The Daomen Dingzhi 道门定制 Taoist Ritual Regulations

Daomen Dingzhi (Taoist Ritual Regulations) consists of ten volumes, compiled by Lü Yuansu, a Taoist priest from Xishu (western Sichuan). Lü Yuansu, styled Pu'an, was a Taoist priest in Xishu during the Southern Song Dynasty. The book is divided into two parts: the first part (Volumes 1 to 5), titled Dingzhi Ji (Collection of Regulations), was compiled in the 15th year of the Chunxi era (1188) of the Southern Song Dynasty; the second part (Volumes 6 to 10) was compiled in the first year of the Jiatai era (1201) to supplement the omissions of the first part.

This book is a collection of Taoist fasting and ritual norms (zhaijiao yifan). Prefaced by Lü Yuansu himself in 1188, it states that in ancient times, Taoist fasting rituals and documents only used talismans and red memorials (zhuzhang), while other forms such as petitions, official dispatches, and letters were added later based on secular etiquette, deviating from the original simplicity. Observing the improper use of these rituals, Lü Yuansu collected ritual texts and models from previous works, "revised and standardized them to achieve moderation," ensuring that "what was too brief would not be hidden, and what was excessive would not exceed limits."

The first five volumes comprehensively discuss and collect various documents used in fasting rituals, including petitions (biaozhuang), invitation letters (qingzhuang), tribute documents (xianzhuang), memorials (zhangzou), official certificates (wendie), written reports (shuzou), wording guidelines (ciyi), styles of memorials (zhangciti), calligraphic styles (ziti), rules for writing memorials (shuzhangfa), and notices (guanshu). They also list 1,200 sacred positions in the Yellow Register Heavenly Altar (Huanglu Luotian), as well as talismans and decrees such as the Three Emperors’ Hidden Texts (Sanhuan Neiyinwen), True Texts of the Five Directions (Wufang Zhenwen), and General Manifesto of the Yellow Register (Huanglu Dushu). The book first discusses these categories, then provides model texts with Lü Yuansu’s annotations.

Volumes 6 to 8 respectively describe various ritual ceremonies, such as setting up altars (shetan), pacifying dwellings (anzha), consecrating tombs (anfen), sacrifices (jisi), exorcising evil (zhuxie), and praying for rain (qiyu). Volumes 9 to 10 contain miscellaneous records, including liturgical recitations of sacred positions, divine positions for dwelling pacification, divine positions for tomb consecration, sacred positions of the underworld, invitation letters to deities, memorials for the Nine Netherworlds Grand Fasting (Jiuyou Dazhai), memorials for ascension and transcendence ceremonies, as well as divine plaques, precept certificates, and announcements used in fasting rituals.

This book is included in the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) section of the Daozang (Taoist Canon). The Catalog of the Four Treasuries (Siku Quanshu Zongmu Tiyao) records it as an 11-volume work, a Yuan Dynasty print edition, which differs from the Daozang version, presumably revised by Yuan Dynasty scholars.