《太平经合校》Vol. 2

This passage of scripture says: In sacrificing to the dead, originally it was enough for the mind to be sincere and to fulfill one’s affection for kin. Some, however, do the opposite and excessively press down upon the living; to imitate ancient rites and win glory and display, they put on ostentatious shows, and in their conduct they lose proper measure. This turns into hypocrisy and cannot move Heaven above; instead it produces hauntings that harm people, and so many suffer minor illnesses. People of lower antiquity again inherited the burden (chengfu: the consequences of predecessors’ faults left to later generations) of the minor faults of middle antiquity and intensified small faults into great ones. Not only did they fail to fulfill their kin with a sincere heart, they also excessively oppressed and repressed the living; in imitating antiquity and seeking glory, they lost the norms and became false, unable to move Heaven, so that the ghosts of the dead could not regularly enjoy sacrificial food. Thereupon they again held sacrifices on a grand scale, exceeding the norms; Yin Qi (vital energy) flourished and instead harmed the already declining Yang Qi. One did not know what ghostly and spiritual beings had all gathered to partake of the food, and taking the opportunity they indulged themselves and caused harm, killing without cease; there were even cases of them joining together to harm people. Since they saw people holding sacrifices and yet they themselves were not held to account, how could they not do their utmost to partake and cause harm? Therefore evil Qi increased day by day and turned to attack and harm their hosts; accustomed to obtaining food, they followed the living in their actions without stopping. With Yin strong and Yang weak, they pressed down upon the living; thus subordinates deceived their superiors and sons deceived their fathers, the ruler’s governance was therefore unbalanced, and the common people did not awaken. Evil Qi then grew more severe day by day and was no longer subject to restraint. For this reason the ancient sages and worthies served the dead without daring to exceed what they had provided while alive; this is precisely the manifestation of understanding prohibitions and taboos. Could the Zhenren (Perfected cultivator) have already understood? The Zhenren sighed repeatedly and said: Had the Celestial Master (Tianshi) not previously given instruction, this foolish student would have had no way at all to know these principles. The Celestial Master said: Zhenren, come forward. You and I are of one mind; surely Heaven has caused you to take charge of the questioning, so you must not be negligent yourself. That is why I have told you everything. Now the Qi of Liangping (the Qi of Great Peace and Harmony) is about to arrive, and all matters should accord with it; if even one Qi opposes it, it will turn away and not come. Why is this? The Heavenly Dao (the Way of Heaven) should promote Yang and diminish Yin—this is accordance; if instead one promotes Yin and suppresses declining Yang, this is opposition. Conversely, to revere inauspicious affairs of mourning and sacrifice (inauspicious affairs refer to funerals, sacrifices, and the like) and to summon inauspicious Qi, causing governance to become chaotic and lose its political position—this is no small fault.

In antiquity, when people handled funerals they relied on a single sincere heart; the rites of sending someone off did not exceed what the living person had needed in life. Human hearts were plain and honest, and illness was rare. In middle antiquity, people gradually lost proper measure and drifted into showiness. They exhausted family wealth to furnish the dead, made sacrifices ever grander, and belief in ghosts and spirits grew ever stronger—yet the people suffered more from epidemics, ghostly harm could not be stopped, and things kept worsening. In still later ages, people went further: they eagerly sacrificed to other ghosts and spirits, fed yin (dark) forces, served spirits while harming the living; subjects usurped the ruler’s power, women ran households, wars broke out suddenly, the wicked banded together, flattery flourished, government orders failed, and the way of the ruler could not be carried out—all of this because yin (dark) energy had grown excessive and pressed down yang (bright) energy, which the Heavenly Dao (way of Heaven) detests; that is why such disasters were invited. How could one not be careful?

The True Person (realized sage) did not hide this book away but brought it forth so ordinary people could see for themselves where gain and loss lie. That the world is not well governed is not only a matter of how Heaven and Earth or the ruler act; in all such cases, yin has grown too strong and yang has been suppressed—what the Heavenly Dao hates—so calamity follows. How could one not be careful?

The perfected person does not hoard this scripture but makes it public, so ordinary people can see where they stand in gain and loss, good and evil.

When the world is poorly governed, it is not only heaven, earth, and the ruler who are at fault. Each person among the people also has failings; generation after generation they drag one another down, and the burden grows. The root lies in people not holding to shi—not staying with what is real and not acting on solid grounds. They leave the real, turn away from the root, and instead do what is false, without even noticing.

What is “false”? Life is the root and the real; death is ornament and illusion. Why call it false? Because the living person you could approach is no longer seen, yet later generations fashion things for him, sketch a likeness from fantasy, and make the image even more exaggerated than he was in life. They cling to emptiness, with no real content as a basis.

After death, the hun-soul and spirit return to heaven; flesh and bone are given to the earth to decay. What belongs to spirit need not be chased with effort to be remembered—but it must not be treated like a living person for offering and enjoyment. Flesh and bone are gone; all returns fully to earth. Earth is humanity’s true mother. Born between heaven and earth, what happens after death is not the same as in life—yet people do not know what station they should keep.

Therefore a filial child serves parents by taking the truth of their living days as the standard; only then is it “real.” What they disliked in life must not reappear in burial rites. One must not go past “life” to excess in treating “death,” or strange customs and disorder will surely arise.

Do you understand, perfected one? Be cautious—again and again, be cautious.

“Yes, yes—excellent, excellent—the meaning of the scripture has been spoken!”

“You may count yourself as having truly understood. Go.”

“Yes, yes.”

This passage belongs to the Taiping Jing’s teaching on from life to the end, root and branch must correspond: it rejects lavish burial, excessive images, and letting death overturn life. Filial piety and ritual should take the living person and what is real as the foundation—not posthumous display as the root. The title “Right: Decree on how affairs from life to the end, root and tip, ought to correspond” means that from birth to death, beginning and end should align and match.

Formula on Correspondence from Beginning to End in What Must Be Done in Life

Meaning: from start to finish, what ought to be done and what ought to be upheld must align front and back and form one unbroken line—only then does it match the formula.

Method of the Great Faith in Testing the Writings, Section Forty-Seven (Taiping jing, collated text, scroll 37, part three of series bing)

Da Wundun (a name the scripture gives the questioner, implying someone “extremely dull and not yet awakened”) bowed twice and said:

“I still have doubts and wish to ask the Celestial Master (Tianshi), the Supreme Emperor, and the divine person (shenren).”

The shenren asked: “What do you wish to ask?”

Da Wundun asked:

“I wish to ask what this scripture’s main purport is really about: for what kind of people’s affairs in life was it spoken, and what office or role does it bear, and from what cause did it appear?”

The shenren answered:

“Well asked! Well asked! In asking, you have already matched the heart of August Heaven. This is the key to the main purport. Since heaven and earth were opened and brought forth, emperors and common people have been born to bear and repay (chengfu: faults and debts of ancestors and forebears pass to later generations, who must make amends and dissolve karmic burden)—precisely for this matter (the Way in the scripture, making amends, trustworthiness, trial of the writings, and the like) that it appears and that the teaching is given.”

Da Wundun asked again:

“If it appeared for this matter, why do people in the world instead all speak first of nourishing life (yangsheng: preserving body and spirit, longevity and extension of years)?”

The shenren answered:

“Indeed—”

(Here the scripture repeats the earlier answer: since heaven and earth were opened, emperors and people are born to bear and repay, and the teaching appears for this matter.)

Da Wundun asked again:

“If it appeared for this matter, why do people instead all speak first of nourishing life?”

The shenren said:

“Real Person (zhenren), you are truly too sincere and too foolish, benighted and unclear. When you spoke just now, I thought you were using polite deferential words; now I see you are genuinely muddled and confused—what is going on?”

Plain-language summary

This passage, within the method of testing the writings and establishing great faith, states the root of the whole book: it is not first about personal health arts and small techniques, but because since the beginning of heaven and earth people all bear and repay (chengfu) the faults of ancestors and of themselves, and emperors and common people alike must make amends and uphold heaven’s principle in the world through trustworthiness, the writings, and correspondence between root and branch from start to finish. The questioner does not grasp “why the world speaks first of nourishing life”; the shenren rebukes him for treating the scripture’s main point as secondary and nourishing life as primary—he has missed the great purport; polite words at first, yet still clinging to error afterward, hence “muddled and benighted.”

The True Person (one who has attained the Dao) said: Please listen again with clear and open ears. 〈Opening〉 In short, ordinary people suffer faults and punishments because they cannot properly cultivate themselves (nurture body and mind in accord with the Way of Heaven and preserve life), and have wholly lost the fundamental norms (the basic rules of personal conduct and good governance). That is why they bear chenfu (the burden of inheriting sins and calamities from ancestors or predecessors and receiving retribution). It is like parents who turn away from the virtue of the Supreme Dao (the highest moral law and the Way of Heaven), commit faults among neighbors, and later their descendants are harmed by those same neighbors—this is plainly chenfu responsibility.

In antiquity, when sage kings governed the world, if they failed to align with the intent of Heaven and Earth (Heaven and Earth’s true aim and law), it was not only one person who disturbed the Way of Heaven. Heaven therefore grew greatly angry and displeased, so myriad diseases and disasters arose together. Those who later held office then inherited these calamities in turn—should that not be investigated? This scripture was written precisely for that reason.

Thus the great sages of old all understood the way of self-cultivation (methods of nurturing body and mind in harmony with the Dao), so they matched the intent of good governance, and their chenfu faults were few. In later ages, most masters (teachers) of learners hid the truly essential key scriptures (vital teachings), and taught only with flowery words, betraying the core of the Way of Heaven. Later generations grew more shallow day by day, unable to cultivate or cherish themselves well; as this accumulated over time, because they drifted ever farther from the correct path, they came to believe there were no methods in the world to secure their own peace, and instead rashly strove for rank and emolument (official position and salary). Thus chenfu disasters arose. 〈Closing〉 When you interpret this meaning, do you truly understand?

“Excellent, excellent! Hearing the Celestial Master speak like this is like parting the clouds and seeing the sun—there is no difference.”

“Good—you may be said to already grasp the meaning of the Dao (the Dao’s true intent).”

“I, the foolish student, have received your grace and am greatly enlightened; what I wished to ask is finished. I only beg the Celestial Master to admonish and warn me again and again.”

“Yes. Only if people deeply cultivate themselves can they nurture others; only if they deeply cherish themselves can they cherish others. If one is negligent toward oneself and cannot self-cultivate, how can one generously nourish others? If one cannot love and respect oneself and preserve one’s wholeness (life and integrity), carefully guarding the ancestral lineage (family and transmission of the Dao), how can one love others and help them preserve themselves? How confused! Can you deeply understand?”

“Yes, yes. Excellent, excellent!”

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) said: Do you feel that our scripture cannot be trusted? You may compare it with this: read through the writings left by people in high antiquity who followed the Way of Heaven, won the favor of heaven and earth, and enjoyed lasting good fortune; then take the books and memorials written by those in middle and recent antiquity who wholeheartedly obeyed heaven’s intent and were able to preserve themselves—read them through from top to bottom and set them side by side. They will necessarily agree with the meaning of our scripture, like stacked compasses and squares with no gap. Only then will you truly understand and fully believe what our scripture says.

People today are sick with restlessness. Each generation of the young is more reckless than the last, staking their lives on cleverness and learning. The lowest, dullest sort even say, “Heaven does not know what the Dao is, and heaven does not respond to human beings.” Yet even the earth does not deceive people—plant millet and you get millet, plant wheat and you get wheat; those who put in more effort get a better harvest. How much more so heaven!

So heaven has long accumulated resentment: the ignorant at the bottom egg one another on, treat serious matters as a joke, and each younger generation goes further—until strange disasters and omens pile up, more kinds than one. This is because the bond between heaven and the human ruler is deep, like father and son who ought to warn each other. When fools see these signs they do not report them to the ruler in good time; instead they hide and cover them up, blocking heaven’s path of communication. Heaven grows angrier still, and later people keep adding to the guilt until the burden is too heavy to shift. Even if a sovereign accumulates the good deeds of ten thousand people, he may still suffer calamity for no apparent reason—then those who do good feel it is useless, and the dull say heaven is ignorant. Does that view really hold any truth?

The disciple said: Hearing the Celestial Master’s words today, my mind opened wide—as if I were born again. Wonderful! Though I have often troubled the Celestial Master and risked my life to ask questions, at first it seemed I might be at fault; once the matter was clear, my heart was especially glad and I have no regret at all. If a person is ignorant and yet unwilling to ask, there is no path to understanding.

The Celestial Master said: You have put it exactly right.

The Celestial Master had said earlier: Writings and books should be complete—from “head” through feet, belly, and back, inner and outer parts all intact. You and the other worthy ones should check and verify together; do not ask further. The disciple replied: “Yes, yes.”

(Right-column note: Question to the Celestial Master about the many documents—from top to bottom, the judgment sections issued—the forty-eighth method among the five matters for resolving chenfu.)

Again, a disciple who was blinded and in darkness bowed twice and said: A great worthy, hearing the master explain one side, can grasp the meaning on all four sides; a lesser worthy, hearing the master explain one aspect of chenfu (inherited burden), can grasp the meaning of all four aspects—so it is easy to make things clear. Those who are foolish, dark, blocked, and slow, unless it is explained to them face to face, will still doubt in their hearts; therefore they dare to put every question clearly to the Celestial Master.

(Beginning) The Celestial Master has already resolved for August Heaven the grievances of chenfu, for Sovereign Earth the calamities of chenfu, for emperors and kings the misfortunes of chenfu, for the common people the faults of chenfu, and for all things between Heaven and Earth the responsibilities of chenfu. (End)

He also said: A disciple of the lowest foolishness asks on Heaven’s behalf and dares not fail to speak fully despite any fault. I wish to hear in detail—what exactly is the meaning?

The Celestial Master said: Speak plainly.

Again he asked: Today, emperors and the people have chenfu—do all affairs likewise each have their own chenfu?

The Celestial Master answered: Good—you ask on Heaven’s behalf; you are indeed thorough and careful.

