--- title: "正一天師告趙昇口訣 – English Interpretation | Daozang" url: "https://daozang.app/en/text/KR5g0082/" canonical: "https://daozang.app/en/text/KR5g0082/" lang: "en" source: "Kanripo 漢籍リポジトリ（京都大学）" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" --- # 《正一天師告趙昇口訣》 Zhengyi 正一部 · 1 volumes · 1,827 characters ## Vol. 1 正一天師告趙昇口訣吹八天師告趙大夫曰吾欲告子口訣不忍言昇叩頭千下願見哀憐賜昇一言師曰且止須明年相告至壬午年正月七日中時於雲臺治閉房昇叩頭千下師曰太上有吾吾有汝然官契至要難可具宣道重理妙不可妄傳今九天俱立使六天出治隨世分布三道治正轉亂不能中正三五之氣上三天恚怒無本父母臨正使太上老君絶世更立正一盟威之道太上開化不以吾輕賤小人受吾真法爲百鬼主者使開二十四治以應二十四氣置署職籙以化邪俗之人黄老赤籙以修長生吾言大道永畢太上老君前與尹相吾臨孟津河上吿吾天有常運大期行交先不治三天清遵父母大神今躬臨正統理三天上治使李君下牧萬民吾欲不就事上官命嚴命放六天故氣三官百鬼以大兵大病虎狼蛇虺百毒驅除天下當爾之時枉暴者衆衘痛泉壤善惡不分莫不可言天帀地盈都停二十四萬人爲種民先得道神仙者不在其例聖人前敕三陽比筭南至大江北至北濱東至東夷西至濛汜已逆注十萬人名上太玄紫簿餘十四萬人於三代之中索之遣十二仙乘飛龍官從二十四人十二玉女周旋天下考校州郡里域求清貞慈孝忠信朴實之人以充種民使吾先授職籙化看人情後授黄老赤籙分别 **Interpretation** The Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Celestial Master (Tianshi)—the Celestial Master of the Zhengyi lineage, referring to Zhang Daoling—imparted oral instructions to Zhao Sheng, the Celestial Master’s disciple; “Chui Ba” are the title characters of the chapter. The Celestial Master told Zhao Dafu (Zhao Sheng): I want to tell you the oral instructions, but I cannot bear to speak them aloud. Zhao Sheng kowtowed a thousand times, begging the Celestial Master to have compassion and grant him a single word. The Celestial Master said: Stop for now; wait until next year, and I will tell you. On the noon of the seventh day of the first lunar month in the Renwu year, at Yuntai Zhi, the Celestial Master’s Daoist administrative district, he shut the door and remained alone. Zhao Sheng kowtowed a thousand times. The Celestial Master said: I am with the Supreme Lord Laozi there, and here with me is the transmission meant for you. But the covenant with the government offices is extremely important and difficult to explain fully; the Dao is weighty and its principles are subtle, so it must not be transmitted indiscriminately. Now the Nine Heavens are all established, and the Six Heavens—the old Qi of the Six Heavens, ghosts, and spirits—have been ordered to come forth and govern, distributed according to the world. The Three Ways ought originally to govern uprightly, but they have turned chaotic and can no longer be centered and correct. The Qi of Three and Five, a term for cyclical Qi movement, has caused the Upper Three Heavens to become angry; the rootless father and mother came to restore orthodoxy, causing the Supreme Lord Laozi to cut off the old world and establish anew the Zhengyi Way of Covenantal Authority. The Supreme Lord Laozi initiated transformation, did not disdain me as lowly, bestowed the true method on me, made me lord of the hundred ghosts, commanded me to establish the twenty-four zhi, or dioceses, to correspond to the twenty-four Qi, set up administrative offices and register ranks, and teach and transform people of depraved customs. By means of the Huang-Lao Red Register—the Huang-Lao Dao and the Red Register method—one cultivates long life. The Great Dao that I expound will then be complete forever. Previously, the Supreme Lord Laozi, together with Yin Xiangwu, told me on the Mengjin River: Heaven has its constant cycles, and when the great period converges, first do not govern the Three Heavens; you must be pure and still and reverently serve the great parent deities. Now he personally descends to the orthodox lineage, governs the upper administration of the Three Heavens, and sends Lord Li down to the world to govern the myriad people. I wanted not to undertake it, but the command from the higher offices is strict: I am ordered to