fire’s red matches Heaven’s color: Heaven is red, fire is red; red is called spirit (shen). Heaven and spirit are constantly in flourishing state—they obtain the root origin of the ten thousand affairs. Hence the eleventh month is ‘Heaven’s orthodox month’ (tianzheng); the same holds above in Heaven. Therefore the qi of the myriad things shows red; red means the sun begins its turning back. The qi of the initial nine belongs to jiazi, the head of the six jia (liujia). Jia stands for jing (essence)—the heart of the ten thousand affairs—so jia is first generated from within zi and rises upward to become the heart star. The essential soul of fire is the human heart. The human heart is numinous because the numinous human heart is most honored, most good, and most true. Thus only the numinous human heart can craft the ten thousand affairs and serve as the foremost sovereign.

Sacred method arises from a single mind and leaves nothing unexplained. What is most abundant in the red hue corresponds to Heaven, the sun, and the heart. Heaven, the sun, and the heart stay ever bright and illuminate all things without exception. From now on, those who practice this Way will see deceit and perversity cut off entirely.

Yang qi is born within yin darkness. Therefore yang qi rises in the north, emerges in the east, flourishes in the south, and wanes in the west—such is Heaven’s constant pattern.

Question: I wish to hear why yang qi is said to be born in yin darkness.

Answer: Whatever lives must return to its root; only when yin and yang unite can life arise. What is about to be born all reverts to its beginning. When Heaven and Earth had not yet separated, at the very first moment, there were still no upper and lower realms or the three luminaries of sun and moon; above and below were one obscure void, and within that void there was no differentiated structure (fenli). Though there was no fenli, within it yin and yang already upheld one another in upper and lower, left and right, inner and outer—mutually sustaining yet not yet distinguished. Only when yin and yang upheld each other did life first arise; their issuing forth was deep and undifferentiated, with no separation. Once birth had occurred, then head and limbs took form. From this one knows how things were at the first arising of yin and yang. Hence when a person is about to transform and give birth to new life, all go toward quiet, obscure places—so that Heaven may keep them from forgetting their root. When a person first receives the law of Heaven and Earth, that prior state is their origin; therefore Heaven keeps them from forgetting it.

Question: Having seen the words of the Imperial Celestial Master (Huang Tianshi), I now understand fenli.

Answer: You, sir, may be said to have been shown this clearly and understand it easily.

Question: May I ask why yang and fire alone are spoken of as “paired in the five” (wu)?

Answer: Those who circulate qi each have their own wu pairing; it is not fire alone. Metal and fire are the chief wu; they belong to the Red Emperor’s lineage. Is this not what the Book of Heavenly Policy (Tiance shu) says? “Bingwu and Dingsi are the ancestral beginning.”

Brief note: This section explains the principle that yang qi is born in yin darkness and returns to the original beginning: before Heaven and Earth divided, yin and yang were one; human life too should, in obscure stillness, not forget that first root. It also treats metal and fire as the chief wu, with bingwu and dingsi as the ancestral beginning, in correspondence with the Red Emperor and the Tiance shu.

Plain-Language Commentary

“Beginning” (shi) means what comes first, the opening—hence the scripture speaks of “ancestral beginning” (zu shi). The start of all things arises from Red Qi, the pure yang qi in its first stirring. When the heart can see through to things clearly, yang is born within yin and shares that same power of penetrating illumination. Water looks dark on the outside yet bright within; it can shine through because it holds yang essence (yang jing). Yang first rises from the north, yin from the south—underground warmth in the eleventh month, underground cold in the fifth.

“Yin and yang are just beginning—why do they not appear in heaven, and why does the text say they are rightly in the earth?”

“A good question. Earth is the mother; the father’s gift is received in the mother, hence within yin. The yang essence the father bestows is the same in kind as what issues from heaven. Yang’s work is to transform and generate qi; qi is fine and hard to see. Only when it enters yin does it take form and become plainly visible—so the record speaks only of what is within yin, not of yang separately.”

“Today rain and snow also come from heaven. Yang transforms and generates qi, which is subtle and unseen; entering yin it takes shape and then can be seen—so we note what is in yin, not yang alone.”

“Today’s rain and snow follow the same path of imparting transformation, and we say we see it when we see it—can the yang imparting, being subtle, really be invisible?”

