《玄天上帝啟聖錄》Vol. 5

The fifth volume of The Record of Xuantian Shangdi's Manifestations documents a miraculous tale about averting a conflagration:

In the second year of the Xianping era (999 CE) of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Imperial Astronomical Bureau observed that on the third day of the ninth lunar month, the planet Mars (Yinghuo) would align with the constellation Lou, directly corresponding to Yunzhou in the Qi region - an omen foretelling a great fire. The imperial court ordered Yunzhou to conduct disaster-averting rituals in advance. As Yunzhou was then a strategic military post along the Eastern Capital Circuit, from the fourth month onward all local Daoist temples had been instructed to erect altars and perform zhaijiao (purification rituals) to avert calamity.

In the city's southern district lived a broker named Li Weixin who secretly burned incense at the bridgehead every midnight. One night he was caught by the night patrol commander Ren Congyuan, to whom he explained he'd received crucial information during his seventh-day-of-the-first-month vigil. The previous year, a wandering Daoist carrying an image of Zhenwu Dadi (the Supreme Emperor of Dark Heaven, a major Daoist deity) had come seeking alms. After the vegetarian meal, the priest vanished with a gust of wind, leaving only a peach-stone-sized live turtle. Recognizing this as Zhenwu's divine manifestation, Li had devotedly enshrined it.

On the seventh night of the current new year while making paper offerings to Zhenwu, that very Daoist suddenly reappeared. Claiming mastery of calendrical astronomy, the priest predicted Mars would trigger a Yunzhou fire on the ninth month's third day, destroying "ten thousand households." He revealed the antidote: identify a family surnamed Wan ("ten thousand"), regardless of their dwelling's size, and meticulously inventory all their possessions. At dawn on the fateful day, a boy born under specific astrological hours (wearing twin topknots and red clothes) should circle the house thrice from due south with a torch before igniting it - thereby sparing the entire city.

This account reflects ancient disaster prediction through celestial phenomena and details Daoist ritual protocols for calamity aversion. Zhenwu Dadi's manifestation as a Daoist priest exemplifies the Daoist cultivation concept of "divine resonance" (shenming ganying).

Official records document an extraordinary encounter involving a man named Li Weixin and the apparition of Zhenwu the Perfected Warrior (Zhenwu Dadi). The incident began when a local Wan family faced debt repayment requiring property forfeiture. While traveling, Li encountered a Daoist priest radiating white light—a divine manifestation he discreetly kept secret. That night, he secretly established an altar at a key marketplace location to worship the Fire Star Deity (Huoxing Jun), praying for disaster prevention, with his personal incense burner serving as evidence.

Later, when officials verified accounts in accordance with imperial decrees and dispatched officers to inventory the Wan family's assets, a miraculous sequence unfolded. As Li burned incense at home in prayer, a red-robed youth suddenly appeared. Simultaneously, a fire erupted at the western city residence of Wan Ming. Fanned by southern winds, the flames threatened to spread along two paths until an abrupt downpour miraculously contained the blaze—destroying only the Wan property while sparing Li's home, an event attributed to the intervention of Zhenwu's turtle attendant.

Yunzhou officials reported this divine response to the court. The Imperial Astronomical Bureau (Sitianjian) confirmed that the Fire Virtue Star Lord (Huode Xingjun)—a Daoist deity governing fire—had indeed descended upon Yunzhou on the third day of the ninth month, with the Wan family's incineration predestined for the yin hour (3-5 AM). Remarkably, government warehouses remained completely untouched. After Minister of War Wu Min investigated, the court recognized Li's deliverance as proof of accumulated virtue (De), rewarding him with ritual wine, silk, and provisions from state coffers, while ordering the Wan family to compensate for fire damages.

In gratitude for Zhenwu and the Fire Star Deity's merciful intervention, the court conducted a grand seven-day zhaijiao purification ritual at the capital's Jade Ford Park (Yujin Yuan), offering thanksgiving at 1,200 spirit altars. Later, on the first day of the eighth month during the Zhihe era (1056), astronomers including Xia Xun observed yellow qi (energy) manifesting in the southern sky for three consecutive nights—an omen corresponding to the celestial path of Ketu (Jidu Xing), the ancient asterism governing calamities.

A yellow cloud formation has appeared in the southern sky, precisely aligned with the ancient territory of Wu. In astrological terms, this celestial phenomenon carries three distinct interpretations: "the Yellow Path of the Heavenly Gate" symbolizes the nation's vital energy, "the Central Earth's Embrace" foretells calamities related to burial grounds, while "Ketu" (the ominous star) manifests in the constellation of Capricorn.

This celestial sign indicates civil unrest will erupt next year, with the disaster originating from a yin-destined woman born under the zodiac sign of the Pig. The Central Earth's Embrace star signifies widespread graves, and Ketu—the celestial body governing calamities—should not normally appear at this time. Together, they portend a winter plague among southern military and civilian populations, potentially claiming forty percent of lives. However, Ketu's conjunction with the Kang constellation (part of the Azure Dragon's seven mansions) as it transits Capricorn unexpectedly forms an auspicious counterbalance that may mitigate the disaster.

Court ministers urgently advise conducting disaster-averting rituals: a month-long imperial Daoist ceremony at the Jade Ford Gardens, coupled with dispatching envoys to sacred mountains and rivers to cast dragon tablets (metal plaques inscribed with prayers). Simultaneously, seven-day-and-night zhaijiao purification rituals should be organized nationwide. The emperor must also issue pardons to reduce prisoners' sentences and host a forty-nine-day Yellow Register Retreat (a rite for salvation of souls) at the Palace of Sacred Radiance. Daily imperial prayers should address Ketu's stellar deity, the Kang constellation, and the family shrine's Zhenwu blessing deity.

