《太上黃籙齋儀》Vol. 26

This passage describes part of the morning disaster-dispelling ritual within the Daoist Yellow Register Retreat (Huanglu Zhai) - a major purification ceremony (Zhaijiao) for redeeming lost souls and praying for blessings. The ritual begins with priests paying homage to ancestral masters while maintaining focused meditation.

The "Guardian Spirits" (Weiling) segment follows, invoking the divine power of the Five Planets (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) through incantations: "The radiance of the Five Stars illuminates the divine court, containing infinite mysteries; the Qi of heaven and earth interweaves with countless deities, circulating through the five viscera and meridians." This power can expel evil and purify defilement, making demons flee in terror as the "dragon and tiger" (symbolizing internal Yin-Yang energies) surge forth, purple clouds gather, and all vital forces converge.

The ritual master then strikes the ceremonial drum twenty-four times (Daoists believe drumbeats communicate with deities), summoning the internally cultivated "Three-Five Merit Officers" (Sanwu Gongcao, protective deities) and various attendant spirits including golden boys and jade maidens as messengers, incense officials on duty - totaling thirty-two divine beings. These spirits assist in delivering messages to the celestial court while gathering local earth deities to protect the ritual space.

With utmost reverence, the priests petition the highest Daoist divinities: from the primordial Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun) who embodies spontaneous non-being, to the Supreme Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun), the Jade Emperor, and the Thirty-Six Heavenly Sovereigns (rulers of celestial realms). They proclaim: "Heaven and earth move by their natural order, all things wax and wane without constancy, human fortunes shift between auspicious and ominous. Only the supreme Dao embraces all - without beginning or end, it exists spontaneously."

This scripture reveals the "divine communication" process in Daoist liturgy (Keyi), employing visualization, incantations, and petitions to connect with celestial powers for disaster relief. Terms like "dragon-tiger" and "five meridians" simultaneously reference actual deities and metaphorically represent the practitioner's internal Yin-Yang energies and meridian system.

This passage describes the ritual setting of the Daoist Yellow Register Retreat (Huanglu Zhai) - a grand ceremony for delivering deceased souls and dispelling calamities. Daoist priests offer incense and prayers on the altar, following precise ceremonial procedures to invoke divine protection.

First, the ritual masters establish the sacred altar according to classical liturgy, chanting scriptures (the "dragon-seal and phoenix-script" refers to esoteric Daoist talismanic writings). Through these sacred texts, they seek to commune with heaven and earth, aiming to eliminate disasters, protect the emperor, pacify calamities, subdue demons, and universally deliver all beings. Lighting incense with utmost sincerity, they pray the smoke ascends directly to the celestial court as an offering to the supreme "Treasure of Dao" (the highest object of veneration in Daoism).

During the first incense offering, the prayers focus on national blessings: may the state remain stable, the imperial household (emperor, empress, consorts, and princes) enjoy peace, civil and military officials fulfill their duties properly, the nation experience favorable weather, and Daoist principles of governing through Wuwei (non-action) be implemented. The priests express devotion through full-body prostrations (kowtowing with forehead to ground), seeking protection from the Three Pure Ones (Yuanshi Tianzun, Lingbao Tianzun, and Daode Tianzun).

The second incense offering shifts to posthumous salvation, praying that the ritual merits may benefit the sponsor's nine generations of ancestors (nine paternal generations and seven maternal lines). May these departed souls receive deliverance in the underworld ("Vermilion Mound" referring to the southern cinnabar heaven where souls are refined), be released from underworld punishments, and bring blessings to their descendants. Through this ceremony, the deceased souls attain liberation, ascending to blissful celestial realms.

The entire ritual embodies Daoism's core philosophy of aiding the world and delivering beings. Through the sacred Zhaijiao (purification ritual) liturgy, it simultaneously prays for blessings in this life and salvation for the departed, manifesting the religious ideal of "repaying four kindnesses above while relieving three suffering paths below."

