《太平经合校》Vol. 15

Years Without Calamity

The years pass in peace, free from disaster.

Later Generations Who Attain the Dao, Each with Their Own Rank; at the Summit, Saints and Perfected Immortals

Those who learn the Way in later ages, once they attain the Dao, differ in grade and rank; when they reach the utmost limit, they become saints and perfected immortals (zhenren xianren).

In the Age of the Three Sovereigns of Antiquity, All Had Clear Qi and Knew Heaven and Earth’s Deepest Truth. They Spoke Little, and Lived Myriad Years Without Harm

In the age of the Three Sovereigns of antiquity, everyone’s vital energy (Qi) was clear and refined, and they deeply understood heaven and earth’s innermost truth. They did not talk much, and lived ten thousand years without calamity.

In the Age of the Three Sovereigns… Therefore the Sages and Worthies Were Deeply Alarmed

In the age of the Three Sovereigns, people’s Qi was clear and they knew heaven and earth’s deepest truth. Therefore they all studied the true Way, so they could align their hearts with heaven and earth. Seeking the Way takes stillness as the foundation: when mind and spirit are clear and united with the Dao, everything opens wide, bright as daylight; without learning its Way, it is like being shut in a dark room, unable to tell direction. Therefore sages and worthies were deeply alarmed at this.

When the Wicked Enter the Way… Their Offenses Cannot Be Wiped Away

When wicked people enter the Way, they corrupt the good—like a clumsy craftsman ruining fine timber, or a clumsy woman ruining good cloth, so that in the end no good deed is done. Wicked and good stand opposed, as when ordinary people eat fine food and grow strong; the sick find food bitter and refuse it, and in time they die. To make the wicked listen to good words of encouragement is like setting a feast before one about to die—they only grow more vicious. The good rejoice to see the good; the worthy rejoice to see the worthy; the wise rejoice to see the wise; the wicked and the treacherous likewise rejoice in their own kind. When children and sons do not fully serve their parents with heart, when disciples do not fully serve their teachers with heart, when subjects do not fully serve their rulers with heart—these three kinds of wrong conduct cannot be cleared of guilt.

The Spirit Is Preserved Through the Dao… Their Offenses Cannot Be Wiped Away

The spirit is preserved whole through the Dao; each kind finds joy in its own. When children, disciples, and subjects do not serve parents, teachers, and rulers with full heart, these three wrongs cannot be cleared of offense.

Spirit is made whole through the Dao; the body is extended and preserved through method.

The Dao embraces both inner and outer; from it spirit and vital essence arise.

There is nowhere the Dao does not guide; nothing the Dao does not generate.

What is meant here by “earthly forms” is three kinds: water, earth, and stone.

Those who ascend heaven and leave the world behind experience time differently from ordinary people: at the highest level, ten thousand years count as one day; next, one thousand years as one day; then one hundred years as one day; and lower still, even ten days as one day.

The Neipin Xiuzhen Mijue (Secret Methods of Inner-Grade Cultivation) in the Taiping Jing says: before ascending, great perfected ones of the Upper Clarity each take their benming (natal destiny) day and practice the four grades of secret methods; afterward they tread the Dipper stars and walk the terrestrial registers, ascend the Gate of Heaven, enter the Golden Gate and Jade Terrace, and only then take the seat of holy lord.

The Taiping Jing also records: the perfected lord receives the command of the Primordial Lord (Yuanshi), the divine light and precious scripture, commands the celestial soldiers, and gathers in the passes of heaven and the axis of earth (the vital pivots of heaven and earth).

The two demon kings suddenly appeared: one as a dark turtle like a great ao, its form changing five times; one as a serpent ten thousand zhang tall, its form changing three times. The perfected lord rose into the air, stepped the Dipper and trod the celestial circuit, transformed into a body a thousand zhang high, and swung the Sword of the Kui Star (the character in the original is corrupt) to charge the two demons. Each demon shrank its form: the turtle to the size of a fist, five inches; the serpent to the length of a whip, three feet; they merged into one and were trampled under the perfected lord’s foot. The text also details the demons’ transformations: the dark turtle five times (golden light, green jade, grey-yellow, green-blue, dragon head on an ao body, and so on); the great serpent three times (golden with red scales, green-blue with golden threads, chi-dragon head with grey-yellow body and gold and jade between the scales, and so on).

The operation of Shen (spirit) follows the Dao (the Way); success does not come from De (Virtue/Power) alone. Therefore: one who takes the Dao as guide responds to the numinous and sees clearly; one who speaks only of De without aligning with the Dao easily falls into mutual scheming and divided intentions between spirits and ghosts. When Dao and De are viewed separately, the picture is clearer—the “spirit” one holds in mind and the person depend on each other, inner and outer correspond, and these relations can in principle be noticed and checked against one another.

A great spirit is like a loyal minister in the state: assisting governance and holding a public office—only then does one deserve the title great spirit. If a great spirit harbors the slightest private motive, once the Heavenly Sovereign (Tianjun, heaven’s ruler) knows, that spirit will be withdrawn; hence great spirits dare not slacken. Lesser spirits stand lower still—how could they act willfully or seek ease for themselves?