“You speak well; your intent is rare. I meant to explain this in detail for the true person (zhenren), yet feared revealing too much of Heaven’s way (tiandao), so I did not tell you. I also feared resentment in the true person’s heart. To be teacher or one in high place is hard. Please sit at ease; I will outline it for you: when heaven makes rain and snow, it is only the breath of inhaling and exhaling; yin and yang must meet in mutual exchange before transformation is imparted—then rain and snow can be seen. At that time heavenly qi descends and earthly qi rises; they unite in imparting transformation, so rain and snow have visible form.”

“May I ask: sometimes mountain collapse and cloud surges are also visible—yet you say (yang imparting) cannot be seen—why? I did not wish to ask, but distress in my heart made me ask everything. The disciple is not lacking in humility; without asking, one cannot know. When one should ask, one asks, without doubt.”

“Good. I will outline for you; I cannot tell it all. Cloud, rain, and mountain collapse are when yin is excessively strong, angry, and cannot restrain itself, harming yang and turning into ill omens—not a wholesome change.”

Harm to hua (transformation—the way heaven and earth generate and change all things) comes from yin qi going wrong and yin being injured. The principle can be traced further and further, yet it never runs out of things to say.

When, for example, rain and clouds lash the mountains until they collapse, that is yin qi running too strong—anger out of control, unable to restrain itself—and so it injures yang qi. What follows is change turning into disaster; that is not wholesome hua.

In the same way, harm to the way of hua is again yin’s fault and yin’s wound. A Zhenren (Perfected One) need not keep pressing “how far does it go?” The subtlety of Tiandao (the Way of Heaven) cannot be exhausted by minute inspection or by saying every last word.

(The spirit says:) Think carefully yourself about what this means.

(The disciple answers:) Yes, yes.

(The spirit says:) Go.

The True Person bowed again and asked respectfully: “Celestial Master, I wish to inquire: when the atmosphere of Great Peace (the upright qi that accompanies universal peace) descends upon the world, what kind of person is fit to receive and spread the teaching, and what kind is not?”

The Celestial Master said: “Well asked. The Dao for human beings is like wind and rain: go along with it and you benefit; if you do not follow, that is all there is to it. Those who are glad to practice the Way are the right people; those who are not glad to practice are not the right people. In practice, those for whom the Way opens easily without great strain are the right people; those whose hearts stay shut, who never break through, who accomplish nothing day after day, are not the right people. To practice the Way is auspicious; not to practice is inauspicious—this speaks on the level of ‘the right person.’ If one does not practice the Way, that person may still enjoy ordinary peace and not suffer so many illnesses; but after taking up the Way, if illnesses multiply instead, that shows they were not someone suited to practice. In caring for body and mind, ordinary people cannot afford to observe carelessly.”

“The Dao is the warrant and talisman of the upright person; illness and demonic agents, by contrast, are crooked paths—they harm the good like thieves. Sometimes one sees another walk the straight path yet grows angry and quarrels—what is straight for others, one will not do for oneself, and instead drifts among peers—here one cannot be careless or fail to examine closely. To obtain the Dao is auspicious; to lose it is inauspicious. The mandate of life and death must not be changed lightly; one cannot but be serious.”

The True Person replied: “Good, good! Your disciple understands.”

The Celestial Master continued: “Since you have asked about these difficulties, I will tell you the essentials of Heaven’s Way. This Way of mine can long nurture people because some delight in the Dao, delight in De (Virtue/Power), and delight in benevolence—they do not cling much to miscellaneous affairs and single-mindedly cherish life. It is chiefly such people whom the Way rightly nurtures and guards for long. For those below this level, this Way of mine cannot nurture them for long.”

The True Person asked again: “Why is that? Is the human Way not all-embracing? Why does it seem to favor only these few—who in worldly matters care only for preserving life, yet the Dao rightly nurtures and guards them for long?”

(At this point the original text may show repetition or damage from copying; in meaning the question is: if Heaven’s Way covers everyone, why does ‘long nurturing’ appear to have a bias? The Celestial Master has already indicated in the preceding passage that only those who can delight in the Dao, De, and benevolence and devote themselves to preserving life align with the ‘long-lasting Way’; the rest are hard to sustain for long.)

(Plain-language interpretation)

(The preceding passage said that) among people below these three kinds, my Dao cannot sustain them for long.

(Question) Why is that? The human way is supposed to cover and reach everyone without exception—so why favor only these three kinds and not the others?

