《上清靈寶大法(二)》Vol. 10

Volume Ten of The Great Lingbao Method of Highest Clarity (Shangqing Lingbao Dafa), Diagram One

Compiled by Jin Yunzhong, Lingbao ritual master of the Cavern of Mystery, law officer of the Southern Office, and assistant administrator of the Right Wing of the Tongchu Prefecture

On Seals and Seal Scripts in This Method

A “seal” signifies trust and serves as proof. It is used to seal objects and to formalize exchanges between people; it is also the credential held by those who govern. The Han-era Rituals of the Han Bureaucracy records that kings and marquises used a “jade seal,” marquises of the ranked nobility and officials with stipends of two thousand shi or more used a “seal tablet,” and everyone else used a “seal.” These were the regulations of the human world. In ancient times, when the Way flourished, humans and ghosts each kept to their proper place, and Yin and Yang did not intermingle or disrupt their order. Thus, the Way was practiced solely to cultivate the Real and refine one’s foundations, in hopes of ascending lightly to the heavens.

Since the medieval period, people have increasingly slighted the Real Way, and the orthodox path has grown ever more obscure. Heterodox and false teachings have vied with one another, and order above and below has repeatedly been overturned. Teachings were therefore promulgated to remedy these failings, memorials were submitted to convey sincere intentions, and seals and seal scripts were bestowed as tokens of trust. The use of seals thus came to resemble secular practice, reflecting how the workings of the Way change with the times. But seals whose names resemble those of worldly government offices should not be used. Nor should those whose written forms combine characters from ordinary secular seal scripts. Offices and ritual jurisdictions must not overstep their authority, and celestial departments of the Real should not add further complications beyond their proper duties. Such seals need not be used.

Since ancient times, the Great Lingbao Method has used only the seal of the Southern Office Under the Three Heavens’ Gate. In recent times, however, the true seal script has been lost, and the four characters “Under the Three Heavens’ Gate” should not be used in the human world. Yet removing these four characters leaves the seal incomplete. Therefore, in accordance with this method, only the seal of the Office of the Great Lingbao Method is used. Its inscription is a celestial seal in cloud script, a form of cloud-like writing used in heavenly talismans and registers. Though some of its six characters resemble familiar written forms, they cannot all be deciphered.

Although Tiantai has set this seal aside and does not use it, it has still been included in the method, with its design enlarged. Characters such as “Ling” and “Bao” are arranged according to the strokes shown, so that the lines are straight and evenly spaced. There are many kinds of ordinary seal script, and those who transmit this teaching use an inscription that differs from the orthodox model of the Middle Origin.

Now that one has advanced to the rank of the Cavern of Mystery, received the Central Alliance Registers, and practices the Lingbao Method, one’s office and responsibilities are weighty. Apart from submitting memorials, one uses the seal of the Office of the Great Lingbao Method on documents submitted above and on communications sent below: official notices, reports, petitions, dispatches, proclamations, and talismans and registers. It is used throughout the administrative offices of the Three Realms and the Ten Directions, the underworld offices of the nine provinces and four seas, the deep Yin regions beneath the nine layers of earth, the immortal administrations of the Cavern-Heavens, and all jurisdictions among the hidden and visible worlds. It is, in truth, the credential of trust for carrying out the duties of one’s office.

A Plain-Language Interpretation of The Great Lingbao Rites of Highest Clarity (II)

Can other seals be used interchangeably?

For memorials submitted to the Upper Realm, as well as square envelopes and formats used for both upward and downward communications, the prescribed seal is, in principle, only the seal specified for the memorial and its envelope. When actually dispatching a memorial or issuing an official document, use the seal of one’s own office.

Seal of the Lingbao Bureau of Law

From the Zhou and Qin dynasties through the present dynasty, the chi (a traditional measure of length) has not had a single standard. There have been the Zhou chi, Qin chi, Han official chi, and Later Zhou chi. In the present dynasty there are also the chi used to measure cloth, the provincial chi, and, in the Jianghuai region, the Huai chi. These measures differ in length.

The seal used by this office to enforce the law should be two cun and five fen in diameter, measured by the Zhou chi. Ancient legal texts often give a seal’s diameter in cun and fen without saying which ruler they mean. Later experts in this tradition generally use the Zhou chi as the standard.

Compared with the rulers used in Song and Zhejiang, one Zhou chi equals eight cun and three fen on the local ruler; that is, the Zhou chi is shorter.

Seal for Communicating Memorials

The rank of the Three Caverns (Dongzhen) and the teachings of Jade Clarity (Yuqing) are said to have arisen around the Yonghe era of the Jin dynasty. They were transmitted from above through the Seven Perfected, including the Three Mao brothers, the Two Ge masters, and Yang and Guo. At that time, there was no fixed format for memorials.

The teachings of Great Clarity (Taiqing) and Orthodox Unity (Zhengyi) were transmitted from the Primordial Lord, the Later Sage, to the Celestial Master of Orthodox Unity. They included the ritual of bowing before a memorial, which used the Seal of the Nine Elders, Lords of the Immortal Capital. This was because the Eight Elders, born together in Great Clarity, honored the Most High as their teacher; when disciples reported to their teacher, they used this seal.

