《雲笈七籤》Vol. 121

Record of Daoist Miraculous Responses

Miraculous Record of the Ancient Bell of Qingxi Abbey in Qingtian County, Chuzhou, Returning on Its Own

Qingxi Abbey (a Daoist temple) in Qingtian County, Chuzhou, once had a bronze bell. After the rebellion of Yuan Chao, the bell disappeared, leaving only an ink-written mark with the two characters “Qingtian,” which some people still remembered.

Later, below an island mountain in the Wenzhou area, boatmen often heard a low, mournful bell sound coming from the water, not far away. One day someone suddenly saw something like half a bell protruding from the water. He rowed close to look; the object immediately turned over, exposing only half. Judging by its shape and decorative patterns, as well as the bell knob in the form of a Pulau (the mythical beast commonly used for bell handles), it was indeed a bell. When people touched it with something, it sank into the water.

After word spread, curious people took boats to see it. On clear days it could sometimes still be seen. Monks from temples in the prefecture once decorated painted boats and prepared banners and fresh flowers, fasting and purifying themselves to welcome the bell; sometimes they also set up a ritual site on the water, bowing and repenting, asking the bell to appear. Some saw it, but it soon sank again. Daoist priests also prepared banners, flowers, boats, and incense to meet it, but never obtained the bell.

The Daoist priest of Qingxi Abbey was among those welcoming the bell at the time. He bowed to the bell and prayed: “The Daoist abbeys and Buddhist temples of this prefecture all have bells; only Qingxi Abbey has lacked one for many years, which is truly a regret. We are in a distant place and cannot prepare incense and flowers, so we can offer only our sincerity. If the bell has spiritual power, I pray that it may travel upstream and return to Qingxi Abbey before a certain date. We will wait for it then.”

Everyone laughed at him. More than ten days later, when the priest returned to Qingtian, he found that the bell was already in the pool in front of the abbey. He burned incense to welcome it, and the bell floated toward the bank. It weighed more than a thousand jin, but when several people pulled it, it seemed to weigh only about a hundred jin, so they hung it up.

Later, the bell would sometimes still fly away on its own and return after about ten days. Nowadays people secure it with a large lock, and it no longer leaves. The ink-written characters “Qingtian” on the bell, after soaking in water for many years, were still clear and undimmed. After careful examination, local elders confirmed that this was exactly the old bell that Qingxi Abbey had lost.

Miraculous Record of the Bronze Bell of Zongxuan Abbey on Mount Qingcheng Being Indestructible

Zongxuan Abbey on Mount Qingcheng has an ancient bronze bell weighing more than three thousand jin. The bell is engraved with exquisite patterns and decorated with images of flying immortals, banners, and standards; the craftsmanship is extremely fine. When Liu Pi occupied Chengdu, he took it away...

This bell was later melted down and cast into bronze images, weapons, and coins. The county authorities sent men to pull and drag the bell, hauling it down the mountain. The raised patterns on its body had been almost worn smooth, and people repeatedly hammered it with huge stones, yet they still could not damage it. The crowd dragged the bell to the riverbank and prepared to load it onto a bamboo raft; pulling together with a force of ten thousand catties, the bell still did not move at all. The county reported the matter, and the officials, finding it strange, ordered twenty or thirty men to return the bell to the mountain; as the group went up the mountain, however, they felt it was as light as only one or two hundred catties. After the bell was hung up again, sometimes merely striking it would summon clouds and rain. This bell is still there today.

Evidence of a Daoist Priest’s Attainment of the Dao in the Casting of a Bell at Taiping Abbey in Wenjiang County

At Taiping Abbey in Wenjiang County there was a Daoist Master Ren. Every day he went from door to door in the marketplace begging a single coin, using the money to cast a great bell weighing ten thousand catties. When the bell was completed several years later, Master Ren was already over eighty. He held a grand Zhaijiao (purification ritual), wrote memorial petitions and composed eulogies, struck the bell several hundred times, and then took his leave and departed. This took place during the Dali era of the Tang dynasty.

Later, when Liu Tong served as Military Commissioner of Xichuan, an office commanding the military and civil affairs of a region, the bells in the temples and abbeys under his jurisdiction all had dharani spells (Buddhist incantations) carved on them. At this time Master Ren returned to Taiping Abbey, brought skilled craftsmen to carve characters beside the spells, and said, “The bronze bell of this abbey should not have Buddhist spells carved on it at will.” He also carved several lines of an oath. Seeing that Master Ren’s appearance seemed even younger and more robust than in earlier years, people believed he was one who had attained the Dao.

Evidence of the Great Bell of the Old Pengshan Market Abbey in Meizhou Injuring Craftsmen in the Temple

The Old Pengshan Market Abbey in Meizhou had a great bell weighing one thousand catties. The abbey was more than twenty li from the prefectural city, and each time the bell was struck, its echo could be heard in the city. Some years earlier, monks falsely claimed that the abbey had no Daoist priests and that the bell lay abandoned in the grass, and they submitted documents requesting that the bell be moved away. The authorities handled the matter improperly and moved the bell to a temple in the prefectural city.

When the bell was being hung, it broke a craftsman’s leg. Some considered this a miraculous portent. But after the bell was hung beside the prefectural city gate, the sound of its striking could not reach the city. The monks in the temple cast another great bell, and the original bell was not returned to the abbey but was sold to a monastery in Jiazhou. When the bell was moved down from the tower, it injured two more craftsmen, breaking one man’s leg and another man’s back; accidents injuring people also occurred while loading it onto a boat and bringing it ashore. Yet foolish worldly people did not regard these as signs of spiritual efficacy. To this day, the bell remains stranded away from its home—truly a pity.

The Ancient Bell of Yuyuan Chimu: Evidence of Washing Sores with Bell Water (with an Appendix on the Evidence of the Ancient Bell)

The ancient bell of Yuan Chimu is said to have been presented during the Kaiyuan era. Chimu Village lies at the foot of Mount Yu, and at that time people often heard faint bell sounds coming from underground. They searched everywhere but could never find this bell…

One day, Chimu contracted a severe sore disease that medical treatment could not cure. He dreamed that a youth in blue said to him, “Wash them with water that has washed a bell, and you will recover.”

