Jade Clarity Scripture of the Great Dao 太上大道玉清经

The author is unknown.

It was probably compiled during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. This scripture has already been quoted in books such as Shangqing Sanzhen Zhiyao Yujue (Jade Instructions on the Essential Gist of the Three Perfected Ones of the Highest Clarity) and Wushang Miyao (Supreme Secret Essentials).

The present version in the Daozang (Taoist Canon) consists of ten volumes and is included in the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Section.

In addition, there are five incomplete manuscripts copied in the Tang Dynasty discovered in Dunhuang.

This scripture is ostensibly dictated by the Primordial Lord, the Supreme Great Dao Lord, and various immortals and perfected beings of the Jade Clarity Heaven, divided into twenty sections. The entire text models after Buddhist scriptures, expounding Taoism doctrines, precepts, and ritual methods. It proclaims that "primordial qi" is the fundamental source of the transformation and generation of the Great Dao, and that ingesting qi is the ultimate Taoist practice. It holds that "the Great Dao originates from emptiness and simplicity; emptiness and simplicity disseminates into primordial qi" and that "the Great Dao is nameless, and primordial qi is formless". All phenomena in heaven and earth are generated by primordial qi—they exist when they obtain primordial qi and perish when they lose it. Primordial qi is further divided into clear qi and turbid qi: "those who ingest clear qi will nurture life, while those who manipulate turbid qi will destroy life". Therefore, the scripture proposes the method of "ingesting the morning qi of the sun", which is described as "taking in the purple splendor at dawn and tasting the corktree bark at dusk"—absorbing the clear qi from the sun and guiding it to flow into the "dual gates" without dissipation. This practice is claimed to be "the door and window for later sages and the pivotal mechanism for cultivating perfection", as well as the root of all existence. The book also details ritual precepts, subjugation dharma seals, and propagates the idea of karmic retribution. Its purpose is to exhort people to do good deeds, abandon evil, uphold the Dao and observe precepts, and save all living beings.