He also said: Whenever I converse with the Celestial Master, I often say that as a disciple I ask doubts on Heaven’s behalf, so I dare not be less than thorough.

The Celestial Master answered: Good—you have a careful and good heart; the matter can be entrusted to you. Now, are you willing to have me explain everything to you? I do not begrudge the trouble; I only fear the text may grow too long to use in full—if one were to tell all the chenfu under Heaven, even ten thousand characters would be too few. To keep it from being unbearable, I will first set out the main headings for you, so that the worthy ones may grasp them together, no differently from a covenant document (qishu).

The disciple answered: Only as the Celestial Master says.

(The text continues with further questions on chenfu in the same pattern: the disciple asks whether emperors, the people, and the myriad affairs all have chenfu; the Celestial Master praises the thoroughness of the inquiry and explains that he will set out the main headings for everyone so they may share in the meaning.)

[Listening to the Scripture]

“Listen carefully with your ears, sit steady and calm, settle your mind, and listen.”

“Yes, yes.”

[Heaven, Earth, and Chengfu]

“Good. Heaven and Earth nourish the ten thousand things; if people lack De yet harm the ten thousand things, the realm falls into great disorder: every household is poor and short of what it needs, the old and weak go hungry and cold, the government cannot collect taxes, and the storehouses stand empty. The root of such calamity lies in ‘harm to things on the earth’—the creatures and things of the land are injured; yet people in turn bear and carry this burden. Such matters have been touched on before; here they are explained again—listen with full attention.”

“Today one teacher speaks wrongly and not truthfully, and teaches ten disciples; those ten each teach ten others, and a hundred people spread false words; those hundred each teach ten more, and a thousand spread perverse doctrine; those thousand each teach ten more, and ten thousand spread perverse doctrine. Ten thousand voices speak at once from all directions, and the realm is full of perverse talk. When many speak, they repeat and confirm one another, until it can no longer be set straight and is taken for ordinary speech and right principle. All this began with one person who did not state things as they truly are; the result is that common people everywhere lose the ‘solid core’ (the real ground of truth), the orthodox canon ordained by Heaven is disturbed, custom turns corrupt, and the realm is treated as gravely ill with no way for people to restrain one another; it grows worse with time—this is the ill fate of chengfu (inherited burden), not that later generations simply fail to see their fault. Later people do not know the harm started long ago and instead blame those of that time, so injustice layers upon injustice; added to that, accumulated qi cannot dissipate and grows more violent day by day—so the two matters explained before are now made clear for you to hear again from the Perfected One (Zhenren).”

[The Parable of Market Talk and the Earth Sinking]

“It is like someone in a city who loudly tells lies: he walks through the market crying out that the ground will sink into a great pit and flood, weeping as he speaks; one market’s people repeat it, ten thousand households hear; old and young, great and small, carry the tale from all directions until the whole realm knows—then the whole realm is deceived. Those who come after embellish more and more; the farther it spreads, the fiercer it grows. In truth it was only one person in the market shouting that the earth would sink and become a great pool (hanshui), weeping as he spoke; …”

(At this point the scripture repeats earlier lines and seems not to close; the interpretation follows the text as it stands.)

First matter: At the marketplace someone turned toward the Dao and expounded its teaching; one told ten, ten told a hundred, old and young, high and low, from all directions joined in talking, until everyone under heaven knew. The outcome was that people under heaven deceived one another instead; those who heard later passed it on more and more, farther from the source, with errors growing worse. What began as words from a single mouth was made to bear alone the blame for “empty talk without substance”; what fault had those who came after? Yet they in turn blamed the one who spoke first.

With the third matter fully explained, True Person, please listen again with care.

〈Begin〉 On the Southern Mountain stands a great tree; its crown spreads wide, shading the ground for hundreds of paces, yet root and trunk are one body. On the tree are branches, leaves, and fruit that need not be faulted, but below, the roots do not hold firmly to the earth; when wind and heavy rain strike, the countless myriad branches, leaves, and fruit above all die from the injury. This is the great fault that all things—plants and trees—must bear: the error lies in the root, not the tips, yet blame is turned against the tips—is that not unjust? The tips had no fault yet died without cause in the spreading disaster. Such is how the burden of bearing works—can later generations be blamed for it? 〈End〉

With the fourth matter fully explained, please listen again with care.

The Southern Mountain has toxic qi (duqi); that mountain does not know how to store and hold it in. In spring the south wind moves together with the toxic qi and even blocks sun and moon; people under heaven therefore incur guilt, and the dead from injury pile up in great numbers. It was only the Southern Mountain releasing toxic qi—why should people under heaven bear the disaster of sickness and death? People at the time also spoke even harsher words, so Heaven would strike you and shift the fault onto others—is that not all the more unjust? This person had no fault yet bore this calamity; the hun-soul and spirit felt wronged on their own, while the living still assigned him fault; grievance and injustice stirred upward and moved Heaven. The fault originally lay in the south wind of the Southern Mountain’s evil qi carrying it here—such is the burden of bearing. 〈End〉

With the fifth matter fully explained, True Person, please sit upright again and listen carefully to my words.

The Dao is by nature constantly upright; it does not deceive people with what is crooked or false. People only because they sit within the teaching of forebears, sovereigns, and masters—in small matters slightly lose uprightness, words that lose uprightness—〈here the original text repeats and is damaged; the sense continues roughly as follows:〉 The Dao is constantly upright and does not deceive with the false; if one loses uprightness, one must sit upright again in careful posture and listen closely to the sage’s words; do not assign fault to those who come after, do not let one person’s words or one mountain’s qi make the innocent under heaven bear the burden without cause.

People merely follow the teachings handed down from ancestors, rulers, and masters; once there is the slightest deviation in conduct or on the path of self-cultivation and rectification, others copy it, and the error spreads further with each generation until those who come later outdo those before them—that is where the trouble begins. Instruction is passed down generation after generation, yet the genuine meaning is never grasped; the world grows broadly crooked, and no one can stop one another. Then every kind of anomaly and disaster breaks out together, beyond counting—all of this is the result of long-standing abuse piled layer upon layer.

The foolish do not understand how things work and instead lay all blame on the ruler of the age and people of the time. Have they not long borne injustice and chenfu (the way faults and debts of earlier generations accumulate and weigh upon those who follow)? The world has already lost its footing on a broad scale, yet the multitude can hardly see it for themselves. Though there is but one emperor, even if he possessed the virtue of ten thousand men, how much could he alone turn around? What people do now—does it really offer a way out?

It is like someone starving who wants food, yet only the sick cannot eat and finally starve—whom can you blame? Or like yin and yang joining in union, which should bring full joy, yet someone offers sacrifices to spirits to beg for a child and still cannot conceive—whom can you resent? Or like a life that could be fully joyful, devoted to goodness, and strong in body, yet one chooses instead to become unworthy and ugly in character—how is that to be explained? These are all striking proofs of chenfu (accumulated ancestral burden). If blame stays fixed only on people of the present age, the way of governance cannot be settled; people long steeped in crooked, false teachings—how could they all change at once? Thus injustice persists and entanglement never ends. Heaven pities this condition, and so the Way of Shanghuang (the high sovereign’s teaching) responds by descending upon the world through yuanqi (primordial Qi). (This passage marks a boundary in the scripture; it means that the Dao of Heaven answers the layered corruption of human affairs.)

What is meant by “the beginning,” and why must one “contemplate and guard the One”?

“The One” is where numbering begins; “the One” is the path of birth; “the One” is where primordial Qi arises; “the One” is the guiding thread of Heaven. Therefore people are taught to fix their mindful attention on “the One”—so that what is above runs clear through to what is below.

Why must all things “contemplate and guard the One” with their thought? (The scripture here repeats the earlier lines: the One is where numbering begins; the One is the path of birth; the One is where primordial Qi arises; the One is the guiding thread of Heaven.)—stressing that guarding the One is both the root of number and measure and the hinge of life and cosmic order.

Vernacular Explanation

Therefore people must be made to hold fast and single-mindedly to the “One”—this runs from top to bottom through the whole order. Once anything in the ten thousand things and affairs goes too far and the end fails to return to the root, confusion becomes extreme and clarity is lost; that is why one must turn back and return to the root.

(Supplement) If you wish to lift the burden of chengfu (inherited liability—the sins and consequences accumulated across generations), there is no better method than guarding the One. Guard the One long enough and Heaven will show you mercy. The “One” is the guiding thread of the Dao of Heaven and the root of the ten thousand things. Hold this root in mind and its influence will spread to every branch and tip.

Hence the sages of old, whenever they undertook great affairs, looked up to observe the heavens and looked down to survey the earth, and made clear the evident signs of “returning to the root.” (Stop) Perfected One, do you understand? “Yes, yes.”

“You are troubled and downcast; I have already laid out the thread of chengfu: affairs under Heaven are layered, generation upon generation, all in this pattern—do you know this?” “Yes, yes. Today the Celestial Master has laid out the thread; this disciple’s heart is already untangled.”

“Good. I give the Perfected One one great principle: those in high antiquity who attained the Dao and could govern in great peace worked only at cultivating themselves and guarding the root. In middle antiquity, where there was slight failure, they merely neglected self-nurture a little and lost the root. In late antiquity calculation was incomplete; they slighted themselves, thinking they could gain again—so they greatly lost the root and the way of governance fell into disorder. Even so, it was not entirely the fault of people of late antiquity; it was the meeting of the ill fate of chengfu with the turn of the times.”

(Repeated passages omitted.) I will not say more; to say it a hundred times is the same meaning and brings no benefit. There is no need to add more pages of writing; today I have already instructed the Perfected One through and through. “Yes, yes.”

“Go. Return home, think the essentials through clearly, hand them to a ruler of virtue, write them as a core statement, and make them the way out of chengfu.” “Yes, yes.”

The Perfected Person asked the Divine Person: “I still do not understand the purport and meaning of the ninety-character written decree concerning ‘Life Without Attainment’ that was bestowed earlier. I hope you will explain it point by point, so that it may be transmitted to later generations and people may firmly remember it without forgetting.” The Divine Person replied, “I will explain it directly for you.” The Teacher (Shi) said: “The line ‘My style-name is eleven; clarity is the stopping point’ is an explanation of the two characters ‘shi yue’ (‘the Teacher says’): the so-called ‘shi’ refers precisely to the Divine Teacher of August Heaven; the so-called ‘yue’ means words, meaning that I make a declaration to Heaven above and say in my own person, ‘I will explain it directly for you.’”

Yin and Yang Govern Harmony

The two qi of Yin and Yang preside over union and harmony. Whenever one speaks of the qi of Yin and Yang, the aim should be to restore harmony under heaven and bring renewal and flourishing.

The Three Characters Wei, Zu, and Shi

Wei means acting for the benefit of emperors—removing evil and dispelling harm. Zu means “ancestor” or “what comes first”; it stands for the virtue of the Three Sovereigns (San Huang). Shi means returning to the origin; by practicing this Way, one should be able to return to the age of the Upper Sovereign (shang huang).

“Four Mouths Govern Affairs—All Things in Order”

Taking the character for “four” (si) together with “mouth” (kou) yields “speech” (yan). Whoever recites and speaks this book day after day obtains the authentic scriptural lines of heaven; once the deeper meaning is grasped, one aligns with the heart of heaven (tian xin), so the myriad things each find their place and disorder ceases—hence “all things in order” (wan wu li).

“Zi Jin Uses the Corner to Govern the Right: The Character for Recitation”

The sense is: by unceasing recitation of this book, all affairs can be set right in a single morning; in accord with heaven’s intent, one constantly finds joy and is no longer weighed down by chengfu (inherited guilt and karmic burden).

“Hidden Dragon—Do Not Use; [X] as the Standard”

Qian long (hidden dragon): Heaven’s qi returns to “initial nine” (chu jiu)—namely the Jiazi year and the winter solstice, the point from which heaven and earth begin anew. Long (dragon): the Lesser Yang of the east, the essence of Wood; the Dao of heaven emerges through Wood and advances the phase of Fire. When things are about to flourish, their gates must be opened. When the Zhenren (True Person) completes the full cycle and releases this book, it should be entrusted to Kaiming (the “open and bright” land). “Kai” means to open, penetrate, and reach; by opening the south, Yang qi is harmonized and the calamities of chengfu are dispelled. Qian (hidden): concealed—the Dao has fully arrived yet turns back to concealment. Wu (do not): not yet daring. Yong (use): to govern and to act in affairs; in the present age one should use this book to remove disasters. When the book appears in the Xuanjia year, rulers cannot yet penetrate its meaning and employ it well, hence “do not use”—they see the heavenly signs but dare not fully trust and apply it at once. One who truly trusts and applies it sees immediate effect and response; this is alignment with heaven, and response is inevitable.

Note: The source repeats one passage (“when things are about to flourish… chengfu”); the explanation above merges that duplication without changing the meaning.

The meaning of “Kuai serves as principle (ji)”: Here kuai is used in the sense of ji (framework, norm, or law), paired with zi in the formula. Jia symbolizes Heaven, the overarching thread, and yang; kuai symbolizes zi, water, yin, and likewise “principle.” Heaven and Earth are naturally joined; their framework first appears from the Xuan Jiazi (Mysterious Jia–Zi) at the beginning. A sovereign of virtue can govern the world’s order by this, hence the saying “kuai serves as principle.” The phrase also points to the Supreme Emperor’s Celestial Book (shanghuang tianshu): water is yin and stands for principle; Heaven and Earth are constantly united, and the framework issues from the first emergence of the Xuan Jiazi; a ruler of virtue can align governance with it—so again, “kuai serves as principle.” It further means that the Supreme Emperor’s Celestial Book descends so that a worthy sovereign may promulgate the true scripture, using it as plumb line and ink to cut off heterodoxy, with xuan jia (mysterious jia) as the first sign. Whatever is born takes jia as head and zi as root; therefore the sequence proceeds from the Upper Jia–Zi (shang jiazi) and unfolds step by step.