Chimu went to a nearby temple, drew water, washed a bell with it, and then collected the water in a vessel and took it home to wash his sores. Unexpectedly, the pain in the sores only grew worse. He then sent people to search carefully at the place where he ordinarily heard the sound of a bell, and sure enough, they heard a bell sound coming from underground. They dug down several chi and unearthed an ancient bell.

On top of the bell was a seated lion; below the bell nose (the raised suspension fitting at the top), the bell was flat and broad. Its upper body was round and large, more than three chi in circumference; downward it gradually tapered like a waist drum, and then widened again farther down. The bell bore extraordinary, exquisite subtle patterns; the designs were so numerous that they seemed to number a thousand kinds, and it did not look as though it had been made from a casting mold. After it was unearthed, people washed the mud off the bell with water, then used the bell-washing water to wash the sores, and Chimu was cured that very day.

At night, the bell sometimes gave off a radiance, and at other times rang of its own accord; the neighbors all found it strange. Chimu did not dare keep it privately, so he submitted a memorial to present it. The emperor ordered that the bell be bestowed on Jinglong Daoist Temple.

Before the Huang Chao Rebellion, this bell was still in existence. During the Baoying period, a resident of Zhouzhi County also dug up an ancient bell while plowing; it weighed more than one hundred jin. On top of the bell was a crouching tiger serving as the bell nose; from below the bell nose, the body first gradually widened by several cun and then tapered again; this widening and narrowing occurred in three tiers. The bell was one chi and eight or nine cun tall, and its whole body was covered with celestial-flower and cloud-leaf motifs; the craftsmanship was especially exquisite. Compared with the bell Chimu obtained, this bell was rounder and thicker, and also heavier.

After it was dug up, this bell glowed every night, and sometimes it would fly into the air, its ringing clear and far-reaching. People also submitted a memorial to present it, and the emperor issued an edict sending it to Xuanzhen Daoist Temple. After a long time, the bell was removed and kept in an inner hall of the palace.

The Ingenious Craftsmanship and Numinous Efficacy of the Ancient Bell at Daochang Daoist Temple in Nanping County, Yuzhou

At Daochang Daoist Temple in Nanping County, Yuzhou, there was an ancient bell. On the bell were two lions standing face to face, together supporting a flower pedestal; a jiaochi (a legendary dragon-like water beast) coiled to form the bell nose, and the jiaochi’s tails respectively wrapped around the lions’ feet and coiled around the bell body.

The bell body, like the ancient bell unearthed in Zhouzhi County, was divided into three tiers, gradually narrowing and widening. At every narrowed section there were five fine, densely worked bands of pattern; the middle band was a bright, clear yellow, bead linked to bead like a string of beads. On either side of the bead pattern were curved, entwining petal motifs, and outside these was another layer of cloud-leaf pattern encircling it; the patterns were strange and exquisite, and the workmanship was very meticulous. Other parts of the bell body were also covered with patterns, their details too many to record one by one.

It is said that this bell was given by the Prince of Xiangdong to the recluse Tao Zhenbai (Tao Hongjing). In recent times, because of war, the bell has been lost.

The Ancient Bell at the Salt Wells of Qiannan That Did Not Rust for Many Years

When the salt-well construction in Qiannan was damaged and undergoing repairs, an ancient bell was discovered, three or four... in length.

At the bell’s mouth, about a chi across, the edge was slender and solid; its shape resembled a waist drum rounded and thick at both ends, and when struck at either end it produced sound. Its tone was strange and resonant, unlike that of ordinary bells. It had been kept in a salt well for many years, yet it became ever smoother and more lustrous, showing no signs of damage or rust and often giving off an unusually bright golden color. Military Governor Duke Xi left it in the storehouse of the garrison headquarters.

The Ancient Bell of Yuxiao Palace on Tiantai Mountain: Monks Steal the Bell and Die

At Yuxiao Palace on Tiantai Mountain there was an ancient bell, two chi high and weighing more than a hundred jin. Its body was thick and substantial, shaped like a bell with a clapper, and decorated with thirty-six raised nipple-like bosses; the faintly visible patterns were also exquisitely wrought. According to tradition it was cast by Xia Yu; others say it was a musical instrument of the King of Yue.

In earlier years, this bell flew through the air and rang every night, and everyone could hear it. Later it suddenly fell at Yu Temple and was taken into the government storehouse. For the next seventy or eighty years, many famous monks asked to take the bell, hoping it would manifest prodigies, but the storehouse caretaker always declined and would not consent.

During the Xiantong era, Li Wan, Left Changshi, served as Zhejiang East Observing Commissioner and invited Master Ye of Yuxiao Peak to the commissioner’s office to conduct Zhaijiao (purification ritual) and the conferral of registers (the Daoist Zhaijiao ritual and the ritual of conferring Dharma registers). He set up an altar in the office and had this bell brought out and struck. Later, Liu Taobai, Vice Director of the Waterways Bureau, obtained in the capital a statue of Lord Lao made by the dry-lacquer method; it was three or four chi tall, and the sacred image was exquisite and solemn. He redecorated the image, made a precious canopy with a domed top, and prepared white-metal incense ducks, incense turtles, and other objects, which were sent together to Yuxiao Palace and also kept at the register altar for offering.

After the Zhaijiao ended, Li Wan ordered someone to compose a bell inscription, recording the relevant year, month, and day and carving it on the bell; the Lord Lao image was also sent to the mountain. The places where the inscription was carved shone with gold. The monks of Yuji Temple repeatedly asked for this bell but never obtained it. When they learned that the inscription had already been carved and the bell sent to Tiantai, they had no recourse, so they spread the word: the ancient bell that Tiantai had obtained was made of true gold; the portion carved away by the craftsmen alone yielded several liang of gold, to say nothing of the whole bell; the incense ducks and other objects were also of no small value.

Thereupon more than ten monks and men who did not keep the precepts broke into Yuxiao Palace at night and hid beneath the wooden floorboards of the pavilion. At midnight they climbed over the railing into the Daoist ritual area, put the incense ducks, incense turtles, golden dragons, and other ritual implements into bags, tied the bell to their backs, and after going out shouted as they left. The Master knew of this but would not allow his disciples to pursue them.

Those monks walked more than thirty li and rested for a long time beneath a large tree. At dawn, however, they found themselves still beside the pillar of the pavilion; all of them...

