Precept Scripture of the Most High Lord Lao太上老君戒经

Also known as

Precept Scripture of Lord Lao, Scriptures and Precepts of the Most High Lord Lao (appendix)

Author / transmission

Anonymous (attributed to Taishang Laojun)

Period

Northern and Southern Dynasties · Compiled around the Northern and Southern Dynasties (5th–6th centuries) as a scripture used by the Way of the Celestial Masters to transmit the Five and Eight Precepts to ordained priests.

Canon division

Precepts category of the Dongshen (Cavern of Spirit) Section

Collected in

Zhengtong Daozang, Dongshen Section, Precepts and Rules category

Category

Precepts and Rules

Fascicles

One Fascicle (Juan)

Synopsis

The Precept Scripture of the Most High Lord Lao is presented as precepts spoken by Laozi to Yin Xi as he passed through the pass, proclaiming Daoism's 'Five Precepts' (against killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and drinking alcohol) and 'Ten Good Deeds.' It correlates the Five Precepts with the Five Phases, the five viscera, and the Five Emperors of the Five Directions, stating that 'those who keep the Five Precepts are guarded by benevolent spirits and shunned by malicious demons,' while transgressors incur karmic retribution across the Three Paths. The scripture reworks the Buddhist Five Precepts into Daoist commandments and interprets them through Chinese Five-Phases cosmology and the theology of body gods, making it one of the earliest and most influential of the Daoist precept scriptures; from the Northern and Southern Dynasties onward it served as the entry-level precepts for ordained Daoist priests, belonging with the Scripture of Precepts Chanted by Lord Lao and the Zhengyi Fawen Tianshi Jiaojie Kejing (Ritual Text of Orthodox Unity: the Celestial Master's Scripture of Teachings and Precepts) to the precept system of the Way of the Celestial Masters. The Daozang also contains the Scriptures and Rules of the Most High Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun Jinglü), which gathers the Precepts of the Venerable Scripture of the Dao and Virtue and Lord Lao's One Hundred and Eighty Precepts, and can be read alongside this scripture.

Key Ideas

• The Daoist Five Precepts and Ten Good Deeds
• The Five Precepts correlated with the Five Phases, five viscera, and Five Emperors
• Keeping the precepts draws the protection of benevolent spirits
• The Daoization of Buddhist precepts

Structure

One scroll, in the form of a dialogue between Laojun and Yin Xi.

Editions

• Zhengtong Daozang edition
• Zhonghua Daozang, vol. 8

Translations

• English translation in Livia Kohn, Cosmos and Community: The Ethical Dimension of Daoism (2004)

Full Text & Online Resources

• CTEXT search
• Wikipedia: Daoist Precepts

Related scriptures

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