“Those who see it gain long life”: Whoever can behold this book may obtain enduring life. Ren (person) here means the emperor alone, and also those of lofty virtue who readily perceive and practice according to this book; per the texts on auspicious responses, one who does not doubt the Way of Heaven and deeply grasps its intent gains longevity. Shou means completing one’s allotted years; chang means without end; jiu means lasting preservation.

“Dwelling between Heaven and Earth, one merely lives”: Ju means to stay between Heaven and Earth and survive—but florid writing cannot keep people alive for long. All the afflictions of chenfu (inherited burden of generational fault) arise because the Way lacks a solid core; therefore today such things must be decisively cut away.

“Rule a million people and immortals may be awaited”: Zhi means to set right. Heaven uses this book to rectify the hearts of the worthies, each healing themselves and keeping to the true while casting off the false. “Xian ke dai” (immortals may be awaited) means that when the realm hears of it, the true Way will surge forth together; all go to assist the virtuous sovereign. To govern the true Way is the method of giving life to people—hence “immortals may be awaited.”

“Those skilled at healing must not deceive or slacken”: Those who are good at healing must neither deceive nor grow idle. Most people are foolish and do not plan for their own bodies; they all rely on heterodox, false writings and, without cause, deceive and neglect themselves—how pitiful!

If people act against Heaven, they will suffer heavy punishment from above and must also bear chenfu—the great burden by which the accumulated wrongs of ancestors and oneself are heaped upon later generations. For this reason Heaven wants people to cast off flashy empty words, each to hold fast to what is real, and to practice morning and evening, so that everyone truly benefits the body and no longer deceives themselves in idleness.

“Le hu Chang’an shi” (Joy in the Chang’an market), character by character: Le—nothing is more joyful than when the royal Great Peace qi (Taiping qi) of Heaven descends; Hu—an exclamation that this virtue is supremely great and without peer; Chang—those who walk this Way find their virtuous goodness growing without end; An—they are no longer in peril of ruin; De—those who walk this Way are cleared of the reproach owed Heaven and Earth under chenfu, so that Chang’an is vast and serene and worry is gone; Shi—the place where all under Heaven gather as people; those who practice this book are said to make the nation flourish greatly, like folk in a great city.

“Shi ren shou ru Xi Wangmu” (Make people’s longevity like the Queen Mother of the West): Shi—to make the ruler possess Heavenly De and people who delight in practicing upright texts; Ru—to follow; to practice this book thoroughly in accord is to align with the Way of Heaven, and those who attain it are greatly auspicious without blame; Xi—every person lodges and keeps the true Dao in the heart; Wang—rulers who examine and walk the Way of Heaven rise greatly and become kings, their rule is good and unsurpassed; Mu—the sign of long old age, the longevity of Shen (spirit).

“Bi ru si shi zhou fan shi” (Like the four seasons cycling back to the beginning): Bi—as when the four seasons alternately beget and complete one another, no longer injuring or harming each other, and their governance is without punishments.

“Jiu shi zi ce chuan fangshi” (The ninety-character stratagem handed to fangshi, ritual specialists): Jiu—to exhaust, to reach the end; those who practice this find their De thoroughly harmonized with the heart of Heaven, Earth, Yin-Yang, and the myriad things; Shi—ten answering to ten, wuwei (non-action) in writing.

Character (zi): This refers to the various names and principles throughout heaven and earth, circulating without obstruction and fully complete. Transmission (chuan): means what is trustworthy and can be entrusted; therefore one produces formal talisman documents to convey this Dao. Method (fang): upright and square—hold to this Dao and promptly deliver it to a ruler who possesses De; one can dispel the dangers of chengfu (inherited burden: the calamities that accumulate on descendants from ancestors’ faults), and governance under heaven will be square and broad. Scholar (shi): means one person who can single-mindedly keep his purpose; such a person is upright in heart and can teach and be entrusted with affairs—send him to understand and carry out this Dao. The wording of my policy essay should now be able to show itself clearly. 〈Stop〉

Has the Perfected One understood?

(The Perfected One replies) Wei wei. When the Celestial Master speaks thus, your disciple is already greatly pleased.

(The Celestial Master) You may say you have understood.

(The disciple) This foolish student, whenever he has a question, knows he repeatedly troubles the Celestial Master; yet if he had not asked before, he would have had no way to know.

(The Celestial Master) Correct—you speak rightly. Sages and worthies ask when they doubt, so sages and worthies all have teachers; one must not expound from nothing. Expounding from nothing often yields only one sentence and cannot turn further downward.

(The disciple) Wei wei—therefore this foolish student dares not speak by force.

(The Celestial Master) You speak rightly. Great Confucians are modest and commit no fault.

(The disciple) Today the Celestial Master at every turn opens the way with guidance, stripping away vulgar doubts for your disciple, so that he could ask about what he could not ask before. Now he still wishes to beg another question—very immodest—and does not know whether he should speak or not.

(The Celestial Master) If you doubt, speak directly; need not avoid taboo.

(The disciple) Wei wei. Sages and worthies of past and present all had teachers; now that the Celestial Master’s Dao is already complete, whom must you still take as teacher?

(The Celestial Master) Excellent, excellent! This way of asking can be said to have seen the subtle meaning.

When I first began learning the Way, I consulted more than one master. In time, when Dao and De were complete and I could align with Heaven’s intent, I came to know what Heaven wished to say—Heaven sent the spirit of the sun to inform me and charged me to speak on Heaven’s behalf. That is why I take Heaven as my teacher. Though I understand as a True Person (Zhenren) does, I would rather not say much; yet if I speak falsely about these matters, Heaven will surely punish me. A True Person knows how weighty these words are as well. You must be careful.

“Yes, yes.” The foolish student questioned the Celestial Master until nothing remained unclear; joy in his heart made him unable to stop asking, and he wished to inquire about one thing more.

“Speak.”

“Yes, yes. Today the Master has explained the doctrine of chengfu (inheritance of merit and fault) in detail for this dull and shallow disciple. I do not know whether ‘cheng’ and ‘fu’ are the same or different.”

“They are not the same. Cheng comes first; fu comes after. Cheng means that one’s forebears originally acted according to Heaven’s heart, but with slight deviations they did not know it; as days lengthened, errors accumulated, and those born later innocently bore the blame for excess fault, were implicated in disaster—hence the earlier term is cheng. Fu means that calamity is not something one person’s governance alone can settle; people are bound to one another unevenly, owing and repaying back and forth—hence it is called fu. Fu is what the ancestors owe to those born after them; illness, disaster, and harm are also passed down generation by generation in mutual fu, which shows that afflictions cannot be cut off completely in a moment. When cut off, they rise again. I reverently received from Heaven this book and its way of governance; this method can cut them all off, which is why it is supremely sincere, precious, and not to be treated lightly. Does the True Person understand?”

“Yes, yes. Wonderful, wonderful!”

“Go; ask no more.”

“Yes, yes.” (The disciple assented twice.)

Commentary on the Master’s Strategy Text: The Ninety-Character Formula · True Credential Formula (51)

The Real Person asked: In all affairs under heaven, what counts as right and what counts as wrong?

The disciple answered: When you try and there is a response, the matter succeeds, and illness can be resolved—that is right. When you try and nothing responds, it fails, and illness cannot be resolved—that is wrong—and this is not only so for one or two people.

The Real Person said: Good. You speak correctly. The words are few, yet they can clarify countless matters; I have little to add. To tell right from wrong, use this method throughout—do not give rise to doubt. This is what makes people trust the talismanic verification (fulu xinyan).

Question: What does that mean?

Answer: In all things, must one trust or not trust only after repeated examination? The sages of old knew people from their conduct and from what actually came to pass, as clearly as sun and moon. You say that accumulated good cannot be overturned; to understand our scriptures, take everything from this trustworthy verification here. Real Person, do you understand delusion and falsehood?

“I understand.”

Right Summoning of the Faith Talisman: Efficacy Writ and Certificate of Authenticity

The Perfected Person answered twice: “Yes, yes.”

The Celestial Master said: “Go. Call this piece the Certificate of Authenticity (a document that is true and trustworthy). Keep it safe; do not lose it, and do not cast it down to the lower realm. Use it as the standard for drafting memorials and secret formulas.”

Taiping Jing: Collated Text, Scroll 40, Part Bing 6

Taiping Jing, Scroll 40: Strive Diligently in Good Practice (Chapter 52)

The Celestial Master asked the Perfected Person: “Among the people under Heaven, are there altogether many kinds of hardship and distress?”

The Perfected Person asked: “What do you mean?”

The Celestial Master said: “What is ordinary and undifferentiated—how many forms of forced hardship do people fall into? Hardships are many; surely these hardships all have names?”

The Perfected Person said: “They cannot each be given a name.”

The Celestial Master said: “You still do not understand. Under Heaven, people have four kinds of hardship.”

The Perfected Person asked: “Which four?”

The Celestial Master said: “First: people are born of parents; once born, in youth they cling to their parents and cannot leave—this is the first hardship. Second: when they grow up and think themselves able to decide for themselves, women wish to marry and men wish to take wives; they cannot restrain desire and, because of mutual love, cannot part—this is the second hardship. Third: once in love they bear children; when husband and wife grow old and their looks are no longer pleasing, the young child is lovable and must be raised—this is the third hardship. Fourth: when the children are grown and need no longer support their parents, they themselves grow old and ill and cannot move—this is the fourth hardship.”

The Celestial Master continued: “After these four hardships, if one can meet a clear-sighted teacher, can reflect and hold to the Dao, there is still hope. Those with high endowment and good fate may transcend birth and death (dutuo); the next rank may extend their lifespan; below that, they may at least know brief ease in the body; and the hun-soul dwelling underground may still enjoy pleasures below.”

The Perfected Person asked: “What do you mean?”

The Celestial Master said: “The underground realm gathers the newly dead and questions each in turn about what they did and experienced in life, and on that basis fixes their register of names (the record on the ledger of life and death), imposing punishment according to their deeds. Therefore affairs must be guarded against beforehand; safety and danger are ultimately brought upon oneself. The Perfected Person must be careful. Have you seen this admonition?”

The Perfected Person: “Yes, yes.”

The Celestial Master then gave further instructions in words not heard by outsiders (secret or inaudible teaching).

He said: “The reason I instruct you thus is that I see you always keep good intent, yet I fear the Perfected Person may slacken and grow weary; therefore I teach you plainly, that is all.”

The Perfected Person: “Yes, yes.”

The Celestial Master asked: “The Perfected Person now studies the Dao—what do you take as your term?”

The Perfected Person said: “I take the exhaustion of my allotted lifespan as my term.”

The Celestial Master said: “Excellent. Your aspiration can be said to accord with the meaning of the Dao. Yet ordinary people in their conduct all take the end of life as their term; only the good and the evil each have their time of ending.”

Question: What does this passage mean? I’d like to hear you explain it.

Answer: Very well. Those who keep to goodness all their lives, take learning the Way as their joy, and live to a natural end become leyou gui (spirits at ease in death because of good deeds); those who live in grief to the end become chouku gui (grief-bound spirits); those who do evil to the end become e gui (evil spirits). These things are plain enough for anyone to see. Yet people refuse to do good and let their hun and shen (soul and spirit) be at peace—the fault is truly heavy.

Question: What does this mean again?

Answer: When a person is born, they receive the upright qi of Heaven and Earth and the Five Phases of the four seasons (Wood in spring, Fire in summer, Metal in autumn, Water in winter, and Earth at the center), which together form the human body—the body handed down from the ancestors. That body stands within Heaven and Earth and the four seasons and Five Phases. The body and soul of the ancients took goodness as joy, knew no chronic worry, and could be reborn again and again. Later generations lack worth and instead keep this body formed by “Heaven and Earth, the four seasons, and the Five Phases” in long suffering, even dying wrongfully while the hun and shen still brood. Fools do not think deeply and do not deserve to long remain in the world. Heaven therefore hurries them to death; once dead they no longer resent—but the hun and shen only wrong themselves and pity themselves, fretting without cause in this lower realm. So the great sages and saints of old planned far ahead, knowing this would happen, and never stopped learning the Way.

(Start) If a ruler’s heart is set on Great Peace (peace under Heaven, good government and harmony among people), in accord with Heaven’s heart (Heaven’s intent), merit is doubled; the hun and shen can stay at ease and merge with the good qi above. Whoever cannot govern the realm in peace governs against Heaven’s heart, misses Heaven’s intent, and earns no merit for the heavens. When life ends, the hun and shen alone are punished underground, heaped with evil qi. So the sage-kings of utmost antiquity, knowing this, strove all the more. Fools do not reckon: punished by Heaven in life and by Earth in death—how terrible! (Stop)

Disciple: Your disciple is dull and does not wish to hear this.

Answer: Good! You came to learn yet do not want to hear this—then first strive hard to do good.

Disciple: Yes, yes. The Celestial Master teaches on earth and lets us know Heaven’s mandate; the instruction runs deep. How can we gain goodness and escape this ordeal?

Answer: Good! (Start) You need only hurry to spread this scripture of the Way so all under Heaven act on it, all think to steady their jing (essence), align thought with the Great Dao, and know for themselves where faults come from—then the burden of chengfu (bearing the sins of past generations and bequeathing guilt to posterity) can be removed. Heaven and Earth will rejoice greatly, and harvests can return to the quality of high antiquity, or even surpass it.

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) exclaimed again and again, “Excellent, excellent!” Then he said: Very well, let us stop the talk here for now. Zhenren (Perfected), you must strive and encourage yourself; come again another day. The Zhenren respectfully assented. The Celestial Master then admonished: After you receive the Jing (scriptures), you must carefully consider their preceding and following context. To study without precision is called “Huhuang” (blurred and indistinct); to pursue the principles of things without a clear form to rely on, so that one’s thoughts cannot be concentrated, means the spirit has no way to proceed.

The above is the Celestial Master’s admonition: if people do not strive while alive, then at death their hun-shen (soul and spirit) must still bear the punishment of “Chengfu” (in Daoism, the retribution of good and evil and the entanglement of ancestors’ faults with their descendants).