At the ritual's conclusion, a sudden sandstorm at noon reveals a golden-armored divine general who identifies himself as General Ge, guardian of the Western Heavenly Gate and co-administrator—with the Northern Zhenwu Emperor—of humanity's moral records. He explains: the southern sky's yellow anomaly actually stems from Ketu's once-every-720-years celestial circuit intersecting destructively with the Central Earth's Embrace star. This yellow qi lingering for three days between Capricorn and Kang foretells civil strife instigated by a Pig-zodiac yin-destined woman, bringing forty percent mortality across Jinghu, Jiangzhe, Fujian, Guangnan, and Huaihan regions, with coffins lining roadways.

Though disaster looms, the emperor's sincere rituals, dragon tablet offerings, and prisoner pardons have moved the celestial realms. Zhenwu personally petitioned the North Pole Heavenly Emperor, who sought the Jade Emperor's intervention. Ultimately, the Heavenly Sovereign mediated to transfer Ketu's calamity onto a twenty-nine-year-old yin-destined Pig-zodiac woman, sparing the empire.

The Record of Mysterious Heaven God's Divine Manifestations documents the miraculous interventions of Zhenwu the Great Emperor (a major Daoist deity governing the northern realm). One account describes how at the beginning of a lunar year, a man destined to die received divine instruction from Zhenwu to select an auspicious day (known in Daoist tradition as a huangdao jiri) to construct a tomb precisely 27 li southwest—an act that would avert calamities across southern provinces. Zhenwu specifically warned against holding funeral rites, as the man's earthly lifespan had expired. The deity also prophesied that Imperial Consort Zhang (then 29 years old, born in the Year of the Pig) would pass away on the third day of the following lunar new year, advising tomb construction at the same southwest location during the hai hour (9-11 PM) on the nineteenth day of that month to prevent further disasters. When these prophecies materialized, devotees attributed their deliverance to Zhenwu's divine protection—confirmed by celestial messengers including General Ge (a guardian deity of the Western Heavenly Gate). The imperial court consequently ordered a three-day Luotian Dajiao (the grandest Daoist purification ritual) at capital temples in gratitude.

Another passage records Zhenwu's miracle of grain manifestation: During two consecutive years of devastating drought in Hebei's Zhending region, crops failed completely, causing mass starvation and exodus. In early July at Cizhou (modern Ci County), garrison soldiers suddenly reported merchant caravans delivering abundant grain. Strangely, after unloading hemp sacks of provisions, the carts and horses all vanished through the side gate of Chongming Temple (a local Daoist shrine) without trace. Officials discovered yellow paper (commonly used for Daoist fulu talismans) tied to the sack corners and investigated. Temple priests confirmed no grain shipments had arrived, explaining this Tang-era shrine honored Gan the Perfected Lord—a banished celestial now practicing Qingti cultivation techniques there. These wonders powerfully demonstrated Zhenwu the Great Emperor's numinous authority.

This account describes the miraculous events associated with Chongming Abbey, a Daoist sacred site later renamed Huguo Shengji Abbey, and Shangqing Ziji Abbey on Mount Zitong.

Chongming Abbey in Cizhou originally had four halls: the Hall of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), the Hall of the Seven Primordial Lords of the Northern Pole, the Hall of the Perfected Lord Gan, and the Hall of the Efficacious Response of Zhenwu. Only the Hall of Zhenwu was maintained through the offerings of worshippers; the other buildings had fallen into ruin. At the time, a famine had struck Cizhou. Officials discovered that ten thousand hu of millet and wheat—a hu being an ancient unit of measure—had suddenly appeared in the prefectural granary, as if sent from heaven. More remarkably, over twenty other prefectures, including Zhen Ding, soon reported similar unexpected stores of grain, amounting to 150,000 shi in total. The grain was sold at low prices to provide famine relief, and the sacks bore traces of paper horses burned by worshippers in sacrifice to the Great Emperor Zhenwu. The court therefore sent an Imperial Medical Official with incense and a prayer tablet to conduct a Daoist ritual at Chongming Abbey, and built a hall in the inner court to house an imperial image of Zhenwu. Later, proceeds from the grain sales were used to restore Zhenwu temples and abbeys throughout Hebei. Chongming Abbey was bestowed the name Huguo Shengji Abbey, “Abbey of Sacred Aid for the Protection of the State,” and the Hall of Zhenwu was renamed the Hall of Efficacious Response.

Another account concerns Shangqing Ziji Abbey on Mount Zitong, where the Perfected Ye Hua of the Western Jin is said to have cultivated the Dao. Tradition holds that the Most High Lord Lao once appeared there to guide the Crown Prince of the Pure Joy Kingdom, who became the Great Emperor Zhenwu. The abbey’s Hall of the Northern Pole and Purple Tenuity was built by the Perfected Ye Hua to raise alms for Zhenwu before Ye Hua’s ascension. In the first year of the Huangyou era, a great epidemic struck Zizhou, and starving people lay everywhere. Suddenly, an old man appeared, pushing a cart and selling steamed arrowhead tubers. Those who ate them remained free from hunger for the entire day. This tale of “Tian Produces Arrowheads” echoes the Daoist idea that “Zhenwu manifests to save the world and deliver people.”