The teachings of the Three Caverns (Dongxuan) and Lingbao had already emerged from the Three Sovereigns and the Red Brilliance kalpa. At first, they had no prescribed form for memorials. Later, works such as the Scripture of the Five Refinings for Bringing the Dead to Life and the Scripture of the Five Elders’ Original Practices appeared. Since Yuchen was a disciple of the Primordial Beginning, the Seal for Communicating Memorials was used to convey sincerity to the ancestral masters. Those who do not hold registers for this tradition may not presume to use it. Anyone who takes it upon themselves to substitute another seal will be examined by the Three Officials.

Commentary by Yunzong

This is the ancient method as recorded in the old texts. In the Song dynasty, the Daoist Wang Shengqing revised the Lingbao rites and arranged them according to the ancient method; many later lineages followed his version. The seal’s design also appears in the Divine Empyrean registers, but there it lacks the border cord and is briefly presented as a seal for submitting memorials, without an explanation of its origins or full context.

This ancient Lingbao method predates the Song dynasty. The Divine Empyrean teachings flourished during the Xuanhe era. Those who do not follow the rules of this tradition must not confuse it with them. The seal in the Divine Empyrean registers has no border cord; this seal, by contrast, is an important seal and mark of authentication used in the Middle Vehicle.

Plain-Language Explanation

The Ritual Seal and Its Measurements

The ritual seal mentioned in the scripture is valid only if it matches the “string” in the seal design—that is, the outline around the edge of the seal. Remove the string, and it is no longer a seal. If the ritual seal is made according to the Zhou measure, the other related seals should also use the Zhou measure. If it is made according to the cloth measure, those seals should use that measure too. In short, use the traditional measures consistently.

The General Seal of the Divine Tiger

This is a general seal formed from the names of the Seven Jade Maidens. It is used only to stamp soul-summoning banners, and for no other purpose. Documents such as Divine Tiger travel permits and official dispatches should use only the seals assigned to the relevant offices. The General Treatise on the Great Lingbao Rites mentions that officials of the Upper Palace of Nanchang and the summoning officers of the Northern Dipper’s Mysterious Model Prefecture all fall under the authority of the Divine Tiger system. Yet people today use the “General Seal of the Divine Tiger” to stamp Divine Tiger dispatches. What sense does it make to issue documents to subordinates stamped with their own names as the seal?

The Female and Male Seals of the Divine Tiger

In the Divine Tiger ritual tradition, the female and male seals are used on soul-summoning banners as tokens for summoning from above and below. If another method has been transmitted that does not require seals, follow that method and leave them out. They may also be omitted from official correspondence. Jade documents likewise use only the seal assigned to the relevant office. After the date, if the document states the practitioner’s ritual rank and authorizes its delivery, the ritual seal may also be used, in accordance with the transmitted tradition.

The Yellow Spirit Seal and the Yuezhang Seal

The Essentials of the Zhengyi Rites originally records a single seal with the combined name “Yellow Spirit and Yuezhang.” Its face is somewhat broad, and it is used mainly for dispersing Qi and treating illness. Today the seal is one cun and eight fen wide, by the Zhou measure. Following the ancient text, the two seals are placed closely together and used in petitions and prayers addressed to the Emperor of Heaven that do not involve the formal presentation of a memorial. The specific instructions are given elsewhere.

The Origins of Lingbao and the Use of Seals

I respectfully understand that the Way of Lingbao arose before the beginning of the limitless, while the Great Lingbao Rites flourished later, in the medieval period. When the Eastern Wu master Ge Xiangong (Ge Hong) received the scriptures from the Perfected Xu Laile, the ritual system was not yet complete. In the Jin dynasty, Xu Jingyang (Xu Xun) met the Lady Chenmu and received the teachings of the King of Illumination, who examines the Way at midday. Only then did the ritual grades and classifications gradually become clear. The institution now called the “Pure Brightness Court” does not fully match its name and reality: Lingbao is fundamentally a single Way. At the end of the Jin and Song periods, purification rites and cultivation flourished, and official documents and dispatches became increasingly common. For this reason, seal scripts became especially indispensable.

In the time of the Han Celestial Master (Zhang Daoling), there was generally only one seal, that of Yangpingzhi. By the time of Xu Jingyang, there were copper tallies, iron certificates, precious scriptures on the Golden Elixir, and the teachings of the King of Illumination on filial piety. The Way of Lingbao, too, did not depend on having many seals. Even those who rose with their entire household and took their place in the highest heavens—as well as accomplished adepts and lofty immortals who cultivated the Dao and attained its realization—could succeed without relying on seals.

Brief Notes on Technical Terms

In using talismanic seal scripts to aid the world, bring peace to the people, and benefit the present age, can the weight of a ritual method really be judged by the number of seals? Practitioners of later ages are far inferior to the ancients in profundity and mystery, yet their seal scripts exceed those of their predecessors by a hundredfold. In recent times there have been many who compile seal impressions, add to or alter old methods, and scheme for private gain; in fact these are nothing but miscellaneous Thunder methods, texts of summoning and interrogation, and the like, used to deceive people.

