Guangcheng Ritual Compendium 广成仪制

Collated and compiled by Chen Zhongda, the Cloud Peak Taoist Hermit.

First block-printed at Erxian Nunnery in Chengdu in the Xinhai year of the Xuantong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1911), and reprinted in the second year of the Republic of China (1913). Originally preserved at the Ancient Changdao Temple on Mount Qingcheng, several volumes of the book were once missing and later transcribed and completed by **Taoist Priest**s organized by Tian Shi Cave.

Guangcheng Ritual Compendium

Encompassing an extensive scope, it is divided into 275 headings and collects various ritual norms of The Quanzhen Dao, standing as the most comprehensive compilation of Quanzhen Taoist rituals extant to date. It includes all regular rituals observed in Quanzhen Taoist temples such as the Three Primes Grand Assembly, the Nine Emperors Ritual, the Royal Procession Reception Ritual, the Dipper Worship Ritual and the Birth Star Ritual; rituals for delivering the deceased like the Salvation Fasting Ritual and the Food Distribution Ritual; as well as prayer and expiation rituals for folk customs including the Plague Calming Ritual, the Ant Expiation Ritual and the Fire Thanksgiving Ritual, all in complete detail.

The rituals contained in this book extensively absorb the ritual norms of The Lingbao Sect and Qingwei sects, yet are revised in the style of the Quanzhen sect. Many rituals were created to adapt to folk beliefs and customs: for instance, the Salvation Fasting Ritual, a common practice for folk memorials to the deceased, is included in 29 sections; together with rituals such as the Alchemical Salvation Ritual, the Netherworld Breaking Ritual and the Blood Lake Breaking Ritual, they account for a large proportion of the entire book. As for agrarian protection rituals like The Complete Collection of Seedling Protection, True Immortal Welcome and Royal Procession Reception, locust plague expiation rituals such as The Complete Collection of Locust God Sacrifice and Offering, child care rituals including Expiation and Sending Off of Birth Calamities, Sending Off the White Tiger and Expiation of Smallpox, as well as the Fire Thanksgiving Ritual and the Longevity Reception Ritual, all were formulated to conform to the beliefs and customs of traditional Chinese agrarian society.

Several of these rituals bear the local characteristics of Sichuan and the Yangtze River basin. An example is The Complete Collection of the Formal Ritual for Yang Si, established for worshipping General Yang Si, the folk river god of the Yangtze River. Some rituals carry a strong folk custom flavor: for example, in The Complete Collection of Thunder Prayer for Knotting the Imperial Streamer and The Complete Collection of Urging the Knotting of the Imperial Streamer, divination is performed by observing the knotted shapes of streamers hung on the ritual altar; and the practice of cutting the karmic rope with a golden knife in The Complete Collection of Golden Knife Rope-Cutting for Resolving Grievances at the Fasting Ritual for the Deceased is steeped in folk tradition.

This work is included in the Ritual Norms category of Taoist Scriptures Outside the The Daozang.