《太上金書玉牒寶章儀》

This scripture describes the ritual procedure of the "Confession and Blessing Petition" (Xieguo Qi'an Zhang) in Daoism, divided into three main sections:

The first part involves the ritual master summoning various deities. Addressing himself humbly as "your servant," the master first calls upon the "Five Body True Officials and Merit Officers" (Wuti Zhengguan Gongcao Li) - the protective deities residing within his own body. Then he sequentially invokes emissaries of the highest immortals, the Orthodox Unity (Zhengyi) merit officers, left and right official messengers, and the Yin-Yang (Yin-Yang) judgment officers, with two representatives for each deity. These spirits appear fully robed, holding jade tablets as they stand before the master, ready to convey his prayers. The master then reports to local earth deities, city gods (Chenghuang), gods of soil and grain (Sheji), and supreme deities like the Most High Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun).

The second section explains the reason for holding the ceremony. The master confesses his own dull nature yet acknowledges being chosen by the Daoist tradition to assist the Celestial Master (Tianshi) in promoting orthodox teachings and healing people. Currently, a disciple's household has suffered consecutive years of misfortune with ominous signs like crows and magpies circling their home noisily, causing family distress. The sincere disciple now requests the master to submit a memorial petition to the deities. Following his school's traditions, the master prepares the formal document.

The third part details the ritual operations. The kneeling disciple presents the petition to the master, who reads it aloud while maintaining continuous incense offerings. Expressing concern that the disciple's heavy karmic burdens might prevent the petition from reaching heaven, the master summons additional assistance from 144 divine messengers including the "Void Direct Emissary" (Xuwu Zhifu) and "Great Purity Direct Emissary" (Taiqing Zhifu). The ceremony demands strict protocol - the disciple must bow and kneel each time their name is recited.

This passage describes the detailed procedures and invocations of the Daoist Shangzhang ritual (a ceremonial presentation of petitions to deities):

The ritual begins by summoning various divine officials: the thirty-six current duty officers (Zhifu Shen) overseeing the year, month, day, and hour, along with twenty merit officials (Gongcao), four record keepers (Zhubu), twelve assistants, twelve document couriers, and twelve golden light attendant youths. Simultaneously, the presiding priest (referred to as "this humble servant") invokes the Five Body True Officials (guardian spirits of bodily regions) and merit emissaries from within their own body to assist in the ceremony.

The officiant respectfully presents the petition on behalf of a petitioner, displaying the document on the altar while praying for its successful delivery to the celestial court. With humility, they acknowledge their limited abilities, admitting the writing may lack refinement. Should there be any formatting errors or disordered content, they request the Yin-Yang Officials (divine auditors) and the four departments of document clerks to make corrections, ensuring accurate transmission to the Celestial Treasury (Tianfu).

A special declaration follows: should any underworld spirits obstruct the petition's ascent, the officiant implores the Celestial Ministry (Tiancao, the heavenly judiciary) and Northern Prison (Daoist purgatory) to punish them according to divine law. The prayer expresses hope that the document will reach Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun) on schedule, passing through successive levels of immortal officials including the Left Lord and Right Attendant.

The petition makes concrete requests: may what should be dissolved be dissolved, what should be healed be healed, what should be subdued be subdued, and what should be liberated be convincingly transformed. The merit emissaries are instructed to act promptly without delay, thereby manifesting celestial authority.

At the ritual's conclusion, all divine officials and generals return through the "Gate of All Wonders" (a Daoist term for the body's connection with the cosmos) to their positions within the officiant's body—left-side deities to the left, right-side to the right—awaiting future summons.

The priest concludes by performing three tooth-tapping and saliva-swallowing exercises (Daoist cultivation techniques), softly chanting: "May the merit emissaries temporarily return to their golden halls and jade chambers (the bodily residences of deities), to be summoned again when needed." The ceremony formally ends with "This humble servant [name] bows repeatedly" and "Declaration of Completed Merit," signifying all divine officials have returned to their proper stations.

Note: The frequent use of "this humble servant" (chen) represents the officiant's self-reference, while "so-and-so" (mou) stands for specific names. This petition ritual embodies the Daoist concept of "the human body as a microcosm," viewing the physical form as containing a complete spiritual bureaucracy mirroring the celestial administration.

This passage describes the sacred scene of summoning various divine officials during a Daoist Shangzhang ritual (a ceremonial presentation of memorials to deities). The main elements include:

First, the ritual master invokes the Left Division, Right Division, and Central Division Tengzhang Gongcao (celestial officials responsible for transmitting memorials) from the Three Heavens, with two officials descending from each division. Next come twelve categories of Jueli (judicial officers), including celestial, earthly immortal, and sacred canon officials, with two from each category.

