《雲笈七籤》Vol. 122

The Verified Efficacy of the Qingzhai Fast Performed by Venerable Master Hu

Venerable Master Hu was named Zong and had the courtesy name Fu (the original character is damaged; according to a marginal note, it is pronounced “Fu”). He lived in the Ziji Palace in Zizhou. He once traveled along the river into the Gorges and on the way met a divine being who transmitted to him the way of the true immortals. He was broadly learned and outstanding in letters, and he was also skilled in Zhaijiao (Daoist purification rituals involving fasting, altar building, and prayer). Whenever he performed Zhaijiao, he concentrated his mind and stilled his thoughts in order to seek communion with the divine.

The successive governors of Zizhou were all worthy men. They respected his virtue and were willing to treat worthies with courtesy; prominent local figures such as Chancellor Zhou and Li Yishan also held him in great esteem. Yet Venerable Master Hu’s aspirations were detached, and he did not become complacent because of this. Later he passed away in eastern Shu and manifested traces at Fuling; only then did people realize that his departure was like a snake shedding its skin or a cicada casting off its shell—a sign that he had attained the Dao and long life.

In the regions of Zi, Yi, Bao, and Lang, after Wang Fajin received the oral instructions for the Qingzhai (Pure Fast), the people—because they valued farming and sericulture—would often gather in groups to hold the Qingzhai each year when praying for a good harvest. Even some laypeople and Buddhist monks frequently violated the precepts and prohibitions in order to complete the rites, and this practice gradually became the norm.

A local man, Liu Song, admired Venerable Master Hu’s virtue and invited him elsewhere to preside over a fast. Hu said to him: “Even when inviting relatives and friends or summoning guests, one must still set the seats straight, wipe the mats, prepare the sacrificial vessels, wash the cups, and perform the rites with a reverent heart, handling matters seriously and carefully. Otherwise, one would still worry about being blamed for being remiss. How much more so with Zhaijiao, which is meant to move the heavenly deities and pray for blessings—how can one act carelessly and instead bring guilt upon oneself? The popular habit of slackness and carelessness has existed for a long time. You may warn everyone: they must be meticulous and reverent before the fast can be held.”

Liu Song obeyed. He swore an oath before the people, first purified himself, and took the lead in preparing incense, flowers, and the altar. Only then did Venerable Master Hu go. Along the way he again and again admonished and warned them. As he ascended the altar, performed the rites, and concentrated his mind in visualizing the deities, dark clouds suddenly surged up; a whirlwind entered the seats, uprooted two pillars, blew away the bamboo mat, and hurled a spear and a cauldron more than a thousand paces away. After the fast was completed, a gentle, warm wind blew, and auspicious qi spread across the fields.

Venerable Master Hu asked where the objects carried off by the wind had originally been placed: the two pillars had been set over a pigsty, the bamboo mat had covered the room of a woman who had just given birth, and the spear and cauldron had been used to cook food in a mourning household. As for the objects that were not swept away—.

All things should be pure. The Master said: “If the vessels used in sacrifice are unclean, the gods will loathe them—how much more so the human heart? If the heart has flaws and conduct has stains, then even if one spreads a hundred lao (a great array of sacrificial victims) upon the mats and plays the Nine Shao (ancient refined music) in the courtyard, one will only profane the gods and invite great calamity. In cultivating the mind, one must make words and deeds accord and be open within and without: blameless before others, and blameless before ghosts and spirits in hidden places. I know that only this will do. Conversely, how can words and deeds themselves serve as proof?” When scholars and gentlemen and the villagers heard the Master’s words, they all corrected their faults and turned toward goodness.

Efficacious Response to Cui Xuanliang’s Performance of the Huanglu Fast (with an Appendix on the Efficacious Response of Scripture Recitation)

Cui Xuanliang’s family had venerated Daoism for generations. Although he had won official rank and merit, received gold seals and silver insignia, served at court, and occupied a prominent position, his resolve to delve into the mystery and cultivate the Dao never slackened. In the early Baoli era he was appointed governor of Huzhou. In the second year of Baoli, the yisi year, he held a Huanglu Daochang (a Zhaijiao ritual in Daoism for delivering the dead, praying for blessings, and averting disaster) at Ziji Palace. At that time three hundred and sixty-five cranes flew in and circled above the altar. Purple clouds surged and auspicious winds blew gently, also drifting in from the northwest. Among them one crane was especially striking, with a vermilion crown and a body entirely white, with no black feathers to be seen. It settled on Xuhuang Terrace and remained from the chen hour (7–9 a.m.) until the you hour (5–7 p.m.) before departing.

When Bai Juyi, governor of Hangzhou, heard of this, he was delighted and composed “In Praise of the Wuxing Cranes”:

There are birds, oh, there are birds,

Come flying from the northwest;

Crimson crowns dotted like fire,

White plumage spread like snow.

After it left the Liao River,

It went and did not return to Gou Mountain.

Alas, in Wuxing commandery,

Who on earth drew it here?

In the early Baoli era, when the Three Primes and Four Fasts (connected with the Sanyuan days and related fasting rituals) were being held, cranes descended in broad daylight, accompanied by purple clouds. Three hundred and sixty cranes circled the Daoist altar: on high they revealed wondrous portents, and below they responded to talents destined for the immortal path. Who presided over this? None other than Governor Cui.

Lord Cui recited and upheld scriptures such as the Huangting Jing, the Duren Jing, and the Daode Jing throughout the year without interruption. Thereafter, having felt divine responses, he cultivated with even greater diligence. At the end of his life he entered a quiet chamber, recited the Huangting Jing, and passed away peacefully without illness. When he was buried, the coffin was so light that it seemed to contain only empty garments.

Efficacious Response to a Wuchang Man’s Zhaijiao for Water

A man from Wuchang was sojourning in Qingcheng in Shu. Every year the local people built a bamboo-cage weir (a dam made from bamboo cages and other materials) to block the river and prevent flooding, and taxpaying households took turns performing labor service. That year the Wuchang man was enrolled among the households assigned to repair the weir. The local officials registered names and assigned sections, giving him one stretch of the work. Construction began in winter and was not completed until the end of the year. The section assigned to him happened to be at a deep pool scoured by backflowing water…

The Efficacy of Xu Zhu’s Performance of the Huanglu Zhai (Yellow Register Fast) for His Father

At one place a current welled up in swirling eddies, so that the foundation could not be made firm. Even when stones were moved in to block it and earth to fill it, by the next morning it had collapsed and deepened again. The official in charge suspected that a dragon deity was causing the trouble, so he had a three- or four-foot-high dhāraṇī pillar (a stone pillar inscribed with dhāraṇī spells) brought and thrown into the water; the ground then sank even more severely.