The Tiantai lineage has another set of practices in its Keyi (liturgy) and teaching methods: although it performs Lingbao rites, its memorial documents do not use the seal proper to its own office; instead they are issued with the “Seal of the Jade Chapter of the Three Qi of Flying Mystery” (Feixuan Sanqi Yuzhang Yin), a seal that never existed in the ancient Lingbao methods. The various schools have always been solemn in compiling Lingbao methods and have never added this seal. In talismanic announcements the Tiantai lineage also uses the “Seal of the Three Heavens and Supreme One” (Santian Taishang Yin). Talismanic texts originally descended from the High Mystery (Shangxuan); now that their writing and seal script all come from human hands, how can they be announced to Heaven and put into practice? After the talisman they further list the officiant’s title and rank—what has “Three Heavens and Supreme One” to do with this? “Three Heavens” and “Supreme One” were originally not phrases for seal inscriptions.

In their method there is also the “Jade Seal of the Daojun” (Daojun Yu Yin), which is truly fabricated. What the Son of Heaven, kings, and nobles use is called a xi; for a Daojun to call it a yin is inappropriate. A xi made of jade is called a jade xi; for example, the Son of Heaven in antiquity had eight xi, and Li Si of Qin inscribed the Hereditary State-Seal. When the Celestial Master (Tianshi) carved jade into a seal, it was still called only the “Yangping Zhi Dugong Yin” (Seal of the Chief Merit of the Yangping Diocese). From antiquity to the present, no one has ever called it a “jade seal” within the seal inscription itself. The Daojun is a lord within Heaven; like the xi of a human ruler in the world, how would a subject dare to use it without authorization? If a subject memorializes a ruler and then again uses the ruler’s xi, can that be permissible?

In addition there are the Seal of the Red Script of the Chaotic Cavern, the Seal of the Middle Chapter of the Numinous Book, the Seal of the Eight Majestic Dragon Scripts, the Seal of the Primordial Beginning’s Talismanic Mandate, the Seal of the Natural Numinous Chapter, the Seal of the Edict Governing Earth Deities, the Seal of Passing Through the Passes of All Heavens, the Seal Summoning the Assembled Immortals, the Seal Universally Proclaiming to the Three Realms, and so on; all take four characters from the scriptures to make one seal. For example, for the Seal of Strictly Governing Northern Feng and the Seal of Clearly Inspecting the Ghost Camps, adding the single character “seal” to make up three lines, they take eight characters from the scriptures to make one seal. In this way, throughout the world every part of the Celestial Script Scripture of Universal Salvation (Duren Jing), from beginning to end, could be made into seals beyond all counting.

There is also the newly current method of the Qingxuan Nine Departments, also a text not found in the ancient classics. Within it…

There are many kinds of seals and talisman designs, and it is wrong for people who perform Zhaijiao rites to mix them indiscriminately into Lingbao methods. During the Xuanhe era, the Baolu Palace had a rank of initiation called the “Secret Register of the Supreme God of the Firmament, the Primordial One, and the Six Yangs of the Jade Pivot.” In fact, no genuine method supported it. After the southward migration, the registers granted by the ancestral altars were called only “Beidou Registers.”

Some people around Tiantai borrowed the name “Jade Pivot,” gathered material from various books, and established it as a method. They also made a seal for the “Mansion of the Mysterious and Numinous Jade Pivot”—this was the work of Du Dazhen. The Jade Pivot is originally the name of the Central Dipper’s celestial palace. It is neither an office for ritual practice in the human realm nor a seal used among people. When submitting petitions upward to the Dipper’s palace, using a seal from within the Dipper instead—does this not violate reason? For example, when one receives the mandate of the Celestial Heart and performs a Beidou rite, the proper method calls for the seal of the Exorcism Office. If one instead follows the Lingbao tradition to perform a Beidou rite, what would be wrong with using the seal of the Great Lingbao Office? Why insist on fabricating so many things? They even falsely claim titles such as “Mysterious Numinous One Who Communes with the True” and “Altar of the Mysterious Lingbao of the Pure Chamber.” This not only presumes to alter the rites of Heaven, but also violates and misrepresents the statutes of the imperial court.

Mount Maoshan in Jinling is the ancestral altar of the Great Cavern tradition; Mount Gezao by the river is the Lingbao ancestral altar; and Mount Longhu in Xinzhou is the Zhengyi ancestral altar. These are places honored through the generations as the Three Caverns’ holy teachers transmitted the Dao, spread its teaching, and guided its transformation. They are where the teaching’s order is administered. If ordinary people set up an altar for a Zhaijiao rite, it is erected for the occasion and dismantled once the rite is over. How can someone in a private home simply invent and establish a title? If a person truly attained the wondrous ability to commune with the True, they could foresee all the world’s great benefits and harms, disasters and auspicious signs in the regions, and the beginning and end of the cycles of fate. Yet such claims are forbidden by the laws of the world; those whose practice has not reached that level need not act so recklessly. There have been people in the world called “Masters Who Commune with the True,” but the titles were conferred by the court, not claimed by commoners themselves.

