《太平經》Vol. 117

Heaven delights in obtaining good people, who harmonize wind and rain and nurture the growth of the ten thousand things; therefore it sent me down to the lower realm to seek such people. I entrusted this text to the Perfected One, instructing him to give it to those who are cautious and keep to the Way, and then present it to the Lord of Virtue who governs the fire essence above, so that he may display it to the people under heaven and enable all to share in understanding the words in the book. I ask the Perfected One to guard it carefully and not let the transmission cease.

The Perfected One asked: “In my ignorance I thought that heaven is already boundless without limit—must it still unite with the great earth below?” The reply was: “Well asked. Though heaven is lofty and without limit, it too has within itself the two kinds of qi, yin and yang; only when yin and yang unite can the ten thousand things be generated.”

The reason heaven so delights in obtaining good people is that they can accord with yin and yang, regulate wind and rain, and nurture the growth of the ten thousand things. Since heaven and earth first opened up, those who truly do good and accord with heaven’s intent have been few—a matter that has long troubled heaven above. If heaven wishes to find such people, why does it not create them itself, but instead seeks them among humankind? Because heaven and earth generate the ten thousand things through the union of yin and yang; what yang qi begets must be nurtured within yin. Human beings also contain yin and yang qi and must grow through the nourishment of earth and spring water—thus people are born from the great earth. Customs differ in the five directions, and people across the lands under heaven vary slightly; among the myriad twelve thousand states, the people of each place are not entirely the same.

Human nature also has different levels: the finest essence returns to heaven and becomes sun, moon, and stars; the middle returns to humanity, enabling people to take up affairs, accord with yin and yang, and govern the ten thousand things; the lower returns to earth, enabling people to walk and engage in labor. This is why heaven seeks good people among the human world.

Below (on Earth), too, there is a state that accords with nature. Earth moves downward of its own accord; where could it end? Yin and Yang also join in pairs of their own accord: one Yin and one Yang, extending endlessly above and below, spreading without limit in every direction. The Great Dao takes this as its nature, and the law of Heaven follows it as its constant rule; both turn on the pivot of one Yin and one Yang. This is the law of the Great Spirit’s naturalness. The governance of the Limitless moves in cycles, returning to its beginning without end. If you wish to become a Perfected One, distinguish clearly between the One and the Two. The Perfected One brings them together without needing to know every detail. So I will briefly give my disciples one example: show its beginning and set out its main outline, so that you may reflect and derive its principles for yourselves, and so that the worthy and the sages throughout Heaven and Earth may take delight in them. Do you understand? The disciples replied, “Yes. We wish to hear your teaching.” The Master said, “Very well. Carefully record my words in the teaching I give you, then rest.” They replied, “Yes.”

Admonition Against Four People Who Insult the Dao and Bring Heaven’s Punishment (208)

What is the name of a great evil condemned by Heaven today? It is called “Heaven’s Punishment.” You Perfected Ones have studied the practice of the Dao for a long time; surely you understand this deeply by now. What is it that foolish students fail to grasp? I wish to hear.

Indeed, in every age, all who follow the Dao have been held up by August Heaven as a model and praised as the best. The Dao stands above all, encompasses what has no outward boundary, has nothing within it, comes forth through no gap, and enters through no opening. It is the teacher of everything under Heaven, the source of life and the head of all things. It is what the sages and worthy people of every age have attained. Today, emperors receive Heaven’s favor so they may bring peace to themselves and serve as parents to the people. All transformation begins from it. Do you understand this, Perfected Ones? They replied, “Yes.”

The Dao is Heaven itself: pure and bright, it does not wish to be defiled or insulted. Yet those who now study the Dao all engage in conduct that amounts to the “Four Destructions.” Together, they defile the divine Dao of August Heaven and disrupt Earth’s order. They cannot serve as the source of transformation, as models for teachers, or as parents to the people. Together, they destroy Heaven’s precious vessel and the very name by which all things under Heaven are known; they become children of great rebellion. You live on Earth. If you do not follow Heaven above as your model, then what can you follow as your model?

If you wish to know the truth of this: suppose a petty person living among the people fails to follow the proper model. Would such a person be permitted to follow it before the emperor? If those below do not follow the proper model, how could Heaven above instead accept them as models to be followed? The text continues: “...”

