Records of Taoist Divine Manifestations 道教灵验记

Compiled by Du Guangting, a Taoist priest in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties period.

It is recorded as a twenty-volume work in the Bibliography of General Records, while the existing version in the The Daozang has only fifteen volumes and is included in the Biographical Category of the The Dongxuan Section.

Records of Taoist Divine Manifestations

There is also an abridged six-volume version excerpted in the Seven Bamboo Slips of the Cloudy Satchel, which can serve as a reference for collation. In his preface at the beginning of the compilation, Du Guangting stated: Heaven bestows hundreds of blessings on those who do good, and hundreds of calamities on those who do evil. Retributions for sins and merits follow a person like a shadow, and there have been numerous verified manifestations throughout the ages. Moved by this, the compiler collected stories of divine retributions for sins and merits in the Taoist tradition to exhort and admonish the world.

The book records thirty-four stories of divine manifestations at Taoist temples and monasteries, twenty-three of sacred statues, twenty-one of Lord Laozi, ten of the Celestial Master Daoism, twelve of True Immortals, thirty-two of Taoist scriptures, methods and talismans, thirteen of ritual bells, chimes and sacred artifacts, and twenty-two of fasting, sacrificial rituals and memorial presentations to heaven.

The events recorded span from the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, drawing on abundant sources. It holds significant reference value for the study of Taoist history, figures, temples, scriptures, methods, talismans and liturgical rites, and its literary expression is also quite remarkable.