There are also a “Bureau for Submitting Petitions through the Nine Numinous Steps” and a “Seal for Submitting Petitions through the Nine Numinous Steps.” The ritual pacing that corresponds to the Nine Numinous Ones is simply part of submitting petitions, and “steps of the Dipper” is merely the name of a ritual practice. No such bureau exists in Heaven, and no such seal exists in the world. Registers from Zhengyi through Dongxuan may all be used to submit petitions, each according to its own office. Zhengyi registers use the Seal of the Nine Elders and the Immortal Capital; Lingbao registers use the Seal for Submitting Petitions. This has been the established practice since antiquity. Why add another official title and specially devise a new seal before one may submit a petition?

A Plain-Language Reading of the Great Lingbao Method of the Highest Clarity (2)

From the standpoint of secular regulations, the Song dynasty stipulated that officials of the rank of garrison commander and above, when submitting memorials to the court, should identify themselves only by their current official title. They were not to create a separate rank for memorial writing in addition to their formal title.

The Tiantai tradition also has what is called the “Tiger Tally for Transferring Troops.” This was originally a credential used by the court to mobilize troops. How could ordinary people presume to use its name? In its later compilations of Lingbao methods, the Tiantai tradition also introduced new categories, such as the Xuanji Method and the Qingxuan Left Office Method. The classifications vary, and the seals and seal scripts produced over time are too numerous to describe.

For example, in the Tianshin method, the Seal of the Court for Expelling Evil is the central instrument of Zhengyi practice. The many techniques for examining and summoning spirits all fall under that court. Because people consider its name too common, many have renamed it the Court for Examinations and Summons, the Court of the Divine Officials, and other names; there are now many different seal titles. The same is true of Thunder methods: their names and seals have become increasingly elaborate. Yet to wield thunder in one’s palm and bring wind and rain before one’s eyes does not require a multitude of seals.

The Lingbao method should never have reached this point. Having consulted the ancient books, Yunzhong now uses only the “Seal of the Great Lingbao Office” in carrying out rites. For all memorials and petitions, the General Memorial Seal is used exclusively for presenting memorials; the Seal of the Yellow Spirit for Crossing Boundaries is used for urgent petitions. These are the only four seals required. In addition, the Divine Tiger Seal may be used on soul-summoning banners, or the names of the Seven Jade Maidens may be written in red on the banner itself; this, too, is optional.

Praying to Heaven and reporting to Earth; setting up Jiao rites and performing purification rites; praying for rain and asking for clear skies; summoning souls and capturing ghosts; healing illness and investigating afflicting spirits; rescuing the dead and saving the living—the twenty-seven grades of purification rites and forty-two levels of Jiao rites meet the needs of ritual practice in this world. All Lingbao memorials and petitions can be handled with the four seals mentioned above. Nothing cannot be accomplished with them. Even when one’s practice has achieved penetrating vision and far-reaching sight, and one’s conduct is so elevated that spirits can be put to work, there is no need to establish a great many seals.

The Jiao rite for averting disasters through the Northern Dipper is one of the forty-two levels of Jiao rites. In ancient times there was no Xuanji Jiao rite, nor was there a seal of the Xuanling Office. How, then, can such things be added whenever one pleases? Those who practice methods from outside the Lingbao tradition should follow the regulations of their own discipline. Even when using its talismans and petitions, however, they need only use the official seal of the Lingbao tradition. The Jade Clarity Cavern of Truth originally had no memorials or official documents; Lingbao is the highest of the middle vehicles. Those below Zhengyi should uphold this rule.

All the methods described below must remain within the Lingbao tradition. Fellow cultivators, be sure to observe the proper bounds with care from the very beginning.

Ranks of Registers and Grades of Ritual Office

The Dongzhen section has one rank, the Register of the Great Cavern of Shangqing, Returning to the Way and Completing the Path. Those who bear this register may be called “Disciples of the Great Cavern of Shangqing.” Those who do not bear it, but only recite the Great Cavern Scripture in a quiet chamber and perform the Great Cavern practices, may be called only “Minor Officials.”

The Great Cavern Scripture has thirty-nine chapters and belongs to the Dongzhen section. In recent times, some have mistaken passages from the Scripture of Salvation for chapters of the Cavern Scripture; this is wrong. In ancient times, the original Great Cavern Scripture had no ritual offices and no formal procedures for memorials and petitions. Although later generations compiled Great Cavern methods, these are ultimately not the original text transmitted from antiquity.

The Dongshen section flourished in the Eastern Han. The various registers from the Alliance-Weil Register downward were mostly gathered within the Zhengyi altar tradition. The Proper Methods of the Celestial Heart, the methods of the Five Thunders, and the documents for summoning and interrogation, as well as techniques of restraint and prohibition, are also mostly collected in this lineage. Their uses will not be discussed here in detail.

