《雲笈七籤》Vol. 123

Yunji Qiqian, Volume 122 (the “Tang Shisan” in the original title is suspected to be a scribal or recognition error)

(Compiled and presented by His Subject Zhang Junfang, Gentleman for Court Service of the Song, Vice Director of the Bureau of Revenue of the Department of State Affairs, serving as Collator of the Academy of Scholarly Worthies, awarded the crimson fish-bag, and permitted to wear purple.)

Daoist Records of Numinous Responses

Retribution for the Supervisor of Fasts at Donghua Abbey in Quzhou for Concealing and Misappropriating the Abbey’s Permanent Possessions

Donghua Abbey in Quzhou was rich in produce and abundant in funds. Those in charge of the abbey’s affairs often indulged themselves and encroached upon or concealed its public property. Among the priests there was a Supervisor of Fasts (Jianzhai), whose offenses were especially grave. He knew nothing of calamity and blessing, nor did he believe in the gods. When anyone spoke of retribution for sin and merit, he called it absurd talk. He often said, “When Daoist priests use a little of the permanent possessions—the goods held in common by the abbey and kept for daily use—it is like children using their parents’ things. What sin is there in that?” Thus even exhortation was of no avail. He was skilled at arguing, glossing over matters, and responding to others; when someone tried to gloss over his own fault, he would always seize on that person’s words as a pretext. It was like the common saying about Xu Liu and Hou Bai (the meaning here is unclear in the original and may be a colloquialism or an allusion to persons of the time).

Several years after this Supervisor of Fasts died, one day three or five fellow Daoists were strolling in a garden enjoying the spring. They sat on rocks and grass to rest. The abbey’s dozen or so cattle grazed beside them. Someone happened to say, “That Supervisor of Fasts always loved to reject the doctrine of retribution for sin and blessing. Look at the offenses he accumulated—could he be among this herd of cattle?” While they were talking and laughing, one ox came straight up to them and would not leave no matter how they drove it away. They tried calling out “Supervisor So-and-so,” and the ox knelt down with tears in its eyes; each time they called his name, the ox responded. The fellow Daoists pitied it, so they submitted a memorial and prayed, held a fast and repented, to dissolve its offenses and deliver it. Two days and two nights later, someone dreamed that the ox came to thank them, saying that its offenses from a former life had been pardoned and that it could proceed directly to rebirth. Three days later, the ox died.

The Numinous Efficacy by Which the Kaiyuan Abbey in Wuzhou Had Its Permanent Estate Restored Through the Prefect

The Kaiyuan Abbey in Wuzhou was built against a small hillside, on high, open, and clear terrain. When the abbey was first established, there were streets on all four sides. Later, nearby residents continually encroached on the abbey’s land, and the site gradually shrank, until the area behind the main hall almost abutted the houses of the common people. Powerful men in the prefectural government also occupied land and built residences there. The Daoist priests knew this well but for a long time did not dare to speak of it.

A Daoist priest in the abbey dreamed that thirty or fifty officials descended from the sky and gathered before the hall. They summoned this priest and asked about the boundaries of the abbey. The priest replied, “I am young and entered the abbey late; I can speak only according to what I have seen since I took charge of the abbey. As for what the elders say, it is said that this abbey was originally built for the emperor….”

The Retribution of the Daoist Clergy at Shangqing Abbey in Yuhang, Hangzhou, for Concealing and Defrauding Communal Property

“On all four sides, through streets ought to be left open to guard against fire and flood; but now the streets are far away, and the space in between has been completely cut off by people’s houses.” The official nodded and said, “It is indeed so.” Another person also said that this was what the Earth Office (the divine official in charge of land affairs) had said, and the meaning was the same. A clerk in red robes stepped forward and said, “There is no need for you to trouble yourself personally in this matter; simply instruct Prefect Wen Zhang to deal with it.” As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly sent someone to transmit the order, and then rose into the air and departed.

The next day, the prefect unexpectedly came to the abbey on an inspection, ascended the revered hall, looked around, and asked the Daoist clergy, “The configuration and layout of this abbey do not conform to regulations, and the site is so narrow—why are there still common households living nearby?” The Daoist clergy hesitated and did not dare reply. Wen Langzhong said, “This matter is indeed hard to explain.” He immediately ordered a notice to be posted, had the households on all four sides cleared out, using the official streets as the boundary, and returned the houses to their original households; those who had encroached on land were required, according to the number of years of encroachment, to pay retroactive land rent within one month, assessed by the area occupied. The rent collected amounted to about several hundred thousand cash, which was used to build enclosing walls and repair the buildings. After more than sixty days, the abbey regained its original layout.

That night Wen Zhang dreamed that Qingtong (the Azure Youth) descended and said to him, “You are good at governing, and you have the merit of rectifying the abbey’s communal property. I bestow upon you three appointments as jiedushi (regional military governor). If you take bribes, pervert the law, or kill people, you will not receive this reward.” Later events turned out exactly as in the dream.

