《雲笈七籤》Vol. 102

Yunji Qiqian, juan 122

(Compiled and presented by your servant Zhang Junfang, Gentleman for Court Service of the Song, Vice Director of the State Revenue Bureau of the Department of State Affairs, Collator of the Academy of Scholarly Worthies, granted the scarlet fish-bag and permitted to wear purple.)

Record

Sacred Record of the Hunyuan Emperor

Taishang Laojun (Supreme Venerable Lord), one of the highest deities revered in Daoism, is also called the Hunyuan Emperor. He was born at the time of no beginning and arose in a realm without cause; he is the forerunner of the myriad Dao (the Way) and the ancestral origin of primordial Qi (vital energy).

At that time there was no light, no form, and no sound; there was no sovereign and no thread, and all was deep and dark. Yet within it was contained Jing (essence) and Qi; this Jing and Qi were utterly real, filling and penetrating the boundless heavens and earth, and so it was called the Great Dao.

The Dao is the most honored presence within spontaneity. From deep emptiness and nonbeing it produced the empty hollow; the empty hollow is the True One (Zhenyi). The True One can be called neither existent nor nonexistent.

From the True One was transformed and born one Qi. After another ninety-nine trillion nine hundred ninety thousand years, the upper three Qi were transformed and born; the intervals between these three Qi were also each ninety-nine trillion nine hundred ninety thousand years. The three Qi combined to form De (Virtue/Power), and together they produced Wushang.

After Wushang was born, another ninety-nine trillion nine hundred ninety thousand years passed before the middle three Qi were transformed and born. The intervals between the three Qi were also each ninety-nine trillion nine hundred ninety thousand years. The three Qi combined to form De, and together they produced Xuanlao.

After Xuanlao was born, another ninety-nine trillion nine hundred ninety thousand years passed before the lower three Qi were transformed and born. The intervals between the three Qi were also each ninety-nine trillion nine hundred ninety thousand years. The three Qi combined to form De, and together they produced Taishang.

After Taishang was born, another eighty-one trillion eight hundred ten thousand years passed before one Qi was born. After one Qi was born, another eighty-one trillion eight hundred ten thousand years passed before the former three Qi were born. The intervals between the three Qi were also each eighty-one trillion eight hundred ten thousand years. The three Qi combined to form De, and together they produced Laojun.

After Laojun was born, eighty-one trillion eight hundred ten thousand years passed, and one Qi was transformed and born; after this one Qi was born, another eighty-one trillion eight hundred ten thousand years passed, and the latter three Qi were transformed and born. The latter three Qi in turn transformed and produced Xuanmiao Yunü (the Mysterious and Wondrous Jade Maiden). After the Jade Maiden was born, eighty-one trillion eight hundred ten thousand years passed; the three Qi blended and congealed, changed into a five-colored, dark-yellow form the size of a pellet, and entered the mouth of Xuanmiao Yunü. Xuanmiao Yunü swallowed it, and after eighty-one years it came out from her left armpit…

Life continues generation after generation, yet a person goes from youth to white hair, and is therefore called “Laozi.” “Laozi” is Laojun (the Daoist honorific title for Laozi).

Laojun is the manifestation of the Great Dao, the ancestor of primordial Qi (yuanqi, the original breath before the generation of Heaven and Earth), and the root of Heaven and Earth.

The Great Dao is mysterious and unfathomable, arising from Ziran (natural spontaneity), born within the Unborn, and prior to all that has not yet begun. It stands in the realm of empty openness, transforms and nurtures Heaven and Earth, and is called “the Supreme Correct and True Dao.” It is wondrous and hidden, profound and boundless, and cannot be accurately expressed by names. Therefore it is said: “I was born before the formless, transcend before the Great Beginning (Taichu), grew at the first of the Great Commencement (Taishi), and move in the origin of the Great Simplicity (Taisu).”