Subsequently, the master summons pairs of Left and Right Official Messengers, Keche Chifuli (document-carrying officers), and Gangfeng Qiyi Mashang Zhangli (swift memorial-carrying officers). These divine officials appear in solemn attire with ceremonial headdresses and tassels, forming honor guards around the ritual master to receive and transmit the memorials.

The master reports to the deities: Local Earthly True Officials (territorial guardians) and all supervising deities at various levels—including twenty-four male and female officers, Duhou Jun, and Zhonggong Yezhe—must submit reports to higher deities like the Most High Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun), Most High Elder (Taishang Zhangren), and Celestial Master (Tianshi), collectively called the Three Masters and Five Qi Lords.

Reporting schedules are specified: birth and death records are submitted on the 7th day of the first and seventh lunar months, while merit and demerit summaries are compiled on the 5th day of the tenth month. The memorial includes devotees' household registration details—prefecture, county, village, name, and age.

With wine and fruit offerings prepared, the master sincerely presents the memorial, inviting Superior Officials (high-ranking deities) and Kitchen Supervisors (offering inspectors) to descend to the altar and oversee the ceremony. Xian'guan Shuzuo (celestial scribes) assist nearby.

The text concludes with ritual protocols: disciples must reverently kneel while presenting the memorial; masters receive and recite it while maintaining uninterrupted incense burning.

This passage fully illustrates the sacred atmosphere of a Daoist memorial ritual, embodying the religion's concept of "heaven-human resonance" and its meticulous ceremonial standards.

This scripture is used in Daoist "Infant Protection" liturgies (Keyi), primarily invoking various deities to safeguard newborns. Let me explain its modern interpretation:

First, the text addresses the Three Masters (San Shijun) - the Female Master, Successor Master, and Lineage Master - along with their subordinate deities governing the Qi of the Five Directions. It declares that ritual offerings including food, cloth, and coins have been properly prepared, with the Kitchen-Supervising Deities having received them. The text then instructs all divine functionaries - the Merit Officers (Gongcao), Messengers, Generals, and Soldiers - to assume their positions, those of the left taking the left side and those of the right the right side, creating a protective divine energy circulating through all meridians.

Following this comes a confession of possible transgressions, seeking absolution. The text petitions immortal officials and celestial functionaries to, according to their respective duties, eliminate sins, amend the death-register of fate, and inscribe the name in the Book of Longevity. Protection is requested from the Bodyguard Generals and Dharma-Protecting Spirit Youths to accompany the infant, returning to their bodily residences only after the ritual's completion.

The "Infant Protection Memorial" section meticulously invokes specialized infant-guardian deities: including five True Officials of the Body and two each of various celestial functionaries like the Upper Immortal Merit Officers; two each of Left and Right Official Messengers and Yin-Yang Judgment Officers; plus specialized calamity-averting messengers such as the "Upper Bright Infant Calamity-Dispelling Messengers" and "Upper True Infant Tribulation-Crossing Messengers"; along with two each of the Three Primes and Three Officials Messengers governing water realms and life.

These deities form a comprehensive protection system: some dispel misfortunes, others govern lifespan, while certain ones oversee aquatic safety. After the ritual, these divine beings return to their internal palaces through the "Gate of All Wonders," remaining available for future summoning.

This scripture demonstrates the Daoist ritual characteristic of communicating with deities through sacred documents, embodying a holistic supernatural safeguarding concept for newborns.

This scripture describes the complete procedure of a Daoist ritual for averting disasters, specifically a ceremony to dispel misfortunes for infants. Here's a simplified interpretation:

At the commencement of the ritual, six celestial envoys are dispatched: two Lower Birth Pure Origin envoys responsible for uprooting calamities, two Upper Primordial Celestial Official envoys charged with granting absolution for transgressions, two Middle Primordial Earth Official envoys assigned to remove underworld judgments (the underworld's evaluations), and two Lower Primordial Water Official envoys tasked with pardoning faults. These emissaries appear in full official regalia, solemnly arrayed above and below the altar, assisting the Daoist master in presenting memorials to the Water Official bureaucracy (the Daoist pantheon governing aquatic realms).