Everyone worked by day and night, staying at the worksite all the while. The other households’ projects had all made progress; only here had the dike site still not been fixed, and everyone was deeply anxious. They therefore prepared a rite of prayer and sacrifice and wrote a sacrificial address to report to the deities. The gist of the address was:

“The state takes the people as its foundation, and the people take grain as their first concern. The people can be secure only by relying on the deities, and the deities manifest their numinous power only by relying on the people. The fields of Shu are broad, and the revenues of rent and tax all depend on them; the dikes and weirs that have been built stretch over two hundred li. At the slightest negligence, disaster comes when water floods the fields. If the harvest is poor, the people will all fall into hunger and cold, and some will even be driven from their homes; on whom then will the deities rely? Now the embankments are constantly washing away and sinking, and we fear the disaster will spread. Once such a situation arises, the grain and pepper wine for sacrifices can no longer be provided; how, then, can we expect the exhausted people to bear the spring petitions and autumn thanksgiving rites? We only pray that the field boundaries and embankments may be repaired, that the floodwaters be calmed, that land rent and taxes be collected as usual, and that spring plowing and autumn harvest be brought to completion under the deities’ hidden protection. If this can be so, we shall purify the sacrificial vessels, prepare ample offerings, sweep the ground clean, and perform the sacrifices.”

That night someone dreamed of a great many people crowding and milling about, some carrying loads on shoulder poles or on their backs, some embracing infants, some leading children, as though they were about to move elsewhere. The next day, when people threw stones into the sunken place to fill it, the water withdrew, the ground dried, and the dike was soon completed. After the eighth month, however, the dike collapsed again, and the place was scoured into a deep, swirling pool.

The Efficacy of Xu Zhu’s Performance of the Huanglu Zhai for His Father

Xu Zhu, a man of Gaoping, was a native of Lianshui. Because he held office, he moved to Qingzhou. His family was wealthy, and he had three sons. Two of them were paralyzed, weak, and disabled; the youngest had a fleshy tumor on his neck like a cangue, and all who saw it were startled and afraid.

At first Xu Zhu single-mindedly sought official advancement and lived in arrogance and indulgence. He often rode in carriages to banquets, and in speech and bearing he always seemed pleased with himself, his ambitions as if soaring above the clouds. When he saw that two of his sons were ill, he did not take it especially to heart; only later, when he saw the strange tumor growing on his youngest son, did he become sorrowful and unhappy, feeling that his career path had as it were come to an end.

Once, while visiting a Daoist temple in the mountains by the Eastern Sea, he spoke of this to a Daoist priest. The priest said: “The illnesses of your three sons were not caused by them, nor are they your fault; they have come about through the accumulation of past karma (the karmic retribution built up over many lifetimes). What the Daoist tradition calls past karma is not the karma created by the sufferer in a former life, but the sins of ancestors visited upon their descendants.” The priest continued: “Your ancestors must once have done something cruel…”

He was extremely cruel in matters of criminal law. While serving as an official, he would resort to torture at the slightest provocation and had no compassion for prisoners in the jails. In his heart he thought only of private intentions beyond the statutes, harming living beings, and for this reason he caused his descendants to suffer such retribution as well.

Er Zhu (a personal name) said tearfully, “It is indeed so. When my late father was an official, it was at the time when Wu Zetian held court. The world was in chaos, slanderers gained power, the princes of the Li clan were put to death, and imperial kinsmen were slaughtered. Men of virtue and repute in the court were often plotted against and subjected to cruel punishments. Many could not withstand severe torture, were imprisoned under false charges, and died under confinement and instruments of torture. Such cases were too numerous to count.

“Men such as Wu Yizong, Lai Junchen, Zhou Lizhen, and Li Yifu received exceptional favor from the emperor, and their power was so great that it seemed they could turn back heaven and sun. Everyone under heaven feared them. They regarded the generous and benevolent as weak, and looked upon the domineering, stubborn, cruel, and violent as capable officials. The atmosphere of benevolence and compassion vanished, and upright undertakings were ruined; all this was brought about by power. Although my late father’s official rank was not high and his power was not great, at the time he was called a capable official. As the major cases he handled piled up, could there have been no instances in which innocent people were wronged and oppressed? The retribution today truly has its basis. How can this offense be eliminated and this injustice wiped away?”

The Daoist said, “To deliver the deceased of former generations, one should establish a Lingbao Jie’e Zhai (a Daoist fast for averting calamity and resolving adversity); to relieve the suffering of the living and the dead, one should establish a Huanglu Zhai (a Daoist fast for extracting souls from purgatory and saving sentient beings). Do not stint money or goods; conduct everything according to the celestial regulations (the ritual norms and precepts observed in Daoist fasts), exert yourself in giving alms and doing good, and be diligent and unremitting. Then you may redeem and expiate his offenses.”

Er Zhu returned home and established a large-scale Huanglu ritual site. The next night, just as it grew dark, he heard a great clamor of carriages, horses, and voices outside the gate. Going out to look, he saw white light shining as bright as day. More than a thousand heavenly soldiers and several hundred officials stood in ranks outside the gate, as if waiting for something.

After a long while, a thick black Qi surged straight from due north. In the black Qi were three people wearing cangues and bound with instruments of torture, escorted by dozens of ghosts and spirits, placed in front of the officials and heavenly soldiers. One of them was precisely Er Zhu’s father, Xu Xuanzhi.