“Fenjie Benmo Fa, Chapter Fifty-Three” (The Method of Distinguishing Root and Branch) explains the method for distinguishing root and branch. The Celestial Master said to the Zhenren: Since you have come to study, you should broadly understand the intent of the Dao (the Way); is it enough to grasp only a little and practice accordingly, or must one grasp many things and be complete before practicing? The Zhenren replied: One must be complete and sufficient, having mastered many principles, before one can practice according to them.

The True Person (a master who has attained the Dao and can teach others) said to the disciple (a student who came to learn): “Since you have come to study, you should try to grasp the essentials of the Dao as clearly as you can—whether a little understanding is enough to put it into practice, or whether you must understand a great deal first.”

The disciple answered: “Only when one understands broadly and thoroughly can one act accordingly.”

The True Person sighed: “Alas! In your heart you have not yet truly taken in the core of the Dao.”

The disciple asked again: “Heaven is one, yet it in turn acts through earth as two—what does that mean? Earth is two, yet it in turn acts through human as three—why is that? Your dull student wishes to hear this logic of level upon level acting on one another.”

The True Person said: “Earth carries out heaven’s intent; humans carry out earth’s intent. So when heaven is pleased, it will let that year on earth nurture the myriad things; when heaven is displeased, though earth wishes to nurture, it can only let the myriad things fare poorly. When earth is good, the people on earth also turn toward goodness—this is the principle that heaven, earth, and humanity act on one another and that responses show clearly.”

“So whether there is order or chaos often comes from too many words and labels, failing to gain heaven’s heart; one should return to the root (huan fan qi ben gen). If a person speaks much and is still off the mark, they must also return to the essential point (huan fan qi ben yao), so that what is said can stand.”

On layers of speech and the rules of scripture, the True Person said:

• What can accomplish its aim in one utterance is the root text (ben wen—the fundamental wording);
• What stops after one further turn of speech becomes sections and lines (zhang ju);
• What stops at three utterances turns instead into dispute resolution (jie nan—speech to untie difficulties), already far from the true; hence “dispute resolution”;
• What stops at four utterances turns into literary phrasing (wen ci—ornate wording);
• What stops at five utterances turns into falsity (wei);
• What stops at six utterances again becomes dispute resolution, still far from the true;
• What stops at seven utterances turns into rupture (po—breaking and forced reading);
• What stops at eight utterances turns into scattering and separation (li san); the Dao grows distant and more distant;
• What stops at nine utterances turns into great disorder (da luan);
• What stops at ten utterances turns into destruction and ruin (mie hui).

“So when a jing (scripture) is transmitted to ten, it must be changed and replaced; the more it is passed on, the more it is ruined and destroyed. Whatever is headed for ruin should return to the root; therefore one must again return and guard the One, taking the One as yuan chu (the primordial beginning). Heaven’s number begins from one and ends at ten—this is the natural character of tiandao (the Way of Heaven).”

“So in antiquity when sages inquired about matters: the first time they used bu zhan (divination), auspice and inauspice lay within it—that was guarding the root, when tianshen (the spirit of heaven) came down to inform them; a second divination was dishen (the spirit of earth) coming forth to inform them.”

On the Three Divinations: The term “three divinations” means that divination should be performed three times, each time with its own deity delivering the message. The first divination is announced by the celestial deity; the second by the earth deity; the third by the human deity. If one goes further and adds more layers of divination, it is mostly deception and cannot be trusted. Therefore, if the number of hexagram lines or outcomes grows too large, the result is unreliable; if the explanatory texts pile up too thick, they lose value and should not be relied upon.

Someone praised the teaching and asked: “Today we are constantly favored by the Celestial Master (Tianshi), who pities our incomplete learning—might you grant one more word?” The reply: “Yes, please speak.” They asked again: “Why is the count limited to ten and completed at ten?”

The answer: “Well asked! You have deeply grasped the essence of inquiry. Heaven’s numbers begin at one and end at ten—what does this mean? Heaven starts from one, pairs with earth as two, and when Yin and Yang are complete they jointly generate the myriad things. The myriad things first stir in the north; primordial Qi arises at Zi, turns to the northeast, root-energy spreads through the Jiao position, then turns east for growth and penetration, turns southeast until branches and leaves are fully formed, turns south for flourishing, southwest for approaching fullness, west for ripening, and northwest for closure. When things are exhausted they must return to the root and begin again, so Hai is the terminal position. Hai carries the sense of “kernel,” meaning the first coagulation into a seed-core; hence water begins to congeal in the tenth month. Ren carries the sense of “bearing”—once it bears, it must daily increase and expand. Zi carries the sense of “nourishing”—when the three attain harmonized Yin-Yang Qi, each is complete and then turns back to the primal beginning, so the name for returning to the root is Jiazi. The Dao of heaven in producing things requires full circulation and completeness; only by observing the Qi of heaven and earth through the four seasons and Five Phases can accomplishment occur. Where any one Qi is insufficient, what is produced will likewise be insufficient. Therefore it is rooted in the circling flow of heaven and earth through the eight directions; in numbering, when it reaches ten, that is the limit.”

The questioner: “Yes, yes. Excellent, excellent!”

The disciple said: “I sincerely receive your great kindness.”

The master said: “You need not thank me. Why? The kindness between master and disciple runs deep—like parents bearing a child; it cannot be settled with a word of thanks.”

The disciple asked: “What does this mean?”

The master answered: “Before parents conceive a child, foolish people sometimes scatter seed carelessly in wild fields; what falls in the soil grows into plants, and those plants never know they could have been reborn as human beings. Shallow teaching cannot make this clear. The result is only to grow as plants. When yin and yang unite and one is truly reborn as a human, how far is that from merely being plants? Once born as a human, people often refuse to draw near to a clear-sighted master, and instead follow base, wicked teachers—learning evil, falling into crooked paths, sometimes harming others and costing lives; after death their guilt extends to the whole family. Some are born unwilling to study and remain fools all their lives. The ignorant merely suffer alone and die in sorrow; the torment they endure underground is worse than in life; their souls are judged and find no peace—they cannot even become virtuous ghosts.”

The master continued: “When a clear-sighted master guides a disciple, one who was originally base and lowly can become a good person; holding fast to goodness without ceasing, one rises to worthy person; holding worthiness without ceasing, one approaches sagehood; holding sagehood without ceasing, one can deeply apprehend the true Dao; guarding the Dao without ceasing, one becomes an immortal who does not die; holding immortality without ceasing, one becomes truly real; holding trueness without ceasing, one becomes a spirit; holding spirit without ceasing, one matches Heaven in De (Virtue/Power); matching Heaven without ceasing, one matches primordial Qi (vital energy) in De. Primordial Qi envelops heaven and earth in all directions; nothing among the myriad things fails to receive its breath and come to life.”

(Virtue) in conduct can again spread over the eight directions of heaven and earth, and spirit (Shen) also draws sustenance from heaven and earth. There is not a person under heaven who does not join in offering sacrifice and support, yet they still often fear slackness and cannot truly bring virtue (De) to completion. This is the merit of a good teacher with a good disciple—can one fail to be grateful?

“Can one fail to express thanks?”

“How frightening! This foolish student has violated a taboo and spoken too much.”

“Why be so modest, True Person? You act in this way so that disciples may know when thanks are due.”

“Yes, yes.”

Right: Text that unpacks root and branch, the reckoning of beginning and end, and the essential points regarding the merit owed between father and son and between teacher and disciple.

Lordsheng Obtains the Heavenly Heart Method, Chapter 54

(Opening) “True Person, in former times, the conduct of ordinary people, the king’s…”

“Yes, yes.”

Lesheng Detian Xinfa (The Heart Method of Obtaining Heaven by Delighting in Life), Section 54 — Plain-Language Commentary

Opening Question and Answer

The Perfected One asked: How should ordinary people conduct themselves, and how should a ruler govern the state, so that their way is the best?

Answer: To extend broad compassion to all living beings without harming them, like the way Heaven and the Dao operate—that is best.

The disciple said: Your words already match the original intent of the Dao. Yet there is nothing greater in governance than taking Heaven as model; still, there must be an order of priority, step by step.

The Perfected One asked: What do you mean? In my dullness I can only ask this one thing and dare not ask further; please, Celestial Master, explain in detail.

Emulating Heaven and the Order of Priority

The Perfected One answered: In the conduct of common people and the governance of rulers, the highest practice is this: to keep thinking of living happily, as urgently as a thirsty person longs for water—that alone is right.

Next: to take joy in completing meritorious work, always keeping in mind that things must be brought to completion, as one watches over one’s own body—that alone is right.

Next: to be good at benevolent giving, seeing others in poverty and worrying for them, as one fears hunger and cold for oneself—that alone is right.

Next: to be good at establishing laws and standards, not taking harm as pleasure, but restraining oneself from fear and caution—that alone is right.

Next: when others err, to be good at correcting and governing them, not letting them fall into grave crime—that alone is right.

Next: when someone has already committed a crime, not to harbor in the heart the wish to destroy them utterly—that alone is right.

Next: when someone’s fault touches the death penalty and nothing can be done, at least not to implicate their family and neighbors—that alone is right.

Next: when guilt has already spread to family and neighbors, if one must identify the guilty, be extremely careful not to wipe out whole households or whole categories of people—that alone is right.

Why One Must Not Exterminate the Human Race

Human beings are what ties together the divine lineage of Heaven and Earth. To exterminate them is called severing Heaven and Earth’s divine lineage; it gravely injures the root substance of Heaven and Earth and brings harm of the deepest kind; Heaven in turn will destroy humankind in the world.

To be an ancestor or a teacher is not easy; one should plan for posterity and not let descendants bear the karma of “inherited burden.” (Chenfu: the traditional idea that the faults of forebears are borne by later generations.)

Therefore when sages govern the state, they always think of universal peace and use punishment as little as possible. They do this precisely to plan for those who come after.

Perfected One, have you seen these subtle words?

Answer: Yes, yes.

Note: In the original scripture, the passage from “Next, nothing is better than being good at establishing laws…” through “not wishing in the heart to harm them deeply” appears twice; the plain-language version renders the same meaning once. When checking against the carved edition, follow the duplication in the source text.

Someone asked: “When emperors and feudal lords govern the world, which approach is best?”

The answer: “To spread compassion widely without harming people, and to act as Heaven does—that is best.”

It also says: “In governing, one should as far as possible take Heaven as the model; even so, there must still be an order of priority.”

Asked: “What does that mean?”

The answer: “For human beings, the best is le sheng—taking keeping people alive and making life good as the first priority, as urgent as thirsting for water; only then does one qualify.

Next is le cheng—when others have good fortune or achieve goodness, you rejoice for them as if you yourself had gained.

Next again is le shi—seeing people poor and in want, you truly worry for them, as if you feared cold and hunger yourself; only then does it count.

Next again is she fa—rules that should be established must be established, but the emphasis is on making people revere and not dare to act recklessly, rather than crushing people with heavy punishments alone.

Next again, when people commit grave crimes—in governing, it is best not to block the whole road, and not to let one crime plunge someone into an irredeemable “unforgivable sin” from which there is no exit.

Next again, when someone has faults and violates the law, and matters have already reached a point hard to undo—at least try not to implicate their whole family and neighbors.

Next again, when guilt extends to the mutual-responsibility group (neighbors)—if you must identify and pursue the guilty, do so with care, and do not cut off someone’s line of descendants.

Human beings are the line that receives Heaven, Earth, and the divine; if governance is wrong and injures the vitality and order that Heaven and Earth entrust, the calamities summoned will run deep. So do not let people’s descendants generation after generation bear guilt and ill fortune; hold Great Peace (Taiping) constantly in mind, and only then can xing ge (punishment, blockage, and perverse qi) be reduced.”

Plain-Language Reading of Taiping Jing (Collated Edition)

The True Person stepped forward to receive the command and repeatedly answered, “Yes, yes.”

The Celestial Master asked: You are a True Person—should you not speak what ought to be said? Or will you only defer?

The True Person replied: By rights I should speak. Yet the lineage I belong to is tied to Earth; my fate belongs to Kunlun (in Daoist thought, the earthly veins and immortal mountains). The Celestial Master’s mandate is in Heaven, in the Purple Palace of the Northern Pole (the celestial ruler’s abode). Now Earth is in a state of emptiness; one should only carefully receive what Heaven bestows. As disciples we should follow in succession, empty-hearted like the great earth, reverently accepting the Celestial Master’s teaching. Only then can one speak of the essential words of the Supreme Dao; without the distinction of teacher and disciple, if people merely associate in name alone, that is what is called confused study and impure practice. If teachings make the Dao unclear—one thing yes and one thing no, one thing not and one thing not—such doctrine cannot be handed down as the law of emperors and kings, so I dare not speak casually.

The Celestial Master said: Why be modest! I wish to consult with you, a True Person, on doing good; it is fine to speak openly. … (text missing in the middle)

The True Person said: People have order of seniority; wisdom has depth and shallowness; conduct has high and low; status has noble and humble. What I can say does not match what the Celestial Master has said. The words of the small man cannot compare with the Dao seen with one’s own eyes by elders, or with the clarity of leaders and elders. The Celestial Master has already questioned and awakened one as dull as I, opening my understanding and making me know how hard it is to distinguish good from evil—how could that be exhausted in a moment? I pray you will not abandon this halfway, but only for High Heaven and Sovereign Earth (Heaven and Earth).

The Celestial Master said: Good. Now that this is Heaven’s speech, I will not defer to you. It is only that you are usually withdrawn and speak little, so I have come to ask you.

The True Person said: I dare not be withdrawn. Now, seeing the Celestial Master expound the teaching, I am both glad and afraid: glad to have met my teacher and master; afraid that in my dullness I cannot learn it fully, and my teacher and master will depart. Therefore I wish to ask urgently, always like one parched and longing to drink. I hope the Celestial Master’s Dao may be transmitted to disciples and entrusted to a virtuous ruler who can use it. Now Yin and Yang each hold their proper place, and the great illnesses that the world bears—none fail to be wholly healed.