This passage describes the morning ritual procession (zaochao xingdao) within the Huanglu Zhai purification ceremony—a Daoist rite for the salvation of deceased souls and the dispelling of misfortunes. Practitioners engage in incense offerings, prostrations, and repentance rituals to seek union with the Dao.

The ceremony begins with devotees presenting incense to the supreme celestial masters and sacred assembly. The rising smoke makes offerings to the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing)—the highest Daoist deities: Yuanshi Tianzun (Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning), Lingbao Tianzun (Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure), and Daode Tianzun (Celestial Worthy of Dao and Virtue). With foreheads touching the ground in devout prostration, participants pray for their merits to universally benefit all beings—liberating departed souls while bestowing blessings upon the living. Disciples seek relief from calamities and the augmentation of fortune and longevity.

The ritual proceeds with "orientation bows" (lifang)—paying homage to the four directions—and repentance sequences. Practitioners visualize the nine-colored circular radiance (an internal vision during meditation), swallow nourishing saliva, and silently recite incantations to dispel demonic obstructions. During the "Pacing the Void" (buxu) segment—where sacred steps imitate immortal movements—they circumambulate the altar while chanting the "Pacing the Void Verses" that extol the profound mysteries of Daoist practice.

The scripture references the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) differentiating into heaven and earth, the essential principles of attaining immortality through cultivation, and the ineffable mysteries embodied by the Three Pure Ones and the Five Directional Sovereigns (the Azure Emperor of the East, Vermilion Emperor of the South, Yellow Emperor of the Center, White Emperor of the West, and Black Emperor of the North). The passage depicts hosts of perfected beings paying homage in the celestial court, with immortals riding clouds and mists between sacred grotto-heavens and blessed lands.

Finally, practitioners again reverently bow to the Three Treasures of Daoism: the Dao (Limitless Great Dao), the scriptures (Thirty-Six Sacred Texts), and the master (the deified embodiment of Laozi as the Great Master of Mysterious Centrality). They petition Yuanshi Tianzun and the entire celestial host while praising the Dao's virtue in nurturing all creation. The entire passage embodies the Daoist ritual principle of "celestial-human resonance" (tianren ganying)—the harmonious interaction between heaven and practitioners through ceremonial practice.

All things between heaven and earth follow the cyclical patterns of Yin-Yang, just as calamities and fortunes rise and fall according to predetermined cycles. We who have received form from the divine and partake of heaven and earth's vital Qi (energy) cannot avoid the vicissitudes of rise and decline unless we transcend the profound mysteries of change. Without seeking the protection of the supreme sacred truth, it is difficult to receive auspicious blessings.

The golden tablets and jade records within the Three Caverns (Sanqing, the highest scriptural collection of Daoism), inscribed with secret writings on tortoise shells, phoenix feathers, dragon patterns, and tiger talismans (Fulu), can assist emperors in stabilizing the world, averting disasters, comprehending the boundless Dao (the Way), and coexisting with heaven and earth. On a lesser scale, they can restore the natural order of the celestial Dao, alter the calendar of misfortunes, protect homes and nations, and deliver all beings. The souls of the departed in the underworld may be liberated, and those trapped in adversity can find redemption through purification rituals (Zhaijiao). With sincere incense offerings and prayers, the true heart will surely reach the heavens, and the divine will bear witness.

As a disciple, I deeply sense impending calamity, and my fears grow daily. I have prepared tokens of devotion and present this petition, hoping to receive divine protection. We who cultivate the Dao have been graced with teachings and follow the liturgical rites (Keyi) of the Mystic Gate, holding purification ceremonies to seek blessings. We declare our intentions to the Three Realms (heaven, earth, and water) and confess our transgressions to the Ten Directions (the eight compass points, above, and below). With utmost sincerity, we recite scriptures and practice the Dao, lighting crane-shaped lamps to dispel darkness, while dragon smoke and fragrant clouds rise to the void, carrying our devotion.