The fields of Shangqing Abbey in Yuhang, Hangzhou, were fertile, and its changzhu (the abbey’s communal property and daily provisions) was originally quite ample. Yet the Daoist clergy managing the abbey regularly withheld and concealed property, taking public goods as their own. Even when supervisory officials within the order investigated and established the facts, they would always spend large sums to entrust the office clerks with pleading on their behalf. Once the bribes were sent, the offenses were usually covered up and the wrongdoing concealed. Prefectural and county officials shielded and deceived one another; the abuse had existed for a long time.

The halls and buildings fell into ruin, and incense and offering lamps gradually ceased; when visitors passed by, almost no one was willing to enter the abbey. Those who understood the situation worried about it, and those who detested such conduct had long been indignant.

During the Huichang era, a household gave birth to five or six children, all physically disabled—some mute, some deaf, some blind, some lame. When they had grown to a few years old, Venerable Master Bai came from Mount Jinhua to this place and stayed for more than ten days. The Daoist clergy managing the abbey told him about the matter, and Venerable Master Bai urged that the family be summoned. When the people arrived, he said with compassion, “How is it that you have committed such grave karmic offenses, betraying the Great Dao, and so brought such punishment upon yourselves?” He then said to the Daoist clergy in the abbey, “These slave-like people are all those former Daoist clergy of this abbey who concealed and embezzled communal property…”

Those who recklessly commit offenses with the _changzhu_ (permanent property, the goods held in common by a Daoist temple or monastery) will not only suffer retribution in the present but will also undergo various sufferings hereafter, with no distant date of release in sight. Thereupon the Venerable Master called them in turn by their former names and questioned each one. Several of them were thus awakened, recognized the offenses they had committed in former lives, and cried out and sobbed, collapsing to the ground in their grief.

The Venerable Master told their respective families to prepare fragrant oil, burn incense, repent, and seek forgiveness; the temple establishment also prepared vegetarian food as offerings. After this had been done for three days, the Venerable Master quieted his mind and entered meditative absorption; only after a night had passed did he rise and speak: “Taishang (the Supreme Lord, the honorific title for the highest deity in Daoism) has clear precepts. The sacred property of the _changzhu_ is for supporting the Three Treasures (Dao, Jing, and Shi—the Way, scriptures, and masters). It is transmitted from generation to generation and must not be arbitrarily concealed, stolen, or misappropriated. Whoever commits such an offense will bring retribution upon seven generations: they will suffer while alive and undergo further hardships after death; some will be reborn as lowly persons or as livestock to repay old debts. Even when the Sanyuan and Bajie (important occasions in Daoism for rites of pardon and blessing) arrive and Heaven and Earth proclaim a great amnesty, this offense is not among those pardoned. Because I pity sentient beings, I have just specially prayed on behalf of these people to restrain their punishment and release them from calamity, thereby offending the Celestial Bureau (the bureaucracy of the heavens). These people may now receive retribution only in this present life; afterward they will be able to be reborn in better places.”

Thirty days later, one after another, people began to bear out these words. From then on, those who preside over Daoist temples should record this matter clearly, take it as a warning, and not repeat the same mistake. More than a month later, those who had lost speech, sight, or hearing died one after another; only the lame man gradually regained the use of his feet. After more than ten years, he recovered as before and reported this to the Venerable Master. The Venerable Master said, “This servant’s offense was relatively light; he should have been pardoned in the first place. On the day he obtained pardon, the others were also released from the dark underworld prison.” It turned out exactly as he had said: when this servant recovered his ability to walk, it was precisely the time set by the underworld administration for pardoning the others.

The Fulfilled Retribution for Li Shang’s Felling of the Pines and Cypresses of the Ancient Daoist Temple on Niuxin Mountain in Longzhou

Tradition holds that the ancient Daoist temple on Niuxin Mountain in Longzhou was connected with the distant ancestors of the Tang imperial house. Li Long of Longxi once assisted Xiao Ji, Prince Wuling of Liang, in governing Yizhou, and was ordered to move to this place and build a city. After his death he was buried beside the mountain, and the local people established a shrine for him called the Li Guren Shrine (“Shrine of Li the Ancient”). During the Wude era, this shrine was converted into a Daoist temple.

Later, the Wu clan seized power and secretly wished to alter the dynastic fortune, ordering men to cut through the mountain veins. At the place where the ridge was cut, the water turned red and gave off a bloody stench. In the final years of the Tianbao era, Minghuang (Tang Xuanzong) entered Shu to escape the turmoil; when the imperial carriage entered Jianmen, an old man named Su Tan came to welcome it and memorialized: “Niuxin Mountain in Longzhou is where the state’s ancestral tombs are located. Because of Li Guren’s name, this place later became the name of a prefecture. From ancient times it has been said that this place has repeatedly shown numinous efficacy. Your Majesty has today encountered the calamity of exile…”.

