Tàishàng dòngxuán língbǎo hù zhū tóngzǐ jīng 太上洞玄靈寶護諸童子經
Scripture for Protecting the Lads, of the Most High Cavern-Mystery Numinous Treasure
About the work
A short (three-folio) apotropaic scripture of the Táng, transmitted in a composite juàn with DZ 326 and DZ 327 (KR5b0010 and KR5b0011 here). Its protagonists are the Tóngzǐ 童子 — the “Lads,” emissaries of the stellar deities who govern the destinies of human beings from conception onward.
Prefaces
No prefaces in the source. The text opens directly with an exposition of the astral-destinial framework by Dào 道 (“The Way says…”) and carries no author preface or transmission colophon.
Abstract
Dated to the Táng (618–907) by Lagerwey (Schipper & Verellen, Taoist Canon 2: 595, DZ 328). The scripture identifies the guardian Lads as the essential qì of the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper, the Three Terraces (三台), the Supporters (輔 / 弼), and the remaining stellar officers (二十八宿, 南斗, 北斗, 東斗, 西斗) together with the Three Officers of Heaven, Earth and Water. During the seventh month of gestation the Seven Spirit Lads descend into the foetus, open its nine apertures, inscribe its name, and enroll it in their charge. Those whose lives are subsequently threatened by the baleful actions of the “heavenly dogs” (tiāngǒu 天狗), evil stars, and related astral noxa must burn incense and recite the text; it is largely an invitation-liturgy summoning the Lads of the True qì of the Seven Stars and the Lads of the qì-beams of the Five Directions. The closing passage frames the recitation itself as what enables the Lads to carry out their protective work in the world.
The passage at 1b–2a is textually derived from DZ 336 Tàishàng dòngxuán língbǎo yèbào yīnyuán jīng 8.7a (so Lagerwey), placing the Hù zhū tóngzǐ jīng within the Táng “yīnyuán” 因緣 scriptural family and suggesting a post-DZ-336 date within the Táng.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located beyond the notice in Schipper & Verellen, Taoist Canon 2: 595 (DZ 328).