《太平經》Vol. 102

Taiping Jing, Scroll 102 (or Scroll 103, in some editions)

“Instruction Nine: The Divine Person’s Preface on Revealing the Book, the Diagram, and the Rules for Vestments,” No. 165

I began studying when I was young. I never let my attention flag, but kept my thoughts on the Dao at all times, often moved to tears. I had long been building up my commitment to this, and, through the great kindness of August Heaven, I was fortunate today to meet a Celestial Master’s attendant in the wilderness. Only then did I begin to study the Dao. To ask only about trivial matters would be to indulge in superficiality. My true purpose was to seek the method of “guarding the One and nourishing one’s nature,” of which there are three hundred verses.

Later, I had the chance to hear the Celestial Master expound the Dao. Its meaning was deep and boundless, so I dared to ask whether the body could endure in the world for a long time. Seeing that the Master’s teaching was limitless, I then dared to ask about smaller matters of human affairs and government. Seeing again that the Master’s teaching was without end, I dared to ask in detail: Since Heaven and Earth first came into being, emperors have succeeded one another, while grief, calamities, and strange portents have continued without cease. How can they be dispelled? And why do the various spirits harm people without cause, preventing them from living out their full natural span? How can this be stopped?

Now, having received the Celestial Master’s stern instruction and grave warning, when should this book—which can halt deceit and falsehood and bring the Dao of Heaven and Earth to flourishing—be made public? It should be revealed in the Yisi year and entrusted to a “postal messenger” to carry and circulate. In later generations, it should be revealed again whenever a Xuánjiǎ year comes. This is the first of the Jia years, the highest cycle, corresponding to the beginning of primordial Qi. The documents from before and after should be entrusted to the state, so that they may resolve the cycle of calamity borne by each succeeding generation since Heaven and Earth first arose.

What wording should be used as instruction when handing it on? The text should be built up layer by layer, and only you yourself should know its full meaning. Do not let it be disclosed: this is the first Dao of harmony between Heaven and Earth. It is to be entrusted to those capable of carrying it onward, who should distinguish and explain it together. When the Xuánjiǎ year comes, if people throughout the realm are restless and seem to be seeking this book, make “guarding the One” and matters of superficiality the prerequisites before handing it on. It has already been entrusted to postal messengers and practitioners of the arts of the Dao, who are to carry it onward. What is meant by a ruler of supreme De above? The one who obtains it, safeguards it, and puts it into practice is such a person; one who does not understand it yet puts it into practice is not. The perfected person must not reveal it prematurely, or Heaven’s might may bring down its wrath and kill people. My warning is all here. Therefore, take care with every word, and revere and fear Heaven’s clear pronouncement.

Today the Celestial Master has instructed and commanded this foolish disciple. My heart is uneasy and reverent, yet I seem gradually to be gaining understanding and would not dare betray the teaching. I sincerely ask: How should the divine garments in the illustrations be drawn? They should all model the forms of Heaven and follow its laws, rather than worldly custom.

Plain Language Interpretation

(Disciple asks) People today who do not understand the Way of Heaven design patterns for their clothes as they please. The colors of these garments should be arranged according to the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water): five layers on the outside symbolize the Qi of the Five Phases joining together; four layers beneath symbolize the cycle of the four seasons, each giving rise to the next; three layers symbolize parents and children, and the harmony of Yin-Yang; two layers symbolize the Qi of ruler and minister responding to one another; and six layers of mixed colors symbolize the colors of the six directions blended together. That is why all kinds of mixed colors exist in the world. How well put! Go now, and carefully draw the secret patterns.

(Disciple) I am dull-witted and lowly. For a long time, I have been blessed to follow the Celestial Master in study, and I have asked about everything. I would like to ask one more question.

(Celestial Master) Go ahead. What is your question?

(Disciple) Since Heaven and Earth were first formed, different texts have appeared at different times, and their number has steadily grown. The River Chart and Luo Writing (Hetu and Luoshu, ancient arcane diagrams and prophetic texts) have also appeared. Why did this book emerge without relying on them?

(Celestial Master) A good question! Heaven has prompted you to ask this; you have grasped the point. Heaven has now charged me with taking full responsibility for the “burden passed down” (chengfu) of rulers and people. There are too many texts accumulating, so it would be impossible for them all to appear through the River Chart and Luo Writing. Those texts contain so much that it is difficult to discern it all through divination, so Heaven has used people to transmit them. Heaven knows me well and has made me its spokesperson. You too have managed to ask a crucial question, so Heaven has in turn made you and me co-transmitters of its essential words. You should also recognize for yourself that you have not yet attained the Dao. Why should a true person of the heart come here? Yet now you are ignorant and obscured, unable to recognize this.

(The section to the right: Questions about concealing and preserving, producing diagrams, designing clothes, ranks in the texts, and illness caused by the transmission of texts being cut off—the 166th teaching)

(Disciple) I have come to study and ask questions on Heaven’s behalf, and the Celestial Master has instructed me. I would like to hear the teaching: how can it be made clear?

(Celestial Master) How can what be made clear? What do you mean?