Note: This passage belongs to the admonitory style of the Taiping Jing. The “Four Destructions” generally correspond to the acts of insult against the Dao listed later in the text. The scripture is damaged here and contains corrupt characters; for example, “Heaven’s Punishment” is sometimes written as “Heaven’s Blame.” This rendering follows the interpretation found in commonly used editions.

This scripture passage primarily expounds the celestial realm's stern condemnation of four types of individuals who corrupt the true Dao. Though rulers should surround themselves with virtuous people, they instead harbor wicked followers. Therefore, Heaven clearly perceives how these individuals have deviated from the Dao and deliberately sends down calamities as punishment.

The text explicitly identifies four most grievous offenses: The first is failing in filial piety toward one's parents; the second is disregarding one's inherent nature, resulting in the severance of lineage; the third is consuming defiled substances (referring to actions contrary to nature); and the fourth is becoming a beggar (indicating self-degradation). All four types defile the Heavenly Dao and are utterly unfit to serve as models for worldly instruction. Even if such individuals were to ascend to heaven by chance, celestial inspection would reveal their fundamentally corrupt nature, making them wholly incapable of fulfilling duties like harmonizing wind and rain or nurturing all beings.

The scripture emphasizes that genuine Dao cultivators should emulate the operational principles of the Heavenly Dao. Heaven treasures those practitioners whose conduct aligns with the Dao, just as earthly rulers prefer governing alongside virtuous people. If cultivators can avoid violating celestial prohibitions, they may truly attain the Dao and ascend to heaven, gaining divine favor.

Finally, the passage clarifies that the Dao serves as the supreme teacher of the August Heaven (the highest celestial authority) and constitutes the most precious treasure. Practitioners' behavior should mirror the Dao's natural perfection in governing cosmic operations. Even if someone accidentally attains celestial ascension, Heaven's discovery of their misconduct would still subject them to severe interrogation. This scripture aims to warn later generations of practitioners to scrupulously uphold the true path and avoid repeating these transgressions.

《The Taiping Jing》: A Plain-Language Interpretation

Filial piety is the foremost principle of moral instruction. Heaven is humanity’s teacher; one must not reverse the proper order and treat what should be honored and obeyed as a private possession to be kept and controlled.

Some people conceal and indulge wrongdoing, yet fail to uphold filial piety. How could Heaven grant such people long life or allow them to serve alongside it? If Heaven were to make rebellious children like these its masters, abandoning good people and employing the wicked, then since even people on earth would not employ them, how could Heaven do so? Therefore, among those who cultivate the Dao without filial piety, not one can attain Heaven. Even if they depart this world, most are deceived by evil spirits and treacherous ghosts. They eventually die in barren, deserted places, their bodies destroyed. Heaven responds to people as a shadow follows a form: how could evil deeds bring good fortune? Such cases have been rare throughout history.

Although the earthly ruler cultivates the Dao, many follow him over time, but few are truly delivered from this world. There are also few good people in Heaven with whom to serve, because most people’s conduct is wicked. Why does Heaven not kill them immediately, but instead let them go to barren places, to remote wilderness without the breath of life? It is because Qi gathers in many places between Heaven and Earth, where it can be stored and contained. This is called harmony between the center and the extremes, Zhonghe. Just as people who live in harmony can accommodate all things, they are able to survive for a little while.

Heaven’s ruler holds fast to clarity and purity, as though seated before the sovereign; it does not tolerate treachery and evil. Heaven does not govern alongside unfilial children, and neither does the human world. Heaven does not govern alongside children who fail to practice filial piety, just as a sage king does not govern alongside people who fail to do so. If even a sage king will not agree, would Heaven alone govern with them? The sages of antiquity refused to govern alongside them because they observed Heaven’s laws deeply and modeled their conduct on Heaven. When Heaven governs alongside the foolish, it is greatly displeased. How can we know this? When a human ruler governs alongside them, calamities and strange events arise, and foreign peoples repeatedly invade. These are signs that Heaven resents and detests the arrangement. What could be more in keeping with the rules of measurement and the terms of a written contract? Heaven sees people governing alongside them and already hates and loathes them; would Heaven itself agree to serve with them? What people detest, Heaven also detests; what people cherish, Heaven also cherishes deeply. The sages of antiquity understood Heaven’s intent profoundly and always modeled their conduct on Heaven, never daring to deviate by so much as the slightest amount.