The spirit of the Four Seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter)—the numinous Qi and divine intent of each season—is like wind and water: it shows as upright or crooked according to the human heart. When people are upright, these forces are upright; when people are crooked, they turn crooked. So the right person must be found before affairs can stand firm; when the person is wrong, the Dao is hard to carry out. Water naturally takes square or round shape from its vessel—it has no fixed form; wind and influence likewise shift good or evil with how people are governed—this is plain warning. The spirits of Heaven and Earth, together with wind and influence, all change with the person—again a clear admonition to stay alert.

(The source text repeated the passage from “how could lesser spirits act willfully” through “wind and water following the heart for upright or crooked”; the translation above follows the meaning once, without duplicating that block.)

Since heaven and earth were first opened, baleful qi has never been fully cut off. At times it seems to subside, only to rise again—why? The roots go very far back. From antiquity, when sage-kings governed the realm, the slightest slackening of order brought disaster after disaster; generation piled on generation until great wickedness and deep harm arose. Strange events followed one another, ill omens multiplied, and harm spread to all lands under heaven. The cause runs deeper than most people suppose. Rulers who did not grasp this passed the burden down through the ages and could not stop it. The people cried out in injustice and moved heaven, so the right Way left its proper path, royal government was harmed, and the response of good rule was often weak. Hearts grew impure and harder to teach, and perverse qi stirred with them. Though emperors grieved and wished to stop it, they were as thirsty men who could not drink. Even a ruler with the benevolence of ten thousand people could hardly halt this disaster that flows from the throne—the “royal-flow calamity.” Some then concluded that doing good was useless and that the Dao of heaven was blind. They forbade the people to do evil yet despaired of reforming them, and mutual slaughter grew; punishments grew harsher. One person’s fault implicated neighbors; grievances piled up and baleful qi grew heavier. People decided that morality and the classics were useless, abandoned them, and each pushed his own talent, scrambling for profit and office, honoring those who hit the mark in divination and fortune for rank—this is what disrupts heaven’s order. How can rule without the law align with the heart of august heaven? Heaven has long been ill; yin and yang have lost their measure—that is clear proof. Only when governance accords with the heart of heaven can perverse qi depart and the realm be easily settled. Hence the teaching now given as the “supreme first Way of restoring peace” (shanghuang xingping diyi zhi dao): grasp it and practice it urgently, and evil can be destroyed; heaven protects the good—the principle is plain. Though the calamities accumulated by former kings are many, to wipe them out at once is not hard. If the emperor today, within a hundred li of his seat, practices morality, benevolence, and righteousness, the people ten thousand li away will share in that grace: fathers kind, sons filial, households full and needs met, without turning to evil.

Note: The phrase “supreme first Way of restoring peace” is the governing Way advocated in the Taiping Jing (Scripture of Great Peace); “royal-flow calamity” (wangliu zai) means disaster that spreads because the king has lost the Way; “divination and fortune for rank” (she lu) means using archery divination, fate-reading, and similar arts to seek profit and office—opposed to the right Way. The closing line “Dao Dian Lun, juan four, on calamities and anomalies” (daodian lun juan si zaiyi) shows that this passage comes from the fourth scroll of the Discussion of the Dao Canon on calamities and anomalies.

Daodian Lun, Fascicle 4: Disasters and Anomalies

If a ruler truly grasps the intent of Heaven, then even governing only within a hundred li, as long as he rules with virtue, benevolence, and righteousness, people ten thousand li away can still receive his grace. Fathers are kind, sons are filial, every household is provided for and each person self-sufficient, and no one turns to evil.

Daodian Lun, Fascicle 4: Auspicious Omens

When a ruler deeply accords with the intent of Heaven, the supreme Dao constantly protects and assists him, so that only auspicious signs appear and not a single calamity occurs.

Daodian Lun, Fascicle 4: Embryonic Breathing

In antiquity, supreme True Persons (zhenren) saw celestial deities sustaining themselves through “eating qi” (drawing on the breath of Heaven and Earth rather than ordinary food) and imitated this practice, learning to eat qi as well. True spirits came to help them cultivate body and mind and took up residence within the True Person’s belly. The body of the ancient immortal was called the True Person’s “dwelling” (the flesh in which qi abides).

Taiping Jing: Secret Instructions of the Sage Ruler (excerpt)

Human beings originally arise from primordial qi: qi gives rise to jing (essence), jing to shen (spirit), and shen to clarity. Rooted in yin-yang qi, qi transforms into jing, jing into shen, and shen into clarity. Those who wish for long life should guard qi and unite with shen, so that jing does not leave the body. Hold these three—jing, qi, and shen—as one; in time they will naturally manifest: inner qi grows light, jing becomes clearer, light more refined, the heart deeply at peace, joy rising spontaneously, and the breath of Great Peace (taiping) responds accordingly. Cultivate within, and the outer world responds; within one may extend life, without one may bring order to affairs. There is no need to strain sinews and bones—Great Peace is reached naturally. Cultivate within, and the outer world responds; within one may extend life, without one may bring order to affairs. There is no need to strain sinews and bones—Great Peace is reached naturally.

Methods of Guarding Unity and Clarity (secret instructions)

When the method of guarding unity and seeking “clarity” is not yet refined: With eyes closed in deep stillness, there is no light in the eyes.

After guarding unity for a long time, light arises of itself: After long guarding of unity, light appears on its own; one clearly sees the four directions, travels far with the light, and sees one’s own form completely; hosts of spirits gather, and thus the form can transform into spirit.

