Complete Works of Patriarch Lü 吕祖全书

Compiled by Liu Tishu, the Master of Wuwo, and revised by Huang Chengshu, the Master of Yixing, in the Qing Dynasty.

Thirty-two volumes, included in the Doctrinal Category of Daoist Texts Outside the Canon.

Complete Works of Patriarch Lü

This book compiles the life deeds, myths, legends and works associated with Lü Dongbin.

Apart from texts such as Annals of Patriarch Lü, its source materials are mainly spirit-writing from divination altars and works falsely attributed to Patriarch Lü’s manifestations.

Volume 1 Original Biography of Patriarch Lü and Volume 2 Miraculous Deeds are biographical accounts of Lü Dongbin, largely expanded and compiled on the basis of previous legends in works like Annals of Patriarch Lü. Volumes 3 to 5 Collected Essays consist mostly of articles gradually accumulated from the Song to the Ming dynasties and reputed to be written by Lü. Volume 6 Treatise on Pointing to the Mysterious includes the annotated version by Bai Yuchan, yet Bai did not confirm Lü as the author, while this book claims it is "a genuine work by Patriarch Lü himself". Volume 7 Annals of Loyalty and Volume 8 Annals of Filial Piety, which frequently cite deeds of the Song Dynasty figures, are forgeries falsely attributed to later authors after the Yuan Dynasty. Volumes 9 and 10 The Eight-Class Immortal Scripture (Part One), Volume 11 The Eight-Class Immortal Scripture (Part Two), Volume 12 The Five-Class Immortal Scripture, Volumes 13 to 15 The Three-Class Scripture of the Clear and Subtle Sect, Volumes 16 to 18 Kinship of the Three, Volume 19 Various Class Scriptures of Sacred Virtue, Volume 20 Various Class Scriptures of Direct Guidance to the Golden Elixir, Volume 21 Scripture of Awakening the Heart, Volume 22 Four Divine Incantations for Overcoming Calamities, Rescuing from Catastrophes, Relieving Suffering and Purifying Auras, Volume 23 Penance for Cultivating the Dao After Transcending Mortal Troubles, Volume 24 Odes to the Jade Pivot Scripture, Volumes 25 and 26 Anthology of the Gourd Head, as well as Volumes 27 and 28 Random Odes of Husan and Sayings of Husan—all the above are works falsely attributed to Lü Dongbin, added subsequent to the publication of the Ming-dynasty Annals of Patriarch Lü. Among them, works such as Random Odes of Husan all derive from spirit-writing; texts like Odes to the Jade Pivot Scripture have already appeared in Essential Compilation of the Daozang. Volumes 29 and 30 Anthology of Cultivating the Dao and Transmitting the Teachings are actually Shi Jianwu’s Anthology of Transmitting the Teachings by Zhongli and Lü, with the phrase "Patriarch Lü said" added before Lü Dongbin’s remarks as a mark of respect. Volume 31 Annotations on The Ballad of Knocking the Trigrams and Spring in a Pleasure Garden includes one annotation to The Ballad of Knocking the Trigrams (traditionally attributed to Lü Dongbin) by Qian Daohua of the Ming Dynasty, and two annotations to Spring in a Pleasure Garden by Xiao Tingzhi and Yu Yan respectively. Volume 32 Imperial Edicts to Patriarch Lü is appended with the divine edicts of other immortals including Liu, Ge and Wang.

A textual research of the aforementioned works shows that only Anthology of Cultivating the Dao and Transmitting the Teachings is authentic. In addition, The Ballad of Knocking the Trigrams and Spring in a Pleasure Garden have been handed down for a long time, and most practitioners of Internal Alchemy believe they were written by Lü, hence scholars in the Song and Yuan dynasties already produced annotations for them.

Virtually all the other works are forgeries falsely attributed to Lü. Nevertheless, they can serve as materials for studying the evolution of the cult of Lü Dongbin, though it is extremely difficult to discuss Lü’s ideological thoughts based on them.