This was a break in the mountain formation caused by the warfare of the Tianbao era. Someone suggested: ask the emperor to bestow a set of imperial robes, hide them at the place where the mountain formation was broken, and then repair the mountain and restore it to its original state. The mountain would surely emit a sound; in this way, the two capitals could be recovered, and the emperor would soon return to the capital.

Minghuang (Emperor Xuanzong of Tang) found this proposal extraordinary and ordered palace envoys to carry imperial robes and state credentials to the mountain to perform sacrifices and repair the mountain formation. Prefect Su Miao, by imperial edict, exempted the people of the four nearby townships from rent and taxes for the following year and conscripted laborers to repair and restore the mountain formation. The mountain indeed emitted a sound like an ox bellowing. The next year, An Lushan was killed, and the capital was recovered.

On the twenty-eighth day of the tenth month of the second year of Zhide, the emperor issued an edict saying: “Jiangyou is old territory, and within its borders there is a numinous mountain. Since I toured the Ba and Liang regions, the mountain has repeatedly shown numinous efficacy. Thinking of this place, it should be honored.” Longzhou was therefore elevated to a Dudufu (commandery headquarters), and the commandery was granted the name Yingling Commandery.

In the fourth year of Changqing, palace envoys Zhang Shiqian and Wang Yuanyou, together with Prefect Wei Chirui, repaired and regulated this mountain. In the third month of the first year of Baoli, palace envoy Yan Wenqing again came by edict to pray and perform a jiao (a Daoist altar sacrifice and prayer ritual). During the reign of Xizong, the imperial clansman Li Teli again memorialized the earlier events, requesting the construction of a Daoist abbey and temple and the establishment of a Jinlu Daochang (Golden Register ritual, a type of Daoist Zhaijiao). The court then appointed Li Teli as Registrar and Army Administrator of Longzhou, sent the high-ranking palace envoy Wang Yanzhong to go up the mountain with him to carry out repairs, and ordered Yang Shili, military governor of Dongchuan, to select eminent Daoist priests such as Yuan Daochang to establish a Huanglu Daochang (Yellow Register ritual, a Zhaijiao for blessings and deliverance) and set up an altar in the mountains to pray for blessings. Again the mountain emitted an ox-like bellow. The next year, Huang Chao was killed, the capital was recovered, and the mountain’s numinous efficacy manifested as before.

In the third year of Zhonghe, the emperor issued an edict elevating Jiangyou to Wang County (a more important county-level administrative unit at the time). Later, Li Shang, construction commander of Dongchuan, passed by this mountain and saw that the upright pines and ancient cypresses could all be used as timber, so he planned to build government offices and thereby seek merit. He did not obey the orders of the commissioner’s office and went without authorization to Wanglin to cut trees. The mountain was close to the riverbank, so the timber was easy to transport; but before the timber had been moved for even half a day, at night a divine being constantly scolded him. Li Shang heard the scolding clearly but did not know how to avert it by ritual. Later, his corruption and bribery were exposed, arousing public anger. The present Chancellor, the Duke of Langya, had him beheaded in a busy market in the capital.

Pinggai Hua in Xinjin County, Shuzhou, Is Damaged by Illegal Logging

Pinggai Hua in Xinjin County, Shuzhou, was the Sixteenth Hua (a Daoist paradise or sacred site of Daoist abbeys). This was the place where the immortal Cui Xiaotong attained the Dao, and his true image was preserved there. In the Hua there was a jade figure one zhang tall…

At the time this place was seen, the empire was at peace. To the left of the hall was Jade Maiden Spring, three or four chi deep; drinking its water could cure illness. Halfway up the mountain stood a fu tree, its trunk six or seven chi in diameter. People living nearby often heard wailing like that of someone under torture coming from beneath the tree, but they did not know why.

In the first year of Dashun (the dingwei year), there was a man named He Liu at the foot of the mountain. He was fierce and violent by nature and had no fear of retribution for sin or reward for merit. It was a time of war, and no Daoist priests lived in the temple precinct, so he tore down buildings, cut down trees, and sold them as firewood; he had been doing this for some time.

One day he went to the monk’s quarters in front of the mountain to beg for water, suffering terribly from thirst. The monk had long known him, and hearing that his voice was full of distress, went out to look. He saw He Liu with his face upturned and his hands twisted behind his back, as if he had been bound by someone, breathing rapidly, with saliva running from his mouth. The monk asked what was wrong, and he replied: “I destroyed the buildings in the temple precinct and cut down the trees. Now a yellow-robed messenger has pursued and seized me, bound me, and is going to drag me to the hell beneath the fu tree for interrogation. I am terribly thirsty; I beg a little water to save me.” The monk gave him water. After a long while, He Liu went off on his own, and later he died beneath the fu tree. This matter was known to all the local people.

Someone else took away the two Jade Maiden statues from the ancient site beside the spring, treated them as curios, and brought them into the world of men. Since the Jade Maiden statues were no longer beside the spring, the small hut nearby was also torn down by people. Later, residents of the temple precinct saw the man who had stolen the Jade Maiden statues being seized; it was said that what entered the precinct was this man’s living soul. The man later contracted leprosy.