Soon afterward, a yellow-red light shone from the northwest. The grass and trees, houses, and people on the ground were all reflected in golden color, and the air was filled with a strange fragrance. In the light appeared a deity, accompanied by more than ten Green Boys (attendant youths beside deities), while two strongmen holding tallies and staffs led the way in front. To his left was another person, wearing a military officer’s cap and red robes, holding a golden staff, about three zhang above the ground. The officials stepped forward to bow and welcome the deity. After the deity bowed in return, that military official declared that this was the decree of Tai Shang (the Supreme Lord), and then read aloud the golden writ (a decree written on golden documents):

“Xu Xuanzhi despised the law and harmed others, and should be investigated and punished. In view of the fact that his son has meticulously established the Huanglu [ritual]…”

Zhang He’s Wife Pays the Heavenly Bureau Treasury on Behalf of the Deceased

Once the merit had reached the heavenly realm, those who had done evil in the same way ought to be pardoned and forgiven, and their guilt remitted as well. Thereupon the deities departed again, and the officials all vanished from sight. Then Zhu saw his father, dressed in hemp garments, say to him: “I did not understand guilt and blessedness; I only indulged my own will, violated the law, and harmed others. For a long time I have been accused by those who were wronged and have been interrogated and punished—already eighteen years. The officials and subordinate clerks who served alongside me bear the same guilt. I must still endure twelve years of calamity and suffering; only after the retribution is over will I enter the evil paths. The suffering there cannot be described one by one.

“Fortunately, you have turned to the Dharma gate and diligently cultivated the Dao. This merit caused Tai Shang (the Supreme Lord) to issue a pardon, remitting my former guilt and settling the suits of those who had accused me of wrongs. They had already been released, and the accumulated guilt connected with them has now been dissolved. I may ascend to heaven and depart. You should diligently tend the incense and offerings to repay the Dao’s grace.”

After he finished speaking, his father flew up and departed. Among Zhu’s three sons, those who had been ill and physically impaired recovered in less than a month, and the fleshy growths on their necks also subsided. Zhu also held ten Huanglu zhai ceremonies (a type of Daoist Zhaijiao ritual for delivering the dead and averting guilt), broadly praying for blessings for the living and the dead; he also had his youngest son leave home and enter a mountain Daoist temple, there to maintain incense and lamps for a long time. Throughout his life Zhu was pure, quiet, and at ease; he did not seek official rank or profit, often recited Daoist scriptures, and sometimes practiced Qi refinement and fasting.

Zhang He’s wife, a woman of Chengdu, had been dead three years when she suddenly returned home and said: “When the imperial carriage was in Shu, the Xichuan army was stationed at the Dingguo stockade in Xingping to campaign against Huang Chao. At that time, our neighbor Old Feng and his two sons were assigned to the army. Before leaving, he deposited property worth thirty thousand cash somewhere. The Feng father and sons later died in battle and could not return; the deposited property had already been searched out and spent by others.

“Recently, the underworld seized my soul and summoned me to confront the matter. This case has been under trial for six years now. Recently the Heavenly Bureau (the celestial office in charge of registers and judgments) ruled that since the Feng father and sons died in battle and did not return, this was not embezzlement, and ordered me to repay thirty strings of cash in their place before I could be absolved. However, after the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month the various departments will hand over their duties, and this matter will have to be set aside for another year. Therefore the money must be sent before the twenty-fifth to Yuju and paid into the treasury of the Northern Emperor’s Heavenly Bureau. At the treasury clerk’s, one sheet of paper counts as one string of cash; the other treasury clerks, gatekeepers, and handlers must also be given separate gifts one by one, just as in the human world.”

On the twenty-third day of the twelfth month of the third year of Guanghua, she went to the Northern Emperor’s Court to report and pay the above sum. That night she thanked the family in a dream and then departed.

Next, the original text begins to say that in Chengdu County there was a clerk whose surname is unknown… Lecai.

After a certain Feng had been dead for more than ten years, his nephew was mistakenly seized by the Mingsi (the underworld administration). The arresting officers released the nephew. As he returned along the small path by the granary courtyard behind the county office, he saw more than sixty rooms on both sides of the road. Someone said those were warehouses of the Tiancao (the heavenly administration), used to store the money and goods reported by Yuju Hua.

Efficacy of the Divine Incantation Ritual Performed by the Merchant-Recruitment Official of the Suzhou Salt and Iron Office

At the Suzhou Salt and Iron Office there was a merchant-recruitment official surnamed Wang. His family was extremely wealthy, and through trade he had accumulated a great deal of goods and money. He had been ill for many years, his condition was severe, and he had never improved. He had tried everything possible—vegetarian offerings, installing images, calling in shamans and physicians, using talismans and incantations—but no one could cure him.

The Daoist priest Chen Daoming of Yuzhi Abbey devoted himself to fasting, pure cultivation, and petitionary prayer with memorials, and had often proved efficacious. But this merchant-recruitment official had never believed in Daoism, and when he heard of Chen Daoming’s deeds he did not take them seriously. He had spent tens of thousands in wealth on treating his illness, yet his condition grew weaker day by day, and he could only wait as the illness progressed. His relatives and friends urged him to ask Chen Daoming to set up a Zhangjiao (a Daoist ritual of submitting memorials to pray to deities) to seek blessings and avert disaster. Having no alternative, he invited Chen Daoming to come.

Chen Daoming set up a Divine Incantation ritual in his home—a rite of reciting divine incantations and praying to deities. At that time the patient’s condition was already critical; it looked as though he would not last until morning. He urged Chen Daoming to open the altar quickly. Just as the altar was about to be set up, the patient sank into unconsciousness and did not wake. Family and friends looked at one another, pale with alarm.

When the ritual was over, Chen Daoming took up a sword and water and went through the house and outside, sprinkling water to remove impurity. The patient said, “Would the Daoist priest please come here and sprinkle water?” Chen Daoming then went into the bedroom and sprinkled water. Suddenly the patient sat up, bowed his head in salute, and said, “Many thanks to the deities for displaying their divine power; my illness has already turned for the better.” Then he had clothes brought and a table moved over; leaning on it, he said with delight, “All my life I have used my mind wrongly and did not know that the great Dao exists in the world. Only today have I been favored with the help of heavenly soldiers.”

He then said slowly to his relatives, friends, wife, and children: “At first I was extremely ill and thought I would die tonight. While the Daoist priest was conducting the ritual, I never woke; I only heard someone in the air say, ‘The Great Emperor has descended, leading heavenly soldiers to punish the rebellious.’ Right after that, I saw yellow light illuminating near and far like the sun. I also saw thousands upon thousands of carriages, thousands upon thousands of cavalry, and heavenly soldiers and divine generals surrounding this residence; all ghosts, monsters, and malevolent influences had already been seized and taken away.

