《靈寶領教濟度金書》Vol. 159

The Lingbao Lingjiao Jidu Jinshu documents the complete procedure of a Daoist "Dragon Tablet Offering" ritual. This ceremony was transmitted by Master Xue Quanzhen, a renowned adept (Dongwei Gaoshi) and enlightened master (Jiuku Zhenren), and later compiled by Lin Lingzhen.

The ritual begins with Daoist priests performing the Pacing the Void (a sacred Daoist dance) and burning incense, paying homage to ancestral masters while visualizing the transmission lineage (Cunxiang). They then recite the Guardian Spirit Incantation (Weiling Zhou), invoking the powers of the Five Planets (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water): Mercury (Water Star) dispels calamities, Jupiter (Wood Star) brings prosperity, Mars (Yinghuo) removes misfortunes, Venus (Taibai) averts warfare, and Saturn (Zhenxing) stabilizes the nation. These stellar deities, whose names are recorded in the celestial jade registers, command wind and clouds while traversing the ten directions of the universe.

Following this, the priests strike the ritual drum twenty-four times (a key Daoist ceremonial act) to open the incense burner. They petition the Supreme Three Heavens (Yuqing, Shangqing, and Taiqing - the highest Daoist deities) and Lord Laozi (Taishang Laojun), summoning thirty-two guardian spirits including the Merit Officials (Gongcao) cultivated through internal practice, as well as Golden Boys and Jade Maidens. Local earth deities are also invited to witness the ceremony.

The presiding priest declares the performance of the Yellow Register Retreat (Huanglu Zhai, a salvation ritual) with the Dragon Tablet Offering (Tou Longjian, casting prayer documents into water). He seeks the infusion of Yuqing realm's spiritual energy to ensure his sincere prayers reach the Jade Emperor (Yuhuang Shangdi). Following Daoist liturgical protocol, he announces his religious rank (Fawet) and joins all present masters in solemnly inviting:

1. The Three Pure Ones (Sanqing Daozu, including Taishang Laojun), the Thirty-Six Sacred Scriptures (Daoist canon), and the Great Master of Mysterious Centrality (Xuanzhong Dafashi, the lineage patriarch)

2. Immortal officials (Xianguan), realized adepts (Zhenren), and flying immortals (Feixian) from specific grotto-heavens (Dongtian) in the region

3. Local earth deities (Tudi Shen), celestial overseers in the void, and guardian generals (Hufa Jiangli)

The ceremony concludes with the Threefold Offering (Sanxian) of tea and wine to the deities, completing the spirit-invocation segment. Through this meticulously structured liturgy (Keyi), the ritual constructs a sacred space for divine communication, embodying Daoism's salvific function of delivering all beings.

This describes the ritual document following the performance of the "Supreme Yellow Register Grand Rite" (Wushang Huanglu Dazhai) – a major Daoist purification ceremony (Zhaijiao) for delivering deceased souls and dispelling misfortunes.

The presiding ritual master (designated as "Your Servant, [Name]") first addresses the celestial assembly: reporting to the supreme Dao, the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), enlightened sages of the ten directions, immortal lords, the Emperor of Eastern Florescence (Donghua Dijun), the Great Emperor of Longevity of the South Pole (Nanji Changsheng Dadi), the Queen Mother of the West (Xiwangmu/Xiling Jinmu), the True Lord of the North (Beidi Zhenjun), the thirty-six divisions of scripture guardians, the sun, moon and stars, the immortals of Mount Kunlun, the True Lords of the Five Sacred Peaks, the Three Officials (Tianguan, Diguan, Shuiguan), underworld judges, and all celestial and terrestrial deities.

With humility, the master confesses his dull aptitude yet expresses gratitude for presiding over such a grand salvation ritual. The Supreme Yellow Register Grand Rite commissioned by a certain devotee has now been completed perfectly. Through the golden dragon courier (Daoist mythical message-bearing dragons), the memorial has been delivered to sacred mountains, pleading for the erasure of sin records and transmission to the Nine Heavens' immortal courts. May all karmic afflictions and bitter roots be absolved – elevating departed souls to blessed realms, granting longevity to the living, bestowing grace upon households, dispelling calamities, and manifesting auspicious signs.

The memorial's core content follows: In the Great Ming nation's [location], [name] has conducted the Yellow Register Grand Rite lasting [duration] days and nights, establishing [number] purification altars (Qingjiao) of varying scales. Upon the ritual's completion, this document is dispatched to sacred mountains, seeking removal from sin registers and enrollment in immortal rolls, transmitted via golden dragon couriers to the celestial court.