The Great Dao roams in the realm of deep and empty nothingness, entering and leaving the Yaoming (the profoundly dark and unknowable). It sees the state in which Hundun has not yet divided and clear and turbid Qi are not yet distinguished; it also sees faint light as if first appearing, indistinct sounds hard to discern, and scenes manifesting in a blurred trance. It gazes upon vast boundless space, travels through the cosmic wilderness, and passes through all kinds of beings. Only its generation stands alone, beyond compare: when it disperses it becomes Qi; when it condenses it becomes human.

Laojun is transformed from primordial Qi, the Dao, and Zhen (the true and undeluded reality), and is the embodiment of natural transformation. If one reluctantly describes his form, he is Laozi; he takes nothingness as his Dao and Ziran as his nature. Nothing can make him necessarily so, and nothing can make him not so; people do not know why he is so, nor why he is not so, and therefore this is called natural spontaneity.

If one says he uses the earth as a chariot and the sky as a canopy, galloping through vast boundless realms and soaring beyond the eight directions, this is still insufficient to describe his vastness. If one says he exhausts the profound and the subtle, reaching the boundless and limitless, even splitting a hair and analyzing the tiniest particles is still insufficient to describe his subtlety.

Silk and bamboo instruments, all kinds of music, and the Xiaoshao in nine movements (ancient music performed in nine sections), with harmonious gong and shang tones and coordinated pitches, are all insufficient to describe his voice. Dark and yellow intermingling, cinnabar and azure brilliant, all kinds of radiant and ornate decorations, are insufficient to describe his color. Flashing brilliance, divine radiance flickering indistinctly, wind racing and lightning flashing, thunder shaking—these are insufficient to describe his speed. Roots penetrating the Nine Springs, deep as mountains, reaching the eight seas, water congealing into marshes, abysses deep and peaks standing—these are insufficient to describe his stillness.

The transformations of Yin-Yang are unfathomable and endlessly changing; he roams at ease in the realm of Taisu, taking nothingness as teacher and Zhen as friend, yet this is insufficient to describe his wondrous spirit. He illumines the dark, perceives the formless, looks up to Taiji and down into the hidden depths, yet this is insufficient to describe his clear discernment. As for shadows disappearing and sounds being cut off, clouds and mist scattering, or even chiseling ice to obtain fire and probing nests to catch fish—none is sufficient to describe his formlessness and tracelessness. He can cleanse away the dust and defilement of the universe.

Laojun (the Daoist honorific for Laozi) swept clean the Milky Way along the heavenly path. Below his dwelling there is no bottom, and above it there is no bound; it encompasses the Liuhe (the six directions—heaven, earth, and the four quarters), opens up territories, and spans the eight directions. To call it empty still does not suffice to describe its vastness.

The Dao originally has no form—why then give it a name? Thus one can only lodge it in “emptiness” and “nothingness” to speak of it. But words are insufficient to express its full meaning; ultimately it returns to naturalness (ziran). What is called naturalness is the utmost of principle and the constant state of the Dao. Therefore all sages jointly revere the Dao and cherish De (Virtue/Power); it has no rank or title, yet is always naturally so—this is precisely what is said of Laozi.

Laojun is the supreme Jing (essence) born of primordial Qi (vital energy) and the most wondrous being when he manifests form. He once condensed primordial Qi and true Qi in the void, forcibly manifesting a body: his stature vast and boundless, all manner of dignified marks complete. He is naturally supremely honored, with nothing to climb above and nothing to tread below; he dwells suspended, neither leaning nor falling. He wears a garment of light, shining in the void as if containing the radiance of sun and moon.

At times he appears above the cloud-blossoms, his body golden and his face emitting five-colored light; naturally he transforms and manifests divine kings, strongmen, the Azure Dragon, the White Tiger, qilin, and lions, arranged before and behind him. At times he sits on a thousand-petaled lotus, radiance like the sun, wearing a crown of the seven luminaries, garments of morning essence, and a nine-colored li-luo shawl, with a circular halo behind his neck.