The Master went to investigate and found that the man who had been carrying the bell was already stiff and dead; his companions were also unconscious, dull-eyed, and unable to recognize anyone. The bell and the gold and silk had suffered not the slightest loss. The Master recited a spell and then sprinkled water on them. After a long while, the monk gradually revived, and the thieves also woke. They made vows and swore oaths, begging that the matter not be reported to the authorities. The Master then released them. The others supported the sick monk as they left; when the monk reached the foot of the mountain, he died.

The Bell of Longxing Temple in Kaizhou Vindicating the Wronged and Responding Efficaciously (with an appended note on the bell of Yun’an)

Longxing Temple in Kaizhou had a great bell weighing seven or eight thousand jin. No bell tower had yet been built, so it could only be hung in the hall. According to tradition, when someone in the prefecture lost an object, became involved in a dispute that long remained unresolved, or suffered injustice and had no way to appeal, it was enough to burn incense and strike the bell, and a efficacious response would soon appear.

Some prisoners, when the authorities could not discover the truth during interrogation, would enter the temple to state their case and ask to strike the bell; it was said that in this way right and wrong could be clearly distinguished. I once happened to be staying at the temple when I suddenly saw officials escorting a prisoner before the bell. The official burned incense and swore an oath; just as he was about to raise the mallet to strike, someone stopped him and told him to interrogate the prisoner once more. This happened several times, and before the bell was struck, the truth of the case had already become clear.

When I asked the reason, I learned that in the past many cases had dragged on unresolved, and people had asked to strike this bell. Within ten days after the bell was struck, those who had falsely accused or wronged others would invariably die suddenly; and if people had colluded with one another or were implicated in the matter, within a year not one of them would remain. Those who had been wronged and oppressed, however, came to no harm. Therefore, in cases great and small, those deciding them did not dare to deceive, and they treated this bell as the standard for distinguishing right from wrong. People near and far all said that the bell of White Crane Temple in Yun’an had the same efficacy.

The Bell of Kaiyuan Temple in Qingjiang Commandery of Shizhou Appearing in a Dream and Responding Efficaciously

Kaiyuan Temple in Qingjiang Commandery of Shizhou had a bell of extremely ancient form. Its suspension loop was made in the image of a qilin and was used to hang it from the bell rack; it looked like a hanging gourd. When struck, its sound was at first clear and far-reaching, and soon it boomed, carrying several li. No one, however, knew from which dynasty it dated.

At first, a commoner of the commandery was grazing cattle in the fields south of the city when he suddenly heard a strange sound coming from underground. He and several cowherd boys heard it and fled in alarm. Later the commoner contracted a fever and was ill for more than ten days. He dreamed that a man in a short blue-green garment said to him, “Move me to Kaiyuan Temple.” The commoner still did not understand what this meant. Later he went to the fields again, and then...

He heard the same sound as before, secretly noted the place, and then reported the matter to the commandery governor.

The commandery governor, Lord Feng, became angry and said, “This commoner is muddled and absurd, to bother me with such a trivial matter!” And he scolded him away.

That night, the man again dreamed of a person in a short blue-green jacket, who said, “I have been buried underground for many years. If you do not dig me out quickly, you will surely meet with great disaster.” The man was terrified. At dawn he went with his son to dig, and after digging more than a zhang deep, they indeed found a bell. The bell was blue-green, just as he had seen in the dream. He reported it again to the commandery governor. The governor placed the bell in Kaiyuan Abbey (a Daoist temple). At the chen hour that day, though no one struck the bell, it rang of itself, and the sound shook the distance. The people of the commandery all found it strange and praised it. The governor reported the matter upward, and Emperor Ming (Tang Xuanzong) issued an edict ordering it recorded in the national history; he also ordered the chancellor Li Linfu to copy the memorial and promulgate it throughout the realm.

The Bell of Youwei Abbey in Hongzhou Is Forcibly Taken by a Prefectural Official

Youwei Abbey in Hongzhou had two bells: one was cast by imperial edict for the abbey’s exclusive use; the other was the bell used by True Lord Xu (Xu Zhenjun, a deity revered in Daoism) during his cultivation. It had been passed down through successive generations and was kept in the Hall of the True Lord; it was slightly smaller than the abbey’s bell.

After Military Commissioner Yan Zhuan established his command, his orders were strict and swiftly enforced. He had always respected monks and Daoists. When the abbey’s senior priests were expanding and repairing the compound, they wanted to take and use True Lord Xu’s bell. Yan Zhuan then ordered officials to take the bell and give it to the Daoist priests; none of the priests dared argue about whether this was right. On the day the bell was taken, thunder and lightning erupted and the wind blew violently. At that time a great ritual feast was being held at enormous expense; suddenly rain poured down, and there was not even time to set up protective curtains. In moments the water was several chi deep. Later, when the bell was struck, its sound was like striking earth or wood, with no resonance at all.

The senior priests said to Yan Zhuan, “The Daoist priests of this prefecture have long practiced many sorceries; I fear they have used magic to suppress the bell’s sound.” Yan Zhuan flew into a rage, arrested Daoist priests from various places, imprisoned them, interrogated them about casting black arts, and prepared to impose severe punishments. The officials feared his authority, and no one dared remonstrate.

Yan Zhuan suddenly grew drowsy and dreamed that True Lord Xu came before him with two attendants and said, “You are ignorant and devoid of the Dao. You have forcibly taken my bell and now would punish the Daoist priests. If you do not return the bell to the abbey and apologize to the Great Dao, I will have my attendant cut off your head!” As he spoke, Yan saw True Lord Xu hand a sword to the attendant. Yan woke with a start, drenched in sweat, and in his daze he still saw the attendant standing before him holding the sword. He immediately released all the Daoist priests, returned the bell to the abbey, and personally went to Youwei Abbey to burn incense and apologize. When he looked back, he saw only...

The sword-bearing attendant said to him, “You fail to observe moral righteousness and have harmed others; I fear the capital crime of decapitation that the Lord on High will exact can hardly be avoided.” With that, he left. Before long, the matter of opening the river was exposed, and he was cut down—his horse’s harness severed—and died.