Note: The Great Emperor Zhenwu is an important Daoist deity, also known as the Supreme Emperor of the Dark Heaven. He governs the north and is believed to subdue demons and protect the state and its people. Zhaijiao is a Daoist ritual performed at an altar to honor the deities. A hu is an ancient unit of measure, approximately five dou.

This account documents two miraculous events where the Mysterious Heavenly Sovereign (also known as the Perfect Warrior Emperor) manifested his divine power to save people.

The first story took place in Zizhou. A merchant frequented the area near Liangyuan Gate for over a month, coming and going without anyone knowing his whereabouts. Official Zhang Sheng sent someone to secretly follow him and discovered that the merchant disappeared into black mist in front of the Purple Ultimate Temple at Zitong Mountain. Later, when famine struck the region, wild amaranth suddenly grew abundantly along the fifteen-mile stretch from Liangyuan Gate to the temple, sustaining the starving population for over sixty days until new crops became available. When Zhang Sheng visited the temple to pay homage, he found the area around the Perfect Warrior Hall covered in lush grass, which upon closer inspection turned out to be amaranth roots—yet when touched, they crumbled into ashes and scattered like paper. The imperial court, upon learning of this miracle, recorded it in the Temple of the Four Saints and held a grand seven-day Zhaijiao (purification ritual) in Zizhou to commemorate the Perfect Warrior’s divine intervention.

The second incident occurred in Daming Prefecture, the northern capital. When the Yellow River breached its banks, a giant black-shelled turtle with red eyes emerged, causing violent waves that destroyed the embankments each time it surfaced. Official Zheng Gui, dressed in his court robes, prayed to heaven and shot an arrow that struck the turtle. The creature flipped onto its back and sank, immediately calming the storm. This event demonstrated the power of the divine generals under the Perfect Warrior’s command to subdue aquatic monsters.

Both stories illustrate the Mysterious Heavenly Sovereign’s compassionate might in relieving suffering and vanquishing evil. The local authorities reported these miracles to the imperial court and conducted religious ceremonies in gratitude. The "Great Jiao" mentioned in the text refers to the most solemn Daoist sacrificial rite, while the "Temple of the Four Saints" is a major Daoist temple dedicated to the Perfect Warrior and three other guardian deities.

This account tells a bizarre story: On the third day of the first lunar month in 1025 during the Northern Song Dynasty, official Zheng Gui suddenly died, only to miraculously revive two days later. Upon awakening, he reported his underworld experiences to Chancellor Han Qi (then serving as the Northern Capital's military commissioner).

Zheng Gui described being taken to the underworld by two ghostly officers, where Yama (the ruler of the underworld) accused him of shooting a five-hundred-year-old turtle spirit cultivating in the Yellow River. However, upon consulting the Register of Life and Death, it was discovered that Zheng’s allotted lifespan had not yet expired. During their journey, they passed a sacred mountain called "Wind-Bellowing Peak," where they encountered the Great Emperor Zhenwu (a revered Daoist deity who guards the north) conducting celestial affairs on a stone. Upon hearing the case, Zhenwu revealed that the turtle was actually the earth god of Yuancheng in the Western Regions’ Dreamcloud City. During the Tang Dynasty, its temple had been destroyed by General Chen Zhongyuan, leading to its demotion to serve as a water deity in the Yellow River. Lacking offerings, it had transformed into a demonic turtle, wreaking havoc along the Song border and causing tens of thousands of military and civilian casualties. Thus, Zheng’s act of slaying it was in fact an execution of heavenly justice.

Zhenwu dispatched an envoy to accompany Zheng back to the underworld, bringing the turtle’s original form as evidence. After verifying the truth, Yama immediately released Zheng and explained two things: first, Zheng’s life was not yet due to end, and second, his superior Han Qi was actually the reincarnation of a Perfected Being from the Purple Palace (a celestial immortal official) destined to govern the empire. Ultimately, the malevolent turtle was imprisoned in an iron cage, still impaled by Zheng’s arrow in its side.

Through this dramatic reversal in the underworld trial, the story extols Zhenwu’s divine omniscience while implying that human virtue and vice are ultimately judged by the Dao. Terms like "talisman officers" and "imperial decrees" reflect the bureaucratic procedures of the Daoist underworld system, showcasing the Song Dynasty folk imagination of a highly administrative spirit realm.

This passage recounts two miraculous stories of the Perfected Warrior Emperor (Xuantian Shangdi) manifesting his divine power to subdue demons.

The first tale tells of Zheng Gui, who due to karmic retribution from past misdeeds fell into rivers and seas, transforming into nameless aquatic beasts and hungry ghosts. A demonic turtle capable of human speech challenged Zheng Gui to a confrontation. At this critical moment, a talisman official (Fulu) sent by the Perfected Warrior Emperor produced a small golden turtle from his robe, emitting radiant light that immobilized the demon turtle. The sacred turtle of the Perfected Warrior then dispersed the demon into dust, enabling Zheng Gui's return to the yang world. In recognition, the imperial court constructed the Nation-Protecting Perfected Warrior Hall at Beijing's Yellow River estuary, conducted purification rituals (Zhaijiao), erected a commemorative stele, promoted Zheng Gui's official rank, and bestowed upon Han Qi an inscribed plaque titled "Hall of Precious Ascension."