We humbly beseech the Primordial Heavenly Venerable (Yuanshi Tianzun) and the myriad sages to extend their compassion and manifest their mercy to save all beings. May the thousand perfected immortals of the Golden Tower and Jade Capital (the celestial court) exert their protective power. Let the decree be issued through the Three Pure Realms (Yuqing, Shangqing, and Taiqing) to announce to all heavens and bestow abundant blessings. May both the living and the dead be delivered, grievances resolved, and disasters averted. May the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) interact without harm, and the Three Lights (sun, moon, and stars) shine in harmony.

May the misfortunes brought by the twenty-eight lunar mansions (constellations) be dissolved above, and the calamities caused by the nine palaces and eight trigrams (Bagua) of earthly geomancy be resolved below. We repent for the accumulated sins of past lives: karmic debts from former existences, the intentional or accidental harming of living beings, and the boundless transgressions committed through the three karmas (body, speech, and mind) and the six emotions (joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure, love, and hate). We pray for their complete eradication.

We pray for the prosperity of the nation and the longevity of the emperor. May the sun, moon, and stars shine brightly, the four seasons be harmonious, wars cease, malevolent forces vanish, and auspicious signs appear. May floods, droughts, locusts, weapons, and plagues stay far from our land, ensuring eternal peace. Further, we pray that our ancestors of seven generations ascend to heaven, that the torments of the Nine Dark Hells cease, that birds and beasts find their rightful places, and that all beings dwell in tranquility. May the souls in the underworld, the Three Torments (fire, blood, and blades), and the Six Paths (celestial, human, asura, animal, hungry ghost, and hell) all reach the shore of blessings and bathe in the grace of the Dao.

These prayers demonstrate both the Heavenly Venerable's universal compassion and our sincere devotion. With reverence, we present this petition, sending forth these virtuous aspirations.

This scripture records the ten vows and the concluding furnace-returning and exit rituals in the Daoist "Yellow Register Purification" (Huanglu Zhai) ceremony. The ten vows are as follows:

The first vow prays for blessings upon the ritual patron, wishing their ancestors for seven generations liberation from suffering, ascension to heaven, and freedom from material want. The second vow invokes wise governance for the emperor, flourishing education, harmonious relations with neighboring states, and universal peace. The third vow praises the virtue (De) of the officiating masters, hoping they may guide all beings toward enlightenment and ultimately achieve immortal ascension. The fourth vow wishes fellow practitioners swift realization of the Dao (the Way) and mutual support on the path. The fifth vow seeks harmony among family and friends, upholding benevolence and righteousness while valuing the Dao over wealth, setting an example for the world.

The sixth vow expresses generosity, aiding Daoist priests and the impoverished, desiring that all people find their rightful place. The seventh vow embodies compassion, praying for the salvation of all living beings. The eighth vow confesses past transgressions, seeking to atone through virtuous deeds. The ninth vow aspires to familial prosperity and a nation abundant in talent. The tenth vow pledges sincere devotion to the Dao, vowing to liberate all beings and ultimately ascend to immortality, merging with the Dao in perfect unity.

During the furnace-returning ritual, the master prays for the incense smoke to attract auspicious signs—such as the Golden Elixir (Jindan) and celestial herbs—and for the descent of immortals to the altar, aiding in the realization of the Dao. Finally, upon exiting, the master invokes the successful delivery of the memorial to the celestial court, reporting to the Supreme Ultimate Great Dao (the highest Daoist divinity).

This passage reflects the core Daoist ideal of "salvation for all beings" (jidu zhongsheng) in purification rituals (Zhaijiao). Through vows, repentance, and blessings, the ceremony alleviates calamities for the living while liberating the deceased, ultimately unifying personal cultivation with universal deliverance. The "Yellow Register Purification" is a key funerary liturgy (Keyi) in Daoism, and this text exemplifies the master’s devout aspirations and the religion’s compassionate, world-benefiting spirit.