《道教靈驗記》Vol. 5

Zhang Renbiao, a Left Street Daoist (a Tang Dynasty court Daoist position), was renowned for his vast knowledge and eloquence. When lecturing on scriptures at the imperial court, his quick-witted responses left no rival. Yet his character was frivolous and deceitful—he never spoke sincerely and treated colleagues with harsh cunning, earning widespread contempt. Later, he fell gravely ill, and after a month of treatment showed no improvement.

During his illness, he dreamed that the Director of Destinies (a Daoist deity overseeing life and death) dispatched soldiers to arrest him. The underworld officers pursued him like human constables chasing bandits—though he desperately hid, escape proved impossible. Bound and escorted through a wilderness of thorns, his robes tore and flesh was lacerated by sharp brambles, the pain unbearable. After trekking some thirty li, he glimpsed a distant city belching black smoke. Approaching, he saw it was forged entirely of iron. Its guards bore beastly heads on human bodies, with serpentine arms and multiple eyes—some had four mouths and eight eyes, others ten arms and nine heads, their teeth white as frost, resembling depictions of hell from the human world.

Passing the gates, however, he beheld pearl palaces and jade towers, a stark contrast to the gloom outside. After walking four or five li, Zhang couldn't resist asking his captors: "This place looks utterly different from beyond the walls—where are we?" They replied: "This is the palace of the Celestial Venerable of Great Unity (a supreme Daoist deity, fully titled 'Celestial Venerable of Great Unity Who Saves from Suffering'). Beyond here lies our yamen."

Hearing "Great Unity," Zhang suddenly recalled how he'd often urged others during lectures to recite the name "Celestial Venerable of Great Unity Who Saves from Suffering." Realizing he stood before the deity's palace, he immediately chanted the name a dozen times. The guards mocked him: "Digging a well when thirsty—what use is reciting now?" Undeterred, Zhang repeated the invocation with even greater anguish, tears streaming down his face.

Suddenly, crimson light enveloped him, and his captors vanished. Standing alone in radiance, he saw only beautiful mountains and rivers, clouds and mist unfurling around him. Moments later, the Celestial Venerable of Great Unity appeared before him with a retinue of over a thousand attendants. Zhang prostrated himself, kowtowing and weeping bitterly in repentance.

This scripture recounts two stories of the Celestial Worthy manifesting to offer salvation.

In the first account, an adept named Ren Biao beheld the Celestial Worthy seated upon a five-colored lotus throne, encircled by divine light and guardian deities. The Celestial Worthy admonished him: "During mortal existence, one must be especially mindful of transgressions through the three karmic paths—body, speech, and mind—with false speech being the gravest offense." Though Ren Biao's earthly lifespan had reached its end, the Celestial Worthy exceptionally granted him seven additional years to propagate the sacred image and teachings. After recovering, Ren Biao indeed commissioned portraits of the Celestial Worthy for widespread veneration. Seven years later, he passed as foretold. He even found the torn fabric threads and bloodstains from his robe—snagged on thorns while fleeing underworld officers—outside the city walls, verifying his extraordinary experience.

The second narrative tells of Yuan Feng, a Taiyi Celestial Worthy devotee from Xiazhong, who encountered tempestuous waves while sailing to Shu. After sincerely invoking "Savior from Suffering Taiyi Celestial Worthy" over a hundred times, he suddenly witnessed the azure-robed deity manifesting within crimson light spanning heaven and earth—whereupon the storm calmed. Fellow passengers all observed the crimson radiance enveloping and stabilizing their vessel, though Yuan Feng perceived the Celestial Worthy's green-robed form with particular clarity. Only then did the group realize Yuan Feng's piety had invoked this divine intervention.

(Supplementary note: Taiyi Celestial Worthy is a principal Daoist deity of salvation and calamity relief. The "three karmic paths and ten evils" refer to ten negative actions within bodily, verbal, and mental conduct. Both stories exemplify core Daoist cultivation principles—"sincere devotion evokes response" and "repentance dispels misfortune.")