This scripture primarily discusses the relationship between humans and heaven-earth, emphasizing the importance of aligning with the Dao of heaven. It states that those who can harmonize with the "heart of heaven" (the will of the Dao) will receive divine protection, while those who oppose it will invite great misfortune. If this applies to ordinary people, how much more so to the "chosen individuals" (those with spiritual potential) selected by heaven? These elect should work in unison with heaven, regulating their Qi (vital energy) and governing all things.

Heaven-earth functions like parents: heaven generates all things (acting as father), while earth nurtures them (as mother). Through the cycles of the sixty Jiazi (sexagenary calendar), twelve earthly branches, and the Bagua (Eight Trigrams), all things mutually regenerate, allowing the Dao of heaven to operate eternally. Yet today, some Dao practitioners defy heavenly principles, disregarding the natural laws of procreation—some even abandoning their spouses. Such acts gravely violate the Dao and must not be emulated.

Heaven is the sovereign of all things and the parent of humanity, serving as the model for sages and worthies. The scripture questions: How can one associate with those who defy the Dao and sever their lineage? Ancient sages avoided such people, knowing that proximity to them forfeits heaven's favor. Thus, heaven ensures that sages value the continuation of lineage and collectively reject those who transgress the Dao.

A Plain-Language Reading of the Taiping Jing (Scripture of Great Peace)

There is no such thing as a “good path after death.” Because sages deeply understand Heaven’s intent, they alone continually model themselves on the Dao of Heaven, never deviating by even the slightest degree—how much more so must Heaven itself do this?

Heaven has long been pure and still, while on earth there are few good people. So Heaven has caused me to descend and deliver weighty words and clear commands, so that foolish people in generations to come may understand for themselves: if Heaven appoints people of this sort, would it not be gathering those who have no future generations and whose family lines will end? If they behave this way, can they still ascend to Heaven? Would Heaven cherish people who leave no descendants and are poor at bringing life into the world? That is why they all die in places where neither plants nor trees grow, in barren soil, and in wilderness without people, each returning to the kind to which they belong.

You do not cherish life and go against Heaven’s intent, so you are cast into places where nothing is born. You delight in places without people, so you are sent into wilderness without people.

Ordinary people are ignorant and unaware, and claim they have already transcended the world—but they have not. I would not dare deceive a perfected person. I came down from Heaven myself to see. Compared with not coming down to see, it is like pointing out the sun to a blind person: people say you are deceiving them, then cover their mouths and laugh at you. That is how fools are. Perfected people must be cautious. This is what Heaven abhors, and so does the earth.

Good indeed, good indeed! A fool may live an entire life without ever seeing what is in Heaven. Once a perfected person awakens, they must strive to do good and follow my words: heal the ailments of Heaven and earth, and ease the distress of emperors and kings. When their merit and De are complete, they will ascend to Heaven and may go there to see for themselves. Then my words will have proved their great effect.

“Yes, yes. I dare not be negligent or delay; I dare not be careless.”

“You must be cautious. Do not be negligent or careless. Examine discouragement and idleness carefully, or your great allotment of life will be cut short.”

The fool is deeply afraid of Heaven’s authority, and sincerely accepts and puts its commands into practice. Good indeed, good indeed—you have grasped Heaven’s intent.

Heaven is pure and bright; the Dao is pure and clear. Heaven and the Dao occupy the highest place and establish laws for humanity. What is pure and bright delights in purity and brightness. Thus the Three Luminaries—the sun, moon, and stars—hang high in the sky, each joining with its own kind to take shape. Heaven’s form is like a bright mirror; it is also like a person’s two eyes, which see through everything and do not wish to look upon filth and disgrace. Even before a sage king, one must remain pure and bright, and must not wish to look upon filth and disgrace—for filth and disgrace bring the offense of destruction and death. Do you understand, perfected person?

“Yes, yes. It is fearsome indeed, fearsome indeed.”

Therefore, the human head and mouth resemble Heaven and do not wish to delight in seeing filth and disgrace; they always seek brightness and good things. So people throughout the world associate with filth, disgrace, and foul odors—while the good and kind should keep away from such things.