The Door Leaf of Kaiyuan Abbey in Jiazhou Used as a Horse-Stable Fence Later Manifested an Anomaly

Kaiyuan Abbey in Jiazhou was built on layered hills, from which one could look down over the city and the rivers and mountains. Two streams wound around it and clustered peaks embraced it; it was one of the most beautiful sites in the prefecture. The abbey originally had a high pavilion overlooking the cliff, its towers rising into the clouds, grand in scale and exquisite in construction, famous near and far.

In time the abbey went long without repair, and the pavilion had collapsed. The authorities collected the timber and used the remaining materials to build a horse stable. An old-style door leaf in the abbey, solid in substance and undecayed over the years, was also placed beside the wooden stable. After that, the door leaf gave off a bright light every night, bright enough to illuminate objects. People found it strange and discarded it unused.

Later, someone moved the door leaf to Ziji Palace and placed it in Xuanyuan Hall. A small red snake coiled on the door’s lattice and did not leave for many days. A crowd gathered to look at it and tried to drive it away with various objects, but it remained coiled there. After more than ten days, no one knew where it had gone.

Miraculous Efficacy of the Pillar Base in the Three Generals Hall of Jingyun Temple in Chengdu

Jingyun Temple in Chengdu was originally located within the city of Xinbei. Military Commissioner Cui Gong’an moved it to Xinshi and built it north of the Great West Gate. The temple had a Hall of the Three Generals, which was quite efficacious. After the Daoist temple was demolished, only a pillar base remained. People dug at it but could not move hand or foot to touch it; on approaching, the heat felt stronger than fire. After a moment, one’s thoughts seemed to meet with a response. If nearby residents committed any offense or touched it, inauspicious retribution followed at once. This pillar base is still preserved today.

Miraculous Efficacy of the Zhiji Stone in a Chengdu Divination Stall

The Zhiji Stone (Loom-support Stone) in a divination stall in Chengdu is said to have been brought from the Heavenly River by a visitor from the sea. The Weaving Maiden once had that visitor take it to consult Yan Junping. Yan Junping’s divination stall was in the area of Yanzhen Temple, north of today’s Little West Gate of Chengdu and south of Fugan Temple. There is the Yan Jun Tongxian Well, which the Tujing (Illustrated Classic) calls “Yan the Immortal’s Well”; the Zhiji Stone is also still there.

The Grand Commandant, Duke of Dunhuang, loved to seek out rare antiquities and obtained many. He ordered craftsmen to cut off a piece of the Zhiji Stone, intending to make it into an object to display its strangeness. Just as the craftsman was about to chisel, he suddenly became dizzy and blurred as if blown by wind and fell beside the stone; this happened three times. The Duke of Dunhuang knew it was a stone with numinous power and dared not take any more. To this day, chisel marks still remain on the stone.

Later someone else ordered digging beneath the stone. At once wind and thunder rose, and the nearby area turned dark, so they too dared not offend it again.

Miraculous Efficacy of the Stone Chamber at the Cave Gate of Yuju Hua in Chengdu

In former times, when Laojun (Lord Lao) descended and manifested, the feet of his jade throne emerged from underground. Laojun ascended the throne and preached; after he departed, the jade throne sank into the earth, and the ground subsided into a cave. The depths of the cave are said to connect with the Fifth Grotto-Heaven of Qingcheng.

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) held that the position of the Jade Bureau corresponded to the Ghost Mansion, a lunar mansion, and that it was inadvisable to open the cave and let Qi (vital energy) pass through, lest it harm the locality. He therefore carved a stone to seal the cave mouth and built a stone chamber there. The chamber was six or seven chi high and about one pace wide, and inside was carved an image of Xuanyuan (Laojun).

During the Kaiyuan era, Zhangqiu Jianqiong, chief secretary of the military commissioner, extensively repaired the temple. Wishing to make its miraculous traces known, he planned to open the cave gate and investigate the cave’s depth. As soon as he moved the sealing stone of the stone chamber, thunder shook the clear sky and a great wind arose, uprooting even trees; for this reason he dared not move it again.

Miraculous Efficacy of the Cart Tracks at Sanyuan Temple in Jintang County, Hanzhou

Before the main hall of Sanyuan Temple in Jintang County, Hanzhou, there was a pair of cart tracks, and with the Sanyuan Temple hall….

The cart-rut traces on the stone stretch continuously toward the bank of the Changli River. Along the way there is no depression; they are level with the ground, only the color of the earth is slightly different. By day the traces look faintly black; by night they seem white; in moonlight they are tinged with black again. The traces curve as they extend, joining one another near and far, front and back. After rain stops, they dry sooner than other places; when it snows, they also melt sooner. This phenomenon is most extraordinary.