At times he rides the Eight Radiances jade carriage, drawn by five-colored divine dragons, raising the Flowing Empyrean Imperial Heaven elixir-standard; the carriage is covered by a nine-radiance crane canopy; divine generals hold command banners and follow, ninety thousand flying immortals accompany him, lions clear the way ahead, and phoenix-decorated carriages follow. At times he rides the Jade Balance carriage, its wheels firm as diamond, driven by nine dragons; the Three-Pure flying-cloud precious canopy shines and flows, incense smoke and flowers float in the air, immortal music shakes the void—the scenes are too many to describe fully.

At times he sits in a great jeweled hall, the seven-jewel curtains bright and splendid, with vermilion-patterned gauze nets hanging over them. Immortals and Zhenren (Perfected) attend in rows on both sides, divine generals guard the carriage, and banners, streamers, pennants, standards, and carriages fill the sky. At times he displays a golden countenance and jade-like physique, wearing a yellow lower garment and an embroidered shawl, leaning on an armrest and waving a fly-whisk, brushing away dust for the myriad things. At times he wears a black crown and white robes, rides a red-maned white horse, with immortal youths attending at his sides; his divine radiance is profound and far-reaching, illuminating the hidden and mysterious.

The many wondrous marks of Laojun cannot all be depicted. Those who cultivate the higher Dao should recognize his true form. The true form is hard to fathom; remembering these is enough to resonate and connect. If learners do not know the root, it is like an infant losing its mother; to know the mother is also to know her child. Since one has recognized…

You should return to and hold fast to the “mother.” The “mother” here refers to the “being” that arises from “non-being,” that is, the Dao. The Dao is supremely true and ultimate, the root jointly revered by all things. It manifests according to resonance; when it appears, it is sometimes subtle and difficult to perceive: in its subtlety its form is indistinct and shifting, suddenly appearing and suddenly disappearing. Those who are oppressed rely on it and find release; those in darkness seek it and obtain light; those who are deluded turn to it and ultimately find stability.

Therefore, when the Lord of the Divine Spirits responds to sentient beings, it manifests physical form, appearance, and bearing, with proper measure in movement and rest; it corrects the false and aberrant with the true Dao, pervades all places without obstruction, and saves sentient beings without end, and so is called “sage.” Sometimes it appears as a ruler, minister, teacher, or friend, meeting sentient beings through karmic conditions. Whenever one encounters such a manifestation, it is because one’s mind is unified and thus resonates with the Dao; when the Qi of the Dao and the person’s Qi resonate with each other, it manifests in a corresponding way according to the person’s capacities and circumstances.

The great Dao originally has no physical form and cannot be seen by ordinary people with their eyes; but it manifests form in response to resonance, and subtle images also appear at any time. Sometimes it appears as a jade-substance and golden body, sometimes as a body of flesh and blood; sometimes it flies, sometimes it walks; sometimes it is noble, sometimes lowly; sometimes it appears among mountains, sometimes in the lands of the Yi or in Huaxia. Its transformations cannot be fathomed: the forms it manifests differ in coarseness or subtlety, and once the resonance is complete they disappear. When it comes, it cannot be pursued; when it goes, it cannot be found; it is present throughout both being and non-being, pervading everything.

Those who awaken to the Dao can comprehend the great Dao in their hearts; the deluded encounter it but turn away from the true Dao. If one can revere, know, and worship Lord Lao (Laojun, the deity revered in Daoism), one can obtain the true and orthodox Dao.

The treatise says: The Dao cannot be seen; if it is seen, what is seen is not the Dao. The Dao cannot be heard; if it is heard, what is heard is not the Dao. This means that the principles and teachings manifested by the Dao are originally empty, quiescent, and unmoving. Yet the Dao can also enable those who previously could not see to see, and those who previously could not hear to hear. This shows that realms and wisdom inspire each other and can communicate through resonance. Although “communication” and “quiescence” are not the same, ultimately they return to the same root. Therefore it is said: “The Dao constantly acts through wuwei, yet nothing is left undone.” From this it can be seen that the key lies in people’s minds.