release the old Qi of the Six Heavens and the hundred ghosts of the Three Officials—the Three Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water—to purge the world with great armies, great epidemics, tigers and wolves, poisonous snakes, and all manner of poisons. At that time those wronged and oppressed will be many, bearing pain into the Yellow Springs; good and evil will not be distinguished, beyond words. When heaven and earth are filled with calamity, altogether 240,000 people will be preserved as seed people (zhongmin), the divine seed people after the calamity; those who earlier attained the Dao and became immortals are not included in this number. The sage previously commanded the Three Yang, a term for cyclical time, to make calculations: from the Great River in the south to the northern shore in the north, from the Eastern Yi in the east to Mengsi in the west, 100,000 names have already been preregistered in the Grand Mystery Purple Register, the register of immortal names; the remaining 140,000 people are to be sought among the Three Generations. He dispatches twelve immortals riding flying dragons, with officials, accompanied by twenty-four people and twelve jade maidens, to travel throughout the world, examining the provinces, commanderies, villages, and districts, seeking those who are pure, chaste, compassionate, filial, loyal, trustworthy, and simple to fill the ranks of the seed people. Let me first confer office registers, teach and transform, and observe human dispositions; afterward I will confer the Huang-Lao Red Register, making distinctions and selections. 善人以補種民仙官周行考求吾所分别善人以補種民大期將盡金馬甲子日既西傾我立不停德應人主先爲世相此甲子爲斷自此大簿既定不須受籍甲申大水蕩沃穢濁仙官乘龍日不進寸不見種人但見佩黄老職治之人與三官百鬼文墨紛紛更相毁鄙濁亂清文多佩籙職自稱真人賣術自榮妖惑愚人貪尺帛十錢斗米聚歛人物求目下之安不顧大命將至三官條狀受贓𧵥不恥名曰劫盜之物信義不送亦同其罪中犯不正名曰奸淫三官皆録爲奸盜身入三塗名編黑籍太玄紫簿未得一人吾親在事尚復如此後世當以黄赤相傳以爲常事不可分别太上憐愍百姓愛念善人甚若赤子且上期急促太上求申至壬辰癸巳爲料種民應備事急今出太玄九光萬稱生符以簡料真一甄别種人太上敕十二仙官遊行天下見有佩吾萬稱九光符者便以種民定數注上太玄玉籙壹無所復問至太平之時聖君自當簡料隨德分敕天下億鬼兵將百毒皆衞護種人使至太平之世舉家完全如有毁傷檢校所得即斬今三灾之世交爭方興太平在金馬之末年歲尚爾世非賢人所處吾不忍先經土户白日昇天當須神丹便與昇長避世隱居採精石髓玉瑰羅珠鳳腦芝英奇異絶殊隨四時能合千日丹成各服刀圭 **Interpretation** The good people are used to replenish the Seed People (zhongmin, those preserved after the cataclysm at the end of an age). Immortal officials travel throughout the world, investigating and seeking the good people whom I have distinguished, in order to replenish the Seed People. The great limit is about to expire. On the jiazi day of the Metal Horse year, the sun has already declined to the west. I stand firm and unwavering. Virtuous conduct should find its counterpart in the ruler of men; first be an exemplar for the world. Let this jiazi be the cutoff. From now on the great register is fixed; there is no need to receive registration again. In the Jiashen year a great flood will wash away filth and impurity. Immortal officials ride dragons. The sun does not advance a single inch. They do not see the Seed People; they see only those who bear Huang-Lao Daoist offices and administer Daoist affairs. They are caught up in a welter of documents with the Three Officials (Sanguan) and the hundred ghosts, slandering and despising one another and using impurity to confuse the pure and orthodox writings. Many bear ordination registers (luzhi, Daoist ordination posts) and call themselves Perfected (zhenren). They sell techniques to glorify themselves, bewitch the foolish, covet a foot of silk, ten coins, or a peck of rice, amass people’s wealth, seek only immediate peace, and disregard the approaching great mandate. The Three Officials itemize accusations against them. They accept stolen goods and bribes without