The Dongxuan section has one rank, the Secret Register of the Lingbao Central Alliance, followed by the Purple Void Yang Light Register. The Great Lingbao Rites are gathered here. Those who bear a register but do not perform its methods may claim only a register rank. Once one performs Lingbao rites, and one’s purification rituals also derive from Lingbao, one must inevitably respond to worldly affairs and deal with people, establishing ritual procedures as circumstances require. Only then does the title of ritual office arise: a hierarchy of grades established out of necessity, to guide and teach people in accordance with the times.

Advancement in rank and presentation of memorials, as well as petitions and Qi, are all subject to proper governance. Saving and raising the living and the dead requires suitable titles for one’s office. If one’s methods, registers, offices, and ritual forms contradict one another, one will surely invite the ridicule of ghosts and spirits.

Lin Shichen also said: “Thus the five grades of immortal rank were established to provide for ritual practice. From then on, cultivation and advancement continue without end: accumulate merit, refine Qi, unite with the Dao, and clarify the Shen. Let good deeds reach the Mysterious Capital, and let one’s immortal name be recorded in the Jade Palaces. Let true offices in the heavenly realms descend into the human world, enabling people to proclaim and spread the teachings, and to bestow feathered canopies in the azure sky, summoning them to ascend. This has been so in every age. When virtue reaches its fullness, such things come about naturally; one does not first claim lofty ranks and offices in order to attain them.”

Those who practice Lingbao scriptures and rites yet wish to take another path, or who practice the Jingming methods while supplementing them with a different office, are acting contrary to the proper order. They should all bear the Central Alliance Register and be appointed to the office belonging to their own tradition. To place “Taishang” before one’s title as an official who enforces the law is especially inappropriate: “Taishang” refers to a formless spirit. It is also said that “Tai” is a name for the utmost greatness, while “Shang” is…

This passage mainly discusses the meaning and proper use of the Daoist honorific “Taishang” (“Supreme One”). It emphasizes the title’s highest status and cautions against using the words “Taishang” casually in talismans, official titles, or other contexts. The following is a plain-language explanation.

The Meaning and Proper Use of the Honorific “Taishang”

“Taishang” is an honorific for the highest deities in Daoism, meaning “supreme and unsurpassed.” Because the Dao is boundless and profound beyond comprehension, it is called “Taishang.” In Daoist scriptures, “Taishang” usually refers to the Lord of the Dao, also known as Taishang Laojun. It is a title above the rulers of heaven, much as “emperor” is used for a ruler on earth.

In the eighth year of the Dazhong Xiangfu era of the Song dynasty (1015), the Jade Emperor was granted the honorific title “Taishang Kaitian Zhifu Yuli Hanzhen Tidao Haotian Yuhuang Shangdi” (“Supreme, Who Opened Heaven, Holds the Talisman and Governs the Calendar, Embodies Truth and the Dao, August Celestial Jade Emperor, Supreme Ruler”). From that time on, the words “Taishang” were reserved for the Jade Emperor and were not to be used casually for other deities or in other contexts.

In Daoist texts, when the words “Taishang” appear on their own, they generally refer to the Lord of the Dao, Taishang Laojun. But “Taishang” is a title for the ruler of heaven, just as on earth one cannot casually address a minister as “emperor.” For example, official ranks from the first grade upward derive from the sovereign, yet official titles do not directly include the words “emperor” or “Son of Heaven.”

In Daoist Fulu (talismans and registers), a register’s title often begins “Taishang [name of the register],” because the talismanic scripts in the register are all said to originate with Taishang, the Lord of the Dao. When practicing a rite involving talismans to ward off or subdue harmful forces, or when announcing a talismanic command, Daoist priests may also refer to a “Taishang [name of the register] talisman.” But “Taishang” may be used only in the names of registers, not in official titles. Since registers originate with Taishang, their ranks may be prefixed with the name of a register, but “Taishang” itself cannot be placed at the beginning of an official title. In particular, it is improper to insert “Taishang” into the middle of a title, as in “Taishang Ritual Law Adept.”

In memorials submitted at court, terms such as “ancestral temple” and “emperor” were subject to the convention of leaving a blank space as a mark of respect. If a minister’s title included “in the presence of the Emperor” or the name of a palace hall, one character was also left blank. Yet no one ever placed “emperor” or “Son of Heaven” directly at the beginning of an official title. The words “Taishang” are like the word “emperor” in the human world: they refer directly to the sovereign’s title, rather than serving as a general honorific.

For example, in “disciple of the Shangqing [name of the register],” “Jade Clarity,” “Highest Clarity,” and “Great Clarity” are the names of the three celestial realms. The Three Caverns (Dongzhen, Dongxuan, and Dongshen) are distinguished by these realms, so the rank of a register may appear at the beginning of a title, though it should not be inserted within the title. Is it proper, then, to presume upon the title by putting “Taishang” at its beginning? A rank or title is a position one has attained. “Disciple of the [name of the register]” and “holder of the [name of the method]” indicate that someone has received a particular register or transmitted method and bears it as their title. “Taishang” cannot be used in this way.