The second story concerns tiger exorcism at Hengshan in Fenzhou. During the Jiayou era (1056-1063), a ferocious tiger suddenly appeared and attacked people. When authorities attempted capture, it would multiply into five or seven tigers shielding each other. When Magistrate Yang Zongdao was traveling through Hengshan with his family to assume office, his daughter was snatched by the tiger. A wandering Daoist named Pei claimed he could eliminate the tiger, revealing it was actually the vengeful spirits of Zhang Yi's family of seven from Zhao State during the Han dynasty. After being slain by Chu soldiers, their remains buried behind Hengshan's temple had absorbed the Jade Nectar of the Jasper Pool (Yaochi Yuye), transforming into monsters. Daoist Pei invited officials to witness the ritual outside the city walls before venturing alone into the mountains. Suddenly, darkness fell with dramatic meteorological changes as the Daoist manifested his sanctity amid clouds to subdue the tiger demon.

Both stories demonstrate the Perfected Warrior Emperor's mighty power in vanquishing demons through his emissaries, alongside imperial patronage of this cult. The mentioned "ritual construction" refers to Daoist sacrificial ceremonies, while "Jade Nectar of the Jasper Pool" denotes celestial ambrosia, and "Heavenly Pardon Day" (Tianshe Ri) marks the Daoist calendar date when celestial deities absolve sins.

Daoist Pei, with his hair unbound and holding a sacred sword, proclaimed loudly: "Li Xiang and company, fear not!" He then proceeded to expel seven malevolent tiger demons. Li Xiang and the others immediately knelt and kowtowed upon realizing they stood before the True Warrior Emperor (the revered Xuanwu deity of the north in Daoism) — it was revealed that this deity had incarnated during Empress Wu Zetian's reign as a descendant of Minister Pei's family, hence retaining the surname "Pei."

The seven tiger demons lay prostrate as if bound by ropes, roaring several times before perishing. Then seven human figures materialized in midair, kneeling and bowing as they reported: "We were originally family members of Zhang Yi from the Han dynasty, slain by Chu army forces long ago. For ages we've wandered as malevolent spirits and fierce beasts, harming many people and livestock—truly deserving destruction. Now through the True Warrior Emperor's divine mercy, we're pardoned for our past crimes as tiger demons." With these words, they left behind seven tiger pelts as offerings. These seven spirits, having received celestial pardon, then departed holding official documents to await rebirth arrangements at the Eastern Peak (the sacred mountain abode of the Taishan deity). Daoist Pei also vanished amid the clouds, but not before instructing hunters to skin the tigers and submit the pelts to authorities.

When Fenzhou officials reported this incident to the imperial court, the Central Secretariat (Tang dynasty's highest administrative body) decreed: A dedicated True Warrior shrine should be constructed at Hengshan Mountain, staffed permanently by three Daoist priests. The prefecture would provide monthly provisions to ensure perpetual incense offerings, with a stone stele erected to record these events.

Another account from Empress Wu Zetian's reign mentions He Quanlong, the Palace Overseer and Nanyan Army Inspector, who trained five hundred youths claiming they were incarnations of the Northern Seven Primal Deities (the Big Dipper stellar deities) under his command. These youths frequently performed rituals before the throne, summoning winds and rains or conjuring hailstorms, earning the Empress's deep favor. Numerous officials fell from grace due to He's false accusations.

When the Western Barbarians rebelled, their leader Zhao Hong employed battlefield sorcery—manifesting fiery dragons, lightning, and phantom tigers in the sky—routing Tang forces repeatedly. The court urgently dispatched He Quanlong with two thousand celestial troops, only to suffer total defeat; most of the five hundred ritual youths were killed or wounded. Though pardoned upon his return, Zhao Hong's advancing armies continued troubling Empress Wu. At this critical juncture, the Imperial Secretary...

Pei Tao reported to the emperor: "I have a son named Pei Zhongfang, now sixteen years old. At three, he could compose poetry effortlessly; at nine, he received divine instruction in archery and horsemanship from celestial beings. I now offer my entire family as guarantors, requesting that he lead five hundred infantrymen to suppress the demonic rebel Zhao Hong."

After careful inquiry, Empress Wu Zetian appointed Pei Zhongfang as a ritual officer (zhuguan) in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices (Taichangsi), temporarily granting him the additional title of Assistant Director of the Imperial Banquets (Guanglucheng) to lead the military expedition. Pei Zhongfang charged straight to Zhao Hong's front lines, subduing thousands of demonic soldiers with just the gleam of his sword and capturing Zhao Hong alive from his horse. Instead of executing them, he escorted the prisoners back to court, reporting: "Zhao Hong's sorcery has already been neutralized by my minor arts."

Empress Wu dismissed her attendants and privately asked Pei Zhongfang: "Are you perhaps the incarnate manifestation of the True Martial Emperor of the North Pole (Zhenwu Dadi, the Daoist venerated northern war deity)?" She then inquired about the efficacy of the Sevenfold Primordial Orthodox Method (qiyuan zhengfa, an advanced Daoist ritual) practiced by He Quanlong at court. Pei Zhongfang exposed the truth: "He Quanlong trains his household servants in heretical arts, using incantations to make them write demonic scripts with cinnabar on their soles—enabling them to ride clouds, summon winds, and call rains. These dark arts are more dangerous than Zhao Hong's, yet the court favors him, causing loyal ministers to be demoted. Without intervention, this will become a calamity."