These traces have remained unchanged for many years. Even when the ground is hoed, the soil dug, or people tread and roll over them, they have always remained. Recently, because of war, a man commanding troops killed someone in front of the hall; a little blood touched the traces, leaving a broken, discontinuous stain. On the ground beside Tiancang Peak of Qingcheng Mountain there are also such traces, sunk four or five cun into the ground and one chi wide; after many years, their shape remains as before. Xiandu Mountain in Jinyun and Xianyan Mountain in Wenzhou also have rut-like traces, some remaining on stone, some on flat ground; their numinous anomalies and verifications are no different from the traces here.

The Miraculous Efficacy of the Painting of the Nine Seas Divine Dragons in Yuju Abbey

This painting, titled “Nine Seas Divine Dragons,” was painted by Sun Li, a recluse of Kuaiji Mountain. In the gengzi year of the Qianfu era of Emperor Xizong of Tang, in the ninth month, on the gengchen day, he began painting at the chen hour and finished by the si hour. The dragon in the painting coils, bends, and stretches, seventy-three chi long; the wall surface is about one zhang eight chi wide. The dragon spews cloud vapor and stirs up waves, its form exceedingly strange. Liu Jingxuan, Duke of Yan, dreamed that a divine dragon descended upon Yuju Abbey, and so had the dragon’s likeness painted. Chen Jingxuan, Prince of Yingchuan, dredged a water channel in front of the dragon image. Residents nearby and people coming from far and near to pray often said their wishes had been answered.

One day there was a great drought in the Shu region. A strong corvée laborer, emboldened by wine, lay down on the well curb in front of the dragon image and reviled it, saying, “The drought is this severe—what use are you?” He then took a large stone and smashed the foot of the painted dragon, leaving a mark. After he returned home, an ailment in his foot suddenly worsened until the pain was unbearable. He sent someone to burn incense and apologize to the dragon image, but the pain still would not ease, and a few days later he died.

The Miraculous Efficacy of the Heavenly Pool at Shangqing Palace on the Summit of Qingcheng Mountain (with a Note on the Six-Period Water Test)

At Shangqing Palace on the summit of Qingcheng Mountain there is a Heavenly Pool, ten paces southeast of the palace. The pool is three chi deep and about three chi wide, and its water is ordinarily about one chi deep: however much rainwater collects, the level does not rise; in prolonged drought, it does not diminish. Every spring, many people visit the mountain and undertake fasting and purification, at least thirty or fifty and at most one or two hundred. Even when all of them drink the pool’s water, the pool does not dry up. The original text ends here, incomplete.

For days on end heavy rain fell, yet no one went to draw water, and the amount of water still did not increase; but if someone polluted it, it would immediately dry up. At that time I happened to join others on a visit to the mountains, and a swift runner from the office—one responsible for delivering orders and moving quickly—followed me up the mountain. While he was drawing water with a bowl, he accidentally put his foot into the water, and in a moment the water dried up. In the months that followed, a fair amount of rain fell, but the water still did not recover.

I was staying at Shangqing Palace, where I burned incense and prayed to apologize for the offense. After one night, the water had returned as before.

Formerly, the Yellow Emperor appointed Lord Ning as Elder of the Five Peaks, the deity in charge of the mountains and rivers of the Five Peaks. The mountain gods went to Xuzhong twice a month for audience. At Xuzhong, sprinkling water served in place of a clepsydra, an ancient water clock: at yang hours, water would splash down; at yin hours, there was no water. The day was divided into six periods, and water was sprinkled at each period; hence it was called “Six-Period Water.”

The water source was located in front of the great Tiancang rock, south of Zongxuan Abbey, and beside the Altar of the Three Masters. Below there was a stele bearing the imperial portrait of Emperor Ming, a portrait stele of Tang Emperor Ming. The rock where the water fell had been cut into a hexagonal pool about three or four chi across to collect the water. Above there was no spring mouth and no inflowing stream, yet at the appointed times water would hang down from the air and fall with the force of a torrential rainstorm. When someone lit incense and, holding a censer, prayed to draw the water, the water would sprinkle down following the censer from the east or the west, moving within a few paces.

In the jihai year of the Qianfu era, when Zongxuan Abbey had not yet been repaired, the water still behaved as usual. Later, a monk named Feifu privately occupied the building that housed the true stele of Emperor Ming, attempting to seize this sacred site and build a Buddhist monastery. The water then ceased for more than half a year. Afterward the monk was disturbed by flying stones and plagued by snakes and insects, so that he had to flee beyond the mountains. When County Magistrate Cui Zhenggui entered the mountains to perform the autumn Zhaijiao, he heard the local people tell of this matter. He then cleared the grass and trees around the pool, burned incense, and prayed, and the water descended again; to this day it has not ceased.

The Miraculous Efficacy of Dingdong Water at Gegui Hua

The Gegui area is surrounded by mountains; to the left and right of the cliffs are many caves. The terrain is deep and secluded, the scenery beautiful, far surpassing other ridges; hence there are twenty-four peaks and eighty-one caves. Below the abbey there is a stream spring, deep at the bottom of the valley, and drawing water is very inconvenient.