The Celestial Master’s Sword (Tianshi jian) has the proven power to expel illness. The Celestial Master’s five swords were all cast; their blades resemble unpolished bronze, and each hilt is divided into five sections linked one to another. On the swords are raised talismanic characters and patterns of stars, sun, and moon; each weighs eighty-one liang. The Celestial Master once used them to subdue ghosts and spirits and to vanquish and cut off malign influences. When he ascended to heaven, he left behind the swords and the Dugong Seal and transmitted them to his descendants, vowing, “In my line, if there is a son, transmit the seal, the sword, and the Dugong register to him; if he is not of my descendants, do not transmit them to outsiders.” At the top of the sword are more than ten crimson hairs, which mark its wondrous portents. To this day it has been passed down for twenty-one generations.

This sword sometimes gives off a strange light; some have also heard it utter a humming, chanting sound, now appearing and now vanishing, and its efficacy is quite remarkable. When it had been transmitted to the sixteenth generation, the Celestial Master took delight in treating people with kindness and benevolence and cared for all beings. When someone was ill, people would often borrow the sword to enshrine and venerate it, and the pain of illness would quickly disappear. When a neighbor was giving birth at night and the lives of mother and child were in danger, this sword was also borrowed. After the sword was delivered to the woman’s house, it suddenly gave forth a divine light like a candle flame, illuminating the whole room; afterward the sword fell to the ground and broke.

Several decades later, it was transmitted to the eighteenth-generation descendant Huiqin. Huiqin was gentle by nature, modest and yielding, and did not contend with others; he also did not take worldly cunning and affairs to heart. Whatever others said, even the words of a cunning man, he believed, almost never doubting them.

One day a man carrying a cloth bag came to Xianju Abbey on Yunjin Mountain. He walked about beneath the portico, looking around and reverently viewing the merit stele. He claimed he could polish mirrors and repair metal vessels. The disciple then asked him to repair a small bronze lock. Huiqin saw him and asked, “I have a broken sword; can you weld and repair it?” The man asked to see the sword, and after examining it said he could, but he asked that another room be swept clean, several catties of charcoal prepared, and the door shut from the inside. He also used a large stone as an anvil and made the charcoal fire blaze; the sound of hammering reached outside. The disciple was terrified, fearing that the sword would be smashed to pieces, but Huiqin was not in the least worried.

After a while the hammering stopped. The craftsman brought the sword out; it had indeed been joined back together, just as before, with only a black mark as fine as a hair left at the weld. Huiqin rewarded him with five hundred coins. After the man accepted the money, he thanked him shamefacedly, then took the money before the image of Lord Lao, as if he felt he owed Lord Lao something.

He put it into a bag and carried it away. After leaving the house and walking a few steps, when he turned back to look for it, he found that everything had disappeared. People of broad experience suspected that this was the Celestial Master (Tianshi, a highly revered Daoist figure) descending into the human realm in transformed form and personally rejoining that sword; otherwise, how could it have taken such a form again, remaining completely unharmed under the hammer and intact as before?

Zhang Rang Uses the Huangshen Seal to Heal Illness, and It Proves Efficacious

Zhang Rang lived in Gui Prefecture and had once sojourned in the Xiang–E region. He contracted an illness of the heart and mind. At first he was often confused and forgetful: on the road he forgot where he was going, and indoors he forgot whether he was walking or sitting; he could not distinguish morning from evening, nor east from west. After several months, he often flew into mad rages, reviled ghosts and spirits, collided with other people, and even ran about naked without any sense of taboo; he would tread on fire and water and brave blades without the least concern. Sometimes he would burn or scorch himself, or be cut by knives.

The Daoist priest Yuan Guizhen had newly carved a Huangshen Yuezhang seal (a ritual seal used in Daoist magic and ceremonies). After completing a Zhaijiao (purification ritual), he tried burning incense and, according to ritual procedure, used the seal to treat Zhang Rang. He pressed the seal on Zhang Rang’s chest and back; since Zhang Rang was running about madly, Yuan Guizhen seized him and applied the seal. Zhang Rang immediately fell into a heavy, drowsy sleep. Yuan Guizhen knew the ritual seal had taken effect, then stained the seal with cinnabar, lit incense, and pressed it once more over his chest. Zhang Rang was instantly cured and recovered his senses.

At that moment, something like a falcon (a bird of prey) flew out of Zhang Rang’s mouth. After flying several zhang, it fell to the ground. When the crowd went to look, they found it was actually a large bat, with the seal’s characters clearly imprinted on its back. From then on Zhang Rang returned to normal. Yuan Guizhen carried this ritual seal everywhere to heal people, and it repeatedly demonstrated its efficacy.

Fan Xiyue Prays for Rain with the Tianpeng Seal, and It Proves Efficacious

Fan Xiyue was a native of Chengdu. He served the Northern Emperor (Beidi, a northern deity revered in Daoism) and cultivated and practiced the related ritual arts. He carved a Tianpeng seal (a type of Daoist ritual seal) for his ritual work. When he performed Zhaijiao, his rites were exceptionally solemn, orderly, and pure, surpassing the usual standards.

In the third month of the Gengzi year of the Guangming era, no rain fell for a long time; by the middle of the fifth month, the common people were frantic with worry, and the crops were on the verge of failing. Fan Xiyue wished to go to Wansui Pond to test the ritual seal and pray for rain on behalf of the people. He therefore went to Zhizhen Abbey to fast and purify himself. That day was a Gengchen day, and at the xu hour (7–9 p.m.) he cast the ritual seal into the pond. A cold wind suddenly arose, and cloudy vapor swiftly filled the sky; at the hai hour (9–11 p.m.) heavy rain began and continued until dawn.

At the chen hour (7–9 a.m.), thunder and lightning roared, crashing several times in succession; only by the si hour (9–11 a.m.) did the rain gradually ease, and Fan Xiyue was then able to return to his residence. Around Shengqian Bridge the water gradually rose to the horses’ bellies, and the river water surrounding Luocheng rose to the banks and overflowed. Borers, locusts, and other pests were all drowned. From that time on, the harvests were abundant.