Pei Zhongfang requested a public ritual duel with He Quanlong in the throne hall. With the empress's approval, He Quanlong first paraded five hundred demonic servants before the court, leaving all officials awestruck. Pei Zhongfang simply sprayed a mouthful of purified water—immediately drawing all five hundred into his sword scabbard. As He Quanlong knelt begging for mercy in panic, Empress Wu urgently burned incense to plead for him as a royal relative. Though sparing He Quanlong's life, Pei Zhongfang reduced the five hundred in his scabbard to ashes with sacred flames.

Finally, Pei Zhongfang petitioned to restore all demoted officials to their positions. Empress Wu granted him the title "Divinely Responsive General" (Shenying Jiangjun). Regarding Zhao Hong's captives, Pei Zhongfang advised their repatriation to the Western Regions. This event, known as "The Assembly Hall Demon Suppression" (Juting Jinyao), occurred in the fourth year of the Taiping Xingguo era (979 CE) of the Northern Song dynasty, witnessed by the military governor of Wu'an and the Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs.

When Shi Guangsi was transferred to Hongzhou (present-day Nanchang, Jiangxi), he discovered that the area was rife with heterodox ritual practices. Despite issuing prohibitions, he found these practices impossible to eradicate completely. Learning that the austere Daoist Ling Jumiao resided at the Zusheng Temple on Xiadiao Mountain, he specially summoned him for consultation. Through this, Shi came to understand that the so-called "Southern Deities" worshipped by locals across Hongzhou, Hengzhou, Tanzhou, Dingzhou, and Ezhou were in fact malevolent spirits.

Shi immediately dispatched officials to conduct raids, arresting 116 practitioners of these dark arts including Ma Yongcheng. During interrogation, Ma defended their actions, claiming they hadn't deliberately studied evil methods—rather, the watery regions south of the Yangtze and around Jinghu, being close to indigenous tribes, frequently suffered disturbances from the "Seventy-Two Seasonal Afflictions" (malevolent entities). These caused mental derangement, fevers, plagues, and constant misfortune, with only heterodox rituals like blade-walking, oil-fire ceremonies, and Vajra rites providing temporary relief.

Shi ordered the confiscation and destruction of all ritual implements—knives, clubs, oil cauldrons—and released the practitioners after obtaining written confessions. Yet that very July, Hongzhou experienced a "Soul-Injury Rebellion"—mass hysteria where people ate pottery shards and lodestones, climbed rooftops, dangled from trees, or leaped into ditches while spewing obscenities. Shi urgently summoned Master Ling Jumiao, whose widespread distribution of talismanic water gradually cured the afflicted.

To prevent recurrence, Shi commissioned over ten thousand wooden tablets inscribed with the sacred name of Zhenwu the Perfected Warrior (Zhenwu Dadi) for household worship. On each Zhenwu Descent Day (a major Daoist purification date), communities collectively recited the Scripture of Zhenwu's Marvelous Power (Zhenwu Miaojing). Through persistent practice, the calamity was fully eradicated, transforming local customs from heterodoxy to orthodoxy. Shi memorialized the court, noting Hongzhou's Daoist temples since the Southern Tang had never housed a Zhenwu Hall. After deliberation, the Ministry of Rites approved constructing one at the Tianqing Temple site, supervised by local officials and graced with an imperial plaque reading "Nation-Protecting Responsive Grace."

Later, Shi personally visited Ling Jumiao at Xiadiao Mountain to study Zhenwu's methods, eventually resigning his post to cultivate Daoist practice in Zhaozhou's simplicity. Devoted to Zhenwu, he lived to ninety-nine before passing peacefully.

Another account concerns Chai Miao: Chai Xun, military commissioner of Meizhou, had a younger brother Chai Miao who at thirty-one fell under demonic influence...

The Records of the Sacred Manifestations of the Dark Heaven Sovereign recounts a bizarre tale:

There was a man named Chai Miao, son-in-law to the Prince of Lu, whose marriage was so discordant that he and his wife lived in separate chambers. Chai Miao suddenly fell gravely ill, his body wasting away day by day. Physicians and fortune-tellers all diagnosed his condition as "evil qi assailing the heart." Strangely, whenever his wife entered his room to deliver medicine, he reacted with intense revulsion. One night, his elder brother Chai Xun secretly went to check on him and overheard a woman’s laughter and conversation in Chai Miao’s room. The next day, Chai Xun led a search party but found no trace of anyone, realizing then that his brother had been bewitched by a demon.

Under relentless questioning, Chai Miao finally confessed: Two years prior, while visiting the Sacred Water Temple, he had seen a painting of a flute-playing celestial maiden on the western corridor’s Liang Zhao King Hall mural. Enchanted by her alluring beauty, he jokingly touched the painted face and said, "I’d take such a beauty as my concubine." That very night, the woman from the painting appeared before him, declaring, "Since you’ve touched me, you must take responsibility." From then on, she visited him nightly between the second and fifth watches. When family members noticed the woman’s peculiar embroidered sachet, they brought it to the Sacred Water Temple for comparison—it matched exactly the missing portion of the mural.

After the authorities were alerted, they first ordered the local earth god (Tudi) of Sacred Water Temple to exorcise the demon, to no avail. Later, the senior Daoist ritual master (Daolu) Qian Junping was summoned to perform rites. Together with Kaifeng’s prefect Bao Zheng, they prayed to the True Martial Emperor (Zhenwu Dadi) at the temple. That very night, Chai Miao’s room fell silent. Half a month later, agonized screams of a woman being punished echoed through the Sacred Water Temple every night at the second watch. Finally, the weeping specter appeared at Chai Xun’s doorstep, lamenting, "Chai Miao has doomed me! The True Martial Emperor has seized me for judgment..."