(Answer) You ask well; you’ve hit the point. When the Great Dao appears, everyone is bathed in its grace; even grass and trees feel it. Nothing fails to turn toward goodness; each person receives what is due and can live out a full lifespan.

(Question) Why can people who lack morality and benevolence (Ren) not be sustained for long? What is the reason?

(Answer) Precisely because they do not love morality and do not love benevolence.

(Question) Why can people who love morality and benevolence be sustained for long? I would like to hear the principle behind this.

(Answer) You understand how things work! That question goes to the heart of the matter. Listen carefully; I will explain it to you step by step.

(Question) Yes, yes.

(Answer) Those who love morality and benevolence—all three kinds share a destiny tied to the “Three Regulators” (Santong): those who delight in the Dao have a destiny that belongs to Heaven; those who delight in De (Virtue/Power) and can nourish the ten thousand things have a destiny that belongs to Earth; those who delight in benevolence have a destiny that belongs to Humanity. These three align with the harmonizing current of yin and yang; their names are entered in the celestial registers above. That is why the gods of Heaven say my scripture can sustain them. If one’s conduct is not like this and one’s name is not in the registers, my scripture cannot sustain one for long. Now the qi of Great Peace has arrived; deceit and selfishness are no more, so the wicked are no longer sustained for long—not as in earlier times of internal turmoil, when even the wicked could still be tolerated and sustained.

(Question) I wish to hear you finish what you have to say.

(Answer) When treacherous, evil qi holds sway, it can oddly sustain the wicked for a long time, yet it cannot sustain the good for long—because disasters are many and the good are few, like when severe cold sets in and warmth fades. Now upright qi has arrived, so the wicked cannot be sustained for long—just as when yang qi rises, yin qi is extinguished. When the red qi above reaches the sun, that is the essential power of the lord of fire; the lord of fire is the light above that becomes the sun.

The sun’s role is to illuminate and to expose wrongdoing and wicked people, which is why people say that one cannot do evil under the sun—where there is light, the wicked cannot act as they please.

Dao governs generation and growth, De governs nurturing and sustaining, and Ren (benevolent care) governs the heart’s devoted attention; only then does loving-kindness arise. Spring governs sprouting and growth, summer governs nurturing and maturing; human beings, for their part, apply the heart to govern, tend, and foster all things. Everything the sun generates, nurtures, and helps to flourish depends on “applying the heart”—it is the most taxing labor—and that is precisely the meaning of what was said above.

Someone said, “Excellent, excellent! May this foolish student hear your instructions once more?”

One sat composed and said: “I will offer you further commentary and clarification.” The student of the Way answered again and again, “Yes, yes.”

There is one matter in learning the Dao: what is great belongs in Heaven, what is middling belongs among the spirits and deities, what is small belongs among human beings.

There is one matter in learning De (Virtue/Power): what is great belongs in Heaven, what is middling belongs among the spirits and deities, what is small belongs among human beings.

There is one matter in learning Ren (humaneness): what is great belongs in Heaven, what is middling belongs among the spirits and deities, what is small belongs among human beings.

There is one matter in learning official duty (or “learning to govern”): what is great belongs in Heaven, what is middling belongs among the spirits and deities, what is small belongs among human beings.

In hoarding livestock and amassing wealth and property: most of it is in Heaven, much in the middle is among the spirits and deities, and most of what is small is among human beings.

Within these five concerns, the great, middling, and small each have their proper place; in the end it all comes down to assigning strength and life to Heaven, De to Earth, and Ren to humanity. Hold to these three lines in self-cultivation: with a worthy mind and good intent, turn them over in thought and hold them single-mindedly—then the body can be perfected; accumulate and gather, and spirit (Shen) will arise of itself; guard and nourish, and the Dao will form of itself; delight in and cherish it, and the body will flourish of itself. The Way of Heaven is neither close nor distant; it entrusts itself only to the good person.

If this body too is guided by a worthy mind and good intent, thought upon and held in mind, the body can be perfected; accumulated and gathered, spirit will arise of itself; guarded and nourished, the Dao will form of itself; delighted in and cherished, the body will flourish of itself. The Way of Heaven is neither close nor distant; it is entrusted to the good person.