When clarity is rightly green: The “clarity” obtained through guarding unity has green as its correct hue; green that is clear and bright is the clarity of Lesser Yang (associated with spring and the east).

When clarity is rightly red like firelight: Clarity that is rightly red like firelight is connected with “passing beyond the world” (transcending birth and death and enduring).

When clarity is rightly yellow with green: Clarity that is rightly yellow tinged with green is the light of central harmony; its way is like fine medicine.

Secret Essentials of Holding to the One in the Collected Taiping Jing — Plain-Language Explanation

Methods of Holding to the One for Inner Clarity (Several Types of Inner Vision)

When you hold to the One and seek clarity, one kind of vision is this: a light that is upright and white, like clear water—this is clarity at the level of lesser yin.

Another kind: within the light there is pure, correct blackness, as limpid as seeing through the surface of water—this is the light of greater yin.

Still another: the four directions outside are all dark, yet the belly is as if lit up and plainly visible within. This is the light of supreme harmony (Taihe), and also the way of great accord (dashun).

If the outside is dark and the inside is dark too, with nothing to belong to and nothing visible, it shows this person’s spirit and mind are disordered and deviant. You should promptly use formulas and medicinals to assist, and inwardly seek yourself at places such as the upper seven “heads” (the seven openings of the head and face, or seven key points)—gathering the heart and turning the light back within.

Effects of Holding to the One

By the method of holding to the One, one can grow old yet become ever younger: white hair turns black, and fallen teeth grow again.

Hold fully for one month and life can increase by one year; two months, by two years—and so on in the same pattern.

Setting and Body–Mind for Holding to the One

When you first begin practice, you should live in a quiet, secluded place: thick walls, heavy partitions, no clamor heard.

When the light can penetrate the six “externals” (the various regions inside and outside the body), the body is not harmed, one can finish one’s span, and descendants too gain long life.

If you do not lose the One you hold, all affairs naturally come full circle. Urgently drop the crowd of worries—what else is there to seek beyond holding the One?

When holding the One is not exhausted (held to the end, held firm), the gentleman who wishes to be without care must not deceive one another; he should sit at ease in the posture of “hands folded, bowing” (chuigong)—governing the heart through non-action.

The method of holding the One allows long wandering (long preservation, long nurturing); keep the body constantly careful, and calamities leave of themselves.

In the method of holding to the One, the spirit elixir comes on its own (the inner landscape matures, as if medicine arrives by itself).

Protection Afforded by Holding to the One

In the method of holding to the One: whatever would harm cannot mutually harm—each person keeps his or her One, not leaning on others.

Tigers and wolves do not stare; dragons and serpents do not rise; things with poison all hide their forms and flee.

If you wish long life without care, seek the One; the hundred spirits and thousand ghosts cannot add harm.

Hold it and stay single-minded, and disasters do not shift (calamity does not draw near the body).

(Many of the entries above are marked secret essentials—inner visions and practice keys within cultivation of holding to the One.)

The essentials of Shouyi (guarding the One—the practice of holding fast to the Dao as the undivided “One”) are as follows:

You must not speak casually of Shouyi’s root principle. Seal the “gate” (a metaphor for keeping jing, qi, and shen from leaking outward), dare not let it slip, and carefully protect the yuanshen (original spirit); outwardly you seem ordinary, inwardly you are clear and bright—only then can the One be fully realized. This is a secret instruction.

When Shouyi reaches a certain depth, you roam together with the spirits; the myriad spirits come of themselves, plainly visible, as if you could stand beside them. This is a secret instruction.

In Shouyi, what you must guard against most is letting joy and anger surge until they become a “sickness”; neither liking nor disliking, neither pleased nor angry—only then can you see the One. This is a secret instruction.

Inwardly Shouyi has the Five Guardings; outwardly it has the Six Signs (inner disciplines matched by outer indications). The Eleven Spirits return together through a single gate and travel with the spirits; the ten thousand spirits come unbidden, bright and clear, as if you could match them. This is a secret instruction.

In Shouyi, keep in mind: the One originally has no fixed form; when jinye (saliva and fluid essences) unite, the One is generated; shedding old age and returning to youth, you can attain long life. If you guard the One, do not let miscellaneous knowledge pile up; if you do not retreat from guarding the One, then nothing is unknown; whatever you seek is obtained, and you can bring it about simply by sitting upright. If you seek great joy, know the One intimately; leave honor and decline display—only then does that suit the One. If you seek to nourish old age, you should begin Shouyi early; lying level on the bed, sitting or reclining, keeping company with the One, you can be full without eating and need not grow decrepit from damage to De (virtue/power). This is a secret instruction.

All Shouyi proceeds by gradual cultivation; accumulate practice over time, and in roughly a hundred days you may arrive. This is a secret instruction.

In Shouyi, do not use clever contrivances of mind—the One will act of itself. This is a secret instruction.

Shouyi can unite you with spirit-perception; lie at ease in wuwei (non-action), turn inquiry back into the belly; though you lie toward the west of a mountain, you know what is east of the mountain (a metaphor for inner vision penetrating everywhere, without relying on physical direction). This is a secret instruction.

Shouyi is the root of the ten thousand spirits; when the root is deep, the spirits are still and the road to death is closed. This is a secret instruction.

The rules of Shouyi differ for the old and the young; each follows their nature, and then the One responds accordingly. This is a secret instruction.

