Scripture of the Perfected Writs in Red Script of the Five Elders元始五老赤书玉篇真文天书经

Also known as

Lingbao chishu yupian (Lingbao Jade Tablets in Red Script), Chishu yupian zhenwen (True Script of the Jade Tablets in Red Writing), Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Chishu Yupian Zhenwen Tianshu Jing (Celestial Scripture of the True Writs of the Jade Tablets in Red Script)

Author / transmission

Ge Chaofu

Period

Late Eastern Jin · Belongs to Ge Chaofu's "Ancient Scriptures of Primordial Beginning" system, composed roughly at the end of the fourth to the beginning of the fifth century; Lu Xiujing's Catalogue of Lingbao Scriptures lists it as the foremost scripture.

Canon division

Dongxuan Section, Benwen Category

Collected in

Daoist Canon of the Zhengtong Era, Dongxuan Section, Benwen Category

Category

Early Daoist Scriptures

Fascicles

3 juan

Synopsis

The Perfected Writs in Red Script of the Five Elders is a core scripture among the ancient Lingbao texts, placed first among all the scriptures in Lu Xiujing's Catalogue of Lingbao Scriptures. The scripture holds that before Heaven and Earth were separated there already existed the "Five Perfected Writs," a "celestial writing" formed from the natural qi of the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, written in red script with jade characters, each governed by one of the Five Elder Emperors over one direction; these Perfected Writs can summon the spirits of Heaven and Earth, deliver the Nine Darknesses, and subdue calamity and avert evil. The first chapter of the work recounts the origin of the Perfected Writs and lists the writs of the Five Directions (presented in the form of celestial cloud-seal script); the middle and final chapters discuss the regulations and precepts for wearing the Perfected Writs, the talismanic mandates of the Five Emperors, the methods for summoning the life-giving qi of the Five Directions, and the methods for severing the hells, as well as the ritual for installing and pacifying the Perfected Writs of the Five Directions during retreat and offering ritual. This scripture combined the talismans of the Five Directions from the Five Talismans Scripture with the Buddhist concept of cosmic cycles and the genre of translated Buddhist sutras, establishing a Lingbao scriptural theology that takes the "Perfected Writs" as the origin of the cosmos; it became the basis for the later Lingbao retreat rite of "installing and pacifying the Five Directions," and stands together with the Duren jing as one of the two pillars of the Lingbao scriptural lineage.

Key Ideas

• The Five Perfected Writs as the root of Heaven and Earth and the foremost of all scriptures
• Cloud-seal celestial script and the concept of sacred writing
• The Five Elder Emperors and the pacification of spirits in the Five Directions
• Delivering the Nine Darknesses and summoning spirits to avert evil
• The ritual origin of the Lingbao retreat rite of installing and pacifying the Perfected Writs

Structure

Three chapters: the first recounts the origin of the Perfected Writs and lists the writs of the Five Directions, the second sets out the regulations, precepts and talismanic mandates, and the third gives the retreat methods and methods of deliverance.

Editions

• Daoist Canon of the Zhengtong Era edition
• Dunhuang manuscripts such as P.2440
• Zhonghua Daozang, vol. 3

Translations

• Related studies and selected translations by Stephen Bokenkamp

Full Text & Online Resources

• Wikipedia: Lingbao School
• CTEXT search

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