Note: This passage belongs to an early Daoist tradition of heavenly admonitions, moral retribution, and dialogue between the “perfected person” and the “fool.” It emphasizes that cherishing life and having future generations accord with Heaven’s intent, while cutting off life, preferring death, and claiming to have already transcended the world bring punishment. It also invokes the idea that “the head and mouth resemble Heaven” to urge people to keep their speech and conduct pure and clear. For comparison with the wording or variant readings of a particular edition, please specify the volume and page numbers.

A Plain-Language Interpretation of the Taiping Jing

Heaven sends down thunder and lightning to seize and punish such people. The Perfected Ones—those who have attained the Dao and understand it—know that these forces come in response to grave rebellion and evil. Alas, ignorant living beings are deeply afraid.

Since the great age, the middle age, and ancient times, some people have claimed to practice goodness and set themselves apart from ordinary people. Yet those who study the Dao have often passed on practices such as eating feces and drinking urine, calling those who do so “simple and upright good people.” The Way of Heaven and Heaven itself detest this behavior intensely, calling its practitioners children of great rebellion: Heaven no longer wishes to see their faces. This is the work of great邪 spirits possessing them, transformed from the vital energies of pigs and dogs.

The Dao gives birth to and transforms Heaven, and Heaven takes the Dao as its guiding principle. The correct Dao is the teacher of all things, used to promote goodness and eliminate evil. Thus, when the sage kings of antiquity rose to power, they took the Dao as their teacher, received its guidance and wisdom, and taught and transformed the people. They honored their teacher because he knew Heaven’s intentions and modeled his conduct on Heaven. Heaven, too, honors those who practice goodness through the Dao, saying that they can harmonize the forces of the air, follow the four seasons, embody the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), regulate wind and rain, and aid the radiance of the sun, moon, and stars, helping all things flourish. How, then, can people who eat feces and drink urine serve as teachers? They are unworthy even to be teachers on earth; branded as children of rebellion, how could they presume to become teachers of Heaven? Such petty people are profoundly ignorant and deeply profane the Way of Heaven.

By examining the meaning of the text, the Perfected Ones can understand this: what people on earth detest, Heaven also detests; what Heaven detests, people on earth detest as well. People on earth loathe eating feces and drinking urine, and Heaven loathes it too, so it sends down thunder and lightning to strike them dead. These words are chiefly meant to instruct people on earth. Heaven’s hatred is even greater: if people on earth already detest this conduct, how could Heaven accept it? Heaven is clear and pure. How could it take in and keep people who eat feces and drink urine?

Even if someone happens by chance upon the opportunity to attain the Dao, they still cannot ascend to Heaven. Most will die in places of fivefold ruin, severed breath, and ill fortune, their deaths following the course of their conduct and making their crimes plain. Each will go where they belong; the judgment is sought and given without deception. If a person’s allotted years of good deeds are complete, they must be cautious, and cautious again, to set an example for those who come after. When the Peaceful Qi of the Sovereign Above the Caverns arrives—the Qi of a peaceful age—this evil conduct will not be tolerated, and anyone who commits it will surely die. The matter is perfectly clear. How frightening! How frightening! The Perfected Ones know this and feel fear; that is the proper response.

Awareness means this: if disciples follow along in a muddled way without true understanding, they are guilty in the same way as those who knowingly break the rules, and their guilt is hard to wipe away.

The disciple repeatedly assented and dared not disobey. The nature of the Supreme Sovereign Heaven is always inclined to give and bestow; therefore it governs granting, growth, and outward outpouring, and does not govern swallowing up, submission, or forced compliance. To subjugate by force is to go against the grain; hence the Way of Heaven cannot be coerced or seized by violence—such coercion brings people to ruin. Heaven presides over goodness and clarity and takes no pleasure in seeing things drowned, defiled, and humiliated. Heaven and the Dao are called “supreme”; emperors model themselves on Heaven in their rule and are styled supreme rulers. They dare not deviate from Heaven’s conduct by the slightest measure—if they do not, it is auspicious; if they do, great misfortune follows.