When the emperor was staying in Chengdu, he heard that Fan Xiyue understood Daoist arts and summoned him, asking how to pacify the rebellion and recover the palace city. The emperor ordered him to hold the seal and set up a Zhaijiao altar in the inner hall. Amid successive days of rain, the clouds parted and the moonlight shone clear. That night, Fan Xiyue dreamed of a deity…

Someone showed him an omen: “The rebel bandits will be destroyed and the city recovered.” The emperor was overjoyed and appointed him Fengli Lang of the Taichang Temple. Later he was promoted several times, serving as Zhuke Yuanwailang and Weiwei Shaoqing, and was granted a scarlet official robe. When the report of Huang Chao’s defeat arrived, it indeed fulfilled the instruction given in the emperor’s dream, and the emperor therefore favored and trusted him exceptionally.

He himself said that he had originally lived in Zhujiao Lane. Just after the seal was carved, a barbarian army suddenly invaded, and the residents fled in all directions. He hid the seal beneath the tiles of the main hall. After the barbarian troops withdrew, the houses of all the neighboring households had been burned down, but his residence alone remained intact. He suspected that this was due to the seal’s numinous efficacy.

Yuezhou, Shangyu County: The Underground Bell Omen Fulfilled

Outside the county seat of Shangyu in Yuezhou there were several mu of open land, and people often heard the sound of a bell coming from underground. During the Xiantong era, the county magistrate Xiahou Po was single-mindedly devoted to Daoism. Seeing that there was no Daoist temple in the county seat, he bought this plot of land and prepared to build one. While digging the ground, workers unearthed an ancient bell weighing more than one hundred jin, inscribed with the two characters “Zhenguan.”

That winter, to celebrate the emperor’s birthday, the court issued an edict granting a temple plaque—the name plaque of a Daoist temple—and, in accordance with the petition, named it Yanqing Guan.

Wang Qian’s Separatist Rule in Shu: Emperor Wen of Sui Pacifies Shu After the Huanglu Fast

In the early Kaihuang era of Emperor Wen of Sui, the fighting had already ended and the realm was at peace. Only Wang Qian—a former minister of the Northern Zhou, whose achievements and reputation were both high—feared that Emperor Wen would call him to account, so he held the Three Shu region and plotted rebellion. Emperor Wen sent troops to suppress him, but several battles were unsuccessful, and most of the soldiers fell ill and died, their corpses lying piled upon one another.

The emperor then held a Huanglu Daochang in the palace—a Daoist Zhaijiao purification ritual in which an altar is set up to pray for blessings and deliverance from misfortune—and besought Heaven’s protection. After three days and three nights, he dreamed that a deity descended and said: “A sovereign receives Heaven’s mandate and complies with the hearts of the people. Only when the will of Heaven and the hearts of the people accord can a state be founded. Now Your Majesty has replaced the Northern Zhou and founded the Sui, acting in accordance with Heaven’s mandate. How can the power of one region withstand the power of the four seas?”

Emperor Wen said: “Pacifying Shu and bringing peace to the people is truly something I do only as a last resort. I am merely worried that the commander may contract an epidemic and that the army may be trapped.” The deity replied: “The epidemic in the army is because northerners are not acclimated to the southern miasma, and so many have fallen ill. The ritual water in the altar can heal the multitude, let alone a detached force.” Having spoken, the deity took the ritual water from the altar, sprinkled it toward the southwest, and said: “When the rain falls, the illness will be cured. Your Majesty need not worry. If you advance on a zi day, you will surely pacify Shu.”

Ten days later, a memorial from the army reported that one night a thunderstorm had come, rain had fallen across the camps, and all the sick soldiers of the three armies had recovered; the epidemic no longer spread. Later Wang Qian was beheaded and the Three Shu were pacified, and it was indeed on a zi day.

On Mount Qingcheng, the Yellow Emperor visited Master Ning, the Longjue Zhenren (Perfected of Dragon-Stilts), and requested instruction in the Longjue Jing (Dragon-Stilts Scripture). Having thus obtained the method of driving the flying clouds, the Yellow Emperor conferred on Master Ning the title “Elder of the Five Peaks,” gave him a Heavenly Crown, a robe of vermilion radiance, and the Seal of the Three Courts, and made him a honored deity governing the Five Peaks. He was ranked alongside the Director of Destinies of Mount Qian and the Envoy of Mount Lu as one of the honored Three Offices. The Yellow Emperor ordered the deities of the Five Peaks to attend him in the Void Center twice each month, using water-sprinkling to mark the time in place of sundials and water clocks.

In later ages, although emperors established shrines and temples and observed fasts and sacrifices, they did not bestow further titles upon him. On the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the first year of the Zhonghe era of Emperor Xizong of Tang (881), the emperor issued an edict ordering the inner court official Yuan Yijian, the prefect Wang Zi, and the county magistrate Cui Zhenggui to accompany him to the mountain and conduct a Jiao ritual (a Daoist altar ceremony for sacrificing to deities), conferring on Master Ning the title “Perfected Lord Xiyi, Elder of the Five Peaks.” At that time the region was suffering severe drought, and the grain sprouts were about to wither. On the very night of the title-conferring Jiao ritual, a dragon’s cry came from the stream beside the abbey; immediately violent winds and torrential rain arose, the withered sprouts revived, and the region enjoyed a abundant harvest. When this was reported to the court, it was entered into the national history.

The Miraculous Account of Celestial Master Ye Fashan Performing a Jiao Ritual to Subdue Demonic Spirits

Celestial Master (Tianshi) Ye Fashan was a native of Kuozhou. For three generations his family had been Daoist priests, and all possessed wondrous arts, excelling in nourishing life, cultivation, and the techniques of attaining immortality. Ye Fashan was especially skilled in Fulu (talismans and registers) and could command ghosts and spirits.

During the Xianqing era of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, the court summoned him to the Daoist ritual site within the palace and treated him with generous courtesy. When the emperor visited the Eastern Capital, Ye Fashan set up a great altar at Lingkong Abbey and conducted a grand Jiao ritual. Men and women throughout the city came to watch. Suddenly several dozen people ran into the fire. The crowd was greatly alarmed and rushed to rescue them; in the end all escaped danger and none were injured.

Ye Fashan said that these people all suffered from illnesses caused by demonic harassment and had been summoned by his ritual power. Inquiry confirmed that this was so. One by one he used ritual methods to rebuke and expel the demonic spirits, and all those people were cured.