The document concludes with the ritual date, invoking the Celestial Venerable of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun) and the Five Elders of the Five Directions as witnesses, urging celestial authorities to process this petition while announcing it throughout the ten directions, three realms, sun, moon and stars.

The entire document manifests the solemn sanctity of Daoist purification rituals, communicating with celestial beings through prescribed formats, embodying the religion's salvational functions of "delivering souls and resolving misfortunes."

This scripture records the complete procedure and prayer content of the Daoist Dragon Tablet Offering ritual (Toulongjian), which consists of several key components:

The sacred mountains of the Five Peaks (Wuyue) and the celestial deities between heaven and earth (Mingxing Great Spirits) oversee life and record deeds both virtuous and wicked. Practitioners pass through the celestial gate of the Three Southern Heavens to inscribe their names on jade tablets (ritual objects), seeking to erase records of past transgressions. The aspirant vows to diligently cultivate the Dao and accumulate merit, hoping to attain divine immortality and exist eternally alongside the Three Luminaries (sun, moon, and stars). After completing the ritual, the jade tablet is reverently offered to the sacred mountain, petitioning for the removal of karmic obstacles, the attainment of unhindered celestial flight, and permanent liberation from kalpic calamities.

Following this come twelve auspicious wishes: for clear heavens and peaceful earth, longevity for sages, universal propagation of teachings, celestial nectar descending, terrestrial auspices manifesting, harmonious succession of the Four Seasons (Siji), flourishing of all beings, familial harmony, national abundance of talents, widespread merit from purification rituals (Zhaijiao), and increasing manifestations of good omens.

During the concluding furnace restoration (Fulu) segment, divine emissaries like the Incense Officials and the Dragon-Tiger Lords descend to the ritual altar. Practitioners pray that before the incense burner they may commune with the assembled perfected beings (Zhenxian), receiving golden elixirs (Jinye) and numinous mushrooms (Lingzhi) - that students of the Way may attain realization, immortality seekers achieve transcendence, and all participants receive blessings.

The water tablet offering section details the deity-invocation sequence: first burning incense and chanting scriptures, then successively inviting the Most High Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun), the Thirty-Six Honored Scriptures, the Great Masters of Mysterious Centrality (important Daoist classics and patriarchs), followed by local river deities, aquatic realm immortals, and territorial earth gods to descend to the altar. Finally, celestial witnesses like the Void-Surveying Emissaries and regional guardian generals are summoned to collectively validate the ceremony.

Note: The Dragon Tablet Offering represents a major Daoist purification ritual (Zhaijiao) where gold dragon jade tablets inscribed with prayers are cast into famous mountains and rivers, symbolizing the delivery of petitions to celestial powers. The Yellow Register Retreat (Huanglu Zhai), a rite for the salvation of deceased souls, often incorporates the Dragon Tablet Offering as its pivotal component.

This passage documents the ritual of submitting memorial tablets to water deities at the conclusion of a Huanglu Grand Zhai (a major purification ritual for salvation of the deceased and dispelling misfortunes). The content is divided into two main sections:

The first section presents the Daoist priest's formal address to celestial deities in the manner of a subject petitioning his sovereign. It begins by enumerating the honorific titles of numerous divinities, including the Supreme Three Pure Ones (the highest Daoist deities), immortals of the four directions, gods of the sun, moon and stars, and deities of mountains, rivers and water palaces. The priest then humbly states that although he is but a mortal, having received the teachings of the Dao, he has now completed this Huanglu ritual on behalf of the patron (the sponsor of the ceremony) to dispel calamities and prolong life. Following the ceremony's conclusion, a golden dragon (the divine messenger) will deliver the memorial tablet to the water palace, beseeching the deities to erase the deceased's underworld records of transgressions, liberate ancestors, resolve karmic grievances, and bless the living with increased fortune and wisdom. The section concludes with reverential prostrations before the assembled deities.

The second section contains the actual text to be submerged in water. It specifies the exact location where the ritual was performed, its duration (spanning several days and nights), and the scale of the Qingjiao (thanksgiving ceremony) offered in gratitude to the deities. Special petitions are made to the water palace's Three Primordials (heavenly, earthly and water officials) and the Nine Water Palace Emperors, requesting they convey these appeals for absolution to the Nine Heavens and dispatch the golden dragon as messenger. The document concludes with the ritual's date and a declaration that this memorial tablet carries the sacred authority of the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning and other supreme deities.