There are roughly two ways in which people contemplate the Dao in their minds: one is to visualize the Dharma-body (the sacred body of the Dao), complete with the seventy-two marks and eighty-one excellences, subtle and perfect, noble and beyond the Three Realms; the other is to visualize the true body, which is like empty space, perfect and pure, neither arising nor ceasing. If one still cannot visualize these forms clearly, one may rely on images and fix one’s mind upon them. According to one’s ability, one may cast a purple-gold statue, or fashion or paint the true form in clay, copper, color painting, and other media; offerings such as halls, curtains, seats, banners and flags, flowers, lamps, and candles should also be prepared according to one’s ability. If one offers sincerely and visualizes single-mindedly as if serving the true body, the merit is equally complete. If one can thoroughly awaken to the formless body of the Dao, then the true form presented by images is, in principle, no different from it. Therefore, by sincerely revering divine images, one can obtain blessings according to one’s mind.

The blessings that come from good deeds may be light or heavy; it all depends on one’s own mind and intention. As long as one constantly keeps the Dao in mind and ceaselessly advances with diligence, one will naturally be able to attain the Dao. The saying “When a person remembers the Dao, the Dao also remembers the person” means precisely this.

Record of the Taiwei Heavenly Thearch Lord

The Zidu Yanguang Shenxuan Bian Jing (Scripture of Purple Crossing, Flaming Light, and Divine Mystery Transformations) says: The Taiwei Heavenly Thearch Lord was born at the beginning of Primordial Blue-Green. He was a descendant of the spirits of the Nine Luminaries. Before the mysterious Qi had yet congealed, his lineage received the Qi of flowing fragrance, and thus his Dharma-form appeared. On his body, radiance intermingled; numinous Qi sparkled; purple clouds were like lightning; mysterious smoke curled around him. Red light encircled his wondrous awakened nature, and from this his divine consciousness quietly opened.

He inherited Heaven’s order; his breath was harmonious and pure; he inhaled and exhaled the deep fluid Qi, and so descended into birth. After birth, Hongquan and Quzhi together nourished him. At fourteen, inwardly he showed a golden countenance and outwardly reflected jade-like brilliance; his insight and wisdom were keen, and he could clearly see the realm of empty mystery. He held the title and responsibilities of a Heavenly Thearch Lord.

He clarified the Qi of the Nine Empyreans and gazed flying toward the source of Cavernous Purity. He penetrated the most subtle and ultimate mechanisms and governed the movements of countless Qi and fluids. Because of long-accumulated resonance, he met with the dark and obscure, and wondrous awakening naturally shone forth. Thus he came to master the methods of “Purple Crossing, Flaming Light, Returning the Spirit, Flying through the Empyrean, and Ascending into Emptiness.” When one cultivates these gateways, one inwardly resonates with them and ultimately ascends to the Jade Purity Realm. He transmitted the complete Dao methods to the Central Yellow Old Lord (Huanglao Jun).

Record of the Qingyao Thearch Lord

The Dongzhen Qingyao Zishu Jingen Zhong Jing (Dongzhen Scripture of the Blue-Green Essence, Purple Book, and Golden Root) says: The Qingyao Thearch Lord was a disciple of the Nine Yang Primordial August Jade Emperor. In the first year of Zhonghuang, when the Year Star moved to the eastern quadrant, Heaven began to show forth light. The Qingyao Thearch Lord was born in the Heaven of No Brink in the kingdom of Xuanqiu, beneath the Seven Treasures of the Jade Forest (Qionglin), in a dim and hazy place at the edge of the Nine Domains. He underwent transformation and birth according to the signs of Heaven’s mandate, and three days later Heaven became bright.

His surname was Yao and his given name Bokai. Nine dragons stood in attendance at his side, and seven-colored jade phoenixes sheltered above him. Divine qilin carried lingzhi in their mouths to feed him; maidens of the Mysterious Heaven exhaled Jing-Qi to infuse true jade; jade youths tossed fresh flowers to drive away impurity; divine consorts scattered fragrance to sweep away dust and filth.

He practiced mouth-rinsing and embryonic breathing; his natural endowment was refined and beautiful. At twelve, golden radiance appeared on his face, and numinous talismans grew on his body. He followed transformations and the times, sometimes floating and roaming, sometimes hiding and sinking; his Shen rested in the realm of bright rosy clouds and wandered in the ruins of the Jade Charts. He held and followed the Primordial Sovereign’s Dharma edicts; at sunset he descended to the hills of the Nine Domains and roamed in freedom. Only after passing through ten thousand kalpas did he return to the cloud chamber of pure fasting.