(Note: "Zhenwu" refers to the Dark Heaven Sovereign (Xuantian Shangdi), a major Daoist deity specializing in subduing demons. "Fulu" are Daoist talismanic scriptures used for exorcism, while "Tudi" are minor territorial guardian deities.)

The local earth deity of the capital (a Taoist divinity governing regional territories) endured half a month of brutal torture, suffering immensely. Now, through the compassion of the Perfected Warrior Emperor (Zhenwu Dadi, a revered Taoist deity presiding over the northern realm), the punishment of flogging with iron rods has been commuted, and the deity is instead exiled to the Shadow Mountain to serve his sentence. A wronged female spirit originally condemned to three centuries of punishment has completed her tribulation and is permitted to return to the mortal world for reincarnation. She specifically came to inform you of these karmic consequences—from this moment onward, Chai Miao’s illness is completely cured.

The prefect of Kaifeng, Bao Zheng, reported the matter to the emperor, who then summoned Chai Miao for an audience. Chai Miao petitioned the throne, expressing his willingness to serve the court and proposing to donate his entire salary to sponsor a Grand Universal Offering (Luotian Dajiao, the most solemn Taoist sacrificial rite). The emperor approved the request and even granted special permission to conduct the ceremony in the Jade Ford Garden, where a grand purification ritual would be held to express gratitude to the Perfected Warrior Emperor for safeguarding the nation and delivering the people.

Another account involves Anren, who was haunted by malevolent spirits. Anren, the seventeen-year-old son of Sun Jian, the Surveillance Commissioner of Fuzhou, was appointed to a minor military post (Sanban Jiezhi, a low-ranking Song Dynasty military title) and dispatched to Longmen Town in Fengzhou as a tax supervisor and patrol officer. After half a year in office, he suddenly became mentally disoriented, speaking incoherently, and neglecting his duties until the prefecture dismissed him. Even after returning home for treatment, he showed no improvement. Sun Jian, hearing the sounds of a woman laughing and conversing in Anren’s room at night, realized his son had been bewitched by a demon.

After repeated questioning, Anren finally confessed: Xianghua Nü (a female earth deity) from Houjiashan in Longmen Town visited him every night at the third watch, vanishing at dawn as a wisp of shadow. Sun Jian reported the matter to the court, and the emperor ordered the Hanlin Academy to inscribe talismans (Fulu) while summoning Taoist priests to perform rituals—yet after half a month, nothing had changed. The ministers then deliberated and concluded that since the Sun family had never enshrined a household guardian deity, they had left themselves vulnerable to malign influences from distant mountains. They advised seeking the Perfected Warrior Emperor’s intervention at a Taoist temple without delay.

Following the imperial decree, Sun Jian personally drafted a petition (a Taoist memorial to the deities) and made vows at the Temple of the Four Saints (Sisheng Guan), even borrowing a sacred image of the Perfected Warrior for home veneration. On the seventh night, weeping was suddenly heard from Anren’s chamber. By daybreak, Anren awoke as if from a deep dream, his senses fully restored. It turned out that during his journey to assume office, he had once lodged overnight at the Houjiashan relay station. At the third watch, a sudden glow illuminated his bedside, and a beautiful woman appeared beyond the curtains...

This passage recounts two miraculous stories related to Zhenwu the Great Emperor (an important Daoist deity also known as Xuantian Shangdi).

The first story tells of a female immortal named Xianghua Shennü, originally the daughter of the Dragon Lord of Xiangpu. She was demoted by the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak to serve as the local mountain earth god after longing for the mortal world. Though destined to marry a mortal named An Ren due to their past-life connection, she was forced to separate from him when Zhenwu the Great Emperor dispatched celestial soldiers to search their residence. Fearing punishment by iron staff, she left behind a jade comb as a token before departing. Later, this comb was verified as a magical treasure and collected in the imperial palace's treasure repository. Court officials marveled at how households devoted to Zhenwu the Great Emperor truly received such inconceivable divine responses.

The second story describes how Pei Zongyuan, a judicial commissioner in Guangdong, fell mysteriously ill at Hualan Mountain in Shaozhou, suffering insomnia and delirium at night. Local officials explained the mountain was haunted by numerous vengeful spirits overseen by the Five Paths Judges. They summoned a Daoist named Du Gu Li, who claimed to have been a Confucian scholar before Zhenwu the Great Emperor, taking pity on his poverty-stricken devotion to the Dao, transformed him into an herbal medicine practitioner. Upon entering the commissioner's residence, Du Gu Li immediately saw a vengeful spirit in green robes seeking retribution. This demonstrates how Zhenwu the Great Emperor not only enlightens mortals but also manifests his power through those he has transformed to exorcise evil influences.

Both stories illustrate Zhenwu the Great Emperor's divine manifestations in the human realm to punish evil and reward good, as well as the protection granted to devout worshippers. The text mentions the "Grand Universal Offering" (Luotian Dajiao), Daoism's most solemn sacrificial ritual, and the "Temple of the Four Saints" (Sisheng Guan) dedicated to Zhenwu and three other guardian deities.