Therefore Heaven, by its own power, moves the Dao and completes one full circuit each day. The reason for that daily circuit is that the birth and completion of the myriad things all depend on the Six Jia, the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), and the four seasons—being born according to the hours, the five seasonal movements, and the four seasons. If a single breath of Qi does not arrive, things are not whole; birth is incomplete and harmony fails. For one who is ruler, superior, or parent, lack of harmony brings great fault. Hence Heaven completes one circuit in a day and personally goes forth to oversee it. The reason it goes forth in person is like this: Zi (the Earth Branch “Zi”) belongs to Water. If there were only the Qi of Water and it had not circulated everywhere, the Qi of the Five Phases would be insufficient and the Qi of the four seasons would not be complete—then it must move and oversee in person.

When Jia is placed upon it, there is the phase of Wood and the Qi of spring; when Bing is placed upon it, there is the phase of Fire and the Qi of summer; when Wu is placed upon it, there is the phase of Earth and the Qi of the central season among the four; when Geng is placed upon it, there is the phase of Metal and the Qi of autumn; when Ren is placed upon it, there is the phase of Water and the Qi of winter—only when these are all aligned do the Qi of the Five Phases and the four seasons complete their circuit, and the myriad things can be fully born.

When Ren occupies the upper position, it stands for the Water phase and winter qi; when Bing occupies the upper position, for the Fire phase and summer qi; when Wu occupies the upper position, for the Earth phase and the qi of the four seasons and the center; when Geng occupies the upper position, for the Metal phase and autumn qi; and when Ren again occupies the upper position, once more for Water and winter qi. In this way the “five bodies” (wu shen) complete their cycle, the “four seasonal qi” (si qi) fully appear, and only then can the myriad things be born and transformed.

Heaven and Earth distribute transformation evenly; whether high or low, great or small, all are treated alike, so there is no strife. For that reason such a person can be leader and parent to the multitude. Anyone who practices the Way and virtue and keeps a humane heart should take this as their model so as to accord with heaven’s intent—they must not act lightly or rashly. If the way of heaven is like this, how much more so for human beings? Thus the upper adept (shang shi) models heaven and walks the Dao (the Way); the middle adept (zhong shi) models earth and cultivates De (Virtue/Power); the lower adept (xia shi) models humanity and practices benevolence (ren). Below that level one is no longer truly human—like birds, beasts, and plants, with no fixed destiny.

When a Perfected Person (Zhenren) receives my scriptures, they should reflect deeply on their core meaning, follow circumstances without leaning into one-sided “goodness,” and so share one heart with heaven and do heaven’s work. Whoever violates my scriptures is hated by heaven and earth, and I cannot bear them either. What my scriptures reject is exactly this kind of defiance. The Perfected Person must be careful: pass the scriptures to upper adepts, then present them to the county magistrate, and show them to ordinary people. From now on, heaven is not what it was in ancient times.

(The Celestial Emperor) said: “Excellent! Excellent!”

On the essentials of what to do and what to avoid in the Taiping (Great Peace) teachings on distinction

Question: Not eating yet being full, living long and even attaining enduring life without death—this is a method for enriching the state and nourishing the people. If you wish not to eat, you must first put methods of guiding and extending life (daoming) in the foreground, then rely on retaining qi (cunqi, storing and holding breath) so that without food you can still feel full, live long, and even attain enduring life—the same path of enriching the state and nourishing the people. After ingesting qi (fuqi) or taking medicine, for the first three days you feel slightly hungry; on the seventh day you still feel a little hunger. After ten days, that counts as a small accomplishment: you are no longer confused and have turned away from death toward life.

After ingesting qi or taking medicine, for anything with form that is hard to digest, limit yourself to eating it once; for formless things (such as qi or medicine), it is better to eat little. After more than a hundred days you may not eat at all—this is called the “Way of inexhaustibility,” and it also assists the ruler in nourishing the people and the lord who sustains heaven and earth. Eating little is auspicious; eating much is inauspicious. Not eating at all is also inauspicious, because the intestines and stomach do not flow freely. The method for opening the bowels: one meal a day is moderate; two meals is excessive; three is inferior; four meals and the bowels swell; five meals and great hunger arises; six meals is greatly inauspicious—every illness arises from this, and in years of great famine you will die.

After restraining food for a thousand days, the large and small intestines are both full and you never lack what you need. Illnesses are all removed, complexion improves, and nothing is forbidden. In antiquity, those who attained the Dao mostly did so through not eating. Ruler and subject, common people—enough to settle body and mind and fulfill their roles; the rich enough to preserve wealth, the poor enough to preserve life. When the noble person practices this, in good years there is peace and joy; in bad years there is no danger of ruin.