From the temple going west, after crossing fifteen steps of cliffside stone stairs, beneath a huge rock lies Dingdong Water, which drips from the cliff face and falls into a hollowed stone hole. Even after days of rain, the water does not increase; even in long drought, it does not dry up. If someone pollutes the water, it immediately becomes exhausted.

During the Zhonghe era, Prefect An Jinshan, by imperial decree, performed the Toulong, or Casting the Dragon, ritual—a Daoist rite in which golden dragons bearing prayers and other objects are cast into water. More than three hundred commandery and county officials and attendants went together. Someone inadvertently polluted this water source, and the water quickly dried up. An and the Daoist priests were greatly worried; at night they came to the spring, bowed respectfully, and burned incense in prayer.

Only after long and sincere prayer did the spring water finally come trickling down. Even though many cavalrymen were traveling with him, there was enough water drawn for them all to drink.

Every year on the third day of the third month, when the silkworm market opened, more than ten thousand people came and lodged in the mountains. Apart from what was needed for food and drink, the well water always remained in surplus.

The Miraculous Efficacy of the Nine Wells at Xuanyuan Abbey in Changli Hua, Jintang County

In front of Xuanyuan Hall in the southern courtyard of Xuanyuan Abbey in Changli Hua, Jintang County, there are nine wells. The wells lie on flat ground and are only one or two chi deep; some are square and some round, the large ones five or six chi wide and the small ones three or two chi wide. The wells are separated by only a few paces, and their spring veins communicate with one another, yet the color of the water differs from well to well. The water is sweet and fragrant, belonging to the category of sweet springs. Whether there is drought or increased rain, the well water shows no marked change; its surface always stays level with the well rims, neither drying up nor overflowing.

In the year the King of Shu campaigned against Eastern Sichuan, troops from Qi and Long came to assist; pressing their advantage, they advanced deep and reached the banks of the Jintang River. It happened that the river suddenly rose and thunderstorms were unseasonal, so the army could not cross; frightened, they fled. It was high summer, and more than ten scout cavalry entered Changli Hua. Delighted to see the well water, they tethered their horses and took off their clothes, preparing to climb down into the wells to bathe. Suddenly a great snake, trailing a horse hobble, leapt out from the large well. Its head was like that of a white tiger, and its body was as thick as a cart axle; it spewed poisonous vapor and seemed about to devour them. At this sight the cavalry fled in panic.

In addition, every year on the third day of the third month, when the silkworm market opened, people from near and far would go to the wells to pray for offspring. According to tradition, if one touched a stone in the well, one would bear a boy; if one touched tile fragments, one would bear a girl. From ancient times to the present, people have regarded this as efficacious. The phrase “praying for offspring” here means praying at the wellside and using the object touched in the well as a divinatory sign.

The Miraculous Efficacy of Lord Yin’s Cave on Xiandu Mountain

When Lord Yin of Xiandu Mountain was about to ascend to Heaven, he said to his disciple Liu Xuanyuan: “This mountain’s lone peak rises high, and its form is like a coiled dragon, with the dragon’s head facing east. It will surely exhale cloud vapor to carry me up to Heaven.” No sooner had he spoken than five-colored clouds welled up from the ground. After Lord Yin rode the clouds and ascended, the place where the cloud vapor had risen opened up and formed a cave. When people prayed in the cave for rain or for drought to end, they often quickly received a response.

On the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the ninth year of the Dali era of the Tang, A-Wu, daughter of the local resident Yuwen Wannian, and fourteen others took advantage of the Yuan Festival to bring incense and flowers to the cave mouth and pay homage. Suddenly they saw waves surging within the cave, and a golden hand and a jade hand stretched out, each the size of a fan; after a long while the hands disappeared, and the waves vanished with them.

In the first year of the Changqing era, Fu Xiang of Jiangling heard a thunderous roar coming from the cave. In the early years of the Xiantong era, the Daoist priest Wang Fang…

Lingzhi (zhi grass), within the cave, heard a sound like a flock of birds flying past; a wondrous fragrance hung thick and filled the air, spreading over the entire mountaintop.

The local people often prognosticated the year’s harvest by omens: when the immortal crane flew, it foretold a year of abundance; when the deer called, it foretold a year of poor harvest. Ordinary birds did not roost here; often two crows would appear. In the Xinchou year of the Tang, the prefect Chen Guang built a Daochang (a site for conducting religious ceremonies such as Zhaijiao), and auspicious clouds, heavenly music, and other auspicious signs appeared; the imperial court issued an edict praising him. In the Jia Chen year of the Zhonghe era of the Tang, the court bestowed a purple robe upon the Great Virtue Cao Yong. Cao Yong, in accordance with the edict, conducted a Zhaijiao (purification ritual involving altars, sacrifices, and prayers for blessings), and auspicious clouds and auspicious snow appeared.

