True Scripture of Awakening the World by Lord Guan关圣帝君觉世真经

Also known as

True Scripture of Awakening the World, Scripture of Awakening the World

Author / transmission

attributed to a spirit-writing revelation of Lord Guan

Period

Qing · Attributed to a planchette revelation by Lord Guan, the text probably dates from the late Ming to early Qing (17th century) and circulated widely during the Qing dynasty; the main text runs to a little over 600 characters.

Canon division

Outside the Canon (Ming–Qing morality book)

Collected in

Outside the Canon (included in the Essentials of the Daoist Canon and morality-book collections)

Category

Morality Books (Shanshu)

Fascicles

One Fascicle (Juan)

Synopsis

The True Scripture of Awakening the World by Lord Guan is one of the "Three Sage Scriptures," the morality books of the Ming and Qing periods, attributed to Guan Yu (Lord Guan) instructing the world. It opens with the line, "In this life, what matters most is to fully practice loyalty, filial piety, integrity and righteousness; only then can one be without shame before the way of humanity and stand between Heaven and Earth." It then lists more than thirty specific good deeds, such as revering Heaven and Earth, showing ritual respect to the gods, honoring one's ancestors, being filial to one's parents, upholding the laws of the state, respecting one's teachers, loving one's brothers, being trustworthy to friends, being harmonious with one's clan, and getting along with one's neighbors, and warns that Heaven will surely punish those who are treacherous, thieving, deceitful, disobedient, unfilial, or who act against their own conscience. The text is plain and direct in language, with clearly delineated articles well suited to recitation and memorization, and so it circulated very widely among the people in the Qing dynasty and modern times, often printed together with the Treatise on Action and Response and the Tract on Hidden Merit as the Three Sage Scriptures. Lord Guan's standing rose greatly after Emperor Shenzong of Ming canonized him as "Sanjie Fumo Dadi Shenwei Yuanzhen Tianzun Guansheng Dijun" (三界伏魔大帝神威远镇天尊关圣帝君, "Great Emperor who Subdues Demons in the Three Realms, Heavenly Worthy of Divine Might who Pacifies the Distant, Sagely Emperor Lord Guan"); he came to hold multiple identities as a martial deity, god of wealth, arbiter of destiny, and deity who delivers revelations through spirit writing. This scripture represents the ethical and instructive facet of his cult, and it is still recited year-round today in the luantang (鸾堂, spirit-writing shrines) of Taiwan, Hong Kong and overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia.

Key Ideas

• Loyalty, filial piety, integrity and righteousness as the foundation of conduct
• More than thirty articles of specific good deeds
• The admonition that Heaven will surely punish the wicked
• Grouped with the Treatise on Action and Response and the Tract on Hidden Merit as the Three Sage Scriptures
• A core scripture of the luantang spirit-writing tradition

Structure

One scroll, in the form of enumerated admonitions, a little over 600 characters.

Editions

• Essentials of the Daoist Canon edition
• Combined edition of the Three Sage Scriptures
• Various luantang editions printed locally

Commentaries

• Various illustrated and evidentiary-tale commentary editions

Full Text & Online Resources

• Wikisource: True Scripture of Awakening the World by Lord Guan
• CTEXT search

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