“Afterward I saw the Great Emperor Taiyi (the Great One) riding in a seven-jeweled carriage, with someone leading the way before it; the guards and ceremonial attendants were like those of a mortal emperor on procession. The Great Emperor suddenly ordered that I be brought before Taiyi, and then ordered a deity to spray water on my face. I immediately felt a coolness penetrate my heart, and all pain vanished completely; only my body was still very weak. Then I heard that Yuanshi (the Primordial Beginning) had descended, and afterward I saw the Great Emperor…”

The original text ends at “then he saw the Great Emperor”; two places are damaged and marked with “□”; the above has been translated from the extant text.

Chancellor Duke Du of Bin Performs the Huanglu Fast (Huanglu zhai) and Is Spared King Yama’s Inspection

Taiyi (a revered Daoist deity) came toward him and saluted him, and the accompanying ceremonial retinue was a hundred times greater than before. A ray of light from Yuanshi Tianzun (Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning) shone upon him. He felt that his strength seemed sufficient to support movement, so he urged his family to hurry and prepare washing articles, for he wished to go before the worship altar and bow in person. His relatives and friends were still worried that he could not endure it and urged him to wait until the next day. He insistently asked to wash, rinse his mouth, and change clothes, and then he stood up leaning on his cane. After a long while, he put down the cane and walked by himself, and he was even able to bow several times. His family wanted to support him, but he waved them off. Afterward he sat watching the ritual service, looking as though he had never been ill; his eating and strength also gradually returned to normal.

From that time on, for three consecutive days he lit incense at the fast altar and worshipped devoutly, almost without a moment’s interruption. Later, he personally took charge of constructing Yuzhi Abbey, which had a lecture hall, main hall, three gates, connecting corridors, a fasting kitchen, and Daoist quarters; in front of the abbey he also opened a street along the official canal, more than forty paces wide. The timber, building materials, divine images and furnishings, as well as the beds, utensils, clothing, kitchen supplies, and so on required for the project cost several million cash in total, and it was all completed within two years. From then on his spirit was fresh, his thoughts clear, and his perception sharp, so he requested to be relieved of office and retired to a quiet place to cultivate the Dao (the Way).

In his youth Chancellor Duke Du of Bin had already held prominent rank; he successively occupied important posts and several times governed famous fiefs and strategic towns. In his nineties he died at Jingzhu. That night, the palace envoy Yang Luzhou, returning from a mission to the Five Ridges, was staying at the post station. After the first watch had passed, the wind became frightening, and sounds of impact came from all around, like soldiers and armor in combat; everyone trembled with fear, not knowing what was happening. Yang Luzhou’s post horse was already exhausted, and he soon fell asleep.

After waking, he heard that the four great roads were crowded with troops so that travelers could not pass. When he asked the reason, people all said, “Tonight at the fourth watch, King Yama will leave this place.” He then asked who King Yama was, and everyone replied, “He is the high-ranking, elderly chief commander of this province.” At that time Duke Du’s illness had already lasted half a month. Seeing that he was high in office, advanced in years, and the head of the people, they all guessed that he was probably about to die; indeed, he died at the fourth watch that day. Yang Luzhou told the matter to his colleagues and friends, and from then on some people in the capital also knew of it.

In the spring of the following year, a female entertainer suddenly died and then revived; she conveyed Duke Du’s words: “I now hold the office of Yama. I wish to establish ten altars of the Huanglu Daoist ritual (a Zhaijiao purification ritual in Daoism held to deliver the dead and to pray for blessings and avert disasters), hoping thereby to be released from the post.” He ordered that two million cash be sent, along with two hundred curtains and two hundred sacred images, to the Ancient Cypress Court of Kaiyuan Abbey and handed over to Master Chongzhen Hu Ziyang…

After the zhai rites (Daoist observances of fasting, prayer, and repentance) had been conducted with strict care and the ritual was concluded, the woman who had earlier conveyed the command suddenly died again, just as she had at the beginning. She said, “I have received the command of the Lord on High and have been reborn as a king in another country; I no longer serve as an underworld official.”

From this it is clear that retribution for sin and blessing truly follows like a shadow to its form, and one cannot fail to take it as a warning. Whenever a Huanglu ritual (a Daoist rite for delivering the souls of the dead) is held and a memorial is submitted to the Lord on High, once the Lord on High issues his command, there is nothing that cannot be accomplished.

The Efficacy of the Huanglu Ritual Performed by Wei Gao, Prince of Nankang

When Wei Gao—Grand Commandant, Director of the Secretariat, and Prince of Nankang—was garrisoning Chengdu, he built the New South Market in the area across the river from Wanli Bridge. During construction, many graves were excavated, and roads were opened and streets widened. On the south bank of the river there were more than ten thousand households; their towers and pavilions joined one another, and the scale was grand, making the area very flourishing for a time.

But whenever darkness fell, people were often seized with panic and unease, and they would hear the sounds of stones being thrown and the wailing of ghosts. The souls of those whose graves had been destroyed and whose burial grounds had been leveled had nowhere to appeal; therefore the locals called this phenomenon “xuhao” (empty depletion). It was not peaceful to live there, and the market was difficult to complete and perfect.

When Wei Gao learned of this, he invited Daoist priests to establish a Huanglu ritual, sincerely repenting and apologizing for the offense. By the third day, the ghostly wailing had completely ceased, and the residents became settled.

Wei Gao dreamed that a spirit said to him: “When the South Market was built, the graves were opened, causing the souls in the underworld to lose their dwellings and their remains. They grieved and resented one another, and nearly brought disaster upon the whole region. Fortunately, through the merit of the Huanglu ritual, they have been delivered and elevated. The Lord on High has issued an order that more than thirty thousand orphaned souls shall, by virtue of this blessed merit, be reborn in various places. The residents will from now on be secure and need no longer worry.”

Wei Gao was deeply amazed by this and personally wrote the “Record of the Huanglu Ritual,” which was erected in Zhenfu Abbey.

The Efficacy of the Huanglu Ritual Requested by Li Yue’s Wife

In the twelfth year of Xiantong (871), Li Yue served as a junior general of the Various Guards. His wife, Lady Wang, had been dead for more than a year. One day she suddenly returned home, urging Li Yue and the family to attend to household affairs; she spoke clearly, no different from when she was alive. At first the whole family was terrified; after a month, they gradually grew accustomed to it.