From Emperor Gaozong, Zhongzong, Wu Zetian, and Ruizong to Xuanzong, Ye Fashan passed through five reigns. He traveled among famous mountains and was repeatedly summoned into the palace. In the second year of Xiantian (713), he was granted the titles Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial and Duke of Yue; the court also posthumously conferred on his father the title of Prefect of Shezhou.

The Miraculous Account of Lu Wei of Fanyang Averting Calamity for His Natal Destiny

Lu Wei of Fanyang passed the jinshi examination in his youth. A diviner said that his lifespan would not be long and advised him to regularly perform Jiao rituals for his natal destiny (benming) in order to seek increased lifespan and blessings. Lu Wei had always revered the deities and was diligent in performing Jiao rituals without ever interrupting them.

At the age of twenty-five, he fell ill in the Eastern Capital. After more than a month…

The Miraculous Story of Cui Tu Performing the Huanglu Fast, Saving His Mother, and Enabling Her to Be Reborn in Heaven

When Wei was gravely ill, he suddenly dreamed that relatives and friends came to summon him out. He mounted a horse and rode very fast. Wei suspected that he had been seized by the Mingsi, the underworld office. Just then a man on horseback came up. Along the way the man kept stopping and delaying, yet still managed to plead for him and shield him, speaking with great earnestness. When they reached the underworld office, the man again made earnest entreaties and commitments on his behalf, and because of this Wei was able to return.

On the way back, Wei saw several thousand soldiers and was frightened at first. The man said, “These are all soldiers you will command in the future.” When they were near his dwelling, the man told Wei to enter through a gap in the back wall and go straight into the courtyard. There were gate banners, gongs, weapons, and other such things. The man said, “These things will be used in the future; bury them beneath the two steps.” As they were parting, Wei said, “I have never known you; why have you taken such trouble to help me?” The man replied, “I am your Benming Shen, the deity in charge of your personal destiny. You were summoned by the underworld officials because your allotted lifespan was originally about to end. I have reported to the heavenly office that you may live to middle age, and your illness will also be cured, so do not worry.”

Ashamed, Wei thanked him and departed, and his illness soon healed. Later he passed the examinations and rose to the rank of Jinzi, a prestigious title for high officials, and he lived to middle age. He was later appointed prefect of Suzhou and commander of the Jiaoqiao capital troops, but he died before taking office. That was because he had buried the weapons and gate banners.

The Miraculous Story of Cui Tu Performing the Huanglu Fast, Saving His Mother, and Enabling Her to Be Reborn in Heaven

Cui Tu was from Zhongdu in Fangzhou and liked to ride and hunt in the countryside. Once while hunting, his horse suddenly refused to go; he whipped it several times, but it did not move. Cui Tu grew angry, dismounted, and wanted to shoot it dead. The horse suddenly spoke: “I am your mother; you must not harm me. I once stole thirty thousand coins from you and secretly gave them to your younger sister as a dowry without telling you. After I died, the underworld office punished me by making me your horse for eight years. Now the term is full, and I am about to die.”

Hearing this, Cui Tu shuddered all over and fainted for a long while. In grief he apologized to his mother, saying, “It is all because your son was unfilial that my mother has suffered such punishment.” The horse also shed tears and said, “I became a horse to repay your debt, but before it was cleared I was punished to be your blind maidservant and also to become mute.” Hearing this, Cui Tu wailed loudly and asked, “How can this karmic offense be avoided?” His mother said, “I have heard that those with heavy karmic obstacles must set up a Huanglu Daochang, a Daoist ritual of fasting, blessing, and deliverance, and repent, and only then can they escape suffering.”

After she said this, she died. Cui Tu encoffined and buried the horse, burned his hunting gear, and invited Daoist priests to perform the Huanglu ritual for three days and three nights.

On the night of the third day, Tu heard urgent knocking at the door. He went out and saw that it was his mother. She had resumed her original appearance and, standing outside the door, said to the husband and wife: “People living in this world should do more good and not do evil. In the Yin bureaucracy (the underworld government offices as described in Daoism), retribution is exact, and every single matter is recorded. I did no more than use money that carried interest, and I was already punished; how much less should one steal what belongs to others? The sufferings I endured were innumerable and beyond description. Fortunately, you two, husband and wife, performed the Wushang Huanglu Bao Zhaijiao (the Supreme Yellow Register Precious Zhaijiao, a Daoist Zhaijiao ritual for invoking blessings and delivering the dead) for me and accumulated merit. By virtue of that merit I have already been able to ascend to heaven, so I have come especially to say farewell to you.” With that, she rose into the air and departed.

From then on Tu understood that evil must be punished and that goodness and blessings surely bring recompense; he also knew that the Great Dao is worthy of being followed. The couple then went to the Wangwu Mountains and cultivated the Dao together.

The Miraculous Efficacy of Helian Chong’s Performance of the Yellow Register Zhaijiao to Dissolve His Father’s Karmic Grievances

Helian Chong was a native of Dingyuan County in Lingzhou. His father, Helian Cong, had once commanded troops on the frontier and killed more than a thousand soldiers who had surrendered. In the eighth month of the second year of Wude, Helian Cong died on the frontier. The Yin bureaucracy tried him and subjected him to various torments; Helian Chong was completely unaware of this.

Helian Chong served as a yaya (a subordinate officer in the local government) in Lingzhou. In the eighth year of Zhenguan, he was ordered to go to the capital; on the way, he and a friend visited the Zhongnan Mountains. When they reached the mouth of Tangu Valley, they met the Daoist Yang Jingtong. Yang Jingtong had built a hut there and practiced cultivation for more than three hundred years.

After Helian Chong became drunk, he rested in front of Yang Jingtong’s thatched hut and said to him, “I am hungry; is there anything to eat?” Yang Jingtong ordinarily neither drank wine nor ate food; he merely smiled and did not answer. Helian Chong then ordered his attendants to fetch fire and burn down his hut.

Yang Jingtong said, “Your father wrongfully killed people and is now suffering in the underworld. Not only can you not do good to save your father, but you would instead harm me.”

Helian Chong asked, “How do you know?”

Yang Jingtong said, “Sit here, and I will summon him so that you may see him.” With that, he wrote a talisman and tossed it into the air. Soon black clouds came before the thatched hut. In the clouds were more than twenty ghost guards escorting a man wearing a cangue and bound in chains. They came before Yang Jingtong and said, “Your son is unfilial and cannot save you.”