People speak of three fates (ming), yet often do not know themselves: The three daily meals are what sustain life. Skip the morning meal and one fate is cut off; skip the daytime meal and two fates are cut off; skip the evening meal and three fates are cut off. Three days without eating cuts off all nine fates. You must not hoard goods or treasure treasures—this is tied to hunger. Great rise of treachery and evil often begins here.

If you use our Way: All affairs govern themselves; in good years you can increase profit, in bad years you can preserve the people. You should constantly gather in the stomach and intestines so that walking and moving remain easy.

Plain-Language Interpretation

Between heaven and earth, the myriad things each have their own “spirit” (inner numinosity and principle of operation); what rises as light ascends to heaven and becomes the stars, and people may read safety and danger from the star patterns.

Heaven and earth follow fixed laws: the six jia, the five phases, and the seasons’ measures can be used to foretell what is to come, to rescue decline and disorder and to guard against harm before it breaks out.

In serving a lord as minister or a father as son, there are broadly eight great merits and great faults:

One: Seeing that lord or father is in decline and saving them so they flourish again is a great merit; knowing they decline yet not saving them, or instead abandoning them, is called “leading delusion” (chang yao)—the offense cannot be expunged.

Two: (The original text begins “the third matter” here) Knowing the lord has faults and that harm is coming, and saving them so the harm does not occur, is a great merit; knowing yet not saving is called “leading calamity” (chang xiong)—the offense cannot be expunged.

Three: Knowing the lord’s governance has lost its essentials and disasters follow one after another, and helping restore correct order is what a discerning minister should do; knowing yet not saving—the offense cannot be expunged.

Four: Knowing the lord is young and his talent not yet sufficient, and helping him grow in wisdom and assisting in governing, is as one should act; knowing yet not helping him become worthy, and instead saying “beyond my strength,” is called disloyalty and weakening the superior—the offense cannot be expunged.

Five and six: Knowing the lord is old and heavenly lifespan is nearing its end and being concerned for him, seeking distant great worthies and extraordinary inner methods so the lord may extend life, is a great merit; knowing one could act yet not doing so, and instead speaking falsely of fortune and disaster, is an offense all the heavier. (This passage repeats in the original with the same meaning.)

Seven: As minister, knowing the superior is in peril, or that governance has gaps or errors, and jointly correcting and investigating those faults, is a great merit; knowing yet not saving, and seeking only to escape for oneself, is unfilial and disloyal—the offense reaches one’s descendants.

Eight: When parents are ill, knowing through divination and physiognomy, and exerting full effort and essence to save them; knowing yet not saving—heaven will punish severely.

In sum: Heaven and earth have images and numbers that may be divined; in human affairs one should first know calamity and save it. As minister or son, to know danger or decline and not save aligns with “leading delusion,” “leading calamity,” and “disloyalty”—all grave offenses in the Scriptures of Great Peace.

The Ninth Matter: When parents are old and their lives are drawing to a close, children should recognize that little time remains. They should travel far to seek worthy teachers and do what they can so their parents’ bodies may still stay strong—this is what a filial child ought to do. Children are fed and raised by their parents; they should repay that with devoted care. To give real effort here is great merit.

The Tenth Matter: When you clearly see someone’s fortune failing and great disaster approaching, yet you go to save them, help them rise again, and offer them extraordinary plans and inward methods of good practice so they are no longer crushed by grief—that too is great merit. If you know and still do not save, that debt of wrong cannot be cleared. As sons and daughters, to see parents in mortal peril and turn away, seeking your own ease and pleasure, is no different from beasts. How could such a person stand among the three powers—Heaven, Earth, and Humanity—and carry on the Way of Heaven and Earth? For this reason the sage appears in the world, transmits precepts and teaching, urges people toward good, and cuts off wickedness, so that the calamities of Heaven and Earth may be stilled and the Three Luminaries (sun, moon, and stars), the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), and the stars may each keep their proper place—is that mere empty talk? Heaven has already sent down writs to transform disasters and turn people toward the good path; that is why I instruct the True Person to bring forth books. Heaven commands me to speak the Great Dao openly and not hide or withhold it. The great cycle of Heaven and Earth is now turning anew; calamities should pass away and no remnant of evil or plague should remain. Therefore people are taught to collate what is good in ancient and modern collections of writing and fix it as scripture of utmost depth (dongji); what is good in the content must not be changed further—not even sages may alter its wording. That wording is itself the language of Heaven and Earth and Yin-Yang, meant to instruct rulers and the worthy and to urge diligent cultivation until there is great peace. What is meant by “concealing” is that when a worthy ruler receives the scripture, he holds it in his heart, applies it under Heaven, nourishes the ten thousand things, and brings about peace.