The Celestial Master said: Excellent! What you say is very apt. Examine my writings in detail—the Dao will be complete; it connects above and extends below, clear as sun and moon, mutually turning and mutually serving. Reflect on it today and put it into practice; every illness will by itself be entirely removed and healed, all will understand, and most will praise and rejoice.

The True Person: Yes, yes.

On the Order of Governance, Restoring the Heart of Heaven, and the Master–Disciple Exchange of Deference

Taiping Jing (Collated Edition), Volume 41 · Part Bing-7

Taiping Jing, Volume 41

Item 55: Ancient Text Title and Book Formula

The disciple (the “Perfected” who questions the Celestial Master) bows respectfully and says: “I wish to ask about one matter.”

The Celestial Master replies: “Speak.”

The Perfected (disciple) then says: “I will study the new teachings with fresh effort and without slackening, to inquire on Heaven’s behalf.”

The Celestial Master says: “My duty is to transmit the Way to the Perfected; I dare not withhold anything—ask quickly.”

The disciple answers “Yes, yes” repeatedly, then asks:

“Nowadays shorter Daoist books are treated as Tianjing (Heavenly Scriptures); words of sages from high antiquity, middle antiquity, and late antiquity are jujiao (critically reviewed and selected) and compiled into Shengjing (Sage Scriptures); words of great De from the three ages are jujiao into Dejing (Virtue Scriptures); words of the wise and enlightened from the three ages are jujiao into Xianjing (Worthy Scriptures).

Recalling your words, Celestial Master, I still do not fully grasp the meaning of jujiao. I beg you to open the path and the order of steps, so that the Dejun (virtuous ruler) may receive them as strict commands, and so that all worthies may each extract good intent within them and find a path to life.”

The Celestial Master says: “Good—questions from the Perfected should be like this. Good, good! I accept; I will explain in detail. Perfected, follow and record—do not miss a word of what I say.”

〈Begin〉 (the teaching follows)

The Celestial Master says: “I speak for Heaven and Earth and compose teachings for the lord of supreme De, to remove the baleful fate of chengfu (inherited guilt and calamity accumulated since the opening of Heaven and Earth). I dare not speak rashly, or I would surely incur the resentment of August Heaven and Sovereign Earth, and fail the upper worthies and the lord of bright De—the guilt would be immense. Perfected, do you understand?”

The disciple: “Yes, yes.”

The Celestial Master says: “Jujiao of Daoist writings from high, middle, and late antiquity is like having all worthies read together the various Dao texts of past and present.

If in one scroll one obtains one ‘good word’ or one ‘good formula matter,’ record it and write it out.

One scroll, one good; ten scrolls, ten goods; a hundred scrolls, a hundred goods; a thousand, a thousand; ten thousand, ten thousand; a hundred million scrolls, a hundred million goods—〈End〉 (the original here repeats similar lines; the sense is the same:)

If one scroll yields ten good words or good formula matters, ten scrolls yield a hundred goods… and so on to a hundred million scrolls, that is a number of ‘good words’ on the order of billions upon billions;

if one scroll yields a hundred goods, that is ten billion good words…”

(This passage explains that jujiao is not copying whole books wholesale, but extracting item by item from successive generations of Dao texts those “good words” and “good formula matters” that meet the standard—many small gains piled up into scripture and teaching; the more scrolls, the more “good” gathered, the greater the teaching’s power.)

Notes (for reading the original):

• Jujiao: to review, compare, and select—not to rewrite at will.
• Tianjing / Shengjing / Dejing / Xianjing: four classes of scripture named by source and rank.
• Chengfu: a common notion in the religion—that guilt and blessing accumulate between ancestors and descendants, and baleful fate is handed down.
• Dejun: the ruler who governs by virtue; the Taiping Jing often assumes its audience is the Dejun and the assembly of worthies.

Vernacular Explanation

When scriptures are copied and gathered in one place, the worthies consult texts old and new together, copy them all out, sort them by kind, and assign each to its category. Overlapping passages are removed, and the essential wording is arranged in order until the work is finished—then one can deeply grasp the essential meaning of heaven, earth, humankind, and the myriad things in antiquity and today. Writings composed on that basis become the Tian Jing (Heavenly Scripture). Do you understand? “Excellent, excellent!” “You already understand. By the method of Ju Jiao (collating and correcting ancient scriptures character by character), draw from the sacred scriptures of upper, middle, and lower antiquity and organize the shan zi jue (key precepts tied to the word ‘good’): one good item from one scroll, ten from ten scrolls, a hundred from a hundred, a thousand from a thousand, ten thousand from ten thousand, a hundred million from a hundred million scrolls. If one scroll yields ten good items, the total is already a billion; if one scroll yields a hundred, the total is already ten billion. The worthies record the texts together in one auspicious place; when collation is fully complete and good items are classified and gathered, the count is already a billion; a hundred good items per scroll makes ten billion. The worthies record together in one place, collate everything, arrange by category so items follow one another, let the worthies jointly settle the order and remove duplicates—that becomes the Sheng Jing (Sacred Scripture). Do you understand, Perfected One?” “Yes, yes.” “You already understand. Collate the words of the worthies of upper, middle, and lower antiquity; for each great good passage, record one item per scroll—ten scrolls yield ten items … a hundred million scrolls yield a hundred million items; ten items per scroll means a billion items; a hundred per scroll means ten billion items. When all is finished, arrange again by category so they follow one another, let the worthies jointly settle the order, remove duplicates, edit and place them in sequence—that becomes the Xian Jing (Scripture of the Worthies). Do you understand, Perfected One?” “Yes, yes.” “You already understand. If all Dao wen jing (classical texts in the Daoist literary tradition) are collated so they follow one another, the worthies jointly settle the order, duplicates are removed, and they are edited and placed in sequence—that too becomes the Xian Jing. Do you understand, Perfected One?” “Yes, yes.” “You already understand.”

You should collate and revise the Daoist scriptures, together with the writings of all the sages and the good words, formulas, and deeds passed on among people—recording every worthy item, gathering them all in one place until the work is truly finished. Then, together with all the worthy and great virtuous ones, deliberate and decide by category, clarifying each theme in turn, removing duplicates, and arranging the texts in proper order. Only then can it be said that one has fully obtained the writings of Heaven and Earth and the expressions of human affairs and sentiment—brought to completion and settled, with no good teaching or formula left out, not even the slightest thread. Such a “Way” is called a scripture that penetrates to the utmost the Yin and Yang of Heaven and Earth; for myriad ages it cannot be changed.

“Excellent! Excellent!”

“Go forth! The Realized Person may truly be said to have awakened.”

“I am too dull to measure up; I wish now to ask one more doubt.”

“Speak.”

“Since Heaven and Earth were opened and formed, ages have been long; the Hetu and Luoshu appeared with their patterns, sometimes divine scriptures emerged, sometimes divine birds carried or brought forth characters and piled up many texts—it was never only one kind. What sages and worthies composed also accumulated in great number; in the end each excelled in one specialty. Why did the Celestial Master doubt, behold, and see as you did—and in one moment instruct all the worthy ones of later ages to collate together the writings and phrasing of scholars ancient and modern?”

“Indeed they accumulated greatly; in the end each had his own specialty. Why did the Celestial Master doubt, behold, and see—and in one moment instruct all the worthy ones of later ages to collate the writings of scholars ancient and modern?”

“Yes—I have seen and witnessed, and dare not vainly trouble the virtuous of later ages without cause. Now I am sent forth in the world to lift the inheriting burden (chenfu) from the sovereign of great virtue and power (De), from the punishments of flowing disaster and heaped calamity that have spread since Heaven and Earth were opened. The astronomical and sacred books of antiquity and today, and the writings of sages, are already sufficient in substance; what I worry about is only that they sit scattered, each dwelling apart, each excelling in one affair alone. If we rely on the method of a single school today, we cannot thoroughly remove the transformations of disaster in Heaven and Earth; therefore flowing calamities never cease and inheriting burden passes on and on, while those born later find their sickness and suffering ever worse. So Heaven pities the virtuous sovereign and again takes up the inheriting burden on their behalf; Heaven’s harmony is such that those born later cannot live out their lives alone—they share in the accumulated disasters and various faults. The real fault lies with the teachers and sages of old: each was master of one thing, yet all fell short in some way and all had something missing.”

Heaven knows that what has been transmitted among humans is incomplete, so in different ages it sends down the River Chart and Luo Writing and other numinous books, whose wording also differs from one to another. Great worthies and great sages appear in different eras, each taking up one task and each composing teachings, and their language is likewise not the same; thus each has gaps and each has strengths and weaknesses. This shows that no single generation of sages and worthies can fully exhaust the supreme principle of Heaven and Earth, so remnants of calamity still often remain between heaven and earth, one following another without end—some severe, some mild.

Therefore Heaven has reckoned anew: now the documents above and below have been arranged with utmost completeness, and then a sage is sent down so that nothing further need be done, nothing added, no further words appended, and nothing more supplied for the great virtuous ruler of Heaven and Earth. If Heaven were to send down another sage, that person’s words might still lean to one side, the stream of disaster and poison would be hard to remove entirely, and the outcome would be no different from the sages who came before.

So Heaven has the speaker urgently instruct the Perfected Person (Zhenren), entrust the documents to the virtue-cultivating ruler, show them to all worthy and clear-minded people, and together collate and gather the formulas and wording that circulate among the people under Heaven, so that upper and lower mutually supplement each other, repetitions are cut away, essential words, essential texts, and ritual instructions are kept, and these are recorded as scripture. Only then can the true writing, correct characters, and good phrasing of Heaven and Earth fully appear; the false and corrupt are wholly removed, the great afflictions of Heaven and Earth are entirely cleared, scattered calamities all perish, the people and the myriad things each find their place, and suffering no longer falls upon them. That is why Heaven teaches the speaker to collate and gather.

The speaker writes books not merely imitating empty words but imitating effects that can be verified. Whoever acts according to these texts and these writings will see together removed the transformations and disasters of Heaven and Earth, strange illnesses, the crafty and slippery, rebellious ministers, and all inauspicious falsity and corruption—as when on a cloudy day the clouds disperse and the sky clears. Use this to test the speaker’s words and the speaker’s texts: among ten thousand cases, not one will miss.

The gist of this passage is as follows:

If people do not earnestly follow and apply the documents transmitted by me (the Celestial Master), then even though I reverently receive the words and writings sent down from Heaven, if the writings are passed on yet no one uses them, how can Heaven vainly remove calamities on its own? If the documents themselves are confused within, people will likewise fall into internal disorder, and disasters still will not be removed. Do you understand, Perfected One? “Yes, yes.” “Good—you have understood.”

(What follows repeats the same point once more: if the documents are not used, Heaven cannot remove disasters in vain; if the documents are confused within, people are confused within—the meaning is the same.)

“I wish to ask about one matter.” “Speak.”

“Since Heaven and Earth were opened at the beginning, the sacred and the sage have all been born of Heaven; generation after generation they have spoken on Heaven’s behalf to kings, and established laws for emperors, to remove disasters and settle the realm. If emperors today apply those laws without going against the heart of Heaven, Yin-Yang, and proper measure, the documents they compose also each have their names. Then what title is fitting for the moral book composed by the Celestial Master?”

“You ask well.”

“It should be formally named the ‘Great Cave Supreme-Heaven Governance’ (Da Dong Ji Tian zhi Zhengshi). Why this name? ‘Great’ means utmost greatness: whoever practices this Way, their governance is greatest and has nothing above it. ‘Cave’ (Dong) means that its virtue and vice can penetrate and connect through Heaven and Earth, Yin and Yang, inner and outer, and the six directions, with nothing failing to respond; it makes all people careful to do good, and the myriad things each find their place. This Way collates and rectifies, from the opening of Heaven and Earth until now, the writings of Heaven, Earth, humanity, and the spirits, selecting what is good and compiling it into the scripture of the utmost cave; emperors apply it so that all worthies are of one mind and exert their strength in practice. Within the four seas and the four borders, disasters are swept away and removed, governance is penetrating and clear, resembling the state of Heaven, Earth, and the numinous spirits—hence the name Great Cave Supreme-Heaven Governance. Do you understand, Perfected One?”

Earlier dialogue

The responder repeatedly said “Yes, yes,” and again: “How truly startling! How truly startling!”

The other party said: “Good—you have awakened.”

Title of the section

The Method of the Nine Heavens for Dispelling the Disasters of Former Kings is the fifty-sixth section, in volume forty-two of the collated edition (Part C, eighth fascicle).

“Regulations for checking copyists and wording against texts of upper, middle, and lower antiquity” means applying the rules passed down from the three antiquities to verify who copied the text and how the language was used.

Opening of the main text

Question: “The Way by which Heaven ‘governs through the ninefold human order’ to rule all under heaven—where exactly do Yin and Yang each find their proper place?”

(Answer begins)

Answer: Humankind is the chief who governs and holds together the ten thousand things.

It goes on to speak of an “spirit-person” (shenren) who is formless and acts by entrusting himself to Qi—(the original text continues below; this excerpt ends at the opening of the phrase about the spirit-person.)

Brief notes on terms

• Governing the ninefold human order (li jiuren): In the Scripture of Great Peace, heaven, earth, humankind, and various offices and categories are often grouped as the “nine persons” or “nine affairs,” meaning the Dao of heaven governs through graded ranks and division of roles—not simply nine living people.
• Where Yin and Yang settle (yinyang de he): Whether Yin and Yang each keep their place and support rather than harm each other is used to judge order versus disorder and calamities.
• Spirit-person (shenren): A sacred status above ordinary people, able to receive the mandate of heaven and communicate with the divine; often “formless” and acting through Qi, and in the scripture often mentioned alongside “perfect persons” (zhenren) and “sages” (shengren).
• Entrusting to Qi (wei qi): Entrusting life and authority to “Qi” so as to connect with heaven and earth through Qi—a common Daoist way of describing how the sacred is present and acts.

Question: Heavenly principle must rely on these nine kinds of people before Yin and Yang can each find their proper place—how does that work?