Key Points

1. “Taishang” is the highest Daoist honorific, referring specifically to the Jade Emperor or the Lord of the Dao, and must not be used indiscriminately.

2. A register may be called “Taishang [name of the register],” but an official title must not begin with “Taishang.”

3. The use of “Taishang” must follow proper protocol and avoid presuming upon the sovereign’s title.

That is obtainable. The Lingbao scriptures and methods are the source of all ritual systems. The scriptures contain many teachings: some are in twenty scrolls, some in ten, and some in one hundred and twenty. They are divided into scrolls and each has its own title, following an established convention that we dare not discard today.

The teachings of the Illustrious King of Filial Piety, a deity revered in Daoism for filial devotion, were transmitted to Xu Jingyang, the Daoist Xu Xun of the Eastern Jin. They originally belonged to the Lingbao lineage. In later generations, ritual manuals became mixed with other material, and the Pure and Bright tradition was established separately; much of it is not part of the original Lingbao texts. Many other compilations remain, each with its strengths, and they cannot all be rejected. The mysteries of the methods follow the transmission of each master, but the ranks of registers and ritual offices must not be altered lightly.

Some say that “official of the Southern Court” is a title for those who perform scriptural rites, and that Lingbao methods outside this tradition do not use the title. They fail to understand that the scriptural rites are the foundation. In today’s purification rituals, the notices authorizing the use of talismans and the authentic credentials issued for ritual use all derive from the scriptural rites. Those who do not know this history claim that the Lingbao methods used in rituals for worldly needs are different from the scriptural rites. How shallow.

Since the beginning of the Lingbao tradition, there has been no rank called “Supreme Official of the Law.” This is a later error from the Tiantai lineage, never accepted by informed people elsewhere. Recently, some have also rejected registers as the basis for ranks, using only the names of scriptures. This is especially far from the proper tradition. Others suppose that the title “Southern Court” and the seal of the Great Lingbao Law Office were both invented in later times. They do not know that these have a long history and were established by revered masters according to authoritative precedents. They do not violate reason; they were instituted to meet the needs of the world and preside over ritual. Compare this with the Tiantai practice of arrogating titles such as “leader of the teaching,” “successor master,” and “true lord of the law,” or the baseless claims of seeing characters in a radiance and the false invention of a “Jing” name as a designation. Are these not demonic fabrications?

Recently, scriptural rites have also listed many offices, including a tier of immortal ranks, six military offices, and ordered grades of rank. These have become rather involved and should not be cited or used to confer appointments. Just because something is recorded in the scriptural rites does not mean one may appoint oneself to it; doing so disrupts the celestial order. Some speak of “disciples of the Lingbao Covenant” and also say that they “perform the Great Lingbao Method in Heaven”—they simply do not understand. The instruction is clear: the covenant is the Lingbao register, and “official of the Southern Court” is an office within Lingbao; both have a very long history. The High Emperor of Heaven is well aware of this. Those who carry this register and are appointed to this office are qualified to perform the rites.

The matter is already perfectly clear—why must we repeatedly emphasize hierarchical positions to implement it? Such obstinate adherence to personal views is truly unenlightened. Yuzhong (the author's self-reference) has explicitly stated while compiling this text that rituals for petitioning Heaven must never be neglected.

The newly established position of "Dianzhe" (典者, Registrar) exists in other Daoist traditions, but it was originally absent in the Lingbao (灵宝, Numinous Treasure) lineage. Because the Patriarch honored all four ranks with the title "Xian" (仙, Immortal), later disciples dared not overstep lightly. Thus, a special petition was made to Heaven to add "Dianzhe" as the initial rank, while the original four ranks were preserved for those who truly attain the Dao in the future.

Now, five positions have been established in total, all prefixed with "Nancao Zhifa" (南曹执法, Southern Bureau of Justice Enforcement):

1. Nancao Zhifa Dianzhe (Registrar of the Southern Bureau of Justice Enforcement)

2. Nancao Zhifa Xianshi (Immortal Scholar of the Southern Bureau of Justice Enforcement)

3. Nancao Zhifa Xiangong (Immortal Official of the Southern Bureau of Justice Enforcement)

4. Nancao Zhifa Zhenshi (Perfected Scholar of the Southern Bureau of Justice Enforcement)

5. Nancao Zhifa Zhengguan (Perfected Official of the Southern Bureau of Justice Enforcement)

Facing the deities of Heaven and Earth with solemn reverence, Yuzhong has recompiled the Lingbao Dafa (灵宝大法, Great Rites of the Numinous Treasure), among which the hierarchy of fazhi (法职, ritual offices) is of utmost importance. Nowadays, the secret scriptures transmitted by reclusive masters are rarely encountered, making lujie (箓阶, ordination ranks) and fazhi the primary means of distinguishing cultivation levels.