Li Yue had been dismissed from office for two years and was living in great poverty. He repeatedly went to the Secretariat to visit the chancellor and request an appointment, but for a long time nothing came of it. His wife suddenly said to him: “When an official appointment is made in the human world, one must wait for the heavenly warrant to descend first; only afterward can one receive the post. I recently saw in the documents of the underworld that the heavenly warrant will be issued only on the twenty-fifth day of the fifth month, and you are certain to be appointed Prefect of Huangzhou. You may go again to the Secretariat on the twenty-third to submit your request.”

Li Yue did as she said…

On the twenty-third day, Li Yue went to the Secretariat to seek an official post. At that time, Chancellor and Palace Attendant Lu Yan ... was by nature firm and upright. He had long heard of the return to life of Li Yue’s wife, and had also heard that on the twenty-fifth day Li Yue would certainly be appointed prefect.

Exactly on the twenty-fifth, Lord Lu learned that the post of prefect of a certain prefecture was vacant, and said during a council to the officials of the various offices: “Li Yue’s absurd and baseless talk is really not worth listening to. I have already made up my mind not to grant him office.” Yet when he was about to select the appointee, he hesitated for a long time and did not want to take up the brush. Suddenly he wrote and signed, appointing Li Yue as Prefect of Huangzhou, while being completely unaware of it himself. Only after the edict had been issued did he come to his senses and sigh: “This is the will of Heaven—how could human effort contend against it?”

Li Yue was about to take up his post, and his wife set out with him. The dates for departure and arrival were both chosen by his wife. More than a month after arriving at the post, his wife said to Li Yue: “My allotted lifespan in the human world has already ended, and the day of our final parting in life and death has also been fixed. The reason I have not yet left is that the celestial administration (Tiansi, the agency in charge of affairs in the celestial realm) and a presiding official have agreed on a term, waiting until you arrive at your post before I go. In addition, the faults of my life have not yet been pardoned. You are now an official and can perform some merit on my behalf.”

Li Yue asked, “What merit should be performed?” His wife said, “Please establish a Huanglu Daochang (Yellow Register Daoist Zhaijiao ritual for blessing and deliverance) and hold it for three days.”

Li Yue had never believed in Daoism and was very doubtful at heart, so he asked why a Huanglu Daochang had to be established. His wife replied: “All the deities of Heaven and Earth, whether hidden or manifest, great or small, are under the jurisdiction of the Daoist Dharma, just as the various states of the human world obey an emperor. The Huanglu Zhai (the Zhaijiao rite within the Huanglu Daochang) can save both the living and the dead, dissolve enmities, allow confession of sins, and summon the deities; there is nothing it cannot accomplish. It reports to Heaven and Earth and submits petitions, just as the world submits memorials to an emperor. When Heaven issues a clear command, all the deities carry it out. When the Tianfu (celestial tally/decree) descends, a yellow light like sunrise first appears, illuminating the hells and causing all their sufferings to cease for a time. The merit of saving and removing the suffering of sin is swift and immense; therefore what is most urgent now is to establish the Huanglu Daochang.”

Li Yue asked, “Buddhist merit also brings great blessings—why do you not mention Buddhism?” His wife said, “In my understanding, if Buddhist merit lacks an order from God on High and the direction of a Tianfu, it is like relying on personal favors and connections in the human world. The spirits and ghosts have no basis on which to carry it out, and the assistance obtained is slow. Even if one says its effects will appear only in a future life, I fear it may not necessarily prove effective.”

After Yue heard this, he prepared the ritual implements and set up an altar for the Huanglu Daoist ritual arena—the altar ground for performing the Huanglu zhai rite—for three days and three nights. His sons and daughters then set up another altar for their mother at Ziji Palace and likewise conducted a three-day-and-night zhai rite. During the fast and retreat, his wife set a seat before the altar, burned incense, and watched and listened to the ritual.

When the ritual was over, his wife said to Yue, “In twenty-nine months your present official post will end, and you will be appointed Junior General of the Jinwu Guard. Only devote your heart to public service, relieve the poor and weak, and pity the orphaned and suffering. Regard wealth as less important and cherish human life more. When trying criminal cases, keep compassion in your heart. Revere the Great Dao and keep body and mind pure and still. Do not eat rare delicacies or wear fine and gorgeous clothes; this will be quite good. Do not, because of long poverty, greedily seek wealth. Each person’s life has its fixed allotment; strive to remember this carefully. After you leave office from this point on, the posts conferred on you will be enough to let you pass your days securely; you need not worry about your family. Your eldest son will later serve as county magistrate in Changming; your second son will be a county commandant, not what one would call eminent. Your youngest son should be allowed to enter the Daoist order and tend the incense. Within ten years the realm will be troubled; you must take good care to preserve yourself.”

After she said this, she made no further sound. Yue again burned incense and prayed devoutly, but there was no response at all. Later, the fates of Yue’s three sons and his official appointments and dismissals all came true exactly as she had said.

The Efficacy of Lu Ben’s Performance of the Huanglu Rite

Lu Ben was a native of Sanshui in Binzhou. In the second year of the Yonghe era of the Jin dynasty, he served as judicial staff officer of Daozhou. He was cruel by nature. When interrogating cases, he often used whips and instruments of torture to beat people severely, and many died because they could not endure the punishment.

Then one day the ground before the hall split open and two ghosts appeared. They carried in a large cauldron and set it in the courtyard, built a fire beneath it, and heated it; the water in the cauldron quickly boiled and surged. Several figures went up into the hall, seized Lu Ben, and threw him into the cauldron to be boiled. He cried out in agony for a long while before he was lifted out onto the ground; then the ghosts all departed. When Lu Ben came to, his whole body still felt as if it had been burned by fire. The officials and clerks all saw this scene with their own eyes. For the next half year he suffered every day and could find no way to be relieved.

When the Daoist priest Meng Zhiwei of Mount Luofu was traveling through the prefecture, Lu Ben invited him to his home and told him of his suffering. Meng Zhiwei said, “This is because you wrongfully harmed good people; their souls and spirits appealed to Heaven, and so you have received this retribution. Quickly hold a Huanglu rite and beseech a heavenly talisman to descend in aid, so that the wronged souls may ascend to Heaven; only then may your guilt perhaps be pardoned.”