This scripture recounts a story of clearing an injustice through the divine power of Zhenwu the Perfected Warrior (one of the Four Saints of the North Pole in Daoist tradition):

Lu Fu, formerly a judicial officer in Dizhou, was framed by his old adversary Pei Zongyuan, the local comptroller, who accused him of practicing medicine during a national day of mourning—a forbidden act. Subjected to brutal torture, Lu Fu died with grievances unredressed. As his natural lifespan had not yet been exhausted, his spirit remained confined in the Iron Wind Cave of Hualan Mountain, unable to seek justice.

When Pei Zongyuan later visited the mountain, he was haunted by Lu Fu’s vengeful spirit. At that very moment, Zhenwu the Perfected Warrior descended to the mortal realm and, moved by Lu Fu’s plight, cleansed his wrongful conviction with consecrated water (a Daoist purifying liquid used in exorcisms). Zhenwu also instructed Lu Fu to face eastward and pay homage to the Supreme Venerable Sovereign (one of the Three Pure Ones, the highest Daoist deities), promising him rebirth into a wealthy family and future official rank.

During the ritual, Daoist priests inscribed talismans of the Shangqing tradition (Daoist magical documents) with cinnabar on yellow cloth, erected altars to the Five Directional Deities, and lit forty-nine lamps. Through scripture recitation and ceremonial protocols (religious ritual sequences), they summoned Zhenwu’s presence. After Pei Zongyuan recovered, he hosted a seven-day repentance ceremony at Guangzhou’s Tianqing Abbey, generously rewarding the participating priests. The presiding priest, Master Dugu, reported the incident to the imperial court and later received commendation from the emperor.

The text mentions the "Six Ding" (Daoist guardian generals), "talisman messengers" (divine officials who deliver celestial decrees), and the "earth wheel" (a ritual instrument arrangement in altar setups). The entire narrative demonstrates Daoism’s religious capacity to communicate with deities and resolve karmic grievances through liturgical practice.

Lu Zhou assistant instructor Pei Zongyuan was granted lifelong cultivation privileges due to his devout offerings of incense and spiritual devotion.

At that time, Lu Zhou vice-prefect Yao Zi (deputy local official) suddenly developed a strange illness: frequent fits of madness, bleeding from the nose and mouth during arguments, and inability to sleep day or night. After recovering from episodes, he retained no memory of his afflictions, only vague recollections of being bound and interrogated about life-and-death matters in wilderness. For three years, renowned physicians proved helpless until Transport Commissioner Chen Yuan recommended summoning Song Zhicai—a Daoist priest from Dongyue Temple in the capital (then serving as Right Capital Daoist Registrar and imperial ritual master)—through special court decree.

On the Dragon Boat Festival in May, Song Zhicai erected an altar for ritual intervention: first burning fulu talismans to dispatch divine messengers petitioning Zhenwu the Perfected Warrior (Zhenwu Dadi), then presenting sacred images and purified water. When Zhenwu descended, he possessed the scribe to reveal the truth—Yao Zi's former corruption as Taihu County magistrate surfaced. He had conspired with Yun Granary clerk Wang Hu to supervise tribute grain shipments, secretly accepting bribes to falsify reports of eighty dan (approximately 4,800 kg) missing wheat. Wang Hu, unaware of the scheme, cosigned the ledgers. After exposure, Yao Zi sent six lacquered iron cases as bribes, falsely claiming the accompanying letters became illegible when river waves soaked them during crossing. This unresolved karmic debt manifested as Wang Hu's vengeful spirit demanding retribution.

This passage recounts two karmic retribution stories. The first concerns Wang Hu's wrongful accusation by Yao Zi:

Wang Hu fell into Yao Zi's trap, falsely accused of stealing official treasury gold and silver, and was imprisoned. In jail, he realized Yao Zi had secretly orchestrated the scheme but could no longer defend himself, eventually dying from rage-induced illness. Yao Zi escaped punishment as earthly authorities considered the case closed with Wang Hu's death. However, the Eastern Peak Underworld Court (the Daoist divine bureaucracy governing life and death) recorded Wang Hu's wrongful death in its Registers of Fortune and Longevity. As a result, his wandering soul lingered for three years along the Luzhou riverbank until encountering the descent of Zhenwu the Perfected Warrior (the Daoist Northern Guardian Deity), who resolved his grievance and granted him passage to the afterlife. Yao Zi later faced retribution through dismissal from office and was compelled to fund the construction of a Zhenwu Pavilion to atone.

The second story occurred in the second year of the Chunhua era (Northern Song dynasty), when Court Official Qin Zhongli encountered the case of Chen Jingren, son of Judicial Officer Chen Yan, being possessed by his deceased wife's spirit:

One year after Jingren's marriage, his wife Zhang died of consumption, after which he became infected and exhibited madness, constantly hearing his deceased wife wailing in their chamber. As a long-time devout worshipper of Zhenwu the Perfected Warrior, Qin Zhongli recommended performing a Zhaijiao purification ritual (Daoist ceremonial practice) to resolve the disturbance. This reflects the Daoist belief that grievances of unsettled spirits require divine mediation, while also demonstrating Northern Song officials' reverence for Zhenwu worship.

This scripture recounts a miraculous story of the Perfected Warrior Emperor (Zhenwu) manifesting his divine power to save lives:

An official named Zhongli reverently burned incense before a portable statue of the Perfected Warrior that he carried with him at a courier station. The next day, he brought the statue to the home of Chen Jingren, setting up an altar before the sick man's chamber as the entire household offered devout prayers. Zhongli carefully recorded Chen Jingren's symptoms and birth details in a memorial petition, which he burned before the sacred image.