At that time the Huanglu Daochang (a Daoist Zhaijiao centered on the Huanglu Keyi liturgy) had already concluded, but the ritual arena had not yet been dismantled. Near the menzhuan (a marker or ritual implement placed at the gate of the ritual arena), a divine being appeared and said: “When a Zhaijiao is held at the sacred mountain, divine officials must certainly be appointed to take charge. I am the god of the nearby temple, sent to guard the ritual arena. The merit of the Zhaijiao is now complete, but the menzhuan has not yet been removed, so I dare not return to my own temple without authorization.” When the assembled Daoists heard him out and then saw further prodigies, they immediately removed the menzhuan. That deity revealed his form, thanked them in shame, and departed. Since ancient times, the miraculous and numinous signs manifested on this mountain have been exceedingly conspicuous and widely circulated; they cannot be recorded one by one.

The Miraculous Efficacy of the Stone Casket of Perfected Yin at the Eastern Abbey in Jiazhou

More than ten li east of Jiazhou there was an Eastern Abbey, situated among the mountains. In its hall was a stone casket, three chi long, its surface carved with birds, beasts, flowers, and plants, with fine and ingenious patterns approaching supernatural craftsmanship. The stone casket was sealed extremely securely, its seams so narrow as to be almost invisible.

It was transmitted that this was the stone casket of Perfected Yin Xi. When the Perfected One ascended to heaven, he entrusted the stone casket to his disciples and warned them: “Within the casket are Fulu (talismans and registers). Under no circumstances open it; whoever violates this prohibition will certainly suffer great calamity.” People of the nearby commanderies all revered this stone casket.

During the Dali era of the Tang, a man of Qinghe, Governor Cui, served as governor. Relying on his own firmness and decisiveness, when he heard that there was a stone casket of Perfected Yin Xi, he laughed and said to his subordinate officials: “The fraud of Xin Tanping—now it has been exposed.” He immediately went to the Eastern Abbey to inspect the stone casket and ordered men to smash the lock. A Daoist priest advised him, saying: “The instruction left by the Perfected One is that whoever opens the stone casket will certainly suffer great calamity. I hope you will not violate the agreement of the immortal officials.”

Governor Cui became angry and said: “Yin Xi has been dead for nearly a thousand years; how could he still have left a stone casket?” He urged the men to smash the lock, but the lock was so sturdy that it could not be opened. Thereupon he had thick ropes tied around the lug of the stone casket, called for several oxen to pull it, and waved a whip to drive them on. After pulling for half a day, the stone casket finally opened. Inside were only several dozen scrolls of Fulu; the sheets were of yellow silk, and the writing in cinnabar was bright as new. After Governor Cui finished looking, he said to the Daoist priests: “I previously thought the casket contained rare treasures, and so I opened it to inspect them; now…” The original text breaks off here.

Only the Fulu (Daoist talismanic writings and documents used for prayer and sacrifice, summoning deities and dispatching ghosts) remained. Thereupon he ordered people to seal the stone casket as before.

Mr. Cui returned to the prefecture. That night he suddenly died and revived three days later. Officials and subordinates came to pay their respects and offer congratulations. Mr. Cui said to everyone, “I was truly foolish and had never known of the affairs of immortals.” Soon afterward, the Perfected Person Yin whom he had seen when the stone casket was opened sent an underworld clerk dressed in purple, who came straight to the door of his bedchamber and said, “I am an underworld clerk, ordered to summon you. You cannot refuse; if you refuse, disaster will be even greater.”

At first Mr. Cui was terrified, and before he knew it he had followed the clerk away. After they had gone more than fifty li from the prefectural city, they arrived at an official office. The underworld official there was none other than Mr. Cui’s old friend Lü Gongyin. Lü Gongyin said to him, “Did you open the stone casket of the Perfected Person Yin? Now, by order of the Lord on High (Shangdi), your official rank and lifespan are to be reduced. What do you think should be done?” He then summoned a clerk to check Mr. Cui’s register. The clerk said, “Mr. Cui originally had five official appointments and fifteen years of life. Now, by order of the Lord on High, five official appointments and thirteen years are to be cut, leaving only two years of life.”

Thereupon the underworld official permitted Mr. Cui to return to the world of the living. Since Mr. Cui and Lü Gongyin were close friends, he wept and begged him, saying, “My offense truly cannot be escaped, and the Lord on High’s punishment is not something that can be remitted by three pardons. This fault was brought on by myself; I am willing to accept the punishment—what more can I say? Only, old friend, can you save me?” Lü Gongyin said, “The reduction of your lifespan and official posts cannot be avoided. I will plead for you to be granted one more year, give you a temporary acting post, and make your salary a little more generous—this will count as answering your request.”

After Mr. Cui bowed in thanks, the underworld clerk led him back to the prefectural office. He saw his own body lying on the couch, with his wife and children gathered around weeping. The envoy ordered him to bow his head and look at the corpse; his soul immediately reunited with his body, and he revived. His family told him that he had been dead for three days.