shame, calling such things “booty of the kalpa.” Those who are faithless and fail to return them bear the same guilt. Among them, those who commit improper acts are called adulterers; the Three Officials record them all as fornicators and thieves. Their bodies enter the Three Wretched Destinies (santu, the three evil paths), their names are entered in the black register, and not one person is obtained in the Taixuan Purple Register (the immortal roster). I personally attend to this matter, and even so it is like this. Later generations will transmit the Yellow-Red (Huangchi, techniques of the Huangshu Chijie type) among themselves and treat them as ordinary, so that they cannot be distinguished. The Most High (Taishang) pities the common people and cherishes good people as if they were infants. Moreover, the deadlines of the upper realm are urgent, and the Most High requires that this be proclaimed. In the Renchen and Guisi years the Seed People will be counted; the preparations are urgent. Now the Taixuan Nine Radiance Wancheng Sheng Talisman is displayed, to be used for selecting and verifying the True One (zhenyi) and distinguishing the Seed People. The Most High commands the twelve immortal officials to travel throughout the world. When they see anyone wearing my Wancheng Jiuguang Talisman, they are to register that person, according to the fixed number of the Seed People, in the Taixuan Jade Register (the immortal roster), and no further questioning is to be made. When the time of Great Peace (Taiping) arrives, the sage ruler will naturally select and verify them and issue commands according to their virtue. The billions of ghost soldiers and hundred poisons under heaven will all protect the Seed People, enabling them to reach the age of Great Peace and preserving their whole households intact. If anyone is harmed, once the perpetrator is identified, he is to be immediately beheaded. At present is the age of the Three Calamities, and conflicts are just rising. Great Peace will come at the end of the Metal Horse year; the years still must wait until then. The world is not a dwelling place for the worthy. I cannot bear to first pass through the earthly gate and ascend to heaven in broad daylight; I should wait for the divine elixir. Then, together with Zhao Sheng, I will withdraw for a long time into seclusion from the world. We gather Jing (essence), stone marrow, jade rose, luo pearls, phoenix brain, ganoderma blossoms, and the like. These drugs are rare and utterly extraordinary; they can be compounded in accord with the four seasons. After a thousand days the elixir is completed. Each person takes one daogui (a small measure of the medicine). 身變五色毛羽立生體融金光太上遣仙官乘鶴鹿來迎昇天翠羽登騎輕翔英稚二生攀龍俱舉趙昇侍從俱至無極之崖青雲之中躍龍踟躊徘徊天路顧呼趙生吾今即位衆事敬積料生别死大運期近不得中還以太平爲期汝且還料理治中普告清信男女諸弟子忠貞者大運巳促勤以忠信爲務勿貪財色夫天生萬物皆有終始老子隨時改易皆應大運人生滿百二十要當還土户十鍊九轉名上太玄紫簿者命終亦經土户魂魄即登紫府侍衞聖君須至太平之世魂精還其故形白骨更起血氣更流始經宿昔之間暮卧朝起化示世情當斯之時明此符真雖受職治黄老大要紫黄金剛不見九光萬稱之符不免三官驅除死没黄泉不得過土户骨肉灰腐魂魄付三官拷楚荼毒難言不欲尸解者當合神丹故須九光萬稱生符不得此符不得名上太玄生簿此符如天子有玉璽三公有黄鉞諸侯有印綬若有清賢志士死者生時未見此符追授死人至太平之世死尸更生與聖君同出吾說此符口不忍言不忍以付弟子非世所見得吾此符但當修行潔己慈孝忠貞精誠自守信真任道考官日日門至户達視看人心若有厄急懸命漏刻但正心向道把九光萬稱符至尊救度人也此際會之㤙聖君屈節日 **Interpretation** The Oral Instructions of the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Celestial Master (Tianshi) to Zhao Sheng These are the oral instructions that the Zhengyi Celestial Master—the Celestial Master of the Zhengyi tradition—transmitted to his disciple Zhao Sheng. His body turned five colors, feathers sprouted at once, and his physical form merged into golden light; Tai Shang (the Supreme Dao deity) dispatched immortal officials. Immortal