The Story of Li Shao's Encounter with the Celestial Worthy of Great Unity (One of Daoism's Supreme Deities):

Li Shao, formerly the magistrate of Jiameng County, had lost his wife eight or nine years prior. Normally residing outside the capital, he was visiting on official business and staying at a guesthouse adjacent to the Three Caverns Temple (Sandong Guan). One day, he suddenly saw his deceased maidservant Xiaoyu emerging from a neighboring house. When he called out to her, Xiaoyu explained: "I've been living here with our mistress for over a year—I just stepped out to buy provisions." She then led Li Shao to meet his departed wife.

Their reunion occurred in a modest two-room dwelling with a small courtyard. Overwhelmed with mingled grief and joy, the couple began conversing when Xiaoyu suddenly cried out in alarm—"He's coming!" A youth wearing an enormous hat burst into the room. Hiding behind a curtain, Li Shao watched as the youth flung down his hat, which transformed into a massive cauldron of boiling water. Revealing his true form as an ox-headed deity, the youth speared Li Shao's wife with a steel trident and flung her into the seething pot. Her agonized screams continued until flesh separated from bone. Only after the flames subsided did the ox-headed deity arrange her whitened bones in the courtyard and depart, whereupon his wife regained human form and revived.

Weeping, his wife confessed: "Due to karmic debts from my lifetime, I must endure three years of this torment. Already I've suffered over a year—this boiling repeats daily." When Li Shao asked whether ritual intercession (Zhaijiao) might help, she admitted this was precisely why she sought him: "There is one method—if someone creates and venerates an image of the Celestial Worthy of Great Unity (Taiyi Tianzun), the suffering soul may obtain pardon. For months I've found no one to help, until your arrival today."

Li Shao immediately went to the Three Caverns Temple to inquire about obtaining such an image. This account employs shocking imagery of underworld punishment to emphasize the redemptive power of devotion to the Celestial Worthy of Great Unity, while simultaneously reflecting core Daoist concepts of karmic retribution (chengfu) and the practice of seeking divine intervention to absolve misfortune.

The sacred image of the Celestial Worthy (the supreme deity in Daoism) was originally enshrined in the temple hall, but its golden lacquer had peeled away over the years. Devotees wrapped the statue in precious silks and summoned master artisans to repaint it. Simultaneously, they held a grand Zhaijiao ritual (Daoist blessing ceremony) in the temple, offering devout prayers. All preparations were completed within just three days, with the temple master personally overseeing every detail—so busy that he couldn't even visit his wife's residence. When all meritorious rites were successfully concluded, he went to inform her, only to find her dwelling empty. An elderly neighbor revealed: due to the karmic merit earned through their pious veneration of the Great Unity Celestial Worthy, his wife had attained liberation—she and a maid named Xiaoyu had departed this world at the hour of Chen (7-9 AM) the previous day. This Master Shao often encouraged people to commission statues of the Great Unity Celestial Worthy, as such virtuous deeds bring immediate blessings.

The miraculous manifestation of Sun Jingzhen's Savior from Suffering Celestial Worthy: In the Gengyin year of Xiantong era (870 CE), a catastrophic tsunami struck the Jiangsu-Zhejiang coast, devastating Mingzhou, Yuezhou, Suzhou, and Hangzhou. After the floodwaters receded, a plague erupted, wiping out nine out of ten infected households—corpses piled up unburied, thrown into rivers where they festered for months. Yet Sun Jingzhen's family, who had venerated the Savior from Suffering Celestial Worthy (a Daoist deity who delivers souls from torment) for generations, remained untouched—all fifty members stayed healthy. Among their thirty tenant families outside the city, several fell ill—during the epidemic's peak, even relatives dared not visit. Learning of this, Sun Jingzhen prayed before incense in her meditation chamber. That night, she dreamed of the Celestial Worthy sailing westward in a boat that flew straight through her hall. At dawn, she discovered the deity's portrait had miraculously vanished from her altar. Days later, tenants reported smelling divine fragrance and seeing mystic lights at night, accompanied by faint bell chimes. Wang Li, their foreman, patrolling at midnight, noticed candlelight in a pavilion where the Savior's portrait had materialized on a table, incense still warm. All seventeen afflicted households experienced the Celestial Worthy visiting with willow branches and purifying water—each was healed overnight. None knew the portrait's origin until verifying it matched the one missing from Sun's chamber. In gratitude, the community held an elaborate Zhaijiao and built a permanent shrine to house the sacred image.

