The Nine-section Staff 法杖

The Nine-section Staff, also known as "Cèzhàng" (a staff for support) or "Jiǔjiézhàng" (nine-section staff). Originally, a staff was a tool for the elderly to help themselves stand up or walk. In ancient China, a staff was also used as a symbol of royal power or military authority, or as an instrument of punishment for offenders. In the biographies of immortals written after the Eastern Han Dynasty, the staff was also regarded as the incarnation of the body after a person's corpse was dismembered (a Taoist concept of immortality). During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Taoism also took the staff as a symbol of power.

Taoist books all say that the ritual staff has nine sections. Taiping Yulan (Imperial Reader of the Taiping Era) quotes Guishan Yuanlu (Mysterious Records of Turtle Mountain) as saying: "In the three months of winter, the jade boy of the Three Heavens transforms into an old man, holding a nine-section golden staff in his hand." The use of ritual staffs in Taoist fasting and sacrificial ceremonies probably began after the Liu Song Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties.

Dongxuan Lingbao Daoxue Keyi (Scriptures on the Disciplines and Rituals of the Taoist Learning of the Mysterious and Numinous Treasures) states: "All those who study Taoism should know that the Nine-section Staff, which assists the elderly and rescues those in danger, has its own names for each section, and one must not be ignorant of them." Each of the nine sections of the staff is named after a star, in order: Taihuang Star, Yinghuo Star (Mars), Jiao Star, Heng Star, Zhang Star, Yingshi Star (Pegasus), Zhenxing Star (Saturn), Dongjing Star (Hydra), and Ju Star.