《元始天尊說藥王救八十一難真經》

The Scripture of the Medicine King Delivering from Eighty-One Calamities as Spoken by the Primordial Celestial Worthy (Yuanshi Tianzun Shuo Yaowang Jiu Bashiyi Nan Zhenjing), Modern Interpretation:

At that time, the Primordial Celestial Worthy (Yuanshi Tianzun, the supreme deity of Daoism) gathered countless immortal sages from the ten directions and three realms in the Palace of Eight Scenes within the Great Canopy Heaven (Daluo Tian) to expound the supreme method for delivering sentient beings. Then a transcendent named the Realized Being Who Rescues from Suffering (Jiuku Zhenren) stepped forward from the assembly, holding a jade tablet as he knelt and addressed the Celestial Worthy: "I have heard that people of ancient times rarely fell ill and could live for a thousand years. Why do people today suffer so many calamities and illnesses with shortened lifespans? I beseech the Celestial Worthy to reveal the reason for this."

The Primordial Celestial Worthy replied: "The people of antiquity followed the Dao (the Way), cultivated their original nature, abstained from killing, jealousy, greed, lust, and theft. They spoke truthfully, avoided worldly contention, and maintained purity of body and mind. Thus they remained free from illness and calamity, enjoying long life. But people today no longer revere the celestial deities and earthly spirits. Their hearts harbor jealousy, greed, and anger. They kill living beings, harm others for personal gain, cheat common folk with false measures, wound with harsh words, bully the weak with their strength, and oppress the good—committing countless transgressions. Therefore, Heaven dispatches the Five Plague Emissaries (divine officials governing epidemics) to bring down calamities and illnesses: strokes, cold damage disorders, plagues, diarrhea, eye diseases, malignant sores, and other afflictions. The mild cases suffer prolonged illness, while severe cases meet untimely death—all these are the karmic retribution for evil deeds."

The Realized Being Who Rescues from Suffering continued his inquiry: "I beseech the Celestial Worthy in your compassion to reveal—since people today remain ignorant of precepts and cannot escape punishment for transgressions—how should they seek deliverance when afflicted by illness and adversity?" (This scripture passage primarily expounds the Daoist concept of "inherited burden" [chengfu], where good and evil actions bring corresponding retribution.)

This scripture recounts the story of the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun, one of the highest deities in Daoism) transmitting the True Scripture of the Medicine King Who Saves from Eighty-One Calamities. The main content is as follows:

People beseeched the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, hoping he would show great compassion and deliver sentient beings from disasters. The Celestial Worthy revealed that to resolve these calamities, one must rely on medical arts.

In ancient times, there was a divine physician named Bian Que (a renowned medical master of the Warring States period) who mastered pulse diagnosis and healing arts. He was honored as the "Divinely Responsive King" and accumulated immeasurable merit, eventually being enfeoffed as the "Numinous Responsive Medicine King True Lord" (Lingying Yaowang Zhenjun). His medical skills could connect heaven and earth, resonate with spirits and deities, and universally save sentient beings. This True Scripture, capable of resolving eighty-one calamities, should be transmitted to the world.

The specific methods are:

1. Devout men and women who sincerely venerate this scripture will experience fewer illnesses and calamities throughout their lives.

2. When encountering disasters, one may set up a ritual space (daochang, a site for Daoist ceremonies) in a purified area, prepare incense, candles, and offerings, and invite a Daoist priest or personally recite the Scripture for Saving from Calamities three to five times, or even up to a hundred times.

3. Through this practice, one may resonate with the Medicine King True Lord, who will bestow miraculous elixirs or administer acupuncture in dreams, aiding in the elimination of diseases and misfortunes, thereby restoring health.

The scripture concludes by listing eleven common ailments the Medicine King True Lord can relieve, including: wind-cold, summerheat-dampness, miasma (zhangqi), paralysis, stroke-induced muteness, cold damage (shanghan), epidemics, toxic rashes, malaria, dysentery, diarrhea, and cholera. In truth, there are eighty-one calamities (though only representative examples are cited in the text).