The Qiling Temple in Qinzhou (present-day Tianshui, Gansu) marks the site where Lord Lao (the deified Laozi) once stayed with his disciple Yin Xi before their journey to the western deserts. After returning from India, Lord Lao again resided here in seclusion, expounding the Dao. During King You of Zhou's reign, he remained at this site until the king's depravity compelled his departure. Locals revered him as "Boyang Fu" – an ancient shrine stood here before being reconstructed as Qiling Temple during the Tang dynasty.

This remote mountain temple fell into disrepair after Governor Gao Yan's restoration until thirty Buddhist monks sought refuge during the Huang Chao Rebellion. By day they begged alms in villages; by night they plotted to replace the Celestial Venerable statues with Buddhist icons. After days of hesitation, one monk declared: "Though this is Lord Lao's sacred site, keeping his statue suffices. The earthen Celestial Venerable images can be removed." As he began dismantling the altar, a hundred-foot black serpent emerged, spewing venom as daylight darkened. The fleeing monks encountered a sudden storm – several were injured, and the instigator died beyond the mountains. Governor Jing Duan subsequently restored the temple, installing Daoist priest Zhang Faxiang as abbot. The serpent reappeared periodically thereafter but never harmed villagers.

On Maoshan (in Jurong, Jiangsu), the White Crane Temple houses Han-dynasty statues of the Three Mao Lords. Eldest brother Mao Ying (courtesy name Shushen) attained Dao on Huashan, becoming the Director of Destinies (Siming Jun) who oversees life-registers for Wu-Yue region and governs the sacred grottoes of Jintan, Juqu, and Huayang Heaven. His younger brothers Mao Gu and Mao Zhong abandoned official posts in old age to seek him, likewise achieving immortality. Annually on March 18th, the brothers appear riding white cranes atop three peaks (hence named Great Mao Peak, Middle Mao Peak, and Small Mao Peak). Local devotees built the White Crane Temple where these millennium-old statues frequently manifest numinous power. During Emperor Yizong's Xiantong era...

Liu Zhixiao lost both parents around the age of twenty. Though the mourning period ended, he refused to change out of his hemp mourning garments, wearing coarse cloth for the rest of his life. Later he entered a Daoist temple to cultivate, diligently tending the altar lamps for years. During temple renovations, workers found a peach-like object beneath a pomegranate tree before the main hall—though it was winter when peaches don't grow. Splitting it open revealed no pit, so they discarded it. Liu, catching its fragrance, retrieved and ate it, finding it indistinguishable from a real peach. That night, he discovered another object the size of a fist—green outside, red inside—which he also consumed. The next day appeared a palm-shaped object with five distinct "fingers," peach-colored on the back and red in the "palm," even more fragrant, which he ate again. Thereafter he abstained from ordinary food, devoting himself to tending incense lamps until he resolved to leave worldly life. When renovations concluded, he wandered famous mountains.

A miraculous account from Qinglin Temple in Hezhou: This neglected temple had severe roof leaks in its main hall, with rain dripping onto the sacred statue of Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun). Prefect Yang Shimo dreamed of Lord Lao manifesting with tear stains beneath the left eye. Inspecting temples, he indeed found rainwater marks like tears beneath the statue's left eye at Qinglin. He cleared weeds and rebuilt the hall, constructing two halls and two towers with deep gateways, making it the most magnificent temple of its time. After completion, he dreamed again of Lord Lao saying: "Your merit in restoration has reached the celestial court. You shall govern ten commanderies." Yang later served as prefect of eleven districts, living to ninety before passing away during the Dazhong era.