Thereupon Lu Ben asked Daoist priests to perform a Huanglu rite, with three days of bowing and confession of guilt. On the third day, he dreamed of more than thirty people; a ghost official led them and said to Lu Ben, “The penal laws of the state have their own fixed standards; when interrogating cases and pronouncing punishments, one should harbor compassion…”

Do not bestow favors arbitrarily merely because you hold the power to reward; rewards should be generous, so as to display kindness, while punishments should be light, so as to manifest benevolence. You should sympathize with the feelings of the common people and cherish human life, being cautious at all times. How can you indulge your own will and overstep the law to inflict punishment? When you cruelly flog and torment others, even causing them to die wrongfully, their souls will appeal to Heaven. The underworld cannot restrain ghosts and spirits, and ghosts and spirits cannot defy the command of the Lord on High (Shangdi); Heaven permits them to clear their grievances, and that is why you suffer such affliction. Now a Huanglu repentance ritual (Huanglu chanxie, a Daoist rite of confessing sins for the dead and praying for their salvation) is being performed to save those wronged souls. Since the wronged souls have ascended to Heaven, the enmity is dissolved.

These more than thirty people, each holding a lotus flower and riding on cloud vapor, rose lightly into the sky beside the ritual altar. From then on, the suffering of the boiling cauldron ceased forever, and Ben abandoned his official post and went to Mount Emei to cultivate the Dao (the Way).

Fan Lingyan Establishes a Northern Emperor Ritual Altar and Subdues a Fox Spirit, with Verifiable Results

Fan Lingyan was from Bianzhou, and his estate was in an outer county. One evening, as he was returning to the estate, his servants fell behind. His horse ran very fast, and before he knew it he had traveled alone twenty or thirty li. By the roadside a young woman was weeping; he stopped his horse and questioned her. Seeing that she was seductively beautiful, he lingered and would not leave, and in the end went with her into a small path by the roadside. After several li they came to where she lived, and he saw great buildings, numerous attendants, and lavish arrangements, like the residence of a prefectural official.

That night the girl’s mother discussed marriage with Fan Lingyan and kept him there for a banquet. Relatives, friends, and guests all came, and before he realized it he had stayed there three days. Fan Lingyan repeatedly asked to return to his estate, so the girl’s mother sent drivers, maids, and others to accompany him, and also let her daughter go with him to the estate. The two enjoyed themselves in pleasure, and many days passed. Fan Lingyan grew thinner day by day and then fell ill; so weak that he could not even take to his bed to rest, he was wholly absorbed in debauchery. He no longer received guests and feared seeing others; he was often angry and his spirit was unsettled.

Once, when he was going home from the estate and was still several li from home, he dismounted and rested repeatedly in a roadside shop. There he met a Daoist priest. The priest called himself Du Taiming of Guifeng in the Zhongnan Mountains. After looking Fan Lingyan over carefully, he said to him: “The evil qi in your body has already entered the heart vessel; the illness caused by demonic influence has broken out, your hundred vessels are disordered, and your five viscera are weak. If you do not seek treatment quickly, you will soon lose your life. The mountain lad with me is skilled in various methods. Hurry back, and with this boy set up in a secret room a Northern Emperor ritual altar (Beidi daochang, a Daoist altar dedicated to the Northern Heavenly Emperor and invoking divine power). It will take effect tonight. Do not panic; only thus can you preserve your life and body.”

Lingyan heard these extraordinary words and followed the boy’s instructions, though he still felt some doubt, so he took the boy straight home.

He had the people on the estate clean the rooms and prepare incense and an offering table in a secluded chamber. When his wife saw this, she said angrily, “Believing in depraved and false words and doing improper things—disaster is brought on by oneself. This is not the principle I originally knew.”

At dusk, more than ten people came down from the sky with falcons, hounds, and hunting gear, went straight into the main hall, and killed Lingyan’s wife and maidservants, seven or eight people in all. After they died, they all turned into foxes. Lingyan was terrified and hid in the secret room, but the boy was nowhere to be seen; only a line of red writing remained on the wall: “By the command of Taishang, the Northern Emperor’s Eagle-Hound Army executes the harmful fox-spirit ghosts in Fan Lingyan’s household.”

From then on, Lingyan’s illness improved day by day, and his physical strength and spirit grew fuller daily. At eighty he still looked like a youth. During the reign of Wu Zetian, he served as Censor of the Eastern Terrace.

The Efficacy of Xianyu Fu’s Huanglu (Yellow Register) Ritual for Resolving Grievances

Xianyu Fu was from Nanyang in Dengzhou. In the turmoil at the end of the Sui dynasty, when he was thirty-seven, bold and resourceful, he led more than a hundred people from estate households. At first they only defended themselves, but later they began to attack and plunder nearby areas. He plundered extensively around Ru, Ying, Jing, and Xiang, killed common people, and robbed travelers.

In the early Wude era, Xianyu Fu suddenly suffered pain and eruptions on both hands, as if burned by fire or scalded by boiling water; every three days they ulcerated. The symptoms were very strange. He used many medicines and summoned many doctors, but none could cure him. He spent hundreds of thousands of coins on various meritorious deeds, but to no effect. Later, he went to the capital to seek medical treatment. On the way, at Lantian, he lodged in the same inn as a Daoist priest and told the priest about his illness.

The priest said, “This is retribution brought on by your running amok and killing, and by the karmic grievances you have bound. Hurry to a Daoist temple and establish a Huanglu ritual; perhaps it can save the deceased and dissolve the knots of resentment.”

Xianyu Fu returned home and established a Huanglu ritual for three days and nights continuously. After that, his hands no longer hurt, and his body recovered as before. At the northeast corner of the altar area, more than a hundred paces from the ritual platform, over ten human figures faintly appeared, some in red, some in purple, some officials, some commoners. He sent someone to thank Xianyu Fu. Xianyu Fu went to meet them; they spoke with him joyfully, saying:

“Formerly you killed me without cause; I truly suffered grievance and injustice, so I appealed to Heaven and asked to avenge that disastrous crime. Heaven issued an order allowing me to take revenge. Later you happened to encounter an immortal, who showed you the supreme Dao; in accordance with the mysterious scriptures and sage canon, you established the Huanglu ritual and submitted memorials to the Nine Heavens. The Nine Heavens bestowed grace and granted great pardon. Those who received forgiveness were not only us; your…”

The original text breaks off here; the remainder is missing.