When Helian Chong saw that the man was indeed his father, Helian Cong, he wept and asked him, “Why are you suffering such torment?”

His father said, “I killed soldiers who had surrendered; their wronged spirits accused me, and now I endure every kind of suffering in hell. Why would you also harm a Zhenren (Perfected One, an honorific for one accomplished in Daoist cultivation), making my karmic offenses even heavier?”

Helian Chong then prostrated himself on the ground, wept bitterly, repented of his offense and apologized, and asked to take his father’s karmic offenses upon himself in order to save his father’s soul. Yang Jingtong said, “You wish to be freed from…”.

If your father has committed an offense, by establishing a Huanglu Daochang (a Daoist zhai ritual for invoking blessings, confessing offenses, and delivering the dead), you can rescue him; it will certainly spare your father this retribution for his offense. Before long, his father was led away by a group of ghost attendants. Chong then bowed to Jingtong and thanked him.

After Jingtong entered the city, he established a Huanglu Daochang at Sandong Abbey (a Daoist temple), continuing for seven days and seven nights. By the fifth day, Chong saw his father come riding on cloud qi and say to him, “I have received a heavenly decree, and through the merit of the Huanglu zhai rite I have already been reborn in Heaven. All the wronged souls I killed during my lifetime have likewise been reborn into the human world.”

The Story of Tang Xian Performing the Huanglu Zhai, Through Which His Mother Was Reborn in Heaven

Tang Xian was a native of Pingyu County in Caizhou. At the age of twenty-three, in the fourth year of the Daye era of the Sui dynasty (608), he was appointed commandant of Daojiang County. He doted on a maidservant named Chunhong, did not concentrate on official business, and often delayed public matters. He also suffered from a chronic wind-related consumptive illness that had long resisted treatment. His mother said, “My son is wild and indolent, and now he is ill—it is all the fault of this favored maidservant.” She ordered Chunhong to be sold. Chunhong told Tang Xian about this. Resentful that his mother wanted to sell her, Tang Xian conspired with Chunhong and poisoned his mother to death.

More than a month after his mother died, Tang Xian also suddenly died. After three days, his heart area was still warm, and his family did not dare bury him at once. Suddenly he revived and said, “I committed a grave crime: I poisoned my mother. The underworld authorities require me to undergo retribution.” From then on, every night two ghost attendants, accompanied by several yakshas, carried a large cauldron into the hall. After a long while, fire was lit beneath the cauldron and the water in it boiled; the yakshas then pitched Tang Xian into the boiling liquid. He screamed in agony and did not stop until the fifth watch. This punishment continued for three years. He gave many donations and accumulated much merit, but was never able to escape the offense.

Later, a Daoist priest who sold medicine passed by. Tang Xian asked him for a method of deliverance. The priest said, “The karmic offenses of sentient beings are deep and heavy; nothing can save them more effectively than a Huanglu Daochang. Pray to Heaven and Earth, and for three days and three nights continuously burn incense, scatter flowers, hang banners and canopies (the ritual banners and parasols), chant praises, bow and make vows, and confess offenses, so as to rescue the dead and dissolve enmity. This is the most supreme Dharma gate.”

Tang Xian then asked the Daoist priest to establish a Huanglu Daochang. Three days later, the ghost attendants and yakshas did not come again. His body and mind became calm, and his illness disappeared. Suddenly an envoy dressed in yellow appeared and said, “Yesterday, by order of a heavenly decree, because of the merit of performing the zhai, your mother has already been reborn in Heaven; your heinous crime of matricide has also been pardoned. Only Chunhong’s offense remains: she is to suffer boils and ringworm for three years.”

After this, Chunhong indeed suffered from a skin disease for three years before she recovered. Tang Xian left home and went to Yangjiao Mountain in Jinzhou, where he asked to leave the household and become a Daoist priest, resolving to cultivate the Dao.

Li Chengsi Resolves the Grievance of His Wife and Child and Receives a Response After Performing the Huanglu (Yellow Register) Fast

Li Chengsi was a native of Tangnian in Ezhou and possessed vast wealth. The wife he had married was unattractive in appearance. She bore him a son, who at the age of ten developed a disease of the lower back and legs. Chengsi had always loathed them, so he took four young wives and concubines and spent his days drinking and making merry.

Once, after Chengsi became drunk, he listened to the urging of his young wives and concubines, took out 100,000 cash, and demanded that his ugly wife leave. His wife wanted to bring a suit before the authorities and argue her case, and only in this way was she temporarily spared from being driven out. Later, Chengsi conspired with his young wives and concubines and, while drinking at night, used poison to kill his wife and son.

More than ten days after the two were buried, every day at noon two crows flew in and pecked at Chengsi’s heart. The pain was unbearable. He could not drive the crows away and often fell to the ground unconscious, regaining consciousness only after a long while. After a year, no method could cure him.

Luo Gongyuan, a Daoist from Qingcheng, was traveling through the Huaisi area. Chengsi invited him to his home and asked about methods to avert the calamity. Luo Gongyuan said, “What wronged souls do is first reported to the Heavenly Emperor; then, bearing a heavenly tally, they come to the human world to exact retribution. Human ritual techniques cannot remove it. Only by establishing a Huanglu Daoist ritual—a Daoist Zhaijiao (purification ritual) used for submitting memorials, praying for blessings, and averting misfortune—worshiping Heaven, and submitting a memorial can this karmic offense be resolved.”

Chengsi then conducted a Huanglu fast for three days and nights. From the second day onward, the crows came no more. That night, his wife and son appeared in his dream and said, “You unjustly killed us, mother and son, and took our lives with poison. We appealed to the Heavenly Emperor, and the Heavenly Emperor permitted us to seek revenge. Now, through the good merit of your Huanglu fast, Taishang (the Most High) has issued a decree. We have been reborn in the heavenly realm, enjoy all manner of blessings, and have forever dissolved our grievance with you. We leave you a jade box; you may accept it.”

When Chengsi awoke, he found a jade box in his bedroom. He donated the jade box to the Kaiyuan Abbey in Ezhou and vigorously undertook Daoist meritorious works, having sacred images made and repairing Daoist abbeys, thereby repaying the grace of the Daoist order.