Those who study the Way today in order to attain long life should purely take Heaven as their model. Heaven loves life; therefore those who seek long life should purely guard the “primordial breath of life,” and their conduct should follow the intent of the Way of Heaven. Earth, by contrast, governs humiliation and killing and governs storing and receiving; one should not act according to Earth’s bent. The Dao is the root of the great transformation and the teacher and elder of the great transformation; nothing under Heaven fails to take it as a pattern and thereby come into being. Yet today petty, foolish people wish to practice the Dao and instead bring no benefit to the people; together they defile and insult the Way of Heaven—an extreme, formless perversity. Heaven calls them rebellious sons and greatly inauspicious persons and does not wish to look upon them. Why? Because the foolish are closed off in heart and mind and have not yet attained understanding.

(Heaven or the master:) “Excellent is your question, my child! Heaven bids me speak to you in detail—open your ears and listen: Do Heaven and the Dao dislike giving? They love life and love being honored—why then, for heterodox ends, not cast divination, prescribe medicine, or send spirits to cure people’s illnesses and fix them in place? These three kinds of people may all be called teachers, yet they neither benefit the Way of Heaven nor dare defile and insult it. The Way of Heaven does not deceive people; one should always be utterly sincere. If one uses deception, afterward, day after day, misfortune and decline follow. As the Way of Heaven, it takes no joy in being drowned, defiled, and insulted, and does not seek profit from people—Heaven is supreme, and the Dao is still more honored; the Dao is the model and law of the Heavenly Sovereign and is loftier than Heaven. Therefore Heaven and the Dao preside over correction and are the leader in all affairs; thus they can harmonize yin and yang, regulate wind and rain, set right day and night, and array the ranks of beings. Between Heaven and Earth nothing fails to receive grace and mandate and to obtain its proper place.

Nowadays the foolish and base who pursue the Way turn instead to deception, insolence, and reckless folly.

A Plain-Language Interpretation of the Taiping Jing

These people together disrupt the Way of Heaven and ruin the order Heaven has brought forth and nurtured. Instead, they beg and ask others for things. They bring no benefit to the people, yet defile and dishonor the Way of Heaven. They claim outwardly to act for the people, but they cannot be taken as models to follow. Instead, they pass this way of life from one generation to the next, calling it the Dao: a way that makes people foolish, reckless, contemptuous, and deceitful, while leaving them disgraced and dependent on begging for a living. They even call this practice the Dao, naming it “the way of foolish, reckless beggars.” As a result, ordinary people all curse Heaven and scorn the Orthodox Way, cutting off the Great Transformation. Heaven deeply despises and loathes this way; it does not wish to see their traces in the heavens.

Now the righteous Qi of Heaven has greatly flourished. The sun, moon, and stars are aligned and shine anew. The Dao and Heaven should harmonize wind and rain, Yin-Yang, so that all things may each find their proper place. Yet those from earlier times who happened by chance to attain the Dao and ascend to Heaven found no official posts to take up there. When Heaven inquired about them, their faults were known, and they could not be employed. You remain on earth, where people still regard you as foolish, reckless beggars, unfit to serve as teachers to emperors. How, then, could you be fit to teach those in Heaven? Heaven loathes them, and the Great Dao has fallen into decline. The fault lies with people of old who learned from one another while abandoning the proper laws. Heaven is deeply troubled and grieved by this, and the Way of Heaven is blocked. Therefore, it has sent me down to discuss with the Perfected Ones and distinguish the gains and losses of the Dao, so that once people throughout the world awaken, they will understand Heaven’s intent, correct their conduct, change their minds, and no longer violate Heaven’s prohibitions. Only then can those who study the Dao succeed.

If they continue their old practices, Heaven will not accept them. In the end, they will return to the place of death: dying in a land of the Five Humiliations, surrendering their lives to soil tainted by the Five Defilements, in a desolate wilderness of foolishness and recklessness, without people or sheltering caves—above, no Three Luminaries; below, no good soil. Why is this so? One might wish to hear how grave their offenses are, and why they are not banished. The Way of Heaven takes law as its rule: each follows its own kind, and those below are brought low. If so, why not kill them at once, rather than let matters come to this? If Heaven meant to destroy them immediately, that person would still claim to seek long life and would have complete faith in it. If Heaven were to kill him, he would weep and cry to Heaven morning and night, claiming he had been terribly wronged, without understanding where his faults came from. Thus Heaven tests and examines such people, then casts them into the land of the Five Humiliations, the land of foolishness and recklessness, so they may come to understand for themselves. If you want to know the truth, it is like a wise king examining people’s faults and reproaching their wrongdoing, but refusing to kill them immediately; instead, he gives each person a penalty according to the gravity of their offense.