officials came on cranes and deer to welcome him to ascend to heaven; emerald-feathered riders soared lightly, and the two youths Ying and Zhi accompanied them. Clinging to dragons, they all flew up together, and Zhao Sheng with his attendants arrived at the Cliff of Wuji (the Limitless, the boundary of the heavenly realm), amid the azure clouds. The dragon leaped and hesitated on the heavenly road, turned its head, and called to Zhao Sheng: “I am now enthroned.” All affairs are reverently and carefully accumulated; one must reckon life and death, and the term of the great cycle (kalpa) is near. One cannot turn back midway; the Great Peace is the appointed limit. For now you should return to manage administrative affairs and universally instruct the pure-believing men and women (those who purely uphold the Dao (the Way)). All loyal and steadfast disciples, the great cycle is urgent: be diligent, make loyalty and trust your essential task, and do not covet wealth or sexual pleasure. Heaven gives birth to the myriad things, and all have beginning and end. Laozi changes with the times, all in response to the great cycle; when a person has lived a full one hundred and twenty years, he must return to the earth portal (earth mansion, grave). Those who have passed through ten refinings and nine turnings and whose names are entered in the Taixuan Purple Register (the immortal roster), even at the end of life pass through the earth portal; their hun and po souls immediately ascend to the Purple Mansion (immortal mansion) to guard and attend the sage lord. They must wait until the era of Great Peace, khi the soul-essence returns to the original body, white bones rise again, and blood and Qi (vital energy) flow once more. In but a single night—lying down at evening and rising in the morning—the transformation reveals the conditions of the world. At this time, one understands that this talisman is true. Even if one receives office to govern the Huang-Lao (Huang-Lao Dao) and takes purple gold and adamant as the great essentials, if one has not seen the Talisman of Nine Radiances and Myriad Designations (the immortal talisman for saving life), one cannot avoid being expelled by the Three Officials (Heaven, Earth, and Water); after death one sinks into the Yellow Springs. Unable to pass through the earth portal, bones and flesh decay to ash; the hun and po souls are handed over to the Three Officials for torture, and the suffering is beyond words. Those who do not wish for shijie (liberation from the corpse, leaving the body behind to become immortal) should compound and refine the divine elixir (immortal elixir); therefore they need the Nine Radiances and Myriad Designations Life Talisman. Without obtaining this talisman, one’s name cannot be entered in the Taixuan Register of Life. This talisman is like the Son of Heaven having his jade seal, the Three Excellencies their yellow battle-axes, and the feudal lords their seals and ribbons. If a pure and worthy aspirant dies without having seen this talisman in life, it may be conferred posthumously on the dead; when the era of Great Peace arrives, the corpse will live again and emerge together with the sage lord. When I speak of this talisman, my mouth cannot bear to utter it, and I cannot bear to hand it over to disciples; it is not something that the world can see or obtain. This talisman of mine should be given only to those who cultivate and purify themselves, who are compassionate, filial, loyal, and steadfast, who guard themselves with sincerity and earnestness, and who trust the truth and entrust themselves to the Dao. The examiners (deities who assess merits and faults) come daily to every door and household, observing the human heart. If calamity presses urgently and life hangs by the clepsydra (a very short time), one need only rectify the heart toward the Dao and hold the Nine Radiances and Myriad Designations Talisman; the Supreme Honored One (the highest deity) will save and deliver that person. This is the grace of a rare encounter; it is the day when the sage lord condescends to bestow grace. 