If people attribute their achievements to the Supreme Lord (Shangdi), their goodness and virtue will be as secure as treasure hidden in a deep stone chamber. What heaven produces that is good necessarily finds a fitting and worthy home, just as pearls and jade are kept for rulers; what is coarse and inferior is cast aside by people. How much more so when people do good—would heaven not cherish them? Would rulers not value them?

Now there is limitless heaven above, limitless heaven in the middle, limitless heaven below, and limitless heaven extending on every side. Laws established on this pattern apply all the more when the qi of the three paths (heaven, earth, and humanity) gathers and deliberates together, matching the three positions of the three powers of heaven, earth, and humanity. When the age of Great Peace arrives, heaven rejoices and rulers enjoy long life. This path has spirits protecting heaven and earth; responsive virtue answers every good influence; moral power grows daily while falsehood fades; treacherous ministers and redundant officials are eliminated. Every unworthy minister is removed, myriad goods come of themselves, the five phases are harmonious, and the four seasons keep their proper climate.

Its policies and laws must begin from the root. The root is the “human image of spirit” between heaven and earth—spirit appears in human form, and each person has his allotted place. Good and evil from pavilions, districts, townships, and counties are gathered; what people prefer and what they suffer each has its source. Affairs are investigated on the spot; investigation makes each side’s strengths and weaknesses clear, and gain and loss as plain as sun and moon. Therefore the great teaching calls everyone to assemble and discuss; the worthy and unworthy alike handle matters fairly together. In every province, county, township, and neighborhood of the realm, “sealed boxes” are set up—today’s petition boxes and suggestion boxes—so that the myriad people, each according to his talent, write and state directly their hardships, benefits and harms, and what is feasible or not, and place their writings in the box. The chief officials then select and record them and submit them to the Son of Heaven, so the ruler learns the people’s likes and dislikes, who is worthy or not, and what helps or harms them; matters can be gathered for deliberation and governance. Then the qi of Great Peace arrives, blessing reaches the ruler and the myriad people, and the twelve thousand categories of things each find their proper place. “Sealed box” means today’s petition box (huì hán).

Plain-Language Commentary

Heaven’s way sometimes runs tight and sometimes loose—and human affairs follow the same pattern. When heaven’s way is “tight,” wind, rain, thunder, and lightning arrive on their proper schedule; when people ought to act with urgency, they too should move at once and meet things on time. What must be handled urgently should be reported in timely accord with heaven’s law—through urgent memorials (ci) that return one to proper duty and accept reward or punishment; what may proceed slowly follows the celestial reckoning, counting the eighth month as a single day. Such is the law of Yin-Yang; such is the human way.

Inside every person’s belly dwells a “Son of Heaven.” The five qi each have their lord, as a ruler holds to what is right. In the body, this “lord in the belly” is the heart (xin)—lord of the five viscera, root of spirit and qi, pivot of the whole person. When the heart holds to goodness, the person stays clear and still; when the heart is restless and delights in what is crooked, inwardly there are wandering thoughts and evil.

If one holds to good conduct and quiet self-possession—seeking nothing wrongly without, keeping upright within—one can meet the “king” (the heart) in the belly. That is ming (illumination): the ability to turn and see one’s own heart. When heart and inner king meet, life is lengthened and affairs go smoothly; failure to meet the king is deviation; when one no longer keeps in touch with that king, everything goes wrong and life ends early.

Now the virtue of the sun is at its height: above and below are without limit, and the eight directions all lie open. The light of true spirit (shen) and true essence (jing) comes forth to assist the ruler in governing, so that shanghuang dongping qi—the supreme, penetrating, peaceful breath—may appear; a sight seldom seen. The good enjoy long life; beings no longer die young without cause; evil spirits are extinguished; under heaven there are no longer people sick with illness born of violent injustice—is that only a tale?

When a ruler governs in this way, he can draw down shanghuang dongping qi; when the good live long and nothing dies wrongfully and evil spirits vanish—such great peace the world has rarely truly witnessed.