In Shouyi, it is fitting to be content with poverty and glad in low station, constantly turning inward to seek within; then the One appears face to face, and you know it has nothing to do with noble or base rank. This is a secret instruction.

Guarding the One in early Daoism is a practice of gathering mind and life in the One (often the Dao or the original spirit within the body). Each item below belongs to its secret gist (inner transmitted essentials).

First

Guarding the One must take eating little as foundation; the True Spirit (the authentic spirit within) delights in purity—filth and foul breath dull spirit and qi.

Second

While guarding the One, tightly keep the essentials and turn them over in thought, cycling without end and without fixed boundary; over time the face shows light, and spirit penetrates and shines through.

Third

Guarding the One has stages: one hundred days for lesser stillness, two hundred for middle stillness, three hundred for great stillness. Within, one is constantly at peace and joy; the Three Corpses (the three worms said to dwell in the body and stir desire) can be removed and cast off.

Fourth

Guarding the One corresponds to the number three hundred sixty-six: each number matches one Jing (essence), each Jing matches one Shen (spirit). When guarding the One succeeds, these spirits can be seen within in contemplation.

Fifth

Guarding the One requires ordering the inner Five Administrations (the five viscera or the five directions’ commands within); when the heart wanders outward, inner governance falls into disorder. Guard the One poorly—inner rebellion while outwardly playing careful—and you become estranged from the One.

Sixth

While guarding the One, the Six Lords of Fate (spirits who record lifespan) are often present together, jointly noting one’s faults.

Seventh

Guarding the One is what the spirits preside over, the root of human good conduct, the gate for removing calamity, the entrance for gaining blessing. The one who guards the One is like master of the divine vessel (the human body or the vessel of the Dao); from one spirit accumulated to ten thousand spirits, all guarding this vessel, one may attain the Dao.

Eighth

If within there is great rebellion and wrong, the Five Palaces (where the five viscera spirits dwell) are disordered, the Six Storehouses (the six fu organs) lose their posts, the host of spirits are alarmed, and together report to the Bright Hall (the spirit chamber at the forehead or within the heart); it must first show in facial complexion, and Heaven and Earth know together. The host of spirits will depart; form and life are due to die.

Ninth

Guarding the One paired with doing good shows visible effects: do good today with body and mind pure and still, and the spirits’ light gradually increases—at first like fireflies, in time like lightning.

Tenth

Outwardly while guarding the One, perform benevolence and bestow kindness as merit without seeking return; filial piety and loyalty share the same merit as purity and stillness—the spirits’ light grows gradually, at first like fireflies, in time like lightning.

Eleventh

Outwardly while guarding the One, perform benevolence and bestow kindness as merit without expecting return; the way of loyalty and filial piety is the same as this.

Guarding the One (zhuanxin holding fast to the One as the essential dharma) can draw a hundred kinds of blessing and may also draw a hundred kinds of calamity. If one does not guard the One with single-minded devotion and the heart is pulled by outer affairs, the hundred spirits will contend with one another and fortune and misfortune will follow in unbroken succession. (Esoteric instruction)

The method of guarding the One is to constantly gather spirit into single-pointed focus within the inner mind, nurturing this single thought as one would an infant, so that the hundred calamities dare not encroach. (Esoteric instruction)

The method of guarding the One shares substance and function with Heaven, Earth, and the numinous; passing through yin and yang and reaching inside and outside, there is nothing it cannot accomplish. (Esoteric instruction)

The method of guarding the One enables one to know Heaven’s intent beforehand; to transform and give birth to the myriad things; to set all in order without much speech, by natural accord; and when the work is done, not to cling to merit (not to dominate the myriad things)—where the Dao abides, one enjoys long life and enduring vision. (Esoteric instruction)

The method of guarding the One can penetrate the myriad ends of all affairs; yet those who chase only the myriad ends cannot awaken to this One. The one who guards the One can save the age, dispel disaster, serve the ruler, avoid death, put the household in order, serve the numinous and bright, escape destitution, treat illness, attain long life, and enjoy enduring vision. The One is the root of primordial qi (yuanqi) and the pivot of the myriad things. If Heaven does not guard the One, it loses its clarity; if Earth does not guard the One, it loses its stillness; if the sun does not guard the One, it loses its brightness; if the moon does not guard the One, it loses its essence; if the stars do not guard the One, they lose their courses; if mountains do not guard the One, they cannot escape collapse; if water does not guard the One, it turns to dust; if the spirits do not guard the One, they cannot transform and generate; if humans do not guard the One, they cannot keep life. The One is the root; the myriad affairs all proceed from it. When you know the One, the myriad affairs are complete. (Esoteric instruction)

The essence of great yin (taiyin) transforms into the tortoise and hides in the depths of the abyss. (Dunhuang scripture scroll)

Note: The passage “The One is the root… when you know the One, the myriad affairs are complete” repeats in the original text; in this vernacular reading it is merged into one paragraph, with meaning consistent with the scripture.

The Celestial Emperor of the Golden Gate of the Later Sage and Great Peace is the supreme celestial lord of the Palace of the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji); tradition holds that he descends from the line of the Earth Sovereign. From birth he was extraordinary and grasped the Great Dao early; his merit was recorded on the immortal realm’s register of elixir, and his title was listed among the honored seats of the Supreme Ultimate. The Heaven of Upper Clarity once issued a decree appointing him to lead the host of immortals and govern the myriad people under heaven; mountains, rivers, seas, and the eight directions and farthest lands all reported to him and obeyed his command.