The Huanglu ritual is a type of Daoist Zhaijiao (purification ritual). Through Keyi (liturgical acts) such as setting up an altar, reciting scriptures, and submitting memorials, it usually petitions the gods to pardon sins, save lost souls, and dissolve grievances.

For this reason his ancestors of nine generations also ascended to Heaven together. The merit of fasting and purification was great, and its sacred power was manifest; all enmities were from then on forever dissolved. The Perfected One of the Ten Splendors, commanded by Taishang, descended to the lower world to inspect good deeds. He admonished: “Only cultivate blessings; do not think of doing evil again.”

Fu donated more than three thousand strings of cash, extensively building and repairing Daoist temples and restoring divine images; he also gave money and goods to the poor and sick and rescued those in danger. In Dengzhou he built a Daoist temple and erected a stone stele, recording the miraculous events in detail.

Dou Dexuan Is Pursued by a Heavenly Talisman and Seeks Help through a Memorial to Avert Disaster

During the Zhenguan era, Dou Dexuan, Director of Waterways, received an imperial decree to go to the famous mountains of the Huai and Zhe regions to search for scriptures. On the Bian River he met an envoy whose feet were so painful that walking was extremely difficult; the man asked Dou Dexuan to let him take passage on his boat. Later, the man said to the attendants: “I have traveled a long distance, and my foot ailment has suddenly worsened. The government travel deadline is limited, and it is hard for me to delay. I would like to take the boat for thirty or fifty li and rest a little. I wonder whether that would be possible?”

The attendants reported this to Dou Dexuan. Dou Dexuan had also seen the man from the window and felt great compassion, so he had him settled at the rear of the boat, supplied him with tea and meals every day, and escorted him all the way to the mouth of the Huai. After the man had recuperated somewhat, he prepared to take his leave and disembark. Only then did Dou Dexuan ask about his background.

The man said: “I am an envoy of Mount Tai, not a person of this world. I carry a Heavenly Talisman (a writ of arrest issued from the heavens) to go to Yangzhou to arrest Dou Dexuan, Director of Waterways.” Dou Dexuan was greatly shocked and asked to see the talisman. The document looked just like an official document of the human world; he did not dare open it, and asked: “I am Dou Dexuan, Director of Waterways. Since you have been commanded to come specifically to arrest me, why wait until you reach Yangzhou to act?”

The envoy replied: “I do not know this man; I merely act according to the document. When I reach the destination and issue the Heavenly Talisman, the local Earth God will join in the arrest. Before arriving, I should not have taken it upon myself to reveal heavenly secrets. Since you are the Director of Waterways and match the person stated in the document, and since you have cared for me for several days, by principle I ought to repay you. If you wish to escape this disaster, you can go directly to see Immortal Lord Wang Yuanzhi in Yangzhou and ask him to submit a memorial on your behalf to plead for you. I have not yet issued the Heavenly Talisman; after he submits the memorial, there will surely be an order from the Heavenly Emperor. Apart from this, there is no way to avert this calamity.”

When Dou Dexuan arrived in Yangzhou, just after he had finished receiving the welcome of the local officials, he immediately went to visit Immortal Lord Wang. He explained in detail the urgent matter of life and death and earnestly begged him to submit a memorial for help. Immortal Lord Wang said: “I have retired to cultivate the Dao and no longer handle memorials. But since you have encountered a hidden tribulation and are in such danger, how could I not do my utmost for you…”

This matter later also caused him personally to write a memorial petition and submit it, and that night to perform the rite of presenting the memorial. The messenger came again and reported that the petition had been delivered. Taishang (a supreme Daoist deity) issued a decree extending his lifespan by another thirty years and appointing him Left Chancellor. Thereafter, his lifespan and official position indeed turned out exactly as stated.

The Efficacy of Ma Jingxuan’s Huanglu (Yellow Register) Ritual for His Wife

Ma Jingxuan was from Wuzhi in Huaizhou. In the spring of the sixth year of the Kaiyuan era (718), he was appointed Assistant Director of the Court of Agriculture, and his whole family moved to the capital. After his first wife died, she left behind two sons and one daughter, all still young. He later remarried a woman of the Xie family. The children of his first wife were often neglected, lacked food and clothing, and were frequently whipped, yet Ma Jingxuan remained unaware of it all along.

One night, pancakes were being made at home. The daughter of his first wife was only seven years old. She was so hungry that she secretly took a piece and ate it. When Ma Jingxuan was away from home, Lady Xie used heated chopsticks to burn and pierce the girl’s palms. Within ten days, the girl died.

A few days later, Lady Xie also died without illness. Her chest still remained slightly warm, and after three days she came back to life. Ma Jingxuan asked her what she had seen after death. She said, “The underworld court sentenced me to endure in life the retribution of festering feet. Now my feet hurt unbearably.” When Ma Jingxuan looked, her feet were indeed already festering, with pus and blood flowing freely, and she was in extraordinary pain.

At first Ma Jingxuan did not know that Lady Xie had burned the girl with heated chopsticks. When he heard of it, he was filled with grief and remorse. Lady Xie suffered from illness for three years, unable to die, and her condition grew worse and worse. Ma Jingxuan performed many meritorious deeds, but to no avail.

Ma Jingxuan once burned incense at Yongmu Abbey, where there was a Daoist nun (a female Daoist cultivator) named Du Zixia, who was known for her cultivation and virtue. He told her the matter. Du Zixia said, “To resolve enmity and untie karmic knots, and to eliminate disasters brought by past-life karma, the only way is to hold a Huanglu (Yellow Register) Daoist ritual (a Daoist fasting rite for seeking blessings and delivering the dead). This allows one to repent and to deliver wronged souls, enabling them to ascend to Heaven, and it can also cause illness to subside. This is the only method I know.”