近所禀未至聖君垂出不復經土户自然得壽萬八千歲但聖君當簡料其中各有所在爾其是壬辰癸巳前得吾九光萬稱符者皆在種人之例壬辰癸巳後受符無復及也衆官集紫府仙官還天曹復不得受人也此是聖人心口中祕言祕符平常不忍出也今事促不得不空囊傾心也遣侍郎一人度世玉女一人隨此符不慈不孝不忠不貞不誠不信之人脫得見吾此符侍郎玉女迷塞其心不使得受應合之人神開其心趣得見勤苦求請三一有百人萬稱九光有一人三一有千人萬稱九光有十人爾形影天下衆靈共祕此符故使希見世間不明吾言子看後世萬人受道者約無一人得佩此符者今以付子是吾極耳子勑後人推擇忠良清貞一心者依科盟授千金勿示也三十年吾遣人迎汝趙昇稽首再拜銜命 **Interpretation** This scripture records the oral instructions given by the Celestial Master (Tianshi, Zhang Daoling, founder of Daoism) to his disciple Zhao Sheng. The essence is as follows: Recently it has been revealed that the divine decrees of the Sacred Lord (the highest Daoist deity) no longer pass through earthly intermediaries. Those who naturally receive such revelations may live for eighteen thousand years. However, the Sacred Lord strictly selects recipients, and each person's opportunity differs. Those who obtain my "Nine Lights Ten Thousand Names Talisman" (Jiuguang Wancheng Fu) before the cyclical years of Renchen and Guisi will all be registered in the immortal records. But those who receive the talisman after these two years will find such opportunities exceedingly rare. Immortal officials now gather at the Purple Palace (celestial abode), and even the heavenly administrators (Tiancao) must return to the celestial realm. These talismans (Fulu) will no longer be bestowed upon mortals. These are the secret oral formulas and incantations held in the hearts of sages, never lightly revealed. Given the urgency of the times, I must now impart them fully. I will dispatch a celestial attendant (Shilang) and a jade maiden (Yunü) to escort this talisman. Those lacking compassion, filial piety, loyalty, chastity, sincerity, or trustworthiness—even if they happen to see this talisman—will have their minds clouded by the attendant and maiden, preventing true reception. Only those destined by fate will have their consciousness opened by the deities, allowing them to obtain this talisman through diligent practice. For every hundred practitioners of the "Threefold Unity" (Sanyi, a Daoist cultivation method), perhaps only one may obtain the "Ten Thousand Names Nine Lights." For every thousand practitioners, maybe ten will succeed. Your form and shadow will be guarded by all spiritual beings of heaven and earth to protect this secret talisman, making it exceedingly rare in the world. In future generations, even if ten thousand study the Dao, scarcely one may truly wear this talisman. By transmitting it to you today, I have reached the ultimate limit. You must instruct later generations: Only select those who are loyal, virtuous, pure in chastity, and single-mindedly devoted to the Dao, transmitting it according to liturgical rites (Keyi) with solemn oaths. This talisman is worth a thousand pieces of gold—never reveal it lightly. In thirty years, I will send someone to guide you onward. Zhao Sheng kowtowed in reverence, received the mandate, and took his leave. 奉辭 --- 原文底本：Kanripo 漢籍リポジトリ（京都大学），CC BY-SA 4.0。 Source text: Kanripo Chinese Classics Repository (Kyoto University), CC BY-SA 4.0. HTML version: https://daozang.app/en/text/KR5g0082/