Answer: Human beings are the chief among those who govern the myriad things. Among them—

The formless spirit-person who receives and embodies qi is charged with regulating yuanqi (primordial qi from before Heaven and Earth were divided). The great spirit-person regulates Heaven; the zhenren (True Person) regulates Earth; the xianren (Immortal) regulates the four seasons; the great Daist regulates the Five Phases; the shengren (Sage) regulates Yin-Yang; the xianren (Worthy) regulates documents and conveys teachings and commands; ordinary people regulate plants, grasses, and the five grains; servants and slaves regulate wealth and goods.

Why is it so? In every case duties are assigned by category. The formless spirit-person who receives qi is nearest to yuanqi, so that person regulates yuanqi. The great spirit-person has form and is nearest to Heaven, so that person regulates Heaven. The zhenren is single-minded and sincere and is nearest to Earth, so that person regulates Earth. Immortals shift and change without fixed pattern and are nearest to the four seasons, so they regulate the four seasons. The great Daist excels at divining fortune and calamity and is nearest to the Five Phases, so that person regulates the Five Phases. Sages master harmonizing qi and are nearest to Yin-Yang, so they regulate Yin-Yang. Worthies excel at words and writing and are nearest to documents, so they regulate documents. Ordinary people are dull and unknowing and are nearest to the myriad things, so they regulate the myriad things. Servants and slaves keep charge of wealth and goods—with them one is rich, without them poor; they connect exchange and circulation, so they regulate wealth and goods.

Heaven allots roles without overriding the heart; each follows its kind and nothing falls out of order; to go against this is great harm. Therefore everyone under Heaven should align with this. Ancient sages understood this deeply, so they did not lose Heaven’s intent and gained Heaven’s heart.

Does the zhenren understand now?

“Excellent! Excellent!”

“What I have said is to warn the zhenren: do not lose this principle.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Strive to practice it.”

“The foolish student’s heart is still tied in knots and cannot resolve this: these nine people each manage one matter—what good does that do for the king’s governance?”

First Section

When one follows Heaven’s intent and harmonizes these nine kinds of Qi, and the people of the nine directions work as one, the rule of the Supreme Sovereign and Great Peace can be achieved. If these nine matters cannot be coordinated and instead clash with one another, Great Peace cannot be reached. The nine matters generate and support one another in turn, forming a cycle—but ordinary people find it hard to grasp fully, and the ancient sages did not explain it clearly enough, so it has long remained sealed and unknown.

Second Section

“If one of these matters cannot be governed or settled, why is that?”

“When the Qi of the Supreme Sovereign has reached its fullness, the people of the nine directions will all come to assist the king in governing the realm. If even one kind of Qi is out of harmony, something will be wrong, and yin and yang cannot be fully harmonized and the realm fully settled. How does this assistance come about?”

Spirits without form will inform the king and make his mind clearer day by day; great spirit-masters will appear from time to time and teach the meaning of governing the age; True Persons, Immortals, and Great Daoists will all come as teachers and assist in transforming the people; sages and worthies will appear, and recluses will emerge to serve as ministers; common folk and servants will turn toward goodness and cease doing evil—all of these are great signs of Heaven’s joy.

Third Section

“If one kind of Qi is out of harmony, there will be things that do not come—what is that like?”

When primordial Qi is not in harmony, the formless spirit-person will not come.

When Heaven’s Qi is not in harmony, the great spirit-master will not come.

When Earth’s Qi is not in harmony, the True Person will not come.

When the four seasons are not in harmony, the Immortal will not come.

When the Five Phases are not in harmony, the Great Daoist will not come.

When yin and yang are not in harmony, the sage will not come.

When writing and speech are not true, the great worthy will not come.

When the myriad things are not in harmony, the common people fall into disorder, wealth dwindles, servants flee, and every office fails in its duty—that is exactly where the harm lies.

Fourth Section

“Now that the True Person is going to rescue the chaotic Qi of Heaven, you should strive to settle it and must not grow weary or slack; treat this with care.”

“Yes, yes.”

Opening

If a person can obtain qi (become one with the qi of heaven and earth), these nine spirit officers will all uphold the Great Dao, and the accumulated burden of “chenfu” (inherited liability passed down from ancient kings through the generations) can be entirely dissolved.

If these nine persons each lose their proper place and fail to perform their roles, the harm of chenfu will only grow day by day.

These nine: above they reach the formless heaven; below they extend to the lowliest of servants and slaves. Each one regulates one kind of qi; when the nine kinds of qi harmonize, yin and yang are brought into proper balance.

For a person to align with heaven and harmonize the qi of yin and yang, they must first “eat qi” (nourish themselves with qi rather than relying solely on tangible food). Therefore superior practitioners, at the outset of the Way, often first abstain from solid food and eat qi, so that they may merge with primordial qi (the original qi of heaven and earth).

For this reason they should be placed in a thatched chamber (a simple, quiet room), made to keep purification fasts, kept from contact with evil matters, and made to refine the body daily; do not forcibly strip away their legitimate desires. Cultivated in this way, they can pass in and out without obstruction, and above can assist the immortals, primordial qi, and heaven’s governance. Such persons are “spirit knights”—officers of heaven.

Do not forbid and do not obstruct; if one can sincerely accomplish this Way, one is called a “knight of heaven.” Knights of heaven examine and select the good; heaven is greatly pleased and in turn bestows benefit on people—what does this mean?

It is this: those who have attained the Way and departed the world (or withdrawn and no longer hold visible office in human society) may seem for a time to be of no use to the present age, yet in fact they all work together to harmonize the qi of yin and yang.

Ancient emperors sacrificed to heaven and feasted the spirits, offering sacrificial goods to the celestial gods above and to the spirit officers below—what they spoke of was precisely this kind of affair.

Closing

Appendix (another formulation of the same meaning)

Obtaining these nine persons can dissolve the chenfu disasters of emperors through myriad ages. The nine reach the formless above and servants and slaves below; each regulates one qi. Superior practitioners on the Way should first eat qi, seeking to merge with primordial qi; they should dwell in a thatched chamber in purification, not look upon evil, refine the body daily, not seize their desires, pass in and out without obstruction, and above assist the immortals, primordial qi, and heaven’s governance. Such are spirit knights, officers of heaven. Without prohibition and without obstruction—if one can truly attain this, one is named a knight of heaven, examines and selects the good; heaven is greatly pleased and returns benefit to people.

Those who have attained the Way and left the world, though not of immediate use in the present age, can harmonize the qi of yin and yang to benefit the myriad things. Ancient emperors sacrificed to the gods in heaven precisely for such spirit officers.

Someone asked: “Do the spirits in heaven actually need to ‘feed’ on what people below offer them?”

The Celestial Master answered: “You’re right to ask. Still, this person is really an officer sent by heaven; the spirits above are his sovereign. Sovereign and officer work together: the officer’s job is to run affairs and report upward the good people do and the merit they earn. When the sovereign descends accordingly, he is pleased and can remove inherited burden (chengfu—the accumulated guilt of past generations). If the officer does not report truthfully, that person is at fault in the Way and heaven will hold them accountable. If neither sovereign nor officer will descend or take nourishment from the human realm (will not oversee or accept worthy offerings), faults double day by day; the person may think extra fault doesn’t matter—how then can disasters left from ancient times be removed? You understand this, do you not, Perfected One?”

The Perfected One said: “How terrifying! I’m deeply afraid and confused, as if I can’t catch my breath. I came to ask the Celestial Master and never expected to hear this.”

The Celestial Master said: “Go and do your best. I’ve said what needs saying; you may leave.”

The Perfected One answered again and again: “Yes, yes.”

(Opening note) The nine individuals’ intentions were examined one by one; those who were free of injustice could all align with and govern the Dao of Heaven. Heaven was therefore pleased and released the chenfu (the accumulated debt whereby descendants bear the sins and calamities of their ancestors) built up over generations of former kings.

Verifying Authenticity and Falsity of the Dao, Chapter Fifty-Seven

The work is nearly finished and will not be delayed much longer.

“Zhenren (a cultivator who has attained the Dao), step forward and receive the teaching carefully.”

“Yes, yes.”

“After you cultivate according to this Dao, chenfu grows deeper with the passing years; misfortune and perverse qi gather together, and calamities and harm are indeed many—they cannot all be cleared away in an instant.”

“If one knows that after striving to practice this Dao, the misfortune of chenfu will lessen day by day, be removed month by month, and cleared year by year, growing lighter and lighter—how can one know this?”

“A good question! You are close to the meaning of attaining the Dao. But listen carefully: after this Dao is practiced, the documents of the world will gradually all be set right, and people will gradually all be set right, all returning to the true Dao, with no more false and perverse writings, and falsehood will be cut off. Everyone will of their own accord be careful. Those born later will especially be so, imitating and learning from one another, all understanding that the Dao is within themselves, able to illumine their own body and mind, each cherishing and caring for themselves. Those born later will be both filial and long-lived, all skilled at nurturing themselves; their complexion and bearing will differ from when they were without the Dao. Later generations will day by day grasp the supreme meaning and take the Dao as home. What they learn will surpass those before them; they will daily grow closer and more affectionate with one another, loving and honoring those who have the Dao, and weapons, treachery, cunning, and wickedness will no longer arise. Therefore the misfortune of chenfu will day by day be dispelled—this is the natural law. □□ Nothing is missed; this is the great verification of my teaching—it cannot be empty fine words. One must take direct experience as proof before one can accord with Heaven and Earth; how could one speak falsely? Therefore the scriptures appear again and again in succession; the accumulation is not the work of one person alone, and outsiders cannot fully know the circumstances, so my Dao takes sincerity (cheng) as its foundation. You come again and again to ask—you must delight in knowing the great effects. Those effects are like cold and heat opposing each other: when heat is great, cold is less; when cold is great, heat is less.

Since Heaven and Earth were opened, among former teachers and students, many hid the true Dao and did not reveal it, yet used flashy learning to teach others—only small benefit, and they treated those born later poorly; yet those born later increased day by day and grew worse, so false learning was handed down. Though the Dao of Heaven had long accumulated, those who first wrote the scriptures became a great ladder of mutual deception. When one layer of deception was not detected, later people exploited it, so those above had nothing trustworthy to rely on, those below had nowhere to pledge their lives, above and below suspected one another, and disorderly governance resulted. Those born later again inherited chenfu in succession; the misfortunes of the ancestors gathered together—hence it is called severe. Heaven now redresses this injustice, therefore I speak to you □□. Zhenren, strive to cherish yourself and press on. You remove sickness for Heaven and remove calamity for the sovereign; Heaven knows you have great merit.”

“I dare not, I dare not.”

Note: “□□” marks missing characters in the original text; “right (beginning)… (end)” are editor’s marginal notes. Together with the main text on verifying authenticity and falsity, the daily lessening of chenfu, the true Dao dispelling the false, and cold and heat as opposites, the structure is a dialogue of divine teaching and the zhenren.

“Four Types of Actions at Root and End,” Section 58 — Plain-Language Explanation

[The Perfected One questions the disciple]

The Perfected One first said: “Disciple, step forward.”

The disciple answered: “Yes, yes.”

The Perfected One asked: “How many kinds of ways do people act in the world?”

The disciple answered: “There are hundreds and thousands—every sort imaginable.”

The Perfected One said: “No. How could the words of a perfected person be the same as those of ordinary people? There are only four ways people act.”

First type: human conduct of good and evil

The Perfected One asked: “What is the first type?”

The disciple answered: “In human conduct, if one is not greatly good, one is greatly evil; neither good nor evil is called floating balance conduct (neutral, neither good nor bad); when good and evil are mixed, it is impure inconstant conduct—neither side can be relied on, and auspice and misfortune cannot be pinned down.”

The Perfected One asked: “Good. Then how many kinds are there of auspice and misfortune themselves?”

The disciple answered: “Countless thousands?”

The Perfected One said: “Wrong again. The words of a perfected person must not be confused with those of ordinary people. Conduct of auspice and misfortune also has four kinds.”

Second type: conduct of auspice and misfortune

The Perfected One asked: “What does the first kind of confusion (blurred, unsettled state) refer to?”

The disciple answered: “In whatever one does, if it is not greatly auspicious it is greatly inauspicious; neither auspicious nor inauspicious is called floating balance fate; when auspice and misfortune are mixed, it is mixed and impure, inconstant—neither auspice nor misfortune can be counted on.”

Third type: the movement of heaven, earth, year, and day

The Perfected One asked: “Good. Then how much good and evil change is there in heaven, earth, the year, and the day?”

The disciple answered: “Too many to count?”

The Perfected One said: “You are already drunk and muddled; you cannot speak clearly. Heaven, earth, the year, and the day each also have four modes of movement.”

The Perfected One asked: “Which kind is impure and presides over strange, anomalous change?”

The disciple answered: “Please listen clearly, Perfected One: if heaven, earth, and the year are not greatly harmonious, they turn greatly malign; neither harmonious nor malign is called floating balance year; when good and evil are mixed, it is called year of heaven’s change and confusion.

If the day is not greatly good, it is greatly evil; neither good nor evil is called floating balance day and month; one good and one evil is called confused conduct, which presides over strange disasters.

I only give the broad outline and the opening; everything under heaven follows this principle.”

Fourth type: the ten thousand things and the people

The Perfected One asked: “What does that mean?”

The disciple answered: “The ten thousand things under heaven and the people—if they do not enter the path of good, they must fall into the road of evil; neither good nor evil is called level, even conduct; one good and one evil is called deceitful, false conduct, which cannot stand firm; level conduct cannot persuade people toward good; great good and great evil alone leave a name behind.”

Why exactly these four?

The Perfected One asked: “Why are there precisely these four?”

The disciple answered: “Well asked—you have already touched the meaning of the Dao.

• Great good: pure solar conduct (pure yang, upright movement)
• Great evil: obtaining yin lunar malign conduct (pure yin, baleful movement)
• Good and evil combined: central harmony conduct
• Inconstant conduct: heaven and earth lose central harmony; sovereign and minister, people and the ten thousand things all lose the correct Way

So in acting, one must be upright: following yang mostly brings good, following yin mostly brings evil, following harmony brings floating balance; where auspice and misfortune are inconstant, conduct has no standard to rely on.