Thereupon Ma Jingxuan held a Huanglu fast at Jinglong Abbey for seven days and seven nights. Lady Xie dreamed that his first wife and the dead daughter said to her, “Because of this merit, we have let go of our deep resentment toward you. A heavenly warrant has already been issued; you cannot remain long in the human world. Now we are going to enjoy blessings in Heaven, and we leave first.” After this, Lady Xie’s foot ailment was cured. From then on, Ma Jingxuan and his wife often observed fasts and kept precepts, and turned their hearts to the Daoist gate.

Qin Wan Is Punished for Deceiving Others with Measuring Tools, and the Efficacy of Performing a Huanglu Fast

Qin Wan was from Chaoxian in Luzhou. His family was wealthy, and he opened a shop dealing in rice, noodles, and colored silks. He often used an oversized dou when measuring rice and an overlong chi when measuring cloth to take in goods, but used an undersized dou and a shortened chi to sell to customers. Even if the goods themselves…

He repeatedly urged his father to repent, but his father would never agree. In the fifth month of the fourth year of Yuanhe (809), after his father died, he was interrogated and punished in the underworld and was reborn as a great snake more than a zhang long but without eyes, living in the mountains and forests. Many small insects gnawed at his body day and night, so he endured pain for a long time without any respite.

His father appeared to his son in a dream, told him all the suffering he was enduring, and said: “Tomorrow come to the woods twenty li south of the mountain and look for me. Give me a little water to drink, and also do more meritorious deeds.”

When the son woke, he told the family about the dream, and the whole family sighed in grief and waited the whole night until dawn. The next day they went straight to the woods south of the city, and indeed saw a great eyeless snake being gnawed by swarms of insects; its scales were covered with blood, and the stench was unusually foul. At the sight the whole family wept bitterly and used a basin to scoop water and feed the snake. After drinking the water, the snake seemed very happy; it coiled up as if it wanted to express something.

The son asked everywhere how to save him, and later inquired of the Daoist priest Huo Taiqing at the Palace of Purple Ultimate (Ziji Palace). Huo Taiqing said: “You can hold a three-day Yellow Register (Huanglu) Daochang—a Zhaijiao ritual in Daoism for delivering the dead, seeking blessings, and pardoning sins—and if you repent sincerely, there is hope of rescuing him.”

The son immediately held a Zhaijiao rite in the palace, lasting three days and three nights. On the second day, he saw a great snake crouching beneath the incense table in the ritual area, the same size as the snake in the woods, and then it disappeared again.

That night, his wife dreamed of a person dressed in white garments made of countless threads, seated amid purple clouds, who said to her: “I am deeply grateful that you established a ritual for me. I have received a heavenly talisman (a document of pardon from the heavenly realm); all the sins of my former life have been wiped away, and now I am about to ascend to the heavenly realm. You may also set aside three thousand strings of cash and perform more Daoist meritorious deeds to help the poor and sick. From now on, your descendants must not deceive the common people with small scales, short rulers, or narrow measures, or they will suffer the retribution of being eyeless and gnawed by venomous creatures. This matter is plain and clear, like shadow following form. Had the repentance and rescue of the Great Yellow Register Fast not reached the heavenly palace and Taishang (the Daoist honorific for the supreme deity) not ordered the heavenly talisman to pardon these karmic offenses, even after ten thousand kalpas they would be difficult to remove quickly. I have a gold-mounted nail-clipping knife; leave it as a token.”

When the wife woke from the dream, she indeed obtained this knife. The knife had originally been placed in the coffin as a burial item. The family therefore believed that the father’s ascent to the heavenly realm was no empty claim. After the Zhaijiao rite ended, they went again to the woods and could no longer see the great snake. They then donated the knife to Ziji Palace, contributed funds to build and repair the temple, and erected a stele to record the matter.

Du Pengju’s parents established a South Dipper Life-Extending Jiao (a Daoist Zhaijiao ritual petitioning the South Dipper star lord to prolong life), and later it proved efficacious.

Du Pengju of Jingzhao was the elder brother of the chancellor Du Hongjian. His father, already advanced in years and still without a son, had prayed to the gods many times, and only later was Du Pengju born. When Du Pengju was two or three years old, his father was frequently ill throughout the year.

When the child was ten, he was still thin and timid, and his parents often worried about his health. One day a Daoist priest (a practitioner of Daoism) from Mount Taibai passed by their house. He spoke of the transformations of Yin-Yang and of good and ill fortune, and then asked about the child’s birth horoscope (the eight characters). The priest said, “This child will not live beyond eighteen.”

Hearing this, the parents were greatly shocked. They said, “We are old, and only with difficulty did we have this one child. We hoped he would continue the family line and preside over sacrifices. If he cannot live long, will the ancestors of the Du clan not go hungry like the ghosts of the Ruo’ao clan?” As they spoke, they faced each other and wept, and begged the priest to show them a way to avert disaster and secure protection.

The priest said, “I have an art for extending life through Siming (the Director of Destinies; a Daoist method of praying to the god Siming for longer life). If you practice it diligently, then after three years not only will this child be preserved, but another child will be added, making the family prosper and later occupy high office.” The parents bowed and thanked him and asked him to transmit it. The priest then taught them the oral instructions for making a jiao offering to the Southern Dipper and praying for extended life. The jiao offering (a ritual of setting up an altar, making offerings to the gods, and praying for blessings) was to be performed on the fifth day of the fifth month according to the method. After that, at every meal they were to set out an additional portion as an offering; even when the family held a banquet for guests, they could offer a portion of ordinary food.

The parents followed this for a full year without ever interrupting it. On the night of the jiao offering, something like a shooting star fell onto the offering mat. A year later, two officials in blue-green robes suddenly passed by their house, rested at the gate, and lingered in conversation. The officials asked, “When the master of the house eats ordinary meals each day, he also sets out a mat with offerings—what is he seeking?” The parents told them in detail what had happened before. The officials said, “Siming knows of your earnest prayers. Next year there will be another child. Both children will be long-lived, reaching old age in health and peace. In their names there will be a character with a component like a bird on one side and a needle hanging down; this child will later hold an important post and is certain to become chancellor.”

The officials also said that from then on there was no need to set out the daily offering. The next year a child was indeed added to the family. Both brothers grew robust and had no illness. The elder was named Pengju and later rose to be military governor of Anzhou, enjoying a peaceful old age; the younger was named Hongjian and later became chancellor of state and Jiedushi (military commissioner) of Xichuan. Both lived past ninety and were free of illness throughout their lives.