The Tiantai (天台) lineage's 26th-grade "Xuanxian Xiange" (玄宪仙格, Mystic Immortal Ranks) establishes fazhi positions, beginning with the lowest rank, "Santian Daibi Fumo Chifa Shizhe" (三天代笔伏魔持法使者, Envoy of the Three Heavens Who Wields the Brush, Subdues Demons, and Upholds the Law). Higher positions include "Yubi Zhifa Zhengguan" (玉陛执法真官, Perfected Official of the Jade Steps' Justice Enforcement), with the highest being "Chiming Zhifa Zhenzai" (赤明执法真宰, True Arbiter of Justice Enforcement in the Crimson Radiance). In truth, since the creation of Heaven and Earth, such fazhi titles have never existed. The term "Zhifa" (执法, Justice Enforcement) originally corresponded to only four or five positions in the scriptures, yet the Tiantai lineage has fabricated dozens of titles using these two characters, even adding honorifics like "Taishang" (太上, Supreme Venerable), purely to inflate the number of offices.

One must understand that even after ascending as immortals, beings must still pass through the trials of the Kamadhatu (欲界, Realm of Desire) and Rupadhatu (色界, Realm of Form). How dare mortals presumptuously claim such exalted titles? Only the Sanguan (三官, Three Officials—Heaven, Earth, and Water) and Sisheng (四圣, Four Sages), the noble ministers of the Celestial Emperor, are worthy of ranking among the immortals. Ancient Perfected Immortals once revealed in their descents that the Celestial Emperor is often veiled in crimson clouds—even true immortals rarely glimpse Him. The Tiantai practitioners are likely unqualified to serve in the Jade Steps (玉陛) of the celestial court.

Just as in the imperial court of the human world, distant ministers seldom ascend the golden halls, so too are the ranks of Wuji (无极, the Limitless) even harder to attain. Positions like "Yubi Zhifa" are not meant to be lightly assumed by mortals. For an ordinary person to claim the title of "Zhenzai" (真宰, True Arbiter) is fundamentally unreasonable. The Daoist tradition has endured for over three thousand years, with successive generations of patriarchs...

A Vernacular Reading of The Great Method of Shangqing Lingbao (Part Two)

The Zongtan (the altar that presides over transmission and ordination and oversees the lineage Dharma) must also take Shoulu (receiving the register of Dharma office, title, and rank) as its ladder for advancement, and Xingfa (presiding over Keyi liturgy) as the duty of office.

Later, some within the Tiantai lineage presumptuously styled themselves “Shangqing Lingjiao Sishi” and similar titles—without register rank or lawful office, yet claiming all the Dongxuan (the Shangqing Dongxuan section of Daoist methods) teachings under heaven as their own. This is what they called “leading the teaching.” From the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to the present, among the Three Caverns’ true scriptures and the Four Supplements’ numinous texts—the general corpus of Daoist classics—such a title has never existed.

In the Han dynasty, Zhengyi Zhenren (the ancestor of the Celestial Master Dao) had a name high in the jade registers and was a model for gods and men. The second generation, Zhang Longxi, understood astronomy deeply and was broadly versed in the classics and histories; he fixed the divisions of the celestial circuit and handed down norms for ten thousand ages. Truly a rare genius of his age, only he was called Sishi (one who inherits and transmits the teaching and succeeds to the master’s position). The third generation, Zhang Zhennan, also had great achievements; thereafter they were called only Xishi (one who maintains the master lineage). For nearly two thousand years and more than thirty generations since, all have been called Tianshi who inherit the teaching—inheriting and transmitting the teaching and succeeding to the master’s position—and none dared compare themselves to Zhang Longxi and directly call themselves Sishi.

The Zongtan of Dongzhen and Dongxuan (the various Shangqing lineages) was not hereditary within one family but transmitted the teaching through disciples, hence the title Zongshi (master of the lineage Dharma). At that time rulers permitted them to transmit registers, occupy the Zongtan, and preside over the ordination and transmission of students throughout the realm. Because the Zongtan was held important, they received this title without objection. Beyond this, among lay and monastic recipients of registers and performers of rites, titles are mixed and varied; how could “Zongshi” or “Sishi” be casually self-assumed? In western Zhejiang recently many have usurped the title Zongshi; all are sinners against the teaching.

Yunzhong dares not establish strange doctrines or make lofty pronouncements: in compiling a single rule, he follows ancient statutes; in conducting affairs, he follows the scriptures; in accepting office for himself, he follows modesty and deference; in applying rites to Zhaijiao (Daoist purification and offering liturgy), he fears the heavenly law. He dares not use any talisman or incantation whose provenance is unclear, nor assume any rank or office whose title is even slightly weighty. His hope is that practitioners throughout the world will soon attain the true Dao, and that cultivators of truth throughout the world will soon fulfill ascent to heaven; he has no other intention.