His dwelling had purple clouds for a roof and blue-green clouds for walls; his halls were built of yellow gold, and his couch was made of white jade.

The five kinds of Qi—which Daoism regards as the Qi that constitutes Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things—converged and congealed, transforming into a high terrace. Its steps joined one another, and a jade-paved stairway led to pavilions and towers, while the Phoenix Gate (a palace gate adorned with phoenix images) stood open on all four sides. Golden youths attended at the sides, the Jade Flower immortal maiden held towel and handkerchief, and celestial immortals formed ranks as guards—more than five thousand in all.

The Jade Emperor Lord of Nine Yang and Primordial Sovereign (Jiuyang Yuanhuang Yudi Jun) rode a nine-phoenix flying carriage of emerald-cloud color, with wheels of jade and a canopy of feathers, coming from the Mulberry Forest. In his retinue were tens of thousands of Perfected, with carriages, insignia, and flying riders like clouds, as well as thirty-six attending immortals. They held a banquet in the Jingxiao Court and descended to you; together with you they ascended to the Capital of the Nine Elders’ Immortal Metropolis and the Chamber of the Nine Bends. The Jade Emperor Lord commanded the Turtle Mother of the Western Terrace (a female immortal of the Western Terrace) to open the phoenix-patterned cloud Qi, open the purple brocade sack, and take out the Purple Book of True Instructions and the Jade Chapters. You have already received these immortal books and secret methods. Your cultivation of the Dao has borne fruit, and you possess the corresponding rank, so that you may ascend to Yuqing (Jade Clarity). The Most High Lord of the Great Dao (Taishang Daojun) therefore bestowed upon you a flying-cloud feather canopy, a flowing-purple phoenix seal, golden true jade light, the Huoluo Seven Primordials Golden Spirit Tiger Talisman, the flowing-gold fire bell, the blue jade seal, as well as the nine-colored seamless emblem, the single-blue feather skirt, and other ritual implements and garments.

After this, you may fly in the Shangqing realm (one of the paradises described in Daoism), wield ten thousand transformations, come and go among the Five Dawns, ride the void, summon the moon and draw in the sun, and turn the solar wheel. In the cavern-heavens you can transform, divide, and reunite, possessing the same numinous and penetrating powers as the Perfected; you can release your bodily form, hide and transform, and in an instant change hundreds of billions of times. You ascend to the Three Primes (Sanyuan), pay court at the Jade Palace, roam the boundless immortal realms, pass in and out of the Cavern Gates, and associate with jade immortals. Looking upward, you receive the command of Gaoshang Yuanshi Taizhen (High Supreme Primordial Beginning Great Perfection), accord with the cycles of Qi, comply with Heaven’s mandate, take your place in the Imperial Dawn, and govern the myriad Dao; no immortal is outside your jurisdiction. Below, you govern the heavenly realms of the ten directions, and the mountain spirits, river sources, Five Peaks, and Four Seas all belong to you.

Record of the General Perfected Director of Registers

The Dongzhen Scripture of the Seventy-Four Transformations says: The Southern Pole Lord of Destiny Who Governs Longevity, General Perfected Director of Registers of Shangqing—an immortal lord in charge of longevity and the registers of destiny—surname Wang, given name Gaisheng, courtesy name Yidu. According to tradition, in the first year of Taixu, when the Year Star passed through the interval of Luoxifan and Mengshang, it was the time when Zhuming (summer) was about to end and the celestial origin had withdrawn; the sun, moon, and stars were dim, the morning wind blew swift and empty, and only after six days did light appear again.