The master recounts the circumstances: since birth, a household's infant has suffered continuous misfortunes, feared to be afflicted by the Six Heavens demonic spirits (malevolent entities in Daoism). The Three Officials (Celestial, Earthly, and Water Officials) have failed to restrain these baleful influences, resulting in recurring domestic disasters—including disturbances from animal spirits and wandering ghosts. Now the entire family repents sincerely, beseeching protection from the Three Supreme Deities (Sanqing)—the Most High Lord Lao (Laozi), the Orthodox Unity (Zhengyi) Celestial Master Zhang Daoling, the River Sage Laozi, along with supervising deities like the Jade Maidens of the Lakes.

Following traditional liturgy (Daoist ritual protocols), the master composes memorials requesting assistance from the Celestial Official system's divine generals and soldiers. While reciting the document, disciples kneel holding the petition; the master receives it and continues chanting while maintaining uninterrupted incense smoke from the burner.

The master then solemnly instructs various attending immortal officials: including the solar, lunar, and stellar palace guardians, overseers of the Three Rivers and Four Seas (representing all water bodies), and the Jade Maiden officials handling documents. Special emphasis is placed on this "Infant Protection Memorial" (a specific petition for children's welfare)—though already sealed, concerns about inauspicious timing potentially hindering delivery prompt requests for twelve document-handling immortals to make corrections with finest ink, ensuring accurate transmission to the Most High Lord Lao's presence.

Finally, the master voices concern: fearing the subject's karmic obstacles from past lives might affect the ritual's efficacy. This passage fully demonstrates the sacred solemnity and meticulousness of Daoist disaster-averting ceremonies, embodying the Daoist cosmology of "resonance between heaven and humanity."

This passage describes the deity invocation and dismissal procedures in the Daoist "Shangzhang" (petition submission) ritual, primarily used for disaster relief and exorcism. Here's a simplified interpretation:

When misfortune befalls a household due to past karma or present transgressions, the Shangzhang ritual is performed. The Daoist priest first summons various celestial beings: 36 Void Direct Messengers (supervisory deities), 36 Void Executive Officers (implementing deities), plus 36 Direct Messengers and 36 Executive Officers representing each temporal dimension (year, month, day, hour) - totaling 432 deities who collectively escort the petition to the celestial court.

After completing the ritual, the priest must return his internally cultivated deities (divine officers developed through inner practice) to their proper positions: Messengers, Generals, and Officers must retreat to the body's Golden Halls and Jade Chambers (sacred inner spaces in Daoist physiology). They return through the Mysterious Gates (the body's Qi channels) from all directions, rewrapping themselves around the practitioner's limbs and meridians, awaiting future summons.

The "Demon-Slaying and Ghost-Dispelling Petition" section involves summoning even more powerful divine hierarchies: including Messengers from the Three Heavens (Qingwei Tian, Yuyu Tian, Dachi Tian), Nine Heavens' Crimson Yang Messengers, along with various Envoys, Perfected Beings, and Soldier-Officers. Particularly important are the Five Viscera True Officers (deities corresponding to internal organs) and disaster-eliminating Messengers at three levels - upper, middle, and lower sectors (two each) - specialized in capturing malignant energies and hauntings.

These deities comprise both cosmic-level beings (like the Three Heavens' Messengers) and those cultivated internally (such as the Two Body Direct Envoys), collectively forming sacred forces for exorcism and calamity relief. The ritual concludes with the priest's reverential phrase "Your subject [name] kowtows repeatedly," expressing devout gratitude to the deities.

This scripture describes the summoning of various divine officers to capture malevolent spirits during the "petition submission" ritual (shangzhang) in early Celestial Master (Tianshi) Daoist practice. The core content can be understood as follows:

The Middle and Lower Realms each have two envoys responsible for "collecting souls and recording spirits" (capturing and detaining hun and po souls), along with specialized divine officers for executing punishments: some bind the ghosts' hands behind their backs, others perform beheadings by hanging, while some drive crimson chariots to parade the captured spirits publicly. Different envoys have distinct roles: the High Charioteer Envoy, the Shaved-Head-and-Severed-Ears Officer (law enforcer who shaves heads and cuts ears), the Long-Blade Executioner, etc.—each assisted by two officials. These divine generals all wear "heaven-piercing crowns" (tongtian guan), carry luminous jade pendants, don five-colored ribbons, and hold ritual jade tablets as they stand ready for action.

The ritual master declares that he follows the authentic methods transmitted by Celestial Master Zhang (Zhang Daoling, founder of Daoism), upholding the principle of "cherishing life while abhorring killing, rewarding good and punishing evil." Kneeling under starlight, he submits a crimson petition (red memorial) requesting assistance from local earth deities (tudi shen) and supervising true officials (jiancha zhen guan). He implores the celestial officers and generals to unite in capturing evil spirits, administering punishments such as "hooking out livers, extracting intestines, pulling out tongues, and clamping throats" before parading them to the marketplace for public execution.