This scripture elucidates the karmic retribution between Heaven and Earth, and how human justice should emulate the Dao of Heaven.

In the human realm, penal systems are established where grave offenders are confined in major prisons and minor offenders in smaller ones. Through fair trials, criminals confess their crimes and submit to the law, so even if executed, they harbor no resentment. But if trials are incomplete or unjust, the condemned may die feeling wronged, carrying grievances to the grave—much like the people during the era of the Five Hegemons, many of whom perished with unfulfilled hatred.

The celestial court operates on the same principle. You who cultivate the Dao only fear calamities that threaten life, yet fail to guard against the roots of death. Remember my words: the punishments of Heaven’s Dao cannot be defied. Minor transgressions bring minor harm; major ones bring annihilation.

People today, ignorant and deluded, often cling to their own views as truth. But I have witnessed with my own eyes the infallible workings of the celestial order. I dare not deceive you, for deceiving mortals is trivial—what is truly fearsome is provoking Heaven’s wrath. I reiterate these truths repeatedly, fearing your stubbornness may lead you astray.

The affairs of Heaven are profound and inscrutable, hence scriptures descend continuously to illuminate the human world. Virtue on Earth begets celestial blessings; wickedness invites heavenly retribution. This is because the Qi of Heaven and Earth interconnects. The Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) resonate, and the celestial stems and earthly branches align—no matter the distance, all is interconnected. Benevolence below manifests as radiance above; malevolence summons ominous portents. Just as the Five Phases cycle through Earth, the Five Planets (Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Saturn) shift in the heavens—this is how Heaven warns humanity.

The Three Luminaries (sun, moon, stars) follow the same law: celestial and terrestrial phenomena mirror each other. When Heaven brightens, Earth is illuminated; when Heaven dims, darkness descends. The sixty Jiazi cycles and twelve earthly branches exist in Heaven as they do on Earth. The correspondence between celestial and terrestrial realms is precise and unfailing. Commit these truths to heart, withhold no wisdom, and impart them faithfully to seekers of the Dao.

A Plain-Language Interpretation of the Taiping Jing

(Opening passage) During purification, be careful and follow the scripture as your guide. Do not recite it from memory without consulting the text, or make things up as you go. The disciple replied, “Yes. I am ready to listen.”

The disciple asked: “Most High, since the middle antiquity, people who pass on the practice of the Dao have often told one another to leave home, abandon their parents, and forsake their wives and children. Many have also begged, pretended to be mad, deceived people, and even eaten excrement or drunk urine. Later students are often taught to do these things, and they all have teachers and methods behind them; this has not come from nowhere. Is my question a proper one?”

The Celestial Master said: “A good question. You have hit the heart of the matter. Why has Heaven prompted you to ask it? What skill lies in your words? Why ask about this? I have long found it strange, yet no one has ever raised the matter directly, and I have often felt troubled. Does Heaven truly intend for you to take charge of asking these questions? Very well. Listen closely, and I will explain.”

When Heaven first transmitted the true Dao, things were not as they are now. People then cared for their parents with filial devotion, continued their family lines, and established households. They kept a proper appearance, did not pretend to be mad, and did not eat excrement or drink urine. They put the Dao into practice and followed the middle path. The highest adepts served as teachers and advisers to emperors. People cared for one another from generation to generation and did not harm one another. In those times, as under the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, people acted according to the right Dao, helping one another rather than causing harm. Thus they could follow the right Dao without hiding things for their own advantage.

When the Three Kings brought disorder to the world and the Five Hegemons were about to rise, rulers, ministers, and common people began to deceive and slight one another. Some people then pretended to be mad, though they still feared being found out. Begging, eating excrement, and drinking urine were behaviors and ways of speaking born of hardship and destitution.

The Dao, too, has times of flourishing and decline, as seen in the eras of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the Three Kings, and the Five Hegemons. In later antiquity, what was often seen was “the way of hegemony”: begging, abandoning one’s parents, forsaking one’s wife, eating excrement, and drinking urine. These are signs that the Dao is in decline and the way of hegemony is rising.