Lord Wang was born in Changle Township of Guangchang City in Donglin. At fourteen he renounced the world and left vulgar society, wholeheartedly admiring immortals. Later he met Master Hua of the Purple Mansion and received methods such as Yin-Yang replenishment and nourishment, diminishing the Qi of death and cultivating the Qi of life, as well as the transformations of three and five and the restoration of spirit through seven and nine; he also learned arts such as governing the Qi of central harmony and embryonic breathing (a cultivation method of regulating the breath to nourish Qi). After practicing these methods, he lived to four hundred years. Later he ascended the mountain streams of Xuanxi, lived in seclusion in a rock chamber, and again visited Master Tu, studying the art of the Golden Elixir and refining the roots of cloud ganoderma and the ... of sang jingang...

After mastering the methods for raising flying smoke and causing frost and snow to descend, as well as the cultivation practices of summoning rosy radiance and swallowing Jing and Qi, he practiced for seven years and could unite with sunlight. Following the route described in the scriptures, he went to Kongdong Mountain in Shenzhou, where he met Taiyi Zhenren, Master Dai, and received the method of Ninefold Refinement transmitted by the Emperor Lord.

Record of the Central Heaven Jade Treasure Primordial Spirit Primordial Elder Lord

The Dongxuan Scripture of Original Conduct records: The Central Heaven Jade Treasure Primordial Spirit Primordial Elder Lord was originally surnamed with a rare character and had the courtesy name Xinran. He was a descendant of Dongyuan and an offspring of Zhonghe. He was born in Qingyuan Heaven within the World of Good Patience, descending at the Hill of Flowing Birth. After birth he passed through one kalpa always silent, his mind utterly without differentiated thought, feeding on ingested Qi. At that time heaven and earth had not yet emitted light.

A Youth of Impermanence in the Land of Formlessness bestowed upon Xinran a copy of the Lingbao Red Book, the True Writ of the Red Emperor. At that time Xinran cultivated only himself and did not broadly teach gods and humans, so his merits and virtues were not yet complete. Later, when the kalpa changed and Qingyuan Heaven was destroyed, Xinran also reached the end of his lifespan. His spiritual body drifted to the provincial borders and lay dormant at the Hill of Flowing Birth. More than a hundred years after his death, his body had not turned to ashes, and yellow cloud Qi constantly covered it.

When the water kalpa arrived, the whole world was dark. Earth surged up around Xinran’s spiritual remains, towering to the sky and blocking the clouds and waterways. Xinran transformed in response to the kalpa, rose up with dense vitality, was reborn as a human, changed his surname to Tongban, and was named Yuanshi. After the water kalpa passed, heaven and earth became bright again; the sun, moon, and stars appeared, and the seven luminaries hung high. In the first year of the Kaiguang era, a Jichou year, Yuanshi Tianzun, in the Forest of Returning Souls in Gaotao Lizhong Longluo Heaven, bestowed upon Yuanshi the honorific title “Jade Treasure Primordial Spirit Primordial Elder Lord.”

Record of the Chiming Heavenly Emperor

The Dongxuan Scripture of Original Conduct records: Formerly, in the World of Chanli, the King of Dui had a daughter named Guayin; one account calls her Jiyin. After birth she remained unable to speak. By the time she was fourteen, the King of Dui found this strange and abandoned her in the desolate mountains around Nanfu Changsang Mountain.

Lacking food, Guayin often looked up at the sun and swallowed Qi, and she also absorbed the Jing and Qi of the moon. Thus she naturally felt satisfied, and her body did not become weary or weak. She often walked in the mountains, passing around the caves. One day she suddenly met a divine person by a dwelling in Danling, beneath a cypress grove. The divine person held her right hand, wrote characters on a red stone, and said to her: “Although you cannot speak, you may keep these in your heart.”

Guayin secretly grieved, feeling that she had been born unfortunate, unable to open her mouth to speak, and then abandoned in remote deep mountains. She made vows and prayers, hoping to return to the human world…

During her cultivation she performed meritorious deeds widely and without stinting, hoping that after a hundred kalpas she might accord with her vow. Heaven was moved by her and sent down a spirit-child from the Vermilion Palace (the crimson immortal palace of the South), who taught her the sounds of scripture recitation (dieyin) and the arts of cultivating the body, and transmitted to her the pronunciation of the Eight Characters of the Red Book (the eight-character true text written in red). From then on she could open her mouth and speak, and morning and evening she bowed in worship to the heavenly writings.