This scripture enumerates the eighty-one types of ailments and sufferings that the Medicine King Bian Que (a revered medical deity in Daoism) can cure. In modern terms, these include:

The Medicine King Bian Que can treat:

Vomiting and acid reflux, constipation, urinary retention, physical weakness (including the "five exhaustions and seven injuries"), cough with bodily deficiency, tuberculosis (consumption), indigestion, Qi and blood stagnation, abdominal masses, edema and bloating, gastric reflux, regurgitation, esophageal obstruction, various types of heart pain, intestinal cramps, headaches and dizziness, lumbar and flank pain, phlegm-induced unconsciousness, asthma and breathlessness, night sweats and seminal loss, urinary disorders (including the "five types of strangury and turbid discharge"), jaundice, rheumatism and paralysis, mental disturbances (demonic afflictions), palpitations and unease, hernia pain, hematemesis and nosebleeds, hemorrhoids and anal fistulas, abdominal tumors, and other similar conditions.

(Note: The term "difficulties" here refers to the suffering caused by illness. These conditions encompass common ancient medical issues in internal medicine, surgery, and mental health, reflecting Daoist medicine's holistic concern for human well-being. In Daoist belief, the Medicine King Bian Que is regarded as a divine protector of healing, and devotees recite his sacred titles to seek recovery from disease.)

This scripture describes the eighty-one types of illnesses and calamities that can be healed by the Daoist-revered "Divinely Responsive Medicine King Lord Bian Que" (the deified title of the ancient physician Bian Que). Each line enumerates a specific ailment or accidental injury, with the main content summarized as follows:

1. Various bodily ailments: Common conditions such as numbness in limbs, deafness, eye pain, toothache, swollen throat, loss of speech, and bone/muscle aches.

2. Skin sores and toxins: Dermatological diseases including malignant sores, boils, back abscesses, scrofula (tuberculous lymph nodes), scabies, and stubborn leg ulcers.

3. Emergency trauma care: Accidental injuries like knife/axe wounds, falls and bruises, burns and scalds, and tetanus.

4. Poisoning emergencies: Cases of swallowing metal objects, needle punctures, gu poison (venomous magic), food poisoning, and drug toxicity.

5. Gynecological disorders: Women's health issues such as irregular menstruation, abnormal vaginal discharge, difficult childbirth, and retained placenta.

The scripture employs the repetitive formula "The Divinely Responsive Medicine King Lord Bian Que can save [specific] calamity" to emphasize this healing deity's power over diverse afflictions. In Daoist belief, devotees facing such health crises may invoke the Medicine King's protection. These contents reflect ancient folk worship of medical deities while documenting prevalent disease types and healthcare needs of the era.

This scripture presents the Lingying Yaowang Jiu Bashiyi Nan Zhenjing (True Scripture of Numinous Response from the Medicine King Who Saves from Eighty-One Afflictions) as expounded by the supreme Daoist deity Yuanshi Tianzun. It extols the divine healing powers of Medicine King Bian Que (a deified physician revered in Daoism), who can cure various intractable diseases.

The eighty-one categories of ailments healed by Medicine King Bian Que include:

• Gynecological hemorrhages and malignant discharges
• Breast disorders during lactation
• Infantile convulsions and epilepsy
• Oral and lingual diseases
• Acute and chronic wind-induced seizures
• Pox eruptions and dark macules
• Festering pox sores
• Pediatric malnutrition with abdominal masses
• Uncontrollable vomiting and diarrhea
• Oral ulcerations
• Prolapsed rectum
• And all manner of difficult and complicated disorders

The scripture describes this Medicine King Zhenjun as possessing mystical and numinous medical arts, representing the most sagely presence in healing and the most miraculous potency among medicinal powers. Originating from Yuanshi Tianzun's primordial ancestral Qi (the primal vital energy in Daoist cosmology), he manifests through transformative processes: a single Qi divides into three manifestations, three Qi coalesce into form, following the numerical progression of "three threes making nine" and "nine nines completing the cycle," until the eighty-one Qi ultimately merge with the Great Dao.

The Medicine King vowed to deliver sentient beings—capable of healing national destinies above and relieving common suffering below. For those who devoutly recite this scripture:

• Calamities may be dissolved and difficulties resolved
• Households enshrining this text will receive protection
• Carrying it as a talisman wards off misfortunes
• But disrespect or defilement will incur misfortunes

The scripture concludes with Salvationist Zhenren (Savior Immortals) and various celestial beings joyfully receiving this teaching upon hearing it. The colophon identifies this as the complete text of Yuanshi Tianzun's Lingying Yaowang Jiu Bashiyi Nan Zhenjing.

(Note: This represents a classic example of Daoist disaster-alleviation and healing scriptures, reflecting the tradition's sacralization of medical practice through devotional scripture recitation to invoke divine protection.)