(Disciple) When a virtuous ruler obtains my book, understands it in his heart, puts it into practice, and consults with the worthy to transform the people, he will surely establish a responsive accord with Heaven—this is the proof. My Dao teaches through admonitions…

Note: This passage concerns concepts such as “burden passed down” (chengfu) and “concealing and preserving” in the Taiping Jing. It touches on early Celestial Master Daoist proselytizing, the validation of texts, and ritual practices involving garments and prophetic diagrams. The original text is fragmentary, and some punctuation follows commonly used critical editions.

A Vernacular Interpretation of the Taiping Jing

The disciple replied again and again, “Yes, yes. I am dull-witted, and often troubled…”

The Celestial Master said, “It is not that the disciples are unwilling to ask more; they simply have no way of knowing. I have held this body of learning for a long time, but have never had anyone with whom I could discuss it, so I have been unable to pass it on at the proper time. Now people cannot even tell black from white. The fault is mine. Today I can transmit the Dao to a perfected person, and you ask with such sincerity. I am overjoyed, overjoyed! It is just like climbing a high terrace in spring and stepping outside to see the sky—nothing could be more delightful! Heaven’s resentment has gathered, and great illnesses and calamities keep occurring. My heart has been stifled and heavy. To be able to speak with you brings me such joy.”

The disciple asked, “Why does the Celestial Master not go down in person to transmit the teaching?”

The Celestial Master replied, “Our ranks do not permit it. My office and duties are in Heaven; the perfected person’s office and duties are on Earth. Earth gives birth to the myriad things, so what Heaven brings forth must be nurtured by Earth. That is why I transmit the Dao to the perfected person. Earth gives birth to rulers, the people, and twelve thousand kinds of things. They all receive Yang Qi and come into being from Yin Qi. So you can pass the Dao on to others. Good, good!”

The foolish student—a name the disciple used for himself—was greatly astonished. “If I had not pressed so hard, the Celestial Master would have had no way of knowing that I could receive such a response. I only dared to ask this further question because I had doubts in my heart.”

The Celestial Master said, “Good! This is what we call a person among the people who understands affairs. It is not entirely your own doing. Heaven truly gave you a mind that enabled you to speak these words. Now people are blocked and ignorant, and do not know themselves. Today you have been made to recognize and understand yourself clearly, like the light of the sun and moon. If you think my words are not trustworthy—Heaven may wish to express something, but it does not speak directly with people, so it is difficult for them to know. My book receives Heaven’s commands and makes them clear as painted lines. If you reject it, secretly hide it away, seal up my text, and fail to make it public at the proper time, Heaven will send illness upon you and punish you. If someone obstructs you and you still do not make it public, your danger will be even greater. Heaven has brought you here to learn and to serve as proof, so that the perfected person can pass this teaching on. It is truly trustworthy. Good, good! The perfected person must be especially cautious.”

The disciple replied, “Yes, yes. Today the Celestial Master’s office is in Heaven, and since there is no other way, I would like to ask about one more doubt. May I speak? In all matters of Heaven, do Heaven’s messengers come to transmit them? Are the Celestial Master and I the only ones?”

The Celestial Master said, “Ah, you are becoming more foolish! How do you not know that all things under Heaven are Heaven’s messengers? Each keeps to its own duty, and together they complete the Way of Heaven. If even one thing is incomplete, then some part of the Way of Heaven is incomplete. How can you still not understand this principle? How confused—and how serious!”

Foolish and unenlightened people could not understand at first, but after receiving the Celestial Master’s explanation, everything became clear. The disciples, too, should be able to understand and put these teachings into practice. Everyone must make a concerted effort. Each person has their own proper duty and has been sent by Heaven to attend to the affairs of the myriad things. No one dares to labor alone: everything already follows its natural order, so no one dares to act recklessly or depart on their own authority.

The key corresponding to the number of sections in this passage of the scripture is 167.

This is the beginning of the heavenly numbers. Before Heaven and Earth separated, the gathered Qi formed a single whole. When it divided in two, Yin and Yang became husband and wife. Heaven bestowed Qi upon Earth, and Earth nurtured the myriad things in the depths below. Taking “Zi” as the first of the sexagenary cycle, the roots take hold in the northeast. During Chou and Yin, shoots emerge and finish growing in Mao, then life begins in the southeast. During Chen and Si, branches hang toward the south and grow strong in Wu. They age in Wei and Shen in the southwest, come to maturity in the west, and finish their course as the sun sets in You. They are stored in the northwest during Xu and Hai. Thus the count begins at one and ends at ten. Ten is the beginning of the ten Heavenly Stems and the foundation of the Five Phases. Multiplying one by ten gives one hundred, completing the count. Hence Heaven’s inner embryo reaches fullness after one hundred days and comes to completion. The Dipper’s handle therefore points to Chen for establishment and to Xu for dissolution. “Establishment” means setting things in place: the myriad things complete their lives there. “Dissolution” means decline: the myriad things complete their deaths at Xu. The numbers follow the eight directions of Heaven and Earth and are made complete by ten. Yin and Yang cycle through establishment and dissolution in this way, returning to their source and following the direction of the Dipper to make things clear. This book follows the Dao of Heaven in order to dispel harmful Qi.

The Right-Side Questions to the Celestial Master: On the Text, Verification, and Clarifying the Essential Teachings

Taiping Jing, Volume 102