Therefore the ancient sages and perfected ones looked deeply at heaven and earth, the year, the day, the people, and the ten thousand things—watching their rise and fall, floating balance, advance and retreat—to compare whether their own conduct was correct; like holding up a clear mirror to oneself, only then could their form and bearing differ (only then could they be distinct from ordinary people and align with the Dao).”

Brief summary (to read the whole passage smoothly)

This passage chiefly teaches that straying from the authentic Dao is no trifling matter: like an error of a hair’s breadth that grows and grows, it can in the end bring calamity upon Heaven and Earth, emperors, the people, and the ten thousand things. Therefore Heaven sends the Perfected Ones to transmit the scripture, so that each person may examine themselves and amend their ways.

On “Small Losses Becoming Great Calamity”

When the Way of Heaven loses its rectitude, at first it seems off by only a hair’s breadth; pursued to the end, it may miss by a thousand li. As with grains of millet following one after another until they fill the Great Granary—numbering in the trillions of hu—or as with rain, drop following drop without cease, gathering into the hundred streams and accumulating into the four seas until the water is beyond bearing.

When the root (ben) slips away, the authentic Dao must bind it and draw it back: from the branch tips return to the root, from ornament return to substance, from falsity return to truth. When the end is exhausted, one must turn back to the root; when the journey reaches its limit, one must turn around. This is the constant pattern of the Way of Heaven.

Losing the correct Way is not a minor fault. After a person’s life ends, wrongdoing still carries forward (chenfu)—passed down and entangling generation after generation; those who come after grow more confused and more lost, the correct Way dims day by day, and in the hidden depths the loss of the Way continues. Heaven’s qi (natural order and the flow of fortune) falls out of harmony—how can peace prevail? Everyone suffers its poison—how can people live long? The ten thousand things mostly die before their time.

Hence the repeated command that Perfected Ones (those who receive Heaven’s teaching and transmit the Way of Heaven) spread this scripture, so that every person may reflect on what it means to lose the Way: when the body is ill, each should worry, labor, and reform—then Heaven and Earth, emperors, the people, and the ten thousand things may all find rest. The Perfected Ones accord with Heaven’s heart; they must not slacken or grow careless.

The Perfected One Questions the Celestial Master

The Perfected One replied: “Yes, yes. I wish to ask one further doubt: Celestial Master, are today’s fortunes and misfortunes merely the working of the times?”

The Celestial Master said: “Excellent! It is rare for a Perfected One to grasp this meaning. What is utmost on high must return below; what is utmost on the outside must return within—therefore when yang reaches its peak it must turn back to yin, and what is lowest must return above; when yin reaches its peak it turns back to yang, and what is at the furthest end must return to the root.”

“Since Heaven and Earth were opened and brought forth, bit by bit they have successively lost the meaning of the Way, each generation bearing it forward (chenfu), until the extreme of perversity and falsity was reached. How do we know this? Among the ten thousand things and the people, most speak well in front yet act badly behind (qian shan hou e); few truly accomplish what they promise—the words are ahead, yet…” (the original text is defective at this point)

First, on “the front has substance, the rear is empty”: what lies ahead is something concrete that can be seen and grasped; what lies behind is emptiness and void. In antiquity sages often watched the people’s movements and stillness to hold to this principle, so they seldom made serious mistakes in governing the world or nurturing life.

After the listener expressed admiration, he asked the Celestial Master again: According to what you say, all things have a “lower limit” and an “upper limit.” If we compare them to nine ranks of people, at the top are weiqishenren (spirit persons who receive heaven’s qi and respond to primordial qi), and at the bottom are slaves and servants. Those below can rise through learning—can those at the very top also descend?

The Celestial Master said: Well asked. At this moment you, the perfected one, still seem not to have thought through Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate—the root and overarching principle of heaven, earth, and the myriad things) clearly. So-called weiqishenren are those who unite their form with yuanqi (primordial qi, the fundamental qi that generates the myriad things), share its power, and take part in transformation together with the four seasons and Five Phases (the cycles of spring, summer, autumn, and winter and the movement of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth). Every spirit related to human beings receives tianqi (qi from heaven); tianqi in turn receives yuanqi. Spirit “rides upon qi and moves,” so where there is qi in a person there is spirit, and where there is spirit there is qi; when spirit departs, qi is cut off, and when qi perishes, spirit also leaves. Thus without spirit and qi one also dies; without qi a person also dies. So could a weiqishenren enter into a person’s belly? The listener assented repeatedly.

[Summary of appended passage:] Whether sage or ordinary person, all fall within this hierarchy—from the highest, which can be spoken of as the formless spirit person, down to slaves and servants. Spirit persons ride qi and move; hence a person with qi has spirit, and when qi is cut off spirit perishes—the same teaching on the mutual dependence of qi and spirit and on human death when qi is exhausted as in the passage above.

The student of the Way asked again: “Since the Five Phases arise from primordial Qi, and Shen moves in one body and in one flow with that same Qi, when the Five Phases enter the human body and become the five zang (viscera), is that like nine layers stacked from head to foot, then turned back around to form a human person?”

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) replied: “Good! Good! Though you have studied for long, you see it at once: the Five Phases rise from primordial Qi, and Shen shares one body and one course with that Qi; the Five Phases entering the body as a person’s five zang—is it not like layers above and below, which reversed become the human form?”

The student: “Good! Good! I have studied the Way for long, yet today is the first time I have heard it put this way.”

The Celestial Master: “So it is. Your study of the Way should go deep; without depth there is no real benefit.”

The student: “Yes, yes. From what the Celestial Master says, is the Way of Heaven itself like turning and returning in cycles?”

The Celestial Master: “It is. You may say you already know. Go—but do not hoard doubts; ask whenever you need to.”

The student: “Yes, yes.”

Note on this passage

The text on the right uses “Heaven and the four phases” to ground root and branch, and uses Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) to turn back toward governance and teaching.

Placement in the canon

Taiping Jing Hejiao, juan 43, part bing section 9; Taiping Jing, juan 43—“Daxiao jian zhengfa” (Great and Small Admonitions and Correct Law), section 59.

Opening

The Perfected Person (Zhenren), receiver of the Way, bowed and said: “Your disciple is dull and dark and truly does not penetrate the Great Dao. Now that I have received Heaven’s charge to oversee safety and danger, fortune and misfortune under Heaven, I dare to ask in detail the secret of the way of governance. Among the methods practiced by spirits and officials in this age—is there also a side of admonition and correction (jianzheng)? I ask the Celestial Master to explain.”

The Perfected Person bowed low and said: “I am dull and benighted, and truly do not comprehend the Dao. Now that I am charged with observing heaven for signs of safety and danger, good and ill fortune, I venture to ask in detail for the essentials of the Way. In the present laws governing the spirits, is there also such a thing as remonstrance and correction? I rely entirely on the Celestial Master’s instruction, so that I may grasp the true meaning of the utmost Dao.”

The Celestial Master said: “What you ask is exquisitely fine, crucial, and profoundly deep!”

The Perfected Person said: “I have privately seen people on earth admonish one another; hence I ask: does heaven also admonish and correct itself?”

The Celestial Master said: “Excellent! Your question has already touched the true core of the Way of Heaven. Heaven’s essential meaning has now been revealed, and the spirits rejoice. I shall now set forth the great points for you, so that ten thousand generations may not forget them.”

The Perfected Person said: “Yes, yes.”

The Celestial Master said: “It is so. When heaven receives minor remonstrance, omens of changing color appear; when it receives major remonstrance, heaven trembles and its form splits apart. If it is remonstrated with yet does not comply, it will perish because of this. When the Three Luminaries (sun, moon, and stars) receive minor remonstrance, the stars show slight changes in color on small matters; when they receive major remonstrance, the Three Luminaries lose their proper measure and grow dim and obscure. If remonstrance is not heeded, they too perish for that reason. When earth receives minor remonstrance, it quakes; when it receives major remonstrance, mountains collapse and the soil splits open. If remonstrance is not heeded, it likewise perishes. When the Five Phases receive minor remonstrance, strange disasters arise; when they receive major remonstrance, in the east crawling insects kill people, in the south poisonous vapors kill people, in the west tigers and wolves kill people, in the north water creatures kill people, and at the center officials and common people kill one another through mutual poisoning and harm. If remonstrance is not heeded, they too perish. When the four seasons receive minor remonstrance, cold and heat are slightly out of balance; when they receive major remonstrance, cold and heat exchange places and seasonal qi no longer keeps its proper rhythm. If remonstrance is not heeded, they likewise perish. When the vital energies of the six directions together receive minor remonstrance, turmoil and inundation overturn things and kill people; at the center officials and common people harm one another with poison… (what follows in the original repeats the pattern of remonstrance regarding the four seasons and the six directions, with the same meaning as above.) When the vital energies of the six directions together receive minor remonstrance, turmoil and inundation occur repeatedly, and among them there are disasters of swarming insects, some flying and some crawling; winds are many yet rain does not come, and emptiness prevails without substance. When they receive major remonstrance, flood and drought follow no fixed pattern, and bandits and armies slaughter the myriad things and the people. If remonstrance is not heeded, they too perish for that reason.”

The Heavenly Dao uses calamities and anomalies as “remonstration” (admonition and warning), issuing warnings through birds and beasts: minor ones are causing birds and beasts to bring harm to people; major ones are wild beasts eating people and locusts swarming greatly. If these are still not heeded, the one being remonstrated will thereby perish and disappear. As for ghosts, spirits, and prodigies (all kinds of ghosts, spirits, and sprites), minor warnings are secretly and frequently harming, sickening, and injuring officials and common people; major warnings are causing people to die miserably and exterminating their families. As for the six directions (above, below, and the four quarters), minor warnings are violent, chaotic outbreaks of wind and rain that join with poisonous Qi to harm people; major warnings are tyranny and the complete violation of principle, tiles and stones flying up, mud and earth rushing up to August Heaven, destroying houses, and shaking mountains and mounds. If these warnings are not heeded, the one being remonstrated will likewise perish and disappear because of it. Minor warnings in the sounds of heaven and earth are thunder and lightning giving short, urgent sounds; major warnings are people defiling and doing evil to one another, causing thunderbolts to strike repeatedly. Minor warnings among officials and common people are sudden changes of countenance and a tense atmosphere; major warnings are mutual maiming, harming, and killing. The major warnings of heaven and earth, the six directions, and the eight poles (the farthest reaches of the eight directions) are to cause the Hetu and Luoshu (the ancient Heaven-conferred auspicious diagrams and writings) to emerge in the world, with Heaven clearly showing proofs and verifications and books of auspicious responses from throughout the world appearing, in order to admonish and correct the ruler; all under heaven respond without fail. If these are still not heeded, the one being remonstrated will thereby perish and disappear. When the constant principle of the Heavenly Dao is to be put into practice, it advances in due order. Therefore, when the sages and worthies of ancient times encountered matters, they always pondered their meaning, not daring to be slack or negligent, not overlooking even the finest detail like a hair, and from subtle omens they foresaw clear outcomes. Thus they did not violate the heart of August Heaven, could preserve themselves, dwell securely without trouble, without danger or death, and no misfortune or disaster could come upon them. This is to consider matters and verify actual circumstances, truly in accord with the heart of Heaven. The student sighed in admiration and said: Excellent, excellent! I, the foolish student, have already understood; now that the clear teacher has set forth the norms and regulations, I hope to hear the principle of “perishing thereby,” as well as the principle of dwelling securely without worry, without danger or death, with no misfortune or disaster coming, and of reckoning matters and verifying reality in accord with the heart of Heaven.

This is truly a practice in line with Heaven’s intent.

“Excellent, excellent! I, a dull person, have understood. Now that the Celestial Master (Tianshi) has made the law clear, I still wish to know why things sink into decline and fall apart—please explain that clearly.”

“Excellent, excellent—your heart set on seeking the Dao is right.”

What Heaven’s way (Tiandao) upholds is a manner of teaching that is easy to receive, utmost sincerity and earnestness, cautious obedience, clarity, and readiness to heed admonition. The aim is to deepen the ruler’s virtue; that is why it teaches in this way. If people do not want depth of virtue, Heaven will not go on teaching them. It is like relations between people: only when there is real closeness will one explain matters to the other; without that closeness, one will not speak what matters most. If teaching has been given yet is not heeded, and one then resents that the words are unused and ill-timed and sets them aside without further earnest disclosure, strange calamities and omens cease to appear and no longer warn people. When it comes to that, even the worthy and sage are as if deaf and blind; with insight blocked, Heaven, Earth, and the spirits will not remonstrate again. Calamities and anomalies multiply day by day without being cleared away; people waste away day by day and lose their proper roles and duties.

[Supplementary passage] What Heaven’s way upholds is teaching that is easy, utmost sincerity, careful compliance, easy understanding, and easy obedience to warnings. Heaven is most generous toward emperors, and therefore uses various strange transformations to awaken them. If they do not heed this teaching, it is set aside and abandoned; Heaven, Earth, and the spirits will not remonstrate again, calamities and anomalies increase daily, the people weaken and decline daily, and lose their offices and proper functions.

In antiquity, the sages and worthies sat upright morning and evening with hands folded, turning matters over in their minds again and again, never daring to turn away from the heart of Heaven. Thus they could take August Heaven as father and the august earth as mother, the sun as elder brother and the moon as elder sister; they aligned themselves with the patterns of heaven, preserved the Five Phases, followed the four seasons, and observed the advance and retreat of the sun, moon, and stars—using these to examine and correct their own words and conduct, and thereby to know deeply whether they accorded with or fell short of the Way of Heaven.

