Compendium of Taoist Methods and Rituals 道法会元

The original compilation credits no author. It was roughly completed in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties.

Comprising a total of 268 volumes, it is included in the Zhengyi Section of The Daozang.

Compendium of Taoist Methods and Rituals

This work is a grand compilation of Taoist methods and rituals, collecting more than 150 treatises on Taoist magic and rituals from various sects during the Song and Yuan dynasties, with a focus on the practices of the southern Taoist sects including Qingwei, The Lingbao Sect, Zhengyi Dao and Pure Brightness. Its contents are extensive and diverse, covering all manner of Taoist arts such as Thunder Magic, salvation rituals for the deceased, memorial petitions to deities, Taoist Talismans, and incantations with secret instructions. It is titled Compendium of Taoist Methods and Rituals for the meaning of "gathering all methods to return to the origin".

Thunder Magic stands out as the core content among all the Taoist arts recorded here. The compilation includes theoretical works on Thunder Magic such as Nine Essentials of Taoist Methods, An Outline of Thunder Magic, Mysterious Treatise on Thunder Magic, Discourse on Thunder and The Secret Book of the Primordial Thunder Crystal; it also collects Thunder Magic rituals of various sects including Qingwei Ritual of Irrigating the Dipper with the Five Thunders Talisman Method, The Mighty Five Thunders Prayer Rite and The Supreme Divine Firmament Jade Pivot Thunder Magic for Judgment and Execution. In addition, it contains chapters narrating the origins of various sects as well as their precepts and ritual norms.

Nearly a hundred authors are credited in the book, among whom the most renowned are Wang Wenqing, Lin Lingsu, Ning Quanzhen, Jin Yunzhong, Lin Lingzhen, Sa Shoujian, Bai Yuchan, Chen Nan, Mo Yueding, Xu Bida, Liu Yu, Zhang Jixian, Zhao Yizhen, Wang Xuanzhen and Zhang Yu — all celebrated **Taoist Priest**s of the Song and Yuan dynasties. This work serves as an invaluable source for the study of Taoism in the Song and Yuan periods.