Many among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors attained the Dao and ascended to Heaven. Some underwent corpse liberation; others departed in bodily form. The Three Kings relied on their allotted lifespans, while the Five Hegemons never attained the right Dao and all died in battle in the wilderness. Those in later antiquity who clung to this way of hegemony also often died in the wilderness. That is what this means.

I will not deceive a true adept: this, too, is “the hegemony of the Dao,” of the same kind as the rule of the hegemonic kings. How could it lead to ascension to Heaven?

The disciple said: “Excellent! My foolish heart has truly understood. I never imagined that the Dao, too, could have a ‘hegemony.’ Only through the Celestial Master’s explanation have I understood. It is indeed so.”

The Celestial Master said: “You may be called awakened. Now tell me: what should people who study the Dao do today?”

(Closing passage) Yet today the Dao of Heaven is fully complete… (The scripture does not continue here; the translation ends with the text provided.)

Note: In this passage, the Celestial Master distinguishes the true Dao of ancient times—filial care for parents, establishing a family, and serving in government by following the middle path—from the “way of hegemony” practiced in times of disorder, which involves leaving home, begging, and extreme asceticism. The latter is presented as a sign of the Dao’s decline, akin to the path of the Five Hegemons, and as a path that does not lead to ascension to Heaven. Terms such as corpse liberation and the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors are rendered according to their conventional meanings.

A Plain-Language Reading of the Taiping Jing (Scripture of Great Peace)

From now on, the state of the world is different from what it was in ancient times. If people try to cultivate by the “way of hegemony” from the Middle Ages, they will not attain the true Dao (the Way). Those who come to study the Dao must be alert and cautious: if you want to live long and cultivate according to this scripture of mine, even the slightest deviation can leave your life incomplete. Can the fundamentals of the Dao be neglected?

The “way of the sovereign” has now arisen, moving like a flame, and the path of hegemony has come to an end. Although Heaven is vast, it has its own ranks and order. It uses the scriptures to instruct ordinary people, so that all may understand together: those meant to be above should be above, those meant to be in the middle should be in the middle, and those meant to be below should be below. Let those above, in the middle, and below deliberate together. Why not look at who is sincere? Passing the words from mouth to mouth is like speaking with Heaven: “Good, good! The Qi (vital energy) of the seasons has become harmonious.”

How does the perfected person know? By seeing the Celestial Master (Tianshi), sent by Heaven itself, descend to deliver the message, they know that Heaven’s Qi has become balanced. “Good, good! You understand what I mean. I would still like to ask one or two more things, but I dare not say much—the matter of practicing the Dao.”

“From now on, how should people seek the Dao?” “They should seek it in a quiet room. They must not leave their parents behind or abandon their wives and children. Proceed step by step, and wait until the time comes to shut the door and cultivate alone. If your heart is still not upright, simply hiding away will do no good; it may even cost you your life. Each person should honestly reflect on their own actions and not let down Heaven or other people. You may deceive people, but you cannot deceive Heaven. And do not forget that others may do evil; use this rule to save yourselves. Those who dare not practice the Dao are evil people, seeking to deceive and falsify. Use these words to judge them, and you will not go wrong. If all who study the Dao act this way, cunning and deceit will disappear, and good will be clearly distinguished from evil. This is called ‘Heaven’s selection of worthy people’: the best may save the age, those in the middle may assist the emperor, and even the foolish and slow-witted at the bottom can live among the people as good sons who keep to their proper duties.”

The perfected person solemnly received these words: “Yes, yes. I would like to hear: after attaining the Dao by shutting the door, what does it mean to ‘depart’?”

“Once the Dao is attained, then depart. If it has not been attained, stay by your parents each day, care for your wife and children, and cultivate quietly, day by day. Gradually, you will come to understand your own intentions.” The worthy people deliberated together according to these words. “Yes, yes.”

Section note

The heading in the right column reads: “Heaven’s Selection of Worthy People; the Rise of the Dao; the End of the Hegemonic Way; Continuation of Life; People Changing Their Hearts; The End of Cunning and Deceit; Staying with Parents and Caring for Wife and Children.”