After the Daoist Perfected Ones descended, she could foreknow auspicious and inauspicious events, command many spirits, and while seated issue orders to the ten directions. She came out from the mountains and returned to the kingdom. At that time there was a great drought under heaven; the people were parched and distressed, and the king was greatly alarmed and prayed to the spirits. The spirit-child who had taught her recitation then went to inform the king, saying: “I have often heard that in the mountains there is a mute girl who can move Heaven. Does Your Majesty know her?” The king then awoke to it and recognized that she was his own daughter, and had her brought back to the palace. When he saw that his daughter could speak, the king felt ashamed. She then displayed her Daoist methods and, for the king, gave a long cry toward heaven; heavy rain fell from the sky, and the accumulated water was a zhang deep. After that she transformed her form and hid her shadow as she left, and then entrusted her bodily form to the womb of the Wang clan.

Because the destinies of the dusty world had not yet turned, she was reborn once more, still in a female body. Her father named her Fuqing, with the courtesy name Aqiu Zeng. When she reached adulthood, she aroused a heart of great compassion, gave alms to the poor and suffering, lived alone in a single room, and did not mix with external things. She lit lamps and burned incense, and kept a long fast in a quiet room. Her cinnabar sincerity accumulated day by day and moved the Great Dao, and the Dao descended for her.

In the first year of Kaiguang (a year reckoned in the Daoist kalpa cycle), the great sages and honored deities of the ten directions and the Zhenren of Wondrous Practice (Miaoxing) gathered in the hollow of Danhuo Mountain in the Southern Garden. In the Sanyuan Cave Chamber and the Qinghua Forest, many Zhenren sat in attendance, with more than five thousand fragrant flowers and musical performers. The Zhenren’s refined radiance was brilliant and luminous, bright and penetrating, illuminating inside and outside; the light and shadows of clouds and mist shone like the moon among the stars, several tens of li from the house where Aqiu Zeng lived.

At that time Qiu Zeng was sixteen. Seeing the house illuminated brightly inside and out, she felt something extraordinary and went out the door to gaze south, and she saw the Daoist Perfected Ones. Qiu Zeng was overjoyed; joining her palms in salute, she called her own name and said: “Today I am fortunate to meet you and to see Tianzun with my own eyes. This is a blessing I did not dare hope for, and I do not know how to express it. I take refuge in the heaven of heavens of the ten directions, and I only ask to receive your mysterious clear mirroring and to be granted words of precepts, so that through ten thousand kalpas I may be liberated and may hope to ascend and become an immortal.”

When Mara saw that Qiu Zeng had made a great vow whose power surpassed the realm of Mara, he transformed into an old man of the Five Emperors and went to tell Qiu Zeng: “I have received the command of the honored deities of the ten directions to come and say to you: the Lingbao Dharma-gate is arising, and the Five Paths will proceed side by side. It always wishes to make people humane, loving, kind, and filial, reverently to support elders, and respectfully to serve one’s two parents.”

People close to you seem to have heard that your father has already decided to betroth you to someone else, and that you have consented and accepted the betrothal gifts. One cannot disobey the command of one's parents. Since the matter of marriage has already been settled, you should first obey your parents. If for the sake of cultivating the Dao you defy your father's instruction, then even if you devote yourself to practice, it will be difficult to become an immortal.

The woman answered the demon (an evil demon that tempts cultivators to waver): “In a former life I was unfortunate; through past lives I formed no karmic connection, and my merits were not complete, and so I was reborn as a woman. From morning to night I have disciplined myself assiduously, vowed to devote myself single-mindedly to cultivating the Dao, with firm resolve and in accord with nature. Now it is my parents' command that I return to worldly life; if I were truly to defy my father's instruction, it would be better to heed your words.”