At the Emperor’s side were the Grand Preceptor, Chief Minister, Chief Steward, Grand Tutor, and ranks such as duke, minister, marquis, and earl—all subordinates drawn from true immortals of the upper realm. Together they deliberated and established ritual codes, sending down teaching to the human world in advance. For this purpose they composed the Restored Scripture of Great Peace (Taiping Fuwen), first passing it to the Chief Minister Lord Green Youth (Qingtong Jun), who passed it to the Chief Steward Lord Wang of Western Citadel (Xicheng Wang Jun), who passed it to his disciple Bo He, who passed it to his disciple Gan Ji.

Gan Ji at first fell gravely ill and was near death, so he went to Bo He for healing. Bo He told him: The original Great Peace text I transmit to you—you may arrange and rewrite it into one hundred seventy scrolls in three hundred sixty chapters, spread it widely under heaven, and deliver it to a ruler of virtue so that great peace may be realized; in this way not only will your illness be cured, you may also transcend life and death and leave the dusty world. After receiving this instruction, Gan Ji mastered the meaning of the scripture, developed it into a complete teaching, and accordingly compiled one hundred seventy scrolls in three hundred sixty chapters, which he promulgated throughout the land.

By the late Eastern Han the realm was in turmoil. Gan Ji traveled south with the scriptures through Wu and Yue, dwelling about one hundred thirty li east of Yue—on a mountain named Taiping (Great Peace) and beside a stream named Gan Creek. Traces of his presence remain to this day, and scholars and common people flocked to him. At that time Sun Ce had just pacified the Jiangdong region and was building his hegemony. Many around Sun Ce revered Gan Ji, but Sun Ce believed this would unsettle people’s hearts, so he fabricated charges and had him arrested. Sun Ce also said: Drought has lasted long; if rain falls I will pardon you. As soon as he spoke, dark clouds gathered from all sides and rain poured down. Sun Ce hated him all the more and ordered him beheaded; the head was hung at the market gate. Suddenly a violent wind arose and the corpse vanished.

Gan Ji therefore changed his name and surname and went into Shu. When Sun Ce looked in a mirror he saw Gan Ji’s severed head reflected in it; sores then broke out on his face and he soon died. People at the time generally held that insulting an immortal and suffering retribution had brought about his early death.

After Sun Quan ascended the throne, he placed even greater faith in Daoist arts and took Immortal Lord Ge as his teacher; Master Jie also once visited his court. The Southern Dynasties saw constant warfare, and the Taiping Jing (Scripture of Great Peace) ceased to circulate in the world. In the Liang dynasty, Huan Fakai, a disciple of Master Tao Hongjing, was from Wushang County in Dongyang Commandery. He found the original manuscript of the Taiping Jing in a mountain valley; as soon as he brought it home, he fell ill. Master Tao said: “The Taiping teaching is not yet meant to spread in this world. You took the text by force, and that is why you are sick.” He had him return the manuscript to where it had been found, and before long Huan Fakai recovered. In the Chen dynasty under Emperor Xuandi, a fisherman in the coastal mountains obtained a plain-bound book whose light filled the sky. Xuandi ordered the Daoist Zhou Zhixiang to go and perform rites to welcome and receive it, and thus obtained this scripture, with cinnabar writing clear and bright. Zhou Zhixiang was deeply versed in the meaning of the Taiping Jing and often lectured on it himself; people at the time called him a Taiping master. Xuandi had some grasp of the scripture’s purport but could not put it into practice; among the five Chen rulers, Xuandi was the most worthy. After the Southern Dynasties’ copies were lost, the Central Plains flourished again; the teaching and law survived, but few truly practiced them. Years passed, yet this scripture was not extinguished—some copied and treasured it, waiting for a sage to appear. When the renchen year cycle arrived, a holy ruler descended to the world and was able to see the supreme truth of Great Peace in person. The Immortal Marquis presided over the matter, and the people of the land received the gift; the pure style of high antiquity was restored, and the merit of the Taiping Jing was thereby revealed. The complete work is divided into four parts and ninety-five chapters, totaling two thousand one hundred twenty-eight characters, all from the original Taiping Jing. There are in addition three hundred sixty-two chapters that Lord Gan elaborated and developed from the original; these circulate alongside the original, mutually completing the teaching in transmission, hence without error. In the Daoist Canon it is listed under a certain catalog number (the ru character series).

Editor’s note: According to a supplementary entry in juan 64 of the Yunji Qiqian, during the reign of Emperor Xuan of Chen, the dharma master Zhou Zhixiang read the Taiping Jing; the emperor ordered him to expound it at an altar opened at Zhenzhi Guan. See that account for details.

Further note: Huan Kai, style Yan Shu, sobriquet Fa Kai. Huan Kai’s obtaining the Taiping Jing closely parallels the account in juan 1 of the Sandong Zhunang and in the Taiping Yulan, juan 666, citing the Daoxue Zhuan entry “Huan Kai Obtains the Taiping Jing.”