Only Heaven and Earth can steadfastly hold to the essential Way. They treat the charts and prognostications and written mandates that Heaven entrusts as the great command; therefore whatever they do can respond like spirits in verification—only then is one truly deeply aligned with Heaven’s intent. It is like two people each holding a square and each holding a compass, speaking face to face: even the spirits would be moved. If a person is stubborn and self-willed and refuses to accept remonstrance and correction, it is as if opposing the intent of the spirits; Heaven and Earth then fall out of place, the Five Phases and four seasons turn contrary and miss the proper measure, and every action misses the middle path—great misfortune follows. The principle lies here.

Question: “Do you understand?” Answer: “Yes, yes.”

It is also said: Such is the nature of Heaven and Earth—those below can remonstrate with and reform those above, and those above can remonstrate with and reform those below; each has strengths and weaknesses and thus complements the other, so the Way of Heaven and the myriad affairs each find their proper place. August Heaven, though sacred, has shortcomings and is not equal to what the earth excels at; the myriad things receive their mandate from Heaven yet are nourished in their bodily form within the earth. The three luminaries—sun, moon, and stars—also fall short of what fire excels at: though the three luminaries are divine and bright, they cannot illumine the dark inner chamber, whereas fire can shine within it. The greatest sage too has shortcomings and is not equal to what the worthy excels at; human beings have shortcomings and are not equal to what the myriad things excel at. Therefore above and below remonstrate with one another, not even neglecting the most minute detail—only then does one not lose the Way and accord with the heart of Heaven.

Heaven gives birth to the myriad affairs and also causes the age to undergo constant change; the intent in all of this is to remonstrate with the ruler and make manifest the signs of supreme virtue—one cannot but be greatly cautious. The transformations of Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things are Heaven “speaking.”

Answer: “Yes, yes. Now that the Celestial Master of August Heaven has opened this teaching, may we in the transformations of the human world likewise take remonstrance with the ruler as essential, make manifest the signs of supreme virtue, and be greatly cautious. The transformations of Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things are the language of Heaven.”

Disciple: “Yes, yes.”

The Celestial Master had made himself clear: he wished these words to be taken as models and put into practice.

“Good. Listen carefully to what I say and ponder its meaning deeply: when subordinates are loyal, good, and sincere in faith, and remonstrate to correct the ruler’s faults, yet the ruler does not accept but instead seeks to harm them, the subordinates out of fear fall silent, as if mute—and heaven and earth, the four quarters, above and below, all become blocked and closed off. Worthy scholars also fear the ways of the world and therefore hide their honest words; loyalty and sincerity lie concealed and do not appear, and the true Way cannot manifest. Even if the ruler possesses sage-like virtue, he cannot hear these loyal remonstrances, and so becomes as if deaf and blind, unable to see heaven’s strange intent and omens. Day by day things grow darker: when the ruler is deaf and ministers mute, calamity cannot be stopped; when ministers are benighted and the ruler blind, treachery runs rampant; when ministers are mute and the ruler deaf, news from throughout the realm cannot circulate, good and evil cannot be distinguished, and heavenly disasters descend together—until disorder reaches the scale of the Six Extremes, and danger fills the land everywhere. Can one fail to be cautious?”

“Yes, yes.”

“Therefore in antiquity sages and worthies took portents and anomalies seriously, using them to bind and correct themselves—thus they were nearly always without serious failure. This truly matches the gist of the canonical texts and the meaning of the great Way: when in all affairs one exhausts loyalty, great misfortune will not recur. Keep this firmly in mind again and again, and treat my words with care.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Yes. Heaven is so high and so bright; it was never accomplished by the merit of a single refined spirit alone. That imperial governance aligns with the heart of heaven was never completed by the merit of a single worthy minister alone. What I say now is only to set out the main thread and open the beginning; it is impossible to write or speak every detail. You must yourself penetrate deeply into the meaning.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Go. What more is there to say? Do not ask again.”

“Yes, yes.”

(Right column title:) Directives of the Heavenly Remonstrance Corrective Book

(Volume:) Taiping Jing, collated text, fascicle 44, part 10 of series bing; Taiping Jing, fascicle 44

(Treatise title:) “Investigating the Book: Clarifying the Law of Virtue and Punishment,” section 60

The Perfected One bowed with pure reverence and said: What I ask today may again incur deep reproach. I recall every line my master wrote in his book—each is correct, with nothing to substitute. Yet I am dull and ignorant, troubled in heart, and do not understand from what the illumined master and Heaven, spirits, and humans actually take their models and by what images they speak. Now I feel my master’s words point to weighty accumulation (the original text is defective here). Since you have already shown compassion, I beg you to show me Heaven’s verification, the essentials of Yin-Yang, and the efficacy of divination by the spirits. If I think further now, my mind is greatly disturbed; what I say will surely touch my master’s taboos. Yet not to speak is unbearable. I know only that though the Celestial Master may deny me, I still wish to be taught by Heaven’s method of clear proof, so that it may be transmitted for ten thousand generations, beyond doubt, like the sun at midday, never to be abandoned from beginning to end.

The reply: So. Do you still not believe my words? (The preceding lines repeat.) I teach you so that it may be handed down for ten thousand generations, clear and beyond doubt, like the sun at midday, unchangeable from start to finish.

Again: So. You seem still unopened, unaware of Heaven’s intent. You see yourself as dull, little different from ordinary people, and think my words may be transgressed; transgression brings disorder, rebellion brings ruin. When I speak with you, I have already been examined against celestial patterns and only then open my mouth in accord with the great keys of Yin-Yang. You come to ask on Heaven’s business; I transmit law and establish norms on Heaven’s behalf—I dare not invent empty or flattering speech. You have lived many years—have you not seen the myriad things in flux, each dwelling according to De and moving to avoid punitive qi?—This is Heaven’s clear proof, used to strictly instruct rulers on the effects of governing well or ill.

Chun answered repeatedly: Yes, yes. I seem almost to understand yet not quite; I wish to ask again for teaching and admonition.

Reply: So. Are punitive force and virtue not precisely the qi of Heaven and Earth?—This too is Heaven’s clear proof, used to strictly instruct rulers on the effects of governing well or ill.

Xing and De are the plain signs by which Heaven and Earth, yin and yang, and the Way of spirits govern; they are also the standard that the myriad things and all the people follow.

Eleventh month: Great De occupies the First Nine position, below the earth; the De-qi is “in the inner chamber,” so there is qi within, and the myriad things all turn toward it. At this time Xing is at Top Six, in the distant wilds of the four directions, so outwardly there is no qi and all is clear; the outside is empty and still, and the myriad things and the masses all return; the king’s De sinks with them down beneath the yellow spring.

Twelfth month: De is at Second Nine, in the month Chou, still in the earth and not yet breaking through; the time of De is the Bright Hall; the myriad things rise with De but dare not come out and show themselves, because Xing is above. First month, Yin: De is at Third Nine; the myriad things all follow flourishing De and gladly peep out to live between Heaven and Earth; at this time De dwells in the “courtyard.” (The passage labeled “twelfth month” above repeats the same sense: De at Second Nine, Chou, still in earth unreached, De in the Bright Hall, things rising with De but not daring to appear, with Xing above.)

Second month: De is at Fourth Nine, in Mao, already off the ground but not yet at Heaven, on the borderline; De is at the “gate,” so the myriad things all gladly go out the door and look outward.

Third month: Flourishing De is at Fifth Nine, in Chen, reaching the middle of Heaven; flourishing De is on the outer path and in the lanes, so the myriad things all go out and dwell outside.

Fourth month, Si: De is at Top Nine, reaching the six far reaches and eight directions; flourishing De fills the eight directions; good qi and yang qi all respond to one another and mutually generate; all sorts of restless things leave the wilds of the inner chamber. At this time Xing is at the root of the myriad things, dwelling in the inner chamber, so below is empty and without things while above is lush; none fail to gladly follow De and accept governance—this is the greatest clear effect of taking De as government.

Question: “We have now listened carefully to the method of employing De; we wish to hear about employing Xing.”

Answer: Indeed. Fifth month: Xing is at Initial Six, in Wu, below the earth; below and within it is clear and without qi, the under-earth is empty; the time of Xing is in the inner chamber, nothing within, and all dwell outside.

This passage uses the correspondence between the six lines of a hexagram in the Yijing (Book of Changes) and the twelve months to show how “xing qi” (punitive, chastising energy) and “de qi” (the energy of De, Virtue/Power) shift through the year—and how a ruler who leans on punishment and harbors punitive intent in the heart will see the people turn away in numbers, while one who harbors De will see the multitude gather and follow.

From the fifth month through the tenth month: xing qi moves from inside outward, from weak to strong

In the fifth month, xing qi sits at the position of the second line (liu er), corresponding to the branch wei, which belongs to Earth. It is centered and not yet fully disclosed. At this time xing qi is “in the hall”: xing qi stays within, while de qi is below—inner clarity without outward qi, and the ground beneath is empty. Xing qi is in the inner chamber; the chamber holds nothing, and everything is outside.

In the sixth month, xing qi is still at the second line, wei, and Earth; it has not yet reached the outside. Xing qi is in the hall, xing qi within and de qi without; restless kinds of beings all delight in showing themselves and turning toward flourishing De.

In the seventh month, xing qi is at the third line (liu san), at the time of shen; punishment is “in the courtyard.” The ten thousand things dare not enter within; they hold fast and are glad to remain outside.

In the eighth month, xing qi is at the fourth line (liu liu), at the time of you; punishment has not yet reached the realm of Heaven. De qi is at the gate; the ten thousand things all delight in peering through the gate to enter and returning along with De.

In the ninth month, xing qi is at the fifth line (liu wu), at xu, reaching up to the middle of Heaven; punishment is in the lanes and alleys. The ten thousand things are largely trapped and near death; they follow De into concealment, so what is within grows day by day while what is outside becomes empty and void.

In the tenth month, xing qi is at the top line (shang liu), at the time of hai; punishment extends to the six distant reaches, the eight directions, and the four wilds. Restless kinds of beings all enter hiding and flee; they follow the movement of De to the Bright Hall (Mingtang). Creeping things take their dwelling within of their own accord; the open country is empty of warriors and the multitude. Those who love to use punishment can see followers daily leaving the crooked path. Yet if in the heart one intends only to govern the inner realm and the warriors and multitude by punishment, then warriors and the multitude are seen to dwindle day by day.

Harboring the count of punishments within and the rebellion of the masses (the source repeats the same idea)

In the fifth month, harboring one punishment within, one mass of the people rebels. In the sixth month, harboring two punishments within, two masses rebel. In the seventh month, harboring three punishments within, three masses rebel. In the fourth month of the eighth month sequence—harboring four punishments within—the warriors and multitude daily decline. In the ninth month, harboring five punishments within, five masses rebel. In the tenth month, harboring six punishments within, six masses rebel. Thus outwardly all is devoid of things; all flee inward—this is clear proof.

Consequences of governing by punishment

One who governs the state by punishment is outwardly deferential while inwardly in revolt; therefore warriors and the multitude grow fewer day by day.

From the eleventh through the twelfth month: harboring De within and gathering followers

In the eleventh month, harboring one De within, one mass of the people enters and follows. In the twelfth month, harboring two De within, two masses enter and follow.

(The thrust of the whole passage: the seasonal movement of xing and de qi mirrors governance—relying on punishment empties the outside and drives people inward in flight or rebellion; accumulating De draws people to come and follow.)

In the first month, the heart of Heaven inwardly nourishes the “three virtues” (san de), and the people of the three directions will come to submit and follow. In the second month it nourishes the “four virtues” (si de), and the people of the four directions follow. In the third month it nourishes the “five yang flourishing virtues” (wuyang sheng de), and the worthies of the five directions follow. In the fourth month it nourishes the “six virtues” (liu de); the myriad things all appear together, none failing to be busy and in flux, and within and without all turn toward this—this is the verification of Heaven’s clear law.

In the second and eighth months, virtue (de) and punishment (xing) each hold half the field, so in the second month half of the myriad things are harmed by cold qi, and in the eighth month half are likewise harmed by cold qi. In the second month, virtue sends its “soldiers and followers” out beyond the boundary gate, while punishment draws its “soldiers and followers” in through the boundary gate; both halt at the border. Thus in the second and eighth months the myriad things meet where punishment and virtue confront each other, with punishment and virtue evenly split, so half are injured. To know the constant pattern of Heaven and Earth and the clear evidence of yin and yang, this is it: punishment governs daily wounding and killing, inspires fear, yet cannot win the united strength of the multitude—people say instead that “no one is usable”; virtue gently fosters growth, and if there were no punishment the myriad things would not fear—people say instead that “all submit,” all turning toward the ruler and helping him govern the realm. This is Heaven’s clear proof, plain and beyond doubt. If people today cannot be governed without awe and fear, what is to be done? In antiquity, sage rulers and gentlemen made people revere them through the Dao (the Way) and de (virtue/power), not through armed force or punishment. Those unwilling to do good and weak in conduct instead want punishment and intimidation to bolster rule—as if something had already been lost. Punishment can only drive off poverty and shed burdens; it is not enough to generate and transform the myriad things. Understand that the myriad things are busy and in flux because virtue has long been nourishing them. When people are made not to attach inwardly but to deceive instead, the root of great calamity lies right here.

[Supplementary gist of appended text] In the second and eighth months virtue and punishment are each half, so half of the myriad things suffer cold injury. Punishment daily wounds and kills and inspires fear, yet cannot obtain the combined strength of the multitude. The ancients established awe through morality and virtue, not through physical force; the great fault still lies in making people not attach and in giving rise to fraud.

[Appendix] On the second and eighth months: in these two seasons, De and punitive force each hold half the sway, so all things suffer cold injury to roughly half their extent.

What is meant by “punitive force” (xing) is daily infliction of harm and killing, which makes people dread and fear, yet does not win their sincere allegiance or united effort.

In antiquity, when sages made people revere them, they relied on De and moral transformation—not on brute strength and corporal punishment.

Now you, Bi Lian, have come to study at this time; though your questions are many, they are mostly a heap of words, and you still cannot fully trust what this book says. Have you truly understood this or not?

Chun (a personal name) bowed with hands joined and said: “The fault is great; I have failed my enlightened teacher.”