Finally, the master again commands the Five Viscera True Officials (corresponding to the body's internal organs), the Three-Five Merit Officers (Daoist guardian deities), and successive patriarchs in the Celestial Master lineage (including the Female Master, Successor Master, and Lineage Master) to assist in completing this disaster-relieving, evil-destroying ritual. Throughout the process, incense must burn continuously while disciples kneel holding the petition for the master to recite.

This scripture is part of a memorial document (zhangbiao) used in Daoist zhaijiao (purification rituals) to petition celestial deities. It consists of two main sections:

The first section summons various deities to safeguard the memorial. The ritual master announces the composition of a petition on behalf of a household, requesting celestial intervention to subdue disruptive demonic forces. It then sequentially invokes duty deities from different temporal dimensions—including the present day, current month, this year, the four seasons, yin-yang forces, constellations, the Five Thearchs (Wudi, sovereigns of the five directions), the Liujia (sixty Jiazi cycle deities), Sanwu (three luminaries and five planets), Tianyi (North Star deity), Taixu (Great Void), Taixuan (Great Mystery), Taishi (Great Beginning), and Taiqing (Great Clarity) systems. Each system has thirty-six Zhifu (officer deities) and thirty-six Zhishi (administrative deities). Additionally, it summons nearly a hundred assisting spirits including Gongcao (messenger deities), Zhubu (record-keeping officials), Ganzuo (assistant officials), and the Golden Light Youth to collectively escort the memorial to the celestial court.

The second section petitions higher deities to review the document. It first requests the Supreme Laozi (Taishang Laojun) and other supreme deities to examine the memorial, specifically asking that if the document contains errors—such as misplaced words, inverted phrases, or disordered sequences—the Gongcao messengers should correct it with dragon-headed writing tools: deleting excess characters and supplementing missing ones to ensure proper formatting. Finally, it declares that any subterranean evil qi obstructing the process should be captured and confined in the Tianyi Northern Prison (a Daoist underworld) for lawful punishment.

This scripture demonstrates the meticulous protocol of Daoist ritual documents, employing layered celestial bureaucracy to ensure accurate communication while embodying the religious concept of "reaching heaven through writing." The recurring "thirty-six" structure derives from the Daoist cosmological framework of the "Thirty-Six Heavens."

This scripture describes the specific procedures and ritual offerings required for the Daoist "Shangzhang" ceremony (presenting memorials to celestial deities). The content is divided into three main sections:

The first section outlines the ceremonial sequence:

1. Begin with sincere repentance of sins before the sacred image of Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun), maintaining silence while regulating breath and focusing the spirit (Shen).

2. Left and right divine officials successively open the Celestial Gate, with various deities performing their respective duties: delivering messages, summoning spirits, suppressing malevolent forces, and eliminating impurities.

3. Upon completing the ritual, the body's "Three-Five Merit Officers" (protective deities) will lead celestial troops through the "Gate of All Mysteries" (Xuanguan) into the practitioner's body, distributing throughout the meridians to regulate the energy (Qi) flow.

The second section details the required offerings:

• Food items: 50 plates of cakes and fruits, 2 jin of dried venison, 1 jin of dried fish, 1 dou of clear wine
• Incense: 3 liang of true incense
• Ritual implements: 5 segments of colored talismanic silk (Zhencai), 1200 coins, 1 bolt of silk, 1 bow, 5 arrows, 1 dou 2 sheng of consecrated rice, 1 pair of silver rings, 24 chi of five-colored thread, 1 ritual knife

The third section specifies altar requirements:

1. Establish the altar by a riverbank, arranging an elevated seat with incense offerings to the Five Directions.

2. After completing the memorial, burn it above the Celestial Gate and submerge a talismanic container (Fuhan) shaped like malevolent spirits in deep water to ensure permanent banishment. If no river is available, use 3 dou of pure water for ceremonial submersion.

3. Writing tools: 1 brush, 1 inkstick, 100 sheets of paper—all must remain ritually pure. Completed memorials require incense fumigation and three days of open-air exposure before the deity's image, ensuring they remain undisturbed by wind or rodents before use.

The entire ceremony demonstrates meticulous rigor—from internal repentance to external offerings, from writing specifications to burning protocols—embodying the solemnity and sacredness of Daoist ritual tradition (Keyi).