On the fourth night, Zhongli heard knocking at his door. A female ghost identifying herself as the deceased granddaughter of Vice Minister Zhang Sheng revealed: she had married Chen Jingren but died of illness within a year due to a physician's misdiagnosis. Her wandering spirit had accidentally attached itself to Chen Jingren returning from a hunting trip to evade capture by the local earth god (Tudi Shen). When Zhongli installed the Perfected Warrior's statue, the deity manifested compassion for her wrongful death, purifying her soul with willow branches and sacred water—a common Daoist purification ritual—thus sparing her from the underworld's (Yinsi) cycle of rebirth and permitting her reincarnation as a daughter in the household of Grand Marshal Luo Zongfu. The grateful spirit came specifically to express thanks before departing.

Thereafter Chen Jingren recovered from his illness. His father Chen Yan petitioned the imperial court, willingly accepting a three-rank demotion to secure blessings for his son. Zhongli was appointed Defense Commissioner of Xiongzhou, while Chen Jingren retained his position as Temple Custodian. The Chen family further donated five thousand strings of cash to construct a Perfected Warrior Hall in the Shangqing Purple Pole Palace, which the court named "Hall of Universal Compassion and Spiritual Communication."

(Note: The Perfected Warrior, also known as the Dark Heavenly Sovereign [Xuantian Shangdi], is an important guardian deity in Daoism. The willow branch and sacred water represent common purification rites, while the underworld [Yinsi] refers to the bureaucratic system governing reincarnation.)

In Shuzhou (present-day Qianshan, Anhui), Wang Yaonian, a director in the Ministry of Revenue, had a daughter who, at the age of thirty-one, became pregnant with a ghost fetus. For two full years, no cure could be found. Not only were her parents deeply distressed, but the daughter herself often fell into despair and even contemplated hanging herself in the backyard garden. Suddenly, a voice called out from the air: "Do not take your life! This is a karmic debt from five hundred years ago. Why not seek help from the household deity (the guardian spirit of the home)?" The woman turned but saw no one. She returned home and told her mother what had happened.

Their family worshipped only Zhenwu the Great Emperor (the revered Xuantian Shangdi of the north in Daoism), so they invited Daoist priest Chen Juxun from Lingxian Temple to set up an altar in their home and perform rituals. He dispatched a fu emissary (a divine messenger tasked with delivering talismans in Daoist ceremonies) to petition the celestial court, beseeching Zhenwu to manifest his divine power and absolve the Wang family’s karmic burden. As the family waited in devout anticipation, at noon on the twenty-first day of the tenth lunar month, a red light the size of a bowl suddenly enveloped the outside of the house, swirling before the altar before entering the body of the Wang daughter. It then spoke through her: "In your past life, you aided a poison peddler in selling abortion drugs, killing a fetus destined for noble rebirth. By the laws of karma, you should have been condemned to endless rebirths as a venomous serpent. But because you still retain this human life, the vengeful spirit was allowed to dwell in your womb, feeding on your flesh and blood. Just now, as you were about to take your own life, my patrol happened upon you. Moved by your family’s sincere devotion, I have come to deliver you."

Zhenwu the Great Emperor instructed them: at the second watch of the night, they were to light forty-nine wheel lamps (a circular arrangement of lamps used in Daoist rites) before the woman’s bed, offering incense, candles, purified water, and paper effigies (sacrificial paper offerings). At the fourth watch, they were to call out the woman’s birth date and hour, then burn a golden paper substitute for the vengeful spirit from her past life. The ghost fetus would then dissolve on its own. After Priest Chen kowtowed in gratitude, the red light gradually faded. Wang Yaonian immediately made a vow: if his daughter recovered, he would convert their home into a temple for Zhenwu. Later, the woman was indeed healed. When word of this spread, people said that the Wang daughter, having been saved by Zhenwu, was surely blessed with great fortune. Wang Yaonian was later promoted to the position of assistant prefect of Xiangzhou.

(Note: This account reflects the Daoist doctrine of "inherited retribution" (承负说), where past misdeeds bring present suffering, but sincere repentance and divine mediation can resolve karmic debts. Elements like "wheel lamps" and "fu emissaries" are typical features of Song Dynasty Daoist zhaijiao rituals.)

This passage records the establishment of a Daoist temple. At that time, Xie Fangping, the prefect of Shuzhou (present-day Qianshan area in Anhui), was preparing his son Jingxiang's wedding. During the wedding preparations, Wang Yaonian voluntarily offered to donate his family's residence and gardens. After deliberation by local officials, it was decided to construct Daoist temple buildings on this land.

The Shuzhou government and supervisory institutions jointly petitioned the imperial court, which quickly granted approval. The court not only officially named the temple "Zhenci Jiuguan" (True Compassion Salvation Temple), but also issued an official document from the Zhongshu Sheng (equivalent to today's State Council). However, Wang Yaonian's donated gardens and residence alone proved insufficient. The emperor specially decreed additional state-funded constructions, including the Sanqing Hall (enshrining the Three Pure Ones, the highest Daoist deities) and the Beiji Qiyuan Hall (dedicated to the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper).

The "Xuantian Shangdi" mentioned here is an honorific title for the important Daoist deity Zhenwu Dadi (Perfect Warrior Emperor). This text documents his miraculous manifestation regarding the temple's construction. The process of building Daoist temples during this period required strict official approval procedures, progressing from local to central authorities level by level, ultimately requiring the emperor's personal naming and funding—demonstrating the exceptionally high status of this project.