The prefecture reported the matter to the Surveillance Commissioner (the official who supervised local officials). Mr. Cui immediately packed his belongings, moved his whole family to Chengdu, and recounted the whole experience in detail to the Jiedushi (military commissioner) Cui Ning. Cui Ning arranged for him to serve as acting deputy commissioner and gave him a monthly salary of two hundred thousand cash. Sure enough, two years later Mr. Cui died.

The Female Immortal Lu Miaodian of Mount Jiuyi: The Efficacy of the Stone Basin and Iron Mortar

Mount Jiuyi is the place where the female immortal Lu Miaodian attained the Dao. Lu Miaodian cultivated in the mountains and later gradually moved from near the mountain gate to higher, deeper, and more secluded places. Each time she stayed somewhere, she set up a bed at the foot of a mountain; the traces she left still remain. Lu Miaodian first lived at the Wuwei Abbey north of the mountain, about two or three li from the Residence of Marquis He and the Altar of Shun; later, she went to live at the first mountain foot where she had set up a bed.

Going north, five li from the Shun Altar, there is an ancient mirror three chi wide.

Going farther up to the couch site at the foot of the second mountain, then continuing due north up the mountain for thirty li, there is a stone basin three chi wide and four chi long. The basin naturally holds divine water: in rain it does not overflow, in drought it does not diminish, and when drawn for drinking it does not run dry. There is also an iron mortar weighing two hundred and fifty jin. The magistrate of Yantang County, Wang Ao, sent men to seize this medicine mortar by force. Before it had even reached the county seat, more than twenty people in Wang Ao’s household died in succession within two or three days. The medicine mortar is now kept in Lushan Temple in Tanzhou. If anyone in the temple offends it, they often become gravely ill; it is very efficacious.

Imperial Preface by Emperor Zhenzong to the Wondrous Scripture of the Celestial Youth for Protecting Life

The root of the mysterious is difficult to exhaust, while the Dao of ultimate truth is skilled in responding to things. The Dao that can be spoken is not the constant, unchanging true Dao; though the Dao is Wuwei (non-action), there is nothing it does not accomplish. Therefore the court issues precious teachings in precious bamboo slips and jade caskets. Cloud-patterned chapters and phoenix-shaped seal characters are all used to expound the secretly transmitted scriptures, to set forth the standards of cultivation, and to describe the creative transformations of heaven and earth. These scriptures can proclaim broad benefits, assist the operations of heaven and earth, and serve as guides urging people toward goodness; they are the tools by which the Daoist gate enlightens the mind and helps people understand the Dao.

I have received Heaven’s mandate to govern the realm and nurture the people, and I wish to spread the true teachings widely and secretly aid sentient beings. Therefore, the Tiantong Huming Jing, as esoteric words transmitted by Taiqing and a true talisman of the Golden Portal, the abode of the Heavenly Emperor, has long been verified and has already been recorded in other Daoist texts. If one can cleanse one’s thoughts, recite it sincerely, and uphold it with focused devotion, one may expel epidemics and malevolent influences and move toward peace and long life. Its effect is like Fuxi’s trigrams secretly assisting the divine, and like Yu the Great’s precious cauldron eliminating demonic disasters, keeping people free from the harassment of ghosts and specters, lessening various calamities, and gathering many blessings. Therefore I have ordered this scripture copied and promulgated, clearly titled it, and arranged its text, hoping that all under Heaven may share peace and vitality.

Record of Numinous Efficacy of the Supreme Tiantong Scripture

Inside the west gate of Yizhou, on Shisun Street, there lived a commoner named Li Wanshou, over fifty years old. In the third month of the first year of Jingfu, the Renzi year, when war broke out, all the city gates were shut, the family’s wealth was exhausted, and more than twenty of his relatives met with disaster. Only Li Wanshou remained, impoverished and worn. After the city gates opened that month, he set out for Hanzhou to seek refuge with relatives and friends. When he reached Xindu County, feeling that it was still early, he continued on his way. Toward dusk, he could find no place to rest. In the distance, at the foot of West Mountain beyond a bridge, he saw what seemed to be a dwelling. There was a thatched hut surrounded by a garden, with tall trees rising around it. Li Wanshou went to the door and knocked for a long time…

They could only faintly hear gusts of fragrant wind pass by; when they awoke, they found themselves inside an earthen cave, and looking up, they saw the sky reflected above.

Jiaoran hurried to the jar and in alarm told Wanshou what had happened. The two followed the fragrance out of the cave. As the sky gradually brightened, they realized they were deep inside an ancient tomb. They stared at each other, frightened at heart.

Wanshou then took the woman to Xindu County and found her family home. Her parents and clanspeople gathered together, both sorrowful and joyful, and asked about what she had experienced during this time. When people near and far heard of the matter, they all spread the story and marveled.

The woman’s family gave Wanshou one hundred thousand cash and an estate. Wanshou thereupon left the household and entered the Dao at Yanzhen Abbey. The woman’s father, Wang Wanhui, received the Tiantong Jing (Scripture of the Heavenly Child) from Wanshou and entered the Dao at Yuhuang Abbey.