When the demon saw that Qiu Zeng's resolve was clear and upright, it withdrew. Qiu Zeng said to herself, “The great Dao is high and far, difficult to reach; I have no chance to fulfill my vow.” She therefore gathered firewood, set it alight, and burned herself, hoping that her body would turn into flying dust, rise with the wind, and arrive before the Dao. When the flames rose, Qiu Zeng threw herself into them, yet it seemed as if there were no obstruction at all; her body was as though treading on air. In a moment, Qiu Zeng had transformed into a man and stood before the Dao.

The Celestial Worthy of Original Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun, a high Daoist deity) ordered the Southern Pole Worthy Deity (a deity of the south) to take Qiu Zeng as a disciple and transmit to him the Ten Precepts of the Lingbao True Zhang (the precepts of the Lingbao scriptures). The Celestial Worthy of Original Beginning also told the Southern Pole Worthy Deity: “Qiu Zeng passed through ten thousand kalpas in former lives and once practiced the Lingbao Dao, but his merits were not yet complete; therefore he was lodged in the cycle of rebirth, and only today has he been transformed and born as a human. When he saw me transmit the Dharma, he was able to transform his bodily form; in the future he must still save ninety-nine thousand people before he can become a Supreme Perfected Great Deity and take his place as the Dongyang Chiming Heavenly Emperor.”

Biography of the Southern Pole Worthy Deity

The Dongxuan Benxing Jing (a scripture recording Dongxuan cultivation deeds) says: The Southern Pole Worthy Deity was originally surnamed Huang, given name Duming, and was the daughter of King Wan of the Yanfuli Kingdom. She was born in the Chiming Heaven of the Chanli World. At birth she already possessed a noble destiny, and her father was a king. She lived in the palace, slept on a golden bed and jade couch, with curtains adorned with seven-colored treasures, and bright moon pearls illumined the palace inside and out. The king provided her with several thousand maids, and the kingdom's treasures were hers to use as she pleased.

She often wished to give away wealth and broadly perform good deeds, and she longed to travel through mountains and rivers in search of immortals; but the palace precincts were strict, and there was no way for her to go out. Her aspirations were difficult to fulfill, and she was often tormented by sorrow. The king pitied her, comforted her in many ways, and asked what was in her heart. She never spoke, only wept tears like rain, with no joy on her face. The king then added song and dance entertainments for her, arranging music, dance, and singing every day. But when Duming heard the music, it was as if she did not hear it; she stayed alone in a quiet place, burning incense, observing long fasts and keeping the precepts, and eating only at noon each day.

After Duming understood the meaning within it, he piled earth in the palace to make a mountain a hundred zhang high, planted a bamboo forest on it, and built a high terrace called the Xunzhen Jade Terrace, the “Seeking Truth Jade Terrace.” Leaving the palace, he ascended the terrace to dwell there, sealed the roads leading into the mountain so that no one else could pass, and lived there alone. After twelve years, his sincerity moved Haocang Heaven, Heaven above. The Heavenly Emperor Lord sent twenty-four Jade Maidens of the Vermilion Palace, riding clouds and phoenixes, to come and welcome him.

On the night Duming departed, a great wind suddenly arose, a rainstorm broke out, thunder and lightning came together, and heaven and earth shook, alarming the entire country. The king was deeply shocked and did not know what to do. At dawn, the radiance dispersed, and both the mountain and the high terrace had vanished; the Jade Maidens who had come to welcome Duming were gone as well.

The Heavenly Emperor welcomed Duming on the Danling of Yangqiu Peak and settled him in Xianglin. Vermilion phoenixes stood guard at his side, divine dragons sheltered his carriage, and more than three hundred jade boys and jade maidens attended him left and right.

Later, when heaven and earth changed and kalpas succeeded one another, Duming by rights should also have been placed among those cast off and fallen. Nanshang, moved by his utmost sincerity in cultivating elixir methods, inscribed his purple name in the register of the Vermilion Palace and transformed his bodily form into the “Womb of No Beginning,” the source prior to the beginning of all things. After one kalpa, he was reborn as a man and resided in the Nandan Dongyang Upper Abbey. The Red Emperor Fanbao Changyang Danling Zhen Laojun bestowed upon Duming the honorific title “Supreme Perfected of the Southern Pole.”