A wonder of Celestial Worthy's sacred fungus in Tangxing County, Shuzhou: In the dinghai year of Tianbao 6 (747 CE), Xian Yinzong's home in Ganlu Village suddenly grew lingzhi mushrooms on a mulberry tree, naturally forming the complete image of a Celestial Worthy (Tianzun)—eyebrows, beard, robes, shoes, even fingernails—more exquisite than any human craftsmanship. Imperial inspector Guo Xuji had dreamed the previous night of auspicious clouds over Tangxing County. Upon hearing of the fungus next morning, he ordered magistrate Cui Guangyuan to present this omen to the capital. The event was recorded in imperial annals and proclaimed throughout the land.

This records several miraculous events associated with Daoist temples during the Tang Dynasty:

The first incident occurred in Tangxing County. In the seventh year of the Tianbao era (748 CE), a lingzhi mushroom grew on a tree belonging to Yang Bao of Anle Village, astonishingly taking the shape of a golden statue of the Heavenly Venerable (the highest deity in Daoism). When an ignorant man attempted to damage it, thunder suddenly roared and lightning flashed, turning day into night. The governor of Yizhou (modern Sichuan region) ordered Magistrate Ziyou to report this to the imperial court, and the event was later recorded in official histories. Ziyou was rewarded with an official robe and thirty bolts of silk, while Yang Bao also received thirty bolts of silk and exemption from corvée labor.

The second account concerns the Datong Temple in Tanglong County, Yizhou. Originally built in the first year of the Yixi era (405 CE) during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, this temple had fallen into ruin by the late Northern Zhou period. During the Wude era (618-626 CE) of the Tang, a local named Lü Xi encountered a Daoist priest riding a green donkey who descended from the sky and began marking out plans amid the ruins. Inspired by this vision, Lü Xi and Hua Zhongliang funded the temple's reconstruction that very day, including the eighty-foot-tall Purple Tenuity Pavilion. Later, Grand Commandant Wei Gao further renovated the complex. The temple housed thirteen stone statues of the Heavenly Venerable, each thirteen feet tall. During fasting months and auspicious days, the temple bell would ring spontaneously at night, divine lanterns would appear, and celestial beings were seen coming and going in daylight—phenomena well-known among local residents.

The third miracle took place at the Baiya Temple in Feiwu County, Zizhou. This temple on Mount Taiyang housed an iron statue of the Heavenly Venerable over ten feet tall, long renowned for its spiritual efficacy. During the Guanghua era (898-901 CE), when warlord Jing Yiquan gathered rebels, a Buddhist monk deceitfully claimed the iron statue was suppressing the region's dragon veins, hindering local prosperity—clearly a pretext to destroy the Daoist temple.

Jing Sheng was a mediocre, foolish, yet greedy and cruel man. Upon hearing that murdering Daoist Xu's entire family would bring generations of wealth and honor, he conceived wicked intentions. One night, he dispatched several low-ranking military officers to kill all six or seven members of Daoist Xu's household and burn down their residence. While vandalizing the statue of the Celestial Venerable (Tianzun), the henchmen discovered the sacred image stood immovable as a mountain, resisting all attempts to topple it. Fearing punishment from Jing Sheng, they exerted tremendous force yet couldn't damage the statue.

Before long, all the perpetrators began suffering excruciating pain throughout their bodies, nearing death's door. Gathering in desperation, they resolved to invite a white-robed Daoist master (Baiyi Shi) to perform a repentance ritual (Zhaijiao), seeking the Celestial Venerable's forgiveness while pledging to rebuild the dwelling and restore the sacred statue. Only after these reparations did their afflictions gradually subside.

Though Jing Sheng and his son received official appointments from the imperial court, they never assumed office. Their reign of brutality caught the attention of Commander Plain Duke of Zishuai, who ordered the extermination of their entire lineage. Thus the entire Jing family met their end by execution, their violent deeds repaid with cosmic justice.