Bibliographic Notes on the Taiping Jing

Fan Ye, Hou Han Shu, “Biography of Xiang Kai” In the ninth year of Yanxi under Emperor Huan of Han (166 CE), Xiang Kai submitted a memorial stating: “The divine book that your servant previously submitted—received by Gong Chong of Langya from Yu Ji—does not accord with the sage’s intent or with clear hearing.” He submitted another memorial: “The divine book formerly presented by the Regular Palace Attendant Gong Chong takes reverence for Heaven and Earth and alignment with the Five Phases as its root; it also contains methods for renewing the state and enlarging the lineage, with plain wording that can be checked against the classics. Yet Emperor Shun did not put its teaching into practice, so the dynastic line did not flourish.”

The Biography of Xiang Kai also records: In Emperor Shun’s time, Gong Chong of Langya came to the capital and presented the divine book his teacher Yu Ji had obtained beside the spring at Quyang—170 juan in all, on pale green white silk with red borders, blue heads, and red titles, titled the Taiping Qingling Shu. Its doctrine took Yin-Yang and the Five Phases as its framework and mixed in much shamanistic language. The relevant offices reported that what Gong Chong submitted was delusive and unsound, and it was stored away. Later Zhang Jiao obtained much of the book.

Li Xian, Crown Prince Zhanghuai of the Tang, noted in his commentary that what is called the “divine scripture” (shenshu) is the Taiping Jing (Scripture of Great Peace) later circulated in Daoism. This scripture was divided into ten sections according to the ten heavenly stems jia, yi, bing, ding, wu, ji, geng, xin, ren, and gui, with seventeen scrolls in each section.

The Han-era Mouzi Lihuo Lun states that the divine scriptures totaled one hundred seventy scrolls (see Hongming Ji, juan 1). Ge Hong of the Jin, in the “Remote Overview” chapter of Baopuzi, records fifty scrolls of the Taiping Jing, and also a jia-yi scripture in one hundred seventy scrolls. In Ge Hong’s Shenxian Zhuan, it is related that Gong Chong (also written Gong Song) was a man of Langya, gifted in letters, who composed more than a hundred scrolls of writings and took Yu Ji as his master. In the time of Emperor Yuan of Han, Gong Chong and Yu Ji met an immortal at Quyang Spring; the immortal handed the ten sections of the Taiping Jing to Yu Ji—the text was written on green silk, the characters in cinnabar red. After Yu Ji cultivated the Way and attained the Dao, he transmitted it to Gong Chong; later it was submitted to the court. Much of the scripture discusses the waxing and waning of yin and yang, calamities and blessings, and divides the Way of Heaven, the Way of Earth, and the Way of Humanity; it holds that rulers who follow it may seek long life—roughly in this vein. Zhao Daoyi of the Yuan dynasty, in the biography of Gong Chong in the Lishi Zhenxian Tidao Tongjian, tells the same story.

The Zhilin records that in the early reign of Emperor Shun, Gong Chong of Langya presented at the palace gate the divine book that Yu Ji had received at Quyang Spring—white silk as ground with cinnabar grid lines, titled Taiping Qingling (a name in the Daoist canon, or associated with the Taiping transmission linked to Gong Chong). Zhao Daoyi’s biography of Gong Chong in the same work agrees.

Zhilin records that during the reign of Emperor Shun of the Han, Gong Chong of Langye came to the capital for an audience and presented the divine scripture that his teacher Yu Ji had obtained at Quyang Spring. It was written on white silk with vermilion borders and was called the “Way of the Green Collar of Great Peace” (Taiping Qingling Dao), comprising more than one hundred juan in all.

Meng Anpai, Daojiao Yishu, juan 2, “The Meaning of the Seven Divisions” (Liang): In the time of Emperor Shun of the Han, Gong Chong presented the divine scripture obtained by his teacher Yu Ji—one hundred seventy juan—entitled the Scripture of Great Peace (Taiping Jing).

Dunhuang manuscript Cheng Xuanying’s Preface to the Laozi: In the era of King Nan, Yu Shi (that is, Yu Ji) received the Taiping Jing and the One Hundred Eighty Precepts.

Tang, the monk Falin, Bianzheng Lun (see Guang Hongming Ji, juan 13): In the time of King Nan, Yu Shi (“Qian Shi” stands for “Gan Shi”; “qian” is a scribal error for “gan”) was moved by illness to a response from Lord Lao and received the One Hundred Eighty Precepts and the Taiping Jing in one hundred seventy sections.

Tang, the monk Xuan’yi, Zhenzheng Lun, juan 13: There is a Taiping Jing in one hundred eighty juan, composed by Yu Ji of Shu. This man was adept at hiding his tracks and did not much trouble himself to copy Buddhist sūtras; he mostly treated imperial governance and Yin-Yang transformation and the like, all arranged in fascicles keyed to the sexagenary cycle. (Note: “eight doubts” [ba yi] is a mistake for “seven characters” [qi zi].)

Tang, the monk Daoshi, Fayuan Zhulin, juan 69, “Refutation of Heterodox Teachings”: The text discusses the Taiping Jing.

Tang, Wang Xuanhe, Sandong Zhunang, juan 9: Lord Lao and Yin Xi went to the Western Regions and composed the Sūtra on the Buddha’s Conversion of the Barbarians (Fohua Hu Jing) in six hundred forty thousand words for the king of the Hu; later they returned to China and composed the Taiping Jing. Also Shangqing Daolei Shixiang, juan 1: Between the Song and Qi of the Southern Dynasties, Chu Boyu of Qiantang was fond of reading the Taiping Jing.