Wu Tao Performs the Huanglu Fast and Receives an Efficacious Response That Repels the Calamity of War

Wu Tao was a native of Kaifeng in Bianzhou. His family was wealthy, and he served as Grand General of Wei. He led thirty thousand soldiers upstream along the Yangtze into Shu. When he reached Rongzhou, he encountered the Shu general Guan Yu leading fifty thousand men to meet him in battle. Wu Tao joined him in a great battle by water and land.

Wu Tao had always followed Daoism and often recited and upheld the Huangdi Yinfu Jing (Yellow Emperor’s Hidden Talisman Scripture). That day, Wu Tao was defeated and prayed to Heaven: “I have heard that those who recite and uphold the Yinfu Jing receive help from unseen spirits when in danger. Now I have suffered such a disastrous defeat; I beg for rescue.”

As soon as he finished speaking, two white-clad men said to Wu Tao, “Enter the gorge yourself and kill as you please…”

The original text breaks off here.

Those ghosts harbored resentment, and that is why you met with defeat and ruin. After Tao heard this, he said, “The situation has already become this critical—how can I escape disaster?”

The two divine beings said, “Quickly pray and make vows to Heaven on behalf of the wronged ghosts. Request the performance of the Great Huanglu Zhaijiao (a large-scale Daoist Zhaijiao ritual for delivering the dead, praying for blessings, and averting disaster), to save and redeem the dead from their karmic offenses. In this way you can avoid defeat and ruin.” Tao made vows as they instructed. Guan Yu had already withdrawn his troops. Tao gathered the remnants of his army, marched to Yiling, and encamped there; afterward he set up an altar and conducted a Huanglu Daoist rite. Three days later the two divine beings came again and said to him, “Those wronged ghosts have all been reborn in various places, and you have thereby obtained remaining blessings. Divine troops will secretly guard you, and you will certainly win a great victory. But under no circumstances should you kill. Heaven and Earth give life to all things; even for a single blade of grass or leaf, they wish it to grow and reach fulfillment. How much more is human life, which is extremely important and corresponds above to the stars—how can one kill without reason and act according to one’s own whims?

“From ancient times to the present, some famous generals have not seen their descendants survive beyond three generations, because they harbored schemes and secretly harmed others, seeking their own advantage through killing. Even when establishing merit and serving the state, one must accord with moral principle, be good at distinguishing right from wrong, not wrongly kill living beings, and make merit and fault clearly distinguished. In this way, even when one cannot avoid sending troops on punitive campaigns, one can establish achievements and receive the protection of the spirits. Now the state of Shu will not last long; you will soon see its downfall.”

After more than ten days, Guan Yu led his army to Yiling and joined battle. During the fighting, wind and thunder shook the air, and heavy rain suddenly fell; Guan Yu’s army scattered. Tao opened the city gate to accept those who surrendered, capturing three thousand Shu soldiers and one deputy general. Guan Yu led his troops back. From then on, Shu gradually weakened.

Gongsun Pu Performs the Huanglu Fast: Repenting of Former Grievances Brings a Response

Gongsun Pu was a man of Gaoling in Yongzhou. In the second year of the Wude era of the Tang, he served as Sima of Huazhou and was over forty years old. He was addicted to wine and meat, indulged his passions in sensual pleasures, was greedy for wealth, and often had the young servants in his household catch fish and hunt, killing living creatures at will, concerned only with satisfying the desires of his mouth and belly.

One day he dreamed that more than a thousand people, carrying swords and bows, burst into his house, seized him, and killed him. He awoke drenched in sweat; out of terror he fell severely ill, and his whole body broke out in sores. Each sore had a shape like a mouth and tongue; they hurt unbearably day and night, and he wanted to die but could not.

His elder cousin, Jia Xuangu, the Magistrate of Huayin, was startled when he saw his condition and said, “I have never seen sores like this. This is probably caused by having killed too many living beings and accumulated old karmic offenses. The Hua Mountain Daoist Yao Deyi is thoroughly familiar with many wondrous methods; you can send someone to seek his instruction.”

Following his advice, Gongsun Pu sent his eldest son to Hua Mountain to tell Yao Deyi the details of his illness and weepingly beg him to save his life. Yao Deyi said, “This illness is because of killing living beings and taking life...”

Because many wronged spirits were causing trouble, one could establish the Yellow Register Grand Fast (Huanglu Dazhai, a Zhaijiao purification ritual in Daoism for delivering the dead and repenting transgressions); by repenting the enmities formed in the past, the strange illness might be cured.

His son told Pu these words, and Pu then set up a Yellow Register Daoist ritual site (a place for conducting the Huanglu Zhaijiao) at his residence. On the fifth day of the seventh week, Pu dreamed that two Qingtong (Azure Youth immortal boys from Daoist legend) led him to a place. Its gate tower was grand and magnificent, like a government office. After a long while, a yellow light as bright as the sun descended from the sky and shone straight onto the ground. The gate of the earth-controlling office opened wide, and out came hundreds and thousands of creatures of different shapes—fish, turtles, birds, beasts, pigs, sheep, oxen, horses, and the like. Riding the yellow light, they instantly transformed into human forms and flew up into the sky. In a short time, all of them had vanished.

The Qingtong said, “These are the wronged spirits of those you killed. Now that the heavenly talisman has been issued, by the power of the merit from the Zhaijiao, they have been able to be reborn as humans. Your guilt has been erased, and your sores will also heal.”

About ten days later, Pu indeed recovered. He then went to Mount Hua to thank Venerable Master Yao. After viewing the clouds, mist, and springs in the mountains, he lingered in that quiet fairyland until dusk. Deyi said, “There is no food in the mountains, so I cannot keep you overnight. If you stay one night, I fear your attendants will go hungry. There is a small path here by which you can return home. Take a volume of immortal scripture and throw it onto the cliff; once it unfolds, it will turn into a bridge.”

The immortal scripture immediately turned into a bridge, with two azure dragons supporting its body and giving off five-colored radiance, bright as a painting, and it carried Pu and his attendants away. In an instant, they reached home. The next day, Pu sent people into the mountains to express thanks, but Deyi could no longer be found.

After this, Pu’s whole family cultivated the Dao and lived on Mount Huayang.