This "submerged dragon tablet" ritual represents an important Daoist method of divine communication during major ceremonies, with the golden tablet's descent into water symbolizing the delivery of human petitions to the celestial realm. Recurrent phrases like "erasing sins and recording life" and "uprooting suffering at its source" exemplify Daoism's religious function of salvaging souls and benefiting both the living and the dead.

This scripture describes the ritual procedure of submitting memorial tablets (official documents to deities) during the Daoist Yellow Register Retreat (Huanglu Zhai) — a grand ceremony for redeeming the deceased and praying for blessings. The ritual master presents jade and earth tablets to deities of the Three Realms (heaven, earth, and water) to seek absolution for the sins of the retreat patron and their seven generations of ancestors.

The ceremony begins with the master announcing its purpose to deities of the sun, moon, stars, the Five Sacred Peaks, and water gods of rivers, seas, and springs: today's ritual assembly seeks blessings for both the living and deceased, while repenting the transgressions of seven ancestral generations. A jade tablet inscribed with prayers is cast into water, petitioning aquatic deities to record these merits and elevate departed souls to celestial realms.

Next follows the earth tablet ritual: the master enters the altar space according to established liturgy, reverently invoking the descent of Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun, one of Daoism's highest deities), guardian spirits of the Thirty-Six Daoist Scriptures, and the Earth Office's Grand Year Deity (Tufu Taisui, ruler of terrestrial domains). Devotion is expressed through offerings of tea, wine, and flower scattering ceremonies.

The master then makes final invocations to multiple deity groups: the Five Thearchs of cardinal directions, Emperor Fengdu (ruler of the underworld), Ninefold Earth Sovereigns (earth deities), and others. Humbly acknowledging mortal limitations yet blessed with Daoist knowledge, the master explains this Yellow Register Retreat aims — through tablet submissions and golden dragon messengers — to erase underworld records of transgressions, ensuring protection for the living and salvation for the dead.

Key concepts: "Golden Dragon Courier" (Jinlong Yichuan) represents a vital Daoist communication method, believing golden dragons swiftly deliver documents to Three Realms' offices; "Seven Ancestors" refers to paternal lineage through seven generations; the "Yellow Register Retreat" ranks among Daoism's most solemn redemption rituals.

This scripture documents the ritual procedure of submitting memorial tablets (jianwen) to deities following the Grand Yellow Register Retreat (Huanglu Zhai)—a major Daoist rite for the salvation of souls and dispelling calamities—as practiced by the Lingbao tradition. After the ceremony, the officiating priest would bury inscribed bamboo slips containing petitions into the earth, symbolizing their delivery to underworld deities.

The text first outlines the basic information of the ritual: Within the territory of the Great Ming, a certain practitioner conducted the Huanglu Retreat to confess transgressions, seek blessings, and avert disasters. Upon completion, memorial tablets were deposited at the altar, petitioning the Ninefold Yellow Earth deities (Zhonghuang Jiudi), the Yellow Deities of the Wuji axis, and the Five Emperors of the Earth Office to erase records of sins while registering merits in celestial archives. Golden Dragons (messenger spirits) would convey these documents to the heavenly realms.

The celestial petition then follows: Selecting an auspicious day and hour, the practitioner reports to heaven and earth deities. It mentions how the Five Ancient Lords (Wulao Shangdi) open the True Dao, while the Red Scripts and Cinnabar Texts (danshu chiwen)—sacred scriptures of the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun)—are proclaimed throughout creation. On this propitious day, the practitioner prays for their name to be recorded in immortal registers, underworld deities to dissolve karmic obstructions, and nine generations of ancestors to receive salvation—with departed souls ascending to the Southern Palace (Nangong, the Daoist paradise of immortals).

Subsequently, ten grand vows are declared: First, may the Great Dao spread widely to guide humanity toward goodness; second, may all beings awaken to the Dao; third, may souls in hell attain liberation; fourth, may orphaned spirits receive deliverance; fifth, may the world know peace with abundant harvests; sixth, may rulers and subjects, parents and children fulfill their proper roles; seventh, may worldly enmities be resolved; eighth, may unborn children arrive safely; ninth, may illnesses be cured; tenth, may the impoverished gain sustenance and clothing.

The text concludes with "preserving the spirits and returning to the furnace" (cunshen fulu)—the ceremonial step of withdrawing visualized deities and closing the altar. This passage exemplifies the Daoist religious sentiment of universal salvation, where rituals mediate between heaven and earth to seek both personal cultivation and social harmony.