Tang, Wang Songnian, Xianyuan Bianzhu, middle fascicle: Yu Ji was a native of Beihai (Shangqing Daolei Shixiang, juan 1 likewise notes that between Song and Qi in the Southern Dynasties, Chu Boyu of Qiantang was fond of reading the Taiping Jing).

Tang, Wang Songnian, Xianyuan Bianzhu, middle fascicle (continued): Yu Ji, a man of Beihai, had suffered from scabies for several years without cure by any of a hundred remedies. He saw an old man selling medicine in the market, surnamed Bo and named He, and went to tell him of his condition. Bo then handed him a plain-text book in two juan, saying: “This book will not only cure your illness; you will also attain long life.” Yu Ji received it—it was the Taiping Jing. When he practiced it, his illness was cured. He then expounded this scripture on the heights above Diaotai Township in Shangyu until it formed one hundred seventy juan. (Note: Sandong Zhunang, juan 1, citing the Brief Biographies of Immortals, says that Bo He gave Gan Ji a plain book in two juan and admonished him to go home and copy it until it amounted to one hundred fifty juan; it does not explicitly name the Taiping Jing, and the figure of one hundred fifty juan is also doubtful.)

Origins of the Taiping Jing in Related Sources (Plain-Language Overview)

The passages below are later Daoist scriptures, encyclopedias, and biographies that describe how the Taiping Jing appeared and who transmitted it to whom. They do not agree on names, number of scrolls, or dates; read them as literary tradition, not as a single historical fact.

Du Guangting, Taishang Huanglu Zhaiyi (Supreme Yellow Register Fasting Ritual), scroll 52

Records that Lord Lao transmitted the Taiping Jing to Gan Ji; the same account appears in Du Guangting’s Shang Huanglu Dazhai Licheng Yi (Establishment Ritual for the Supreme Yellow Register Great Fasting), scroll 21.

Entry “Like Heaven and Earth Category” (also in Shang Huanglu Dazhai Licheng Yi, scroll 21)

Says that in the time of Emperor Shun of Later Han, someone obtained a “scripture of immortals” in one hundred scrolls at Quyang Spring; seventy scrolls were in white silk with red borders, blue-green silk, and red writing, called the Taiping Qingdao (Great Peace Azure Way)—the same legendary line as the Taiping Jing.

Taiping Yulan, scroll 673

Quotes material similar to the above on obtaining the scripture at Quyang and the Taiping Qingdao.

Dongxian Zhuan (Biographies of Cave Immortals)

Yu Ji, a man of Langya. He often stayed by the flowing water at Quyang and received a divine book of more than one hundred scrolls, with red borders, white silk, blue heads, and red characters, titled the Taiping Qinglu Shu (Great Peace Azure Register Book). (Here the name is Yu Ji, elsewhere Gan Ji—a common name variant in the sources.)

Laojun Shuo Yibai Bashijie Xu (Preface to Lord Lao’s One Hundred and Eighty Precepts) (Yunji Qiqian, scroll 39)

Lord Lao came to Langya and transmitted the Way to Lord Gan; Lord Gan received the law, attained the Dao, and was honored as a Zhenren (Perfected Person); he in turn transmitted the Taiping Jing in one hundred and seventy scrolls, divided into ten sections by the ten Celestial Stems.

Santian Neijie Jing (Inner Exposition Scripture of the Three Heavens)

The Supreme Lord at Langya entrusted the Taiping Dao Jing to Gan Ji.

Xie Shouhao, Song dynasty, Hunyuan Shengji (Sacred Chronicle of the Primordial Chaos)

In the second year of Heping under Emperor Cheng, Lord Lao granted Gan Ji the Taiping Jing; also in Taishang Laojun Nianpu Yaolüe and Taishang Hunyuan Laozi Shilüe. The historical outline gives one hundred and seventy scrolls.

Jia Shanxiang, Song dynasty, Youlong Zhuan Xu (Preface to the Biography of the Hidden Dragon)

One version says that in Emperor Xiaocheng’s reign the Taiping Jing was granted to Yu Ji; another says that in Xiaocheng’s time Gan Ji of Beihai met the Supreme Lord at Langya and received the scripture; by Emperor Shun of Later Han, Gong Chong of Langya presented it at court, stating in a memorial that it was ten scrolls. The memorial also says: your subject received it in person from Gan Ji, and Gan Ji said he received it in person from the Supreme Lord—one hundred and seventy scrolls in all.

Brief note

• Gan Ji / Lord Gan / Yu Ji: Usually said to have received or inherited the scripture from Lord Lao in the Langya and Quyang region; different texts mix or alternate the names.
• Number of scrolls: One hundred, seventy, one hundred and seventy, or ten appear in various accounts, reflecting presentation copies, fasting-ritual citations, and legendary versions, not a single modern “fixed edition.”
• Placing Gong Chong’s presentation under Emperor Shun alongside transmission under Cheng or Xiaocheng is typical of later attribution to Lord Lao and dating to “Great Peace.”

Youlong Zhuan, fascicle 4, “Granting Gan Ji the Taiping Jing”

According to traditions preserved within the Taiping Jing itself, the work was either composed by Gan Ji or said to have been obtained beside the water. Its inner transmission account states that during the Heping reign of Emperor Xiaocheng of Han, Laojun (the Supreme Lord venerated in Daoism) descended in a transformed body to Quyang Spring in Langye commandery and conferred upon Gan Ji of Beihai one hundred and seventy fascicles of the Taiping Jing.

