Tàishàng xūhuáng bǎoshēng shénzhòu jīng 太上虛皇保生神咒經
Scripture of the Divine Formula for Protecting Life, [Taught] by the Most High Sovereign of the Void
About the work
A one-folio Zhèngyī 正一 apotropaic scripture on the protection of life through a short rhymed incantation. Transmitted in the Dàozàng in a composite juàn with DZ 381, DZ 382, and DZ 383.
Prefaces
No prefaces in the source. The text opens directly with the Xūhuáng’s self-declaration and carries no author preface or transmission colophon.
Abstract
Lagerwey (Schipper & Verellen, Taoist Canon 3: 961, DZ 384): the formula is in rhymed verse of four characters per line and closes with an invocation of the spirits of the Five Directions. The text refers explicitly to the Zhèngyī 正一 order of Daoism and belongs to the late-Táng / Sòng Zhèngyī apotropaic-talismanic stratum of the canon.
Translations and research
- Schipper, Kristofer, and Franciscus Verellen, eds. The Taoist Canon: A Historical Companion to the Daozang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004, 3:961 (DZ 384).