Yunzhong has fully seen those who usurp great offices and violate standards and statutes; his heart is deeply alarmed. He worries they will incur punishment and hopes they will quickly reform. For example, Xu Jingyang (Xu Xun, founder of Jingming Dao): through kalpas he cultivated truth, his merit higher than past or present; at age one hundred thirty-six he received the command and ascended to heaven, with a heavenly book (edict of the celestial court)…

In the heavenly edicts, those who study the way of the immortals—the young disciples, such as So-and-so Xu—are described at great length in the original, so the full text cannot be reproduced here. The high immortals who attained transcendence through “raising an entire household” were often called only “young disciples studying the way of the immortals” while they were alive. Only after ascending to heaven did they receive official titles in the ranks of the immortals.

Wang Shichen of the Song dynasty could summon wind and rain with his breath and bring thunder with a gesture of his hand. He was already a figure of the immortal kind. At the Shen Yun Tianqing Temple in Raozhou, the stone bearing a Thunder God talisman that he carved while visiting the temple can still be seen. Inscribed in small characters behind the talisman are the words, “Wang Wenqing, junior clerk of the Five Thunders, affixes his seal.” Each character is only three or four fen tall. The elders had cultivated deep De, conducted themselves with reverence, chosen names with restraint and care, and approached their duties with caution. They would never have presumed to call themselves Heir-Master or True Sovereign. If they were truly destined to ascend and join the ranks of the high immortals, what harm would humility in their lifetime do to their virtue?

After Yunzhong had performed the rites, he advanced in rank to Dongxuan and received the Central Alliance register, yet called himself only a “Dongxuan Lingbao disciple.” Since the name of Yunzhong’s ancestor included the character ming, propriety required that he not write that character as part of his title. Among the Dongxuan registers, the Central Alliance register is the highest rank below the Zixu Yangguang register; the religious tradition also calls it the Lingbao register, so this wording allowed him to avoid the ancestral taboo. Others, following the ranks of their registers, should use the full title “Lingbao Central Alliance disciple.” According to the ancient books, officials enforcing the law in the Southern Bureau were appointed only to the post of dian. Following their master’s instruction, they did not dare claim titles associated with immortals or perfected beings. Only the Correct Rites of the Five Offices of Tongchu belong to the Dongshen division while also extending into Dongxuan, so they may be included as an additional office in one’s title. The rites below this rank may be practiced, but should not be included in a title.

Within the Huayang Grotto-Heaven of the Three Mao Mountains at Jinling lies the Immortal Metropolis, which contains the Tongchu Office and Xiao Jian Palace. These house the perfected men and women who attained the Dao. Only immortals of high rank may enter. The Supreme Emperor appointed the Four Sages and the Celestial Master as external court ministers to succeed in transmitting the teachings and to issue rites for saving the world; together, they are therefore called the Five Offices. Outside the offices stands a separate residence called the Yizhi, which oversees their affairs and is honored by the immortals and perfected beings who dwell in its halls and residences. This is recorded in the relevant ritual texts and in works such as the Zhengao. In the rites of the Five Offices, the ranks of the immortals are divided into seven grades, unlike any worldly system of rites. Although the Five Offices transmit rites to human beings, their ranks and regulations remain governed by their own established standards.

A Plain Language Interpretation

The office of Right Assistant Governor belongs to the ranks of the immortals in the administration of the celestial grottoes. It has a definite place, and only a true immortal may hold it. Officials in the earthly realm may perform the corresponding duties and observe the relevant rules, but they can only hold the office with provisional authority; they dare not formally accept an immortal’s appointment. The seven offices listed in the ritual code, too, await the arrival of true immortals to take them up.

Although the Lingbao Great Rites hold a lofty status, in practice the departments that administer the rites on earth are the ones that oversee the ritual codes. The Five Prefectures’ rites rank below Lingbao, yet Right Assistant Governor is an office in the ranks of the immortals, so the word “provisional” must be added. In recent times, people in various places have been appointed to fill vacancies as outer secretaries of the Cinnabar Terrace. Do they feel no shame in their hearts?

Today, Lingbao ritual offices are divided into five grades. Even after attaining the fifth grade, one should not be promoted casually, since the title “true immortal” is not one to assume lightly. When ordinary people perform rites of salvation and transcendence without having entered the Dongxuan realm, many also take charge of the Nanchang Bureau for Receiving and Refining and the Yellow Register Bureau. This, too, departs from ancient practice. The Yellow Register Bureau is governed by the Three Officials, and its seals and official title cannot be used casually in the human world. Lin Shichen’s (Lin Lingsu’s) Ling-su Thunder Code was once permitted to use the Yellow Register Bureau seal for purification rites and cultivation, but this was ultimately inappropriate. Lu Zhenguan Shizhong established the Jade Hall Offering Rite, using Zhengyi ritual titles to perform Dongxuan liturgical procedures. This crossed a rank, and its official documents carried the same weight as those of the Celestial Master and the Supreme Emperor. This was a grave error.

The Demon-Expelling Bureau seal used in the Tianshin method is not counterfeit, but it is still inappropriate to use it to preside over Yellow Register rites. The Great Victory Celestial Terrace, too, employs fictitious methods and mixes in counterfeit seals and talismanic scripts; this is equally unacceptable. Those who carefully uphold ritual rules should follow the ancient liturgies. Only then can the practice be brought to perfection.