Song dynasty, Xiao Yingsou, Yuanshi wuliang duren shangpin miaojing neiyi

Records that Laojun granted the perfected Gan Ji the “Way of Taiping” (Taiping zhi dao).

Song dynasty, Siku queshu mulu; Qing dynasty, Xu Song’s reconstruction from the Yongle dadian

Lists Xiang Kai’s Taiping Jing in one hundred and seventy fascicles.

Song shi · Yiwen zhi

Also registers Xiang Kai’s Taiping Jing in one hundred and seventy fascicles. Note: In the Later Han, Xiang Kai once presented to the court what was called the “divine book of Yu Ji”; both of the catalog entries above attribute the Taiping Jing to Xiang Kai, which conflicts with the earlier tradition that ascribes it to Gan Ji—later scholars generally regard this as a mistaken attribution.

Yuan dynasty, Ma Duanlin, Wenxian tongkao · Jingji kao

Registers the Taiping Jing in one hundred and seventy fascicles.

Yuan dynasty, Zhao Daoyi, Lishi zhenxian tidao tongjian, fascicle 20, “Biography of Gan Ji”

Gan Ji obtained a divine book of more than one hundred fascicles on the flowing waters at Quyang; its binding had red borders, white silk, green title strips, and red lettering, and it was styled the Taiping Qingling Shu. This occurred in the second year of Heping of Emperor Cheng of Han (the jiawu year). Tradition holds that Gan Ji received it in person from Laojun—the text later Daoists call the Taiping Jing. The scripture is divided into ten sections by the ten heavenly stems (jia, yi, bing, ding, wu, ji, geng, xin, ren, gui), seventeen fascicles per section, totaling one hundred and seventy fascicles.

Daozang queshu mulu (as recorded by Yuan authors)

Contains an entry for the Taiping Jing.

Anonymous, Qingjing jing commentary

States that in the reign of Emperor Cheng, Laojun granted Gan Ji the Taiping zhenjing (Authentic Scripture of Great Peace).

Daoxue zhuan, fascicle 15

Huan Kai, courtesy name Yanshu, a native of Dantu in Donghai. In the early Liang period, three ancient lacquer cases were found on the level sands of the Kunlun mountains’ islets; inside were copies on yellow silk, being three sections of the Taiping Jing associated with Lord Gan. Kai asked villagers to let him take one section; he brought it to the capital for veneration and first presented it to Master Tao (Tao Hongjing). Master Tao declared it the genuine ancient text of Lord Gan. See also the related account in Sandong zhunang, fascicle 1.

Preface to the Restored Text of the Taiping Jing

When Master Gan first fell gravely ill and was nearly beyond recovery, he sought treatment from Bo He. Bo He told him: I will transmit to you the original Taiping Jing; you may arrange it into one hundred seventy juan in three hundred sixty chapters, spread it widely under heaven, and deliver it to a ruler of virtue so that great peace may prevail in the world. Thus not only would his illness be cured—he could also transcend birth and death and deliver beings in the world.

From the detailed notes in Daozang Mulü Xiangzhu, juan 4 (the five zihào entries for the Taiping Jing: wài, shòu, fù, xùn, rù)

The note states: The Supreme Venerable Sovereign (Taishang Laojun) personally transmitted the Taiping Jing. The scripture is divided into ten sections by the ten Heavenly Stems (jiǎ yǐ bǐng dīng wù jǐ gēng xīn rén guǐ), each section comprising seventeen juan, for a total of one hundred seventy juan compiled (in one place in the catalog the figure reads “one hundred fifty juan,” but by usual reckoning it should be one hundred seventy juan). The content emphasizes cultivating the body and nurturing life, guarding essence and cherishing spirit (shén): inwardly one may cultivate the body and attain long life; outwardly one may govern the state and bring great peace; dispelling disasters and curing illness often proves effective.

It is further noted: In the Ming Zhengtong Daozang, under the wài zihào, the ten juan of the Taiping Jing Chao were used in place of Taiping Jing juan 1–10—this was an error. The Taiping Jing Chao is a selection drawn from the scripture; each chao section corresponds in bulk to seventeen juan of the original text.

Qing Copy Transcribed by He Longxiang

A version copied and recorded in the Qing by He Longxiang. Its title page includes catalog information of the type found in the Imperially Approved Complete General Catalog of the Daozang: the Taiping Jing is listed as 119 fascicles in all, with many fascicles missing.

He Longxiang’s Catalog of Daoist Books Block-Printed in Our Dynasty (Qing)

In the catalog of Qing block-printed Daoist works compiled by He Longxiang, the Taiping Jing is recorded as comprising more than one hundred fascicles.

Editor’s note

In the Qing, Qian Daxin’s Supplement to the Bibliographic Treatise of the Book of Han, Gu Yuan’s Supplement to the Bibliographic Treatise of the Book of Later Han, Yao Zhenzong’s Bibliographic Treatise of Later Han, and Zeng Pu’s Supplement to the Bibliographic Treatise of the Book of Later Han with Notes all list the Taiping Qingling Shu in 170 fascicles. All of these supplementary treatises are fully included in the second volume of the Twenty-Five Histories: Supplementary Compilation, printed by Kaiming Bookstore, so they are easy to consult; they are not reproduced here one by one.